Embracing Discipline
Welcome to this week's Zebra Report. Today's topic is so important to being successful in anything that you do - whether that is personally, professionally, but especially for being successful in real estate! And that is, embracing discipline.
Personal discipline is, by far, the one single trait that most agents struggle with because it requires you to be consistent on an ongoing basis. Successful agents have a plan that they stick to every day - that is discipline. Successful agents have mailing campaigns that they don't question every time that they don't get a call, they just do it. That is discipline.
Discipline means that you get up in the morning and that you have a plan. I know for me, and I've been doing the same thing for 25 years, and that is my Hour of Power. I do it every single day, every day. The only time I don't do it is if I am traveling and on weekends. The discipline to do that for 20 years doesn't come easily, but that discipline is what allows me to get projects done and get things accomplished.
There are many key places where having discipline makes a huge difference in agents' success: the discipline to do lead generation consistently, the discipline of learning and going to classes even when you don't want to, the discipline of following-up with past clients on a regular basis.
Here's a hard one that is part of that past client follow-up: the discipline of doing Annual Client Reviews every single year. An annual client review is something that I did every January. I would go back to every single person that I helped to buy a home and I would send them a personalized annual report on how their home investment had changed that year, compared to previous years, and how their local market had changed too.
Another client relationship tool for me was to do an annual client event. This is where clients can see you. Even if they cannot attend, they feel like they are part of your world. If you use social media, then having the discipline to engage with clients, but to not simply waste your time consuming social media.
Many agents struggle with discipline when it comes to money, like putting money away for a rainy day. In our line of work there are some months where we do really well, we have transactions and closings, and other months where we are building relationships and maybe those are months were you do not have a closing.
When people ask me what the number one trait that a real estate agent should have, it's not that they need to be great at working with people. I can say that because I know many agents who are not outgoing people-people, but they are still very successful. They are successful not for their people skills, but because they have the discipline to get things done in their business. Having the personal self-discipline to do what you need to get done when you wake-up and don't want to do it, that is the key to success - especially in real estate!
By Denise Lones CSP, M.I.R.M., CDEI - The founding partner of The Lones Group, Denise Lones, brings nearly three decades of experience in the real estate industry. With agent/broker coaching, expertise in branding, lead generation, strategic marketing, business analysis, new home project planning, product development, 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.
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