Don't Be Insane About Growing Your Business

Two weeks ago, I spoke with a financial advisor who was already grossing over a million dollars annually and was looking for a coach who could help him double his income.

He explained to me that the joint work he had built his business on had dried up and that he thought of acquiring someone else’s book, but there was nothing available.

We then talked about the kind of relationship he had developed with his best clients, and it became clear that he spent no time, effort, or money to deepen his relationships with even his best HNW and UHNW clients. As a result, he was rarely was introduced to any of their family members, friends, or business associates.

This was an area in which I knew I could help him.

Then I learned that he had no particular target—except people with money—and had been buying lists without much success.

I wanted to explore these areas, and his willingness to do something about them, a little more deeply, but even though I had asked him to set aside an hour, he announced that he only had a half hour and asked me to send him a proposal in writing.

I explained to him that we had not explored his situation deeply enough to allow me to understand it, and that I wasn’t sure I could help him.

Had joint work really dried up? Was it really true that there was no book to acquire anywhere? Or was there something else at play?

Was he willing to work on his client relationships and get his marketing more targeted?

I suggested that we talk again, and he set an appointment with me. But over the weekend, he cancelled the appointment, telling the Top of the Table client who had introduced him to me that I was “just like the other coaches he had talked to,” suggesting that he needed to change what he’s been doing—something he just didn’t want to do.

The meme, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting to get a different result,” is often misattributed to Albert Einstein, but it’s more likely that it started in the 1980s by someone in Al-anon.

I have no idea what this advisor was looking for, but his unwillingness to change, and his belief that he could somehow get a different result by continuing to do what he was doing was—well—insane.

It also created a default negative future. If he continues what he’s been doing he’ll be likely to end up in the same place year after year. He’ll blame his clients for not appreciating him, other advisors for not being willing to do joint work or sell their practice, and the market, but the reality will be that he was simply unwilling to change what he was doing.

Don’t let insanity take you over. If your business grew to $100K or $300K or more but isn’t growing anymore, you can’t keep doing the same thing expecting a different result.

Set up a time to talk with me, and let’s see if I can help you break through your plateau.

And, in the meantime, keep REACHING…