Welcome back to the 233rd episode of the Financial Advisor Success Podcast!
My guest on today’s podcast is Patty Kreamer. Patty is the Co-Owner of Productivity Uncorked, a productivity coaching firm that specializes in helping financial advisors become more organized and efficient, in order to have time to focus on what’s most important in their professional or personal life.
What’s unique about Patty, though, is that the heart of her methodology isn’t around implementing technology tools to create efficiencies, but rather, around how financial advisors can reduce “clutter” in their work routines and better focus their time and attention on the things that get them out of the bed in the morning and that they’re most energized to get done efficiently.
In this episode, we talk in depth about how, no matter what systems and processes a financial advisor has implemented within their practice, if they don’t have a concrete plan for what they’re going to get done that day, they’ll have a hard time accomplishing very much, why as an entrepreneur herself Patty realized the most important part of managing her own time is by knowing what she doesn’t want to do versus what she does want to do, and why learning to say ‘no’ is such big deal, especially for financial advisors, who so often build their businesses early on by saying yes to anything that can help them survive the first few years but then get trapped in the habit even when it’s no longer actually beneficial.
We also talk about the process that Patty uses with her financial advisor clients to help create space in their professional lives, starting with a Needs And Values exercise (which identifies those things they ‘Need’ to make their lives work, and the Values that they stand for), and then moving on to an Ideal Week exercise (which helps advisors see what they want to accomplish in and out of work during the week so they can start taking control of their time), and how Patty helps advisors clarify how they work with their clients in order to set clear boundaries and expectations (because one of the most common reasons advisors can’t get anything done is their daily workflow is constantly being disrupted by being too accommodative of outside interruptions).
And be certain to listen to the end, where Patty shares some practical tips that advisors can use to increase their productivity and focus (particularly for advisors who have cluttered email inboxes), how trying to do whatever clients want in the name of “good service” can end out undermining the advisor’s service quality, and why the key to gaining more growth momentum isn’t really about productivity but the self-confidence that comes from knowing that if the firm grows, you’ll have the capacity to handle it.
So with that introduction, I hope you enjoy this episode of the Financial Advisor Success podcast, with Patty Kreamer.
