Agents and financial advisors spend most of their time putting out fires, rather than running and growing their business. They haven’t made any progress towards achieving their goals.
Because…
They are working IN their business, not ON it!
Unfortunately, most agents only make a small fraction of their potential income because they spend their time doing low-paying activities.
Many agents replied that they were most successful at securing clients and prospects.
(Note: I refer to agents as producers, brokers, financial planners and financial advisors.
Some of them said they could make as much as $1,000 an hour in front of clients and prospects. When I asked, “How many hours do prospects and clients spend with you in an average work day?” Most of them agreed…
“Less Than Two Hours”
They explained that they can only spend about two hours per day with prospects and clients because they must use the majority of their day cold calling, doing paperwork and administrative duties, as well as putting out fires and taking care other low-paying activities.
Do you find yourself in the same situation?
Are you also spending most of your time doing activities that do little to help you achieve your goals? Or, in other words, do you spend your time doing only 20% of the activities that make 20% of your income instead of 20% of those that make 80%?
If you are, then this is why you need to work so hard and long to make your current income.
You can turn this around by setting up your agency/practice so that you are able to focus on your highest-paying activities throughout the day. This includes seeing prospects and clients, and finding ways to grow your company. Then, delegate the lower-paying functions to your staff.
You will need to continue working long hours if you want to earn a decent income.
You need to change your mindset to get better results and work less.
It is important to think of yourself as a business manager and builder, rather than an agency owner.
A producer, a broker, or a captive agent!
Your agency, practice or career is the most important asset you as a business manager or builder.
To be a successful business manager and builder, the first step is to determine how much you are currently earning per hour through various activities. The next step is to determine which activities are most lucrative and how to delegate the lower-paying ones to your employees.
You can triple or even quadruple your income by allowing staff to take care of your low-payoff tasks. Your staff will be more successful if they can handle low-payoff tasks.
No matter what your hourly income, you should not be engaging in any activity that generates less than this amount. You should find out which activities produce less than this amount, then stop doing them. Then you can focus your efforts on those that are more productive.
Even if your business is a small one-person operation, it’s important to hire someone to perform low-paying tasks.
You’re probably spending the majority of your time on low-paying activities right now. This means that you are working IN your business, just like many agents.
You won’t be able make the type of income you desire unless you learn how to work ON your company, not IN it.
As you train your staff to manage your low-paying tasks, it may be possible to delegate 10 to 15% of these activities at first.
It’s fine. As you delegate your lower-paying activities to your staff each week, you will have more time to focus on your higher-paying activities, increasing your overall income. You don’t have to work harder.
An interesting fact is that agents who are qualified for the Million Dollar Round Table’s Top of the Table membership (which pays at least $404,400 per year in commissions) spend only 45 to 50% of their time selling face-to-face.
Imagine if your most profitable activity was to see prospects and clients. Can you imagine how much you could make if you spent most of your time with your prospects and customers?
