In our new Advisely series, we’re going to focus on what all great Xplan site administrators do to ensure the sites they manage are the best of their kind.
Great Xplan administrators possess a deep understanding of the system, enabling them to transform their sites into paragons of efficiency. We will highlight what these top-tier professionals do, illustrating the awesome benefits you can achieve by adopting proven strategies.
The financial services industry has changed. It's no longer enough to just deliver great advice. The entire client experience, from the first meeting through to ongoing service, is what sets you apart.
You can provide the best financial advice in the world, but if your process is haphazard, your data is all over the place and your clients feel like just another file, you may end up being perceived as a fast food outlet when you’re actually aiming for a Michelin-star fine dining experience.
Think of your Xplan site as the bustling kitchen of a five-star restaurant. What the client sees is the beautifully plated dish: the well-orchestrated meeting, the clear advice documents and the timely follow-ups.
They don't see the rigorous standards, the perfectly calibrated equipment or the seamless choreography of the kitchen team. That's the part that you, the Xplan administrator or practice manager, are responsible for. It’s the behind-the-scenes work that makes everything look effortless.
This series is your guide to turning that behind-the-scenes work into a five-star service signature dish.
We'll start by focusing on your mindset. To build a five-star practice, you need to think like a visionary leader. We'll explore how to cultivate the mindset of a chief executive who owns the vision, sets high standards and inspires their team to pursue excellence in every task.
But before you can cook, you need a kitchen. We'll dive into the essential foundations of your Xplan site, covering system settings, economic assumptions and field and interface design. Getting these non-negotiables right is like installing the proper kitchen equipment: it ensures a consistent and reliable environment for all your work.
A well-run kitchen has a clear chain of command and user setup perfection. We'll show you how to structure user hierarchies, groups, and access levels so every team member can work efficiently and flawlessly within their designated station.
Your team is your most important asset. We'll focus on the people in your practice, mastering the art of staff onboarding, continuous training and leveraging resources like the Iress Community and Iress Learning Centre to ensure your team can execute new menu items (or processes) perfectly.
Just like a chef's tools must be precise, those in an advice practice also need to be equipped with the tools they need. We will take you through how to configure the advice tools: everything from setting up your APL to model portfolios and FUM scales, so you can ensure every financial "dish" you create is precise, consistent and of the highest quality.
Standardised recipes are the secret to consistency in a kitchen. With Xplan it’s developing your templates for workflows, advice documents, emails and notes that are your secret to consistency in your advice practice. We’ll show you how to guarantee every client receives the same exceptional service, every single time.
A great chef always inspects every plate before it leaves the kitchen. We will show you how to use reporting to monitor quality and performance. By inspecting your data at "the pass," you can ensure accuracy, manage costs and get crucial feedback.
In our final article, we'll talk about the essential routines for refining your service. This includes reviewing your suppliers (datafeeds), updating your menu (templates) and always looking ahead to keep your practice running at peak performance.
Join us over the next few weeks as we dive into each of these areas in turn.
Where does your Xplan site fall on the spectrum from fast food service to Michelin star? And, more importantly, where do you want it to be?
Xplan Expert
