No ‘I’ in team

“When you play as a unit, the rising tide lifts all boats.” 

I watched Nathan Buckley’s post-match press conference, and it once again dawned on me that sport and business are intrinsically similar. Teamwork makes the dream work. 

Rising Tide has successfully integrated lending and accounting services over the past few years, and we get great feedback from clients who use all our services concurrently.  

Many of our clients already know that we look after many things financial – tax, investing, home and investment loans and superannuation – but it is clear that some of our existing clients still don’t know (or use) all services. 

There are times when it might look or feel smooth for clients, but there are times when it doesn’t flow so smoothly between business units – Our midfield is not always talking to the forward or backline. 

The goal at Rising Tide is to work with our clients to help them achieve their ‘freedom to say Yes’ moment. Sometimes, when the timing is right and/or the resources are available, we collaborate and the outcomes are better for clients. But, as a business, we have never made that collaboration a non-negotiable. I think often that it is easier to just keep doing things as they are, rather than challenging the status quo – even when there is a potential benefit to both our clients and Rising Tide. 

Buckley’s press conference continued, and it was like he had been inside the coaches’ box in my head. “Individuals benefit from team play, and then the team plays more efficiently”. I’m sure most would agree.

By having a more intricate understanding of our clients’ whole financial life situation and what they are aiming for flows on to better financial advice. When all parts of someone’s financial lives are in harmony, there are clearly more opportunities for our clients to have the freedom to say ‘Yes’. So, what’s holding Rising Tide back from becoming a true holistic financial services business? Well, as someone recently said to me, “most businesses don’t do it, because it is bloody hard work”. Starting at a lot of hard work in the middle of 2020 is a daunting challenge. 

But, I agree with Nathan Buckley, “When we don’t play as a team, it makes it hard for individuals”. He was talking about footy, but it is the same in business. 

We need to keep having the right conversations with our clients and asking what we can deliver that is valuable. Then build systems and processes in place to enable knowledge transfer and clear communication – so our advisers can spend more time providing value and the business as a whole can better understand our clients’ financial wants and needs.

Our purpose is to provide our clients with the freedom to say ‘Yes’, so rolling up our sleeves to do the hard work is pretty easy decision to make. 

Do you have any thoughts as to how we can do things better? 
Please let me know – matt@ctrt.com.au or click here to lock in a time to chat.