As a financial professional, efficiency is key to success. You have a lot to get done, from client requests to meetings, trend forecasting, personal marketing and decision-making. The better you can use your time, the more you can accomplish.
Financial Professional Tips to Help Your Success and Efficiency
At Concorde, you don’t have to grow your business alone—you have an organization behind you that’s ready to help. Surrounded by a community of experts and armed with our Concorde Connect platform, you’ll have tools you need to help you succeed. Our experts know how important it is to work efficiently, so we’ve compiled some of our top tips to help get you where you want to be:
1. Automate Your Work with Tech
There’s a lot of available technology that can help financial professionals streamline workflows. Concorde Connect is designed to cut the clutter and provide you with the most relevant tools, systems, and platforms. It handles everything from “current financial industry best practices, marketing services, practice management consulting, business planning tools, executive coaching, premium-level subscriptions, alternative investment platforms, succession planning and more.”
Tools like this are critical to working efficiently. You don’t want to get stuck under a million menial tasks that could easily be automated.
2. Track Your Time
Have you ever finished a workday and thought: where did the time go? And how did I only get through half of my to-do list?
To maximize our time, we need a bird’s eye view of how we spend our time in the first place. By tracking your time, you can get a better picture of where you’re getting ahead and the tasks that put you behind. Measuring time spent on specific projects, meetings, and tasks can be tedious—we definitely recommend using a planner or digital tool to do it.
Although it could take some time to get used to a time management tool, it is worth the effort. Once you have everything set up, you will be able to track your daily progress and see where you can make improvements.
3. Upgrade Your Daily To-Do List
Everyone has their “laundry list” of things they need to accomplish in a day. But did you know how you create your to-do list can impact the chance you check items off? Instead of writing things out as you would for a grocery store trip, take this approach:
- Key Objective (1): Write down a single objective to help you prioritize your day. For example, let’s go with “feel confident in Client X’s expectations for the coming quarter.”
- Goals (3): Once you have your objective in place, outline the primary goals you need to complete today to meet that objective. For example, this could be “schedule a weekly check-in with the client, research the client’s company, and connect with a mentor about this specific client’s concerns.”
- Extra Tasks (1 – 10): Finally, the third tier of your list can hold all the little odds-and-ends that you need to do, like submitting an expense report or filing a specific form. These tasks are still important but shouldn’t precede your primary objective.
The intention of this approach is simple—create a hierarchy in your to-do list so you focus on the most important things. Once you’ve made your list, stick to it! But understand that there could be days when you can’t complete everything on your list. Don’t get discouraged; try the next day.
4. Delegate, Delegate, Delegate
Delegation can be challenging for some individuals, as they want to maintain control over all aspects of their business. And that completely makes sense; we all want to ensure we deliver our best work to the client.
However, delegation can be incredibly helpful in freeing up your time to focus on more critical tasks. If you struggle to delegate, talk to your team and Concorde, and see if hiring an assistant or virtual assistant could help. These professionals can assist with various tasks, including appointment scheduling, bookkeeping, and social media management.
5. Time-Block Your Communication
Setting aside specific, dedicated time for checking emails and voicemails is crucial. It’s easy to get buried under emails or let a notification break up our workflow. Instead, plan to check your email twice daily, once in the morning and afternoon.
But we do understand that a twice-a-day schedule isn’t always realistic for financial professionals. At the end of the day, focus on setting clear boundaries and make sure your clients know you aren’t available to chat, call, or email 24/7.
6. Take Regular Breaks
Though it may seem counterintuitive to efficiency, taking breaks throughout the day is essential. In fact, a break or two can improve focus and concentration. Consciously pencil in time to step away from your laptop. For example, consider taking a walk around the neighborhood or reading a book to level up your extended lunch break.
Get Started with These Financial Professional Tips
And there you have it—six financial advisor tips to help your success and efficiency. Contact us today if you want to learn more about Concorde, our asset management assistance, or investment services. We can’t wait to help you grow your business!
This is for informational purposes only and is not a guarantee of performance or results. Securities offered through Concorde Investment Services, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through Concorde Asset Management, LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor. Insurance offered through Concorde Insurance Agency, Inc.