Time Management....

[djs]

Get to know your clients. Since I work P&C, there are a few times that people need to get hold of me during strange times. I've also had people call at 11 at night, just wanting to leave a message for me.

On weekends, calls go to voicemail and then I screen them for a response. I will respond anytime. I usually have 10-15 minutes I can use to return a call without impacting family life any. If not, I call them back, tell them I'm out of the office, and ask if I can call them on Monday. Never been a big deal.

Dan

 

[iaminsman]

thanks DJS.... how do you schedule your days?

 

[Frank Stastny]

Get to know your clients. Since I work P&C, there are a few times that people need to get hold of me during strange times. I've also had people call at 11 at night, just wanting to leave a message for me.

On weekends, calls go to voicemail and then I screen them for a response. I will respond anytime. I usually have 10-15 minutes I can use to return a call without impacting family life any. If not, I call them back, tell them I'm out of the office, and ask if I can call them on Monday. Never been a big deal.

Dan

That is exactly the way a professional agent should be providing quality service. And, you are right, it is never a "big deal" unless the agent makes it one.

 

[djs]

Are you asking how I should structure my days or how I do structure them?

I have a staff person who schedules appointments for me. In open times, I'm working on marketing stuff, building relationships with centers of influence, and doing general development. I also sprinkle in a bit of 'goof-off' time.

Dan

 

[iaminsman]

Are you asking how I should structure my days or how I do structure them?

I have a staff person who schedules appointments for me. In open times, I'm working on marketing stuff, building relationships with centers of influence, and doing general development. I also sprinkle in a bit of 'goof-off' time.

Dan

I guess how you should structure them- if you didn't have a staff person to schedule appts for you.....

 

[VaDwayne]

So if your client calls and asks to you return the call without letting you know the reason and it is Friday night at 7pm and you are having family time with the wife and kids- do you return the call Friday night, Saturday or wait until Monday to call back?

And then we all have clients that call all the time who need to have "questions" answered- and then call a few hours later for the same reason- what do you do with that client?

Absolutely,I will call back right away, if I'm not in a movie theatre or something. If you call back, you have just saved yourself tons of advertising dollars, because they are going to tell their friends what you did. Again, I am talking about Med. Supp beneficiaries and they are very loyal, which means I need to do the same.

I'm just guessing, but that one phone call may be just as good as a 1000 peice mailer,or a few hours of cold-calling, at some point, and it was free.

I am currently in Gatlinburg, TN. on vacation but my voicemail states "Thank you for calling, I am away on vacation but I am always available to assist you. If you have an emergency, please leave a message and I will call you as soon as I hear this message, or I will call you immediately upon my return on Monday if it can wait until then. Please don't heitate to let me know you need me right away. Thank you"

 

[rbrewer]

I have no wife or kids so I tend to work quite a lot.
Get to work @8:30AM, go to the health center @4PM. Eat dinner somewhere. Back to the office for @1 hour. Then home.
I usually work an hour or two on both Sat and Sun.
Between the Rose Bowl and the Laker/Kings game, I went to the office today for two hours.
BTW, Kobe at the buzzer again! Yeah!

Kobe's the Man!

 

[Lyn]

How do you guys handle service calls.

I'm curious about how you handle service calls, WinoBlues.

 

[djs]

I guess how you should structure them- if you didn't have a staff person to schedule appts for you.....

If you are scheduling your own appointments, you are structuring your day incorrectly. You should never do something you can pay someone $10 an hour to do.

Everything is a bit of a trade-off. I'll do it myself from time to time, which I shouldn't, but I have to keep my business going. Basic math comes to play here though. If I can pay someone $10 an hour so I can earn $50-$75 an hour, why wouldn't I?

The only thing I struggle with is having a service do it for me vs having an employee. Both have strengths and weaknesses, and just depends which one got me mad last....

Dan

 

[David C]

Dwayne, Do me a favor please. While you're in Gatlinburg go by The Peddler Steakhouse and pre pay my next meal there.