Lately it seems there have been a ton of blogs and articles going around about work schedules for real estate agents. Some believe agents should have a fixed schedule, while others say there is no realistic way for an agent to have a schedule at all. Some even laugh when you mention the phrase “day off” or “vacation” in the context of real estate. So today we approach the topic of, you guessed it, time management!
Our fantastic Coldwell Banker consultant John Schumacher has a blog over at http://jshoes2.wordpress.com/, where he has recently written two fantastic blogs entitled “The Time of Your Life” parts I and II. Shoes, as we affectionately call him, gives a myriad of invaluable tips for managing your time, which will make you a more effective real estate agent and a happier and more well-adjusted person if you employ these techniques and practices.
Don't run your life like this woman.
But I want to take a step back, since even disorganized losers deserve a day off, too (who said you have to be successful to have the privilege of a personal life?). This all comes down to not only time management while working, but time management in your life as a whole and how it relates to who you are as a professional real estate agent.
First off, lets look at the subject of being too available. Now, many agents believe that it is their job to be there whenever a client needs to speak to them, no matter what. This is true – it is your job as a professional to be there for your clients. But this is not true in that it is your job as a person to be there for your clients. This is a critical distinction, people!
Being too available is bad for you, your client and your transaction with that client. This may seem counterintuitive, but think of the following scenarios:
1. A little kid grabbing his mom’s leg in the grocery store, begging for her attention, crying, whining and screaming. Does this kid look appealing? Does the mother look entertained? I think not.
2. A boy has a crush on a girl. So he calls her…and calls her again…and sends her 37 texts within 24 hours of their first date. He also writes on her Facebook wall five times and sends her three emails that say something like “MISS YOU! <3” or “JUST THINKIN OF U!!:)”
Is the girl going to call the boy back? Let me think…no. Pathetic.
3. A person walks into a music store to look at guitars. The salesperson runs up to them, asks them in seven different ways if they can help the customer, and then follows the customer around through the entire store, waiting to make sure the customer doesn’t go one second without the opportunity to have someone at their feet like a dog starved for attention. Is this customer going to be impressed by or respect the salesperson, even a little bit? Nope.
I’m sure you can think of examples in your own life when someone was overly needy or overly available and you immediately became disinterested in that person. Heck, tips on not being needy or too available are practically featured in romantic comedies ranging from Dazed and Confused to Hitch, and surely many more. The fact is that when people are too available, it signals to everyone around them that they do not value themselves, their own time or their own energy, and are in a way simply desperate for attention.
There’s another downside to this, too. Having a disorganized work routine, as discussed by Shoes, is one thing. But having a disorganized personal life that is twisted, broken, interrupted and molded to accommodate your work life is unhealthy, mentally, physically and emotionally, and a massive insult to your friends and loved ones, who are undoubtedly at the butt of the joke every time you answer your cell phone during dinner, miss an evening date with your spouse because of a last-minute, late-night appointment or skip a Sunday afternoon picnic with your family because you agreed with an hour’s notice to run across town to show a house to someone who you probably know isn’t going to buy for another six months anyway!
This isn’t to say that having the schedule of a real estate agent is easy, and it’s certainly not to say you shouldn’t ever work after 5 p.m. or on the weekends, because we all know that isn’t possible in real estate. But what is possible is scheduling! Just like a college professor, you should have something equivalent to “office hours,” which is the time outside of a normal workday that you’re available for, you know, whatever comes up. If you make these “work hours” known to your clients up front, then it is your choice to make exceptions to that scheduling, and if you do make an exception, then you are doing the client a favor, and it’s best you and the client both remember that!
Controlling your own work schedule as an agent is not a privilege. It’s a right! If you want to be treated like a professional, you have to first treat yourself like a professional. Otherwise, you’re lying down like a door mat, just waiting for people to walk all over you. And be sure, no one respects a door mat. Make your decisions, take control of your career and when you’ve got your life put together, there’s only one thing you have to remember. Don’t apologize for it.
CBTG Homes 