How to Increase Your Business by 25% in 30 Days

One of my newer coaching clients, Al, said he reaches out to clients every three months. Is that enough? According to the University of Connecticut, 89% of your clients care more about the relationship with you than the fees they pay.

According to Forrester Research, clients want three things:

1. To understand what they bought;
2. To have faith that you are watching out for them all the time; and
3. To have frequent contact with you.

I asked what “reaching out” means. Al said he sends a newsletter to clients. He also has one of his team talk to clients every three months. I have written in these pages about the three-month call and how you can increase referral generation and new business by 38% if you use our script.

The most important activity you can do is talk, not delegate, to your clients. It is the most highly paid and rewarding job you do. Everything else you can delegate to your staff. Anything that costs you $400 or less should be delegated.

What should your day look like and how can you best manage it? There are only five things only you can do during the average day. These include:

1. Client and prospect appointments;
2. Plan research and proposals;
3. Lead your staff;
4. Vendor and supplier contact; and
5. New business development (revenue-producing calls, or RPCs).

Create client and prospect appointment times

Assuming they are 90-minute slots, these could be 10am and 3pm. Don’t be trapped into thinking you need to be available whenever the prospect or client can meet. Let them know your open slots. Among your clients, 80% will fit when you are available. If you use an auto booking engine like Calendly, give clients and prospects a way to contact you directly. But many of your potential and current clients don’t like Calendly and won’t use it.

Next, designate one-hour per day for RPCs. These are three-month client calls, referred lead calls and center-of-influence (COI) calls. A good time would be 9am.

Staff leadership time could be at 8:30am. This contact could be daily but not fewer than three times per week. Those meetings, which I call the “daily information protocol,” should last only 15 minutes. Ask each staff member three questions:

1. What did you accomplish since we last spoke?
2. What is your goal today?
3. Here is my priority for you.

Vendor and supplier contact could be talking to a specialist about a client proposal or even the application of a product. It could also be a solution to a tax concern.

Time block

To gain any control over your day and avoid wasting time, create a block of approximately five activities. Here is what a day could look like.

• 8:30 staff meeting
• 9am RPCs
• 10am client appointment
• 11:30am vendor and supplier contact
• 12-1pm lunch
• 1-3pm plan research and proposal
• 3pm client appointment

Easier said than done

Boxer Mike Tyson once said everyone has a plan until you get hit in the face. Creating a time block is the easy part. Sticking to it is hard. You need the discipline to stick to your block like glue. Your staff can help. For the first few weeks, show them your time block and ask them to remind you when you deviate from the schedule. Making RPCs is the most important and most difficult activity you have. It will be easy to procrastinate Let your staff know the 9-10am RPC slot is the most important and to help you adhere to it.

Float time

There will be periods during your day with empty space. These can be no shows, appointments that are cut short or even rescheduled. This is the time to do paperwork, study, or even call friends. But your time block needs to be sacrosanct. There are two common strengths of the most successful advisors:

1. The discipline to stick to their daily plan in hitting goals; and
2. A growth mindset to always learn.

The most common signs of advisors who never quite make it are:

1. The lack of a plan and the self-discipline to stick to it; and
2. A lack of client contact.

Time management is more than a way to stay organized and relieve stress. It will increase your business by at least 25% as soon as you apply it. There are very few superstars who didn’t protect and manage their time well. But there are many others who live with disorganization every day and wonder why they can’t hit their goals.

I would love to send you a free video of “Mastering Time Management.” Write me at [email protected] or call 714-368-3650. We will spend a few minutes talking about your goals for increasing your business this year.

Dr. Kerry Johnson is “America’s Business Psychologist.” He is the best-selling author of 17 books including the recently released, How to Recruit, Hire and Retain Great People. He is also a frequent speaker at financial conferences around the world. Peak Performance Coaching, his one-on-one coaching program, promises to increase your business by 80% in 8 weeks. To see if you are a candidate for this fast-track system, click on www.KerryJohnson.com/coaching and take a free evaluation test. You will learn about your strengths and what is holding you back. Or call, 714-368-3650 for more information.

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