Privacy please…

Just a quick reminder to everyone that talking on your cell phones about client business can lead to a violation of privacy.

For instance, my neighbor who also works from home just had a very angry conversation in his front yard on his cell phone while waiting for someone to come by.  I could hear just about every word (it’s 70 degrees here today and I have my office window open) whether I wanted to or not.  He is not a financial advisor but is in a business that has high needs for privacy.  NOT a very smart move.

Cell phones are convenient and we all have them…I’m  not advocating the discontinuation of their use.  However, I do want to remind you that there are ears listening and you never know who is hearing what and if it might get back to a client – even the largest cities seem to get very small when something like this takes place.

Don’t put yourself in this position.  If you’re discussing client business out of the office, do it in your car with the windows rolled up.  Don’t do it at Starbucks over a cup of coffee thinking that because you’re in a corner speaking low, no one can hear you.  Nine times out of ten, this is not going to be true.

Not only will you lose a customer if it gets back to them, you have opened yourself up to potential monetary damages AND damaged your reputation.  It’s  just not worth the risk.

Take care…

You want me to do what?

Okay, okay, I know, you hate to hear it.  That phrase “track your time”.  I mean after all, you employ an AUM or retainer model so you don’t have to be like a lawyer right?

That’s not why I’m suggesting you do it.  Just like driving a car or playing golf, we pick up bad habits over time.  Time management is very similar.  We get so used to doing something one way, we lose track of what we should be doing and before long, boom, we’re wasting time on things that don’t produce revenue or service our clients.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are some back office things you must do.  It’s unavoidable in all businesses.  But if you’re not spending AT LEAST 60% of your time servicing your existing clients or working on gathering referrals, you are slowing your growth significantly!

So, take the time to track your days for the next couple of weeks.  Broad brush strokes are fine.  I don’t care that you went to the bathroom from 10:21 to 10:23.  I DO care if you spent an entire day dealing with paperwork.

If, after you’ve reviewed these sheets, you find you are spending less than 60% of your time in income producing activities, you have a couple of routes you can go.  One is hire some help (a COO is a good start) or outsource it to someone like Jessica Riner @ Consider It Done! www.consideritdonecompany.com.

I’m attaching a link to my website where you can download a simple excel spreadsheet to use to track your time (http://www.backofficeadvisor.com/id75.html).  Let me know what you find.

Ginny

Just do it!

Okay, I know, that famous tag line belongs to Nike but I just like it so much because sometimes, you “just need to do it”!

Today, I’d like to ask you a question.  If you were totally honest with yourself, would you say you spend more time researching and reading about something than actually doing it?  Do you think you use it as an excuse not to do other things? 

I know many folks who do this and at first, you think, wow, these folks are really up to speed, they are in touch with what’s going on, etc.  But after you get to know them for a while, you realize that’s all they do.  They surf the net, they read every publication they can get their hands on, they attend classes but at the end of the day, what do they really accomplish?  Are they putting any of this knowledge to work?  Are they accomplishing any tasks?

I realize that a happy medium is really the best solution.  You can’t always be a reader and you shouldn’t always be a doer but instead should strike for a balance between the two.

I suggest you allocate some time period on your calendar each day for reading (I allocate 30 minutes each morning) and then move on to your To-do list.  That should allow you read all the great articles published in this industry but also allow you to accomplish the tasks you know you need to do (such as meeting with referral sources, talking to your clients, working on ways to improve your operations, service, etc.).  If you are having a hard time doing these things and are using excuses not to, I suggest you investigate working with a good coach who can work with you to find a style that fits you and then keep you accountable to it.

I’d like to hear from you if you have a better system for doing this.  This is an area I need help with as well.

Thanks!

Finally tackling your Operations Manual

It looms over you, it taunts you, you know it has to be done.  What is it?  It’s your operations manual.  You’ve heard all the reasons and you’re a believer.  You know your practice will run more smoothly if you have one but where to start.  How do you get it going?

Start with a general outline by segment of the business.  For instance:

Chapter 1:  General Overview of Basic Procedures.  In this chapter, you might include:

Quality control, General Company Background, Office Address and contact information, Directions to the office and so on…

Now, bite it off in small pieces.  Assign someone in your office to drive it (if it’s just you, you’ll have to be disciplined enough to get it on your calendar and then stick to it).  Take it three or four sub-sections a week.  For instance, the first week might include the 5 sections I listed above and nothing more.  That’s okay, do not try to do it all at once.  You won’t, you’ll get bored, you’ll get overwhelmed and you’ll quit!

Another suggestion is to build it as a wiki which then becomes a company intranet of sorts.  I build my clients on www.wetpaint.com.  It works great, they can keep it private and invite whomever they want and it makes it very easy to edit.  Additionally, it makes it very easy to find one or two processes without flipping through a large manual.

Give it a try and let me know how it works or if I can assist you in anyway.

Thanks!