Be Organized – Make Prospecting a Priority
I can conjure up many advantages to being organized. Less stress is way up there on my list. So is the luxury of having fewer decisions to make. But the number one reason is more time to sit face-to-face with clients and prospective clients.
► Check this Prospecting Introduction Video from the learning center
My friend Jack is fond of saying that your success depends upon how many families you will touch going forward. Advisors who fare poorly generally do so because they don’t see enough people. It’s hard to have appointments when paperwork keeps getting in the way.
I don’t want this blog to turn into a plea to overcome procrastination. Nor am I going to argue that you can save a lot of time by arranging your grocery list so that you only have to make one pass through the store. I am going to argue that you are like a doctor. The more patients you see, the more money you make. And vice versa.
Starting today, make prospecting and having appointments structured time.
These are things you plan for, not things you do when you get around to it. Set aside time for both. Don’t wait to call that referral until you get around to it. You’ll never get around to it. Whatever else you are doing will expand to fill all your available time. Pretty soon, it’ll be time to go home and prospecting is put off until you can get around to doing it tomorrow. Of course, you’ll never get around to doing it tomorrow.
No matter how little or how trivial the work on your desk, it will take you all day to do it if you allow that to happen. Emily Bronte knew that and she died in 1848. “A person who has not done one half his day’s work by ten o’clock, runs a chance of leaving the other half undone.”
The caveat most closely associated with effective prospecting is “Don’t break the chain.”
Block off time every day to prospect. Every day. Don’t break the chain. The more time you spend prospecting this year, the more you will grow next year. Neither success nor growth is accidental.
Being organized doesn’t mean knowing where your car keys are.
It means always knowing where you are and where you are going. It means knowing which obstacles stand in your way and what to do about them. It means you are able to remain calm when the wheels seem to be coming off. It means you are not trying to save your quarter in the last month. It means you have the time to be proactive.
Everything in your life is where it needs to be. You know what’s important and what isn’t.
Wouldn’t you like to go home at night with the list already done of the people you are going to call the next day? Wouldn’t you like all afternoon, every afternoon to market yourself?
I’m not suggesting that all the labels in your refrigerator face out. I am suggesting that you do what’s important first and then get around to the small stuff.
Don’t be one of those Advisors who are too busy doing the small stuff to get around to doing what’s important.
Hi Don, this is an excellent article. Many advisors, myself included, suffer from ADD (Advisor Distraction Disorder) and get sidetracked by shiny objects. In the meantime, prospecting gets pushed to the side instead of being a priority. Thanks for the reminder.
Del Wilmot
Thanks for your positive feedback, Del! It’s ironic how hard prioritizing sometimes is, and yet – how it makes our lives so much easier and better 🙂
Wishing you many prospects turning into happy clients!
Diana