You’re in business because your clients look to you for help solving their financial problems. They might not have the skills or the knowledge to do it themselves. So instead of spending their time and energy learning, they bring in an expert who can shortcut the learning curve. That’s the spirit of “Who Not How,” a book by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy. Essentially, it’s much more efficient to solve problems with the right people instead of spending precious time and energy trying to solve the “how” yourself.
However, even you can’t be all things to all people. You may have expertise in the financial space, yet at some point, there’s going to be a limit to what you know and the problems you can solve. So just like your clients are bringing you in to solve financial problems, you should leverage other people when you hit the limits of your interests, passions, or skills. It’s not about ego, at the end of the day; it’s about prioritizing what’s important to you, so you can work in your “zone of genius” as much and as long.
How to Use “Who Not How”
When you run into a problem in your business, instead of asking “how do I solve this” you should be asking “who can I leverage to solve this problem?” The point of this exercise is to help business owners stop spinning their wheels. How many times have you hit a snag and decided to power through it, even if the problem wasn’t fully in your wheelhouse? Wasting time and energy can be costly because, at the end of the day, it’s an opportunity cost as well. What money could you have made if you weren’t spending unnecessary time on a task?
The advantage of finding people rather than solutions is not only that you free up your calendar on a one-time basis. Ideally, the person you bring in to solve the problem is going to have a whole wealth of abilities that you can leverage in your business. So time and time again, this person can solve problems without you ever realizing a problem existed in the first place. And all the while, you’re doing what you do best, so you can continue to bring money into the business.
How to Find Your “Who”
Finding your “who” will largely depend on the problems you’re facing. For example, if you’re continuously having administrative errors, or dropping the ball on your CRM, you’re probably looking for someone with Virtual Assistance experience. You might have to vet a few people and reach into your network to find someone who is the right fit for you and your business. And a company like Financial VA can help you train that VA in the most streamlined and simple way.
If you’re an expert in a specific “arena” of finance, you might find you need some help when you come across clients who have different needs or requests. For example, if you’re good at working with young, middle-class families and you come across a high-net-worth family, you might want to bring in the big guns. This is not to say that you would be incapable of helping that family. However, they may have different needs and interests that someone who regularly works with high-net-worth families may understand better. Bringing that advisor in on the case can make a vast difference: contributing to your client’s trust in you, as well as your own knowledge. While you may be hesitant to split a case, remember that just because you bring a client in doesn’t guarantee a sale. Joint work explodes those odds when you bring in someone who specializes in that type of client.
You might also be a more conceptual advisor than a “numbers” advisor, in which case your “who” may be someone who can train you, like Todd Langford. Not only has he created a suite of calculators (which includes the powerful whole life calculator) called Truth Concepts. He also offers special training sessions a few times a year. Attending these can boost your knowledge and know-how. So in this case, your “who” may be a person you go to when you want to level up your skills.
The Power of Staying Connected
There may be other people you’ll want to reach out to and form relationships with over the course of your business. Being involved in a community and building a solid network can get you far. When you have a community to rely on, finding your “who” becomes so much easier. That’s because in a community, someone is bound to have been where you are now. They know the challenges you might be facing, and they already have people who can help you solve them.
Or, if you are looking for joint work, being a part of a community gives you some insight into who is working with what kinds of clientele. You can easily identify different strengths so you can work on building a roster of advisors who might be good partners for you in the future. If you want to be a part of a wider advisor community, we warmly invite you to join Prosperity Economics Advisors. We have several membership levels, all of which have a social component that you can leverage for your network. You’ll get to know other faces in the community, and build those relationships. For more information, connect with our community guide, Janet Sims, at janet@pem.email.
