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The difference between an average producer and an elite producer is how they manage their time. How does an elite financial advisor manage their time? By time blocking three critical categories. First, there must be time for growth. An elite advisor typically grows at a 17% rate annually. Therefore, they know they must time block 17% or more of their time on a weekly basis for ideal prospects. An elite advisor work week is 50 hours.
At 50 hours per week, top advisors spend at least 50% of their time ( 25 hours ) in front of clients and prospects. this means they must block approximately 4 hours per week with ideal prospects or ideal prospecting activities. Second, they block 70% of their time with ideal clients ( 70% of 25 hours equals 17.5 hours per week) Elite advisors block off 21.5 hours per week for ideal clients and ideal prospects. They may not have appointments blocked, but the time is blocked for ideal client and prospect activity only. Color-code your calendar with time blocks.
How many hours do you block off per week?
The chart below gives us some important keys to success, as we all have the same 24 hours in a day.
Average time spent versus Best practice time spent Allocation hours per day Allocation hours per day*
.......................................Average......Elite
Client service .....................16%.......32%
Client acquisition.. ..............10%.......17%
Employee training ...............4%........12%
Practice Mgmt. processes....6%........8%
Portfolio management.........12%.......7%
Research.............................12 %......5%
Office Administration...........10%.......4%
Back office operations...........8%.......1%
What is blocked off in your calendar this week?
Take a look at ideal appointments with clients and prospects. Then look at how many non-ideal or transactional appointments you have? See the problem? We give too much time to the wrong type of clients consistently. Time to change that. Non-ideal clients and prospects will have to wait longer to see you. Make it a habit to review every Monday morning, to ensure a productive week.
What is holding you back?
Human behavior holds advisors back from accomplishing their goals. It is the same thing that holds clients back from achieving their financial goals. Advisors’ behavior affects their practice. When advisors follow their natural instincts or habits, they tend to apply faulty reasoning without research. What is your ideal capacity? I know that most people rationalize business decisions based on facts, but you should implement business decisions based on feelings. This is where time management needs to tap into your subconscious motivations.
What are your subconscious motivations? Do you want more time off? Do you see tremendous opportunities you want to capture in a certain market? Build a dream home? What is important to you in your practice? What are your internal and external motivators? Why do you do the things you do? What are you passionate about? What is the story you want to tell the world every day? What drives you, motivates you and invigorates you more than anything else? What is your why? I ask these questions because elite advisors have goals to motivate them. This, in turn, creates the urgency in time management. Without clarity around your personal and business goals, how else will you drive behavior? How else will you block time to find your ideal capacity?
Elite advisors have one thing above all other advisors, clarity
Darren Hardy of Success Magazine shares and interesting story. (www.success.com) Imagine a race between three people to complete a 1,000-piece puzzle.
Person No. 1 was given one with the picture on the box.
Person No. 2 was given the box with no picture on it.
Person No. 3 was given a box with the wrong picture on it.
Who is going to win?
Exactly, person No. 1.
You need a clear picture (vision) to complete the puzzle of your life.
Envision that you have already accomplished your most important goal for your business today. How does that make you feel? Act as if it has already been done. The message is clear, the best advisors spend more time on servicing ideal clients and prospects BECAUSE they have clarity and invested the time and energy to put their processes in place.
Quality financial and investment plan
One final comment. In my workshops with financial advisors, I always ask a veteran advisor, “in twenty plus years, how many quality financial and investment plans in writing have you seen from your competitors?” The answer is usually less than 5 quality plans in 20 years. My mission is simple, “Coaching financial advisors to create 1 million quality financial and investment plans for their ideal clients”. Ask your clients and prospects this question " What does a quality financial and investment plan mean to you? Let me know if I can help you grow your practice.
*[Source Advisor Benchmarking Inc. an affiliate of Rydex Investments / Practice Made More Perfect Mark Tibergien and Rebecca Pomering – Bloomberg Press 2011]