I was in Las Vegas with almost 3,000 top agents for Elite Retreat, a two-day event exclusively for our Elite coaching members, when I walked on stage to start the event, the first thing I did was give them two numbers: 112 & 2.
Let me explain…
At Tom Ferry, our team has decades of experience helping realtors grow their businesses. Discover invaluable insights, customized strategies, and expert guidance to supercharge your lead generation, marketing, and more!
There are 168 hours in a week.
Of those, sleep is important, so I want you to sleep at least 56.
That leaves 112 hours to operate your business.
And it brings us to that other number: 2.
All I’m asking is for you to book TWO LISTING APPOINTMENTS per week! Imagine what would happen to your business if you were going on two listing appointments a week. (If you’re already beyond that point, adjust accordingly to inspire you.)
My point is that your total focus should be on taking more listings right now.
“Two a week.” Make that your rallying cry.
Is that too much to ask in 112 hours?
Let’s start by looking at how you’re spending those 112 hours right now. If I had a camera following you throughout your entire day, what would I see? What do you think I’d say about your time management?
Actually, this is a great exercise. As you’re working during the week, I want you to seriously imagine that there’s a camera filming your every move and a coach watching on the other end waiting for you to do one thing and one thing only: find and schedule two listing appointments. Where do you think you’d be going wrong? Most likely the issue is that you’re getting caught up with administrative tasks or busy work that you should be outsourcing.
Let’s break this down very simply, there are two types of tasks that you perform in your business:
Whether you’re flying solo or running a team and find that you don’t have to time to spend on the first type of task, there’s probably an issue with how much focus you’re putting on the second type.
Said simply, it’s not that you’re not doing enough; it’s that you’re doing too much. You probably know what I’m going to say next…
Everything that does not directly bring you new clients and make you money can be outsourced. I’m talking about trading a little bit of money upfront to earn back a lot of focus (and in turn, a lot more money).
So, going back to that camera, let's imagine you’re watching the footage. Where would you see the biggest time-suck?
If you’re swamped in contracts and administrative work all the time, maybe it’s time to start looking for a transaction coordinator? If you’re juggling the duties of your work and personal life, it shouldn’t take you that long to find a capable assistant who can free up some space for you to make your calls and secure those weekly appointments – and if you’re tight for cash, a virtual assistant is always a great option.
Oh, and here’s a biggie… Buyer consultations. They’re a beautiful thing, but not the thing you need to be doing if you’re not making your two weekly listing appointments. If you have enough buyers to distract you from your goal, you have plenty of reasons to hire a buyer’s agent.
But let’s imagine you already have some help and you’re still failing to make those appointments… You’ve hired a VA, buyer’s agent, or marketing coordinator and you still find yourself distracted by the noise.
I’ve found that the biggest productivity killer in this situation is “bottlenecking” – getting to focused on what your team is doing instead of what you should be doing. You need to set aside some dedicated time to meet with your team, because you need to be sure that everything goes smoothly, but after that, you need to step back and allow them to do the thing you hired them to do – give you the focus you need to do your thing.
If you’re being a control freak and requiring your approval before anything actually happens, you’re the bottleneck that’s preventing your business from bigger and better things.
112 hours… How many of them do you have to spare and still reach your goal of two listing appointments?
The purpose of this blog is to remind you of time blocking, to get you aware of your time, and to remove productivity killers so that you can concentrate on your HABU (your highest and best use of time). Now more than ever, you need to be taking those listing appointments, and I’ll follow up soon with another blog to show you the best ways you can be doing that in today’s market.
But for right now, I want you to get to work clearing up that time. Get the help you need, give them the training they need, and cut out all the BS that’s slowing you down, so you can hit the ground running.
But it’s important you start now. The camera’s on. The clock’s ticking. 112 hours.
When you start with a free real estate coaching consultation, chances are we can help scale yours as well. Schedule yours today!