By James Sullivan, Head of Advisor Advocacy and Technology

When advisors get together without an agenda to sell, something interesting happens: the conversation gets real.

Recently, Private Advisor Group advisors who use WealthSuite—our exclusive investment management platform—gathered in two study groups to compare notes on how they’re actually running their practices: what’s working, what’s half-working, and what quietly isn’t. The result wasn’t a list of best practices pulled from a playbook. It was a set of honest lessons surfaced by advisors in different markets, firm sizes, and stages of growth.

Here are five themes that consistently rose to the top.

1. Your CRM isn’t broken. Your workflows are just incomplete.

Across both study groups, advisors used a wide range of CRM platforms. Yet the challenges sounded strikingly similar. Most had workflows in place. Fewer fully trusted them. Many admitted they still default to Outlook tasks, sticky notes, or mental checklists—even with robust CRM tools at their disposal.

The takeaway wasn’t that advisors need new technology. It was that workflows only create leverage when someone owns them, maintains them, and actually uses them. Without that discipline, even the best systems quietly turn into glorified contact lists.

2. Client segmentation is common. Service alignment is not.

Nearly every advisor described some form of client tiering: A, B, C; AAA to A; or custom rankings based on assets, time, or complexity.

What was less consistent was how those tiers showed up in daily operations.

Several advisors acknowledged that while they know who their top clients are, their calendars don’t always reflect it. Meeting cadence, prep time, follow-ups, and proactive outreach often look similar across tiers, creating unnecessary pressure on already full schedules.

The shared realization was simple but powerful: segmentation only matters if your service model enforces it.

3. Group experiences can replace dozens of one-off meetings.

One of the more unexpected insights came from advisors who rely heavily on client events—not as marketing tactics, but as service tools.

From shredding days and brewery dinners to holiday gatherings and seasonal giveaways, these group experiences served a dual purpose: strengthening relationships while dramatically reducing time spent in repetitive one-on-one meetings.

Rather than feeling less personal, these events often increased connection and reminded advisors that scale doesn’t have to come at the expense of authenticity.

4. Hiring decisions reveal where the real bottleneck lives.

When asked whether they’d hire an associate advisor or operational support if the role became revenue-neutral within a year, opinions diverged quickly.

Some saw operational help as the fastest path to relief. Others viewed an associate advisor as the only sustainable way to grow. Several noted the growing complexity of compensation expectations for junior advisors, especially those seeking salaried roles without immediate asset contribution.

What became clear was that hiring isn’t really about titles. It’s about diagnosing where time, energy, and momentum are being lost, and choosing leverage accordingly.

5. Advanced strategies are no longer exceptional. They’re expected.

In discussions around direct indexing (or custom indexing), model usage, and alternative investments, advisors described these tools less as differentiators and more as baseline expectations for certain clients.

That shift brings opportunity, but also operational strain. Reporting clarity, integration, and client communication were recurring pain points. Advisors weren’t asking for more complexity; they were asking for simplicity around complex strategies.

The message was consistent: as capabilities expand, processes must mature alongside them.

The Bigger Takeaway: Progress comes from comparison, not perfection.

None of these lessons were framed as final answers. Instead, they reflected a moment many advisors find themselves in: running successful practices while recognizing there’s room to be more intentional, more efficient, and more aligned.

Perhaps the most valuable outcome of these study groups wasn’t a checklist of improvements, but the realization that many challenges are shared—and solvable—when advisors take the time to compare notes.

Sometimes, the most meaningful progress starts with an honest conversation.

These insights were cultivated from real conversations with financial advisors:

• Chris Noyalis (HSL & Associates in Tucson, AZ)
• Troy Gourde (Investors Financial Group in Plymouth, MN)
• Mike Porrey (MAP Wealth Management in Chicago, IL)
• Rob Sorge (Clearview Investment Partners in Florham Park, NJ)
• Ryland Hanstad (Hanstad Wealth Management in Holliston, MA)
• Miguel Gonzalez (Cortburg Retirement Advisors in North Bergen, NJ)
• Eric Dean (Risler Financial Management in Blue Bell, PA)
• Daniel Wright (Natural State Wealth Advisors in Bentonville, AR)
• Brian Mercado (Elevation Wealth Advisors in Newport Beach, CA)
• Adon Vanwoerden (Macro Edge Advisory Group in New York, NY)

This content was transcribed by Jump.ai and summarized by ChatGPT-5.2.

Securities offered through LPL Financial, member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Private Advisor

Group, a registered investment advisor and separate entity from LPL Financial.