Hi –

Hello from beautiful, sunny San Diego... a nice break from the 12 inches (yes, you read that right -- a foot) of rain I left behind in Washington earlier this week. Conditions only a duck could love. It was so bad the Dulles airport mid-field shuttles were doing canoe races between the terminals!

But enough about the weather; on to this month's tip, which takes on the ultimate love/hate technology tool. I really hope you'll read and share it. Putting what it suggests to work will save you real time and money.

Honest.

Don't overlook it.

Cut Time Spent Handling Email in Half

Less time managing message flow means more time for selling

A few months back I began coaching Frank (not his real name), a 25-year veteran of the industry and owner of a successful advisory practice in the Western US.

Frank makes a comfortable mid-six figure living and has a team of professionals and support staff helping him in the business. But he'd hit a wall in terms of his personal productivity; he was increasingly bogged down in non-revenue producing administrivia that was preventing him from doing what he enjoyed most: bringing in assets.

One of the worst culprits was email.

Early in the coaching process, Frank shared that he was chewing up 1½ - 2 hours a day fielding 150 or more new messages. He also revealed that he had close to 2000 messages clogging his inbox, some dating back more than 14 months. Wasn't there something he could do to take better control of his message flow?

There was. And during a pair of follow up web conferences, I taught Frank and his assistant some simple tactics they could employ to eliminate the backlog and keep his inbox clear of clutter. Things like setting up folders, creating rules to automatically direct messages where he wanted them, color-coding messages from important contacts, and doing a better job of shielding Frank from spam.

Frank's not unique. Everywhere I go I encounter advisors wrestling with the same challenge. And not surprisingly, few have a long-term strategy for coping with the overload beyond ignore and delete – which doesn't really solve anything.

If that sounds familiar try this approach: learn how to use rules to filter incoming messages so you can separate what you need to see now from what you'd like to see later (newsletters, product updates), or not be bothered with at all (i.e. spam).

Email rules act like a squad of traffic cops, directing messages where you want them to go. To set up a rule in Outlook, select Tools from the main menu, then choose Rules Wizard. You'll be given the choice of working from a predefined template or starting a blank rule. I find it easier to work with blank rules and build from the bottom up but you may like using the templates. Either way, the Wizard will walk you through a process of:

1. Deciding which conditions you want to check for (e.g. messages from a certain person or address, or with specific content)
   
2. Telling Outlook what to do with the message (e.g. move it to a separate folder, delete it, or notify you with a special alert)
   
3. Identifying any exceptions, and
   
4. Giving the rule a name (and activating it).

Make Sure This Newsletter Reaches You

The best way to ensure that future Tips messages reach you without being filtered or blocked is to add the address they originate from, kipgregory@mailer1.cooleremail.net, to your Address Book. Be sure to label it "Kip's Tips - No Reply" because messages sent to that address never reach me.

If you have a corporate email address, I encourage you to pass the email address above onto your IT help desk so they can add it to your company's approved sender list as well.

Finally, please take a minute to review and update your contact information on file in case any of it has changed since you first signed up.

Ways We Can Help You Improve Results

One-on-One and Team Coaching

Ever hear of Hank Haney or Tony Roche?

Probably not... unless you closely follow professional golf and tennis.

Haney is Tiger Woods' coach; Roche, Roger Federer's.

And why exactly would two world-class athletes, the very best at what they do, work with a coach? Simple, they want to get better. And they recognize that continuing, hands-on assistance with identifying and implementing improvement strategies is the best way to ensure continued success.

How about you? Do you have a coach? Someone you can turn to for advice and guidance on how to improve your game?

If not, maybe it's time you did. My program could be just the help you're looking for.

Each engagement starts by developing a very clear picture of your goals and objectives, business structure, markets served, clientele sought, team strengths and weaknesses, technology and other resources you own. Then working together we map out an action plan for getting you from where you are to where you want to be, laying out specific milestones by which we can measure success.

We don't just talk, we roll up our sleeves to address specific objectives. Big ones like developing a better profile of your top clients, expanding (or consolidating) your base of accounts, and increasing assets; and little ones like eliminating unnecessary expenses, automating routine tasks, and taking control of your email inbox. We develop practical ways of achieving those results (through smarter use of people, process, and personal technology) and focus wherever possible on executing those strategies using resources you already own.

We also draw on a variety of proprietary tools – forms, worksheets, databases, and online conferencing resources (all available at http://gregory-group.webexone.com) – designed to help you achieve that elusive next level of success.

Sessions run roughly an hour and are conducted weekly… all in the comfort and convenience of your office (which means everyone on your team can participate... and there's no travel expense, time lost in traffic, or nights spent in a "bootcamp" hotel room).

The cost? Just $3000 for a full day's worth (eight hours) of consulting and coaching time that you can access for as little as 15 minutes at a time.

If you are ready to take your business to the next level email or call me at 202.364.6913 and let's visit.

If you're serious about implementing improvements contact me now and let's develop a plan for accelerating your success. The kind of results you're seeking don't happen accidentally.

Keynote, Breakout, and Workshop Speaking

Please keep me in mind if you're involved in booking or recommending speakers for national or chapter events at AICPA, FPA, NAIFA, NAPFA, the Society for Financial Service Professionals, or any other industry group. My sessions offer the kind of practical, innovative, take-it-back-to-the-office-and-put-it-to-work-immediately value attendees are looking for... useful content that will save them time, increase their income, and improve their effectiveness.

Maybe you work for a product or service provider and you're currently planning a national sales meeting, due diligence road show, or sales force training calendar. Let me show you how to increase your meeting ROI by delivering tangible, value-added content that draws advisors closer to your firm and helps both you and them do more business.

Either way email or call me at 202.364.6913 to explore how I'll assist you in getting more mileage from your event. I'd be happy to schedule a webinar with your and your colleagues to see and hear my material firsthand.

Until next time wishing you all the best,

Kip Gregory
The Gregory Group: Teaching Clients to Leverage Their Time, Talent, and Technology to Increase Productivity and Profit
202.364.6913

http://www.kipgregory.com