Kestle: My big move was really creating a blueprint for a planning process. So in that transition from more of a transactional-based business, we created a process. That process was decumulation and retirement income oriented. So we spent a lot of time and a lot of effort distilling down our ideas and processes so that we can sit with a client and know where to start with the income planning process and create one step, two step, three step, creating a foundation, knowing what priorities to withdraw, and then in surplus situations, what do you do with the excess and how do you get it to the next generation. That really was my training ground and gave me a track to run on, as a financial advisor, and I really took that to heart. We practiced it well, we practiced it often, we focused on it and that really accelerated me and got me to where I am today.

Heckert: OK. Dana, what was your big move? You just made Top of the Table this year.

Mitchell: Just made Top of the Table and I went from – I'm a runner, so a running analogy: I spent some time at the start of my career working out how to run, getting all dressed and ready. And then when I got to the starting block, I made MDRT, but really quickly made Court of the Table and then not long after, made Top of the Table. And those are significant jumps. And I think the jump between Court of the Table and Top of the Table happened really fast. And it happened because we got really intentional with the clients that we decided to take on. In each, we set a goal, a really low goal for the number of ideal clients we needed so that we could get super picky. And then each person that came to us, we didn't assume they would be a client. It was a little bit like dating.

Each relationship and person that came in, our goal was to leave them better off than when they arrived, but we wouldn't necessarily take on the work; we'd refer out the work. When we became really intentional about those clients, then we had the time to invest in them, and then were able to replicate just them. One year, I got a ribbon on my MDRT thing for writing 150 lives, and I actually thought, “I was not aiming for that ribbon.” And my goal is not to get that ribbon again because that's a lot of work. And so now we're working really, really smart by having that two-way conversation. That's one thing that leveled us up. The other thing was just getting really intentional about our process and making sure that everyone in our office knew what it is.

And we're not a big office. We've got an investment specialist, an actuary, two other advisors, and three support staff. But if everyone knew the process really, really well and we customized everything, then it would be really easy to take a client through the process because we wouldn't have to rethink it. And I wouldn't be worried that I would say something different than my business partner, Stephanie. And with the confidence in the process, I was able to divide the work, knowing what was going to happen if she did it versus I did it, and I knew her advice was similar, but I knew it would look the same on paper and that felt really good.

Heckert: OK. So Addie, I know if you got a ribbon that said 150 lives, that would be a mistake, but you run a different practice than I do and it's high-net-worth. But how did you make your big move? What was that point in your career where you made that leap?

Murdock: Well, you won't be surprised if you know Dana and myself, that it's not all about process for me. For us, it was about constantly adapting to change. We do a lot of really big cases, but less in a year. And so every single one is dramatically different. We really have to make sure that we're prepared to pivot and adjust and modify what we're doing to work for each situation. And so that happened with little steps over long periods of time where we were able to grow our business because our family grew. I'm second-generation, so our company started out with my stepfather and mother, and then I was the first child to join the business and then my three brothers ended up coming in as well. So that gave us more bodies that know what we do inside and out to expand, but we had to adapt.

We were in different locations, so we had to figure out what technology worked for us. The market changes dramatically for the ultra-wealthy, so you have to be on top of your game when it comes to the details and things that they need to know and hear. We also take an education approach, so we work with advisors a lot. We're teaming up with understanding in the market and how we can work together to really educate people that are highly knowledgeable.

Heckert: What do you mean, like the legal advisors?

Murdock: Exactly, exactly. Yeah. And family office advisors and people like that are surrounded with teams of advisors. So if you're not learning how to adapt and work together, educate each other in a non-competitive way, those were all little steps that we took that really took us to that next level.