Here’s a quick recap of the last 20 months… Start. Stop. Start again. Go. Go. Go! Never slow down! 2020 started with a bang, the real estate market was hot, then Covid introduced tons of tragedy, fear and uncertainty… and pretty much brought real estate to a standstill. Then a few months later, things opened back up and have been rocketing full speed ahead ever since. Put simply… it’s been a stressful period for real estate agents everywhere and including myself. I just want to check in and make sure you’re doing okay. I’m not a medical professional. But I genuinely care about your well-being, as I do for all of my own agents in my brokerage. So let’s jump into some ways to maximize your productivity while maintaining sanity, eliminating stress and avoiding burnout…
1. How Are Your Routines? – If you let it, this business will pull you in a million different directions all at once. So what’s the solution? Routines! Even if challenges are popping up left and right, routines keep you on track by telling you what to do and when to do it. With the discipline to stick to your routines, the most important aspects of your business never get ignored. (Lacking that discipline? We can help.) Ultimately, routines put you in control. If you’re feeling frazzled and lacking structure, check your routines. And if you haven’t established any routines, it’s time to take a step back and do so. (We can help with that, too.)
2. Self-Care: Take Your M.E.D.S. Daily – The acronym “M.E.D.S.” is an easy way to remember four essential components of daily life: Meditation, exercise, diet and sleep. If you’re not doing these things consistently and healthfully, it’s time to start. Meditation – Everybody needs some “me time” to decompress, look inward, breathe deeply and recharge your batteries. Whether or not you engage in traditional meditation is up to you, but I’d suggest you set aside time to clear your mind on a daily basis. Exercise – Ask yourself the questions like “What did you do this week to get your heartbeat up?” or “How many times did you walk your dog since we last talked?” to the people he coaches. It’s a great reminder that you can’t simply work 24/7 and expect to achieve a healthy lifestyle. If you’re a morning person, I strongly suggest you add a workout to your morning routine. If you’re a night person, make a habit of going straight to the gym after work. If you’re not a “gym person” at all, find something that gets your body moving on a regular basis. Diet – When your schedule gets busy and time gets scarce, it’s easy to neglect eating the right things. Don’t let yourself lean on that flimsy excuse. Put in a little more effort and make eating right a priority. Sleep – Working long hours and late nights leads directly to not getting enough sleep. Make sure your body is getting the rest it requires to keep you at your best.
3. When’s Your Day Off? – If I asked to look at your calendar, would I see at least one full day off every week? If you’re working 24/7 and never giving yourself time off, you’re headed to a dark place. To maintain your energy and maximize your productivity, make sure you’re taking at least one day off every week. You also need to schedule a vacation or two. Get away from the business and go do something you love. You’ll definitely be better for it in the long run. (And if you have the right systems in place, you should be able to do this without sacrificing productivity anyway.)
4. Get Help When You Need It. – After taking some time off to recharge your batteries, you should feel rejuvenated and excited about the business again. If you’re doing the things I’ve talked about above… Relying on your routines, Getting exercise, eating right and sleeping well. Taking time off and getting away from the business …and you’re still not clicking into high gear, your issue may go beyond burnout into depression. If that sounds like a possibility, don’t keep it bottled up inside you! You’ve been through a lot. Don’t carry that stress further than you need to. Talk to someone. Seek out therapy and/or appropriate mental health assistance. Here’s to a strong finish to 2021 and a healthy and prosperous 2022!
Summer 2021 is here, can you believe it? It seems like the first half of the year just flew by us so fast! Are you like me and tired of never really taking a vacation from real estate or more importantly, is your family and friends tired of going on vacation with you because you’re working remotely? Now be honest, are you taking a vacation this summer and planning to sit on your phone or tablet, texting or emailing while the rest of your family sit by the pool and enjoy the waves crashing on the beach while you were working remotely the whole time? Is that what a vacation for real estate agents is supposed to look like?
Is there something very wrong with our mindset and business set up that can’t allow us to vacation 3 or 4 weeks a year and not have to work remotely? What would a vacation be like with no mobile devices, no internet connection and cell phone reception completely unplugged and off the real estate grid? What about to be in the moment and present with the most important people in your life? I need you to believe this is possible and here are some strategies that can make this type of vacation as a real estate agent a reality!! Let’s break it down and commit to this, including me.
Have a business plan with 3-4 weeks a year vacation planned in advance.
Have a licensed real estate professional covering your vacation times for you.
Emails forwarded to a licensed real estate professional who responds to them on your behalf
Auto Email responder set up explaining you are not available and who to contact if important.
Voice message on mobile explaining you are not available and who to contact if important.
Give your mobile device to the agent covering to answer and respond to your calls, texts, voice messages and pages on your behalf.
Partner with another agent and cover for them and their business for 3-4 weeks a year.
Choose to unplug and not bring your smart phone, tablet or laptop computers on your vacation and leave them to the covering agent.
Compensate the covering agent in some way whether it’s a gift, thank you dinner or a referral fee. I believe we all need to show appreciation and feel appreciated.
Leave detailed notes of all your listings, names, phone numbers, emails, sales, leads, etc. for the covering agent to manage your business better for you
What happens every time before you are about to go on vacation? If you take a 4-7 day break you still come back and you are still busy I guarantee it, but refreshed and recharged to crush it. If it is meant to be then it is up to me! Choose to be on vacation and enjoy it, especially when you are spending your hard earned money to create those moments, experiences and memories with the most important people in your life that will last a lifetime. Be present in the moment and really relax and enjoy your time away and reload and re-energize to be able to come back and do amazing things in your business.
One of the things I want to start with is, just go back to one of my favorite books is Tony Schwartz’s, “The Power of Full Engagement.” Tony Schwartz really shares an epiphany for me of the importance of energy management vs. time management. And really top producers and people that are excellent at what they do are really skilled in managing their energy and not really worrying their time management. So, imagine if you could keep yourself at a peek state, if you’re well rested, if you’re well fed, if you’re well exercised, if you’re fine-tuned, and you have tons of energy, and you’re effective in being able to execute at a higher level, and not focusing on your time management, but focusing more on your energy management.
So the key to most top producers is to think about your energy management and keeping yourself at a peek state. It’s so difficult to keep us enthusiastic and passionate; being rejected on a daily basis in real estate, and these productivity boosters, I hope will keep you at that peek state and boost your through those productivity downturns.
So first tip for me: Taking the time to book my time off, before I book my time on. And what I mean by that is, that, Jim Rohn said this, “finish your week before it begins.” He talked about the importance of scheduling time for yourself. You are your most important commodity, you are the most important thing, productivity and your personal growth is key. Booking those times in for when you exercise, when you read, when you’re getting fueled, when you’re getting feedback , encouraged, and mentored. Those are key times and to book those times in. Then, the most important people in your life are next. When are your holidays? When are your vacations? When are you spending time with your spouse? Date nights? When are your children and their activities with them booked in? When are you taking time to book that fun time in, and spending time with those people that you care about the most? So, if you don’t book those times in for yourself, for your spouse, for your friends, for that fun, something else or someone else will take that time. So, take that, and book that time on before you book time off.
Tip number two is this: Single task vs. multi-task. Gary Keller wrote a great book last year called, “The One Thing,” he talked about how you should focus on that “one thing.” What it is that you’re gifted at? What do you do really well in real estate? What can you do over and over again, all day long and never gets tired, never gets old. Think about what activity that is, and how much time on that activities each and every one of your days? Are you spending but none of these tasks that are boring, or are you spending time doing the things were you’re gifted, your talent, and your energy level is just at a peek state, because you’re just good at it, and you find it just so fun and focusing on that “one thing.” So, single task vs. multi task, they’ve proven that productivity is reduced exponentially by 50% if you’re multi-tasking vs. single task. So, discover what that one thing is, and single task can focus on that one thing that you’re good at.
The third thing I’m going to talk about is reducing distractions. We’re distracted every 11 minutes every day, that’s a third of your day being tied up and keeping you off track by distractions. So, do you have your space, or place of work? Do you have it controlled? Do you have your phones off? Do you have it on “do not disturb?” Are you in an area where you can concentrate and focus? Or are you in an area where you’re getting distracted with small talk with your peers? Are you getting asked to go for coffee? So, control your environment to allow you to focus to be productive, and to be able to have a higher return of investment is key in reducing those distractions.
The fourth is this: When tying your shoes, do you stop and think about whether you should do the right shoe or left shoe first? No, it is a Habit. Do you think about whether to brush your teeth before you shower or after you shower? No, it is habit.
A study at Duke University found that more than 40% of what people do every day is not deliberate but a habit. Identify some of your counterproductive habits and really focus on what you can do to replace and create stronger, better and more effective habits in your personal and professional lives. The definition of Insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Stop the insanity! One simple example would be; watch T.V or read a book instead, just try it!
The fifth is : We have all heard the sayings “Time is money” or “Work smarter not harder”. I am teaching my coaching clients and top producers to constantly be seeking ways, tools and devices to make their efficiency levels higher than ever. Here are some of the Top 5 Real Estate productivity Apps you might want to test out for your own business. BombBomb. Snagit. Slide Shark. Docusign and Clear. Feel free to comment below and let me know what some of your best Apps for productivity in your real estate business are!
The sixth is: Are we getting enough sleep? Do you get up at the same time every day? Do you take time to be quiet and meditate? Do you block regular time to exercise? Are you drinking water all day to cleanse your body? Are you eating 4-5 small meals a day? Personally I go to bed the same time every evening and wake up the same time every morning. I have hired a personal trainer to keep my exercise and strength regiment consistent as well my favorite new tool to maximize my energy is an App called MyFitnessPal which helps me make so many better choices when eating out or eating on the run, it is amazing!
The seventh is: In today’s new world of google, social media, smartphones and 24/7 news media, it is not surprising many of us have become addicted to information and noise. Personally, I struggle as a people person to not react all the time to my smartphone and struggle every day to not be constantly reacting and responding to someone else. I do my best to come home and try to just turn it off and remind myself, everything else on the list can wait till the morning. Easier said than done for me. Identify the top 3 high jackers of your time, energy and attention that pull you off task, bring you down or hinder your ability to focus and be in the moment. Implement awareness and strategies to shut those high jackers down.
The last tip in the productivity boosters I want to give you, is to be able to systemized and put yourself on auto-pilot. One of the tips I learned was “3D Technique.” To ask myself, each and every one of my activities and spending my day doing, “should I be doing this myself?” “should I be delegating this?” or “should I just be living and just dumping it?” So that’s the “3D Technique.” So, 85% of as good as you do it, giving it to someone else, is really good. Because you’re systemized, and you’re freeing yourself up to do what you do best. What you do, what gives you best returning your investment of your time and your energy and management.
So those are some of my “Productivity Boosters, I hope that you’ll take the time to implement just one of these ideas, and take your business and boost it to the next level, and take your production, your energy level and your passion, and just boost it to the next level.
We are approaching the single most important time of year as it has been for each of my 25 years in the real estate business. As the listings and sales season start to temper we have the tendency to want to take it easy and relax but I am here to say… NOT JUST YET!!! This was the time of year where I took full advantage of my time and made the most of the market season. This time of year can be for some a difficult time in real estate or a time where the market gives you the greatest gift which is TIME. The time for you to do the things you know are important but the year has just been too busy to do those really important activities. One of my most impactful and meaningful activities for my business is what I called my “Holiday 100” My holiday hundred is my goal to personally visit 100 of my best clients and see them during the holiday season. 3 clients a day for 33 days.
Christmas Holiday Visit Plan Checklist – Nov 23 – Dec 23, 2020
Create the client visit list (anyone who bought, sold, asked for help in 2020, service providers, A clients )
Gift – baking, wine, coffee mug, turkey, gift wrap, chocolate, etc. $15 budget
Calendar or Day Planner or Christmas Card
Year in review letter on holiday letterhead ( photo of the year on letter )
Call in advance and book 45 minute visits. ( Max 4 visits a day )
Rest of database just gets letter and Christmas card in mail
So in November, I would sit down and write out my year in review letter. I made a list of all the events and activities personally and professionally that happened to me and my family. I would write about my hobbies, my travels, my children and their activities, my wife and her year and all our successes and challenges in the past year. Find a favorite photo and place the photo and letter on holiday letterhead for my upcoming visits.
Think about it, we are in the relationship business and this letter invited my clients in to my personal and professional life. This helped deepen our relationship and find more items we have in common. They loved to read the letter every year. The next item was to have all my calendars delivered into the office by the middle of November to put my holiday letter and a calendar into large white envelopes. Then I would take my database and make a list of names and phone numbers of all my A and B clients. These are the people I would want to personally see from Mid-November until Mid-December… this was usually about 100 clients. Print their address labels out and place them on the envelopes with the holiday letter and their calendar.
If you prefer it also works well to write a Christmas Card or order a Day timer instead of a calendar with your year in review letter. Keep in mind the calendar is not the secret weapon to my success. Feel free to be creative too… it’s all about the relational contact and something to put in their hands to be Top of Mind. The final item was to find and purchase a hundred small holiday gifts. I chose Poinsettia flowers or homemade spiced apple cider mix, scented candle, bottle of mini bailey’s, holiday scratch and win ticket, homemade peanut brittle or Purdy’s chocolates… I tried to maintain about a $15 item budget. Now I have my Santa client pack ready and then came the most important part of all…
…Booking the appointments.
I would then take the time to personally call and set up a “pop by” holiday visit to their home in hour segments and I would stay for 45 minutes per client. I would let them know when I arrived that I had another visit within an hour so couldn’t stay too long. TIP – when booking appointments let them know why you are coming. If I called and left a message they wouldn’t call back?! When I called again I said I had a little something for them for the holiday season and they would say “oh, we thought you wanted to sell our house and were not interested so didn’t call you back”
The 33 day festive client visits were amazing. Clients were so surprised and would tell me they never thought they would see me again after our last real estate transaction. They were so pleased with the letter, calendar and small gift but most important was the gift of my time!! Ken Blanchard wrote in the book “The Generosity Factor” that we all have gifts to give. Our Time, Touch, Talents and Treasures. Never underestimate your greatest gift of “TIME”… your most precious commodity. Don’t just swing by and drop the items off. Stop and give the client your gift of time. This activity alone would set me up for a good month.
If you don’t think it’s worth the bother consider my February with 27 deals in 28 days and all of it from these appointments, leads and referrals for real estate from taking the time to share with my clients prior to the holiday season. I can’t tell you enough what this will do for your waist line, all those treats …..I mean you and your business but most important your relationship with your clients.
2020, for many of us, has been a tough year in the real estate business, including myself. Many of you might not have heard a starting gun, but make no mistake about it… The race has begun. You’re in an all-out sprint to end the year. That’s how I’d encourage you to look at the time remaining in 2020. Whether you’re still making up for lost time or you’re striving to establish new personal bests, now is not the time to take your foot off the pedal.
It’s time to go hard.
Let me share some tips to keep you motivated… A new quarter is always a good opportunity to revisit your goals and establish some new commitments and promises to yourself. Maybe it’s one discipline you need to practice every day from now until 2021… Maybe it’s closing strong on the behaviors necessary to reach your 2020 goal… Whatever the case, it’s time to make some commitments and promises to yourself:
How many appointments will you book?
How many listings will you take?
How many closings?
How much revenue?
What about savings goals and money set aside for taxes?
It doesn’t have to be all about the bottom line, either.
So answer these questions:
What books do you need to read? Here are my recent recommendations.
What topics do you need to learn about?
What events will you attend?
What people do you need to know or follow?
Make Your Promises Public and hold yourself accountable to your promises to yourself. Once you’ve answered these questions, do not stick them away in a drawer. Do the opposite… Make it public information. Get them “up and visual” in front of you and your tribe. Track your numbers and measure your progress every day. The more emphasis you put on the numbers, the more you’ll follow through on the actions to achieve them. Remember, how you finish 2020 will also determine how you start 2021. Come January 1, will you be starting from a standstill, or will you be flying into the new year full of momentum? The harder you run in this sprint to the finish line, the better position you’re going to be in once 2021 arrives.
Which begs a few more questions you need to answer now:
When will you create your 2021 business plan? Reserve time on your calendar today!
Where do you need to expand your business to achieve your 2021 goals?
What resources do you need to achieve your 2021 goals? Is it time to start growing your team?
Take a Look at the Bigger Picture. Right now is also a good time to look beyond your business and check in on the equities of your life:
Health
Relationships
Spiritual
Wealth
Contribution
Friendships
Wisdom & Learning
Check out this video for more on that.
You might want to make a chart or simply ask yourself if you’re trending in the right or wrong direction in these categories. What do you need to work on to achieve better balance? You’ve Come A Long Way. Don’t Stop Now.
In closing, let me remind you how far you’ve come so far in 2020. Everything that’s been thrown at you, and you’re still standing. The strength is within you to persevere. I hope the questions I posed above provide the motivation to keep pursuing your goals throughout 2020. Don’t take your eyes off the prize. Keep going and make it happen!
Why do nearly nine out of every 10 agents fail and quit the real estate business? I’ve worked with and studied real estate professionals for 3 decades, and this week I am sharing some of the biggest reasons why agents fail. Avoiding these pitfalls will help you join that elusive “Club 13” — the 13 percent of agents who actually survive and truly succeed in this business.
Being Interested vs. Committed. Just being interested in your real estate career isn’t enough. Liking houses and liking people isn’t enough. When you’re interested, you do things when they’re convenient. Success in real estate is all about being fully committed, which means doing whatever it takes as long as it takes to achieve your goals. Are you all in? If you’re not fully committed, it’s time to reassess your career choice. It is too easy to get in and even easier to get out.
Being Strategic. Can you explain your market trends easily? Do you truly know your market? What’s selling? What’s not? To survive in real estate, you need to look at your marketplace from a strategic standpoint. You must look at the hot sheets every day, the stats every month and know what is trending every quarter. You have to own that knowledge and become the knowledge broker in your market. It’s not enough to simply like houses and enjoy working with people. Take a step back, analyze your market and make sure you know it, and you know your place in it. Now the numbers, trends and truth about your local market and share it!
Fear of Making Mistakes & Desire to Look Good. There’s a lot of vanity in real estate, which can lead to people shying away from anything that might paint them in unflattering light. But you can’t be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes are how wisdom is gained. Mistakes are how we learn and grow. Accept it’s okay to make mistakes or not know the answers to everything. Try new things, see what works, learn from what doesn’t, and always keep moving forward. The more mistakes you make, the more you’ll bridge the gap between knowing and not knowing.
No (or Wrong) Role Model. Having someone to look up to, to aspire to, to model your behaviors on is a hugely critical step to help you reach that “next level” in real estate. Far too many agents have no role model for their business. Or they have the wrong one. To accelerate your ascent in this business, find someone who is successful in both life and business and model your behaviors on theirs. We all smell like those we rub up against.
Your Gas Station is Only Open One Day a Week for an Hour. Once a week you try something once and can’t figure out why nothing is working. As a real estate agent, your No. 1 priority is attracting customers. It’s not a part-time pursuit. Don’t get me wrong it is not 7 days a week 24 hours a day. Far too many agents do just a little bit of marketing once a week and hope for the best. Lead generation and lead conversion need to be your primary focus. If there was a way to teach every new agent this philosophy and force them to live up to it, that 87% failure rate would decrease dramatically. Focus on the “Core 4″… Database. Open Houses. Geographic Farming. Online Presence.
Job vs. Business Owner. Monday-Friday, 9:00-6:00 Mentality. Being a real estate agent isn’t a job. It’s a business. It’s YOUR business. You need to become and act like a business owner. You’ll get out of it what you put into it. Especially if you’re new, you absolutely must put in the time and effort. All the money is made before 9:00am and after 6:00pm. If that doesn’t work for you, you might be in the wrong business.
No Sales Swagger. Long ago NAR released a report that said the vast majority of new agents come into real estate with no sales experience, no marketing experience and no negotiation experience. What are the essential skills of succeeding in real estate? Sales. Marketing. Negotiations. Hmmm. If you haven’t mastered these three skills, you need to be working on them constantly. Put yourself in situations where you learn the objections, get hung up on and gain that experience. Putting yourself in those situations repeatedly will break down those fears of calling FSBOs, expired and the like. I often encourage brand new agents to work with FSBOs and expired to break them in with “the most challenging” clients. When you know what to say, everything becomes easier.
It’s Math. No Goals Broken Into Numbers That Get Measured. When you know your numbers, you put yourself in control. On average, how many leads does it take you to convert one sale? 30? Great! 162? Great! “I dunno.” Not great! As long as you know your numbers, you know what you have to do. If you don’t know your numbers, you’re just hoping for that winning lottery ticket. Knowing your numbers makes your business predictable. Being predictable leads to success. Know your numbers!
No Schedule, Weak Habits and Routines. If you’ve followed me for a long time, you’ve heard me say it a million times: “Show me your routines and I can predict your future.” If your schedule isn’t aligned with your goals, instead of achieving your goals, you’ll end up wherever your schedule takes you. The key is figuring out the specific activities that will lead to the achievement of your goals. Then you schedule those activities. The role of discipline in your success cannot be underestimated. Schedule everything and find a way to hold yourself accountable.
Lack of Financial Management. Lots of people get into real estate thinking it’s a low overhead business with an opportunity to make big, giant paychecks. Those days are long gone. This business is so competitive, you need a funding plan not only to survive, but to invest in your business and build it in an efficient way. Make sure you’re managing your money smartly in order to avoid that 87% failure rate. Profit is not a bad word.
Now that you have a better idea of the causes for failure the next decision is what are you going to do with this information? What action are you going to take? Feel free to comment below what you plan on doing next to ensure you’re a member of the 13% Club!
We make decisions all day, every day, on things like what to wear and where to go to lunch. Which sound simple enough, right? Except those small decisions can start to pile up and too many can stress us out—and then we can’t make the decisions that actually matter. So we either put it off, or we do it, distracted, and regret it later. Neither is ideal. So how can you get rid of the mind clutter and the anxiety to make better decisions faster? Are you the type of real estate agent that makes decisions too quickly and end up getting in trouble by moving a bit too fast? Or are you the type of agent that suffers with paralysis by analysis and in a constant state or “ready, set….ready set…?” This week we share these little hacks to start making wise (and quick!) decisions in your personal and professional life.
1. Stick to your mission. In business and life, it is vital every big decision you make is within the scope of your mission. You don’t have the mental or physical resources to spread your net too wide and still succeed. So always ask yourself which option best moves you toward your mission’s goal, and then the choice should be simple. What are your core values and mission statement and use them as a rudder to navigate your decision making process.
2. Set a time limit. Give yourself a timer that helps you focus on the decision rather than having your mind wander and get distracted. With the pressure of a time limit, you’ll need to get to the heart of the matter faster and collect the pros and cons quickly, which you might not otherwise do.
3. Avoid decision fatigue. Decision fatigue saps focus and reduces mental energy. Hundreds of trivial daily decisions degrade our ability to focus. I try to systematize small decisions so I don’t have to sweat the small stuff—task lists and mindful habit cultivation are key. When an important decision needs making, I’m ready to give my full attention.
4. Control what you can control. At some point, a leader has to wear multiple hats until they have a team to offload responsibility. It’s important to focus on what is in your direct control. Worrying about things outside of your control will result in delaying projects. The more you focus on what you can control, the quicker you will be at making big decisions.
5. Understand pattern recognition. Most of what we face each day is similar to other scenarios we have already experienced. By understanding this, it’s possible to quickly map a range of previous experiences and their outcomes. Leverage those to arrive at the most viable decision for this case. Over time, as you continue making decisions, their speed and quality will improve.
6. Decide whether the decision can be reversed.Jeff Bezos said it best when he pointed out there are two types of decisions: decisions you can take back and decisions you can’t. Keep this in mind while making decisions in order to move faster as an organization. If a decision can be taken back after it has been implemented, don’t waste time being indecisive. Decide, implement, evaluate and reiterate if necessary.
7. Make a daily decision quota. Commit to making a certain number of decisions per day. They can be small (Should I get coffee?) or big (Should I buy this company?), but the process is the same. If you keep track of how many decisions you make, you’ll start to make them faster and more often.
8. Use the common-sense stress test. After running through a basic cost-benefit analysis, I call one—not five—of my smart friends in a different field who can zoom out and trim the fat off that analysis. As a company with academic roots, some of our team early on had been prone to consulting every conceivable “expert” for weeks or months without action.
9. Embrace uncertainty. Action, not clairvoyance. When you’re trying to do something new, you won’t have 100 percent of the information you think you need; there aren’t always industry reports or best practices to adhere to, so accept you will be wrong 25 percent of the time and try to make as many decisions as possible, followed by execution.
So there you have it, some simple, yet powerful hacks to help us all with wiser and faster decisions in our business and personal life. Feel free to comment below with your decision making challenges or solutions, it would be great to hear from you all.
Yes, those tasks that ate up your day were all things that needed to be done. But just being blunt… the way you prioritized them is detrimental to your business, long-term. The key to success is identifying and prioritizing the 4-7 daily disciplines that truly move the needle for your business. And then making those your priority every day! If you’re letting the “urgent” tasks override the “important” tasks in your business, you’re never going to get ahead. Tell me if this sounds familiar: You’re so-called “busy” all day… Replying to emails. Returning calls. Playing phone tag with an appraiser. And suddenly, it’s early evening and you say to yourself: “I didn’t get any of the things I needed to do done today.” So what’s the difference? Important tasks are those big-picture activities that create growth in your business. Urgent tasks are those that move a particular transaction forward. The solution? Prioritizing and time blocking.
The specifics of identifying what moves the needle may vary for every person reading this, but from a big picture perspective, I think it breaks down into four categories:
1. Marketing & appointment setting – Without this, there’s no business coming your way
2. Nurturing & follow up – It’s the biggest complaint about real estate professionals… “I never heard back from them.” You need to make nurturing a daily discipline to move people from prospects to clients.
3. Going on appointments & converting – How many appointments would I see in your calendar over the next two weeks?
4. Servicing & closing transactions – You’ve got to do the work and keep people moving through the process.
Create a daily action checklist of the 4-7 most important actions for the day that will keep your business moving forward. Here’s some examples:
Self-Care – exercise, meditation, prayer, reading, gratitude’s and affirmations
Review your day of activities
Lead follow up
Appointment setting
Appointments and presentations
Showing homes
Negotiating offers
Marketing
Then time block and calendar these actions into your daily scheduler in order of importance with the most important action scheduled first in your day timer. Lists can be useful, but they can also pose a trap. Many people create a big list of “things to do” and then tend to choose to tackle the easiest tasks on the list. Just one problem: Those easy things aren’t what moves the needle. Then those tasks that WILL move the needle end up getting ignored because you keep adding easy tasks to the list. Am I talking to you? Here’s another common list-making mistake: You combine your business, personal and family tasks all into one list. Don’t do this! It jumbles up your priorities and only causes confusion. That’s why I love the Daily Action Checklist for your business. The only things on it are things that you know move the needle in your business. And by making those tasks a daily discipline, you create certainty in your business both now and for the long run.
We have all heard the unwritten rule in real estate “List to Last.” N.A.R. reports state it takes four times the effort servicing a buyer than servicing a seller. Everyone wants to know the secret to working smarter and not working harder and in our business it’s Listings! Here are the top ways agents are getting listings and setting themselves up for a fantastic Q3 in real estate.
1. Your Database – you always start with the people you already know, like and trust. Small talk with them first and check in to see how they are doing, don’t jump right into business please. Just before you hang up almost like an after-thought. Ask them this question….“Of all the people you know, who would be moving next?” and watch what happens for you.
2. If we don’t ask then we don’t get. Ask your database by Emails, Post Cards, Texts, Video emails or Social Media Posts “Wade Is Now Taking New Listings” inventory levels and competition for selling is low and now it the time to List! Thinking of selling Call Now!
3. Take the time to prepare unsolicited CMA packages for your database, which include a snapshot of comparables to give them an idea what their home is worth, but don’t put the range or estimated sale price in your package. Then hand deliver or mail them to all your past clients. Call them 3 days later and ask them. “Did they get it? Any questions? Any other properties I can evaluate? Reason for the CMA was to ensure your insurance coverage was high enough, tax purposes and retirement planning. Any other people you know I could provide this valuable service for?
4. Geographic Farming – find a building or neighborhood that has more than a 6% annual turn-over rate. Then you find all the mailing addresses of the residents so you can direct mail ( not unaddressed mail ) each resident 3 times a year. Create a branded newsletter for the farm area that contains every important statistic for the residents like sales, listings, days on market, absorption rate, cost per square foot, etc. Personally mail them the newsletter. Create a landing page website that matches your newsletter to reinforce your perception of being the expert.
5. Expired Listings – If your marketplace allows you to do expireds. Check with your broker first. They already own a home, want to sell, want to work with an agent and pay our fees. Does it get any better than this?! Everyone is mailing and calling. I am a huge believer and say go knock on their door and go see them! They need to see me to decide whether they like or trust me first!
6. Door knock – Using a bona fide buyer or a just sold and have buyers still looking in your area. Both of these methods work because they trigger some sense of urgency with people when they know we have a buyer for their home or someone just sold for a significant amount of money and you may have another buyer for their home.
7. Open house – Another great way to connect with people who want to buy but they have something else to sell before they can buy. I love the face to face activity because it is where we all are at our best.
8. Direct mail – Using a bona fide buyer or a just sold but have buyers still looking. Just like the door knock approach this is the most effective way to get listing appointments. The direct mail and then follow up door knock is a fantastic one two punch for generating listing appointments!
9. FSBO – They already own a home, they want to sell. They don’t want to pay the fees but if they can’t sell they tend to list with an agent after 10 weeks of trying themselves.
10. B2B – Creating value and interacting with other business owners and other service providers in our community is such an untapped area for most agents. Do a business video shout out with the owners and encourage to buy local. Run a gift card giveaway with a small business owner to your people and that businesses people. So many agents don’t go after the B2B and focus only on the P2P.
11. Online Ads – What’s my home worth? Or curious of how much equity you have in your home?? (FB, Google PPC) running ad campaigns targeting consumers with click ads to get their value of their home has been something we have used the last number of years now. Hire a VA on www.fiverr.com create FB, Instagram ads for you. Have the ad click to go to a landing page from www.carrd.co then the form send their contact info to your email.
So there you have what I think are the best of the best for agents to ramp up their listing inventory. Please comment below any other powerful listing generating activities you might use with us below!
Scheduling your social media posts in advance is a great way to remove busywork from your day-to-day schedule while still providing value and an opportunity for interaction for your audience. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter allow real estate agents with business accounts to schedule unlimited posts right in app. Instagram doesn’t have a native post scheduler, but you can schedule up to 10 posts for free with tools like Buffer (more if you pay for the premium plan), and the free version of Hootsuite even lets you schedule on LinkedIn. Not sure exactly what to post? Here are some ideas:
Take a picture of your workspace and say something about your projects for the day
Share your favorite afternoon snack (with a picture of course!)
Share a quote that inspires you
Share some home projects that can be done in a day
Share a list of larger home renovations that can up a property’s resale value
Go live to discuss the best part of your day
Share your best advice for people looking for things to do with kids at home
A quick note about scheduling your posts: This is great for news or articles you want to share, links to your blog or website, or properties you want to promote. But, it doesn’t replace the necessary daily interaction with other users these platforms require in order to be successful. Remember, this is SOCIAL media. If you aren’t being social (liking, sharing, commenting, interacting) with other users, you’re not going to get very good results.
12. Complete Your Google My Business Profile
Have you ever Googled your favorite restaurant in order to get their phone number, or maybe to hear if they’re doing takeout? If your favorite restaurant has a Google My Business profile, the information you’re looking for appears right in the Google search results; you don’t even have to click to the restaurant’s website. Google is attempting to answer many questions without users having to actually leave the Google infrastructure, and Google My Business is a tool to get this done. Completing your Google My Business profile allows your contact info to appear right in the Google search result, it also places you on Google Maps, and puts you in a list of area professionals when people do more general searches (instead of searching your name specifically, they search something like “Realtors near me.”) Google My Business is a free service and opens up a lot of doors; definitely worth your time.
13. Better Your Business By Trying a Real Estate Course
Real estate agents have a lot of options when it comes to professional development. If you’re feeling like your state-mandated continuing education isn’t doing enough to build your knowledge base and expand your horizon as a real estate professional, it might be time to consider a paid course from a reputable coach or trainer. There are lots of course options out there, but we think you should start by checking out
14. Do an Audit of Your Website
Your website is the most important part of your real estate marketing plan. It is where you capture leads, where your social media points to, where you market your listings, and the best place for prospects to contact you and start their journey toward becoming a client. Open up an incognito browser and head to your website. Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes. What is the experience like? What exists on your website that is helpful? Does it look and work just as well on mobile as it does on desktop? What would a client expect to find there that isn’t there? What is the search experience like? There are a lot of moving parts to a real estate website, getting them all working together is important. Once you’ve identified where your website could improve, work with your brokerage IT department to start solving those problems. If you’re not finding the solutions you’re looking for or are ready for a fresh start with a newly designed website, we suggest checking out the options from Placester. Placester offers real estate-specific website templates designed to capture leads and offer a fantastic user experience.
15. Have at Least One Video Conference A Day With A Client
Now is not the time to be a secret agent. The further you get from top-of-mind for your clients, the harder you’ll have to work to get back there when the clouds break and things start getting back to normal.
You can help mitigate this concern by having at least one video conference a day with a client. Call them up just to chat and check in with them, share with them their As Soon As This Passes plan from Tip #1, or talk about what the real estate market is likely to look like soon and how you can use that to your client’s advantage. If you aren’t a video conferencing pro, don’t worry, there are a ton of good options. FaceTime works great, so does Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, Skype, or Zoom. All of these tools are easy to use, have free options, and will provide you with a way to make that personal connection with your clients even when you’re stuck at home.
16. Listen to Real Estate Podcasts
If you find yourself needing a break from screen-time but want to keep your work mindset, consider switching to a real estate podcast. It’s easy to sit in one place and forget to get up and move around when you’re at home (how many episodes of The Office have you watched in a row from your comfy chair?), so having a change of pace is a good idea. Throw some clothes on, grab your phone and a pair of headphones, and spend some time walking outside while still leveling up your business. Start by checking out my new favorite podcast: Keeping It Real. Host DJ Paris is based in Chicago and interviews top agents from his (and other) markets, grabbing their best advice on how to get ahead.
17. Try Your Hand at Phone Prospecting
For those of you who thrive on the face-to-face interactions you get from door-knocking or handing out business cards at your local networking events, social distancing probably has you itchy to chat about real estate and the market with anyone who will listen. Even if this isn’t your style, a lot of the traditional lead generation channels are going to slow down for a while, so taking control of your lead volume with prospecting strategies is a great idea. If you’re new to prospecting or want a new tool to get it done, try starting with REDX. REDX connects directly to your local MLS, compiling a daily list of newly expired properties as well as contact information for the owners, sourced from all across the web. You also can get FSBO listings, and even use its Geoleads tool to get contact information for particular neighborhoods (an awesome perk if you’re also operating a real estate farm too). It has an optional built-in dialer for those of you who want to supercharge your efforts, making your call rates up to four times more efficient. Not sure what to say? We get it, cold calling doesn’t come natural to everyone. Start by just checking in. Ask if everyone in the house is doing OK, how everybody is handling the “new normal.” Once you’re ready to start expanding your repertoire, check out the comprehensive list of cold calling scripts we put together, perfect for any scenario.
18. Trick Out Your Zillow Premier Agent Profile
As if Zillow traffic numbers weren’t impressive already (approximately 36 million people visit its site every month), with most people stuck at home and not attending open houses or scheduling property showings, there will be an unprecedented number of virtual home shoppers. Since we know that most homebuyers spend at least some time on Zillow as a part of their shopping process, make sure that your profile there is impressive. Spend some time getting your real estate bio just right, get your headshot in there, make sure to claim all your past sales, add some video, and of course, get some fantastic reviews.
If you’re not a Zillow Premier Agent, you can still have a profile, but upgrading is definitely worth it. You get preferential placement in the Agent Finder Tool, and your profile and contact information appear next to listings in the areas that are most important to your potential clients. Zillow is currently offering its Premier Agent services for 50% on new business through at least April 22, 2020, so if you’ve been considering trying Zillow out, now is a great time to do so.
19. Pre-Write Educational Articles for Your Blog
The way people contact you is by phone, email, or even by stopping in and visiting you in your office (when we have offices again). But, the reason people contact you is because you’ve demonstrated that you’re an expert in an area they care about; an area that matters to them in the context of their next real estate decision. Blog content is a great way to demonstrate that expertise. Your blog is your chance to write about topics that matter to you, and also provide value to your readers. Right now, you’ve got a captive audience (no pun intended) who will be hungry for home improvement projects, spring cleaning tips, suggestions for kiddo activities, and even curb appeal ideas to improve a property’s market value. If you want to get ahead and pre-write some content for after things get back to normal, try topics like market updates, lists of the best places to eat in drink in your hometown, best practices for buyers and sellers, or anything else that is going to provide value to your reader. Every article you write there is a chance for buyers and sellers to identify you as the expert they need for their next real estate transaction.
20. Clear Your Computer Desktop, Organize All Your Files
If you’re at all like me, your computer desktop quickly collects things. Files I save for quick access, email attachments, real estate memes, ya know, all the important stuff. But, even with a multiple monitor setup, there comes a point when all those files turn into clutter and makes it hard to get business done. Try setting up a calendar reminder for yourself once a week (I set mine for Friday afternoons) to clear off my computer desktop, get the important files saved in the right place, and toss the ones you don’t need. Ending (and starting) the week with a clean slate can make a major difference in your productivity.
21. Focus on Staying Positive
It’s easy to feel down in the dumps about the market and the state of things right now, but remember, this will pass. You are going to make it through this, people are still going to need to buy and sell homes, and they’re going to need a trusted professional like you to help them. As a real estate agent, you’re a leader in your community. Decide right now that you’re going to be a source of answers. A source of calm, of best practice, of strategy, and of comfort. People trust you. Use that influence to create hope.
Here’s a quick recap of the last 20 months… Start. Stop. Start again. Go. Go. Go! Never slow down! 2020 started with a bang, the real estate market was hot, then Covid introduced tons of tragedy, fear and uncertainty… and pretty much brought real estate to a standstill. Then a few months later, things opened back up and have been rocketing full speed ahead ever since. Put simply… it’s been a stressful period for real estate agents everywhere and including myself. I just want to check in and make sure you’re doing okay. I’m not a medical professional. But I genuinely care about your well-being, as I do for all of my own agents in my brokerage. So let’s jump into some ways to maximize your productivity while maintaining sanity, eliminating stress and avoiding burnout…
