Why You Should Get Paid for Your Time

“It might only take me an hour to complete something, but don’t forget about the 15 years it took me to learn how to do it.”

Experience cannot be bought; it has to be earned. So, the next time you’re doing a plan review, trying to price out your services, don’t discount your value. Take a moment to think about how you know what you know and what tools and resources you have employed to accomplish this plan review efficiently. Ultimately, how are you going to communicate this to your client?

Just because you can do something quickly doesn’t mean it doesn’t have value.

This reminds me of a story. Last year, a friend tried to get a product trademarked. He called his general business attorney and asked him to file the information. The attorney said he’d never done that before, but assured my friend that it couldn’t be very hard. After 10 months of waiting and filed paperwork, the trademark was rejected – thousands of billable hours and back and forth emails later. My friend was very frustrated. He couldn’t understand why this was such a hassle. He complained that “this can’t be that hard!” 

Then, as fate would have it, one day when he was on a plane, sitting next to a trademark attorney. The attorney said, “Oh, it sounds like you need to register with the Supplemental Register instead of the Principal Register.” My friend fact checked his flight mate’s advice via Google… and it turns out he was right! Good thing they exchanged business cards, because my friend reached out and hired his firm; and for about 10 minutes of work and $1,695, they filed and finished the trademark registration.

Read more commentary by Rebecca Hourihan here.

The point is that the first attorney was learning on the job and billed my friend for dozens of learning hours. By contrast, the experienced attorney knew what he was doing. This removed the back-and-forth headache. They got the entire job done in 10 minutes. That’s $169 per minute! They solved a problem that my friend didn’t have the time nor experience to complete. He found a firm that could accomplish this – at only $169 per minute. 

Are You Tracking Your Time?

Taking this back to your business, you have dedicated valuable time to learning the skills needed to advise investment lineups, conduct a recordkeeper search, analyze fee benchmarking, engage in financial wellness conversations, and much more. It’s time to get paid for your experience.

Interestingly, in a recent NAPA Summit poll, 37% of respondents said they do not track profitability on a per-plan basis. Why not?

When you look into your business, time tracking is an important component of knowing what your time is worth, respecting your value and being compensated fairly for your experience.

If you’re not using a tool to track per-client time, it’s never too late to start. Whether it is an Excel spreadsheet or industry technology tools with time trackers, this is a great opportunity to learn where you’re devoting your most precious resource – your time.

Thanks for reading and Happy Marketing!

Rebecca Hourihan, AIF, PPC, is the founder and CMO of 401(k) Marketing, which she founded to assist qualified experts operate a professional business with professional marketing materials and ongoing awareness campaigns.