If you find that business has slipped into a routine, mid-year business reviews to assess the state of your practice can be energizing. Halfway into the year is a good point to take stock of organic growth, new acquisitions and any unfinished projects.
You can evaluate your efforts based on the plan adopted at the start of the year, says Sara Gilbert, founder of Strategist Business Development in Montreal. That can reveal the gaps and help you find ways to move forward. Don’t let the findings discourage you, she adds.
Instead of ditching your annual plan, make tweaks so it can fit within the time left to reach your yearly goals. “[Sometimes] they’ll throw it away and coast for the rest of the year,” says Gilbert. “Just adjust and move on.”
Even if the fiscal period of your business doesn’t align with the calendar year, summer is still the perfect opportunity to spur things into action.
Here are four ways advisors can stay on top of their goals:
1. Use the slow season to tackle initiatives
Avoid the summer slump and pursue ambitious projects. If plans to redesign your website or to hold a client seminar haven’t yet resulted in action, summer is the best time to settle the details, says Gilbert.
“Summer is a great time to work on business initiatives because more clients are on vacation,” says Gilbert. “It tends to be slower on that aspect.”
With fewer appointments on their agendas, she notes, advisors can spend more time finalizing the logistics that go with their plans.
2. Seek out an accountability partner
A little nudge from someone who can hold you responsible can be the push you need to move forward, says Gilbert. That person doesn’t necessarily have to be directly invested in your success.
Strike an arrangement with someone at work, such as your branch manager, she suggests. The idea is to try to check in on a weekly basis – or as often as possible – to track your progress. It’s harder to abandon goals if others are aware of them.
“It’s OK for you to procrastinate, but it’s an entirely different story if [others know],” says Gilbert. “If you say it aloud to people, you have a tendency to step up and actually make it happen.”
3. Re-evaluate your engagement plan
Advisors will often set two types of targets: stretch goals and more immediate goals, says Gilbert. They can ask themselves whether the bar was set too low or if the gap is insurmountable at this point.
Sometimes, advisors underestimate their growth or fail to account for unforeseen circumstances. It’s critical to reflect on why the goals don’t align with reality, she adds. They can then readjust their expectations for the remainder of the year.
4. Increase the frequency of benchmarks
Break down your goals further to help manage different, and often competing, priorities. “People tend to put goals into really big chunks,” Gilbert says. “[Set] monthly outcomes, weekly outcomes, [and] sometimes even daily outcomes.”
Figure out a “small piece of action” that you can take, she adds. Crossing off different targets, however small, can give you the momentum to polish off the list.
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