Automate, then Delegate

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When I’m speaking I have a slide in my presentation that I call my patented Work Avoidance System.  It shows a funnel that work has to go through before it finally gets to you:

1) Eliminate

2) Procrastinate

3) Outsource

4) Delegate

5) Finally, if none of the above will work, do it yourself

I want to add an additional process to the list above, and that would be Automate.  I’d put it between 2 and 3 above.

By “automate,” I mean set something up so that it is done automatically by a machine or computer so that you don’t even have to remember to outsource it to another company or delegate it to someone on your team.  And, the work is not dependent on them, good as they are, to remember to do it, do it well, and get it to you on time–that sounds like 3 unnecessary actions to me.

I can think of a lot of things now that I could have had automated if I’d known how, instead of having a human being do.

For example, everyone knows you are supposed to follow-up with sellers 30-90 days or so after they tell you they won’t accept your offer.

1) Is this worth doing?  Yes, so we won’t eliminate it.

2) Does it have to be done this week?  No, so we’ll procrastinate it until 30 days or so after the seller said no.

3) Can we automate it?  YES!  Rather than paying someone to call each of the sellers on the phone, or send each of them mail every single month, why don’t you add them to an email autoresponder that will send them email every 2-4 weeks to follow up with them at no cost, and send them a voicemail blast every 30 days that will deliver a message to every seller on your follow-up list by phone that you only have to record ONCE.

How cool is that?  You just write or record it all once, set it up, and then it’s done.  The only ongoing action that will be required would be for your assistant to add sellers to the autoresponder as they decline your offers, and to coordinate the voicemail blast once per month (which still involves them, but at only a fraction of the time it used to take them).  Both of these can be done without you.