When I was at law school, I lived in a graduate dorm room and the walls were paper thin. So my next door neighbor was playing a movie really loudly at a late hour of the night while I was trying to study.  I did what most people would do and knock on the wall. My next door neighbor then knocked on my door and started yelling at me why I'd knock on the wall and I told her it was too loud. She continued to yell at me and then went back into her room and turned down the volume after her tantrum. A day later, the resident assistant (RA) who lived across from us, admitted that she was in her room and didn't want to come out to stop the fight. She was an RA, that was her job.

I've run into so many plan sponsors with issues and it's the plan provider's fault and the plan provider just doesn't want to fix it. Whether it's the financial advisor who didn't let the plan sponsor know there was a market value adjustment or surrender charge for a plan investment that is being terminated or a third party administrator (TPA) that didn't do testing right or an ERISA attorney who didn't give a complete voluntary compliance program submission, it's a problem. You have to do the job for what you're contracted for, whether you like it or not.

Every week on 401(k) Help Center, I see an article about some retirement plan provider being bought out by another. The consolidation in the retirement plan business has been an ongoing theme ever since fee disclosure regulations were implemented in 2012 and it continues to gain steam.

Always think outside the box to help your practice.

It will help your business.

I've probably said enough about the time that I came up with the crazy idea of having Sal The Stockbroker from The Howard Stern Show perform at my former synagogue when I was involved there.  The reason I did it was because I was tired of the same old tired fundraisers where the same 30-50 members showed up. I decided to offer an event that would interest the outside community because their money is just as good as the money from our members, actually I thought it was better since it was a new revenue stream.

When you're involved in your practice, always look for small things that make your practice stand out. My idea was writing articles to help advisors and third party administrators garner business.  I added that401ksite.com and That 401(k) Conference to further increase my brand.

For your practice, I think a big thing is to stand out among the crowd. Maybe it's pushing that new credit card that rewards users with a 401(k) deferral as a percentage of purchases. Maybe it's a website with alliances among outside businesses that can help expand your brand.  Whatever it is, think something that is unique and might excite current and potential clients.