Do What Works

Confessions

• I write a To Do list – on paper – everyday.
• I still have a Rolodex on my desk.
• I track listings, escrows, and prospects on a massive white board in my office.

Why?  For Me, It Works

For me, the act of running through my days activities to create a To Do list with the use of pen and paper gives me a sense of clarity and peace.  I feel satisfaction crossing those things off.  I’ve tried an endless number of tools online including Top Producer, Remember the Milk and the latest Gmail application but I always come back to my pen and paper – because for me, it works.

I come back from events or meetings with my purse and pockets stuffed with business cards.  I have a card scanner somewhere collecting dust.  I have piles I intend to plug into my online address book.  But for most of these, I don’t need to work with the information electronically and you guessed it, Rolodex.  No more piles.  For me, it works.

When it comes to my personal real estate business, I’ve tried more contact management systems than I care to admit.  I’ve tried the most complicated and the simplest and yet, I have found that there is nothing more effective for me than having the names of those I’m working with in front of me.  No one ever gets forgotten and it satisfies the necessary Top of Mind Awareness I want to have with those clients, everyday.  For me, after years of fighting this and feeling guilt that I couldn’t make an online system work for me, I gave in.  Because, for me, this works.

I do a lot with technology everyday.  And yet, I know that some things I prefer the old fashioned, even archaic way.

More Than Technology – It’s About Your Systems Too

Think of this with regard to the systems you are working – beyond just technology.  When coaching and training, I’ve watched agents try to implement systems intended to generate business or manage back office systems.  They see other agents having massive success with a system and think, “I will do that too.”

And yet, they fight to maintain consistency, commitment to implementation daily.  Why?

I had a friend that was determined to take her business to the next level and she launched two new excellent systems to generate business and while she had some early success with it, it was not sustainable for her.  Why?  She hated what she was doing.

The solution – she quit those systems and went back to what had worked.  She learned how to build off that success, improve the other systems that she enjoyed, and the ones that worked for her life and her personality.

The systems and tasks you enjoy doing will find success because those activities are sustainable for you.  A great system isn’t great if you aren’t willing to execute it and love it.

Be Open

Be open to the possibilities.  Be open to new tools.  Be open to new systems.  Try them with real effort and commitment.  But also, don’t be afraid to do what works.

Hey, I realize some of what I’m doing isn’t scalable.  I realize some of it leaves some of you shaking your head.  I am open.  But, I am slow to abandon what I know works.  No system, no tool, no technology is better if it doesn’t work with my life, my personality.