Activity Management: Fueling Up

Succeeding on Purpose

Since you can only control the activities that lead to results (not the results themselves) you need to keep score of the prospecting activities that drive your practice so you know if you are on track. Here is the process we recommend:

Step 1 - Collect

There is no replacement for the research necessary to develop a good market. You need to determine the profile of the prospect you are going to pursue, what their typical needs are and how you can get in front of them on a favorable basis.

Then do the math. Is the effort you need to put forth, both hard cost; i.e., mailings, materials, etc and the soft cost; i.e., you time (you need to know what your time is worth per hour) worth the payoff or commission dollars that can be generated?

Step 2 - Collect

Using your planner (or other method), collect your numbers. Nobody should care more about your success than you do, so be selfish and do it for yourself EWWFNE (Every Week, Without Fail, No Exceptions).

Analyze both how successful you are at pursing the markets, meaning your effectiveness in approaching, engaging and ultimately selling to your prospects, as well as the income generated. With this information you can compare your expected to your actual ROI to see if your research bears out.

Step 3 - Collect
While trends can emerge sooner, if you let more than 90 days go by without checking against your marketing plan you are putting your success at risk.

Based on your analysis in step 2, determine where you can be more effective by improving both your skills (scripts, letters, etc.) and efficiency (time management, process improvement, paying for admin support) for approaching your prospects.

Remember
Once you confirm your successful markets you will be able to count on them as a continued source of income. As you look at ways to expand your business and increase your income you will be able to use the same process to identify and pursue additional markets.

Additional note:
As a new producer you probably kept track of a lot of detail; e.g., dials contacts, etcif not, then step 2 may prove to be a more difficult exercise and we would recommend that you (if you haven’t already) purchase one of our planners to help in the process. If you are not sure which planner is right for your practice, send us an email at sam-news@saminspires.com, telling us about yourself and your practice and we’ll recommend the best one for you.