We all have 24 hours in a day, but some real estate professionals execute their goals more effectively than others. Michael Hellickson, the Founder of Club Wealth and a Lab Coat Agents coach, explained how to create daily habits that create a lifetime of success in his session at REimagine 2019.
Real estate is a tough market. In fact, 87% of agents fail in the first 2 years of business. The difference between those that succeed and those that fail? Habits.
American businessman, Robert Kiyosaki, created the cashflow quadrant which explains 4 ways to produce income:
Employee - At this level, you have no leverage and have to work for every dollar you make.
Self-Employed - As a self-employed person, you have to spend time to make money.
Business Owner - At this quadrant, you can step away for a year and your bank account will continue without your help.
Investor - Get out of the rat race by creating a system for passive income.
You eventually want to get to the investor quadrant, where your money continues to make you more money, passively. Creating positive habits will help you transition from a place where you’re attracting business instead of chasing it.
7 Productivity Tips
To start attracting business, you must get really good at chasing it. Michael highly recommended these tips to make each day more effective:
1. Get serious about a schedule
You need to create a consistent schedule that you stick with. This starts with how you wake up and the time you get to work every day. Consistency is key. Block your morning from 8-12 every day to focus on lead generation.
Once you get good at that, start to build a team or system around you that will help you keep your schedule full.
2. Start a call night bingo
Let’s face it, dialing for dollars isn’t fun. How do you make it fun? Make it a bingo night with your team. Someone hang up on you? That’s a square. Someone yell at you? Another square. Take the bad things that might happen, and turn it into a fun game. That way you’ll look forward to the hard work.
3. To become effective, you must be very efficient
Efficient vs. effective are two very different things. Being effective is how well you do something, while efficiency is how much you get done. Focus on being efficient. The best way to get good at listings is not to learn about it, but to do hundreds of listings and get better through repetition.
4. Turn off notifications on your phone and computer
Your phone is for your convenience, not others'. You have to take control of your life. Notifications distract you from what you need to get done. Make your technology work for you, not the other way around.
5. Create a productive space
Get everything off of your desk. Only have the stuff you need to work on. No distractions.
6. Implement a gatekeeper or STOP sign
When you’re getting things done, create a way to let others know that you shouldn’t be interrupted. Nothing we do is an emergency, so don’t let others interrupt you while you’re building your business.
7. Be willing to let go of a transaction to get 10 more
Become disassociated from the outcome of a transaction. Emotions get in the way of the bottom line. You’ll have better outcomes if you detach.
5 Most Important Habits to Master
After those tips, he shared the 5 most important habits that you need to get real good at to become a top performing real estate professional:
1. Lead Generation
Every single day. As you transition from chasing to attracting, lead generation will be on autopilot. Embrace Zillow and Realtor.com. You can ride the wave or get crushed.
2. Lead Follow Up
Agents are terrible at following up. Get to a lead in 20 seconds. The number one agent in the country, Robert Slack, gets to a lead in 16 seconds.
His key for effective (and intense!) follow up is to first call, then email, then text, then send a video email, followed by a video text message, and lastly stalk on Facebook. This is Michael’s secret sauce. Don’t be afraid to do it, lean in.
Be tenacious. Follow the rule of 3. Follow up 3x a day for the first 3 days, 3x a week for the next 3 weeks, and 3x a month for the next 3 months. It might seem like a lot, but it will win those new clients.
3. Lead Conversion
Per Michael, the biggest challenge for agents is that they are terrible at lead conversion. We make it too complicated to work with us. He recommends the first house showing is free, and after you show the house, then you get a contract.
The other thing he recommends to convert your client to using your lender is leading them with a question to say yes. Ask “I’ll see you at Monday at 3. Hey - if they can save you $10-$20k, would you be willing to speak with one of our lenders?” Who will say no to that? Lead them to the yes.
4. Profitability
You have to manage your P&L and make sure you are tracking your expenses easily and appropriately. He recommends Quickbook’s expense app. You need to manage your business like a business, not a hobby.
5. Balanced life
“No success in the world can compensate for failure in the home.” If your family life is falling apart, you won’t succeed. Make sure you are investing in your well being and family, it will only help your business effectiveness.
What do you think about Michael’s tips to be more effective and building a business that runs on its own?
Heather Watkins
