Shiny objects
When you don’t know where you’re going, distractions look like opportunities. From Kevin Thompson on Facebook.
While you’re thinking about 2021, you might want to consider where you’re going. I used to have a coach that would say “Shiny!!” in a singsong tone when I would head down the wrong path. Kinda like a fishing lure is shiny.
Shiny and dangerous.
I’ve always focused on working by referral but I’ll admit to thinking about going after FSBO sellers once. I even printed out some flyers, thought about what to say, and got in my car, and drove around looking for signs (in the yard, not from God).
Gratefully my coach and I had a scheduled call that day.
Would it have worked? Probably, eventually but the cost in focus and energy was not in my best interest IF I wanted to work by referral. Working by referral was my goal from the start and I can say I have never made a cold call, called an expired listing, or talked to an FSBO seller (well, once I did. I liked his motorcycle in the garage, but we didn’t talk about selling his house).
Do you have written goals? They are like trees.
Have you ever used a compass to navigate? It involves finding a bearing and walking that line to your destination but you can’t see the final destination yet. A tree or some other landmark can be useful to keep you on track. Locate a tree on the bearing and use it to stay on the track until you can find another landmark toward the ultimate destination.
Goals are landmarks, targets that keep you on track but they are not enough.
What is your goal for 2021? Listings? Buyers? Passive income? Building a team? These are all great things for an agent to work on but you can’t focus on all of them. Pick one. It’s your goal and it helps you say no.
The world expects that its requests will be accepted. That assignments, lunch dates, new projects, and even favors will get a yes. It’s just a small ask, the person thinks. The problem is obvious—if you spend all day hitting the ball back, you’ll never end up serving. Seth Godin, The Process. I just finished this book and this quote stood out to me.
Next are systems. Systems have to feed your goals.
Let’s divert to a different sort of goal. You want to lose 20 pounds and get fit for 2021. I am sure that will be on the list for lots of people this year. (Some say Covid 19 refers to the weight we’ve gained.) The problem with just having goals is they point out your failure when you haven’t achieved them.
Every day you don’t lose 20 pounds, you’ve failed. It’s out there in front of you, taunting you and it’s easy to get discouraged.
How about a system that feeds the goal instead?
Every morning you get up, put on your workout clothes, shoes and get in the car and drive to the gym. Sometimes you even go inside and work out but the system is to get up, get dressed, and lace-up those shoes. That’s a system that feeds into your goal. This comes from Scott Adams in How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. I’d recommend that one too as you start the new year. I plan to read it again.
In real estate, we have to be in touch with people to find our next deals. What is your system to do that? Some chase expired and FSBO but I chased referrals.
I would make 5 calls a day to my database to stay in touch, follow up on the items of value I sent out to 100 people, write handwritten notes and make it a point to meet for lunch or coffee with my best-referring sources, not to beat them up for a ‘who do you know’ lead but to connect, ask about them, and find ways I can help.
It’s served me well for almost 20 years. That is my system.
I promised myself I would not do anything else to drum up business until I had done 100% of my system tasks. I’ll confess, I seldom do 100% of my system tasks but I do enough of them to stay in the top 20% (sometimes top 10%) of my office of about 250 agents.
I’m going to stop there. I think you can get the idea but if you want to chat about this stuff then I’m happy to schedule a time. We’ll jump on Google Meet and talk ‘face to face’.
If you want to schedule a call, click on this link. It will take you to a calendar where you can request a 30-minute time block. We can go longer than 30 minutes but we might need to schedule another time.
It’s free and it might just help. No strings, no pitch, just someone to listen and maybe get you headed toward the next tree.
I’m here if you want to reach out.
Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson