Last week, a successful financial advisor reminded me that it's not the bold strategic initiatives that typically pay dividends, rather it's executing on the little things that most often makes a big difference.

This advisor had attended a workshop I did early last year in which I discussed the idea of regular focus on a short list of high priority prospects. He described how he'd used this idea as the jumping off point to add 15 minutes to his weekly Monday morning team meeting, something that has led to a doubling in the number of new clients.

On the agenda for his weekly team meeting, this section is called "hot list review" - there are three parts to this agenda item.

Part1 - Progress in the past week:

First, this advisor and his team talk about one, two or three prospects that were identified for follow up at last week's meeting.  For each prospect that was highlighted, whoever was responsible for follow up (most often the advisor himself) leads a short discussion of what happened and any next steps arising from this.

Part 2 - To do in the coming week

Next, all members of the team review the "prospect hot list", typically consisting of 10 to 15 priority prospects who have shown interest over the past while. Prospects could have displayed this interest by attending an event this advisor put on for clients, via casual conversation at a community event or by a positive response during a phone conversation or meeting; they could also have been introduced by an existing client or a professional referral source.

The prospect hot list consists of five columns:

Prospect name:

Hot buttons:

Last contact:

Possible follow up:

Follow up responsibility:

The advisor and his team go through each name on the hot list, identifying opportunities to get in touch with them in the coming week. They then assign responsibility for follow up based on prospects' hot button concerns and new developments, materials or resources that respond to those concerns. Hot buttons could include investment related topics such as market valuations, interest rate forecasts, volatility and portfolio risk, diversification opportunities, global investing or opportunities in alternative investments or specific stocks or sectors; they could also include broader wealth management issues related to tax or estate planning or charitable giving strategies.

This advisor's goal is to walk out of each meeting with at least one prospect for follow up, with something concrete and specific to draw to their attention.

Part 3 - Updating the hot list

In the last section of this meeting, this advisor and his team ask two questions about the prospects on the hot list:

First, is there anyone on this list who's not really a hot prospect, who shouldn't be there?

Second, are there prospects that should be on the prospect hot list but aren't?

Why this worked

Since beginning this exercise, this advisor has seen the number of new clients double, with significant success in bringing those hot button prospects on board.

In my view, there are four reasons for this success.

1.       His discipline in concentrating on a small number of target prospects each week.

2.       His consistent habit of asking prospects about the biggest concerns with regard to their finances, the questions they'd most like to answer and the problems they'd most like to solve. And then he'd carefully note the answers to those questions.

3.        The focus on approaching prospects with new information that addresses those priority concerns.

4.       He makes it crystal clear to prospects that he's given their situation individual thought and attention and is calling about their specific issues.

When he gets prospects' voicemail, he typically leaves a message along the lines of:

"It's Dan Richards. When we spoke last, you said you're looking at getting more exposure to emerging markets and China in particular. This week's Economist has a special report on emerging markets. Let me know if you have 20 minutes for a coffee in the next couple of weeks, would like to sit down and discuss this."

Or this voicemail could be more specific still:

"It's Dan Richards. In our last conversation, you mentioned that you were debating what to do with your holding in RIM. You may recall that I suggested selling half your holding and taking the tax hit. I'm calling because our research analyst has just come out with an update on RIM. Give me a call if you'd like to talk about this."

This advisor made the point that it's incredibly easy to get bogged down by the sheer volume of things to do each day.  By focusing fifteen minutes a week on his highest potential prospects, he's seen significant progress in converting prospects into clients.

This simple strategy worked for this advisor - and if executed with the same discipline and priority as this advisor, it can work for you as well.