Supernova was born out of too much success. You might wonder how success spurred on the need for advisors to segment their clients and give them a higher level of service. There was so much success, in terms of clients coming in, that the advisors were accepting more clients then they could possibly service. Advisors had 400, 500 and even 1,000 clients. When the markets started to decline those same clients took their assets and went elsewhere causing a very high attrition rate. Is this happening to you today? Do you talk to your clients every month? Do you find it hard to say no to new clients that are below your minimum?
Rob Knapp and his colleagues did their homework and found the clients didn’t have any allegiance to the firm because they weren’t being served. Thus Supernova was born out of the need to create client loyalty. At first advisors cut their practices down but not sufficiently enough to give them the time to have a life or grow their business. Today we know that 100 clients is the maximum you can manage while still having time for recovery and prospecting. John Hess, who worked closely with Rob, developed the “Hess Report” to help advisors keep track of and schedule appointments with clients. Today we have created the Supernova 12/4/2 Scheduling Tool to achieve that same goal. Another innovation that has evolved is giving every client a plan and full implementation of that plan. Over the years advisors have found ‘he who owns the plan owns the client’.
When Supernova started advisors had 5 folders on their desk everyday and those folders were made up on a daily basis to accommodate the clients of the day. Today each client has his or her own Supernova folder with the client of the day’s placed on the FA’s desk every day. We now give each client a Mini-Me folder to keep track of their questions and concerns between appointments.
Other changes to Supernova include raising your minimum annually, establishing a powerful brand in the client’s mind (through the exceptional service model) and giving control of the Gameboard to the office manager. We also have developed a 90/6/4 structure (90 prospects, 6 Center’s of Influence and a 4 member Mastermind Group) and treat these groups like they were clients with folders and structured contact. The acquisition strategy now includes asking for advice from clients in terms of how to approach new referrals.
Supernova will continue to evolve along with the industry because unlike other practice management models it truly encompasses the best practices of financial advisors everywhere and crafts those best practices into simple, workable rituals.