How Productive are you? By Rich Randall

Have you ever seen one of those cartoons where one of the caricature’s legs is moving real fast like they are running but they aren’t going anywhere?
I used to feel like that sometimes. I would spend my day taking care of all the little line items necessary to close a deal, but I never made the time to concentrate on truly building relationships. Almost anyone could have done those items. Why then, did I do them? Possibly because they were easy, or gave me a sense of accomplishment. This applies to anyone in the workforce.

Have you ever read stories of a sales representative, whether a loan officer, Realtor, appraiser, title or credit representative that said they closed 20+ deals a month without an assistant. When I hear a story like that, I always wonder how many deals they could have closed with the proper help?

What agenda items take up most of your time in a day?
It boils down to productive versus nonproductive tasks. Think back over the last couple of days and make a list of all the tasks you personally preformed. Go ahead, write them down. Now, mark off all the items an assistant could have done for you. How much time did you waste? What if you spent that wasted time building one relationship a month? In one year’s time, you could have 12 new referring partners or clients.

Now, I know that you are thinking you would love to hire a assistant but can’t afford it.
There is more than one way to skin a cat. Consider sharing an assistant with another producer in your office or ask around for someone who is looking for additional hours. They could come in early or stay late to help out. This is a fantastic way to jump start your business so you can spend your time meeting new prospective customers and referring partners instead of being stuck behind a desk at the office.

The whole idea is to use your time in a more efficient manner that allows you to do the things that actually make you money. Building new relationships is the most productive use of your time.
Twelve things an assistant could do:

1. Answer phones
2. Give status updates
3. Marketing for new leads
4. Marketing to past clients
5. Marketing to referring partners
6. Manage your email
7. Database entry
8. Clear closing conditions
9. Lead generation
10. Schedule appointments
11. Thank you cards
12. Closing surveys