In your opinion, what is the biggest mistake brokers and agents can make?
Not leveraging their time. If you want to grow and increase your business, you have to have administrative help. Another common mistake is that some brokers are so afraid of losing the listing, they fail to make bold moves. When it comes to pricing the home, I let sellers start high, but many years ago, I pioneered the way my listing agreement reads. There is a space for sellers to put in a high price; but then there is also a space for a revised price if the listing hasn’t sold after 15 days, after 30 days, after 45 days and so on. I handle the listing appointments personally. It is what I enjoy and what I am best at. I look at a listing appointment as a $20,000 job application—I would hate to delegate that.
What’s your best advice for effective time management?
I could speak on this forever and, in fact, I have created a “Life Balance through Time Management” seminar. In short, I do not work evenings or weekends and I never miss my kids’ school and sports events. I also do not give out my cellphone number. I follow other business models, like that of a lawyer or a doctor. You would never call your accountant at 11:00 at night. Why should someone feel it is alright to call a real estate agent at 9:00 at night to let them know their brochure box is empty? Shoot me an email and my people will be sure to fill the brochure box first thing in the morning. This allows me to tightly control my own time, not the other way around where clients are controlling my time.
