This article is the second in a four-part series sharing the stories of our Member Partners. It’s a chance to hear how they’ve been empowered to grow their enterprises with purpose, enhance their personal and professional skills, and connect to a community of positive, supportive, and people-first leaders.
Administrative Constraints Holding Back the Impact Advisors Can Make
The constraints of endless amounts of paperwork, data entry, meeting and plan preparation, communications, and any number of other administrative functions that advisors handle daily is seemingly endless. As a result, many independent advisors, especially those with limited staff and resources, shoulder this burden alone. The result? They have less time to focus on their client relationships and how to grow the business.
Many advisors feel overwhelmed and lost about how to tackle this problem, so they continue on in a perpetual cycle that limits the greater impact they could have on others and the relationships they serve.
The Power of a Great Team
Great business owners operate with great teams. Great teams compliment the existing strengths of the business and augment the areas that are difficient and need help. Many advisors who are constrained by a lack of resources and bandwidth have started to seek out how to fix this problem and bring aboard a team that allows them to eliminate the time spent on tasks that aren’t directly relationship facing or growth focused. An advisor could go about this by hiring directly, but then they are faced with a host of other potential problems, such as increased costs, turnover, and other HR related responsibilities that come with building an in-house team. But another popular alternative is to outsource these administrative functions and responsiblities of the business and gain all the benefits of a big team without many of the drawbacks. As a result, the advisor can focus on what they enjoy the most – working with and serving their client relationships – while the outsourced team handles the rest. Not a bad deal, right?
What Do Actual Advisors Say?
In this article, we talk about outsourced administrative support with Brian Schlosser of Magis Wealth Leadership in Milford, OH, and Andrew Douglas with Bishop Associates in Newark, DE. Both share their perspective on how using an outsourced administrative support platform has empowered them run an efficient financial planning enterprise so that they can spend more time with their client relationships, focus more on growing their enterprise, and remove the administrative constraints that weigh down many independent advisors.
Here’s what Brian and Andrew had to say about the personal and professional benefits they’ve seen from this time-saving service.
What impact has this level of administrative support had on your enterprise? How has it enabled you to work more efficiently?
Brian Schlosser: Many advisors don’t have the right processes in place to manage their workload. This leads to significant inefficiencies.
In 2018, Founders rolled out a suite of professional services to handle the administrative functions I was doing daily, weekly and monthly. I started using it immediately, and not only did I see significant financial savings, but my efficiency went through the roof.
The administrative platform provides the processes that advisors need. I don’t have to create them; I simply enter a ticket for the required service and the administrative team manages the rest.
Andrew Douglas: There are two of us doing back-office stuff for my enterprise. We have only so much time and energy during the day to do what needs to be done.
The nice part about this platform is that it reduces complexity. We don’t have to double-check forms or spend hours going back and forth to ensure accuracy. We can focus on serving our clients without the cost or administrative burden of hiring someone new.
The depth and breadth of administrative services that we get from this platform also lowers the stress level in our office and gives us the gift of time. There’s less for me to do and less for me to deal with and more time for the enterprise, stakeholders and myself. I can play an oversight role and give the finished product a quick review because I have confidence that the work is accurate and complete, and often better quality.
Before this platform, I didn’t realize how much time I spent on paperwork. Once I realized I didn’t need to control everything, it was eye-opening how much time I had back on my plate.
How has this platform helped you grow your practice with purpose?
Brian Schlosser: I used to worry about every detail, and I had limited mind space to truly be present with clients. My clients had to have felt this. Having the ability and time to be present has had an extraordinary impact on my confidence and leadership. Most importantly, the depth of my relationships goes beyond that of a financial advisor, and because of that, I’m more fulfilled. We receive incredible testimony from clients about who we are and what we have done to improve their lives, which has led to more client recommendations.
Andrew Douglas: The client data gathering offered through the outsourced administrative team has improved our preparation for client meetings. The financial planning function that the team provides is also a time saver.
As advisors, we have high-frequency jobs. There’s a lot at stake when you’re planning someone’s financial future. There’s an open channel of communication with this team. They’re responsive, proactive and catch stuff I wouldn’t have thought of. They provide an additional layer of safety and a sense of security. It takes a lot to do this job, but with the administrative support team, I can save my juice for my clients.
We estimate that this platform saves advisors about 37 hours every month. Is this true for you? How do you spend the time you previously spent on administrative tasks?
Brian Schlosser: We’re more efficient than ever with the platform and improvements to our processes. If I had to guess, we save 40 to 60 hours weekly on administrative tasks between direct employee hours and my time. Plus, since I don’t have to manage people, I can spend more time nurturing client relationships.
When I tell other advisors about this platform, they immediately get concerned about the cost. This administrative support platform is an investment, not an expense. Rarely do we get a chance to invest money in our practices and see an immediate return. I saw immediate savings, and I don’t have to hire, train or manage people to do the work the platform does for us. I can now focus on value-added services for our clients.
Andrew Douglas: It must be closer to 40 hours a week for me. It’s like having another full-time employee without the administrative work or full-time pay that comes with a staff member.
I have three kids ages 7, 4 and 2, so I’m pulled in all directions. This helps me find balance because I don’t have to do it alone. I can allocate mindshare to other priorities. If I need to pick up my 7-year-old from the bus stop, I know the team will get the paperwork done.
Before, I felt like I was on a hamster wheel and always running. Now, I don’t have to be physically working, and I’m confident the work is still getting done. It’s okay to do the life stuff because this team is working for me. Plus, with the platform, tracking and oversight is easy. I can always check in to make sure the work is getting done.
Which admin task used to take you the longest?
Brian Schlosser: Before, I directed an administrator to complete the paperwork to open an account. It required significant time and communication, even with processes in place to convey the information. Now, I simply submit a ticket with several boxes checked and the team takes it from there. I call this the “data dump” because I get to dump all the data in my head and walk away, which frees up a lot of mind space.
Andrew Douglas: Data entry used to take the most time. I’m a CFP and I like the analytical stuff. With this platform, someone else worries about the data entry, so I can focus on the analytical pieces.
What would you tell another advisor considering outsourced administrative support for their enterprise?
Brian Schlosser: For advisors with mature practices, consider the salary, benefits, and time you spend managing people compared to the cost of this platform. It may not be best for your firm to eliminate these roles, but you should know there are other options if your employees ever leave, or if you need more capacity.
For advisors with smaller offices, outsourced administrative support provides the resources you need to spend more time nurturing client relationships and growing your practice. It’s a no-brainer if you’re an advisor without an employee in the administrator or planning role.
Andrew Douglas: Knowing what I did before and what I do now, I wouldn’t go back. The change brought by this service has been transformative to our practice. There’s so much more to it than the paperwork and financial planning piece. It’s a very simple give for a very big get.
We hope that you enjoyed this recent Voice of the Advisor article. If you missed the first article in this series, check it out now by clicking here!
Outsourced administrative support is available through TRU Enterprise OS, an innovative solution to help independent financial advisors accelerate their capacity for growth and operate efficient practices at scale. Click these links to learn more about TRU Enterprise OS and the administrative support services described in this article.
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