Developing a strong daily game plan that will propel your practice to the next level and also support your business plan is absolutely crucial. Since 1992 I have had the privilege of coaching and observing some of the most successful people in the financial services profession. What is important to note about their superior performance is that they don’t just use one or two earth shattering strategies. Instead, they employ a combination of numerous small success rituals on a daily basis. One such strategy successful financial advisors rely upon is the same technique you can use to ensure you come to your office each day with clarity about what you want to accomplish. Successful financial advisors start each day with an excellent daily game plan and a list of daily outcomes.
Before diving into some strategies my clients use to get the most out of their day, consider these questions: Have you ever had a day where you feel like you have accomplished nothing? One of those days where you go into your office all fired up to do really excellent work and then all of a sudden, things don’t go the way you want them to—the phone rings, your assistant is out, or a product gets dumped on your lap?
Consider - Have you ever found yourself at 8:00, 9:00, or 10:00 at night, walking out of your office almost in shell shock, and looking back at the day wondering what happened? If you have had one of those days, let me ask you why? What happened? Did you get caught up in your day? Did you stick to your plan? Or, more importantly, did you even have a plan in the first place?
The more rigid you are regarding your daily game plan, the less opportunity you will have to succeed. You need to be flexible in accomplishing your daily goals. Following are several strategies to ensure you have a strong daily game plan.
Step#1: Develop a daily game plan that establishes what your outcomes are. In order to do this, you need to determine what you require every day to be successful. Start by reviewing your business plan, looking over your goal, and asking yourself this question: What do I need to do each day to be successful?
Let’s take a look at possible goals:
- How many phone calls do I need to make? (If appropriate)
- How many appointments do I need to set?
- How many marketing calls do I need to make?
- How many client reviews need to be done?
Step #2: Come up with what I call a “daily outcome list.” What are the outcomes you need to accomplish every day in order to achieve your goals and be successful? A word of caution here: a lot of people I work with initially set their standards too high.
For example, many times an advisor client will come to me and say they want to make 25 calls a day, schedule three appointments, ask for 10 referrals, and a host other things. I say, “Great, nice plan. However, what type of day do you absolutely need to have to be able to pull that off?” And 99.9% of the time they respond, “I need to have a perfect day. I need everything to go right.”
In our business, that means no distractions, no client calls, no nothing. You must have complete control, or top-notch assistance in order for everything to run perfectly. There needs to be no administrative problems and your systems must be 100% effective. Anyone expecting that scenario is living in Fantasy Land.
In terms of an outcome list, your goal needs to believable. So the question you need to ask yourself is, “What’s the minimum I have to do each and every day—no matter what happens—in order to accomplish my goals?”
Most advisors burden themselves with such high standards it’s nearly impossible to perform at that level day in, day out. What happens is pure frustration. You say, “I’m not accomplishing it; I can’t stick to my plan.” The truth of the matter is, though, there is no way you can stick to the impossible. It’s self-defeating.
I want you to come up with your list of daily outcomes, thinking in terms of setting minimum standards for yourself, rather than setting standards for a “perfect” world. These are things you are committed to no matter what happens. If you have the worst day in your office that you can think of, you can still accomplish your goals and be productive.
More in our next issue!________________________________________________________________________
Author's note: Joseph J. Lukacs, Business Coach, is the founder of International Performance Group LLC., a professional business coaching company delivering customized coaching and training, by telephone, to financial and insurance professionals. International Performance Group LLC. is based in Melbourne, Florida. Joseph can be reached at 321-255-2889, by e-mail to JJL@jpginc.net, or visit our Web site: http://www.jpginc.net 
