Trick or Treat? Now, that’s more like it!
—William Shakespeare
“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble.”
Well, I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a whole lot of trouble, slaving and toiling over a bubbling vat, with columns of noxious smoke belching and hitting higher PSI levels than I could ever have dreamed of achieving with my PSLE score!
There are two Chinese idiom which goes: 事半功倍;事倍功半.
Twice the Results for Half the Effort (事半功倍 shì bàn gōng bèi)
- Meaning: the right approach saves effort and leads to better results
Half the Results for Twice the Effort (事倍功半 shì bèi gōng bàn)
- Meaning: the wrong approach is wasteful and yields weaker results
Kudos to Wuxiaworld.com for that spook-tacular explanation.
How would you like to yield twice the FANG-tastic result with half the ELF-fort (事半功倍)? Let us do away with the Gh’oul times of reaping half the bitter harvest with twice the backbreaking labour (事倍功半).
That is some WITCH-ful thinking. Or is it?
Don’t Work Yourselves to the Bones
You are owners of a business. Businesses have to be systematized through effective systems and processes in order to be truly successful. Be strategic.
Here is a fab-BOO-lous trick or treat for you to boost your business, doubling your income with half the effort.
But, before we unravel the freaky tip, do you still recall the breakdown of the whole process, inclusive of the hours spent working on the client’s case in the article: Just Follow Law (Lor)!?
What if, we could emulate the lawyers, not only in terms of their billable hours? I am talking about Paralegals. A client is charged a lawyer’s billable hours, but Paralegals are the ones running frantically behind the scenes to get the job done; the greatest, most underrated supporting actors and actresses.
In accordance to Paralegaledu.org, a Paralegal is “a person qualified by education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity and who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible.” “Paralegals are an indispensible part of the legal system, providing support to attorneys, law offices, government agencies and corporations by researching legal precedent, performing investigative work on cases and preparing legal documents.”
We all know that there are tasks that we need done, but more importantly, do we know if they have to be done strictly by yours truly?
The concept of outsourcing is in-GENIE-ous.
Entertain the idea of hiring a “Paralegal” for yourself too- more specifically, someone with prior industry experience as a Financial Planner or Advisor. Let us call them our “Para-planners“.
Would you find it difficult to engage one at approximately RM20 an hour or RM6K a month, plus commission?
First Fact-Find Appointment
Can this be outsourced to your Para-planner?
NO!
Outsourcing this, is considered a “sub-agency”. This is a breach of the Code of Practice for Agents. Either a first warning letter, or an immediate termination awaits you. GAME OVER.
The Para-planner will however, follow you to your first fact-find appointment. You will be the one to conduct the session. Once all is over and done with, the Para-planner , who would have been solely taking notes, would be prompted by you to conclude the session. The conclusion would go along the lines of the following:
“Mr. and Mrs. X, this is your financial portfolio, and this is your budget. If we have covered all grounds and have the same understanding, then we will head back and spend 6 to 8 professional hours to do a detailed analysis with market research to propose the most appropriate solution. So, we shall see you next week!”
After the clients have left, the Para-planner and you will engage in a debrief. Subsequently, he can embark on the paperwork process.
Case Preparation
Can this be outsourced to your “Para-planner”?
Yes!
Second Appointment
Can this be outsourced to your “Para-planner”?
Yes!
Closing
Can this be outsourced to your “Para-planner”?
NO!
Now, go forth…
and carve some time out for you and your clients.
Apart from the first fact-find appointment and closing (to be handled by yourself), the rest could be delegated to the Para-planner.
The Para-planner can also aid you in calling referrals, making first appointments, review appointments, etc. This helps declutter and free up time, increasing efficiency and productivity, hence your income could be doubled.
Let us do away with the Gh’oul times of reaping half the bitter harvest with twice the backbreaking labour (事倍功半), and yield twice the FANG-tastic result with half the ELF-fort (事半功倍)!