Everyday Improvements

For the past two years of the pandemic, many agents joined our industry and they didn’t receive proper training. As a result, it was easier for them to cut their fees to compete rather than trying to learn their craft. Cutting fees is never the solution. It’s a race to the bottom. When you cut your fees, you must cut services to survive on less revenue. With inflation hitting record highs, there isn’t enough money left at the end of the day if you cut your fees. With less money per transaction, you must close more deals just to survive and that doesn’t leave you the time to offer your clients exceptional service. A commission-cutting business model may put food on your table today, but it will cannibalize your future business.

If you want to truly stand out and be remembered positively, get referred regularly, and be able to bank on future business from repeat clients, it is about the QUALITY of the consumer experience.

The real estate industry is changing faster today than I have ever experienced in my 40 years in the business. Consumers have higher expectations than ever before.  They have access to more information than ever before, and they need an expert analyst to help them understand the information and make good decisions. If the industry is changing this quickly, your business must also change quickly to keep up.

Your goal should be to constantly improve the client experience. Happy clients refer you and come back to you. How do you do that? It all starts with your attitude towards change. Every day you should wake up with the goal of improving something in your business. Everyday improvements, even small ones, compound into massive changes over time.

Every day, look at something in your business and ask yourself “how can I make it better?” Small refinements made daily create compounded improvements most agents could never dream of. Commit to raising your standards. Increase your value by 1% every day and the impact will be mind-blowing. Every day ask yourself:

• What did I learn today?
• What did I improve today?

Continuous improvement builds SECURITY. Most agents never feel secure in a commission-based business. They are always worried about losing a client or losing money. The only security you have in this business comes from constantly improving the value you bring to your relationships, so you create raving fans. You will never worry about MAINTAINING your quality of life when you work hard every day to IMPROVE your quality of life.

So how do you make constant improvements in your business that matter, and where do you start? Take a piece of paper and make three columns.

1. In the first column, make a list of every TOOL you use in your business (CRM system, listing presentation, buyer presentation, marketing campaigns, document cloud storage, website, social media, etc.).
2. In the second column, make a list of every CHECKLIST you use in your business (new buyers, new sellers, closings, marketing, moving tips, etc.)
3. In the third column, make a list of every LEAD GENERTAION method you use in your business (phone prospecting, door knocking, online lead portals, networking groups, etc.).

Next, for every item you listed, think about how you can improve them.

• Does your listing presentation need to be updated?
• Do your marketing materials need to be updated?
• Do you need to update your checklists?
• Do you need to clean up your CRM system?
• Do you need to add all your past clients onto a better marketing campaign?
• Do you need to take a class to learn how to better use a piece of technology?

Make a TO DO list showing the item, what needs to be improved, how much it will cost, and when you want to have it done by.

PRIORITIZE the to do list, so the most important fixes get done first. You now have an extensive list of projects you need to tackle for the rest of 2022. Every day commit to making progress on the top priority item until it is completed and taken off the list. Then move onto the next. A common mistake made by agents is that they try to do too many things at once and they never complete any task. This not only makes you feel overwhelmed, but it leaves you feeling deflated when nothing gets completed.

One project at a time. Finish it and then move on to the next.

I wish you the best of success in 2022.

Chris Leader
President
Leader’s Edge Training