Seismic changes in our country's economic system will restrain growth as far as the eye can see. Have we learned substantial lessons from the painful events and shattered hopes the financial crisis has wrought? Or have we been waiting for things to return to business as usual?

We have discussed the impact of those changes over the last six months in this column with the following topics: 1) A populist backlash against the wealthy; 2) Trust in advisors being broken; 3) Cost-conscious clients considering going it alone; 4) The new tax burden; 5) Distribution being the battleground for winners and losers; and 6) Social media becoming an operating force in the new century.

We conclude now by focusing on the final trend: The winners will be those advisors who use this crisis to review, regroup and reform. Innovative firms are examining their service models, revising their pricing, tweaking their business model. As an advisor, you should do that in your own practice.

Take a fresh look at the client segments you serve and the way you serve them. A book full of aging clients, for example, can lead you to lose assets through illness and death, unless you are coordinating their estate planning and meeting their younger family members. Gaining relationships with younger clients often happens naturally when younger partners join existing practices.

Everyone has reduced costs, in many cases by reducing head count. If you believe the predictions about the new economic norms, how should you react? For example, higher taxes as far as the eye can see could have a profound effect on income and consumption habits. Maybe you can offer to refresh the assumptions in your clients' financial plans.

In addition to nurturing your current clients, you also have to work on client acquisition. Many advisors knowthey're unlikely to gain the growth they need from their current client base. Customers may not be offering references as much as they used to, so you will have to look more actively for new clients. You'll need more scale in relationship management-lower margins will require it. For example, forming a team may help you go deeper in subject matter and cover more ground.

What about business specialization? We have seen an increasing number of advisors examining their practice and trying to get a better understanding of their value proposition, their elevator speech and their marketing strategy.

Some firms are looking to gain clients who look different from the ones they have. Others are recognizing shifts in their own service model, as clients are retiring and their needs have changed. One thing is clear. In most cases, it is harder than ever to squeeze more from the clients you have.

Like it or not, you can expect to see more teams and bigger books. We see practices coming together for a variety of reasons: older advisors looking for a succession plan and younger advisors looking for a safe port in the storm. Whatever the motivation, serving high-net-worth clients requires a combination of skills best offered by a team.

When times are good, there is less of a need to change. More challenging times breed reflection. The trends that have been plain to see-from retirement income needs to the changing face of investors-now have current relevancy.

Gerri Leder is an industry marketing consultant and can be reached at leder@ledermark.com.