The Top 10 Things To Do to Keep You From Getting Into a Slump

Successful agents take action regularly to build future business. They nurture their spheres of influence – especially that 20% that gives them 80% of their referrals. They use a coordinated marketing plan that consistently and  repetitively connects with their target markets.

They continue to plant seeds for future business, and they have systems set up to stay on track with this effortlessly. When there are shifts in the market, a wise agent knows that calls for a change in strategy. In spite of everything, though, sometimes a slump or slow down appears. When that happens, it's no time to panic – it's time to sprint!

It is easy to look around and blame outside circumstances when your production isn’t matching your goals. You start to question yourself and your competency. Isn’t it amazing that an agent can be in this business for 20 years and still think when a slump occurs that maybe this isn’t the business for them? When my coaching clients are in this place, I know the longer they allow themselves to stay in this mindset, the longer the conditions will persist.

That's the time you need to take action to stop that slide down the black hole. Think of it like re-booting your computer when it freezes up. You can't move on until you get the machine up and humming again. You cannot make any progress until you take action!

 "The common conception is that motivation leads to action, but the reverse is true –  action precedes motivation. You have to 'prime the pump' and get the juice flowing, which motivates you to work on your goals. Getting momentum going is the most difficult part of the job, and often taking the first step is enough to prompt you to make the best of your day." - Robert J. McKain

 

Take Action

Time to stir up the cosmic dust! Have you ever noticed when you get really busy at taking action, when you make calls and connect, business often flows to you? It may seem like luck, but you are taking action and it creates an energy that returns to you. That old saying is true: the more prepared you are, the luckier you get.

When the strategy that you have been using is not producing the result you want, it is time to shake things up. The best thing about a sprint is that it is a short-term push. You can do anything for a week. If you feel good about the results, you can do another week, but this isn’t about having to push this hard forever.

 

The Sprint

Here are the top 10 things to do for one week to keep you from getting into a slump:

1. Get your calendar out for the next week and block out prospecting time. Plan at least two hours per day, or 10 hours over the week (you could do two five-hour sessions). Designate at least three of the hours to other “hot” possibilities like FSBOs or Expireds.
2. Start with warm calls to those who already know and love you.
3. Call prospects that others might not be targeting: Expireds from 1-2 months back or FSBOs from the internet FSBO sites instead of the newspaper. Remember your goal on the calls is to connect and find some future possibilities. It’s not about closing someone; it’s about finding out if they have a need that fits with your offerings and then about educating them as to how you are different from the others.
4. Create a structure of support for yourself; get a coach or a partner to hold you accountable. Use something like The Real Estate Game, to get you focused, accountable and competitive with others.
5. Create a reward and/or a consequence to help keep you focused. For instance, reward yourself for completing your weeklong sprint with a new tech gadget, or promise to pay $100 to a cause you abhor if you don't follow through with your sprint plan.
6. Have in place a great system for follow up. Most agents will contact a FSBO once; most FSBO’s will choose the agent that stays in touch and contacts them 5+ times.
7. Have some fun - make it game. Try playing the “no” game: Decide you’ll call until you get 20 "No’s." Let go of the result and have fun in trying different approaches and just connecting with the people you talk to.
8. Celebrate and acknowledge yourself each session; you deserve to feel good about what you are accomplishing!
9. At the end of each day, use my No-Slump Score Card to see how you did for the day, and to get ready for tomorrow. These few moments of looking at what worked today and what you will change can help speed your sprint.
10. Take very good care of yourself. You’ll attract more  people and business because you’ll be feeling good and be projecting positive energy. This is the very time to make sure that you are getting enough rest and time off to balance the focused time you spend on the sprint. You need to be at your sharpest and your best.

Slow times are part of the business, but you need to be on guard that they don't lead you into a slump. Use these 10 steps to sprint out of that hole and back up to top professional form. And be sure to check in with yourself each day using my No-Slump Score Card.

Let me know how it's going, will you? Please leave a comment about what works for you when you start to slump. Your experience might be just what someone else needs to hear to take that first step back to success.

 

 

 

 

Patti Kouri, Accelerated Performance Coaching

Helping you get past roadblocks in your life and business
so you move off any plateau, move forward, and achieve your goals.

 

 

Click here to download Coach Patti Kouri's

No-Slump Score Card