Wish you had more time to spend with clients?

If you’re like many other IAs, you do. Without question, it’s the most common problem IAs around the country tell me they have.

I used to have this problem, too. And I realized that I had to solve it if my practice were to grow. After all, having more time with clients would let me improve my relationship with them. Review meetings would be far more effective. Relationships would be stronger. And we’d gain more referrals. For sure, finding more time for clients would result in more clients and sharp increases in AUM.

So I realized it was important that I figure out how to find the time. And you’ll be glad to know that I found the solution. Even better, it’s one that you can implement as easily as I did.

I call it the 4D practice.

Let me explain how it works so you can use it too.

The First D: ‘Dump’
Begin by taking a critical look at every aspect of your practice. I did, and soon realized that an awful lot of what I was doing doesn’t really have to be done. At all. Ever.

You only think that it does.
Before you start to engage in any activity or task, simply ask yourself: If this doesn’t get done, will anyone notice? Will anyone care?

You’d be surprised how often the answer—if you’re truly being honest with yourself—is no. So take that task and dump it. You’ll be amazed at how much of your workload can be eliminated with no negative side effects.

How do you figure out what you’re doing that you can stop doing? Let me explain how I started. I tracked my day by logging my activities by five-minute increments. Sounds cumbersome and tedious (and it is), but it’s also shockingly revealing. I also had my team do this.

One colleague was complaining that he was struggling to get everything done. I had him write down exactly what he was doing every five minutes
of every day for one week.

We discovered, among other things, that he drank six cups of coffee daily. When I told him this seemed excessive, he explained that he didn’t really drink six cups. He only poured six cups. He’d drink half of one and the rest would grow cold, so he’d make another trip down the hall to get another hot cup. We mapped it out and found that he was spending 15 minutes per cup. It’s only a one-minute trip to the kitchen, but along the way he’d run into people and engage in a hallway conversation.

He wasn’t just shooting the breeze with them. They talked about business. But still, they were just talking, and this averaged 15 minutes, six times a day. That was 90 minutes out of his eight-hour workday.

Think about that: He was spending 20% of his time drinking coffee and chatting and then told me he didn’t have enough time to get all his work done!
Dumping is a wonderful time management tool. Try it.

The Second D: ‘Delay’
Obviously, there are some things you can’t dump. These things actually have to get done. But when?

Just because something needs to get done doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be done right away. Often, I’ve learned, you can delay it.

Do you ever find yourself engrossed in something that needs your full attention, only to get an e-mail or phone call? The inclination is to stop what you’re doing and deal with the intrusion. But that leaves you discombobulated. Your train of thought is gone; you’re no longer “in the zone,” and your productivity is shot.

I’ve learned to focus on what I’m doing, essentially, and become a big fan of procrastination. Put things off a while. Sometimes they resolve themselves (a follow-up e-mail says to ignore the original one, or staffers solve their need another way). Often the outstanding issue just somehow vaporizes all on its own, and no one notices or cares. Delay is a wonderful thing.

The Third D: ‘Delegate’
Even though I’m a big fan of procrastination (when it comes to workload, that is, not investment contributions!) some tasks must be done immediately. Delay is not acceptable.

But just because something has to be done right now doesn’t mean it has to be done by you.

I’ve learned, sometimes painfully, that most of the things that need to get done are best handled by others.

If you find yourself saying, “There’s no one else who can do this,” well, that’s simply your cue to hire someone who can.

That’s how my firm came to have 500 employees. My wife and I certainly didn’t start out thinking we’d hire anyone, let alone hundreds of people. But we soon made three discoveries: There was more work than the two of us could handle; much of the work could be done as well by another person; and our doing the work was preventing us from seeing more clients, thus limiting our ability to grow.

After all, all the aspects of our firm are identical to yours. We have to secure office space and furniture (which is facilities management); buy and maintain computers and telephones (IT); hire, train and supervise staff and set payroll and personnel policies for them (HR); place trades and track client activities (operations); find new clients (marketing); pay the bills (accounting/finance); and obey the rules (compliance).

The only difference between you and me is that you probably perform all these functions yourself. In my firm, these jobs are handled by others, freeing me to do the things that only I can do.

We didn’t suddenly hire 500 people, however. First came a person to help me. Then more people. Then people to help the people we already hired. We added by onesies and twosies initially, then a handful at a time, and now we hire entire recruiting classes. We’re seeking people constantly in every area of the company, not just experienced advisors but people in every department. That’s how, after 27 years, we find ourselves with 500 employees in 41 offices around the country. It’s a slow metamorphosis, an evolutionary process. And it explains how, as of April 30 of this year, my firm had 120 advisors serving 27,000 people and managing $15 billion.

And it all begins with delegating.

It’s that simple. But it’s not easy. So I’ll devote a future column entirely to this topic.

The Fourth D: ‘Do’
By now, we have dumped the junk, delayed what’s not urgent and delegated assignments that others can do. What’s left are the tasks that must be done now, and only you can do them. So get on with it.

If you’ve mastered the first three “D’s,” you’ll find that your to-do list is very small, but everything on it is essential. For most advisors, probably including you, a to-do list should consist almost entirely of talking and meeting with clients.

So if you agreed at the outset of this column that your top complaint is a lack of time to spend with your clients, you can solve this problem by developing a 4D practice, or by joining a firm that has one in place for you. (That’s how my firm’s advisors are able to handle far more clients than the average advisor, which increases their career satisfaction—and their income.)

If you want to take your practice to the next level, 4D can get you there. 


Ric Edelman is the chairman and CEO of Edelman Financial Services LLC, a registered investment advisor. He is an investment advisor representative who offers advisory services through EFS and a registered principal of (offering securities through) Sanders Morris Harris Inc., an affiliated broker-dealer. You can connect with him on LinkedIn or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RicEdelman. Follow him on Twitter at @RicEdelman.