Distraction-Proof® Advisor Ideas

AdviserBlast – Quick Tips to Accelerate Your Practice
In this issue: Letting the phone go unanswered may be the answer to serving your clients and running your business better!

Contrary to popular thinking, letting some things wait can actually help you get everything done!

Question:
I want to be completely available and responsive to my clients, but how do I fit it all in? Each day there is so much work, which I know is important, but I just can’t seem to get to because I’ve been on the phone all day!

Answer:
Do you ever not answer your phone, on purpose? Why is it that our shoulders tense and the hair on the back of our necks stands up until that ringing stops? That ringing has more power over us than we might like to admit!

We let it break our concentration, pull us from what we mean to be doing at any particular moment, and, in short, dictate our behavior.

The generally accepted mantra in the marketplace is that advisers always need to be available to their clients – even 24/7, if the client so desires.

But hang on: this doesn’t really allow you to be most helpful to your clients! In fact, you can’t be available to ALL your clients ALL the time – if you’re with one client, you cannot physically be available to another client at the same time.

I’d suggest you let that phone ring, because it really is better for you and your clients!

If you call your dentist right now and ask to speak with her or try to tell her you’re heading that way and will just pop in to have a general chat about your teeth, chances are that you don’t stand a hope of reaching her directly. You’re going to speak to a scheduling nurse or receptionist who will help you make an appointment or at least take down the reason for your call and have your dentist get back to you.

Your dentist will respond to you, but on her time, when she has done what she needs to do to ensure her business runs properly. She won’t let your phone call pull her away from what she has previously planned to do at that moment when you call. Better, she’ll respond back to you when she can devote her total attention to your issue, and is in a better position to be helpful (which is exactly what you really need!)

So why are you prepared to accept this delayed response from those providing professional services to you, yet permit your clients to dictate how you’ll run your practice and manage your time?

If you need to speak to your dentist, you’ve had the operational terms of your relationship outlined up front. You have had the process explained to you clearly, understand your dentist is a specialist, and have had your expectations managed appropriately.

A Balancing Act
I understand that you want to build solid relationships with your clients, and relationships are built upon being flexible, accessible, and friendly.  But you can’t serve your clients best if you are always in reaction mode.

You must balance the relationship building with the business building and not assume because you are spending time building relationships that your business will grow by default, without much specific care and attention. Relationship building and business building are intimately related, but they are NOT the same thing!

When you do balance these activities effectively, you can plan your time most efficiently through time-blocking. This allows you to make specific times to focus on what you have identified you need to do to build your business (such as completing a proposal for a prospect, writing a client newsletter, or planning a seminar series) AND times to meet with clients, when you can be most prepared to meet their needs.

Set Others’ Expectations
Don’t be afraid to clarify with people up front how you work. Establish clear parameters for how you structure your time and business with your clients. If they are so unreasonable as to not respect the fact that you run a structured, professional practice and are not willing to work in with the way you do business, let them go; they’ll only cause you bigger headaches in the future.

Don't hesitate to do this with your work colleagues too, explaining that you need to concentrate on the job at hand when your door is shut, but they are welcome to come speak to you later when your door is open.

You need to focus on what you need to do first. You’re not helping anyone – least of all yourself – if you continually let other people dictate how you’ll prioritize your time, effort, and focus. As much as prospects or clients might demand your help, you won’t be around long to help them  if you don’t tend to running your business well.

You are responsible for controlling your environment. Determine what buffer you need to create to enable you to stick to your planned schedule so you can accomplish your priorities, instead of finding the hours of the day slipping away.  The dentist has a receptionist, when I was training for the Olympics I had the fact that I was physically in the water, and you might have an assistant or voicemail to help you create this buffer and prevent you from reacting to someone else’s schedule and demands.

To get better at this balancing act:

• Establish daily times where you are unreachable to anyone. Some advisers I coach now don’t make appointments on Mondays or Fridays and use these days for administration activities and weekly planning.  They regularly comment how much they get done when they don't permit interruptions from anyone.
   
• Every couple of hours, have a set a time in your schedule to return calls. If it’s urgent, you’re only an hour or two away.  If you were on a plane at that time, you couldn't get to anyone and they couldn't get to you. The reality is most things can wait an hour or two. Tell admin staff and associates to treat those times accordingly, too.
   
• Importantly, clarify expectations up front at the first appointments when people become clients. No one will be caught off guard, and everyone will be on the same page.

By learning to concentrate on tasks – even smaller ones – and see them through to completion, you increase your ability to focus, establish productive habits, and ultimately achieve far more for both your clients and yourself.

Stay on track!
Paul

Copyright Paul Kingsman 2009
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Paul Kingsman provides financial services professionals practical tools to achieve consistent, outstanding results. As a motivational speaker and executive coach, he is a sought after expert on how to make your split seconds count. Having won an Olympic medal by only four one-hundredths of a second, Paul knows the importance of keeping focused and now teaches people how to overcome distractions and achieve their own success. His experience as an adviser for Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo has given him an insider’s understanding of the unique business challenges faced by financial services professionals and an ability to guide his clients in implementing results oriented solutions.

To find out more about how he can help equip you or your team to achieve your own Split Second Success® through his presentations or executive coaching, email him at Paul@PaulKingsman.com

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