Buy online
Worried you’re not giving your clients enough time or not finding the hours to work on your business’ goals and grow your client base? Increase your productivity and you will have the time you need to do all these and more! These seven tips will help you become more productive, efficient, and effective.
Tip #1 Know your business goals and strategy
If you want to get somewhere faster, you have to know where that somewhere is. When you have a clear goal and strategy for your business and know who your client base should comprise, such as a particular demographic or income group, you know what you need to focus on, and, you can quickly identify when you are spending time on an activity not aligned to your business’ goals, and stop or change direction!
Tip #2 Know your clients’ needs and goals
Your clients’ unique needs and goals are an area where time spent is time saved. It may seem counterintuitive at first but consider a situation where you spend hours researching and collating information on a particular subject only to present it to the client and find it is irrelevant! Or, you may be marketing to clients who don't align with your business services and goals. Your clients’ needs and goals don't just drive the advice process, they also guide how you spend your time. Know your clients’ goals and you can align your services with your clients’ needs, avoiding spending time on activities that add no value to your clients or your business.
Tip #3 Be proactive with your client communication
Share with your clients the information they need when they need it and keep in regular contact with your clients and you can reduce time spent on ad hoc queries, in addition to streamlining client interactions.
Communicate regularly with clients
Regular client comms, such as an email or newsletter, are a great way to pre-empt a lot of queries. If you notice a number of clients having the same problem or concern, write an email or newsletter article on the topic answering their questions.
Prepare onboarding client packs
When you onboard a new client, have a ready to go, online or paper-based brochure with details of what new clients can expect when, how you work and all the items you cover.
Meet on time, for the allotted time
You may need to be ruthless with your time in client meetings to avoid continual overruns. If you find meetings are consistently taking longer than the time allocated, you either need to allocate more time for the meeting or find ways to make the meetings shorter. This could be as simple as sending out an email before a meeting detailing some of the areas you will cover and asking your client to do some prep work beforehand so they are ready with answers and information you need.
Let your clients know your availability
You also need to let clients know when and how they should contact you and what response time you offer. If you are out of the office for a few days or weeks, let your clients know, if you are available all day on certain days, tell them.
This can be an ongoing communication, such as putting your in and out of office dates on your regular emails or newsletters.
If you are concerned about not being available when your clients need you, or sending valued clients to voicemail, use a staff member or virtual assistant. They can take calls, help with basic queries, and let you know if anything is urgent that needs your attention.
Tip #4 Use tools and tech to save time
Tools and tech can help you save time and manage client communications. A Smart Asset article also notes that clients want their advisers to be tech-savvy!
Some areas where you can use tech to help you become more productive include:
Newsletters and emails
Automate client communications, such as newsletters, even your out of office email and voicemail messages. You can set up a number of different messages, and use whichever is appropriate. You can also use email rules and call forwarding to forward mails and calls to an assistant.
Online records
Record and transcribe meetings as they happen using online tools such as those available on Office 365, and the online records on provider platforms such as 1Life Vantage. This means you have records immediately available for referral and compliance, and in one place!
Provider tools and platforms
Finally, make full use of the tech tools your providers offer including platforms such as 1Life Vantage and any linked investment service provider platforms, FNA tools, such as 1Life 1Plan, and online dashboards.
Tip #5 Manage time and prioritise activities
Forget multi-tasking! Allocate your time to important activities and stick to your plans.
Use a to do list
To do lists are still one of the more common ways to allocate time, deciding which tasks need to be done and when, and how much time each will require.
Time block
Time blocking, when you set aside an amount of time for a particular task, is often used to become more productive. This can take the form of days dedicated to client visits and days dedicated to admin issues and client queries online or on the phone. Or you can set aside time on the day for particular tasks, such as an hour in the morning and early afternoon for emails.
You can read more about ideas on time blocking in this article on Advisorpedia and this article from Forbes.
Have an email plan
Emails are one of the great time sappers. You can delegate your inbox to an assistant and train them on how to deal with basic queries, how to refer queries to you and or let clients know when you will return their emails if you are unable to do so immediately or on the same day.
Tip #6 Improve your product and industry knowledge
All those CPD events have a double benefit! You qualify for the points you need, and you learn more so you can be more efficient, knowledgeable and productive. The more you know about your industry and products the less time you need to take to search for information and answer queries.
Tip #7 Care for yourself
Ever had a really slow day after a bad night’s sleep, or late night out? Take care of yourself and you limit your slow days and improve productivity.
Commit
Commit to trying some time saving techniques and you can improve your productivity. Be prepared to stay the course, because sometimes the gains are small, but they tend to gain momentum until you suddenly find you have doubled your available time for your clients, your business, yourself and your loved ones.