Are you one of those people who chose to become a financial adviser to help people secure their futures, but spend half your day drowned in paperwork?
If you’re working 50-hours per week but only seeing clients for 20 of them, you’re not alone. This is something every financial adviser in the UK knows all too well and relates to as well.
Read on till the end and you’ll have a clear roadmap on how to free up those precious hours and redirect them into what actually makes you money: high-value client work.
Where are your valuable hours really going?
The Psychology of Admin Overwhelm
A 4-step process to break free from this
Step 1: Audit your admin
irst, you need to track where your time actually goes for one week. Be brutal about this. Log every single task, no matter how small. Use your phone timer or a simple spreadsheet and you’ll be shocked at how much those “quick” admin tasks add up to.
Categorise everything into three buckets:
- Tasks only you can do
- Tasks others could do with training
- Tasks that can be completely outsourced.
Most advisers find that 70% of their admin tasks fall into those last two categories.
Step 2: Delegating internally whatever you can
Once you’ve got your audit results, it’s time to make some tough decisions. Start with the tasks that eat up the most time but require the least expertise. Things like data entry, document formatting, appointment scheduling, and basic research tasks.
Here’s where most advisers get stuck, they think they need to hire full-time staff to delegate these tasks. But that’s not viable scalability for most practices. You’re looking at recruitment costs, training time, office space, equipment and all the usual employment headaches.
Step 3: Outsourcing the rest
This is where specialised support comes in. At Consenta Insourcing we have built our entire business around understanding exactly what financial advisers need. We’re owned and run by IFA’s and we get it.
The beauty of working with specialist providers is that we’ve already invested in the infrastructure, training and systems so you don’t have to. You get access to dedicated support without any of the capital expenditure, recruitment fees or training costs that come with hiring internally.
You need to look for providers who offer fund research, administrative services and compliance support.
The key is finding someone who can handle the routine tasks while maintaining the quality standards your clients expect.
Look no more, we at Consenta Insourcing checks all of these tick boxes.
Step 4: How to Outsource the tasks?
You can start small for this one. Pick up one or two high-volume and low complexity tasks and delegate them first. It can be anything from client onboarding paperwork to basic research tasks. Once you’re comfortable with the quality and turnaround time, gradually expand what you’re delegating.
Remember to create simple checklists, set clear expectations and templates for the tasks you’re handing over. Most good outsourcing partners will help you develop these systems since it’s in their own interest to get it right.
Another piece of advice? Track your results, measure how much time you’re saving and what all you’re able to achieve with those reclaimed hours. This data will help you decide what tasks to delegate next and justify the investment to yourself.
What to do with your newfound 15 hours?
Once you’ve successfully delegated your admin tasks and saved yourself extra 15 working hours per week, what next? This is where the magic happens.
Focus on high-value client work
Make sure that those 15 hours should go straight into activities that directly generate revenue.
Client meetings, relationship building, strategic planning sessions and business development. These are the activities that can actually transform your practice.
To convey this through statistics, here are some numbers for you. If you charge £200 per hour for financial advice, those reclaimed 15 hours represent £3000 per week in potential revenue. That’s £156,000 every year. Even if you are able to utilise only half of this time into billable hours, that’s still a stellar figure of extra £78,000 annually.
However, it’s just not about immediate revenue. All these additional work hours means more client interactions, building stronger relationships, leading to referrals, larger accounts, better organic reach and better client retention. That’s the ‘compound effect’ at work here.
Business development activities
You can definitely use some of these extra hours for networking, speaking at events and seminars, creating content that positions you as an expert. Personal branding may not bring in immediate results but it’s crucial for long term growth.
Strategic planning
When you are not getting entangled into admin grunt work constantly, you actually get some free mental space to focus on strategy for your business. What’s your next five-year goal? What more services can you offer?
As Sun Tzu once quoted in Mandarin “For ideas to grow, your mind needs to be free of weeds.”
Professional development
Finance industry and Fintech are constantly evolving. You can use this reclaimed time to study the new updates, stay ahead of new regulatory changes, learn about new investment products, read new policies and government notifications or even read more about new and upcoming areas like Cryptocurrency.
Frequently Asked Questions
What about Data Security?
This is usually the first question and rightly so. You’re dealing with sensitive financial information and your client’s privacy is paramount. The key is working with providers who have robust security measures in place. Look for providers that are GDPR compliant, use encrypted data transfer and have some concrete data freehandling policies.
Consenta, for instance, understands the regulatory environment that UK-based financial advisers operate in and provides a team that works within your ecosystem, hence avoiding any transfer of files and data at all.
How do I maintain quality control?
Starting with clear requirement, ample communication and regular check-ins is the way to go. Most quality issues stem from poor communication or incomplete feedback. Create templates, checklists and clear style guides.
Review the first few deliverables very carefully and provide thorough feedback.
Like any good marriage, this one won’t be perfect from day one. A good partner learns your preferences, style and standards over time and customises the experience accordingly.
What if my clients notice the difference?
Short and crisp answer: If you choose the right tasks to delegate, review and give feedback to us in a timely manner, the only difference your clients will notice will be an improvement in experience, since you’ll be more present and focused during your interactions with them.
The key is to delegate your behind-the-scenes tasks, not client facing activities. Your clients don’t need to know who uploaded the data on spreadsheets or who formatted the reports, all they care about are your insights and the advice you provide.
What if I lose control of my business?
Think of it like this. A Pilot doesn’t personally load luggage or serve the meals, but they’re absolutely in control of the flight. They handle what they do the best while there’s a plethora of supporting staff to handle other tasks.
Similarly, you’re not losing any control here. You’re gaining focus, time and clarity. In fact, delegating your admin tasks gives you ample free time to strategise better and scale your business in the most efficient manner.
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Let’s face it, the financial advice industry in the UK is more competitive than ever. Especially with better technology, open internet and advent of new AI tools, your clients have much more options to rely on for financial advice. To top that, regulations are getting complex with each passing day.
In this cutthroat environment, you simply can’t afford to waste time on tasks that don’t directly serve your clients and grow your business.
Your competitors who are thriving are the ones who’ve figured out how to focus their time and energy on high-value tasks that complement the billable hours. They’ve built automated and scalable systems that help them serve clients better and with a fast turnaround time.
Reclaiming 15 hours per week isn’t just about working more, it’s about working smarter. It’s about building a scalable practice that scales without burning you out.
The 4-step process outlined above is tried and tested and being used by successful advisers across the UK. So the question isn’t if it works or not, the question is if you’re ready to implement it.
Ready to simplify your practice?
Contact us today to discuss how Consenta can support you.