Productivity Tips for a Successful (and Balanced) Real Estate Business

The hustle, the grind, the nonstop work. Today's real estate agents are all too familiar with what it takes to stay ahead. But staying balanced and in control are important not only for avoiding burnout but also for growing your business in a sustainable way.

Run Your Business... Don't Let It Run You

To be successful in real estate, you can't be all things to all people. And you can't try to do everything yourself. BoomTown hosted a powerful webinar with real estate top producer Rachel Adams Lee (The Rachel Adams Lee Group Powered by Keller Williams), and she covered her most insightful tips for reaching unparalleled success while maintaining balance and boundaries. With her expert insights, we're covering the most critical tips for growing your business while staying productive and balanced.

DO Structure Your Day

Time blocking can be challenging in an industry that requires catering to clients. You may be tempted to become available at the drop of a hat and say yes to certain meeting times that work best for others, however, this is how you start to lose control of your own business and time.

Trust that (A) you'll be able to maintain your business and make ends meet even if you're not available 24/7, and (B) you may lose out on an opportunity here and there and that's okay. If you bite off more than you can chew, you'll end up dropping the ball somewhere.

• Time block your day
• Prioritize things that energize and motivate you

DO Set Strict Boundaries

Boundaries are essential for survival, success, and for your mental health when it comes to real estate. Working around the clock may feel like your doing your business a favor by being "all-in," but in reality, you're doing yourself and your clients a disservice by setting yourself up for burnout.

• Keep work and family/personal life separate: This allows you to be totally "on" with both your work and your family (or just yourself!).
• Have a clear shut-off time: Honor your time and your mental health by allowing yourself a clear shut-off time each day. You might be surprised how easily your clients and colleagues respect those boundaries!
• Set up a system for your "out of office" times: We know that in real estate, things are always moving. Account for this in your business plan! Meaning, leverage someone within your team to handle calls when you're unavailable. Or, utilize a Lead Concierge Service to engage with new leads on your behalf, 24/7.

DO Identify Your Money-Making Activities

As a real estate professional, you want to run your business like a CEO. And the CEO doesn't do everything, the CEO only does the things that require their unique expertise and attention. The high-value, high-dollar activities.

In order to maximize your productivity (while avoiding burnout), start by observing all of the activities throughout your day. How long are your spending running around putting lockboxes on doors or scheduling showings? Or focusing on administrative tasks?

Think about both of these questions:

• What brings me joy?
• What are my high-dollar activities that require my participation?

One helpful tool for restructuring your daily tasks is the Eisenhower Matrix. It helps you identify how you should prioritize, delegate, or eliminate tasks. 

DO Give 110% with Clients

The most important expectation from clients is to be heard. People want to feel valued and cared about. They want to feel like they're the only person in the room and that you are going to give them VIP service.

• Give the extra 10%: Listen more than you talk and ask lots of questions
• Be prepared and confident: Focus on script practice and objection handling and always have your presentation and your stats ready to go!

DON'T Avoid Technology

Agents often avoid real estate technology and tools for two reasons:

1. They can be a serious investment
2. They can seem time-intensive and overly complicated

But the truth is, sustainable success and long-term growth in today's competitive market absolutely requires leveraging technology. It's all about finding the right tools for your business and making sure that their return on investment (ROI) is worth it!

Here's a list of some of the tools top agents and brokers use to complete their tech stack:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Transaction Management
• Lead Generation Tools
• Lead Conversion Tools
• Lead Qualification/ISA Software
• Market Data
• Marketing Automation
• Open House Management
• Mobile Dialer
• Accounting Software
• Contracts, Legal and Compliance

A powerful real estate technology partner will include many of this functionality as an all-in-one solution. When you're exploring real estate CRMs, make sure they have a robust integration partner network so that your tools can function seamlessly within one central hub.

DON'T Reinvent the Wheel

The most successful real estate businesses run on systems and processes. There's no guesswork and every cog has its place within the well-oiled machine. As you're building your business, always keep an eye out for tasks that repeat and if there's a way to streamline that process through a service or tool (like a template)!

• Templatize your assets and content
• Market reports, presentations, social media posts, etc.
• Try to surround yourself with industry peers and mentors that are willing to share helpful resources like scripts, automation templates, and drip campaigns
• Create processes for everything within your business to avoid gaps and miscommunications

DON'T Try to Do It All Alone

We've touched on how to identify your most dollar-productive tasks and why it's important to leverage technology to stay productive. Now it's time to put that into action.

Don't be the hero! Top producers know how to do three things really well: prioritize, automate, and delegate.

To view the original article, visit the BoomTown blog.