How Are You Tracking Success in 2025?
The concept of success has shifted dramatically. Post-COVID, the dynamics of advisor engagement have transformed significantly. Many advisors are no longer consistently in their offices, necessitating careful planning and strategic execution to ensure daily activities target the right advisors. Additionally, advisors are consolidating their business, working with fewer firms than ever before.
To remain competitive, financial firms need to position themselves as a top 3-4 partner in their advisors’ business. Measuring progress is no longer about merely tallying up activities or focusing on gross figures without context. For financial firms navigating the complexities of 2025, success depends on evaluating outcomes that align with strategic goals, ensuring measurable ROI, and optimizing the use of resources—whether it’s financial investment, intellectual capital, or time spent engaging with advisors. This blog delves into how firms can establish benchmarks, assess the effectiveness of external wholesalers, and highlight why tracking meaningful metrics is crucial.
The Case Against Activity for Activity’s Sake
Traditional measures of activity, such as the number of meetings held or calls made, are becoming obsolete. Modern firms recognize that busywork does not equate to meaningful progress. Instead, the focus has shifted to evaluating the outcomes of those activities. For example, a wholesaler who frequently meets with advisors or organizes numerous roadshows cannot be deemed successful unless those efforts lead to tangible results, such as increased sales or stronger relationships.
The critical question is: How effective is each activity in driving measurable results?
Focusing on the efficiency and impact of activities enables firms to:
Prioritize initiatives with a higher return on investment (ROI).
Avoid allocating resources to unproductive or redundant efforts.
Ensure alignment with overarching strategic goals.
The Role of Sales Leadership
Effective sales leadership plays a pivotal role in driving higher productivity, profitability, and alignment with the overall goals of the firm. By providing clear direction, establishing performance benchmarks, and fostering a results-driven culture, sales leaders can:
Enhance Productivity: Sales leaders ensure that external wholesalers focus their efforts on high-impact activities with high-impact advisors/teams by leveraging data and metrics to identify where their time and resources will yield the highest returns. Leadership also facilitates training and development programs that equip the team with the skills and tools necessary to succeed.
Drive Profitability: By aligning sales strategies with the firm’s broader objectives, sales leadership ensures that resources are allocated effectively, reducing waste and maximizing ROI. Additionally, sales leaders can identify opportunities to deepen relationships with high-value advisors, driving incremental revenue and profitability.
Align with Strategic Goals: Sales leaders act as a bridge between the firm’s strategic vision and the day-to-day activities of wholesalers. By communicating clear priorities and tracking progress against key performance metrics, leadership ensures that all sales efforts contribute to the firm’s overarching mission and objectives.
Sales leadership also fosters collaboration across teams, promoting a unified approach to market challenges and opportunities. This holistic view of performance enables firms to pivot strategically when needed, ensuring sustained growth and success. actively facilitated expansion opportunities.
Key Sales Performance Metrics (KPIs) for 2025
To comprehensively track success, financial firms must adopt a results-oriented approach by monitoring key sales performance metrics. These metrics provide actionable insights and form the foundation of effective evaluation systems:
Gross Sales: Gross sales represent the total dollar amount of new business generated. While this metric provides a baseline indicator of a wholesaler’s performance, it must be contextualized with other data to avoid overemphasizing volume over value.
Net Sales: Net sales—calculated as gross sales minus redemptions or withdrawals—offer a clearer picture of sustainable growth. High gross sales paired with high redemptions may indicate a misalignment between the firm’s offerings and advisor needs.
Sales Growth Rate: This metric measures the percentage increase in sales over a specified period. Tracking growth rates can reveal whether sales strategies are scalable and provide valuable insights into long-term performance trends.
Sales by Product: Breaking down sales by specific financial products or solutions helps firms pinpoint which offerings resonate most with advisors. This data guides product development, resource allocation, and marketing strategies.
Sales by Firm: Analyzing sales performance across targeted firms allows wholesalers to refine their focus. For instance, identifying firms with untapped potential but low engagement can help inform future outreach strategies.
Segmented Advisors: Measuring the percentage of sales generated from segmented advisors—those prioritized based on potential or strategic importance—ensures resources are allocated where they can drive the greatest impact.The Ripple Effect on the Moveable Middle
New Advisor Relationships: Tracking the number of new financial advisor relationships established is critical for expanding the firm’s market reach. A strong focus on new relationships ensures the firm remains competitive and forward-looking.
Market Share: How does the sales representative capture their fair share of the market compared to competitors? Are they actively growing market share within their territory, or merely maintaining the firm’s average? Consistent growth indicates a healthy and expanding territory.
Relationship Management Metrics
Beyond sales performance, firms must evaluate success through metrics that reflect relationship management and operational efficiency. These metrics ensure that growth is not only achieved but also sustained over time:
Retention Rate: The percentage of advisors retained year over year reflects the strength and consistency of the firm’s relationships. High retention rates indicate strong advisor loyalty and effective engagement strategies.
Share of Wallet: This metric measures the percentage of an advisor’s total business captured by the firm. A growing share of wallets demonstrates trust, alignment with advisor needs, and deepened partnerships.
Revenue Contribution: Tracking the dollar amount of revenue generated by individual advisors or firms highlights the financial value of key relationships. Identifying high-contribution partners enables targeted relationship management.
Profitability per Client: Evaluating the net profit generated per advisor or firm provides insight into the efficiency and value of specific relationships, helping prioritize high-value clients.
Expense-to-Sales Ratio: This metric compares total expenses incurred with sales generated, ensuring that resources are deployed efficiently and that profitability is not undermined by excessive costs.
ROI on T&E and Event Spend: By tracking ROI on travel, entertainment, and event expenditures, firms can optimize their resource allocation, focusing on high-impact activities that yield the greatest returns.
Why These Metrics Matter
Focusing on these comprehensive metrics provides a nuanced view of success that aligns with organizational objectives. Here’s why they are indispensable:
Maximizing ROI: Measuring success per activity ensures that financial, intellectual, and human capital is utilized efficiently. Metrics like segmented advisor sales confirm whether targeted efforts deliver the desired returns.
Enhancing Advisor Engagement: Relationship metrics such as new advisor relationships and retention rates reflect how effectively wholesalers connect with advisors and address their evolving needs.
Aligning with Strategy: Metrics like sales by product and share of wallet highlight whether a firm’s offerings meet market demands and advisor priorities.
Ensuring Sustainability: Sales growth rates and net sales offer insights into whether the firm’s success is consistent, scalable, and built for the long term.
As the financial services industry evolves, the definition of success must adapt to meet new challenges and opportunities. Success in 2025 will be determined by results-driven metrics that move beyond traditional activity tracking. By focusing on the impact of each action and emphasizing ROI, financial firms can ensure their resources—money, intellectual capital, and time—are deployed effectively. Adopting a strategic approach to measurement and evaluation will not only help firms track success but also amplify their achievements in an increasingly competitive landscape.