Crap In The Office
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How much crap do you guys keep in your office?
One of my many problems is that I get a ton of marketing information from fund companies, annuity companies, and magazines, etc. I always find some decent information that I feel I should keep just in case it could be useful in the future. Now, I have so much crap, I can't even keep my office clean. Do you guys have this problem? How do you stay organized?Well, most of it goes in the storage room. The only stuff I keep is the annuity literature that I currently USE, I keep the quarterly/monthly/annual reports for a handful of funds/fund companies. Sometimes it's just easier to refer to a hard copy than wind my way through the internet to what I need (and I already have too many "favorite" links). But those go in my file drawers behind my desk. I keep no literature on my desk or in sight of clients. I also keep some necessary prospectuses in the storeroom, but my assistant tracks and updates all of those.
I find less is more. There is NOTHING that I can't find online if I throw it out. And generally everything can be printed, too.Use one mutual fund company.
One variable annuity.
One life insurance carrier.
One set of blue chip stocks that you get from HQ.
Next, put everything you might need to show a client or prospect into a three-ring folder. There is only so much room there, so when you add some hot new chart you will have to get rid of something.
Some exageration there, and I do have a drawer full of junk, but I think if you can streamline what you sell that will cut down on the clutter.
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I would imagine that someone like Hank can fit all of his marketing materials in his inside coat packet.
snags - I’m like you. Every once in a while I stop and do nothing but clean off my desk. I’ve yet to figure out a good system for filing everything.
I find it funny, but when I started some 12 years ago with Jones, one of the ladies I was working with said that Jones had a slogan: "Paper free in '83." I think they missed that one. I'd be happy to cut the paper on my desk down by half. I guess it's time to throw away those old Putnam brochures.I have to admit, when I saw the title of this thread I was really hoping for a thread about the guy in your office that just got canned, so he dropped trow on his desk and dropped a steamer right there in the office.
at any rate Yeah I have the same issue. After I clean off my desk, it looks like a WWII bomb shelter again two days later. I just keep a really big trash can and a really big shred box under my desk.[quote=Spaceman Spiff]snags - I’m like you. Every once in a while I stop and do nothing but clean off my desk. I’ve yet to figure out a good system for filing everything.
I find it funny, but when I started some 12 years ago with Jones, one of the ladies I was working with said that Jones had a slogan: "Paper free in '83." I think they missed that one. I'd be happy to cut the paper on my desk down by half. I guess it's time to throw away those old Putnam brochures. [/quote] Spiff, set up a file for each company in your file drawers. I have them. Whenever I egt the annula reports/quarterly guides, etc I just throw them in there. Then I have a file for "charts", so anything interesting that the fund companies come out with, I throw in there. I have a binder with all the really good stuff I use with clients - charts, graphs, etc.I do the same… I throw away all companies that I am not using(why keep it if you are never going to use it).
Also for the quarterly updates I keep the current year in paper copy and the rest on a flash drive. easier to access then going through my computer and taking up space.
I let it pile up until the next time I get good and drunk then I burn it while cold calling.
If you don't read it within a week, toss it. You'll never look at it. If you do read it, and it's extraordinary and you can use it, keep it. Otherwise, toss it.
Too much crap makes everything useless. You are never going to regret tossing something.get a label machine and label everything. Then put everything in alphabetical order.
.....and then throw it all away.get a label machine and label everything. Then put everything in alphabetical order.
Quit touching paper more than once and filing anything. If you’re worried about product presentations you’re not doing something right with your client relationships. I use none of it and for some reason my clients are very happy.
Read “Getting things done”, order his filing system. Follow the system. You’ll never keep crap you don’t need.
I forgot about reading this book, but I base all of my organization on it now, and never have paper anywhere. It’s an excellent book. I replicate the filing system with 31+12 file folders I wrote days of the month and the names of the months on and it didn’t cost me any money.