Financial advisors struggle with massive interruptions. How can you minimize the distractions and focus on getting your work done when you have an inbox that keeps growing every single day with more and more emails more and more webinars more and more interruptions? As a practice management expert, I know there are six Areas to help financial advisors with time management. In the coming weeks, I will discuss these six strategies including segmentation people processes, technology, delegation, and time management habits. in the meantime, here are some strategies to help manage your inbox.
Templates
In your inbox, you can have certain folders the one folder that I use every single day is my templates folder. Rewriting similar emails over and over is a complete waste of time why not build and use templates each and every day van build a collection of templates so that you can respond to emails by using a templated response cutting the hours of your time. For example, meeting email templates prospect follow-up templates, and service issue temp.
Scripts
The next folder you should always have is a script folder so when you call clients for appointments when you call prospects for appointments or when you talk to centers of influence having your scripts handy in your inbox makes it easier. I'm either writing scripts or collecting scripts and editing scripts all the time for different functions for financial advisors. The most common script used is when I call prospects or when I am doing webinars.
Prospects
As a financial advisor connecting and following up with prospects is part of your contact management system but having them in your inbox folder makes it simpler and easier to do the follow-up. Having a folder where you can consistently look on a weekly basis at the prospects you're working on the prospects you're following up on will help you manage prospects better.
Other folders
What other folders will help you to minimize your inbox better quicker or faster? It's like building a filing cabinet for all of the paper on your desk eventually you have more and more filing cabinets and you keep filing more information.
Nothing urgent in financial services
My mentor Bill Bachrach taught me this years ago and I never forgot it. Bill said that there is nothing urgent in financial services ever. Why do we feel like we have to look at our inbox all of the time checks on our phone all of the time and respond to people all of the time? I get it you want to give people a high-level service you want to be available and you want to be able to communicate. But it must be in a timely fashion that builds and manages their expectations. Most advisors have a massive sense of urgency towards their inbox and they can't get off that treadmill. It's time that financial advisors created new habits towards email responses and expectations. The secret bill gave me is having a mindset around email and that mindset is that there is nothing urgent in financial services.
Stop acting like there is everything urgent in financial services. Once you change your mindset around there is nothing urgent financial services you will start to manage your inbox your client's expectations your team and staff better.
Related: Do Your Ideal Clients Know All the Services That You Offer?