We know what you did last summer: 5 ways brokers can be productive during the slow season

Author: Ivan Egorov

As we enter August, you might feel like the summer is already gone, but it’s far from true. There are 31 days in August with 23 working days that you can use to make a difference in your brokerage.

We’ve compiled a list of things you can do to have a productive end of summer and step into the busy season prepared and ready to go.

#1 Run a health check on your environment

Technology is the heart and soul of a modern brokerage. And sometimes, we don’t realise that a particular component is not working as it should, the load is too high, or something is missing. Running a health check would help spot potential issues and risks you can fix before they become a problem. As you do that, make sure to look into things that can slow down performance. The speed of order execution and other functions are essential for a broker’s well-being and success with clients.

#2 Review your pending projects for the year

You probably set many goals at the beginning of 2023; hopefully, some have already been accomplished. Look closely at the targets you’ve set for yourself and evaluate your progress with each of them. See what can be done in the next 30 days to get you closer to your end goal. Perhaps some of those goals are no longer relevant and can be replaced with something else. One of the secrets to achieving everything you’ve planned is to review those plans regularly. August is the perfect time to do that.

#3 Consider what can be automated

A broker’s business is all about speed and excellent service. Both are best achieved with automation. As a bonus, you can offload the tasks from your team, freeing more hours in the day for strategic, creative, or simply important work that often gets pushed back. TFB, for example, offers a wide variety of solutions for automation that each tackle a specific problem. You can see the complete list of apps and plugins here. And for more helpful tips on automating a brokerage, check out one of our blog articles on the topic.

#4 Run a risk management strategy review

If you’re a broker, there is no such thing as worrying too much about your risk management plan. It’s not something set in stone, so it has to be looked into every year, ideally, even every six months. Make a list of the most relevant and pressing risks for the brokerage right now, go through each one, and devise a mitigation or avoidance plan. You might not want to do it now, but you’ll thank yourself later.

#5 Talk with your technology provider

The final tip for today is to reach out to trusted technology partners and ask them what they suggest you can do to improve your operations and performance. They will be able to guide you in making the most of your current infrastructure, and they’ll likely be able to recommend a product for your current needs or issues. They are there to help you, so don’t ignore this valuable resource.