In this episode, Ray Sclafani discusses the implications of avoiding growth targets in business. He highlights a case where a company decided to stop setting growth targets to focus on client service. However, he argues that this decision led to challenges in managing capacity, planning succession, and fulfilling client promises. The conversation emphasizes the importance of balancing client service with the need for growth targets to ensure effective business management.

Key Takeaways

1. Growth happens whether you plan or not
2. Track revenue per professional, revenue per client, and time per client segment
3. Map retirements against junior advisor readiness and create a 3–5 year development plan
4. Let data guide leadership decisions by using dashboards and metrics to prevent overextension and burnout
5. Prevent “success outgrowing structure” by conducting quarterly capacity checks to evaluate workload, client demand, and team readiness

Find Ray and the ClientWise Team on the ClientWise website or LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

To join one of the largest digital communities of financial advisors, visit exchange.clientwise.com.

In this episode, Ray Sclafani discusses the importance of finishing the year strong and how it impacts the upcoming year. He emphasizes the need for a proactive mindset, strategies for success, and the significance of setting clear goals. He also covers overcoming challenges and maintaining motivation as key components of achieving success.

Key Takeaways

1. How you finish the year will determine how you start next year.
2. Set clear goals for the new year to guide your actions.
3. Overcoming challenges is part of the journey to success.
4. Reflect on your progress this year to identify areas for improvement.
5. Mindset shifts can lead to breakthroughs in performance.

For more information click here to visit The ClientWise Blog.

Find Ray and the ClientWise Team on the ClientWise website or LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

To join one of the largest digital communities of financial advisors, visit exchange.clientwise.com.

In this episode, Ray Sclafani discusses the critical importance of having a well-defined compensation philosophy in financial advisory firms. He highlights the common pitfalls of compensation planning without a clear strategy and emphasizes the need for a structured approach that aligns pay with performance, culture, and profitability. The conversation covers the essential building blocks of a strong compensation philosophy, how to implement it effectively, and the impact it has on employee engagement and trust in leadership.

Key Takeaways

1. More than half the industry lacks a clear compensation strategy.
2. Clear pay philosophies lead to lower turnover rates.
3. Transparency in compensation processes fosters trust among employees.
4. Regularly review and adapt your compensation philosophy to align with business changes.
5. Involve team members in defining key performance metrics.
6. A strong compensation philosophy reflects the firm's values and leadership style.

For more information click here to visit the Best in the Business Blog.

Find Ray and the ClientWise Team on the ClientWise website or LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

To join one of the largest digital communities of financial advisors, visit exchange.clientwise.com.

In this episode, Ray Sclafani explores how advisory firm leaders can move from solo leadership to shared, high-performing teams. Using the metaphor of a musical ensemble, Ray shares lessons from his high school band and real-world coaching with billion-dollar firms to show how clarity, trust, and accountability create lasting success. Learn how to define team roles, foster trust, and lead through leadership transitions while keeping your firm’s performance in harmony.

Key Takeaways 

• Leadership is most effective when responsibility is shared across the team.
• Clear roles help every team member understand how they contribute to the bigger picture.
• Trust among team members strengthens performance and accountability.
• Transitions in leadership are opportunities to evolve and sustain firm value.
• Every team member’s contribution is essential, like instruments in a symphony.

Click here for the Decision Making Problem Solving Model™. 

Find Ray and the ClientWise Team on the ClientWise website or LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

To join one of the largest digital communities of financial advisors, visit exchange.clientwise.com.

The advisory industry is facing one of its greatest challenges yet; a looming shortfall of nearly 100,000 advisors over the next decade. In this episode of Building the Billion Dollar Business, host Ray Sclafani unpacks how firms can overcome the "Great Talent Squeeze" and become an employer of choice for next-generation advisors. Ray explores the critical mindset, cultural shifts, and strategic investments firms must make to attract, develop, and retain elite talent not just for today, but for the future of the business.

Key Takeaways
1. Culture isn’t invisible, it’s your most powerful advantage. Build an environment rooted in trust, inclusion, and authentic leadership to attract the best.

2. Next-gen advisors expect modern tools. Investing in technology signals that your firm is forward-thinking and committed to advisor productivity.

3. Go beyond salary. Explore rev-share, equity, or performance-based incentives to align advisor goals with firm success.

4. Recruit ahead of capacity needs, benchmark compensation, and hold out for the right candidates to strengthen long-term growth.

5. Focus on potential and leadership qualities. Build a clear career path and communicate it early in the hiring process.

Click here for CFP Board 2024 Compensation Study

Find Ray and the ClientWise Team on the ClientWise website or LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

To join one of the largest digital communities of financial advisors, visit exchange.clientwise.com.

In this short but powerful episode, Ray Sclafani tackles a topic many financial advisors avoid: pricing. As firms expand their services beyond portfolio management into multi-generational planning, tax coordination, and family governance, their value has increased, but too often, their pricing hasn’t.

Ray challenges advisory leaders to view pricing not as a financial figure, but as a leadership decision that impacts enterprise value, team compensation, and client perception. He breaks down the mindset and mechanics required to evolve your pricing model with clarity, confidence, and consistency.

This episode is a must-listen for firms committed to delivering premium services and ready to price like it.

Key Takeaways

1. Most advisory firms are undercharging, not because clients can’t pay more, but because firms haven’t clearly defined and communicated their value.
2. Legacy pricing models (flat AUM basis points) are misaligned with modern, complex service offerings.
3. Advisors must embrace clarity, confidence, and consistency in how they present pricing.
4. Top firms are evolving with tiered basis points, flat planning fees, and project-based pricing to reflect complexity.

Find Ray and the ClientWise Team on the ClientWise website or LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

To join one of the largest digital communities of financial advisors, visit exchange.clientwise.com.

In this episode, Ray Sclafani dives into a key leadership habit that high-performing advisory firms revisit every year: a structured marketing review. Far from a compliance audit, this annual reset is a strategic opportunity to realign messaging, optimize marketing systems, and attract the right clients for the future.

Ray walks through the five essential areas to evaluate:

1. Marketing calendar and plan
2. Ideal client segmentation
3. Value proposition and capability deck
4. Marketing collateral and communication
5. Digital presence and marketing systems

Whether your team is large or lean, in-house or outsourced, this episode outlines how to make marketing a firm-wide responsibility, not a side project. If you're ready to move beyond generic outreach and lead with intentional messaging, this is your playbook.

Key Takeaways

1. A structured annual marketing review helps firms stay aligned, relevant, and client-focused.
2. Without regular evaluation, your messaging can become outdated, misaligned, or unclear.
3. Marketing should be collaborative and cross-functional, not owned by one person or department.
4. Set 3–5 high-impact marketing priorities every quarter for measurable progress.
5. Align internal messaging before launching external campaigns.

Find Ray and the ClientWise Team on the ClientWise website or LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

To join one of the largest digital communities of financial advisors, visit exchange.clientwise.com.

In this episode, Ray Sclafani challenges advisory firm leaders to rethink how they attract new clients. He exposes why many firms are unintentionally sabotaging their growth by relying on outdated, ad-hoc approaches to client acquisition like waiting for referrals or operating off of a founder’s charisma.

Ray dives deep into what it takes to build a scalable, repeatable, and measurable lead generation engine. He covers:

• Why most firms can’t answer “How many new clients can we take on this year?”
• How to define and align your firm around the ideal future client
• Why a compelling, differentiated capability deck is essential
• What it really means to “own your niche”
• The difference between a hope list and a functioning pipeline

This episode is a wake-up call, and a roadmap, for advisors who want to lead their growth, not just react to it.

Key Takeaways

1. Firms must calculate their true client carrying capacity before setting growth goals.
2. Growth requires clarity around the ideal future client, not just a general idea of your current book.
3. True differentiation comes from owning a niche so specifically that you become the obvious referral.
4. Firms that rely on one person’s memory or relationships aren’t building a business, they’re creating a vulnerability.

Find Ray and the ClientWise Team on the ClientWise website or LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

To join one of the largest digital communities of financial advisors, visit exchange.clientwise.com.

In this episode, Ray Sclafani introduces a critical metric that leading wealth management firms—and the private equity firms evaluating them—are using to assess the health and enterprise value of their businesses: the Rule of 40. Originally born in Silicon Valley to evaluate SaaS companies, this simple but powerful formula (Revenue Growth % + EBITDA Margin %) has crossed over into the RIA world and become a litmus test for intentional, sustainable growth.

Ray breaks down:

• What the Rule of 40 really means in a recurring revenue business like an RIA
• How to calculate it (with real examples from ClientWise client firms)
• Where it falls short if misused
• How the most forward-thinking advisory firms use it as a leadership, compensation, M&A, and strategy tool

Plus, you’ll get five coaching questions to spark powerful conversations with your team—and begin leading like a CEO, not just a lead advisor.

Key Takeaways

1. The Rule of 40 = Revenue Growth % + EBITDA Margin %, and if the total equals or exceeds 40, your firm is financially healthy.
2. Many firms overestimate their growth by including capital market gains or acquired AUM—only organic growth tells the real story.
3. Leading RIAs use the Rule of 40 not just as a metric, but as a strategic lens.
4. Tracking Rule of 40 over time and by business segment (organic growth, next-gen, core team) uncovers the real levers driving enterprise value.
5. If your growth is passive or your margin is inflated, the Rule of 40 exposes the imbalance and forces better leadership decisions.

Find Ray and the ClientWise Team on the ClientWise website or LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

To join one of the largest digital communities of financial advisors, visit exchange.clientwise.com.

In this episode, Ray Sclafani challenges financial advisors to shift from simply managing a successful practice to thinking like a CEO and capital allocator. Drawing parallels to the booming subscription economy, Ray explains how advisory firms, powered by predictable AUM-based revenue, are in a prime position to reinvest with purpose.

Whether it’s developing leadership, upgrading tech, or expanding into new client markets, this episode offers a compelling call to action: don’t coast on recurring revenue, leverage it. Learn how elite firms are acting boldly and investing in infrastructure, talent, and strategic growth to command premium valuations and build enduring enterprises.

Key Takeaways

1. Your AUM fee model gives you predictable cashflow, so you should treat it like a competitive advantage.
2. Don’t just preserve profits, deploy them in ways that support scalable, long-term growth.
3. Top valuations go to firms with vision, strategy, systems, and momentum, not necessarily the largest AUM.
4. Forecast with confidence and use recurring revenue to fund your firm’s future.

Find Ray and the ClientWise Team on the ClientWise website or LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube

To join one of the largest digital communities of financial advisors, visit exchange.clientwise.com.