The Peak Producers' Word for the Day--Every Day!

In one of the first Peak Producer classes, Brian Buffini gives us what he appropriately calls the most important word in a professional's vocabulary: PRIORITIZE! Of course! That single tip, if we can do it consistently, can make every one of our days far more productive, less stressful, and thus more profitable in our business and more enjoyable in our lives! Buffini’s Peak Producers Training Program focuses on building our business by focusing on referrals from our Clients and Sphere of Influence, so his prioritizing starts with People.

Active clients would come first (remember, there is no such thing as a past client!) but if we think about who among our sphere is most important/helpful/responsive, ie, those we might consider our business advocates, and focus our time on them first, we’ll enhance our consistency and success. Of course, prioritizing this way can also help us realize where we should spent less time!

Buffini goes on to say that once we prioritize the people we want to focus on, we then can prioritize the actions we need to perform to optimize our ongoing service relationships with people, showing our professionalism as well as our appreciation for their business and their referrals.

Then, once we have set our priorities of people and actions, Buffini says, we can then more easily prioritize our time and energy. And knowing the impact of proactively working with our key people, we will be more aware of the need to protect and make best use of those two precious assets.

Finally, he concludes by noting that prioritizing has two dimensions to it, that of focus and that of boundaries. Keep in mind that focus will be difficult if not impossible if we don’t set boundaries! Buffini reminds us that we should spend our time and energy on the people who deserve it, not just those who only need it! Of course, our business is serving client needs, but we’ve all had those energy sucking clients, friends, or that kindly agent down the hall who loves to chat without asking us if we have a moment, so Buffini suggests a few of the tips we’ve covered in the Playbook before: don’t answer your phone every time it rings, turn off the dinger on your email/text device, (oh, no, mine just rang!!) close your office door at least part way, and maybe offer that friend/agent a chance to chat later once you finish your tasks. All good ideas, and much easier to implement if we remember the goals of prioritizing and setting boundaries: to enhance our business, reduce our stress, and enjoy life and family more and more!

Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, says it best: “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities!”

Have you scheduled your priorities for today . . . for next week . . .

For every day?

David M. Hassler
VP, Professional Development