Today’s advisors are faced with an overwhelming volume of information. I’m

often faced with 50 to 60 e-mails and another 15 voicemails on a daily basis.

I soon realized an effective organizational system was needed to maintain my

profitability and my sanity.

Developing an organization action plan will allow you to:

minimize your stress level

optimize your level of creativity

increase the profitability of your practice

Most high level advisors have a good understanding of the correlation between

being organized and having a more profitable and fulfilling life. The

following steps will help increase your level of organization and create a

sense of balance in your life.

Get Started

The first item needed is a large recycling bin or waste basket. I usually

devote a day of my time and my assistant’s time every 6 months to clearing the

junk from my office. This semi annual purge will create space in your office

and your mind.

Next step is creating time friendly and efficient input sources i.e. phone,

e-mail, fax and mail. It’s crucial from a business standpoint that clients be

able to reach us by all of these methods. What creates the separation from our

competitors is how we deal with these inputs?

Action Plan in Place

You walk into the office and you’re hit with 50 e-mails. Try responding to

your e-mail, by applying one of the following four actions:

Delete it - if it is an item that is of no value trash it.

Defer it – This does not mean simply skip it and move on to the next

item (which is what most advisors do). If it is an item that can not be dealt

with in a timely manner and can’t be delegated, file it and write it down in

your electronic or manual organizer, assigning an appropriate time to deal

with the activity.

Take Action – if it’s something that can be dealt with on the spot take

action and move on.

Delegate – I’ll discuss this in more detail in a few moments, but the

ability to distribute less profitable tasks to your supporting team is a key

driving force in creating time and maximizing profitability.

Overcoming Obstacles

Where most advisors fall of the wagon is when life throws a curveball. You are

half way through your e-mail and your cell phone rings your client wants to

discuss their policy. While it’s great to be accessible to your clients this

will prevent you from dealing with the task at hand and if you’re half way

through you’ll have to start over once you’re able to come back to the e-mail.

Solution forward your cell phone and business phone to your assistant or

respond to your client’s voice mail after you completed your outstanding

tasks.

Dealing with Delegation

The ability to effectively delegate outstanding work will create time and is

vital to becoming and staying an elite level advisor. When a client inquiry

comes into my office my assistant attacks it in the same way I would: delete

it, defer it or take action. I’m the last option and I’ll only be asked to

step in after the 1st three options are explored. As my business has grown, a

secondary assistant was brought in to deal with the overflow of work and the

system simply repeats itself.

Fine Tuning Your System

The basics of how you and your team handle incoming work remains constant.

However, changes in technology can create opportunities to enhance your

organizational system. The preferred choice of exporting information has

shifted from fax to e-mail in recent years. E-mail offers tremendous

flexibility and time efficiencies but the means in which I handle e-mails or

faxes have remained constant.

Bottom Line

The ideas discussed will allow you to create separation from your competitors.

The increased time will allow you to be more productive and profitable.

Additionally, the reduction in both mental and physical clutter will allow you

to be more creative in your thinking – a muddled mind has no room to explore

new concepts. I’m reminded of an unconventional executive who lives in a 6000

square foot home furnished with only a bed and a television. He says the space

maximizes his mental productivity.

While this level of eccentrism is not required, there is a definite

correlation between your level of organization and your creativity. The

reduction in mental and physical confusion will enhance both your professional

and personal bottom line.