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They sound obvious, so why are you still doing them? Inspired by Tim Ferriss’ post, we share with you the 9 things as a real estate agent that you need to stop doing immediately if you want to grow as an entrepreneur! It’s everything from who you talk to, when you talk to them and even HOW you communicate too! Some of these points will even surprise you as we break down some beliefs about how we should (or shouldn’t) work and the effect of that on our daily lives. If you’re feeling pressed and stressed – for time, talents or otherwise – listen up! Walk away today with effective tactics for upgrading your performance that, for once, don’t involve doing more things, but less.
The first thing to remember is that not doing things can be even more effective in raising your performance than doing things! Surprising, right? Ferriss says the reason is simple; what you don’t do determines what you CAN do!
- Do not answer calls from unrecognized or blocked numbers. If it was that important, they would have left you a message, right? If they really did need to talk to you, they’ll call back or find you on social media etc. Answering calls when you have no idea whats on the other end of the line sets you up for major distraction and loss of time in your day on things that are not real emergencies. As an agent, you can’t always make this a hard and fast rule because it could be a lead, so choose wisely. With multiple ways for people to communicate with you, choose one way that works most efficiently for you and teach people the best way to get a hold of you so you can screen, capture and prioritize your conversations.
- Do not email first thing in the morning or late at night. Its become so ingrained in us, the thought of not checking our messages incessantly is foreign. But its bad for business! When you open your email right after you open your eyes, you’ve allowed whatever problems are in there to take priority over your money-making activities like lead generation, which is a totally production killer! When you open your email at night before bed, the nasty-gram from a client or co-broke agent will keep you tossing and turning all night – and no sleep is also detriment to your success!
- Do not agree to meetings or calls with no clear agenda or end time. Train your clients (or anyone else in your life!) to tell you in advance the purpose behind their meeting or call request. Make sure they know that your interest is in being prepared and making the most of your time together. With this kind of direct, clearly defined objective, most meetings can be kept to 30 minutes.
- Do not let people ramble. Every agent can think of at least one client where they know if they pick up the phone or agree to a meeting, it won’t be a quick one! How do you balance the clients needs to be heard and your need to get things done? Don’t start calls with “How’s it going?” Right there you open yourself up to pontificating about anything from the weather to politics to the family dog. Stick with “What’s up?” or I’m In the middle of getting something out, but what’s going on?” Help them to get to the point in the most polite way possible.
We’ll continue our discussion on these 9 horrible habits later this week. In the meantime, start implementing at least one of these points and resolve to take back your time in 2017!
