The more time you spend dealing with operational and administrative issues, the less time you have to focus on getting new clients and increasing the profitability of your practice.
“You must focus on what you should be doing — providing advice and building your practice,” says Raymond Yates, financial advisor and senior partner with Save Right Financial Inc. in Mississauga, Ont. “Administrative tasks should be assigned to your assistant or other junior staff.”
You should also minimize “idle chit-chat,” says Katrine Clark, certified financial planner with Edward Jones in Vancouver. Ensure that your staff deals with day-to-day client questions and queries, she adds.
“Spending all day on research,” Clark says, “is one of the biggest time wasters.”
Here are some ways to ensure you focus on building your practice while avoiding activities that eat up your time:
> Evaluate what you do daily
Record and review your day-to-day activities for a few weeks, Yates suggests. Then, determine which activities are “time eaters.” Reassign those tasks that can be performed by other staff.
“You must have a system in place that allows you to manage your activities,” Clark says. For instance, Clark’s two assistants take care of all activities related to scheduling, client queries and back-office issues. Clark gets involved only if there is an unusual situation. Whether she is working on new business or serving existing clients, Clark works in “time blocks,” an efficient time-management strategy.
> Set specific goals
You should have a business plan, Clark says, that defines your goals — based on new assets, number of clients, types of accounts or revenues. Your plan does not have to be a “huge document,” she says, but your goals must be measurable.
Your plan would “force you to re-allocate non-essential tasks to others so that you can focus on business building,” says Aiman Dally, CEO of Copia Financial Solutions in Toronto.
> Make sure you have support
Dally says that efficient and reliable supporting systems are critical to avoiding administrative and process-related hiccups.
“If you do not have such support in house, you should rely on outsourcing solutions,” he advises. For instance, having a reliable back-office provider is essential to an efficient operation.
You would be surprised to know how much time you can spend resolving simple issues such as incorrect client statements, Yates says.
Clark recommends using a good contact management system, which can save you substantial time on scheduling client appointments.