To keep your office running efficiently, you need to stay proactive and observant. If not, your growing practice can quickly become home to a host of workplace inefficiencies. Symptoms of advisor workplace inefficiency include ongoing, repeated mistakes, unhappy clients, and frustrated staff. So how do you make your business hum? Here are four business strategies that make for an efficient advisory practice.

1. Implement Client Segmentation and Service Levels

The den of inefficiency is an office that has no boundaries regarding service. This means everyone gets everything. Sally “C” receives the same level of service and attention as Alice “A.” Initially, as you started your practice, this may have been okay. However, now that you’ve grown and there are more clients to serve, it’s time to segment your clients and define your levels of service.

Without service tiers, your staff can easily spend too much time working for clients who are not profitable for your practice. You can’t be all things to all people, so stop trying and focus on being the best for those who fit your practice the most.

2. Document Work Flow and Processes

We often think that all we have to do to increase efficiency is to implement new technology. Unfortunately, if you are not efficient, to begin with, the new technology is bound to be more of a bother than a life saver.

Bill Gates described this best when he said, “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.”

So before you start searching for new technology, get your ducks in a row by documenting your workflow. You and your team are responsible for completing many processes. The step-by-step tasks you take to complete each process and the people responsible for each task along the way is what constitutes your workflow. Once everything is documented, implementing new technology becomes so much easier, paving the way for increased efficiency.

3. Delegate Reoccurring Tasks

Delegation is a skill and not one that necessarily comes naturally. In the short-term, it is often easier to do something ourselves than spend the time sharing our knowledge with another. However, poor delegation results in unnecessary stress for you and staff members feeling undervalued.

If you’ve completed business strategy #2 above, delegation is easy because you have a prebuilt training roadmap. If you haven’t documented your workflows, start by making a list of those things that you repeatedly do every day, every week and every month. Spending a few hours of your time now, allows you to become more effective at running your business later.

4. Outsource More

We live in a virtual world. This means there is someone very capable of handling some of your essential business functions, for a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time employee, at a PC down the road, across the state or across the country. In fact, it doesn’t really matter where they are located, as long as they are with a reputable firm, because they can assist you virtually. Marketing, financial planning, investment management, rebalancing, client care, administrative assistance and more are all available to financial advisors as virtual services.

If you need to delegate but don’t have the bandwidth, outsource. You’ll be amazed how quickly you can rely upon the expertise of a virtual support team.

When you eliminate workplace inefficiencies, you can become more effective and have more time for other priorities. Your clients will experience better service, are happier, and your team feels more valued and has increased job satisfaction.

What are you waiting for? Let us help you get started on a new path towards success by implementing these strategies in your business! Contact us today at 360-866-2345!