So, what can you do to shift your actions to result-producing activities and away from what is immediately gratifying but not productive? Take it one day at a time. The beauty of avoiding results-producing activities, like asking for referrals today, is that it's also easy to start asking for referrals today. Today you can make follow-up calls. Today you can improve your value delivery. Today you can get more organized. Pick one or two things and do them today. Today you can also stop doing one or more of the many things that do not move you toward your goals. You know what they are. Make a not-to-do list and then don't do everything on it for 30 days and watch your productivity and production soar. And then tomorrow, and the next day and the day after, you can do what you know moves you toward your goals.
The same is true for your clients achieving their goals. Being in the habit of delaying gratification and making smarter long-term choices is vital. It may be popular to blame an individual's financial challenges on the global economic problems of the past few years or the government or Wall Street. But the truth is that people who make the smart long-term choices to get their entire financial house in order and keep it that way insulate themselves from political and economic events outside of their control and achieve their goals regardless of what happens in the market, the economy or the world. There may not be a guarantee, but the odds are vastly increased.
The better you do this for yourself, personally and professionally, the more you earn the right to lead your clients in the same way and the less likely you are to say, "If I knew then ..."
For 22 years, Bill Bachrach's company has been helping financial advisors build businesses with the right number of clients, working the right number of hours, for the right amount of money. Call 800.347.3707 to schedule a complimentary consultation or visit www.billbachrach.com.