Do Less, Deliver More: Lessons from the Tortoise and the Hare

2 MIN READ

Last Updated on July 20, 2020 by Corinne DeCost

In today’s society, we all want things done quickly.

We want webpages to load in the blink of the eye. We want the waitress to bring our dinners minutes after we order. We want to go on a diet and be at our goal weight the next week.

We want immediate gratification. We want to see results now, even if we know it isn’t realistic.

Advisors know that investing, saving, and planning also can’t work that way. It takes time to tread the market. You may be lucky every once in a while, but it takes very deliberate and patient work 99% of the time. It’s like the old story of the tortoise and the hare – slow and steady wins the race.

Advisors know the importance of being impatient. So why do many advisors try to do other projects all at once?

Let’s look at one of the biggest “advisor enemies” – quarterly reporting.

If you spend ANY time prepping client information, running historical reports, printing them, and/or sending out finished quarterly reports to clients, you understand. Weeks of the year are spent on that one thing.

Quarterly reports would be a lot easier if we just…didn’t have them anymore.TortoiseAndHare

Wait, what?

Advisors are starting to nix the quarterly report – a trend that’s making it’s way to the Wall Street Journal.

Rather than leave a client in the dust for 3 months at a time, forward-thinking advisors are beginning to implement tools such as an easy-to-use client portal. Rather than having to rush to update a client, advisors can keep their client on top of the information through this portal and weekly automated emails.

Clients can see all of their information in one place, at any time, so the quarterly meeting changes from a catch-up to a discussion. They no longer need a full run-down about what has been happening. Instead, you can

It’s even easier for the advisor over the long term. It’s a walk, not a run.

No more wasted paper. No more pointless meetings. No more confused customers.

No more rush.

Why can’t we always be the tortoise, and always win the race?

Author

  • Corinne DeCost

    Corinne is an emerging expert on social media-based communication, with a BA in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication. Content Manager at Blueleaf, Corinne enjoys organizing content in the cleanest and most elegant way possible. Outside of Blueleaf offices, she can be found performing in comedy, on the elliptical at the gym, or trying to conquer the latest video game. Connect with her on Twitter @CorinneDeCost.

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Corinne is an emerging expert on social media-based communication, with a BA in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication. Content Manager at Blueleaf, Corinne enjoys organizing content in the cleanest and most elegant way possible. Outside of Blueleaf offices, she can be found performing in comedy, on the elliptical at the gym, or trying to conquer the latest video game. Connect with her on Twitter @CorinneDeCost.
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