Which COI Relationships Actually Generate Revenue
Partnership ROI Analysis:
I recently had a conversation with a subscriber that stopped me in my tracks.
This advisor - David, had just finished something most of us probably should have done years ago. After another networking lunch that felt more like expensive therapy than business development, he decided to track the actual ROI on every COI relationship for 24 months. Not just the "I think this person might refer someone" optimism, but cold, hard spreadsheet analysis of time invested, money spent, and measurable results generated.
His results were brutal.
80% of his relationship time generated zero measurable results. Zero. But here's what shocked him even more: the 20% that actually worked generated 90% of his referral revenue—and he could have identified them systematically if he'd been tracking the right metrics from the beginning.
If you're like most advisors, you've probably wondered if all those networking lunches, golf rounds, and "relationship building" activities actually pay off. Ma…