Don’t Let This One Challenge Ruin Your Plans
If you have done your business planning for 2014, you should have developed a list of tasks that you want to accomplish - both the ongoing tasks in your business (such as following up with your database each and every month, perhaps open houses twice a month, checking the MLS every day) and the one-time tasks in your business (such as creating a seller package or creating listing presentation props).
But it is now nearing the end of the first month of 2014. Are you on track to accomplish the tasks you have laid out to be done in January? If so, I congratulate you on your task tenacity! However, if you are having some challenges getting to these tasks in your business, I have a few words for you on procrastination.
"But Denise!" you might be saying, "This is not a matter of procrastination! I am juggling business! I can't just turn away clients to send out a mailer to get more clients. It just doesn't make sense!"
I understand the challenges that business brings. As a top-producing agent I knew that challenge all-too-well. However, when I looked from one year onto the next, I knew that if I wanted my business to grow - or work on having more quality of life, I HAD to find the time to get these business-building activities done each and every day, week, month, and year.
When I first set out with a plan before I became a top-producing agent, I saw my plans get derailed by the unpredictability of the business time and time again. One month turned into six months and before I knew it, half a year had slipped by and I had not completed any of the tasks on my plan. My business had not grown and my quality of life was worse than ever.
I realized that if I wanted my business to changeI had to change. I had to be more disciplined and make sure those tasks got done if I wanted to take my business to the next level. Whether it meant I needed to get up half an hour earlier and get the mailer complete for my database or I needed to take a lunch at my desk to check in with my sellers, I made it a commitment to get these things done. However, I also took a close look at my time and how I spent it. I was surprised to see that I was doing several things in my business that were not bringing me closer to my goals such as long lunches with clients, touring properties that were far out of town that I had no buyer for, or helping my fellow agents with marketing their properties. The time I was spending on those tasks needed to be spent on my business-building tasks. I was procrastinating on getting my business-building tasks complete by filling my time with other work-related tasks that were not bringing results.
Now more than ever, it is easy to procrastinate. There are more opportunities to procrastinate now because of the internet. Between email, Facebook, fiddling with websites, and cruising the MLS, agents face more distractions than ever before. These distractions mask themselves as work, leading us to a false sense of security that we actually are doing what we need to be doing.
Don't fall into this trap! If you are having a challenge with getting your business-building tasks done, look for the inefficiencies in your schedule, whether they be wasting time on the internet, spending time in the office with agents who aren't out working, or touring buyers who you haven't prequalified, and determine what rules you need to implement in your business so you are using your time more efficiently and getting your tasks done.
Make 2014 the year that you take your business to the next level!
By Denise Lones CSP, M.I.R.M., CDEI - The founding partner of The Lones Group, Denise Lones, brings over two decades of experience in the real estate industry. With expertise in strategic marketing, business analysis, branding, new home project planning, product development, and agent/broker training, Denise is nationally recognized as the source for all things "real estate". With a passion for improvement, Denise has helped thousands of real estate agents, brokers, and managers build their business to unprecedented levels of success, while helping them maintain balance and quality of life.
Comments(2)