5 Probing Questions To Ask Yourself!

As you go through your day-to-day, real estate business, it's easy to get sucked into the normal situations of putting out fires, running out for a last minute appointment or getting phone calls that you eat up your time.

Daily distractions can run rampant, if you let them.

So how can you attempt to be more focused through your day?

Here are 5 probing questions that can help you open up your mind to the world of possibilities and a new level of understanding.

1. What's my goal for the next 90 days?
   
   Many agents are taught to write down how much they want to earn in a year or how many transactions they'll close in a year. While that's ok to do as a long-term goal, it's much easier to get yourself wrapped around and focused on 90 days at a time. If you were to fall behind on your numbers, it's easier to play catch-up over a month. Over 90 days, work HARD for 10 weeks and play (vacation) for 2 weeks. That way you're dangling a carrot out in front of you and you'll end up taking 4 vacations every year. Not possible? Why not? You make the rules. It's time to expand your thinking! Do things a little differently!
   
2. Why do I want to do this?
   
   It's important to know why you're doing something, because when it gets tough and that will happen from time to time, you need to know why and then what the reward is at the end of the rainbow. If you're only in real estate for the money potential, you can easily burn out or resent this business. You have to love what you're doing to be at your best. Also, there's nothing wrong with changing your focus or vision over time. We all tend to make changes from time to time as we go through different phases of life. Ease into any changes you want to make to your business. Implementing another pillar to your business model should be gradually instituted and not at the expense of other proven and profitable aspects of your business.
   
3. What actions do I need to complete today?
   
   Look at your goals and write down the steps you need to take to achieve them. This is what you need to do every day or every week. This may sound boring or mundane, but some of the highest paid professionals in the world practice their craft and just do it over and over again. Don't over-extend yourself in the beginning. Don't say you'll make prospecting 50 calls a day when 10 - 20 is more doable. You can build up to bigger numbers over time, but you also don't want overwhelm yourself and end up not doing anything.
   
4. Who can help me get it done?
   
   The day of doing everything solo is over. Whether you want to build a large team or just be a one-person shop, either way or anything in between is ok. What you need to look at is what tasks don't you like doing and then delegate the work out for a fee. If you don't like showing homes, find a buyer's agent, who will pay you a referral fee when they close your lead. My philosophy is the days of hiring your own assistant - training them, managing them, withholding taxes, etc should be over. If you don't know who virtual assistants are, go to www.revanetwork.com. You can hire a virtual assistant by the hour, by the project or be on retainer. They already know how to handle closing transactions, how to data entry into Top Producer, update your web site SEO, etc. They're working with a few to dozens of agents around the country. They are independent contractors. You may never even meet them, but depending on their specialty, they can handle a lot of your paperwork for you and free you up to do what you do best: list and sell. Check with your broker on this topic.
   
5. How can I ask for referrals?
   
   You need to explain to your clients when you first meet them how to give you referrals. There are many different times during the process of helping them buy or sell a home, where it's ideal and ok for you to ask for referrals. Whenever you go above and beyond, let you client know in a humbled way and ask for a referral. But you need to specifically target a group of people (co-workers, family, people they play sports with, friends from church, etc) for them to be able to quickly review that group in their head. Make it a goal to get at least one qualified referral during each transaction. You've then doubled your business without additional expenses.

To your success,

Dan

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All content copyrighted © 2008 - Dan Weis, Agent Success Coach