I am going to focus on this concept of adapt and thrive and touch on a couple of ideas that I think will be near and dear to your heart. We are going to focus on evolving client relationships and how you can deepen those relationships and really position yourself to grow your practice into the future.

When you think about the current situation that we are navigating, I truly believe we are approaching a window to this real opportunity, this defining moment when it is the decisions you make and the actions you take right now that can prepare you to succeed in the future. I think what we are experiencing right now is an accelerating cycle of disruption. That is absolutely true for the insurance and financial services category. And capturing these defining moments, these opportunities is actually something that my team and I have devoted the last five years to studying.

We have spent a lot of time covering your category, and so I am going to present three insights out of that research that I think will be relevant to your client relationships and growing your practice.

The first insight to position you to thrive into the future is that you have to brand the client experience. And by brand, I simply mean you want to create an identity, standards of excellence, process discipline, a way you go to market, engage, tell your story and manage relationships that differentiates you from the competition and that resonates with clients in a meaningful and significant way.

You do not want satisfied clients. You want loyal clients, where you are the trusted advisor. When it comes to wealth, money and planning, you are the linchpin. You are the first phone call. That is loyalty. But there is another kind of client that is emerging through this period of time, and that is the evangelist. That is the client who tells everybody else what a rock star you are. Think about where we are in the world today — the connected economy.

How do you turn clients into evangelists? Specifically, here is what clients want from an advisor today: They want more human interactions. In this era of technology and interconnectedness, in robo-advisors, what clients really want is the blend. They want sophisticated, robust access to technology and real-time information, and then expertise and guidance from their advisor to make critical decisions. You have the ability to take complex information, distill it and convey it in a way that elevates clients’ confidence in making informed decisions.

We have talked a lot about customization and that you have got to be easy to do business with. I am now a client of NorthRock Partners. And the NorthRock value proposition is something we talked about — personalization and customization. It is this idea of personal office experience — getting to know me, my values, my plans, my goals and customizing a whole bevy of services around that relationship so that I can truly become the best version of who I am. That is the NorthRock value proposition. That is the commitment. What does that mean in practical terms and execution? For me, both from a personal perspective and as a small business owner, they are the centerpiece of all of my financial decisions.

I am not suggesting you replicate the NorthRock formula, but what I am showing you is the innovation, the evolution. Their commitment is to deliver more for their clients and customize services around what a lot of their clients need, which is time. And what does that make me? An evangelist.

What is your unique value proposition? What are you doing that is authentic, differentiated and compelling that can give more to your clients? This brings me to the next insight of the research: You have got to prepare. You have got to prepare to guide clients through this unique moment in time.

A little bit of thought, preparation, research and homework could dramatically improve the probability to earn the ideal conversion or commitment, the callback, which is really the third question of the growth audit. What do you do well? What could you do differently to earn a commitment?

And let’s face it, practice growth, selling, is all about earning a commitment. It is not necessarily a yes the first time out, but it’s small decisions, logical sequential commitments to move the process forward until you earn that partnership.

This is the opportunity to grow between now and 2025. And the linchpin of growth is about trust. You have got to be able to earn trust in the early stages of these conversations. How do you build trust? No. 1 is benevolence. It’s just kindness, friendliness. Trustworthy people do what they say they are going to do when they say they are going to do it, all of the time. And then there is competency. This is a real moment in time where you can demonstrate your competency.

The good news is, you can start building trust and demonstrating competency before you ever have that first meeting. We are living in the connected economy. There has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur or an advisor. And I know this personally. I can compete with anybody anywhere in the world today on the strength of my reputation and my relationships. Increasingly, I can influence them online. That’s new. And I think it’s leveling the playing field and creating a unique opportunity, but you have got to participate. You have got to be there.

Ric Edelman, one of the fastest growing RIAs in the U.S., tells people we are not a financial services company. We are not in that business. We are a technology and media company delivering financial services because those are the mediums where we can create exponential growth and impact. But the time is now, which brings me to the last insight from the research: the TAN plan. TAN is simply an acronym that stands for Take Action Now. The most important minute of MDRT will be what happens at 8:01 a.m. when you get back to your business. You have made an investment to be here, you have earned the right to be here, and you are carving out time to participate in this conference. What are you going to do with the information that you get, and how are you going to put that into practice?

You think about where you want to be at the end of 2020. This has been a unique year, no doubt about it. But as you move through this conference, think about three ideas that you could take from it. And committing to taking action on those ideas will create some momentum and move your practice in the right direction over the next 30 days.

Something that’s been helpful to me as a small business owner is consulting my PBOD, my Personal Board of Directors. This is a group of people whom I assembled. I respect their expertise, insight and perspective, and I have access to reach out to them when I am on the cusp of making a strategic decision in my business, to utilize them as a sounding board or to get access to expertise, information and perspective that I might not have.

I would also consider extending this concept and cultivating a CAB, or Client Advisory Board. You have four or five of your best clients whom you can consult with on a regular basis about the evolution of your services, your offering, your process and your client engagement. You will be able to iterate your practice in lockstep with what your clients value the most, and the future is going to be yours to take.

I hope these insights were helpful in capturing this defining moment and adapting and thriving well into the future. I also hope this is the beginning of a conversation.

Ryan Estis is a business-performance expert who helps companies and individuals embrace change, accelerate growth and achieve breakthrough performance in the new economy. The former chief strategy officer for McCann-Erickson Advertising, Estis was recently recognized as one of the best keynote speakers in America by Meetings & Conventions magazine. His growing training and development organization, Ryan Estis & Associates, specializes in keynotes, seminars and online learning. His work has been featured in Workforce Management magazine, HR Professional magazine, Business News Network and Crain’s Business.