Tip of the Month Newsletter October, 2005 In this issue: The Easiest and Most Overlooked Time Management Strategy The Demise of the Public Financial Seminar - and the Rise of a New Tool Update from the Field New Tools The Easiest and Most Overlooked Time Management Strategy When we work with advisors and managers in our Time Mastery Coaching Process, we leverage 10 major strategies for accomplishing more in less time. One of the Time Mastery strategies is elimination. This is the easiest to execute and the most overlooked. And it provides you with the single most valuable resource on the planet - time. We are all bombarded with clutter - low value distractions which take our focus away from that which is more valuable in our lives. These distractions come in many forms such unwanted calls, letters, and publications. They also show up in form of television programs you watch out of habit or "to relax", colleagues who take your time without contributing, organizations whose meetings you attend to secure business but yield little, publications you read that provides information with little lasting value, and activities you can easily outsource. Here is an important Time Mastery Principle: Make activities and people earn the right to your time. The quality of our lives is heavily determined by the quality of the people, information, and activities we choose. Conduct an audit of the publications, television and radio programs, people, organizations, and activities. Ask yourself, "Does this provide enough value to trade my scarcest resource?" This can be an important step to upgrading the quality of your life. It takes no more time to read an inspiring biography than to watch television this week. Which provides more lasting value? Taking time to cut the lawn or taking your family on a nature hike? Calling an old friend vs. watching another re-run of "Friends"? Polluting your mind with talk radio babble or listening to a book on tape or a musical masterpiece? Action Step: Identify 5-10 activities, publications, people, or organizations that no longer provide enough value to earn the right to your time. For the next quarter, minimize (or eliminate) the time you spend on them. Don't worry. Your heart won't stop beating if you don't watch sitcoms for the next three months. The richness in our lives is heavily determined by the quality of inputs we choose: people, experiences, information. Take a fresh look and you will add richness to your life. For more information on how to integrate other Time Mastery Principles, call 800-865-2867. Back to top The Demise of the Public Financial Seminar - and the Rise of a New Tool From every part of the country, advisors tell me, "Qualified prospects aren't coming to seminars like they used to. I have to spend more and more money to get fewer and fewer quality prospects to attend." What's happened? One reason for the demise of public financial seminars is over-saturation. Because of public seminars' initial success, advisors and firms widely embraced this strategy. The result was a deluge of seminar offerings so large that desirable prospects ended up receiving multiple invitations or viewing multiple seminar ads every week. As one branch manager told me, "You have to question the investment in seminars when people call in asking, 'What food are you serving?' and 'Are take-out boxes available?' A second reason is that working parents are time-starved. Business owners and working professionals DON'T HAVE TIME to attend a financial seminar unless they feel it is highly relevant, conducted by someone they feel has unique expertise, and occurs within a time window when they have to make a decision. Even with retirees, special steps are now required to make seminars payoff in a reasonable time period. How does the financial professional build a practice when cold-calling is now so constrained and so few quality prospects respond to seminar invitations? Personal introductions are critical - more so now than ever before. The new challenge is that so many people have become "gun shy" about referring friends due to the industry scandals. Advisors now have to create either a compelling reason for the introduction and/or a "risk-free" method of introduction. By implementing a solid referral qualification process, advisors can develop a compelling reason for the client to play an active role in the introduction process. Those of you who have been through the Referral Mastery Coaching process know the key steps to develop this. Without a compelling reason, the fall-back strategy is to provide a "risk free" method and as a result we are seeing the rise of distinctive referral events and "private seminars" as effective prospecting tools. What makes these so powerful is that when you create a truly distinctive event, clients WANT to bring friends and colleagues. Clients will feel much more comfortable "referring up" to their boss or the partner or whoever has a higher standing in the organization. When you set it up correctly, you can get deeply into your clients' networks quickly. You can compress the introduction process from years to weeks. Two of the keys to making these tools successful are to secure client commitment to BRING GUESTS and to heavily influence WHO THEY BRING. When you do this, your clients will drive the invitation process. They will bring who you want them to bring and you can eliminate expensive mailing campaigns. If you want to learn more about how to make referral events and "private seminars" payoff, we are offering two new resources The first is our new tele-seminar, "How to Get Dozens of Introductions in 90 Days" During this tele-seminar, you will hear examples of how others have created massively successful events. One advisor created an event where the collective net worth of the guests was over $ ONE BILLION dollars. You will learn why they are so successful in today's marketplace and what you can do to make these truly stand out. And you will learn other keys to make them pay off in a big way. The tele-seminar will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 4:30 Eastern, 3:30 Central. This low cost seminar is only $25. For those of you who can not attend, you can order the CD recording. To participate or get the CD, Mail a check to the Center for Professional Achievement, 1725 Winterberry Lane, Weston, FL 33327 Fax complete credit card information with signature and shipping address to 440-543-6647 Call 800-865-2867 The second resource is our complete, stand-alone toolkit, "Attract High Quality Referrals with Distinctive Events: How to easily host referral events that are fun, flawless, and lucrative". This toolkit walks you through on a step-by-step basis from where to get ideas for distinctive events, how to design the right type of event, how to get the people you want to attend, how to get your clients to drive the invitation process, invitation scripts, how to organize the event so it runs smoothly - the first time, the follow-up scripts that turn introductions into appointments, and the critical steps to maximize your payoff. Just the tips on securing discounts from event facilities will save you more than the total investment in the referral event toolkit, "Attract High Quality Referrals with Distinctive Events". To learn more go click here. Back to top Update from the Field "With the Referral Mastery process, securing referrals is now an enjoyable conversation, not a chore. It is very comfortable and professional. We consistently receive 5-10 referrals per week." Wally Broussard and Kristi Kelly Back to top New Tools Managers and Meeting Planners: Charge up your meeting or conference with a high-impact, productivity-driving workshop. Call 800-865-2867 or see our programs and resources. Back to top