Even though we’re all used to communicating with clients and colleagues over phone and email, it can be difficult to doing so exclusively while isolated. If you’ve suddenly found yourself working from home during the coronavirus pandemic, here are some tips and Simplicity Lone Beacon’s work-from-home best practices.
Keep a Consistent Schedule
When working from home, there’s the danger that the boundaries between work time and leisure time gets erased. It helps to keep a consistent schedule similar to the one you had in the office. Having a regular schedule can also make it easier for your coworkers and clients, as they’ll be confident that they can reach you during regular hours. Many of our advisors send out emails to their clients and prospects updating them on the status of their office, and alternative ways to contact them.
Create a Routine
When commuting to the office is no longer your morning routine, you can create a new one. Giving the news a more thorough look than you normally would, might have recently become part of your morning routine: Some members of our team spend their morning reading up on the latest financial news or regulations in order to keep the information top of mind during our client calls. This also helps us position our advisors as reliable sources of relevant news to their clients.
Team Comradery
It can be hard to stay connected when no one sees each other in person, but it’s extremely important. At Simplicity Lone Beacon we continue to have all staff meetings. We connect over video chat and hear from our CEOs about the new projects we’re taking on and their impact on our clients. We also take the time to just share funny stories from our week, bring our dogs on camera, and talk about how much we’re snacking these days. How are you connecting with your team during this time? Now more than ever it’s important to continue inspiring your advisors and your team and ensuring them that we’re all in this together.
Prioritize Video Calls Over Phone Calls
Yes, it means you’ll have to get dressed and put away the trash that’s within range of your computer’s video camera – but talking over video chat versus only over the phone is a good way to stay in close contact when you can’t see someone in person. This is important for us at Simplicity Lone Beacon because we’re normally a very social bunch. Prioritizing video calls can also be good for advisors who want to retain that personal touch, and capture the undivided attention of whoever they’re speaking to. While it’s easy to get away with checking your phone or doing household chores while on the phone, it’s necessary to be fully present when video chatting.
Overcommunicate
We’re sending out frequent communications to our clients, and we’re recommending our clients do the same. Check in with the people and clients you care about, who are likely more interested in updates and new information than they would normally be. Responding faster than usual to emails and phone calls and acknowledging major financial and news events can help advisors show their database that they are fully present and a valuable source of information at this time.
We’re living through strange times, but that doesn’t mean we can’t adapt and make the most of this situation. For example, here is some info on how advisors can present themselves as thought leaders in a crisis. Advisors can overcome the challenges of a closed office and working from home by staying engaged within their company and with clients and prospects at this time – reach out to find out how we’re helping our advisors do so!
