Warning Lights are Flashing

Think back to January and February. The market was rocking. We were having a party. Then March hit. Overnight business shut down. Everyone went into panic mode. Deals started falling apart. The party was over.

We’ve spent the past two months restructuring our businesses and mitigating our losses. Part of that mitigation was applying for government assistance, deferring mortgage and lease payments and cutting all unnecessary expenses.

With most states and provinces reopening for business, It’s time to switch focus. I’m afraid if you don’t go back to work now, you’ll be in a world of hurt later.  Up to this point, government subsidies have cushioned the blow, but that will end soon. Many agents have been able to defer payments, but those will start back up again soon. Many agents had closings in April and May from the business they wrote in January and February, but their pipeline has dried up over the past few months and many don’t have pending closings on the books.

We are looking down the barrel at a problem that many agents are ignoring.

In a typical Spring market, agents work diligently during March, April and May for June closings. They often use that income to support themselves while they slow down during the summer months. For those who look forward to the lazy days of summer, you can kiss them goodbye this year. We have a lot of ground to make up. We’ve lost two months of prospecting time this year. We relied on subsidies, past business and deferrals to get by until now.

The question I have is…what does your September look like?

We’ve spent the past few months working ON our business. We must now rotate 180% and start aggressively working IN our business. By now your office is completely organized, your systems, technology and skills are finely tuned, and you are ready to hit the ground running. It’s time.

A true entrepreneur would rather sweat than bleed.

Though you may be tempted to take time off this summer, that is not how success is achieved. Top agents are willing to sweat it out and put in long hours this summer, understanding that their hard work now will help them recover the time they’ve lost and set them up for a strong 4th quarter. Buck up buttercup. No one said success was easy.

Listings are the name of the game. The big money earners in our business are always listing agents. How do you get listings? You need appointments. How do you get appointments? You need to talk to people. Don’t make this more complicated than it is. The more people you talk to every day about real estate, the more income you will make.

This week I was on a webinar with the President and CEO of Century 21 worldwide and the general takeaway from his message was that real estate markets at home and around the world are coming back strong.

The question I have for you is, are you going to be part of the recovery or sit on the sidelines?

Chris Leader
President
Leader’s Edge Training