Handling The Landmines of Wasted Time

Provided By Realty Times

here are numerous challenges and landmines to the time management equation. Entrepreneurial small businesses face a large number of these challenges. As Real Estate Agents, we are owners of entrepreneurial small businesses. This business type tends to put us in the front lines, with multiple job descriptions at once, trying to drive strategic objectives in sales, marketing, management, leadership, customer service, accounting, administration, and research and development all at the same time. The probability for landmines that can blow up and wreck your day, hour, or even half hour of production is lurking around every phone call e-mail, fax, cell phone call, and meeting. My goal is to give you tools, strategies, and implementation techniques to help you achieve the highest return on investment for your time.

1. Handling the constant stream of interruptions

We are in a profession that we delight in the inbound sales inquiry calls. We all live for the potential Seller or Buyer who calls us to ask about a property or, better yet, about our services. The problem for most Agents is there are never enough of those and a lot more problem calls. We can compound those interruptions through the use of cell phones, pagers, and access to our home phone as well.

I believe that we are the most interrupted profession on the face of the planet. We have the highest probability of distraction, as well, especially when we add e-mail to the distraction list. We must be able to limit the access we provide people by restricting inbound calls significantly. We want those calls, and we need to be able to respond to them quickly. One tactic is to use your cell phone for the lead generation calls or what I call "money" calls. We might have to re-educate our clients whom we have listed, sold, or are securing a home for to call the office line. It would help you reduce the number of cell phone calls. The more we can direct only "money" calls to the cell phone, the more we are able to secure the other calls out for later. Certainly, another technique is to simply turn off your cell phone and only operate through the voice mail for much of the day.

Create a short list. That’s a list of people your Assistant or Receptionist knows to put through to you right away when they call. You want about half a dozen people on your short list. For me, it’s my wife, my attorney, and my father. All other people must leave a message or book an appointment for as soon as I am free. There is rarely anything in real estate sales that can’t wait an hour.

2. Procrastination – the silent killer

Procrastination is caused by thinking that we have more time to complete a task than we really do. It is also a lack of urgency on our part. There is a difference between procrastination and prioritization. Prioritization is the skill of a Champion. A Champion puts off the things that don’t matter as much and uses their time to do high-value activities. Procrastination is putting off everything that is challenging and difficult. The challenging and difficult items are usually the most important and valuable items. Procrastination is caused by lack of clarity in goals and lack of connecting the goals to important activities that link with the goals. The key question: Is what I am doing right now bringing me closer to or further away from the goals I have set?

Procrastination can be caused by having too many workdays available. In your mind, you can think, "I can always do that later". It allows you to do the activities a few days later, even though today would be best. We can really fake ourselves out by not having set workdays. The old adage that work expands into the time allotted is true.

3. Unclear vision, objectives, and priorities

Procrastination can happen because of a lack of clarity in your vision and what you do. Why are you in real estate sales? What are your objectives for the year in gross commission income? What is the mix of your business in listing side versus Buyer controlled side? How many listings do you need to take yearly, quarterly, monthly, and weekly to reach your goals? How many Buyer sales do you need to make in the same time frame? What’s your conversion ratio of leads? How many leads do you need to generate and appointments do you need to make to earn your income goal? Every Agent who wants to achieve the Champion level must have clear objectives and a clear vision of what needs to happen next to accomplish their objectives.

The skill of prioritization is missing for most Agents. How you execute your priorities has a dramatic effect on your income and results. When we evaluate what our objectives and priorities are, too many Agents view them synonymously. Objectives are really the results you are aiming for in your business. Priorities are the individual steps in the right order to accomplish the objective.

Champion Rule: We have too much to do and not enough time.

Most people who are Champion Performers are running at 100% or more all the time, and there is more stuff added to their plate daily. As we get better and more successful, our opportunities and responsibilities increase.

I am blessed with more opportunities and responsibilities today than when I sold real estate. I have more now than when I founded Real Estate Champions over ten years ago, and ten years from now, there will be even more. With greater success comes greater responsibility and greater opportunities. You will also experience greater problems. As you expand your business, the problems and challenges will increase in number and difficulty. The good news is with larger problems comes larger money. We are problem solvers in the real estate business. When markets shift, problems increase, and your value as an Agent increases too. The increased responsibilities and opportunities are the circle of life from the time we were born. Wesley, my son, has more responsibilities and opportunities than his younger sister, Annabelle.

Time management myth: More successful people have fewer distractions. Because of their production and the opportunities they are constantly creating, they experience more interruptions, distractions, and challenges on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. They are, however, better at handling these demands than others. They have the ability to solve the challenges much faster. They let the negative things that happen to all of us affect them mentally for shorter periods of time. If you are a Champion Agent, like many of my clients who earn $500 an hour or more (that means each fifteen minute block of time is worth $125), you can’t let too many of those fifteen-minute blocks slip away during the day. The control of those blocks of fifteen minutes and the attitude control is one of the main reasons they are worth $500 an hour.

Champion Rule: We will never get caught up.

For Champion Agents, there is no hope of ever getting caught up. Why would you want to? It means you are not getting new opportunities, challenges, clients, prospects to sell to, etc. It means your business has stagnated or receded. A Champion Performer will go home each day of their work life with something un-done or not completed. We could stay in the office past midnight each day, and we still would not have everything completed. We must get over the "clean up and get everything done" syndrome. The question isn’t, did we get everything done; it’s did we get the most important things done. The ability to have a system to select and execute the high-value tasks enables us to align our priorities with our objectives.

Keller Williams Realty Ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Home Buyer and Seller Segments" by J.D. Power and Associates

Provided By Keller Williams Realty

According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Home Buyer/Seller Satisfaction Study^SM released yesterday, Keller Williams Realty, Inc. ranks highest in customer satisfaction in both the homebuyer and home seller segments. Keller Williams Realty, Inc. achieved the highest scores in all measured factors across both segments, receiving the highest JDPower.com Power Circle Rating^SM among its competitors overall.

“We are so proud to have our associates be recognized once again for leading the industry with the influence and reputations they have in their local communities. They continually demonstrate not only their level of talent, but their commitment to serving our communities with the utmost integrity and highest level of service," Mark Willis, CEO of Keller Williams Realty, Inc., stated. “Congratulations to all Keller Williams Realty associates. They have certainly earned this prestigious distinction."

The fifth annual J.D. Power and Associates study measures customer satisfaction with the largest national real estate companies within the home buyer and seller segments. Scores are determined by examining three factors of the home-buying experience: agent/salesperson; office; and variety of additional services. For the home-selling segment, agent/salesperson; marketing; office; and variety of additional services are examined.

J.D. Power and Associates stated, “[The uncertain economic times] present a challenge for the real estate companies to really work closely with the customers and really hold their hand through the entire process to make them feel more comfortable in the decisions. Keller Williams has set itself apart by performing high in all the areas that are most important to customers specifically with the agent, the offices, and the services that they provide."

“Our agents go above and beyond to help their clients at one of the most personal times in their lives – when they are buying or selling a home. We are incredibly honored and humbled that our associates have been recognized yet again for their incredible levels of service," says Mary Tennant, President of Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

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Disclaimer: Keller Williams received the highest numerical score among full service real estate firms for home buyers and home sellers in the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Home Buyer/Seller Study^SM. Study based on 2,994 total evaluations measuring five firms and measures opinions of individuals who bought or sold a home between March 2011 and April 2012. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of consumers surveyed March-May 2012. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com

About Keller Williams Realty, Inc.:

Founded in 1983, Keller Williams Realty, Inc. is the second-largest real estate franchise operation in the United States, with 675 offices and almost 77,000 associates across the globe. The company, which began franchising in 1990, has an agent-centric culture that emphasizes access to leading-edge education and promotes an economic model that rewards associates as stakeholders and partners. The company also provides specialized agents in luxury homes and commercial real estate properties. For more information, or to search for homes for sale, visit Keller Williams Realty online at (www.kw.com). Information about Keller Williams Realty’s international expansion can be found at (www.kwworldwide.com).

Real Estate Marketing Strategies: 7 Ways Perfectionism Stops You from Success

Provided By Realty Times

Are you a perfectionist? Do you know someone who is? Have you ever wondered if perfectionism is a help or hindrance on the road to success?

In my 15+ years of coaching real estate agents to be at the top of their game, I have seen that perfectionism does more harm than good. In fact there are at least 7 Ways that perfectionism stops you from success.

1. Perfectionism causes procrastination. Have you ever had a project that you really wanted to get done, but never could quite complete it? If you look carefully at what was going on in your mindset, you probably see that you wanted to project to be completed perfectly.

We live in an imperfect world. The idea that perfection is possible is just an illusion. Your desire for perfection can stop you from taking action that is needed. In fact it can even lead to mental paralysis and stop you from listening to your intuition.

Imperfect action is better than no action.

2. You get caught up in the details. Instead, use your business vision. There is nothing so compelling as a vision for which you have passion. But if you're busy with the details, and trying to get every little thing perfect, you lose sight of the bigger picture.

Delegate out as many details of your business as you can't so you can focus on moving your business forward.

3. Perfectionism doesn't allow you to be yourself. Have you noticed how guarded you feel when you're trying to put up a front of being perfect? You can't be yourself, because someone might see that you really aren't as perfect as you're trying to be.

How did that get started anyway? In the way that most of us were conditioned, we weren't allowed to be ourselves. The more our parents had perfectionistic standards for us and the more we tried to achieve those standards, the more of ourselves we had to give away.

We usually do to ourselves what was done to us when we were growing up. Therefore, if you suffer from perfectionism, it is a good bet that it was part of your programming in your early years. Quite likely you picked up the belief, "I have to be perfect to be okay."

Get to work on discovering your self-limiting beliefs with regard to perfectionism. When you bring those beliefs to the surface, you can release them and replace them with empowering beliefs, such as, "I am perfectly imperfect like everyone else."

4. Perfectionism set you up to need others' approval. Let's face it, when you're being a perfectionist, you're thinking about other people approving of you and your work. You're being "outer directed", i.e. trying to get you approval from the outside rather than giving it to yourself.

The truth is; we don't have to be perfect. All we need to do in any particular moment is to do our best. And our best changes from moment to moment in day-to-day. If you're feeling healthy, your best will be one-way and if you're feeling sickly your best will be another way. In either case you just need to remember that your job is only to do your best.

Forget about needing other people's approval, because what others think of you is really not your business.

5. Perfectionism causes you to be in a constant state of stress, because you're always trying to meet your perfect standards. According to the law of attraction, the states of consciousness that attract prosperity and success are very positive, such as gratitude, appreciation, and love. When you send out those energies, you are becoming more magnetic for your ideal business. However, when you are trying to be perfect, you are sending out signals of stress, anxiety and fear.

Notice the feelings you are sending out and make yourself as magnetic as possible by projecting gratitude and tolerance.

6. Perfectionism stops you from taking a risk. Any seasoned real estate agent knows how important it is to take educated risks to move forward. Staying stuck in the status quo never benefited anyone.

However, when you demand of yourself that you need to be perfect, you'll be very hesitant to take the risk.

When it comes to taking risks - follow your intuition. It knows better what you need then your own beliefs that you need to be perfect. Remember, perfection doesn't exist, it's a trap.

7. Perfectionism stops you from picking up the phone. The consequences of this are HUGE for your business. In today's marketplace the old methods of marketing aren't nearly as effective as you simply picking up the phone and prospecting. Prospective clients are less likely to notice you through a flyer or e-mail. However when they hear the sound of your voice, you're making personal contact.

So many people I've worked with over the years avoid this method of lead generation and their business suffers tremendously.

When I explore with them why they are so avoidant of picking up the phone, it usually comes down to the same thing…. they want to be seen as perfect. This is another way of saying that they are afraid of being seen as "pushy" and afraid of rejection.

When you are marketing yourself to prospective clients, there is no such thing as rejection. It's simply a match or it's not a match. Your job is to prospect, present your services and keep on the lookout for someone who needs what you have to offer. If they don't need it, it simply isn't a match.

Follow these tips listed above and allow yourself to be "perfectly imperfect". Your business will thank you for it.

Building A Champion Business By Pausing

Provided By Realty Times

eing able to build a Champion's Business takes focus, skill, and determination. It takes the desire to move, change, test, adjust, and then change again. One of the ingredients that most Agents fail to execute is the ability to regularly pause. The ability to pause, evaluate, ponder, meditate, and clarify at regular intervals will move you from a good business to a Champion Business. The pause helps you learn and invest what you have learned into your future success account.

Pause at the end of each day to reflect on what went right. If you had to rate the day one to ten, how would it rate? Why did you rate it there? What could have been improved on? What are you most proud of for the day? What are the priorities for tomorrow? I typically spend thirty minutes at the end of the day reviewing the day and learning from the day. Too often, we continue on daily without pausing, pondering, and evaluating, so we make the same or similar mistakes repeatedly over time.... warning!!At the end of the week, take an hour to pause. A week is a pretty good chronicle of time that has gone by. Evaluate the prospecting numbers, leads generated, and appointments booked. What did you learn this week? What would you change? How should next week be approached? What priorities didn't get accomplished that need to be moved to next week? How's your energy level and reserve? How's your attitude at the end of the week? If you have staff, evaluate their performance as well.

Pause at the end of the month for two hours. Invest those two hours in your future wealth, growth, and happiness. Besides the previous questions for the day and the week evaluation, review your leads in your database. Did you miss calling anyone? Is there someone you should call earlier than scheduled? Too often, Agents call someone they have as a lead just after they have made a decision to commit to someone else, or they have bought and sold using someone else. By taking a few minutes to review the leads monthly, you will catch oversight that will cost you thousands. Even today, I review leads in our database quarterly and always catch opportunities about to be lost. My sales manager at Real Estate Champions is required to review calls and leads weekly and monthly.

At the end of the month review your prospecting leads, appointments, and overall numbers for your business. You also want to review the numbers on your market trends report. We must already know where the marketplace is heading in real time, rather than reaction time.

The break at the end of the quarter should be a half day to give you the opportunity to repeat all the steps I have given you thus far on a large, deeper, more focused time frame. When you get to the quarter evaluation, I really believe that it needs to be conducted off site. This time is of paramount importance and needs your full attention without the distractions of being in your office. If you feel you need to be in the office because of the availability of your data to analyze, then come in 4 hours before your normal day would begin, or stay in the evening and evaluate. Again, evaluating the marketplace for the quarter is an integral part of the quarter pause.

The pause at six months should be around a full day. Six months is a significant amount of time. I know Agents who have been way behind initially, but caught up to their goal in the last six months through making the right adjustments. I know others who were way ahead of their goal, but they didn't take the time to review and weren't paying attention. They missed the mark on their one-year objectives.

The pause at the end of the year should be from three days to a week. I personally prefer a week. The final week of the year has developed into my favorite week of the year. It is the time I hit the rewind button for the whole year and replay the tape. I immerse myself in questions and evaluation to guarantee the mistakes remain in the past and the victories flow into the future. I check my business plan, business vision, and values, systems, lead generation source, and conversion. I check my mental state and commitment level to my goals for the next year. This week isn't to build a business plan for the next year. In fact, if you are doing that in this week, you are too late. Your business plan for the new year needs to be constructed no later than the end of October of the preceding year. To decide a week before the new year to build your business plan is too late.

Take the above steps to execute pausing at regular intervals into your business. You will see how this exercise helps you move your business from a good business to a Champion's Business.