“I don’t have a business. I have a Libby.”
It is a rather good line for a rather uncomfortable realization.
Libby Greiwe had built a successful financial-planning practice. Clients were coming in. Revenue was growing. By most conventional measures, things were going very well.
There was just one problem. Libby was everywhere.
She was working 60- to 80-hour weeks, carrying too much of the business herself and discovering one of the less glamorous truths about growth: a busy firm and a scalable firm are not necessarily the same thing.
Something had to give.
What followed was less a dramatic reinvention than a ruthless look at how the work actually got done. Greiwe began stripping unnecessary complexity out of the business, putting processes around the things that happened again and again, and getting far more particular about what really required her attention.
She calls it “scaling yourself first.”
The distinction matters. Hiring another person can relieve pressure, but it can also give an inefficient business another person to keep busy. Greiwe wanted to know what could be simplified before another salary was added to the payroll.
The numbers deserved the same scrutiny. In her conversation with Derrick Kinney, she recalls an advisor proudly reporting 30 percent revenue growth. Impressive, until Greiwe asked about the hours. Those were up roughly 30 percent, too.
More revenue? Certainly. More efficient? Not quite.
Greiwe began paying attention to measures that told her more about the business she was actually building: revenue per hour, time spent in front of clients and referrals among them.
Eventually, she built a seven-figure practice while working three days a week.
In this episode of the Derrick Kinney Podcast on Modern American Advisor, Greiwe and Kinney get into the machinery behind that result: the systems worth building, the work worth delegating, the numbers worth watching and why adding more people is not always the smartest answer to growth.
Because sometimes the next stage of a financial advisor practice begins not with doing more, but with deciding what no longer needs you.
Key Takeaways
- Scale yourself first. Simplify the work before solving every capacity problem with another hire.
- Build processes that can leave your desk. If everything depends on the advisor, growth has a ceiling.
- Revenue does not tell the whole story. Greiwe looks at revenue per hour, client-facing time and referrals.
- Make the client experience worth talking about. Strong referrals start with work clients genuinely value.
- Decide what success should give you back. Greiwe built a seven-figure practice while working three days a week.
Listen to the Conversation
Transcript
Derrick Kinney
Welcome to the Derrick Kinney Podcast on Modern American Advisor. Each week we revisit one of my most valuable conversations to bring advisors practical ideas to grow their businesses, serve their clients, and make more money to do more good. As a business owner or entrepreneur, I know you’re constantly thinking of creative ideas to implement and new ways to serve your customers. But there’s a problem. You’re barely keeping up with the tasks on your plate now, and you feel completely overwhelmed. Plus, you’re sacrificing time and energy with the people you love just to get more done at work.
My guest, Libby Greiwe, says you shouldn’t have to feel you’re barely keeping your head above water. Today, Libby is revealing how to create simple and streamlined processes that save you loads of time and make your business much more efficient. Then she shares how to take those systems and scale them, which is how she created a 7-figure business while only working 3 days a week. Plus, she says the phrase, I can just do this myself, could be costing you a lot more than you realize, and she tells you how to fix that. It’s possible to create the business and life you want. Libby will show you how. Libby, welcome to the podcast.
Libby Greiwe
Derrick, I have been anxiously awaiting this on my calendar for a while now.
Derrick Kinney
Well, good. I’m excited about this because you’re such a respected coach to financial advisors. You built a very successful practice, and I want to dig into that. You started your financial planning business back in 2004. What led you to start it and how did you build it into a 6-figure business?
Libby Greiwe
Okay. So I actually went to school for engineering physics. So I had no idea that I was going to end up being a financial planner. Like if you would’ve told me that, I would’ve laughed in your face. However, so my parents got divorced when I was little and my mom was just super adamant about raising a young woman that understood not just like inflow-outflow of cash, but literally the investing side, because that was one area that she felt really strongly that she had to step back and reeducate herself. So ever since I was maybe 8, 9, 10 years old, she would march me downtown when she would go see her broker.
And I would go and I’d sit there and, you know, not really pay a whole lot of attention. And like any good little German Lutheran, every penny that I got, I saved it. And so finally I can remember I had $5,000. Wow. And yeah, I was probably about 10 or 11 and I went downtown with my mom. And I started investing. So I started my portfolio by investing in Wrigley’s gum., the main selling point was that they sent a stick of gum in the annual report every year. So at 11, I was like, free gum, I’m sold.
Derrick Kinney
I’m on it. That’s great.
Libby Greiwe
Yeah. And so I just found that I, when I went to school, so when I went off to college, I just, I guess I just assumed that everybody had an investment portfolio and that everyone was well-versed on budgeting and saving and their money working for them while they were at class. And I found out very quickly that that was not the case. And I just found that I really loved, you know, initially it started with some immediate roommates that would babysit all summer and make tons and tons of money and come back in the fall and have absolutely nothing to show for it.
Derrick Kinney
Hmm.
Libby Greiwe
, and it evolved into like helping them figure out how to budget and then, how to save and then actually how to start investing. And I was like, oh, wait a minute, this will feed my, you know, my need for analytics that the physics gave me, but also then my interpersonal need that physics definitely did not deliver on. Wow.
Derrick Kinney
It’s amazing. That’s quite a contrast to leave, as you said, engineering physics and go into financial planning. So then talk about then what was that like to start that business?
Libby Greiwe
Well, it was, it was funny because I was fresh out of school. So I went to school for engineering and then realized pretty quickly in a couple years in that, okay, I think I really want to go into something else. So I was far too extroverted to be a physicist. And and very quickly I realized that. I realized, I’d go to class and they’d be like, why is she talking to us? Why does she want to start study groups? The definition of an extroverted engineer is that they look at other people’s shoes instead of their own. So I really didn’t fit the mold at all.
Derrick Kinney
That’s funny.
Libby Greiwe
Yeah. So I pivoted to public relations with an emphasis in sports, believe it or not., and—
Derrick Kinney
That’s a huge pivot.
Libby Greiwe
Yeah. Right. Weird pivot, right? My whole life is a lot of very strange hard lefts, Derrick. So, yeah, so I made this pivot to public relations and communications for sports, knowing that I was going to go into financial planning., mainly it was the path of least resistance. My dad said he was paying for 4 years, so I was like, okay, I have to get out in 4 years. And if I switched to the School of Finance, it would’ve added a victory lap. And I was like, nope, again, good little German Lutheran. I am not spending an extra penny on this education if I don’t have to. So I graduated and started with a broker-dealer. So I started with Thrivent.
And one of the appealing things for me about starting that business was this idea that one, I had a target market and a roadmap and a company to support me. But also that I could really feed, you know, that entrepreneurial side. I was always that kid who was starting businesses. I was always trying to figure out a way to make a few bucks., and yeah, I sold wild onions door to door when I was in second grade with a friend. I was always trying to do something to you know, beef up that portfolio, I guess.
So I love this idea of being able to have an unlimited potential and, not just from an income perspective, but really to like build something out the way that I wanted to within some of that safety and structure of a broker-dealer.
Derrick Kinney
So how then do you go from launching a business from scratch to building it into a 6-figure business? Because I know part of what you did, and I’ve read this about you, that people have said you weren’t following the traditional path. You weren’t working 60, 80 hours a week. You really put your family and time away as a centerpiece of your practice. And that’s what makes this even more an extraordinary story, I think.
Libby Greiwe
Yeah. Well, and really, not to get into digits, but it was a 7-figure practice when I left. So I quickly started and I hit that 6-figure point early on, the old-fashioned traditional way, right? I was surrounded by everybody in my area was fat, bald, and 50 and had that hustle mentality. And geez, if you want to make more money, you just have to work more. So I did do that in the very beginning, and I was doing those 60, 70, 80-hour weeks, building, you know, working around the clock a crazy person, like building my business.
Derrick Kinney
Right.
Libby Greiwe
And it was when I got pregnant that everything changed. And, it was great news because my husband and I wanted a baby. It was really scary because, I had been building this beast of a business and really knew that I did not want to work like that while being a mom. Like, that wasn’t the, I really had a pretty clear vision of who I wanted to be as a mom and how I wanted to show up for that baby and working the 80, 90 hours a week. And my husband was also an entrepreneur at the time. So like, that just wasn’t going to work for me. Right. So I knew that there had to be a better way.
Derrick Kinney
Now, let me shift gears here. When it comes to running a business as a coach now to advisors who seek out your advice, what are the most common problems that you find financial advisors face right now?
Libby Greiwe
Yes. So the biggest thing is exactly what I was describing, right? You spend all of this time like going and meeting clients and doing all the things and building this business, and you’re working a crazy person. And then all of a sudden you hit that moment where you’re like, okay, I’m not worried anymore. I’m not worried about paying my mortgage. I’m not worried about the basic stuff. Now what I’m worried about is, oh my gosh, I built this thing and I have zero systems, zero processes. I’m content with my income, but I’m living in this place of extreme overwhelm and I don’t know what to do.
And that to me is like that pivotal moment for any advisor when they realize like, okay, I’m good. I’m going to make it, but oh my gosh, I don’t have a business, I have a Libby. Everything falls on my shoulders. The weight of the world is here. And oh my goodness, if I misstep or I take a, a wrong turn, everything falls on me and I’m going to be both the success of my business, but also the downfall. And so that’s where I love to step in and help advisors who are at that pivotal point, right? Where we recognize the issue, but now what do we do about it?
Derrick Kinney
Can you give us a couple examples of an advisor you recently worked with that was really facing that problem? They could see success, but didn’t know how to get there. And how did you bring in some processes and structure to really help them begin to move their revenue north?
Libby Greiwe
Yeah, so I was just working with this really awesome gentleman who, he was like, okay, I heard You say something about playing catch up on weekends and sneaking looks at your phone and he’s like, and I’m, I’m 100% guilty, right? I’m sitting at my kid’s soccer game and I’m on my phone responding to clients, looking up, you know, researching things. I’m, I’m skipping date night with my wife because I wanted to work on, you know, something else. And I just realized I am my job and there’s, and I don’t want to be.
Derrick Kinney
Yeah.
Libby Greiwe
I’m not showing up in the world. In the way that I had hoped for. And so for him in particular, it was really a couple of different things. So I firmly believe there’s pretty much like 5 or 6 processes that every single financial advisor has. And really it’s spending time with those advisors and saying, okay, let’s break this down. What is your process? And then how do we streamline it? How do we make it more simple? How do we make it more delegatable? And that’s the word that I made up, but I think it should get—
Derrick Kinney
I love that word too, by the way.
Libby Greiwe
Yeah.
Derrick Kinney
It just rolls off the tongue.
Libby Greiwe
But how do I make it more simple? Like, how do I make it less complex? How do I make it repeatable? And then how do I make it delegatable? And so it’s really identifying these like 5 or 6 core processes that every single business, and not even just financial planners, I know you speak to all kinds of entrepreneurs, but all businesses really have, especially service businesses, have these core processes that we need to Document, streamline, and then scale.
Derrick Kinney
Why do you think that’s so hard for advisors or even entrepreneurs in general to create a system and then hold themselves to follow the system?
Libby Greiwe
Well, I think it’s because most entrepreneurs, I’m a big fan of like Enneagram and Kolbe, and I think anybody makes a great entrepreneur. There is no like one archetype, in my opinion, that’s like, hey, here’s a really great entrepreneur. But what I’ve at least found in the financial planner space is that whether people are super analytical or they’re super like big idea, quick start people, what we all run into is that we’re just so stuck in the day-to-day minutia of doing the job and handling what, you know, what I call like being in that tornado, right?
And literally just trying to figure out what’s right in front of our nose that needs to be done next.
Derrick Kinney
Yes.
Libby Greiwe
And then if we can barely keep our heads above water, In that, like in that tornado circumstance, how on earth are we going to carve out the time to step back and be able to look at our business objectively and really like try to figure out, okay, what, what’s working, what’s not working? So it’s not even like that, this idea that we can’t, you know, see the forest through the trees or see our own stuff. It’s really a matter of making it a priority and recognizing like, okay, if I invest in this, then it’s going to pay dividends for me down the road. And we all know that that’s true, right?
We’re all like, okay, if I could just like stop for a second and then teach somebody else how to do this. But then you’re like, okay, it’s actually just faster for me to do the thing. And then you say that 367,000 times and now you’re still doing all of the things versus slowing down and actually making it a priority. And I also think a lot of people, we all have natural gifts and often Like doing things the simple way or seeing a simple system or process isn’t necessarily in our sweet spot. So often we have to bring other people in to fill in our weaknesses.
Derrick Kinney
Well, it’s so well said. And you think about baseball players, football players, you know, elite athletes, actors, business people, they have coaches. And so many people think, well, no, maybe I’m defective as a human. I need to do this myself. But the bottom line is, Successful people attract people who can help them stay in their lane and do what they’re really, really good at. And that’s what I see you doing, which I really, really applaud. And one of the things, you know, Libby, I know that your sweet spot is teaching advisors how to grow their business.
Libby Greiwe
Mm-hmm.
Derrick Kinney
And I’m just curious to pull back the curtain a bit. Why does that bring you so much joy to no longer be the advisor to clients, but now the advisor Yeah.
Libby Greiwe
So for me, it was really when I had those, those moments while I was a mom and going, oh my gosh, you can actually do both. You can be a fully present, you know, really involved mom, dad, parent, whatever, and run a really successful business. They’re not mutually exclusive. And I had this, you know, this crazy success where we scaled. I was working 3 days a week., I was always chasing that elusive work-life balance. I don’t know if it’s a real thing, but I got pretty close. I got really good, at least at setting boundaries. And when I was at work, I was out. I was 100% all in at work.
And when I was at home, I was down on the floor playing doggy, you know, letting my kids ride me and like 100% in. When I was at home. Now, not to say that that worked like seamlessly, but when other advisors all over the country started getting wind of what I was doing, and I had all of these moms and dads reaching out to me saying like, okay, wait, there’s this rumor that you have a 7-figure business and that you are only working 3 days a week. Like, is that true? And how do I do that?
Derrick Kinney
Right. I want that. Yeah.
Libby Greiwe
Like, how, how do I, how do I do that? And it was funny because I would look at my business and I’d go, I don’t know, I’m not a rocket scientist, even though I was like, actually what I went to school for this, this whole business, it’s not rocket science. Like everything is actually pretty simple. We all are pretty much doing the same things. It’s really just figuring out how to make it better, faster, smarter, cheaper, easier. And so I started speaking all over the country and I would have these advisors call me 2, 3, 4 months later and have these moments where they’d go, You’re not going to believe it.
I haven’t looked at my phone on a Saturday in the last month, or we closed our entire office on Fridays and my team and I are thrilled. So just having these advisors have these huge aha moments where they have figured out what exactly is it that I need to do in order to live a full life outside of the office and not feel I have to pick and choose. What’s more important to me? Is it the work or is it the family? And how do I, you know, how do I go at that right now in a way that allows me to live out really both of those dreams?
Derrick Kinney
Can you talk about how you staffed your practice and some of the structures that you had in place prior to selling it?
Libby Greiwe
Yeah, so we were a very small but mighty team. So I think often advisors, the solution is always like, Oh, I’ll just hire somebody. Oh, oh, I’ll just, I’ll just hire somebody. And like hiring more people isn’t necessarily the right answer all of the time. For me, it’s really, okay, how do we scale ourselves first? So like as a solo advisor, before we even bring anybody on, how do I scale myself first? How do I make sure that everything that I’m doing is the most effective use of my time and that I am literally spending every single minute either being productive, being creative, or moving the needle in my business.
Derrick Kinney
Yes.
Libby Greiwe
And once I hit that wall where it’s like, okay, I have done literally everything that I can do, now it’s time to start hiring out my weaknesses, the people that will complement me. And then how do I teach and delegate these people properly? And then how do I help them scale themselves to the absolute max? And then how do I bring in, then once we’ve hit that wall again, how do we continue to bring in people?
Who, if we’ve got the right people in the right role and the right culture, you don’t necessarily need a big, crazy, giant, complicated team because, you know, because once you bring people in, right, everybody’s problems become your problems, right? You then now you have to manage and now you have to lead. And there’s all of these other things that actually fall on your plate when you hire people as much as you’re giving away. So when I, at the very end of my career, it actually probably the last 7, 8 years looked pretty similar. I had a full-time director of operations and I had 2 part-time, like one was 24 hours, one was 30 hours.
I had a front office person and a back office person, and that was it. That’s good.
Derrick Kinney
That shows how efficient you were, but I like how you talked about before you hire, which is typically the default people go to, how can you scale yourself? I really like that phrasing., I’m going to steal that from you, Libby. So thank you for that.
Libby Greiwe
I love that. Go for it. I’m sure I stole it from somebody somewhere at some point, right?
Derrick Kinney
Haven’t we all? Now, now let’s go back to 2019.
Libby Greiwe
Yeah.
Derrick Kinney
Walk us through your mindset in terms of what led you to sell this practice that you had built and crafted. Talk about that and the emotions you felt and how did that go?
Libby Greiwe
Yeah, so I had started coaching advisors maybe back in like 2014, ’15, ’16, ’cause I was doing the speaking circuit. And, had advisors. And then my team and I started actually doing live events where advisors from all over would come in for like 2 days and we’d train them all on all of our systems and processes. And I found that I just loved it. It brought me so much joy. And, you know that old adage that like when you step up and you’re mentoring or you’re coaching or you’re teaching, it makes you better. You want to be better on a day-to-day basis.
Derrick Kinney
Yes.
Libby Greiwe
So that you can be a better mentor or a better coach or a better whatever. And so a couple of things, it was this weird conglomeration. So I was with a broker-dealer for 17 years and no, I’m sorry, 16 years. And I realized like there were a lot of things creatively that I really wanted to do that I wasn’t able to do in a broker-dealer environment. And I knew my company was testing some, you know, RIA hybrid alternatives and things that would ultimately probably get me to where I wanted to be. And I really knew I wanted to step more into a CEO role and start hiring. And that was the vision that I had set for myself.
And that’s where I was originally going. And then my husband had some, some things pop up and he was you know what? We’ve been supporting your practice for a very long time. And there’s some things that I want to do and some things I’d love to do as a family. And we had some health stuff pop up. And it was just this weird divine intervention that I had a really good fit that had wanted to purchase the practice. I wanted to serve my husband in a lot of ways, and I really did want to create some adventures for my family. And I knew that the bigger vision of bringing advisors in and really stepping into that CEO role was a longer-term plan.
And I just had this whole push on my heart to do the thing, to go to Hawaii, to do the sabbatical, knowing that at some point I really wanted to come back to The Efficient Advisor. I really just had that fire in my belly going, this is the thing I love the most. This is the thing I enjoy the most.
Derrick Kinney
Yes.
Libby Greiwe
And it’s the path of least resistance, right? So instead of a 5-year plan, I was able to really do all the things, like do the thing my husband really wanted to do and support him. And give a really cool, unique experience to my kids that was totally thwarted and pivoted and changed by COVID and really give myself some time off to take a breather and really reassess like, what is most important to me? What brings me the most passion now that I’ve been out of it for a couple of years? What do I really genuinely miss the most? And honestly, it’s watching other people succeed. And have aha moments.
Even though that sounds like super cliché and cheesy, it’s, it’s the God’s honest truth.
Derrick Kinney
Well, you said, it’s what brings you joy. You know, when you see the light bulbs go off in other people’s practices and see them achieve a breakthrough that has held them back, can you put a price tag on that? The, the freedom and meaning that you’re helping instill in people and other advisors, that’s so powerful. I applaud that bold and courageous decision that you made.
Libby Greiwe
Yeah. Well, and I know, I know you get that, right? I know, the vibe of like, okay, like being there, like the wind beneath someone’s wings going, oh, you can do it. And then them doing it and it’s like, oh, that’s so good. It’s like being a parent to lots of little, little advisors out there and watching them grow up and turn into these things. I think every parent wants their kids to do even better than they did. So like when I see, you know, advisors like surpassing me and growing their business and changing like things that I never even did in my own practice, it’s like, Oh, that is just so cool. It’s so fun to watch.
And I think too, the financial planning world, it’s starting to change, but I think for so long there was a lot of secrecy and a lot of like, oh, I’m not going to share my thing, or I’m not going to tell you what I’m doing because somehow an advisor in Fort Wayne, Indiana is in competition with an advisor in San Diego. Right?
Derrick Kinney
Right, right.
Libby Greiwe
Like, and so I don’t know.
Derrick Kinney
Bitter rivals.
Libby Greiwe
Yes. Right. Where does that like subculture come from? It’s very strange.
Derrick Kinney
Yeah.
Libby Greiwe
So I’ve loved to see like this pivot to generosity and people just going, no, I created this. Why on earth would I tell you to waste your time and create something similar? Just take here, take my thing. Like go make it yours. Like pivot, you know, do what you need to. Here’s a chassis to start from instead of just everybody starting from scratch.
Derrick Kinney
Right. When I had my practice, I would always have my office by a highway, Libby. And the purpose was it was a reminder that every day some people would leave Arlington, Texas, where I lived.
Libby Greiwe
Mm-hmm.
Derrick Kinney
And other people would, would be coming in. So the people leaving, whatever marketing that I had done, that was forever forgotten because they would not use that again. But I would have to be doing the hustle and promoting myself and solving problems for people every day as they’re moving in. And so the bottom line is, if you have this abundance mentality, there’s plenty of opportunity for every single advisor. Why create this self-limiting belief that so many advisors have?
Libby Greiwe
Yeah, it’s for some reason our industry is a weird one like that, right? It’s just, it’s really silly, or especially with all of the rise of the, the digital online advisor and even seeing you know, clients that I work with come in and they’re like, oh, well, I thought I don’t want to do that because, you know, so-and-so might take it from me. And I’m going, what? Like, dude, I’ve seen your systems. If you had 100 clients call you tomorrow and say, I want to work with you, you’d fall apart. You can’t do that. So don’t worry about— who’s calling Dave. Okay.
Derrick Kinney
Right. Do you, do you find, Libby, I’m just curious about this, as you consult with lots of advisors, do the higher revenue advisors, do you find them to have a more collaborative mindset? And those lower producing advisors tend to want to hold all those ideas to their chest for fear of competition? Or is there any type of correlation to that that you have found?
Libby Greiwe
Yeah. I would have said if you had asked me that question 10 years ago, I would have said, yep, higher Higher-producing advisors definitely have more of an abundance mindset. It’s the mid-level producers that you have to watch out for. Those are the ones that are the most concerned and like most protective of their, of their book. But I would say now, I’m seeing this, this rise of new advisors wanting to come out of the gates in a much more collaborative, much more mastermind-y mentality. So it’s Probably a different answer now than it was a while ago.
But yeah, I do find that the more, I don’t want to say necessarily even revenue, but the more fine wine type practice, the ones that are like really operating on all cylinders. And I say that because not every advisor, I wasn’t, I never had a desire to go to 8 figures. I never had a desire to you know, have this big, complicated, you know, crazy, over-the-top practice. I just wanted to make a really good income and like make it to every, you know, soccer game or whatever.
Derrick Kinney
Right.
Libby Greiwe
, but these fine wine practices, the ones that are really operating on all cylinders, the ones who have a really clear vision, that have a really good culture, that really know what it is that they want out of their business and how they want their business to work for them in their lifestyle and how it fits into their overall, you know, vision of who they are. Those ones are the abundance. Those are the ones who are sharing. Those are the ones who are giving. Those are the ones who are, I think, are more freely inclined to share and not worry quite so much about, you know, Dave in Fort Wayne.
Derrick Kinney
Right, right. And by the way, we’re picking on Dave in Fort Wayne a lot. If there’s Dave in Fort Wayne listening, it’s nothing personal. It’s simply an example that Libby and I are talking about.
Libby Greiwe
Oh, it is, Derrick. I know there is. I just want to make it— if there’s a Dave in Fort Wayne, I just want to make him very, very nervous right now.
Derrick Kinney
Hey, so let’s talk about KPIs.
Libby Greiwe
Yes.
Derrick Kinney
Key performance indicators. I know that’s a passion you’ve got. What are some of the most important ones that advisors should pay attention to?
Libby Greiwe
Okay. So for me, if, if something is complicated or if it takes a lot of time, I’m not going to do it. I might do it once. I’m not going to do it consistently. So as much as I love, like, tracking and I, as much as I love that whole idea of What gets measured gets managed, and I fully ascribe to that. However, for me it was like, okay, what is a simple way for me to really measure what’s important to me? And what was important to me was my effectiveness. Like how efficiently am I working?
Because I, I have this, I have this great advisor that I work with and she’s really cute and she’s like, Libby, oh my gosh, my revenue went up 30% last year, you know, than the rolling 12. And I’m like, that’s amazing. What are you doing differently? And we started like breaking it all down and it turns out she was working 30% more and she’s making 30% more. And it was like, oh, right. That, that makes a ton of sense. And not everybody wants to work less and not everybody, you know, but for her, she was like, and I’m overwhelmed and I’m going crazy. And I feel I haven’t seen my husband in like 2 months. We’re ships passing in the night.
And it was like, ah, we can’t use revenue as our KPI because that’s Something we can only influence. It’s not something we can control entirely, especially in an AUM world. And we don’t want to just use revenue because if we’re setting these goals, we might just end up working harder and harder and more and more and more to achieve that. So instead, I like to use pretty much 3 KPIs. The first one is revenue per hour.
So realistically, for all of the effort and not just for me, but for the whole practice, how many hours are we all collectively working and what is the revenue of the total practice, divide the 2, and there’s how much we’re making per hour.
Derrick Kinney
Yes. Okay.
Libby Greiwe
So if we’re expanding the amount of work that we’re doing, so we’re bringing somebody else onto the team or people are picking up more hours, cool. But is the actual per hour amount changing? And that’s where I want to push that number up. Are we being more effective with our time versus are we just adding more time? So that’s KPI number one for me is revenue per hour.
Derrick Kinney
That’s a good one there. That’s, that’s a really good one. Yeah.
Libby Greiwe
Yeah. And for me, I then used it to do 1,000 other things in my practice. And it’s funny because when I’m coaching advisors, it’s just like a really different way of approaching it. The amount of time that you can give to people when you have this like really specific number in your head, it changes the way that you do everything. The second one is what percentage of my time is spent in front of clients? Like how much am I actually doing the thing that I do best, which is talking to clients, adding value to clients. Sitting with clients, doing what I do.
So can I improve the amount of time that I’m spending in front of clients and less time in the behind the scenes or the back end of the office?, and then the third one is the number of referrals that I’m receiving. So those are really the 3 main ones, right? Because I believe absolutely hands down the number one form of marketing, the number one way to drive referrals. Is to do a really good job for your clients.
Derrick Kinney
Yeah.
Libby Greiwe
So if you’re focused on impact and value, then you’re going to start driving a lot more referrals. So those for me are the 3 things that I measured consistently.
Derrick Kinney
What are some ways that you would advise an advisor that is struggling to get referrals right now? They feel they’ve got a good system, they’re providing value, but they’re not getting the referrals they feel they deserve. What would you tell them to do just to maybe prime that pump a little bit?
Libby Greiwe
Yeah. So probably a couple of different things. Like one, are we like, what’s your referral process? So when I talk about the 5 or 6 processes that everybody needs to have, we have to have a referral process. So what is your process? Like if you’re doing that old-fashioned, like at the end of the first meeting, we’re going to sit down and we’re going to brainstorm who’s in your book club. And I’m going to have you give me their names and numbers and That’s how I consider, like, if that’s your strategy, okay, then maybe we need to tweak it a little bit.
Derrick Kinney
Right.
Libby Greiwe
So we really need to figure out what is your referral process and then what’s, what’s working and what’s not working. So the few referrals that you do have coming in, where are those coming from? And then how do we create a culture within your practice that allows or, you know, shares? Because sometimes I think advisors too, we try to be so exclusive, and then our clients are like, oh, I wish you were taking more clients. You’re like, whoa, hey, ho, hey, ho, wait a minute.
Derrick Kinney
Right, right.
Libby Greiwe
I am. Or, you know, are we teaching our clients, the right type of referral? Like, so there, so a referral process needs to be in place and we really need to identify working, not working. The other thing I always default back to is if you are not getting tons and tons of referrals, Let’s talk about your client experience and the actual, you know, what is your strategy for impacting clients and adding value? So, you know, are we doing things that we think like, oh my gosh, I can’t tell you how many advisors are, you know, come to me and they’re like, well, we have this amazing thing.
We send out handwritten birthday cards every year to every client. And I’m like, that’s great. I think that’s really amazing. But let’s talk about the actual impact of that. So the effort is low, or maybe even like if they’re all handwritten, I don’t know who on your team is doing that, but maybe it’s even mildly higher than low. But like, is the impact really high? Like, is it where, oh my gosh, if I don’t get a birthday card from my financial advisor, I’m going to throw a fit. I’m going to be I don’t know what to do. We’re paying her all this money. I, we had this strategy fee that we’re paying and we didn’t get a freaking birthday card.
I don’t know, but this woman—
Derrick Kinney
Right.
Libby Greiwe
Dropped the ball this year. If I’m going to guess, the impact of a birthday card is pretty low. But if we have a lot of things that we’re doing to add value that are extremely high on an impact scale or really high on a value-add scale, those are the things that if you’re not doing them, people would be like, oh, wait a minute. Something feels different. Like that was an extremely great experience. That was extremely valuable. This is why we love working with them. And when we focus on value and impact, it directly correlates to the number of referrals that you receive. So you have to have both.
We have to be doing a great job and we have to have a referral culture.
Derrick Kinney
I like that. I think you summarized that well. I think advisors can really implement that and not just think it’s this one track. It’s the holistic model. And referrals, as you said, are the benefit of whatever you’re adding value to. I like that.
Libby Greiwe
Yeah. It’s one of those things you have a great experience. Like this is the, the impetus behind all social media, right? I’m doing something super cool. I want to take a picture of it and share it with other people. So if you as an advisor are approaching your client experience from that, like, how do I want to make people feel? How can I provide them a unique experience? How can I put my own spin on things? How can I be different? How can I be my own brand? And how can I make that so cool that people want to share it?
Derrick Kinney
I like that. I like that. Well, Libby, we’ve talked about how our listeners can take your principles and grow their business. At the end of each of our shows, I ask each of our guests 5 questions on how listeners can build their wealth. And number one, what’s something that your 18-year-old self that you’re doing right now would be proud of?
Libby Greiwe
Oh my gosh. Okay. So, There’s probably 2 things that she’d be like, what? The first would be the fact that I speak professionally in front of humans. She would die. ‘Cause I can remember being like my first communications class, my freshman year of college, and having to give speeches and wanting to curl up and die, literally puking in my mouth and swallowing it before I got up there. Like, if you would’ve told 18-year-old Libby that you will be Speaking professionally in front of thousands of people at a time and getting paid to do it, she’d probably pass out.
Derrick Kinney
Wow.
Libby Greiwe
The other thing I think— Good for you.
Derrick Kinney
Good for you, by the way. That’s great.
Libby Greiwe
Yeah, I love it. And like, don’t get me wrong, there’s still moments right before I go on stage and I’m like, did I just open my mouth again?, but now I love it and I get it’s just such a thing I feed off of. The other thing I think she’d be really shocked to know is that there isn’t this One or the other. You don’t have to choose between being a really killer mom and a killer businesswoman, that you literally can do both and do both extremely well. It’s not going to be easy and it’s not going to be handed to you, but you don’t have to just choose one thing and go, okay, that’s it, right?
We have the ability to do multiple things and whatever you choose at 22 doesn’t have to be what you choose at 25, which doesn’t have to be What you choose. So I raised my kids never asking the question like, what do you want to be when you grow up? It would be, what, tell me all of the different types of things that you want to be when you grow up. I want to, yeah, you can reinvent yourself literally at any point.
Derrick Kinney
That is so well said. And I’m curious, what advice would you give your younger self about money?
Libby Greiwe
Oh my gosh. I’d say, girl, forget the guac. When you’re at Chipotle, it’s fine. You can spend the extra $2, $3. And you can get the guacamole. If there are little things that are very marginal in life, you know, that make you happy and bring you joy. And I was, I was listening to an episode of yours not that long ago where it was the $3 questions versus the $30 questions.
Derrick Kinney
Yeah, Ramit Sethi. You’re right, right.
Libby Greiwe
That’s right. And it was exactly that. I struggled with that as a, as a young girl going, oh my gosh, well, if I spend $3 on this and $3 on that, and I found that I didn’t get the guac. And like, once I started making those conscientious choices to be like, okay, here’s where I’m going to spend my money and here are the things that actually And here’s the thing that really genuinely don’t matter. Those to me, were, were pretty impactful. And I think the other thing would be to, I would tell her to spend more money on experiences and less money on things.
Derrick Kinney
What makes you say that? I agree with that, but I’m curious why that’s important to you.
Libby Greiwe
Yeah. And so I think every time I’ve ever moved homes or moved offices and I’m taking piles and piles and piles of crap to Goodwill and going, you know, this all at one point was stuff that I spent money on. I, you know, purchased this, and now here I am just not that long later, you know, packing it up in the back. We just live in so much excess, and stuff comes and goes. But these experiences, these rich experiences that make you more worldly, that expand your, you know, understanding of humanity, like Those, you can never get rid of those.
I, I’ll forget the really cute handbag that I had when I was 32, but I’ll never forget like hot air ballooning over the vineyards outside of Sydney, Australia. Like there are just certain things you just can’t take away.
Derrick Kinney
That sounds wonderful right there.
Libby Greiwe
Yes.
Derrick Kinney
I love that. Wow. Well, I’m curious, what is the biggest financial mistake You’ve ever made?
Libby Greiwe
Okay. So I was like, ooh, I have to think back to some of his episodes if someone has ever said this. ‘Cause again, I’m always like, ooh, I hope that doesn’t sound cliché or cheesy, but the biggest mistake that I made was not investing in myself sooner. And this is going to go into the next question you’re going to ask me about, like, okay, what’s the investment that you believe in right now?, but I wish I could go back earlier in my career and hire more coaches spend more money on my health, spend more money on my personal development, do more therapy, right?
All of these things that I didn’t want to spend money on because it felt selfish or it felt, like, oh, I’m not there yet. I need to do this X, Y, and Z before I can spend that money on myself. I think, you know, while I had really quick growth in my business, I think that growth would have been exponentially faster and exponentially smarter. And I think I would’ve made a whole lot less mistakes if I had invested in me in a more meaningful way earlier on. Hmm.
Derrick Kinney
For somebody listening right now that wants to do that, but they haven’t, what would you say to them to give them permission to do that?
Libby Greiwe
You either pay for it now or you pay for it later. So, I think about that with health all of the time, right? So sometimes it’s like, oh, is it, is it, do I spend the extra money to get the slightly better, more organic version of the something something? And, you know, do I spend the money on the gym membership? Do I hire the personal trainer? Do I do the things now? Or do I just you know, make it work at home with what I have? And, you know, if we don’t pay for it now, we’re going to pay for it later, right? If we don’t invest in our health now, we’re going to end up spending more money on medical bills and things when we’re older.
If we don’t invest in our business now, we’re missing out on so much income or revenue or, experience that you can’t make up on the back end. You can do everything so much better, faster if you invest in it now versus waiting.
So, you know, same thing with therapy, right?, I am a huge advocate of therapy, and I Wish I would’ve started it earlier on because man, I would’ve worked out a lot of kinks in my life a whole lot faster and I would’ve had richer relationships earlier and I would’ve maybe even been a better mom when my kids were little, recognizing like, oh, here’s all of these things that I could, should be doing differently that now I see. So for me, it’s, you’re either going to pay for it now or you’re going to pay for it later. And it might not necessarily be in cash or it might be in cash. Right.
Derrick Kinney
That’s good. Thanks for sharing that. You know, what is your favorite investment right now?
Libby Greiwe
Besides me?
Derrick Kinney
Which is great. That’s a perfectly appropriate answer. Investing in yourself, the S&P or the S in me.
Libby Greiwe
Yeah, yeah.
Derrick Kinney
You know, sure.
Libby Greiwe
I love that. I love that. So, one of the things that, you know, being retired at 37 and, you know, giving myself permission to come back into the business world and take more risks, I still love— so 2 things I still love as a financial planner. I love rental real estate. So we own a bunch of college rental properties. Oh, that’s good. So they can get beat up. They can get trapped like that. And they are wonderful, wonderful investments to own. I love recurring revenue. I love delegating, right? So we have management companies that take care of a lot of that stuff for us.
And literally we just get a check and it’s one of the most wonderful things and there’s tax benefits and there’s appreciation and there’s it, it’s just, I love, love, love rental real estate and I love me the good German Lutheran loves me a good low-cost portfolio of index funds. I can’t, yes, I can’t get enough of ETFs.
Derrick Kinney
Preach it, sister. We like that.
Libby Greiwe
Yes.
Derrick Kinney
Can, can you talk about how did you get started in the college rental space? Because that’s become super hot. It sounds you got in before the rage occurred, which is even better. But for somebody listening right now that may want to dip their toe in that water, what would be some steps that you might advise them with your experience?
Libby Greiwe
Oh my gosh. Well, that’s so interesting. So I didn’t even know that was cool right now, but that’s just me because I never know what’s cool until like way later. So we bought our first real estate, our first college rental, my son was 1 and he’s a little, so 10 years ago. So we’ve had college rentals for 10 years. And it was really just my husband and I were up visiting our alma mater and just going, I still can’t believe how much we paid to live in these dumps. Like at the time we didn’t know that like where we lived was a dump, right?
Derrick Kinney
Right.
Libby Greiwe
So we went back up and I’m going, oh my gosh, I wonder what these cost. Like these have to be just an absolute cash cow. And we got home and I I got fixated on this and I like created this spreadsheet and I was running all of these numbers and my husband had been wanting to flip properties and do some of that stuff. We were, Like 20, I don’t know how old we were. We were young and dumb and we thought we had spare time for that crap., and so we went to where we knew. So we stayed with our alma mater.
We knew where were the good areas, where were the not so great areas, what was the most convenient to campus, what was most convenient to the bars. And by the way, the ones by the bars actually pay way more. Kids are willing to spend more money, I guess, to live closer to the— Good real estate. Get a, get a property that’s close to campus, but more importantly, close to the bar scene., and really you know, just educating and doing our homework and, but, but buying what we knew.
And I think that for me was central versus we had friends at other universities that were, you know, like looking at their alma maters and it was like, oh, those properties are much cheaper. Oh yeah. But like in Cincinnati, you can be borderline really scary area of town or right on campus. So for us, it was buying what we knew and understanding the culture of the university and how the students operated based on just our own personal experiences.
Derrick Kinney
That’s great. That’s great. Well, last question, Libby. In my book, Good Money Revolution, I talk about a concept called your generosity purpose. And this is a cause you care deeply about, a wrong you want to right, an injustice you see in the world. I’m curious, I know that you wove generosity throughout your practice. Is there a cause or something that you care about right now that you devote either your time or your money or both to? And if so, why does that cause matter to you?
Libby Greiwe
Yes. So I found I’m one of those people that I am a sucker for all the commercials that come out at Christmas time. Like, if you bring a tear to my eye, I will donate to your cause., I have always been that way, just like, oh, that was a great commercial. But I found over time what I tend to gravitate towards, and in our practice, we supported a local charity called Camp Joy, and it was a charity really dedicated to bringing the camp experience to kids who can’t afford it and to underprivileged children or children who had life-threatening illnesses. So they actually brought in doctors from Cincinnati Children’s who would donate their time.
They had a medical facility there on campus. So these kids who could not experience camp because they were receiving chemotherapy treatments or because they had, you know, very, very tight, restraints when it came to medication timing and dietary needs. And this camp just gives them the opportunity to just be kids. So locally, I love Camp Joy in Cincinnati. Nationally, I absolutely love St. Jude and Make-A-Wish, and I know those are 2 like big, giant, huge, you know, huge organizations that everybody, everybody appreciates.
Derrick Kinney
That’s great.
Libby Greiwe
I have just been so grateful to have 2 super healthy kids, and I cannot even imagine as a mom how heartbreaking it would be and how difficult and how challenging it would be to have a child that’s struggling, and something that you can’t, as a mom, that you cannot fix. So for me, those are the 3 things that I love is how can we give really killer opportunities? So I love St. Jude because they do prom for their high school kids and they, they just focus on giving these children as normal of a life as humanly possible. Same thing with Make-A-Wish.
We’re a big Disney family, being able to give those kids these experiences that they might not typically be able to have because of their circumstances.
Derrick Kinney
I love that. Thanks for sharing that. I think that, Those are causes that truly make a big impact. And even as you talked about Camp Joy, did you find that clients resonated with that as well? Was that something that they really liked, the fact that their advisor was inviting them into something bigger?
Libby Greiwe
Yes. So we had a big billboard— billboard— we had a bulletin board, not a billboard. I should have had a billboard, but no, it was a bulletin board in our office. And it And, you know, and it was called Our Charity of Choice. And it originally started with this idea that we would pick a charity, and that we would really just encourage our clients to start, you know, developing.
So we were a faith-based, we were a faith-based practice and we were trying to develop this idea of generosity and, you know, how can we support things and how can we start just like slowly integrating generosity into our financial planning?, so we actually got involved with Camp Joy because one of our bestest, favoritest clients was actually on the board and he got us connected. And then we had this idea that our charity would change like every year. And 10 years later, we were still supporting Camp Joy.
Derrick Kinney
Wow.
Libby Greiwe
And we walked alongside them. We, we did so many things. We started hosting events at their facilities and clients would come and attend. We did leadership retreats and we did all of this different stuff to appeal to like our corporate executive type clients. But then also simultaneously exposing them to the magic that was Camp Joy. And it was just so fun to go to like their annual fundraiser dance-off and see lots of our clients there who had gotten connected to them through the business.
Derrick Kinney
Well, my contention has always been that when you can connect meaning to your money, you know, people can choose any financial advisor, but if there’s the giving advisor, the one who’s generous in their community, It’s a moat that when other competing advisors knock on the door, they’re like, no, no, no, I work with Libby, or I work with— was it Dave in Fort Wayne, Indiana? I work with Dave. And it’s because they provide great financial advice, but also they help me be part of something bigger. They’re making our community better. And that’s how I grew my practice. It’s amazing how it was a differentiator.
And it sounds you did the same thing. Which led to your success.
Libby Greiwe
Yeah. Well, if it’s part of your culture of your practice, it resonates with people and, you know, and not, you know, there has to be this like genuine, authentic, you know, desire behind it versus like, oh yeah, yeah, we support this charity, but like really, how do we walk alongside this? How do we support them? How do we get our clients involved? How do we show year over year that this isn’t just a gimmick or, You know, something that we can pat ourselves on the back for. But how do we really show up and volunteer, get involved, and, you know, really lead by example?
Derrick Kinney
Libby Greiwe, I have loved this conversation together. I think you’ve helped so many advisors, so many entrepreneurs just with your thoughts about scaling yourself first. Such gold. And also just how to think about your business, not just being in your business, but working on your business. It’s been a real pleasure to have you with us on the podcast. Thanks for joining us today.
Libby Greiwe
Oh, Derrick, thanks. It’s always fun chatting with you, and I am grateful for the opportunity to spend this time with you today. Amen.
Derrick Kinney
All right, let’s talk about the key points of our conversation that you can apply right now. Get the guacamole. I love when Libby said that, and it’s such a good picture because there’s so much shaming that goes on financially and from culture today that says you need to sacrifice every expense that you enjoy to reach your goals. When she said, get the guac, it’s a sense of freedom being infused to say, spend the $5 to treat yourself. Because what I believe is that when you’re in a positive mental frame of mind, you make better, smarter, and more profitable money decisions. So buying the guac could actually lead you to making more money.
Next, Libby talked about that you should bring in other people who have strengths that you don’t. I want to take a jab now at the personal development industry that always talks about how you need to work on your weaknesses and think about what you’re worst at and how can you get better at that. I think that is flat dead wrong. We’ve only got a certain amount of time every day, and really in our lives, you should focus on your strengths, things that you’re already good at, to refine them and get even better at it, because that’s going to be the greatest lever of positive change that you can have in your life.
So the weaknesses, you want to pay other people to own your weaknesses. The bottom line is somebody who is better at what you do right now will love the very things that you don’t like to do. So recognize you can’t be everything, but you can be what you need to be to the people that want you the most by being the best version of you and farm out the worst version of you to other people. Now, next, she talked about know your lane and stay in your lane and hire people smarter than you. I’ll give you an example. When my wife and I were first married, I handled the money. I did the day-to-day budgeting and I took care of the long-term investing.
What I realized, and don’t tell anybody this, I really despised the day-to-day budgeting. It wasn’t in my strength set. But once I gave it to my wife who loved it, Things got dramatically better. Our relationship got better. Our marriage got better. Our communication got better. And guess what? We made more money because each of us was in the right lane of what we needed to do with our money. And I suspect you can do the same thing. And also Libby talked about that it’s a superpower to know your weaknesses. I talked about this just a moment ago, but even writing down what am I the worst at?
I know it sounds so counterintuitive, but once you identify I’m not good at these 3 things, then you can either hire someone to handle those 3 things because, in business, your success is only going to go as far as the weakest part of your processes and systems. And typically you may be the bottleneck. You may be the lid on your business success. Farm out your weaknesses and you will grow a crop of success. Thanks for listening to the Derrick Kinney Podcast on Modern American Advisor. Do you want to attract more $3 million to $10 million clients and grow your business? Then check out successforadvisors. Com. That’s successforadvisors. Com.
And remember, if you want a business that’s booming, focus on the human. We’ll see you next time.
About Libby Greiwe
Libby Greiwe is a former financial advisor, business coach and founder of The Efficient Advisor.
After launching her financial-planning business in 2004, she built it into a seven-figure, referral-driven practice while working approximately 25 hours a week. She sold the practice in 2019 and now helps financial advisors create simpler systems, improve efficiency and build businesses that support their lives outside the office.
Through The Efficient Advisor podcast, coaching programs and advisor resources, Greiwe translates the everyday operations of an advisory firm into practical, repeatable processes.
FAQs
How did Libby Greiwe build a seven-figure advisory practice?
Greiwe stopped treating her own time as an unlimited resource. She simplified the processes at the center of the firm, made recurring work easier to delegate and became more deliberate about where her attention was actually valuable. The result was a seven-figure practice she could run while working three days a week.
What does “scale yourself first” mean?
Before adding another person to the payroll, look at the work already being done. What can be simplified? What can be delegated? What does the advisor still own simply because they have always owned it? For Greiwe, scale starts there.
Which KPIs does Libby Greiwe recommend advisors track?
Revenue gets plenty of attention. Greiwe looks a little further. She recommends watching revenue per hour, the percentage of time spent with clients and the number of referrals coming into the firm.
Can revenue growth hide an efficiency problem?
Absolutely. If revenue rises 30 percent but the team works 30 percent more to produce it, the firm has grown, but it has not necessarily become more efficient. Greiwe argues that the better question is what the business is producing for the time going into it.
How can financial advisors generate more referrals?
Start by giving clients something worth talking about. Greiwe sees a defined referral process as important, but no script can compensate for an unremarkable client experience. The work has to earn the introduction.
What is The Efficient Advisor?
The Efficient Advisor is Greiwe’s coaching and education platform for financial advisors who want a better-run business, not simply a busier one. Its focus is practical: simpler systems, stronger processes and a practice that does not require the advisor to be everywhere at once.
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