7 Habits of Highly Effective Brokerages

Today's economy is fast paced and highly competitive. To stay on top, many brokerages need to adopt measures that will make them highly efficient and effective. Chances are that you are familiar with Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Published in 1989, it has sold more than 25 million copies in 40 languages worldwide and remains one of the best selling nonfiction business books of all time.

While Covey's book speaks about the habits of individuals, many of the practices he outlines can be adapted to your brokerage. Every brokerage has a style of doing business; everyone is different and you have to find what works for you. But to be successful, it's going to take a strong set of positive habits to get you where you need to go.

HABIT #1: Be Proactive

Top brokerages know that to grow and attract a high amount of activity, they must invest in their own business. Capitalize on the key marketing activities that are most likely to get you in front of the right clients frequently and consistently. Following this, make sure to track your investments. The more you spend, the more you should focus on measurable results. Monitor phone numbers, measure leads to closed sales, and ask about all sources used to search for homes.

HABIT #2: Set Goals

Envision what you want so you can work and plan towards it. Define the goals you have for your brokerage and break them into measurable chunks such as quarterly, monthly or even weekly time periods. Work with your team and encourage them to set and track their individual goals, as well. See how you can tie their individual performance into achieving company goals. Making business planning a daily activity allows you to track and adjust progress as needed.

HABIT #3: Manage Priorities

Prioritize the things that will get you to your goals. Having a clearly defined strategy enables you and your team to move in the right direction. It's important to "put first things first" and work in order or priority. Define what is important and what is urgent and go from there to address the key items in your process that need to be taken care of. Ensuring you have the resources at hand relieves your team from being overburdened with unimportant busywork.

HABIT #4: Think Win-Win

Approach everything with a win-win attitude and encourage your team to do the same. Build a culture where collaboration and teamwork are valued. Working together for mutually beneficial outcomes creates better long term resolutions than a win-lose competition mentality.

HABIT #5: Communicate Effectively

Clear communication is incredibly important, particularly in sales and real estate. You want a team that can build strong relationships with clients. Put systems in place to facilitate effective communication. Set up immediate and appropriate automated responses when leads come in, and make sure your agents are following up as needed. Investigate new tools for communication like blogging, social media and lead generating platforms, while at the same time nurturing your tried and true channels of activity.

HABIT #6: Encourage Synergy and Teamwork

While some agents may still have a lone wolf mentality, successful brokerages know that teamwork is essential. Combining the strengths of team members will achieve goals no one individual could have done alone. Real estate agents benefit from networking, not just with clients but with colleagues as well. Encourage the sharing of ideas and resources across your team.

HABIT #7: Practice Makes Perfect

As with any new skill, practice makes perfect. By continuing to reinforce the habits above, you will enable and encourage your team to perfect best practices and ultimately become a well-oiled, market dominating machine.

Good luck in your habit implementation! An effectiveness mindset begets growth, reduces stress, and makes for an easy life in general. It's no surprise the concepts in Covey's book sell so well—they really work. Now get to it!

To view the original article, visit the Inside Real Estate blog.