What are the seven habits of highly effective real estate agents? According to Stephen Covey and Brandon Doyle, these are the habits every agent should follow:
1. Be proactive. If you spend your day reacting to everyone else’s whims, your business will run you instead of the other way around. Make sure that you have time blocks and set boundaries around your time. Be proactive about communicating with your clients so they hear from you every week, instead of waiting to touch base after a problem comes up.
2. Begin with the end in mind. Create a plan for your life and your business. What do you want your life to look like 10, five, or three years from now? What about one year down the road? Figure out where you want to be and map out a strategy to meet these goals. Break that strategy down into bite-sized chunks so you don’t feel overwhelmed.
“Communicate with clients proactively instead of waiting for a problem to arise.”
3. Put first things first each day. There are important activities that need to be done. Since they are not urgent matters that need to be done right now, many agents tend to skip important activities like prospecting to grow their business. Spend two hours each morning getting those things accomplished before you get pulled into urgent reactive activities, like replying to emails or handling social media.
4. Think win-win. Take a collaborative approach to the real estate business in general. Think how you can create a win-win situation that will benefit your client as well as the other agent and their client. If you can do that effectively transaction after transaction, it goes a long way toward making everyone happy at the settlement table.
5. Seek to understand before being understood. Empathize with people. Put yourself in their shoes. Understand their needs first. Again, it may seem like more work up front, but it goes a long way to make everything go smoother.
6. Synergize. Even if you’re not on a team, there are a lot of people around you. From title companies to attorneys to home inspectors, you can lean on them and act as a team to make your goals and your client’s goals a reality.
7. Sharpen the saw. What does this mean? According to Stephen Covey, it’s important to keep learning constantly. Watch webinars, read books, and go to seminars that will further your life and your business.
If you utilize these seven habits, you will become a highly effective agent.
As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!
