How to boost ROI at your firm

November 27, 2017 by Dylan Amick

An advisor works to boost ROI at his firm.

About the author

Dylan Amick

Marketing intern

Dylan is a senior at UW-Milwaukee, double majoring in Marketing & Supply Chain and Operations Management. During his internship, he will be working closely with Salesforce. Dylan is passionate about diversity marketing and customer advocacy.

Your ROI is arguably the most significant measurement to see if your advising services are booming or failing. Clients often have public access to this kind of information, and will often choose to work with advisors that have the best ROI measurements.

If you see that your ROI is declining from previous quarters, that may be a difficult mountain to climb. This, however, is not something that should cause you to completely lose hope. There are many ways to improve your ROI. So, how does your ROI stack up against your competitors?

Your ROI is more than just the numbers

Improving your ROI is more than just improving the basic metrics that your company deals with you must dive below the surface level of sales, and take into account the major factors that generate them. Return on investment is exactly that: getting back more for you and your company than what you are putting in.

Differentiating yourself from other advisors and companies to increase your ROI is key. Advertising either on a personal or enterprise level — is going to attract customers to you. Your message needs to be something that is fresh and has not been heard before. You cannot brand yourselves as just another financial advisor; you must take into account what makes your services special.

Branding yourself off of those core competencies is going to separate you from your competitors. Using a blanket statement, like “leaders in financial advising,” is not going to separate you as a top-tier candidate.

Experimenting with what is working and learning from your mistakes may sound easy, but can be very difficult. Some advisors struggle to keep up with change. Evolving with your network of clients, and pertaining yourself to their needs, is going to prove extremely beneficial.

Similarly, giving a great amount of input into your clients’ work is going to prove to have a lot of beneficial output contributing to your ROI.

Using financial planning technology to boost your ROI

Though it is important to keep up with your clients, it is equally as important to keep up with the technological changes of our era. From social media to financial planning software, evolving your technological services is a kingpin to the success of your company. Having a significant presence online is one way to attract clients.

Offering informative proposals on your firm or industry such as whitepapers, blogs, and podcasts is a unique strategy that promotes your services, and gives clients an idea on what to expect when they hire you as their advisor. Other than time, this is a cost-effective way to produce impactful content.

Similarly, social media is becoming increasingly popular among clients of all demographics. Advisors can use social media to inexpensively promote these forms of proposals. You will be investing little cost-wise to see high return with new or continuing clients.

Having your data readily available is also key to better your efficiency, and thus your ROI. With many financial planning software options readily available, you want the best of the best to ensure the success of yourself and your client.

Industry-leading financial planning software, like that from Advicent, will provide you the platform to easily and quickly retrieve your client’s data. This is crucial to your success for a few reasons.

First, you will be able to work more efficiently and improve the volume of customers you are able to work with. Next, your clients will be keen to work with an advisor who will quickly provide accurate solutions. Lastly, you as an advisor will have an easy platform that is not too complex to understand. These factors are all going to lead to an increase in your ROI.