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The Rainmaker Multiplier: How to Create a Self-Sustaining, Scalable Financial Planning Business
Summary review by Bill Hortz, Founder & Dean, Institute for Innovation Development
“Was it possible to create a thriving holistic wealth management practice that would survive with or without me, that would provide security for my family and continuity for my clients if something were to happen to me?”
This guiding question propels this practice management book and reveals that there is a major difference between running a financial practice and building a sustainable financial business that can run with or without you. While you can be very successful with either approach, Jason L Smith’s book – The Rainmaker Multiplier: How to Create a Self-Sustaining, Scalable Financial Planning Business – clearly outlines and demonstrates the reality of vastly different outcomes…and some dire consequences.
While the more tactical-focused, inside-out mindset of a time-constrained “doing it, doing it, doing it” practitioner works in their business trying to be efficient, the more strategic-focused, outside-in entrepreneurial mindset works on their business to duplicate their efforts for scale and sustainable growth. In growing scale, developing new advisors into top Rainmakers is doable. Building a sustainable dynamic of engagement and growth to support new advisors is also doable. The key question of exactly how to do this transformation successfully is the topic of this book.
Golden Egg – The Rainmaker Multiplier Method and Essentials
“The concept is that instead of one advisor bringing in all the business, several advisors are trained on the right processes (power of people plus process), thus multiplying their efforts.”
The greatest value of this book is in providing a detailed strategy and roadmap (with instructions and tools) specifying the four essential elements to building a practice into a sustainable growth business that can thrive with or with you. The author provides the thinking behind each area’s importance and the secret sauce towards implementing them into your business. He categorizes the four essential elements as:
The holistic planning process – “The only way we’re going to stay alive and grow is to differentiate ourselves and our value propositions so we can attract and keep high-net worth clients. In my experience, the surest way to do that is to switch to a planning fee-based business model and adopt a professional, process-driven, holistic approach to service delivery.”
Adding a tax planning, management, and preparation element to your business – “…taxes are your single biggest differentiator. We didn’t double down on taxes at my firm, we tripled down on them. And it starts with understanding the importance of integrating tax planning, tax management, and tax preparation to your practice.”
Creating a marketing strategy and executing a plan – “The marketing plan keeps you focused and prevents you from chasing after the next shiny marketing object.”
Implementing a proven career path for the current and future advisors in your firm – A commitment to career development and Practice Management training…”allowed me and many other elite advisors around the country to effectively multiply our capabilities as a rainmaker and set up our practices to succeed far into the future.”
Gem #1 – Existential Threat
“Think about what your business would look like if you had to take off for five months like I did. Can you say with confidence that you have the right processes and people in place to sustain growth in your absence?”
Jason L Smith starts his book with his personal medical journey facing the mortality of a heart condition at 29 and effectively shares his story as a strong cautionary warning for all advisors. This personal challenge forced a change in his perspective and mindset that profoundly transformed how Smith viewed his career and life.
This moment forced him to think beyond the role of a mere salesperson and focus on building a sustainable business that could provide for his family and future, even if he were not around. This served as a wake-up call for him to think long-term, inspiring the creation of the Rainmaker Multiplier Method as a way to systemize, scale, and add genuine value in the financial planning industry.
This is a vitally important perspective for all advisors to actively face as many advisors do not have a succession plan in place or a strategy or processes that encourages and facilitates growth at their firm. There will come a time when they may need to step away from their firm. Without structure and process, it is nearly impossible to ensure your firm will continue to prosper without you.
Gem #2 – Rainmaker Multiplier Building Blocks
“What are no more than five things that would make the biggest difference in multiplying your capacity as a rainmaker if you started working on them today?”
As the author acknowledges, thinking about all the processes and systems you could add to your business can be like drinking out of a firehose. To help advisors clarify their next steps, he developed the Challenges and Priorities Worksheet to illuminate a path forward. The worksheet will help the advisor isolate, in their unique business, the areas that most need their attention and identify their priorities for moving forward. It acts as a catalyst for the advisor to choose their own path and adventure in creating and designing their own self-sustaining, scalable financial planning business.
After identifying challenges and priorities, the book outlines and lets you explore all the resources that Jason’s firm created to help fill in all the gaps in an advisor’s practice to achieve ultimate operating capacity in the following areas: holistic planning, marketing, profitable business lines, and practice management.
The author Jason L Smith brings a great deal of practical experience and proven methodology to his new practice/business management book as a best-selling author of The Bucket Plan book; CEO of his financial advisory firm JL Smith Holistic Wealth Management; Founder and CEO of nationally recognized planning-first RIAs, Prosperity Capital Advisors Founder; and CEO of C2P – an organization that educates, trains, and grows holistic advisors so families can achieve true prosperity.
Born out of necessity and real-world business and life challenges, Jason shares the business growth strategy he pioneered and used to build his self-sustaining, holistic, wealth management business. Documenting and outlining in detail his strategic thinking and the business processes and systems he created makes “The Rainmaker Multiplier” a comprehensive, self-sustaining, practice guide for financial advisors and an insightful treatise on financial services professional development.
This article was originally published here and is republished on Wealthtender with permission.
About the Author
Bill Hortz
Founder Institute for Innovation Development
Bill Hortz is an independent business consultant and Founder/Dean of the Institute for Innovation Development- a financial services business innovation platform and network. With over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry including expertise in sales/marketing/branding of asset management firms, as well as, creatively restructuring and developing internal/external sales and strategic account departments for 5 major financial firms, including OppenheimerFunds, Neuberger&Berman and Templeton Funds Distributors. His wide ranging experiences have led Bill to a strong belief, passion and advocation for strategic thinking, innovation creation and strategic account management as the nexus of business skills needed to address a business environment challenged by an accelerating rate of change.
