Last week we discussed how the upcoming industry reforms provide a valuable checkpoint to review and revisit your business’ strategy and direction.

With the year coming to a close, and the festive season providing a welcome break from the normal levels of activity, the next few weeks provide a timely opportunity to take stock of your business, how it went this year, and prepare for next year.

However, many people miss out on invaluable insight and opportunities when it comes to reviewing the performance of their business, and so, today I’m going to share with you what I believe to be the most important lesson to help you get the most out of your planning activities.

Now, you are probably thinking, “Reviewing how things went last year is easy. I know exactly how well my business performed.”

And that’s true. What business owner worth their salt doesn’t know exactly how well their business has performed? But do you know WHY?

For example, let’s assume we ran a campaign where our target was 80 responses, and 100 people responded. That would be a successful campaign wouldn’t it? Yes. What is the natural response? To reuse the same campaign next year. After all, it was successful right?

But let’s put aside the headline results and dig deeper.

Why was it successful? What about the campaign actually got people’s attention? Was it the intentional aspects of the campaign or was it something else? Could it have been influenced by external factors? How sure can we be of the effectiveness of the campaign independently of everything else?

Of the 100 people that responded, are there any common characteristics across the group? For example, if 60 of them happen to be couples, does that give us any useful information? If we knew that 75 of the respondents all live in the suburbs could that help us to refine and improve the campaign for next year?

And whilst I have used a campaign as the scenario, this same type of analysis can be applied across the board.

Of all the new clients that your business picked up this year, are there any interesting or recurring themes in the mix? Do any of these trends indicate a new potential opportunity for your business? Perhaps your business has predominantly been focused on retirees, but digging further into your new clients indicates that quite a few young professionals have been signing up. Does this indicate an opportunity to open up and focus on a new market for your business?

Alternatively, one of your planners has a far higher rate of success than the rest of your team. Why are they a standout performer? What is it about how they engage clients that makes them such a high performer? Is there something you can learn from this that you can use to either help the rest of your team or improve the business?

All of the examples above point to an extra level of inquisitiveness, an insatiable curiosity and desire to understand and find out the WHY behind the success.

And this represents the greatest missed opportunity of all in the planning process that, unfortunately, many people fall for.

Focusing on the headline results is easy. Reporting a profit is easy. Presenting a campaign as a success is easy. Celebrating a client that has brought $1 million in FUM is easy.

On the other hand, understanding why it all worked out is much harder.

But if you want to get to the nuggets of gold, if you really want to find the opportunities that lie in your business, then it pays to go beyond the headline figures and dig deeper into the WHY. That’s the insight that will help to drive the next round of success for your business.

So as you start to plan and prepare for next year, remember to dig deeper into your business. It might take a bit more effort but the insight you gain can make all the difference in your plans for next year.

And on that note, from the E&W team, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We will be back again in early January.

Lap-Tin