How to Control Your Time

Part of Your Coaching Matters How-To Series
Written by Donna Stott of Your Coaching Matters

The No. 1 item our coaching clients struggle with is not lead generation. It’s not lead follow-up. It’s not even building, maintaining and profiting from a database.

It’s how to control their time/schedule.

Take a look at some common complaints and solutions below. They’ll  help you recognize your own problems and identify solutions.

Complaint: “ I just forget to do it.”

Solution: If it’s important to do, schedule it. Put it on your calendar and NEVER take it off. Your mantra needs to be DO IT-or-MOVE IT.

Complaint: “I can’t focus because people interrupt me all the time.”

Solution: You control this. Plan consistent times to meet with your staff. Put it on the schedule so they know when you’ll be with them. If you have an office, close the door and put a note up that says “STOP!” If they come in anyway, buy a lock and use it. If you have a clear glass door or windows, put up curtains or blinds. Or stick a giant Post it note or white board with your Goals and Affirmations on it, or your Hot Leads, etc.
Complaint: “People are constantly calling me.”

Solution: Come on guys, man up. You control when you answer the phone. Use your DND button. Turn off your cell phone or hit ignore. Schedule a few times a day when you’ll answer calls. Use services that text you your voice mail or email it to you. Some people hire a virtual assistant to handle calls.
Complaint: “I get distracted by Email.”

Solution: Again, you control when you check and reply to email. Don’t let it check every minute automatically. Have it check when you want to check it or no more than once an hour. Turn the email program pff if you’re working on something you don’t need it for. Put “check and return Email and Messages” on your calendar 3-4 times a day and only do it then. You’ll also spend less time “composing” and “editing” that email if you only have 30 minutes set to do them all.
Complaint: “I have to go when a Buyer or Seller wants me to and it messes up my schedule.”

Solution: You control your appointment schedule. Most serious clients will respect your time and want to work with busy (read: successful) agents. Have times in your schedule that are planned for appointments so you can move things and trade with those times. If someone needs you to show between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., and you’ve got it scheduled from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., then you can then switch your plans by just moving time blocks.
Complaint: “I can’t say no.”

Solution: You must understand that it’s OK to say no. People will respect you for doing it. Practice this script: “I can’t do that, but this is what I CAN do.”  Shift the focus from the “No” to the “what will work.” For example, “No, I can’t show that property an hour away, but I can  find you a great agent who’s an expert in that area to help you.”  A well-phrased “No” can gain you immense respect.
Complaint: “My average price has gotten so low that I feel I’m wasting my time for a fraction of what I used to make.”

Solution: You determine your minimum standards and how you’ll enforce them. Ask yourself a few questions: Am I subconsciously going after a low price range by taking lower end listings (so I get lower end buyer calls)? Am I mailing, calling, emailing, or any other way generating lower end properties? Do I know the next price range up well enough? Have I eliminated lower end prospects from my database? Am I making enough time in my schedule to create higher end sales, or am I filling every minute with lower end stuff and not allowing any time to improve this?

Just click “Ask a Coach” if you’d  like our plan to increase your average sales price.
Complaint: “I spend so much time on admin, I don’t have time to create new business.”

Solution: You create your schedule. Remember, if you don’t have an assistant, you are one. Get over it and don’t sacrifice the agent work to perform the assistant work. The agent work pays better.  Until you get to  20-24 deals a year, you should be able to handle it all in a normal 40-60 hour workweek. You may need a virtual assistant before that, but be sure you know what you want him/her to do before you hire. Put it in writing. When you’re on track for 24-30 deals, it’s probably time to hire an assistant. At 40-60 deals it may be time for Assistant No. 2. At our peak we were selling 150-180 homes a year and employed two part-time receptionists, a listing manager, an escrow manager, a database manager and several buyers agents.
Complaint: “I can’t get out of bed early enough.”

Solution: Seriously? And you want to earn six figures? How many people do you know that make over $100K a year and sleep in all the time? None. Go to bed earlier and set an alarm clock.
Complaint: “I don’t have the same amount of time as other people because I have kids, I have parents, I have volunteer work, I have etc…”

Solution: We all have the same 24 hours a day. Write down what you do for 2-3 days in a row. Every 15 minutes make a note, no judgment, just note it. Don’t try to do anything different during this analysis, just write it down. When you’re done, categorize everything you did into “Active Income Building,” “Administration” and “Personal.” With a clear picture, you can then decide: Do I need to change my GOALS based on my life realities? Do I want to change where I’m spending my time?

If you’re interested in attending a FREE Time Management Webinar or signing up for a Time Management Course Series, please click “Ask a Coach.”