Does this sound familiar?.. You’ve made it through the early stages of your real estate career where 85% of agents go out of business. You've got the basics down—closing deals, prospecting, and generating leads—but you're feeling stuck and looking for ways to increase productivity.
Life has become chaotic. Having too much business is just as stressful as having none at all, and when you end up getting an influx of business, your marketing efforts fall to the wayside. This creates a rich/poor cycle, and it makes you wonder if it’ll always be like this.
Level 3 of Tom Ferry’s 8 Levels of Performance is the one that most real estate agents hate the most. Most agents are people-driven, not systems-driven, and the idea of structuring every aspect of this business can seem uncomfortable at first. But the process improvement you implement at this stage will create consistency, efficiency, and long-term success. It’s the most liberating breakthrough.
This is where agents focus on optimizing their workflows, formalizing administrative/management processes, and using the right real estate software to stay organized. You’ll also be honing your time management skills and setting the foundation for long-term business growth. Let’s dive into how to get started with process improvement.
Being more productive isn’t just about working harder—it’s about working smarter. Process improvement is the key to increasing productivity at Level 3.
The first step is to streamline your lead management system with a real estate CRM which will allow you to automate your follow-ups, organize your client communication, and reduce the time spent on repetitive tasks. People always ask what the best CRM is, and the answer is simple: it’s the one you’ll actually use. Each one is different and works better for different agents. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter which one you use, but you must be using one.
Next, turn your attention to daily workflows. By creating specific routines for client calls, lead follow-ups, and administrative tasks, you’ll ensure you’re using your time wisely. Don’t forget to integrate real estate software that can help you track progress and streamline operations. Proper time management will allow you to focus on what matters most: growing your business.
Process improvement really begins with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). If you’re unfamiliar or uncertain about them, these are documents that take you step-by-step through the right way to do things. Documenting every step of your lead management, client communication, and marketing efforts helps reduce errors and ensure that when you do build a team, everyone will be on the same page.
But if you already know how to do something, why do you need to document it? Because until you write it down, you won’t begin to see how you can improve it. Process improvement is about improving the individual processes. Little tweaks that save you a few minutes here and there will add up to save you hours a week, increase your overall efficiency, and improve the effectiveness of your efforts.
Building out or updating your S.O.P.s is also the best place to begin implementing business optimization tools and business technology for task management and improving your workflow. What tasks could you perform faster and better if you had a more powerful tool, allowing you to focus on revenue-generating activities instead of administrative tasks? For example, you could automate routine tasks such as follow-up emails or appointment reminders, and focus on high-value activities like client interactions.
By refining your administrative/management processes, you can reduce bottlenecks, speed up transaction management, and free up more time to focus on business growth and create the opportunity to hire an assistant and delegate effectively.
Improving administrative/management processes starts with evaluating your workload – and that again comes back to S.O.Ps. When starting to build out your S.O.P. deck, target the tasks that take up most of your time. What are they? Which ones can be automated or delegated? Use real estate software to streamline your scheduling, documentation, and client communications. Tools like a business plan template can help you map out your tasks and ensure you’re staying on track with your goals.
Process optimization should focus on automating routine tasks such as tracking paperwork, managing contracts, and maintaining organized records. Since most agents don’t have a real estate team at this point, consider using real estate tech tools to reduce the manual workload. When you streamline these processes, you’ll experience more consistent performance across the board.
At Level 3, the key to business process optimization, creating consistency, and business growth in general is to set aside time from working in your business to work on your business. This is one of the reasons agents attend real estate events and Masterminds – to be in an environment that is solely focused on that. For our coaching clients, their monthly coaching calls are times dedicated to process improvement and replacing what’s not working with things that do work.
You need to schedule that time in your calendar and know exactly what you’re going to start with and what you’ll do to improve it. If you don’t have a CRM or aren’t using the one you have, when will you set aside the time to find one you will use? When will you write your real estate S.O.P.s, dig into marketing automation tools, and set up tracking measures that will let you gauge what works and what doesn’t as you move forward?
Your time is the most valuable asset. Using S.O.P.s and marketing automation tools will allow you to spend it on the activities that generate revenue.
6% of your database will list their home in the next year. For every deal you capture, you’re likely leaving four more to other agents. The average agent leaves roughly $100k in commissions on the table every year because they fail to follow up with their database.
Level 3 is where you put a stop to that. database nurturing and Sphere of Influence (SOI) follow-up are essential here, but they also require a system.
You’ll completely transform your database marketing calendar and pack it with actions such as:
NAR reports that while 39% of sellers and 41% of buyers find their agent through referrals, most agents don’t actively ask for them. The key to Level 3 is to go all in on systems for accelerating referrals.
Explore gifting services such as Client Giant and check out this podcast where Tom talks with the founders about the secrets of successful real estate gifting.
And of course, this is also where you’ll begin to create better systems for your database and SOI phone prospecting. You’ll nail down the scripts, the skills, and the best prospecting strategies.
Level 3 process improvement comes down to streamlining administrative processes, utilizing business technology such as AI and automation software, creating systems and checklists for every aspect of your business, and optimizing time management to increase productivity.
Too many agents make the mistake of hiring an assistant or another agent before they have these things nailed down, and their team crumbles before it even has time to get its footing. But once you’ve mastered this stage, you’re ready to start your real estate team.
Level 4 shifts to advanced systems and more efficient team-building, and this is where the fun begins. It’s a big leap, but with the right systems in place, you’ll be ready to scale faster and reduce the stress of day-to-day operations.
Are you ready to scale faster? Schedule a business growth call with a Tom Ferry team member today. You’ll learn how to improve your processes and grow your real estate business with Level 3 strategies.