How important are checklists?

There are so many things you have to accomplish in your business every day that you can’t possibly remember them all, especially when things get really busy. In today’s Coaching Tip I’ll show you the importance of running your business as a system and just how simple it is to do that.

First, I want you to realize that a good system isn’t complex or difficult. Systems are checklists — that’s all. And systems are scalable, expanding and evolving as tasks change. A system assures that everyone on your team always knows what needs to be done, in detail. Your business system will be a checklist of checklists, and you create them before events occur.

Having a checklist for each task removes the stress of trying to remember everything under pressure. Details like pens, forms, displays and name badges, table decor and complimentary water, what time to show up, what time to leave, and having the right key for the right address are all handled.

Being prepared and presenting well are all about the small things. Checklists help you remember every single detail for every meeting or event without fail. They standardise operations and are especially effective when onboarding new hires. Giving your team access to your business systems minimises risk, improves performance, and relieves anxiety.

You can use a shared system like ASANA (click here to check it out) so everyone has access from their phones, or even a printed booklet for each task, but systems must be centralised and standardised.

Here are just a few areas of your business that will benefit from checklisting:
• Open for inspections
• Listings
• Appraisals
• Going to market
• Sold at auction
• Settlement

Even a checklist of recurring tasks for each day of the week will keep everyone on track and getting things done, right down to making coffee and tea.

Systems and checklists make operations and expectations clear for everyone, and assure that performance goals are met consistently. This is how the best agents stay focused and keep their teams coordinated. This is how you’ll become a top-level agent as well.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Ep 44 — Database Maintenance

In today’s High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips stress the need for regular database maintenance. Josh notes the difference between a fat vs. fit database and Alexander describes ways to keep your database clean and functional. They discuss how to use the database for scheduling tasks around clients, and which clients to maintain or drop out. Josh points out the advantages of working categories rather than individual clients and Alexander expands on that idea, then continues into how he structures his call lists. They reinforce the importance of database structure and usability for maintaining relationships and progressing clients, Alexander touches on generating referrals and keeping current data, and Josh ends with a reminder that everyone in the database was a buyer at some point.

Can you deal with success?

One day soon your business is going to take off in a big way, and you’re probably not ready. That sudden rapid expansion in your business will either carry you or bury you. What do you do when you get really successful? In my Coaching Tip today I’ll tell you how to prepare for that next level of success.

Building capacity allows you to do more with less. The 3 core activities you must dial in are your fitness, your systems and your people.

Fitness is not just about going to the gym. It’s about your business fitness: prospecting, listing, sales, and everything in between. Systems are structured teachable processes that keep your business on track and productive. And it all ultimately depends on your people being better than you are at the tasks you need them to perform so that you can stay focused on your own work that’s most important.

When you think of putting on an assistant you know you want someone who can handle things like scheduling and emails, but there’s more to it than administrative tasks. This person will represent you and your brand to your customers, so you want someone with a high level of maturity and capability. Those qualities will not come cheap, but they will make an invaluable difference to your success. As you build your team you’ll want to hire people who can scale with your growth and add to your capacity.

Keeping your team current and aware of special challenges you face will help them help you. To make sure everyone in your business stays focused and on track, schedule a daily directions meeting. There are 5 key questions to address each morning:
1. Where are the biggest opportunities?
2. What are the next 5 deals?
3. Who are the top 5 people to go after?
4. What one action will give us the most leverage?
5. What didn’t get done yesterday that must be done today?

No matter how much new business you’re generating, prospecting is still your most important task. Let your team do their jobs for you so you can keep yourself focused and energized. Make sure you’re working in 45-minute sessions, prospect in the mornings, meet appointments in the afternoons, and stay consistent with your commitments. You’ll set a good example, and be the agent your clients and your team want to work with.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Ep 43 – Pacing Against the Marketplace

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents, Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips discuss pacing your business against trends in the marketplace. Alexander tells why it’s important to know what’s coming up during stages of the year such as holidays and other events that affect the overall market, and Josh notes the effect media has on consumers. Alexander relates how staying current makes you a better advisor and discussion continues around analysis and research for timing listings and sales. Alexander offers his view of the coming year, and how he will maintain momentum and maximise pricing throughout. Josh closes with tools and methods the best agents will employ to make the right decisions as the market changes.

What To Do If You’re Off Track

Everybody comes off track sometimes, so it’s critical that you learn how to snap back and keep going. In my Coaching Tip today I’m giving you some tips and tricks for what to do if you’re off track that really work.

You don’t lose momentum for no reason, so the first thing is to identify what happened. It’s usually something completely under your control that affects your energy, from diet, exercise or sleep to not having a routine. Maybe you’ve lost sight of your “why” or you’re just not feeling very effective.

“Feeling” is a key word because it’s emotion that throws you off, so it’s good to understand that you can change the way you feel. One of the best ways to keep emotions from ruling your life is routine.

Following a routine removes thinking and feeling from action. It becomes automatic for you to do the things you need to. Set up a routine using the cue – action – result method. For example, have a call list waiting when you arrive at the office as a cue to make those calls immediately. The result is appointments you then go meet.

Measuring and managing what you do is basic, but the key is to only measure what really matters. Don’t obsess over every step of each task, just track your results. Your most important number is bookings and getting in front of the customer every day. Keep it simple and focus on that.

Often there are only a few things making you feel overwhelmed. Write down all the things that make you feel pressured. If you can see them you can deal with them one by one. Also make sure you are on schedule and getting set tasks done on time. Take note if something isn’t working, look at how you’re doing it and correct that action quickly.

It’s equally important to make sure you’re not trying to do too much in too little time. Maintain high energy by allowing for the time each task requires to do quality work and present at your best to each client.

Nothing is more motivational than successful results. You achieve those by knowing what to do when you’re off track and attending to the work that matters. The more you accomplish the better you will feel about your business and yourself.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Ep 42 — Role Transitions: Lead Sales Agent, Principal, Owner and Director 

This High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips talking about transitioning roles throughout your career, from lead sales agent to principal, owner and director. Alexander tells how his office functions with an open, non-hierarchical plan. Josh talks about understanding and focusing on the core tasks of your position and Alexander addresses outsourcing tasks so you can focus on your primary work. They discuss the advantages of experience in each role as you advance. Alexander describes running productive sales meetings as a director and states his views on caravans. Josh notes the importance of knowing why you do certain tasks while learning new skills, and Alexander tells why having a title isn’t so important to what you actually do as a leader. Josh ends with getting clear on roles and knowing what each actually needs to get done.

Don’t get crushed by Rapid growth

Many businesses fail when they enter a rapid growth phase. Their leadership becomes overwhelmed and can’t keep up with the expansion. You don’t have to be one of them. In this month’s Growth, Leadership and Management tip I’ll tell you how to build the capacity to sustain growth and thrive.

Growth capacity begins with alignment, which means everyone inside of your business knows your vision, and they’re clear on what they need to do and how their position contributes value to the overall success of the business.

Establishing alignment requires that you know your Big Three primary functions:
1. You have to be good at what you do or the business will fail.
2. You must be able to clearly communicate your vision, direction and expectations.
3. You must build the capacity to scale so your business can grow consistently without stalling out.

Scaling your business relies on hiring enough capable people to handle the tasks that take you away from performing your primary roles. Don’t wait until you’re overwhelmed with accelerated demands – have a recruitment plan for bringing in new talent before you desperately need them, and build a quality execution team with the right people in place.

These three leadership functions are critical:
• Your clarity of vision sets the direction your company will take.
• The capability of each new hire determines your ability to scale successfully.
• Your systems for recruitment and onboarding must assure alignment and scalability.

Sustainable growth requires highly functional people, regular team planning, capacity for growth and systems that work. With these elements in place you can’t grow too fast to keep up because you are prepared in advance for every leap forward. You can now do the work that matters most and enjoy your success.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s Growth, Leadership and Management tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next month.

Overcoming Fee Cutters

There will always be fee cutters competing against you, but you can overcome them by simply offering a better value. In this Coaching Tip I’ll tell you about differentiating yourself in the marketplace so your customers will gladly pay you what you’re worth.

It’s the worst feeling if you cut your fee to match an undercutting competitor and still don’t get the business. The fact is, if you don’t offer a better experience for your higher fee there’s no reason for a client to choose you over any other agent at any fee. This is where differentiation comes into play.

From the customer’s point of view skill and experience are less compelling than confidence and energy. You will win business by selling yourself better than other agents. It’s all about presentation, and that is based on how well you listen to your customer and relate your value to their needs.

By asking the right questions to get the information you need about your customer you can then offer them the features and benefits they desire. You also need to know what they’re looking for in an agent, what they don’t want, and why they decided to call you. This feedback will help you build your fee defence. The important thing is to get the appointment and then present yourself as their best choice.

If you don’t believe in your worth as an agent your clients won’t believe in you either. Get clear on what you believe you are worth and why, and stand firm in that estimation. Not only will you be able to sell that fee to most customers, you will also avoid having to deal with difficult clients who aren’t worth your time and effort.

Negotiating on fee never turns out well. It’s much better to negotiate on service levels that determine pricing. Using the fee approximation close you’ll set an anchor by stating your highest fee level first, and then dropping to lower fees based on what the customer receives at each level. Present yourself as the best value for the money, get an agreement and then move forward.

In our training programs you learn the Seven Steps to Better Fee Negotiation with dialogs you can use if a client persists in questioning your fee. Whatever your approach, overcoming fee cutters and receiving the fee you deserve comes down to believing in your own worth, demonstrating your value and presenting with confidence.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Ep 41 — Cold Appraisals vs. Ready to Go Appraisals

In today’s High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips discuss ways to handle cold appraisals and those that are ready to go. Alexander begins with progressing clients by asking the right questions, and Josh lists some important questions. This leads into a discussion of knowing reasons why people buy and sell so you can ask the best questions. Alexander then describes effective methods for listing presentations including instilling a sense of urgency, winning back a client, and leveraging the summary close. Josh closes with the importance of knowing how to progress each individual client according to their situation and motivation.

Controlling Your Vision and Cash

There are two things you need in order to get from barely scraping by to really excelling in your business. The key is controlling your vision and cash, and in this Coaching Tip I explain the concepts you must understand to put these elements in place.

To be the agent you aspire to be, work in your preferred marketplace, grow the business you want and live the lifestyle you desire, you must have a clear picture in your mind of what success looks like for you. That mental image is your vision. Without it you have no idea what you’re working for. Vision drives motivation and directs your actions, defines your systems and routines, and helps you maintain clear focus. Gaining clarity lets you see what is important and set goals whilst removing distractions so your time is spent on the things that will take you where you want to go.

It’s hard to have clarity in panic mode when all you can see is not enough listings or clients, and not enough money to cover setbacks. You can only focus on immediate needs. Cash is confidence, and if you don’t have it you can’t do the things that create success. Money in the bank offers you the sense of security you need to promote yourself through quality marketing, hire more assistants, take some risks to expand your business and explore possibilities.

Setting limits is crucial in getting and maintaining vision and cash. This is about knowing what is truly important and making sure you don’t dissipate your resources on flashy, attractive peripherals that pull you off the path to achieving your goals. Systems and planning keep you progressing, calm and stress free. Chasing after non-essentials leads to anxiety and distraction. Real estate is a rewarding and lucrative career if you pursue it with single-minded consistency the way successful agents do.

Here are some things to consider as you sharpen your vision:
• Identify the market you want to work in and set the fee you want to write
• Envision the team and the business you want to build
• Decide when to take holidays, where and for how long
• Think of people in your life you wish to spend time with
• Calculate the cash you need in the bank to make every part of your vision possible for your business and your life

Imagine the feeling of confidence and calm you will enjoy by controlling your vision and cash. Now you’re ready to move forward with purpose.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.