Well where are you now? How Benchmarking technique can help you
We’ve all been there. Lost I mean. We sort of knew where we were going, and we knew where we came from, but we managed to make a wrong turn somewhere and now are lost. Carrying on driving for a bit didn’t help, and, being men, we have postponed asking for directions as long as possible.
But time is moving on, and we must now phone our friends and ask directions. Inevitably, the first question back to us is ‘Well, where are you now?’ Of course, if we knew where we were, we would not be lost!
The conversation then involves trying to identify landmarks – often Pubs – until the person giving directions can work out where we are. This in turn leads to the inevitable questions - Where? and Why are you there?. But at that point it is usually relatively easy to get directions and a plan to get back on course.
Many Advisers, and their firms, are in a similar position at the moment. We all know where we have come from, and we usually know where we want to be. But just right now, we may not be completely clear as to where we are relative to those two points.
And the fact that each firm is starting from a slightly different place, and are aiming for slightly different destinations makes it even more tricky. Imagine all of us being given the same directions on how to get to Bristol, when in fact we live right across the UK, and many of us are not trying to get to Bristol anyway!
What is needed in our business is a means of locating ourselves, both relative to the rest of the profession, and to our intended destination. There are a number of ways to do that, but one cost effective way is to take a benchmarking assessment.
This assessment is not a survey. Surveys tell other people about your thoughts and feelings. Assessments tell you where you are, and then benchmarks that result against other advisers and firms. This means that the information produced is relative. This is important, as the next step is to use proven Practice Management processes to assist you with the next steps of your journey.
The assessment tool we are using is one that is based on a South African model, designed by Johann Maree. Johann is a part time lecturer with The Gordon Institute of Business Science and a contributing author on the professional practice management component of the South African University of the Free State’s Centre for Financial Planning Law’s financial planning diploma. He is a past Finalist in the Financial Planner of the year assessment in South Africa.
If you take his experience together with ours, it adds up to over 100 years of working as and with Financial Advisers and Planners in the UK, the USA, Australia and South Africa.
In other words, we know what makes Financial Planning Practices work, and what doesn’t work.
In essence, the benchmarking assessment takes information from the Adviser and firm, and then compares this with other answers,
to produce a relative response in each area – Fig 1 shows this.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
The overall responses are then compared to both this relative benchmark, and, more importantly, with standards obtained from intensive research which are already built into the system. This base data is a collection of ‘Best Practice’ standards from Financial Planning practices around the world. This allows us to learn from each other.
This data is then compared to produce a dashboard, showing where the Adviser / firm is strong, and where there is work to do. See Fig 2 for an example. (Please note that this is the South African output, and the UK output is slightly different) This process thus sets out a fairly clear answer to the ‘Where are you now?’ question.
The next step is then to see how you can get to where you are going. In other words, what are the next steps on the journey?
In order to help with this, the website will then, to subscribers, provide access to assignments, mini projects and guides to take you through the steps required to bring you and your firm’s processes up to the benchmark standard. This may well involve some hands-on help from someone, or training, or attendance at a workshop, but the assignments are designed to bridge much of the gap on their own, and will be a cost effective starting point. See Fig 3.
Capita Connection, in conjunction with My Practice Manager, are pleased to make the Benchmarking Assessment available to all our readers. Please log on to www.mypracticemanager.co.uk to register and complete the initial assessment
By the end of this process, which may take up to a year to complete, the component parts all add up to a pretty comprehensive operational manual, which will include critical elements such as Business and Marketing Plans.
So there you have it. A web accessible, academically based benchmarking assessment. One that then feeds into a structured Practice Management process, that helps Financial Advisers and Planners take their business towards the direction that each individual firm decides is appropriate for them. And one where the business owner controls the pace of change.
It sounds so simple when I describe it that way, but we do believe that this will be a useful tool for many firms.