In small independent advisory offices across the U.S., planners who choose to operate on the smallest possible scale are learning not to go it alone. An assistant can make the difference between struggling and succeeding. Independent advisors don't have a name for this position, while broker-dealer-affiliated advisors call them sales assistants. Some B-Ds have made a point to help their advisors define and fill this position. A few B-Ds that have been most progressive in these efforts are Securities America, Cambridge Investment Research and Commonwealth Financial Network. Most others are playing catch-up.

A Game-Changer

Even within a B-D context, though, it's hard to generalize about the sales assistant job description since each job is tailored to the needs of the employer. What's more certain is the effect a good sales assistant can have on one's practice.

Though an industry veteran, Mike Argiro's FourT Financial has been in business just two years in Wallingford, Conn. FourT stands for Teaching, Today, Technology, Tomorrow—because Argiro teaches through technology. His production has jumped approximately 130% since he hired his sales assistant six to nine months ago.

Advisors who lack sales assistants spend only about 20% of their time with prospects and clients, notes Laurie Burkhard, senior business consultant at Securities America. With good use of an assistant's time, advisors find added revenues easily offset the cost. Argiro's sales assistant takes tasks off his plate. She lines up seminars and speakers for events, and sends holiday cards to clients—"much of which I'd been doing myself," he says.

Argiro found his sales assistant on his own: "She's someone I'd known socially. She'd worked at a big insurance company, had a baby and was looking for something flexible and close to home." Had he not, Securities America could have helped Argiro hire someone.

"We help the advisor write a job description, run ads and our HR department reviews applicant resumes," Burkhard says. "We do credit and criminal background checks on every applicant, and we fingerprint them—whether or not they're licensed."

Commonwealth Financial Network, meanwhile, provides extensive tools with which advisors can do the job on their own. "We walk them through the process," says Joni Youngwirth, managing principal, practice management at the broker-dealer. "Advisors call for help; we refer them to our website, which shows the steps for hiring. We also show them job descriptions and want-ad templates, and instruct them to list the key responsibilities." There is no charge for these services.

People Who Enjoy People

Even with lots of talented people in the job market, it's important to find an assistant who's a good fit. That has less to do with background than it does with mind-set, Burkhard notes. "It not so much where good sales assistants come from, but what they have going for them. We hire for attitude and train for skills." Candidates should be detail-oriented, able to multitask and have great client service skills.

Terri Berrenberg, owner of Albuquerque, N.M.-based Berrenberg Wealth Management, agrees. When Patty Ramsauer, Berrenberg's sales assistant, joined her more than six years ago, Berrenberg found in her the attitude she was seeking. "Patty's an integral part of the firm," she says. "She handles paperwork, appointments and our calendar, and she takes a genuine interest in our clients." In fact, Berrenberg says, Ramsauer's job is "to spoil the firm's clients."

Great service skills have little to do with financial services. "One sales assistant started as a waitress at a restaurant the firm's owner and his wife frequented," Burkhard notes. "She went above and beyond to serve them each time they came to the restaurant. They wanted their clients to feel like that, so they hired her."

Learning to Let Go

But advisors hiring a sales assistant often have personal challenges too. "They must be able to delegate," Burkhard notes. "Once they do, they learn they can spend their time meeting with clients and prospects. Really, everything beyond those meetings should be delegated."

"If you line up 10 advisors, they'll all say the same thing: the limiting factor is 24 hours in a day," Youngwirth says. "If advisors are going to use their time to do all the work needed to serve their clients, they're going to spend a lot of time doing things that can better be done by an 18-year-old kid in sneakers. The 18-year-old probably knows technology better than a 35-year-old [or older] advisor. There are just things that they can do better than or at least as well as the advisor—but for less pay."