Jacqueline Kyo Thomas
We're all gifted with the same 24 hours in a day. Some of us use this time wisely to build legacies that will outlive us. Others... not so much. But when you work for yourself, you must make the best of every single minute. (In case you’re counting, that’s 1,440 minutes for every day). How can you improve your productivity?
In this post, we’ll discuss tried and true ways to make the most out of each day as a professional real estate agent. Whether you’re new to the game or you’ve been here for a while, you’ll benefit from implementing these productivity hacks in your day-to-day life. Let’s get started.
Here are 10 networking tips for real estate agents.
Develop a Business Plan
You can’t be productive without a plan— a business plan, that is. A business plan may sound boring and old school, but it’s fundamental to your success.
A business plan is a living document that identifies your future business objectives and maps out how you’ll get there.
Your business plan isn’t just for goal mapping. It’s also about helping you set a budget, create a marketing strategy, and plot out how you’ll create an income throughout the year.
There’s no way that you can be productive and hit your business goals if you don’t know what your goals are. When you write them in a realistic business plan, your productivity will increase.
To learn more about how to make a plan for your real estate business, check out this post: The Real Estate Agent's Guide to Creating a Business Plan.
Set Daily Goals
While your business plan will list your annual and possibly quarterly goals, you also need to list out your short-term goals every day. These goals are tasks that you can accomplish right away. However, your daily goals should ultimately get you closer to your ultimate business objectives.
Start every morning with a list of three main things that you’d like to accomplish by day’s end. Make sure that your three daily goals are:
- Specific, not generic
- Measurable and not ambiguous
- Actionable, meaning that you can work towards it
- Realistic, meaning that your goal is doable by you within these constraints
- Time-specific, meaning that you place a deadline on achieving your goal
Which goals should you target each day?
At least one of your goals should be marketing-focused. Think of one thing you can do each day to grow your list of prospective clients. (e.g. Cold call 25 FSBOs, take photos of XYZ Avenue property, etc.)
Another goal should be focused on servicing your business. Think of what you can do each day to strengthen your business. (e.g. Place an ad for an assistant, pay dues for real estate association, etc.)
Set up a Daily Schedule
Next up is creating a daily schedule to follow.
This one can be tricky. If you don’t already know, you’ll soon learn that the daily life of a real estate agent can be unpredictable. Ultimately, your clients dictate your schedule and this can change by the day and by a phone call. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t carve out a loose routine for yourself. Following a routine will guarantee productivity.
Your daily routine shouldn’t be restrictive, but it should help you get things done. Always highlight your three daily goals on your schedule and ensure that, if nothing else gets done, those three things are accomplished.
Time blocking is the secret to getting more stuff done every day. Instead of multitasking or going from one unrelated task to the next, do like activities together. For example, block out two hours in the afternoon to cold call or pay bills. You’ll be surprised at how much more you can do by tackling similar tasks within the same block of time.
Don’t forget to schedule break time. You need to decompress every day as well. Taking a mental (or people) break can refuel you and give you just the perspective you need to meet your daily objectives.
To learn more about creating a daily to-do, check out this post: New Real Estate Agents, Here's How to Schedule Your Day.
Network and Cold Call
Networking will play a huge role in your success as a real estate agent. You must focus on building lifelong relationships with your prospective clients and your fellow real estate industry colleagues. It’s not just about pushing a sale.
Look for opportunities to network, such as evening socials, business lunches, power breakfasts, and every type of gathering in between. Everyone is a potential client or knows someone who is, but remember that networking is not about selling instantly. It’s a long-term game.
After you’ve built up a database of potential leads, be sure to segment them before attempting to build a relationship. This will ensure that you make the best use of the time you spend in nurturing and networking. You can segment in a variety of ways, such as by people who are new to your call list or people who haven’t answered your previous cold call attempt.* You can also segment by the type of property they’re interested in buying or selling. Those are just a few of the ways you can slice and dice your list.
To learn more about networking, check out this post: How to Build Your List of Real Estate Clients.
Speaking of cold calling, set aside time every day to reach out to the people who need your services. While you may love it or hate it, cold calling is one of the best uses of your time as a real estate agent.
When cold calling potential leads, be sure to get to the point right away. If possible, do a little research before the call so that you can customize your pitch. Never read from a script. Use an outline of talking points. Also, don’t push the hard sell over the phone. That will likely prompt a swift hang up. Instead, focus on getting a face-to-face meeting.
To learn more about winning with cold calling, check out this post: Cold Calling for Beginner Real Estate Agents.
Get Help
A big part of being productive is recognizing what’s worth your time and what you can pay someone else to do. You don’t have time to handle it all, so don’t even try. Instead, consider hiring someone to help you with secondary responsibilities. This will free you up to focus on the most important tasks of running your business, such as lead generation.
You can hire an assistant to take calls, schedule meetings, or maintain your social media accounts. And thanks to the internet, your assistant doesn’t even need to be in the same city or continent as you. If you need help with digital tasks, such as posting new properties to your Instagram account, you can hire a virtual assistant to handle it remotely.
Final Thoughts
To improve your productivity as a real estate agent, you’ll need to identify your top goals and attack them every day, without exception. Use the above tips to create a realistic plan for your day.
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