AFS Group (AFS) has singled out the value of Boards of Advice and the accountability that comes with them as the keys to success for practices emerging from the global economic downturn.
The bottom line value of Boards of Advice to AFS practices is revealed in starkly contrasting revenue growth figures, during a period of major downturn across the financial services industry, of those practices in the Group that have operated under Boards of Advice for some time, compared with the rest:
- Average revenue growth over the last 12 months for 18 AFS practices who have operated under Boards of Advice for some time: +34%
- Average revenue growth over the last 12 months for 42 AFS practices who have yet to adopt Boards of Advice: - 2%
AFS MD and CEO, Peter Daly, believes that practices operating under the AFS Board of Advice structure have demonstrated a high level of success in achieving their goals because of the value external advice can offer and in particular because of the accountability they encourage:
Boards of Advice bring with them a degree of accountability…
“Boards of Advice bring with them a degree of accountability, with the head of each practice sharing accountability for practice performance with his/her key advisers,” said Mr Daly.
Mr Daly continued that any practice sets the goals it wants to achieve, but that Boards of Advice are able to assist the practice establish goals that are appropriate for that practice and then work with it to develop and implement the best strategies to achieve those goals.
Key elements include:
- The importance of developing an achievable budget
- Converting the budget and strategy plans to monthly targets
- Determine current versus goal income
- Set pricing structures that will achieve the goal income targets
- Determine what is required in terms of how many clients will be needed, how many appointments needed each week/month
- Address the gaps between the vision that is established by the practice principal and Board of Advice and current ‘reality’
Over time, Mr Daly said that the growing number of AFS practices adopting Boards of Advice will be in a position to collectively share their expertise with the newer, less experienced practices, building value across the entire Group.
Boards of Advice are … there to give advice and to challenge
Mr Daly stressed that Boards of Advice are not there to make decisions or to judge, but rather, they are there to give advice and to challenge. “Our job is to go and challenge,” said Mr Daly.
The structure of Boards of Advice within AFS also continues to be refined, with the introduction from this month of consulting group, Elixir Consulting, as an additional external reference point to augment current and future Boards of Advice.
There are now 42 practices within AFS who have a Board of Advice and this number is expected to grow to 60 over the next year.
