PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 19

cover story
A ground plan for making all clients profitable clients
DESIGN
STRIKING the right balance between client service and profitability is more of an art form than a science,
but it is an important exercise for every retirement plan advisory practice to utilize. Blue Prairie Group
LLC took a deep look into this issue last year, tracking how many hours the team spent working on each
client's plan, who did what, as well as rating the difficulty of working with each client. " One thing I
felt we weren't doing as good a job on as we could was segmenting our client-service model, " recalls Ty
Parrish, managing partner and senior Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) consultant at
the Chicago advisory firm.
Based on how much time it spent with each client, Blue Prairie backed into an estimated hourly rate
it earned, and then used that rate to analyze client profitability. " We realized we were over-serving our
small clients, " Parrish says. " We decided to have a conversation with those clients about our being paid for
the actual services being delivered, or to possibly trim back the frequency of service delivery. In the end,
we were able to right-size our business. "
For advisers who may recognize it is time to evaluate-and increase-their profitability, here are some
key strategies that can help in the effort:
Segment your service model. Blue Prairie Group has segmented its plan clients by a combination of
services required and revenue received. " We can tweak the service levels based on a client's needs and
budget requirements, " Parrish says. For example, some clients receive an in-depth qualified default investment
alternative (QDIA) due-diligence report every year, while others get that reporting every three years.
Art by Jun Cen
planadviser.com November-December 2018 | 19

http://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/november_december_2018/TrackLink.action?pageName=19&exitLink=http%3A%2F%2Fplanadviser.com

PLANADVISER - November/December 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PLANADVISER - November/December 2018

Weathering Audits
Protection for Your Practice
The Case for Roths
SEC on Rollovers
ERISA Section 409(b)
403(b) Litigation Update
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - C1
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - FC1
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - FC2
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - C2
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 1
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 2
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 3
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 4
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 5
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 6
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 7
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 8
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 9
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 10
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 11
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 12
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 13
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 14
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 15
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 16
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 17
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 18
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 19
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 20
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 21
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 22
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 23
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 24
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 25
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 26
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 27
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 28
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 29
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 30
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 31
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 32
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 33
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 34
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 35
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 36
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 37
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - Weathering Audits
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 39
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 40
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 41
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - Protection for Your Practice
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 43
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - The Case for Roths
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 45
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - SEC on Rollovers
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - ERISA Section 409(b)
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - 403(b) Litigation Update
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - C3
PLANADVISER - November/December 2018 - C4
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/winter_2023
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/fall_2023
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/summer_2023
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/industryleader_2023
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/spring_2023
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/november_december_2022
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/september_october_2022
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/july_august_2022
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/may_june_2022
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/industry_leader_awards_2022
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/march_april_2022
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/january_february_2022
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/november_december_2021
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/september_october_2021
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/july_august_2021
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/may_june_2021
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/march_april_2021
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/january_february_2021
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/november_december_2020
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/september_october_2020
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/july_august_2020
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/may_june_2020
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/march_april_2020
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/january_february_2020
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/november_december_2019
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/september_october_2019
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/july_august_2019
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/may_june_2019
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/march_april_2019
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/january_february_2019
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/november_december_2018
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/september_october_2018
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/july_august_2018
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/may_june_2018
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/march_april_2018
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/january_february_2018
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/november_december_2017
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/september_october_2017
https://www.planadviserdigital.com/planadviser/july_august_2017
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com