Advisors universally recognize the need to expand their resources to address the growing list of client challenges. While it's easy to understand this need, satisfying it successfully is a big challenge.

It takes a well-orchestrated investment of both time and money. Most advisors are relatively quick to get out their checkbook for the financial investment, but they also have to get out their calendars to ensure they learn how to use their new resources successfully.

To whom are you going to "write the check"?

Not every new partnership requires an up-front financial investment, but choosing the right partners is critical regardless. Not only are there a significant number of new solution categories advisors need to access, but there are also countless new vendors competing for attention and business at every turn.

Start by doing a deeper dive into your ideal client to understand what solutions they need. Don't fall into the trap of trying to be all things to all people. Once you identify the needs of your client, determine which you are best suited to address for them.

As you see holes in your current offering, prioritize the order in which you need to fill the gaps. No single gap is easy to fill, at least at the required level. If you try to plug all of your holes at once, you are all but guaranteeing failure. Success requires a systematic, manageable, and strategic expansion of your abilities. The acquire-new-solutions-to-simply-check-off-boxes approach is a fool's game.

As you approach each solution category, do your research. But, know that you cannot depend entirely on the experience of peers (positive or negative) to make a final choice. Having access to this kind of information can help you shorten the process considerably, but you cannot leave the complete vetting of vendors to someone else. What worked for them may or may not work for you.

Finally, despite what every vendor may tell you, there is no perfect solution. Searching for a perfect solution is a quixotic pursuit.

Now the hard part—your calendar

Too many advisors feel that once they have chosen a new partner, acquired access to a new resource, and become familiar with its features and benefits, the work is done. And that is why so many brokers never deliver the full impact their clients need.

While it's obvious to you why each solution is needed, helping your prospects/clients see the same may be more difficult. However, before you can educate them adequately, you must educate yourself. Anybody can describe the features and benefits during a capabilities presentation, but your clients need you to help them understand so much more.

You must understand the answers to the following questions. Be the student first, and then you can be the teacher your buyers need you to be.

What problem does the solution solve? It's okay to state the obvious, but it does have to be stated. Buyers don't want to discuss the products you have to offer, but they are always interested in discussing the problems they have that make the product necessary. Some other questions we'll address during our panel:

• What is the operational and/or financial impact for a business if they don't solve the problem?
• What challenges likely stand in their way of fixing it themselves?
• How can you show them an implementation path that addresses the problem and leads to better results?
• What does improvement look like on the backside of implementation?

Manage the relationship

Knowing your new solution will give you a huge advantage over competitors who have access to the same solutions. But the hard work still isn't done. Like any relationship, your vendor relationships have to be nurtured and maintained.

Never before has it been more critical to have successful vendor-partner relationships. If you're attending the (now virtual) BenefitsPRO Expo in August, please join us as we discuss these issues and many more.

And, if you're not planning on attending, well, there is still time to fix that lapse in judgment.

Read more: 

• Do your vendors have quality engagement?
• Benefits administration platform vendors: What brokers should consider
• How to score health & wellness vendor performance — and why it matters