Manage Your Day

Financial Planning is not a 9-6 job, your after office hours are inseparable from your office hours. Your day is usually too long and hectic. Your job as a financial advisor is much more than managing investment portfolios or closing sales. You at times compromise your personal commitments in order to meet your business demands. We have made an effort to help you better organize your routine and simplify your day. We have featured certain points which you may integrate in your schedule and make your lives easier.

You must maintain a diary or a software which shall include all your business details, work in pipeline, status on leads, etc. We have laid down a routine for your entire day, you may alter the time and activities according to your business requirements and convenience:

As a planner you can make the most of your mornings.

7 AM: Checking your e mail, whatsapp and sms shall form a part of your morning ablutions. Check if anything is urgent and respond accordingly.

9 AM: Start with planning for your entire day. You shall refer your diary for anything that shall be carried forward from the previous day. Check your calender for any client meetings. Pen down everything, client meetings, phone calls to be made, following up, meetings with NJ Sales Team, seminars, etc.

10 AM: Start calling people and fix up meetings, respond to all queries, follow up with leads, respond to missed calls or any important messages. Write down if you can't get through any call, you can call them back later. Making cold calls will also be more fruitful, since people are more responsive in the mornings.

11 AM: You shall work on removing any operational backlogs so that you can proceed smoothly. If you have a team, meet them in the morning, review their work, look into their problems and delegate responsibilities.

12 AM: You shall start executing your routine tasks, meeting new clients, meeting prospective clients, meeting NJ salespersons, etc. Before execution, you should however, keep in mind that you should be prepared for these tasks. Eg, before meeting a client, you should have all the questions and the flow of conversation framed in your mind.

2 PM: You must develop the practice of a mid day review. It will help track your progress, if your day is going as per your plan. If not, it'll guide you to be back on track.

Lunch

You may continue with your routine tasks post lunch as well. You must also include the following activities in your day

2 – 4 PM: Since your afternoon's are relatively less engaged. You can exploit this time for more passive and vital exercises.

• You shall review your client's portfolios and figure out if any modifications or additions are required.
• Work on devising strategies to enhance your business, new client meetings, technological upgrades, marketing strategies, plan for seminars, kiosks, etc.
• You should never stop learning. You should acquaint yourself with all the upcoming financial products and study their pros and cons. Grab the latest money magazines, or websites and read articles related to your business. An advisor is expected to know more than the investor and regular education will enable you to stand up to expectations.
• You shall also prepare for your evening meetings during this time.

5 – 7 PM: Most of your clients must be free by now, and they'll have time for you. You shall meet new and existing clients for new business or with the view to build relationships. See if there are any customer queries and try solving them on a daily basis. Before calling it a day, you should write down the important minutes of the day, so that you can start your next day by following up on them. Make a habit of writing client queries, the commitments you made to people, the meetings you scheduled, any relevant article or information you came across, any event or seminar that you scheduled, etc. in your diary everyday. This will help you remain much more organized.

Though, we have laid down an ideal routine but every new day in an advisor's life is as thrilling as never. Some meetings get canceled, some new meetings unexpectedly pop up, some meetings just last forever, some meetings get rescheduled. Your wife might need you for 2 hours during the day. Traffic is insane, your car breaks down and many other instances jumbles up your day and things don't go as per plan. But you can include these tips in your schedule to the extent possible and organize your business better.