With the third quarter or 2014 coming to an end, real estate professionals now begin the task of evaluating their production and making a plan for the coming year. How did you do this year? Did you meet your goals? Did you exceed them? Can you identify areas that need improvement?
One of the biggest challenges faced by real estate professionals is the ability to continuously follow a routine when they get busy. That is, once you have a few listings to service and are working with a handful of buyers, suddenly your day is full. You get home late, and now you don’t have time or are much too tired to do the daily business-building activities that brought you those transactions in the first place.
This type of behavior causes what real estate coach Brian Buffini lovingly calls the “peaks and valleys” of your business. Sadly, when you are in the thick of things, sometimes you don’t realize that this behavior—ignoring your business-building activities—will also lead to peaks and valleys in your income.
Bryan Robertson, CEO of Catarra Real Estate in Northern California, claims that every agent needs to maintain six different lists in order to succeed. “Lists can be powerful when used properly.” Robertson says, “They imply organization, impart control, and enable understanding.”
Robertson is not talking about lists of things to do. We’ve all got those. He’s talking about dividing your leads and prospects into six different categories: 1) your sphere of influence, 2) your past clients, 3) your “A” list leads, 4) your “B” list leads, 5) your “C” list leads, and 6) your business and professional contacts.
If you’ve already got a good system for adding leads to your database, that’s wonderful. You’re probably well ahead of the game. And, if you have an established marketing plan that touches everyone on your lists, you’re likely already a real estate rock star.
However, if you see Robertson’s six lists and you are wondering how you can possibly make lists and continue to build your business, here’s what you need to do: You need to start using the 3-2-1 method today.
What’s the 3-2-1 Method?
Everyday add three new people to your database. This means that you need to add three people total to any position on one of your six lists. They could all be professional contacts or they could all be ‘A’ list leads. No matter what, you must add three people a day to your pipeline.
You also need to find two new prospects every day. Whether you are dialing for dollars or socializing at a party, identify two new prospects every day. Then, add those two prospects to your list.
In order to keep up with your competition, learn one new thing each day. You could watch a webinar, attend a class, read Realuoso, or even check out a quick video on YouTube. To build your expertise, no matter if it takes two minutes or two hours, learn one new thing each day.
When you follow the 3-2-1 method five days a week for one month, you will have eighty new people in your database each month and you will have learned twenty new things! It would be so great to start off the year with your database and your business under control.
If you want to succeed and build a list without the freak out, it may be as simple as 1-2-3… or is it 3-2-1?
Melissa is an in-demand business success speaker and author, as well as a real estate broker with thousands of short sale transactions under her belt. She leverages her experience as a short sale insider to motivate thousands of business professionals to plan their careers better, execute more effectively on their plan, and earn more because of it.
