My family recently took our first trip to Hawaii. Yeah! Being a bit geeky, I spent some time researching the geology of the islands. As you probably know, the Hawaiian Islands were formed by volcanoes. These
volcanoes began over a hot spot on the ocean floor and over the course of many eruptions and thousands of years, the lava dome eventually broke the surface and became an island. The Hawaiian Islands were literally built from the ground up. Your practice should be no different.
You may be frustrated right now because you’re doing many of the right things, yet your business may still be down from its peak. But don’t despair. The Hawaiian Islands were busy erupting below the surface for many years before they finally popped above the surface. Likewise, as long as you continue to do everything right, your lava dome (revenue) will eventually break the surface (your previous revenue peak). It won’t take thousands of years like the Hawaiian Islands, but it will take persistent implementation of the right actions.
Here are three things you can do right now to build your lava dome.
1. Fix the fundamentals. Take the time to improve and enhance each aspect of how you run your business from marketing to sales to operations to customer service. If you don’t have the fundamentals in place, you cannot expect to generate sustainable growth.
2. Increase your confidence. By growing your confidence, you’ll grow your revenue. How? One simple way is you’ll ask for more referrals. If you have complete confidence that you can dramatically improve the lives of your clients, you will start asking everybody you know to do business with you. If you don’t have that confidence, see #1 above.
3. Be visible and vocal. Make an effort to talk to the media and try to get on TV, radio or quoted in the newspaper. If the public doesn’t hear from financial experts like you, they’re going to take their cues from the other talking heads on TV who may or may not be competent. By being visible and accessible, it lets clients and prospects know that you are leading from a position of strength, as opposed to hiding from a position of weakness.
History shows that great leaders rise to the occasion whether it’s Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, FDR and Winston Churchill during World War II or Nelson Mandela during South Africa‘s struggle for racial equality. You too can rise to the occasion and be the advisor in your community who takes charge of this environment and inspires others to take prudent financial action. By doing so, you’ll reinforce your clients’ decision to stay with you and you’ll attract new clients who are
moved by your resolve.
At times like this, your daily progress is not necessarily measured by revenue growth, but by persistently doing the right things day after day. Do that and the revenue will come sooner rather than later.
Related articles
- Hawaiian homeowner watches home engulfed by lava (telegraph.co.uk)
- Erupting volcano injures several Indonesians (msnbc.msn.com)
- Indonesian volcano erupts, 4 feared dead (cbc.ca)
