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Ep. 27 - Shannon Spotswood: Is Your Firm Thriving or Just Surviving?
32 Plays26 days ago
Business growth tends to be a frequently cited priority for RIAs, but firm leaders sometimes struggle with building a team that can help position their firm for growth.
They’re focused on non-revenue generating tasks instead of surrounding themselves with talent that can help them build an intentional growth strategy, according to Shannon Spotswood, CEO of RFG Advisory.
In this episode of the Synergize podcast, Spotswood joins hosts Bill Coppel, Chief Client Growth Officer at TradePMR, and Ryan Neal, Senior Editor at TradePMR, to explore this common pain point for RIAs and potential ways to drive organic growth.
Listen as they explore:
● Some of the hard decisions RIAs may need to make about how they spend their time
● Key questions RIAs should consider answering honestly if they want to grow
● Practical steps to think about when onboarding new talent
Subscribe now, and connect with us on social media:
● YouTube
Get the transcript for this episode, with sources, at https://synergizepodcast.com/.
About Shannon Spotswood
Shannon is CEO of RFG Advisory, a platform that provides a range of support services designed to help independent advisors grow their businesses.
Before joining RFG Advisory, Shannon spent 20 years in institutional finance serving as a Portfolio Manager and Director of Long-Only Equity Strategies for San Francisco-based hedge fund Symphony Asset Management, and as an Investment Banker with Volpe Brown Whelan & Co.
She was named a 2020 Women to Watch Honoree by InvestmentNews.
Shannon Spotswood and RFG Advisory are not affiliates of TradePMR.
More About Shannon:
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonspotswood/
Website: https://rfgadvisory.com/meet-our-team/
If you want to join the conversation or connect with us, please visit us at synergizepodcast.com. This content is provided for general information purposes only. The views expressed by non-affiliated guest speakers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of TradePMR or its affiliates. TradePMR and its affiliates do not endorse any guest speakers or their companies and therefore give no assurances as to the quality of their products and services. This channel is not monitored by TradePMR. TradePMR does not provide investment advice, tax advice or legal advice. TradePMR is a member of FINRA and SIPC. TradePMR, Inc. is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission {SEC) and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). TradePMR provides brokerage and account services to registered investment advisors. Custodial services provided by First Clearing. First Clearing is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC, Member SIPC, a registered broker dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. Copyright 2025. TradePMR, Inc. For a transcript of this episode with sources, visit synergizepodcast.com.
Trade-PMR, Inc. is a subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc.
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Transcript
Introduction and Host Introduction
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to Synergize, unscripted conversations where we explore the evolving role of the financial advisor in an emerging AI-driven world. Join us as we bring together thought leaders across a range of disciplines and industry experts, sharing insights designed to help RIAs thrive in the industry of tomorrow.
00:00:26
Speaker
Hi, I'm Bill Capelle, Chief Client Growth Officer at Trade PMR, a Robinhood company. And I'm Ryan Neal, Senior Editor at Trade PMR Robinhood, coming to you for the first time from Robinhood's podcast studios in New York City.
00:00:39
Speaker
And you are listening to the Synergize podcast.
Challenges in RIA Organic Growth
00:00:43
Speaker
Today, we'll be taking a hard look at a common pain point for RIAs, the lack of organic growth and the role that talent plays in the growth equation.
00:00:53
Speaker
According to McKinsey, wealth managers spend 60 to 70% of their time on non-revenue generating activities. This is a new phenomenon, and but it does explain why it appears that many firms are simply surviving and not growing organically.
00:01:10
Speaker
And ironically, when I ask advisors and firm leaders what their most important business objective is, the overwhelming response is, I'm trying to grow my business.
00:01:23
Speaker
Right, our listeners know that ah business growth, organic growth is the the sole reason of this podcast. It's what Synergize is all about. It's our meat and potatoes. And when we think about business growth, as we've talked about in other episodes, talent is just a huge important factor, one of the most important factors.
00:01:39
Speaker
ah But a lot of owners out there, a lot business owners, seem to be struggling with how to build a team that can help position their their company for growth. They're out there asking questions like, how do I hire?
00:01:50
Speaker
And how do I provide career paths that will keep my team motivated? Basically, how do you surround yourself with the right talent so you don't end up having to wear every single hat in the company? You can just wear the hat that that fits you best.
00:02:04
Speaker
It's an important question, Ryan. As an industry, I think we've been masking the reality of what the challenge is here. We have colleges and universities that offer degrees in financial planning and wealth management.
00:02:16
Speaker
These graduates are prepared to come into the business, but many aren't willing to and are not interested in coming into the business the way it's structured today.
Talent Structuring for Business Growth
00:02:25
Speaker
Our guest today, Shannon Spotswood, is here to help us explore what firms may want to consider when it comes to structuring talent to be a force multiplier in their businesses.
00:02:36
Speaker
Shannon is the CEO of RFG Advisory, a platform that provides a range of support services designed to help independent advisors grow their business.
00:02:47
Speaker
They don't want to have the difficult conversations. They don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. They've got team members that have been with them. The clients love them. There's longevity. There's loyalty. They show up for work. I trust them.
00:03:00
Speaker
And all of those ingredients become the excuse for, I'm not willing to have the hard conversations about defining the roles that I need on my team in order to get me out of all those non-revenue generating activities.
00:03:19
Speaker
To learn more about Shannon's background and experience, please refer to our show notes. Shannon, thanks for joining us. I cannot wait to spend time with both of you today on the podcast. We're hitting on some of the most important topics for advisors to really dig in and contemplate as they think about building their business.
00:03:40
Speaker
This is all about building this is all about leveraging the fact that we are living in a bull market for advice. And the equation requires that you get your talent right.
00:03:53
Speaker
You have a growth strategy that is intentionally built. You've given a lot of deep thought to your client experience and how you're going to build that bridge to the next gen.
00:04:04
Speaker
None of these things can exist in in isolation. So your podcast touches on all of it. So we're going to have ah blast today. We're glad to have you with us.
00:04:15
Speaker
So let me start with this question. Shannon, you know, you've worked with RIAs in a variety of capacities for a while now. And over the years, we've both heard them talk about not being able to find talent they need.
Improving Advisor Focus and Efficiency
00:04:28
Speaker
What's the real issue here?
00:04:32
Speaker
This is where um we're going to just kind of just get straight into the guts of this. It requires advisors to look into the mirror and answer the question honestly.
00:04:45
Speaker
What energizes me? why Why did I get into this profession in the first place? And how do I ultimately want to spend my time? You started by just framing up the reality.
00:04:58
Speaker
Advisors are spending 60% of their time on non-revenue generating activities. Based on the most recent Fidelity study about advisor growth in 2025,
00:05:11
Speaker
Only 18% of advisors identify as thriving. The rest are just surviving. And the commonality as to why is how they're spending their time. It's out of balance.
00:05:26
Speaker
They got into this profession because they had an acute calling to serve people. That is where their heart lies. They like to work with their clients. They like to solve complex problems.
00:05:38
Speaker
They like to intentionally build those trusting bonds that makes those relationships so incredibly important. And they want to focus externally on nurturing their COIs, on driving organic growth in their firms.
00:05:54
Speaker
But they've left absolutely zero bandwidth to be able to do so. They're upside down in the time equation. They're focused on these non-revenue generating tasks, whether it is investment management, compliance, legal, figuring out how to communicate their value proposition to their team, operational issues, marketing issues, the list goes on and on.
00:06:22
Speaker
And instead, the advisor needs to step back and say, am I willing to make the hard decisions as it relates to both my time as well as my team's time that will align all of us so that we can address and tackle the number one pain point by a million miles is organic growth.
00:06:46
Speaker
And we have this this increasing need from the next gen to be in a position to be a not only a good steward of the assets that are going to transition to them at some point, but wanting to make intentional decisions at those critical pivot points in their life to be able to set them up for the vitality and a much longer working career than what has been traditionally modeled by our actuarial tables and our financial plans.
00:07:19
Speaker
And you know what's ironic about that? 60 to 70% on non-revenue producing. on non-re producing ah activities in a world that is dominated today by technology. And certainly the wealth management space is clearly been a beneficiary of it.
00:07:34
Speaker
And much of that technology is designed to take a lot of those tasks off the shoulders of the advisor.
00:07:42
Speaker
The real question is, what are they doing with the extra time? So, um you know, to me, it's, it's you know, we don't we only do those things in life that are easy to do often, right? So you you kind of put back to the back of the line the hard things. And, you know, no one's going to argue that it it this is one of the most challenging businesses to be in.
00:08:03
Speaker
You know, the the ability to... When the trust and confidence of somebody is is is daunting for many, right? And so now it's hard. And so we find ourselves oftentimes burying ourselves in busy work to avoid the reality what's out there.
00:08:20
Speaker
But in any event, I think you're making a great
Enhancing Client Relationships and Growth Strategies
00:08:23
Speaker
point here. And i think this kind of leads back to Ryan's original question around talent.
00:08:29
Speaker
So- Ryan, were you gonna say something? Well, I would say ah that they're they're probably using all that extra time to go golfing, right? Like actually getting growth, that takes work. And why work when ah you know you can get an afternoon nine in?
00:08:43
Speaker
That's exactly right. You know, what's interesting about that though, if structured properly, that extra nine actually ends up being the growth engine for these advisors. So I'm a data person, I'm gonna throw out a lot of data, so it's not just my opinion.
00:08:59
Speaker
One of the most powerful answers, Ryan, to that point, is that a long-standing Accenture study about what clients value in an advisor says the following three things are top of mind.
00:09:13
Speaker
Do you share my values? Do you get me? And do I want to spend time with you outside the office? So and if an if an advisor takes a step back And they say, growth is my biggest pain point.
00:09:26
Speaker
And it is also my greatest opportunity set to be able to drive the enterprise value of my of my firm. How can I think about my time differently?
00:09:38
Speaker
A simple framing of that nine holes of golf in a calendar that gets blocked out where there's a strategy around that those nine holes. I'm inviting that COI. I'm inviting that client. I'm inviting that you know, that granddaughter of a client and the grandfather to go and play golf with me for that nine holes.
00:10:01
Speaker
And in some ways, advisors haven't given themselves permission to really lean into that opportunity to just authentically express themselves.
00:10:12
Speaker
If they have it blocked on their calendar and they say, I am going to build those relationships both with my clients and with the next gen and i'm going to do it in a way that is leaning into my passion the reason why i initially got into this business golf can be a big part of that gotcha so it's i think that there is like this this This mindset shift that needs to happen.
00:10:38
Speaker
And I'm gonna share with you and then we're gonna talk about talent. So I'm gonna share with you about advisors and how to free up time. Because this comes back to where we started looking in the mirror.
00:10:48
Speaker
What brings me passion? What brings me passion? Why am i sitting here in the seat that i am building the firm that I'm building? And why are so many advisors just just surviving and not thriving?
00:11:01
Speaker
So they're not spending their time the way that energizes them. They're not willing to delegate. They're not willing to allow their teams around them to take control and influence that client experience in a way that gives them time.
00:11:18
Speaker
They're just constantly sitting there with, I'm going to be chief cook and bottle washer. I'm going to take on and off every single hat. I'm going to build a team where there is a tremendous esprit de corps.
00:11:30
Speaker
But there is no clearly defined roles and responsibilities because ultimately i don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I don't want to have any difficult conversations about career pathing and how we're going to get the the time injected not only into my calendar as the advisor, but into my team's calendar to run more operationalize, to run more professionalize.
00:11:55
Speaker
And and that is like the the core of everything that we're doing. So this is, again, this fidelity study, and their benchmarking study, advisors outsourcing.
00:12:06
Speaker
So they're spending seven hours on investment management, four hours on marketing, three hours on legal, seven hours on admin, four hours in compliance, and three and half hours on tech and cybersecurity.
00:12:19
Speaker
Where are they finding the time in the day to be able to actually enjoy their business, deepen those client relationships, and grow? They either have to have an outsource partner, a platform like RFG where they're plugging in and we're wrapping our arms around them to provide all those resources,
00:12:39
Speaker
Or they have to codify each of those roles and responsibilities and be willing to turn it over to the members of their team and, you know, let go of the reins a little bit, recognizing mistakes are going to happen. You're not going to be able to be in control of every single detail.
00:12:57
Speaker
And that's a hard position for advisors to be and a hard transition for them to accept. Well, let's come back to that talent question now about bringing in the talent.
00:13:08
Speaker
I'd love to know what you can share around that question, around um what strategies, obviously I don't wanna give you your whole secret sauce, your company away, but can you share any kind of bigger picture strategies that you see working or some strategies maybe
Building High-Performing Teams
00:13:23
Speaker
that aren't working? Things that you know we talked a little about on looking in the mirror, but any strategies about coming bringing in talent that you think needs to change?
00:13:30
Speaker
This is the very first um exercise here is for an advisor alongside their team or as a one-on-one exercise um to be clear about what is the mission, vision, and values of the firm.
00:13:46
Speaker
You can't build a high-performing team of A players who are going to ultimately be that force multiplier for your business until that is abundantly clear.
00:13:57
Speaker
Everyone has to have a an idea where are we headed on this train? What values are uncompromisable? Like we are just going to live them, walk them, breathe them, talk them in our marketing materials, in our client meetings, in our communications with prospects and clients.
00:14:14
Speaker
So defining up front what is the mission, vision, value of the firm is step number two one. Before you can even think about your team. Step number two is the hard work of defining the very specific roles on the team. And this is where I think advisors big hearts get in the way of them flipping from the just surviving to the thriving.
00:14:40
Speaker
They don't want to have the difficult conversations. They don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. They've got team members that have been with them. The clients love them. There's longevity. There's loyalty. They show up for work. I trust them.
00:14:54
Speaker
All of those ingredients become the excuse for I'm not willing to have the hard conversations about defining the roles that I need on my team in order to get me out of all those non-revenue generating activities.
00:15:10
Speaker
So that exercise starts with taking inventory. You got to do an audit. What is everybody doing in their role? What do they love? What do they hate? And what I have found, we've done this multiple times with our advisors. It's a big part of our value proposition, helping them operationalize and professionalize their business, design their team to support them.
00:15:33
Speaker
What you find is when you take all that data and you lay it on top of each other, there's a tremendous amount of overlap. And it's, again, coming from this this place of esprit de corps.
00:15:44
Speaker
We don't want to let any balls drop. We want to make sure the client is well taken care of. But no one really has a clear idea of how is my job specifically attached to the mission, vision, values and ultimately driving towards our goal for growth.
00:16:01
Speaker
So you just are in this muddied space. So once you get that audit done, then you can start to make some hard decisions. I know you love doing X, but we're going to need you to move to do Y. You're going to continue to do this that you love, but you're going to give up that that you love.
00:16:19
Speaker
We're going to restructure what our expectations are around that role And then we're going to be very intentional about building in the checkpoints for communication.
00:16:32
Speaker
So the way that we do it is anytime we onboard a new team member for an advisor, we have a 30, 60, 90 day onboarding. It includes not just what is the job, what is the training for the job, but that cultural assimilation.
00:16:48
Speaker
How do we talk about our values? What language do we use? How do we communicate? So at the end of 90 days, they have a clear understanding. Then we set it up again six months from then so that you can do, again, a touch base, a re-onboarding.
00:17:04
Speaker
Are we on the right path? Are you leaning into what is feeding you and giving you energy to serve the clients? Or are you bogged down? Technology, ops, compliance, fill in the blank. What is the hurdle that the team is...
00:17:18
Speaker
trying to jump over. So it is about defining those roles and responsibilities, defining that onboarding process, and then systematizing how you're having those career check-ins so that you've got a very clear line of sight.
00:17:35
Speaker
And over that six-month period, you will see more often than not, either team members will opt out and say, i need to go be successful elsewhere, which you have to be okay with, or they will double down in commitment to your team and your mission because they have clarity about the significant work that they're doing and the impact that it is having.
00:18:02
Speaker
So when you think about it, Shannon, as I mentioned at the top of the conversation today, um There are a lot of very talented young, I call next gen ah professionals out there that want to come into this business.
00:18:18
Speaker
um They're certainly educated with that, but they're very different. you know what's let's Millennials, for an example, are the next generation of professionals that will come into this business over the next couple of ah decades.
00:18:31
Speaker
When you think about that, and as you know the work that you do to help firms position themselves, get their alignment correctly, get their vision, their mission, um and their are core values aligned, and make it clear to people what the expectation is, right?
00:18:47
Speaker
um Let's talk about this next generation of talent. And you know clearly, the demands of this business have changed over the last few decades. Technology has been a huge driver of it.
00:19:01
Speaker
Um, how do you, you know think about evaluating the right set of skills that are needed for a young professional coming into this business? And I'm going to talk about advisors for a moment because I think that's, you know, a key part of it.
00:19:16
Speaker
Um, what should they be looking for? How should they begin to evaluate whether or not this person is the right fit and can become a force multiplier, as you put it, in growing the business?
00:19:31
Speaker
Absolutely essential to have a talent pipeline for an advisor who wants to be in the business longer than five years. You've just got to be building that bench strength.
00:19:42
Speaker
ah Before they get to hiring that next-gen talent, part of this looking in the mirror, do they have the right tech in place? And is it integrated in a fashion where you've removed as many friction points as possible?
00:19:57
Speaker
The next gen coming in is incredibly agile with technology. They're native adopters. You see that in how they're leveraging AI already out of the gate to try and push operational efficiency, to push calendaring, inbox management, content creation.
00:20:17
Speaker
Like there is just so many different ways that the the younger employees are picking up on that and willing to willing to try their hand at something that is a little bit more daunting for people who've been in the industry for longer periods of time. We're a little bit like, whoa, whoa, can I trust it Is it going to send me down the wrong path? Is this going to...
00:20:43
Speaker
kind of rat me out to an advisor or to a client that I haven't been doing the work as an advisor that's expected of me. So number one is, do I have the technology in place that is going to allow that next gen to be successful in their job?
00:20:59
Speaker
Number two is hiring for agility. You have got to be willing this. I mean, we are coming full circle. You've got to be willing to let this next gen make some mistakes, be given some rope to try new things, to innovate. They want a voice.
00:21:17
Speaker
They are not interested at all. And come in the door and check every single box of the process, workflow, way that we've always done it. They're not interested and they are not going to take that job or if they do, they are not going to stick around.
00:21:33
Speaker
They want to have a collaborative work environment where they have a voice to shape the future of that client experience, to shape the growth of that firm. What I will also say that I really appreciate about our younger um team members, they are hungry for feedback.
00:21:53
Speaker
They have gotten it their whole lives. They don't need to be coddled. There's such a huge misconception. It's like trophies for everyone. I just don't find it to be true. I find them to be very clear like, I want to build a career.
00:22:08
Speaker
I want it to have meaning and significance. I want to have a voice. I want to work in a collaborative environment that is grounded in values and principles. But I don't need to be babysat. I don't need to be coddled. Shoot me straight.
00:22:22
Speaker
What am I doing well? Where do I need to work on? And we have never run into a situation. And granted, we're screening for this when we're hiring, both for our advisors teams as well as for our own team.
00:22:35
Speaker
where they don't have that hunger for coaching. i They want to love it. Yeah. And I think the point you're making here about friction is clearly the tip of the whole conversation, right?
00:22:48
Speaker
If you bring in a talented next gen professional that, um you know, let's face it, Jeff Bezos eliminated a lot of friction our lives, right? And so he he and Amazon have sort of set the tone for a frictionless transaction, if you will.
00:23:05
Speaker
And so we've got this whole generation, as you point out, that's not only tech ah native, But they they don't have the patience and and should not have the tolerance for antiquated processes. And boy, I'll tell you what, from where I sit, and I've been doing this for a while, we have a lot of antiquated processes and we get mired in our own um lack of vision, if you will, at figuring out ways to get things done more efficiently. So I think you're you're spot on. and And this is one of the skills that we need to be looking for.
00:23:38
Speaker
You've got to give them, they're resourceful. um They tend to self-serve, right? And you've got to eliminate the roadblocks. That's what I'm hearing. Absolutely. that Ryan, that must resonate with you.
00:23:51
Speaker
Well, you know, as as as the millennial here at Trade PMR, or one of them anyway, the whole the whole lot trophies thing always gets me because we didn't have a choice about the trophies. It was my parents that gave me the participation trophy. i didn't ask for one.
00:24:04
Speaker
but But yeah, no I mean, all that all this makes sense and and you know look, were we're ready to we're ready to take over. We want it we want to be in more positions of power. We want to be ah building our own careers and lives. But I want to shift a little bit um because something you've sort of alluded to is the advisors that ah are planning five years out or maybe have different visions for their their practice. I know that's something you've talked about before is there's that there's different approaches to running an advisory business.
00:24:33
Speaker
I think, and I've seen heard these terms as well in the industry, sort of there's lifestyle advisors, ah then there's something you call mission-driven advisors, and then there's advisors out there building an enterprise.
Types of Advisors and Growth Strategies
00:24:44
Speaker
um How do you define each of those? And how does that impact the the lens of bringing in talent?
00:24:54
Speaker
I think this is a really honest moment for our industry, and there is not a wrong answer. So it is more about like, where do I fall in the growth spectrum? What is going to help me jump out of bed and be fired up to go to work every single day?
00:25:14
Speaker
So in ah an advisor who is in a lifestyle practice, this is all about like, I really want to maximize the hours that I am spending outside of the office.
00:25:25
Speaker
I want a tremendous amount of flexibility to be able to travel, to be able to have, I've worked hard for a long time or or conversely, we we support advisors who are earlier in their careers and they're like, I want to be more present for my children. I want to be more actively involved when they're young and I want to switch it into high growth mode when they're in high school or when they're going off to college. So it's not really governed the definition by age. It really is governed by how do you want to live your life. So a lifestyle advisor is going to intentionally simplify.
00:26:04
Speaker
the the the most i think the most astute lifestyle advisors recognize that their time is their most valuable resource. So they outsource as much as possible.
00:26:16
Speaker
I'm going to outsource investment management. i'm going to outsource all those things we talked about, ops, compliance. I'm really not, quite honestly, investing in marketing. I have a decent website.
00:26:27
Speaker
Most of my referrals, ah most of my leads come from referrals. And if I'm doing a good job there, I should be able to defy the bottom, you know bottom of the barrel bouncing along that two, three percent in organic growth.
00:26:42
Speaker
So lifestyle advisor, I've simplified, I've maximized my time to really have clarity around what is important to me and my business reflects it.
00:26:53
Speaker
All right. Mission driven is I am very intentionally building a high performing team. We are driving for growth in our business, but we're doing it in a very intentional, clear way to have the biggest impact we can on our clients, on our community, on our profession.
00:27:15
Speaker
This is where you see a lot of niche-based ah niche-based firms. We're focusing on serving professional women. We're focusing on serving yeah ER doctors. like We've got a real mission to help these people, or we're going to be the firm that is building that next-gen experience.
00:27:34
Speaker
We've got all of the resources in place. We're tackling the family meeting. We're like we're just highly mission-driven on what we're doing Our team is aligned on it. We're just walking and talking, whatever that mission is.
00:27:47
Speaker
And as a result, we're being a little bit more intense and intentional about the roles and responsibilities on our team, how the advisor is spending their time. We're leveraging technology in and a much more deliberate way.
00:28:01
Speaker
Like you've got a lot of structure within those firms in order to feel like I'm honoring that mission that I set out to do. And then the enterprise is a totally different ballgame.
00:28:14
Speaker
These are the advisors who are like, I want to 10x my business. I want to make acquisitions. I want to do tuck in advisors. I want to be the successor for advisors who are looking to leave the industry. I'm going to scale both in terms of my marketing growth services, my lead gen services.
00:28:33
Speaker
I'm going to have a very repeatable process. process for onboarding advisors, like you're just kicking it into a much different gear in terms of the amount of investment that you want to make into your firm and in terms of what your expectations are for that growth output.
00:28:51
Speaker
Those are the firms that are showing up and saying, I want to grow by 50, 60 percent a year. So let let me, yeah those are great definitions. and and i And I think we can all relate to firms we know that are bowling in in one of those three categories.
00:29:07
Speaker
i would say that probably the largest category I'm familiar with based on the work I've done in the industry is the quote lifestyle bucket, if you will. And you that may bifurcate into two kind of groups.
00:29:18
Speaker
right One clearly is looking for that work-life balance that you talked about. And I'm not surprised to hear that next-gen professionals are going to seek that as part of how they want to enter and thrive in the business. And that makes complete sense today.
00:29:37
Speaker
It shouldn't necessarily... um indicate how well they can do, right? It's not a barrier to their ability to be productive and to be successful. There might be another group called lifestyle that we label lifestyle.
00:29:52
Speaker
um and And those are often masked with, you know, I do want to get out and play three rounds a golf a week, or I do want to spend more time at the lake or whatever the thing is that you want to do. But when you pull back the onion, Shannon, you know, what are we really seeing? For example,
00:30:12
Speaker
Do they know how to grow? Are they are they even even remotely focused on sort of what is that succession going to feel like? What is my exit strategy? And and and we know that that's a big issue today in the industry.
00:30:28
Speaker
um But most important, you know, when they think of that quote lifestyle, Part of that is to kind of lower the anxiety and stress in our lives, right? ah Based on your observations, this latter group that I'm talking about that are sort of stuck and not sure exactly what to do and really don't have a succession plan.
00:30:47
Speaker
My guess is that their anxiety and stress is not lower. And in fact, that they're probably trying to figure it out and they just keep kicking the can down the road because as long as the market's going up, I really don't have to work that hard.
00:31:00
Speaker
and know Share with our audience that what's the kind of advice and guidance you give to that group to help them actually achieve that lifestyle feeling that they may be aspiring for? Or how do we move them into that sort of mission-driven category?
00:31:17
Speaker
Yeah, you bring up such an excellent point. And the, you know, Cerulee data just came out for 2024. 60%, 59% of advisors are citing new client acquisition as their single biggest challenge that is across the board, lifestyle, mission driven and enterprise.
00:31:35
Speaker
specifically as it relates to these lifestyle advisors who aren't thriving, since that's the word that we've really been using. My stress is high. I don't have a game plan for how I'm building that bridge to the next gen.
00:31:48
Speaker
I might not have built out my skill set and capability set. to address all the challenges that clients are bringing to the table, healthcare planning, estate planning, tax planning, help me with end of life decisions, help me facilitate conversations with my clients, adult children.
00:32:08
Speaker
Like those pressures are there regardless of where you fall in those situations. those three buckets and what type of a practice. So I think, again, like as a lifestyle advisor, if you're going to be really honest and say, my time is my single that most valuable resource and I want to maximize it, then you have to look at not only how are you serving your clients, how are you leveraging technology, who are the people on your team, what roles are they playing?
Valuing Time and Investing in Talent
00:32:42
Speaker
And then one of the big things that we didn't really touch on, but is so important, and I think, Ryan, this speaks to, you know, the millennials are searching for this career path, compensation.
00:32:54
Speaker
The talent that is coming in those team members that advisors need, regardless of where they are and what type of firm they have, the talent is not cheap.
00:33:05
Speaker
There is a war for talent right now, and so you have to be able to look at that and say, time is my most valuable resource. I've got to get out from chief cook and bottle washer. I have to have the right people in the right seat.
00:33:17
Speaker
I need to be able to pay them to be there. And then you can you can enjoy that intentional decision to have a lifestyle practice. Right now, it's almost a default. I think the way you framed it up was perfect.
00:33:31
Speaker
Great.
Key Takeaways and Conclusion
00:33:32
Speaker
Well, Shayna, we covered a lot of ground in this conversation and and something we like to do here at Synergize when we're wrapping things up is is three actionable takeaways, right? We want our audience to have like three things that they could list this podcast on their way to work, go into the office and enact right away.
00:33:48
Speaker
So for for firms out there are looking to build a team to fulfill their business's unique mission, what are what are three things you want to leave them with? Number one, write it down, mission, vision, values.
00:34:01
Speaker
Number two, take an audit of your team members. What do they love? What do they not love? What are they doing? What's creating energy? What's detracting from energy?
00:34:12
Speaker
And then most importantly, number three, as the advisor, look in the mirror and be honest with yourself. When you look at Monday morning, are you excited about the firm that you're building or are you dreading it?
00:34:26
Speaker
Do you look towards each hour with like another round of drudgery, more client meetings, more administrative tasks? Like that is just so critical. And once you have that conversation with yourself and you've written it down, act on it.
00:34:43
Speaker
Act on it. We're in a bull market for advice. There is no reason why an advisor who wants to grow should be bumping along at 1% to 3% of organic growth. There is far too much need in the you know in the industry, across across the board, clients are raising their hand and saying, help me, help me make all these critical life decisions.
00:35:08
Speaker
And it's not just the baby boomers. The younger generation is saying, not only are they looking for financial life advice, they're willing to pay for it. So capitalize on it.
00:35:20
Speaker
Well, thank you, Shannon. This was this was an amazing conversation. ah For all our listeners out there, a quick recap is write it down. Get your goal, write it down. Audit your team members, know what's going on there, and be honest with yourself. And then a fourth kind of bonus one, take action.
00:35:35
Speaker
Take that what you wrote down and and take action on it. So, Shannon, thank you again for joining us. Thank you. And I want to give a quick shout out to our our stalwart producer, Diane Willingham, who's been with us since the beginning of Synergize, who ah later this month will be moving on to new opportunities. So quick shout out, Diane. You've been our stalwart.
00:35:54
Speaker
Thank you for everything you've done. as She's behind the scenes, but we... We really appreciate her. So wanted to give her a shout out and we hope you enjoyed today's conversation. If you like what you heard, ah please take a moment to like, subscribe, follow us, all those good things. They help the algorithm. They help get the word out there and we appreciate you and we'll here we'll we'll join you next time.
00:36:16
Speaker
Thanks Ryan and Shannon. I'd like to extend my thanks to you as well. Great conversation. I hope our listeners take away some of these really important issues. And I also want to add to, um, Ryan's comment about our producer, Diane Willingham.
00:36:31
Speaker
Diane has, uh, she and I have worked together for many years. This is not our first radio, as they say, when it comes to podcasts, she's done an outstanding job helping Ryan and I stand this program up.
00:36:41
Speaker
Um, But it's not going away. Well, Diane will be moving on. ah We will continue to support you and help you find ways to you continue continue to be relevant and continue to build your business.
00:36:54
Speaker
And to our audience, I want to say thank you as well. And watch for our next episode, where we'll try to bring you even more insights and actual ideas on how to grow your business. And remember, the challenge is yours to capitalize on what the future offers.
00:37:15
Speaker
If you want to join the conversation or connect with us, please visit us at synergizedpodcast.com. This content is provided for general information purposes only. The views expressed by non-affiliated guest speakers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Trade PMR or its affiliates.
00:37:33
Speaker
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00:37:49
Speaker
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00:38:07
Speaker
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00:38:20
Speaker
For a transcript of this episode with sources, visit synergizedpodcast.com.