Have you ever wondered why certain agents seem to do so much business while others seem to do so little? I’m not talking about the part-timers; I’m talking about the full-time real estate professionals who spend a full 40-hour-plus work week plying the skills of their trade.
After all, the full-time agents having success as well as those struggling seem to get to work about the same time, and they leave around the same time, too—and, it appears they are both busy pretty much all day.
So, what accounts for the difference in the level of success between these agents? Why is there such a dramatic difference in the number of transactions?
Is it really as simple as you’ve probably heard it said? “It’s not the hours you put in; it’s what you put into those hours.”
I believe that both types of agents work hard, but what I’ve learned from working 20-plus years in the industry and from speaking to and working with thousands of agents is this: There are fundamental differences in the traits and behaviors between what I’ll call High-Producers and Low-Producers. Here are seven of those traits I have identified.
- High-Producers have a very strict schedule and follow a routine, day-in and day-out. Low-Producers don’t and, instead, seem to be mostly reactive to situations as they arise.
- High-Producers prioritize their activities based on the amount of income each one potentially will bring them. Low-Producers complete activities by choosing the easiest or doing what they want first.
- High-Producers spend almost all of their available time actively looking for new business. Low-Producers spend most of their time passively waiting for business to come to them.
- High-Producers have very clearly defined goals and dreams and both short-term and long-term plans to achieve them. Low-Producers are usually just focused on the next commission check.
- High-Producers are highly skilled professionals. They practice and hone their skills on a regular basis, including relationship-building. Low-Producers rely solely on actual existing relationships.
- High-Producers have little to no fear of failure or rejection. They understand and believe that to experience success you must experience failure. Low-Producers are constantly derailed by fears and thoughts of failure and are often frozen in place.
- High-Producers have some sort of accountabilities in place with coaches, managers, coworkers, family and the like. Low-Producers usually say the following, “I did my best, but….”
Perhaps Winston Churchill said it best: “Sometimes doing our best is simply not enough; we must do what is required.”
Dan Smith is a real estate author, speaker and strategist who operates his own boutique business, ByDanSmith. He has spoken throughout the world and shared his skills, methods and ideas helping real estate professionals to become more powerful, productive, and profitable. He has trained and strategized with agents and brokers for most of the major real estate franchises in the U.S. Smith was named a 2019 RISMedia Real Estate Newsmaker in the Influencer category.
