How can agents and brokers make betteruse of their time while on the job? (Photo: Shutterstock)

What should I be working on now?What is the best use of my time? I have so many things to do andnot enough time to do them? Do you wish you had a way to figure outthose answers? 

Here is a different way at finding out the answers to thosequestions:

Know your worth

We all know your time isimportant, but have you ever stopped to calculate exactly howvaluable? Here is a calculation you can use to see exactly how muchyour time is worth:

Assumptions:

• Youwork 250 days/year (365 days minus 104 for weekends minus 11 fordays off = 250)
• Youwork 8 hours a day on average
• Youwork 2,000 hours a year (250 times 8)

Now take your annual pay dividedby 2,000 and that will equal how much you get paid perhour.

Example:

• Youmake $100,000 a year
• 100,000divided by 2,000 = 50
• Youmake $50/hour

Prioritize your worth based on your hourlywage 

Now ask yourself every time youget ready to do something:"Would I pay someone else $50/hour to do what I'm doingnow?" 

If you are true to yourself,you'll often answer "no" to some of the things you find yourselfdoing throughout the day, such as: 

• Makingcopies
• Lookingat Facebook
• Planning your vacation 
• Servicing clients that produce revenue belowyour minimum account size
• Updating your fantasy footballlineup

I'm not saying you can't andshouldn't do any of those things, but I'm saying you shouldn't dothose during prime business hours.

What are examples of things you would probably paysomeone else $50/hour to do? 

• Prospecting
• Presenting solutions to aprospect
• Following up with a prospect
• Talking with or going to see to aclient
• Participating in a client renewal
• Coaching, mentoring and developing people
• Attending a networking meeting
• Volunteering your time in yourcommunity

It is not easy, and it takesdiscipline, but your time is best worth spent on activities thatyou would pay someone else to do — prospecting and being clientfacing. 

Now you have some decisions tomake — continue doing things that you are over paid to do or startdelegating and eliminating certain tasks. Make the wrong decisionsand continue to be frustrated that you are not making more sales.Make the right decisions and watch your sales activity improve andflourish. 

This article is part of a new monthly series fromMarshberry on achieving organic growth. Stay tuned formore tips and best practices on how producers can achievemore sale goals.

Curt Vondrasek is a seniorvice president at Marshberry. He can be reached at630.315.9031 or [email protected].Opinions expressed here are the author's own. 

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