Lana Clark

Advice businesses that are enjoying more success, as defined by their Earnings before Interest and Tax (EBIT) margins and owner satisfaction, exhibit six critical characteristics, according to a new report by VBP-backed Elixir Consulting.

The inaugural 2024 Advice Operations Research Report, sponsored by Colonial First State, found top-performing businesses have six things in common: a healthy culture, dedicated Practice Manager, documented processes, they outsource tasks, use managed discretionary accounts, and engage an external business coach.

The report, which is based on a survey of 171 advice businesses, also found a direct correlation between pay and performance, with businesses that reward all employees by paying bonuses and competitive salaries recording an average EBIT margin of 27%.

(By comparison, the average advice business has an EBIT margin of 23% after normalising Principal salaries to $150k + super.)

They also recorded higher employee satisfaction and culture scores.

According to the report’s author Lana Clark, Founder of GSD Lab and Senior Consultant at Elixir Consulting, the research highlights the positive impact optimising operations can have on profitability, employee satisfaction and culture.

“It is incredibly valuable having hard data on what’s happening inside advice businesses to give those struggling to create, implement and manage essential operational aspects a compass for achieving back-office excellence,” she said.

“So many discussions about business growth and profitability are focused on recruitment, scale and M&A, but another important lever is optimising operations. Advisers can enhance client service, build a strong culture and mitigate risk by driving operational improvements.”

Elixir Consulting surveyed 171 advice businesses across Australia, representing 561 financial advisers, 43 risk specialists, 72 accountants and 25 mortgage brokers, as part of its research.

Over 50% of participants belonged to a medium-to-large licensee, 11% belonged to a boutique licensee and 37% were self-licensed. A quarter were based in a capital city, 40% were based in metropolitan areas and 33% were in regional areas. www.virtualbusinesspartners.com.au Commercial in Confidence +61 (0)2 8999 9696 2

Bryce Quirk, Group Executive Distribution at Colonial First State, said the comprehensive analysis provided a clear picture of the current state of advice operations and the future direction for practices pursuing excellence.

“We believe that helping advice practices be more successful can only help more Australians access and enjoy the benefits of professional advice,” he said.

“Over 60% of survey participants said they had a lot of new client opportunities but only half felt they could comfortably service them. The other half were struggling to keep up with demand.”

“We want to support advisers to efficiently deliver high quality advice and increase their capacity to see clients and grow their business.”

Based on the report, the average advice business added 36 new clients in 2023. The median firm added just 21.

Sue Viskovic, Founder of Elixir and Head of Consulting at VBP, said the report reinforced the importance of the right technology for streamlining back-office operations, citing that 68% of respondents did not have effective systems for managing workflow. Furthermore, one third described their systems and processes as “out of date, not documented and not consistently followed”.

“As experienced business coaches, we know that fully tested and thoroughly documented processes are a critical step, if not an absolute must, to successfully streamlining and automating business operations,” she said.

“The trend towards greater technology adoption is accelerating, which is encouraging to see, but this also increases the importance of cyber security, particularly as systems become more connected and integrated.”

For a copy of the report, visit https://vbp.ac-page.com/advice-operations-research-report-2024

For more information, please contact:

Leng Ohlsson

Splash Content

M: 0409 509 516

E: leng@splashcontent.com.au

W: splashcontent.com.au

The post New research on what’s really happening in the back-offices of advice businesses appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Sue Viskovic

Like anyone that has nurtured and worked tirelessly to produce an in-depth research report, yesterday’s announcement of the launch of the Adviser Pricing Models 4^th Edition Research Report puts to bed one of the most extensive research reports conducted by Elixir Consulting to date and provides a sense of relief to principal Sue Viskovic.

“This has been a mammoth task consolidating and analysing the data to produce the Adviser Pricing Models Research Report fourth edition. It includes in-depth data from 320 advice practices on how they charge for their services.” stated Mrs. Viskovic, “Pricing financial advice has always been complex, and when you add in a deep-dive to pricing insurance advice, with all of the variables we found used by advisers, it’s been no small feat to interpret the data into a piece of work that will be incredibly helpful for every adviser wanting to determine or refine their own pricing model.”

The research provides insights and the models being used and figures being charged, for pricing:

• insurance advice
• engagement fees for new clients with comprehensive and limited scope advice,
• engagement fees for aged care, estate planning, finance advice
• ongoing fees – for comprehensive and limited scope advice
• specific application of fee models in 6 client case studies, and
• complete snapshots of 6 different Business Models

“If you’d told me a decade ago that we’d now be In an environment where every adviser has to charge a fee for their financial advice, and yet there is more confusion and curiosity about pricing models than ever, I’d have probably laughed” shared Mrs Viskovic. “Whilst pricing is often talked about, the intricate detail of how advisers charge for their services is still elusive to most; today it remains a very private and commercially sensitive topic.”

“I want to say thank you to all those advisers that took time out to complete the research survey,” says Sue, “you were incredibly generous in sharing your pricing detail, your challenges, and the solutions you’ve found to overcome them. By doing so you have provided great insight into the depth and breadth of the pricing models used in the Australian Market.”

The Pricing Model Research Report 4^th Edition is now available for online purchase.

To highlight some of the take-outs from the research Sue Viskovic and co-author Lana Clark will be publishing a short series of videos of their discoveries during the countless hours preparing the data and compiling the research report.

“When we decided to expand on the questions we posed to advisers in this latest edition, we never dreamed that the responses would be so complex and detailed” states Ms. Clark, “Respondents have been so generous with the information, making this report this biggest and most in-depth to date.”

The post Lifting the lid on pricing financial advice appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Sue Viskovic

One of the biggest disruptors facing advisers who provide risk insurance advice is the Life Insurance Framework. This proposed legislation has disturbed a great number of advisers and cast light on the fact that pricing risk advice services is complicated, and the current commission model that has been the foundation of advice businesses for decades is under threat.

Sue Viskovic, Managing Director of Elixir Consulting is the pre-eminent expert in pricing financial advice, with over a decade of experience in coaching advisers and researching adviser pricing models across Australia. For the past two years, Sue has turned her lens on the specific challenge of pricing insurance advice with the intent to inform and empower advisers to successfully deliver an incredibly valuable risk service proposition and continue to build a profitable business.

This book reveals a step-by-step process you can follow to value and price your services and build a profitable business advising clients on their personal risk needs, with or without commissions. Written for anyone who provides advice on risk insurance, including both specialist risk advisers and financial advisers it includes adviser case studies to provide clarity and some great ideas to pursue.

“I’m delighted to launch this book to the market and provide some answers to a lot of the challenges that are perplexing advisers. I know that there is high emotion on this topic, and that advisers are feeling bruised and rather put-upon. I’m happy to say that three insurers, AIA, AMP and Asteron have sponsored the launch of the book and are keen to empower advisers to work through this challenging time and come out the other side with a stronger business model and a successful future” said Sue.

The book will be available for purchase from the Elixir website.

The post Sue Viskovic launches new book on valuing and pricing your services to build a profitable business appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Sue Viskovic

Elixir Consulting has released their ‘Adviser Pricing Models Research Report, third edition’ which reveals the pricing models and fees charged by advice businesses around Australia.

Elixir Managing Director, Sue Viskovic said “This is the third edition of the research; following on from our research in FY 2009 and 2012, and it is interesting to see the evolution of pricing throughout this time. Given that FoFA had been in play for some time when we collected the data, we initially thought that just doing an online survey would suffice this time around. We didn’t expect to see too many new pricing strategies or techniques, we actually just thought we would be updating the numbers and preferences. It turns out though, that we found a considerable variance in the models being used and some really interesting trends appearing. After analysing the data we went back to a number of participants and conducted further interviews to flesh out some of these new trends.

The final report reveals the pricing models used by 275 advice practices around Australia, and shares the pricing strategies being used, the figures used for staff charge-out rates, upfront fees for limited scope and comprehensive advice, as well as ongoing fees, and insurance advice. A new feature of this edition is client case studies – participants were also asked to quote the fees they would charge and service they would provide to five sample clients.

“What we have found is that this information is tremendously useful for business owners who are refining their fee structures and licensee staff who help them. Understanding what models are working for others and what price points are being used can help to broaden the thinking and provide solutions for various challenges. We absolutely do not advocate that advisers simply replicate someone else’s fee model; indeed the research again confirms that it’s important to conduct a robust process and analyse the costs, clients and value proposition of each firm when determining pricing.”

“In particular, with the proposed changes to insurance commissions, we’re hearing a lot of fear that clients won’t pay fees for insurance advice. Our research shows that there are already businesses who successfully charge fees for insurance advice, both when it’s provided as part of a comprehensive financial plan, and when it’s provided as standalone advice. 11% of participants in the research have removed insurance commissions altogether, writing premiums with nil commissions;  in fact only 13% charge no fees for insurance advice and receive commission-only.  Charging for insurance advice is certainly one of the most complex areas of pricing, but the research shows that it is possible.”

The research is available in two different formats from the Elixir website.

The post Adviser Pricing Models Research Report released appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Problem is, unless they actually structure some thought beyond the initial contemplation, they get back to the office and pretty quickly get sucked back into their day-to-day work, without properly planning what they will do to bring their great ideas to reality.

And you know what happens next…another year flies by and they find themselves (if they’re lucky) getting someway towards their new ideas, but most likely, still thinking about them and feeling frustrated with the same-old-same-old.

And THEN there are the businesses that just seem to flourish and grow and evolve effortlessly. Wanna know their secret? It’s not effortless at all – they’ve just made the RIGHT effort. They’ve taken the time to structure their strategic thinking and get it into a Business Plan.

They don’t necessarily have an MBA to do this, and sure – maybe some of them have a great coach like us in their corner, but in the very least, they do know how to take action on their great ideas.

I’ve created a quick video to share with you, my tips on how you too can flourish and evolve your business like a pro. (and it’s not just me saying “Hire an Elixir coach.” Promise!) Click Play on the video below to check it out!

 Sue Viskovic, Elixir Consulting

Click here to find out more about the Juice Console, or to get some help with your planning.

To attend the business planning bootcamps around Australia in January, click here.

The post Why is it that some businesses just flourish? appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Sue Viskovic

Independent consulting business, Elixir Consulting has released new dates for their ‘Business Planning Bootcamps’ to be held around Australia in late Jan/early Feb. These workshops coincide with the launch of their new software tool, the Juice Console which was launched just prior to Christmas.

Managing Director, Sue Viskovic said “We’re really pleased with the interest we have already received in Juice. We’ve had a flurry of subscribers already and are fielding lots of discussions with individual businesses as well as licensees, keen to support their businesses with their growth plans for the future.”

The Juice Console is an innovative software tool that combines a business analysis process, with the creation of a business plan, and then empowers businesses to report their progress against that plan via their desktop or mobile app on their phone/tablet. “The power of having visibility on where you want to take your business, and keeping the whole team accountable as they track back against their plans is incredible. Juice provides total visibility on business performance in one place, and is brilliant at keeping people in touch with what’s really important to them as they evolve their business”, Viskovic said.

“ In the current environment, financial advisers are finding they need more focus on their business than ever before, and they’re seeing Juice as a great tool to help them identify and plan the areas of their business they want to improve on, while staying focused on growth targets and service delivery to existing clients.”

Businesses can purchase Juice to use on their own, or can register for a Recharge Workshop – a ‘business planning bootcamp’, where an Elixir Consultant will walk them through the creation of their business plan and help tackle their big issues for 2015. Dates for the Recharge Workshops are:

• Perth 22^nd January 2015
• Brisbane 4^th February 2015
• Melbourne 6^th February 2015
• Sydney 10^th February 2015

Click here for information.

The post Elixir offers Business Planning Bootcamps as market responds well to new software appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Participate in Elixir Consulting’s Adviser Pricing Models Research.

Are you keen to understand the different types of pricing models in the market, and specifically, how much other advisers are charging for the similar types of clients that you service?

What about what other advisers do in relation to commissions and fees when advising on risk insurance – with or without other areas of advice?

How about the fees charged for ongoing services? And what do other advisers actually provide for those fees?

You can receive all the answers to these questions, by participating in Elixir Consulting’s Adviser Pricing Models Research. It’s been two years since they last collected this data, so the time has come again to collect the numbers and insights.

Elixir Consulting has updated their research questions to suit the current pricing environment, and they are offering participants the chance to enter the draw for a $2,000 travel voucher.

As always, they will protect the identity of all participants and will only release the aggregated data. The survey will take 10 to 15 minutes to complete, and all valid participants (ie advisers only – and those who provide legitimate answers) will also receive the insights report free of charge.

Click here to complete the survey.

The survey closes Thursday 14th August.

The post What do other advisers charge? appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Setting and achieving your goals.

Goal setting. You’ve heard all the one liners….‘If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else’; ‘Fail to plan and you plan to fail’; ‘A goal is a dream with a deadline’…

In my post “The problem with goal setting”, I reveal the single biggest contributor to achieving your goals, and why writing them down just isn’t enough.

Here, I would like to share some more hints and tips about how to ensure your goals aren’t just some wishy-washy motherhood statements that end up being more frustrating than motivating. There are four key actions you can take to solidify your goals and make the likelihood of reaching them much greater.

1. Define them as clearly as possible – treat both your personal and professional goals like KPIs in a job description. Make them measurable and specific. “Reach and maintain a goal weight of 64.5kg by March 30” is much harder to avoid than “Lose some weight.”
2. Don’t just define the end result, ensure you also specify the activities you will complete to reach that destination.  Keeping your focus on the things you can control will empower you to do what needs to be done. In the previous example, focusing on ‘exercising four times a week and sticking to eating plan’ will result in a better outcome that purely looking at the scales every day.
3. Share your goals with someone other than yourself*. Articulating your goals to yourself is the first step; sharing them with either a friend or your team mates will cement them in your mind as commitments that you are really going to strive for. Naturally, if your goals require the assistance of team members, you’ll want to keep them in the loop about their participation!
4. Make sure your goals are achievable. I’m all for stretch targets – staying in your comfort zone is booooring. But if you can’t see specifically how you will achieve your goals, they are unlikely to be fulfilled. There’s no point aiming for a goal weight of 64.5kg if that puts your BMI in the ‘underweight’ category (or the ‘for goodness sake, eat a hamburger!’ category). Similarly, if your goal is to achieve CFP® status within a year and that requires completing 5 units of study while working full-time, you might want to revise your time frame.

It is also important not to set too many goals. If you try to do too many things, your focus gets diluted, which may result in only making a small amount of progress on a lot of things. A better result is absolutely nailing your top two or three, before you focus on the next set.

*Sharing your goals is important, but don’t worry if not everyone supports you. It can be helpful to have some healthy honesty from someone with your interests at heart, especially if that means you remove your rose-coloured glasses and get a fresh take on your goals with some realism thrown in. Their comments will probably come from a place of love, but be aware that not everyone might share your energy.   It is fine to re-evaluate based on other people’s thoughts, but don’t keep second-guessing yourself, and don’t let their concern pull you down. Rather, use it as a motivator to push yourself forward.

When setting a goal, ask yourself –

• ‘Do I really want it?’
• ‘Can I see what I need to do to achieve it?’

If the answer to both of these is ‘Yes!’ then go for it and don’t let self-doubt hold you back.

If in the end you don’t achieve a goal, don’t get disheartened or beat yourself up. There is a big difference between making excuses and setting dynamic goals that are updated. Readjust your reality, perhaps even change your goal completely if need be, and then celebrate what you learned and achieved along the way.

And when you do reach your goals, celebrate your achievement and enjoy the sense of satisfaction, then think again, about where to next, and set your new goal(s). Using momentum is one part of this point, as is the depleting sense of anti-climax when you have been so focused on a particular outcome, then when it’s achieved you find yourself with a reduced sense of purpose.

Finally, don’t put so much pressure on yourself that your life becomes single-dimensional and you forget to enjoy your journey on the way to achieving your chosen destination. While ‘life balance’ is a term that varies in definition from person to person, ensure that you still participate in the things that are important to you, and spend time with the people you hold dear, as they form part of your journey. To end this post as we began it (with a quote), after all: ‘life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.’

By Sue Viskovic

The post 4 things I wish I was told about goal setting appeared first on AdviserVoice.

Effective planning can assist when things go wrong.

I want to share the story of Peter. But his story is so raw and personal that Peter is not his real name.

I’m not telling Peter’s story because he is a model coaching client, and has reached amazing heights of success thanks to Elixir, but because I believe Peter’s story is being played out right now in the lives of many many business owners and people in this profession…and yet it’s not openly talked about. In fact he urged me to share it with others so that perhaps anyone in his situation won’t feel quite so isolated.

When Pete started his business a few years back, he was filled with excitement, passion, and a little apprehension about taking the monumental leap to back himself and start his own business.

To most people, Peter is an exceptional practitioner. He is kind, technically proficient, well respected, and it looks like he runs a great business. He’s got it all going on.

And yet the past eighteen months have been some of the most difficult of his life. After running a successful business for many years, Peter finally realised that he simply wasn’t making any money. He felt like he was doing a great job; the clients he was working with loved what he was doing; he enjoyed working with them. But there came a time when his credit cards were maxed out, and he had to extend his payment arrangement with the ATO yet again. He could no longer delude himself by thinking if he just kept servicing his clients and doing a good job the market would turn around and business would pick up. In the cold hard light of day…Pete realised that he was paying more to his staff and his landlord than he was earning personally.

The more I talk to people about what’s really happening in their life and their business (rather than just the surface-level ” things are going great” conversations many people have)…I discover that Pete’s story is not unusual, and there are in fact many people who are struggling in business who keep up a façade and do not share their real situation, for obvious reasons.

It’s a common experience for those in the first few years of business, madly building cashflow until they reach critical mass. It can also happen when a young business has finally reached profitability and the principals then get comfortable. And it’s happening to mature businesses, now struggling to remain relevant with their old business model, and finding declining revenues and increasing costs have long gone beyond eating into their profit margin and are now eroding their basic ‘ salary’.

It can be disheartening – even soul-destroying to come to the realisation that your dream of running this fantastic business where you take great care of people and really make a difference in their lives…isn’t working. It’s all good to be able to say that you’re your own boss, you run your business on your own terms, you’re completely independent and you don’t have to promote someone else’s agenda…but all of that is meaningless if you can’t earn a great living from it.

It can be hard enough to admit it to yourself let alone anyone else…that this grand dream of yours isn’t quite as brilliant as you first thought. And it can be incredibly lonely – you feel like you’re the only one in this position – you can’t tell your staff, certainly not your clients. Burying your head in the sand won’t help. I’ve been there myself. I’ve been through times at Elixir where I’ve paid more to others than I’ve earned myself, and I’ve put everything on the line to run this business. I know what it feels like to just wish I had even one dollar for everyone who told me what a great business I had and what fabulous things we were doing in the market. I also know that you can be even prouder of what you develop, coming through adversity, facing it head-on and triumphantly coming out the other side a little road-weary but smarter, more resilient, and aware of what’s going on in your business.

One way to look at it is that without such a difficult time, you could just continue on with a mediocre business and ‘ get by’, instead of building something you can be truly proud of, and that creates an enduring legacy of financial freedom in return for your passion and dedication. That’s how Pete chooses to view it. “You know, even when I was in the depths of it – when I had those heart-wrenching calls from my wife when the credit card was declined at the grocery checkout…even then I knew that if it hadn’t got to this point, I might have just continued on doing what I was doing, and just getting by. Instead I chose to confront my reality, and after I decided that yes, this really WAS what I wanted to do with my life, it gave me the enforced impetus to change a few things – and now I am so thankful that I did.”

“I’ve now paid off my tax debt, I can see that I won’t need to enter into another payment arrangement with the ATO for my BAS, and I am physically happier in myself and my life. It sounds ironic, but by physically stepping out of the business more frequently and keeping an honest eye on it, I am enjoying my work in the business even more – I’m working with clients that I love, doing work I really enjoy, and I’m being financially rewarded for it. I’m not so naive as to think that there will only be happy days ahead, but I do know that when I am faced with difficult times in the business, I will see it coming sooner, I’ll be much quicker to take evasive action, and I will approach all things with a more open mind. I can already see more opportunities and new ideas than I was ever able to recognise in the past. It’s been a really tough time – and I’m glad I went through it. Really glad I’m out the other side – but glad I went through it nonetheless.”

When you’re worried about whether there’ll be funds in your account to pay wages let alone pay off your credit card bill…and the added humiliation that you’re someone in authority helping other people to get control and manage their finances; it can be easy to feel like a fraud. The fact is, that for many advisers, they’ve been so focused on ensuring their clients’ affairs are looked after, that they’ve neglected their own. It’s not that they’re not “a good business person”, much less a good adviser, they’ve just allowed their attention to shift from it for perhaps too long. If a plumber has leaky taps, does that mean he’s no good at plumbing.

When Pete got to his rock-bottom, the next thing he did was really confronting. He re-examined why he was in business in the first place, then reconnected with his initial purpose and drive – and accepted that perhaps the first iteration of his business wasn’t the best option. He had the fortitude to call things as they really were, and the difficult acceptance that what he was doing needed to change. In Pete’s case, I was incredibly moved to hear that some of our articles and free content helped give him motivation and ideas at what was a very lonely time.

“What did I learn from that time? I will never outsource (or ignore) the management of my cashflow again. I will never let myself get so busy (or distracted) that I don’t stop and check how we are tracking against my goals for the business. And I will never allow a year to go by that I don’t refresh my business plan and re-focus on what we’ll be doing in the business. I’m really happy that I’ve also now rebuilt to the point where I can invest in external advice to help me with these commitments and give advice from arm’s length.”

So if you’re in that place, how do you get beyond it?

Like Pete did, first admit you have a problem, then face that problem head-on. Re-examine your own motivations and if you really do want to make this thing work, figure out how to re-position and change the way you’re doing things. Look for different, innovative ways to get your service out to the right clients. It might be a slight shift in your target market? Perhaps you need to start charging differently, create a new service offer? It may be that you have the wrong people in the wrong roles? For some it might even be that you’re not cut out for this gig after all (or any more)…and there’s no shame in that either!

It may be that your business model is flawed; or perhaps you just need a slight deviation in direction to remove the blockages. Or it may just be a matter of time – that your brand and reputation are slowly gathering momentum because of all of your hard work and it’s just about to pay off – in which case you just need some more patience, and energy to keep doing what you’re doing, because any day now the flood gates will open (or the trickle will at least become a flow).

It’s been said before by (I’m sure) many people far cleverer than I…but show me a business person who has been through tough conditions…who has been to the brink (and even beyond it) and I will show you a more resilient, more humble, more agile, and often more successful business owner than one who has only ever traded in good conditions.

If you can get through the tough times – whether that be by yourself, by reading inspiring stories and business ideas of others, by simply changing tack, or by getting in some external assistance…you will be stronger, better, faster, and ultimately more successful. Both as a business owner and as a person.

—–

By Sue Viskovic, Managing Director, Elixir Consulting

The post The story that has to be told appeared first on AdviserVoice.

So here are our top 5 tips for how to get control over your workload and start enjoying better productivity and efficiency in your business.

1. “Caught up in circles, confusion is nothing new” – Time After Time – Cyndi Lauper.

Ever thought of how much time is wasted getting your “head back into” a piece of work that you half completed or scoped at a previous time? You can save a tremendous amount of time by completing a job in a single sitting. And if this isn’t possible, make sure you write (or record) thorough notes. By the time you get back to the project you may have had your focus on 20 different clients/jobs, and the quicker you can recall the project in detail, the faster you can get productive on it.

2. “Memories, pressed between the pages of my mind” – Memories – Elvis Presley.

The first concept is further proven with file notes after a client meeting or call. This is so incredibly important it gets its own point here. Make a habit of writing or dictating your file notes as soon as your client leaves, while your discussion is still fresh in your mind. The best way to ensure this happens is to block out sufficient time after your appointments for your notes. It doesn’t matter how you choose to record your file notes, whether you type them into an iPad app like Evernote, or dictate them, or ‘scribble and scan’. The three keys to a good file note are:

• Make sure your note is thorough and detailed – the more detail the better, and ensure you include notes on what you said, as well as what the client said;
• Write your note while the meeting/call is still fresh in your mind; and
• Stipulate action items that have come from the discussion so that you know your suggestions and commitments will be implemented.

3. “You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em” – The Gambler – Kenny Rogers.

Be deliberate about the time you will spend working on projects that will require your focus. Block out time in your diary and keep the appointment with that project. There is one exception here – if your project is a creative one and you find you just can’t get into “the zone” at the time you have scheduled, you will be better placed to reschedule for another time rather than bashing your head against the keyboard trying to force it to happen.

4. “Always something there to remind me” – Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

Turn off email alerts in Outlook. These can provide a huge distraction that causes your mind to lose focus, and it is not a good look if you are showing a client something on your screen. Dedicate times throughout the day to review your emails and you will stop being controlled by them and start getting productivity back on your own terms. This will help you achieve points 1, 2 and 3 above.

5. “Why don’t you come to your senses” – Desperado – The Eagles.

Allow people to do their job. Too often we see businesses with staff who are employed to complete certain roles, and yet the business owner has decided it is a better use of their own time to do it themselves, rather than invest the time to train the staff member properly (or in some instances, replace them with someone who can). It is a great theory to position yourself to do what you do best and to surround yourself with good people to do everything else, but if you get in the way of them doing that and don’t have good structures that allow your team to communicate, you will not get the optimum performance from your staff, and the whole will not be greater than the sum of the parts in your business.

If you adhere to these 5 simple tips, you will quickly see both your own efficiency, and that of your entire business, increase dramatically, and you will have some great songs to listen to as well!

The post The email cycle: getting back your productivity appeared first on AdviserVoice.