Focus More
I am hardly an efficiency expert. Every couple of weeks I realize that I could have saved a good amount of time by simplifying a routine action. All that time in the past wasted! There are a few things that have become basic to me the past couple of years that you may find helpful if you have not already adopted them.
Go Paperless. Most agents who have started in recent years have probably been trained to keep most papers on secure cloud servers like OneDrive or Google Drive. The advantages are great. You have copies of all your files available on your phone, tablet, and desktop. I now attend closings with just my phone. Depending on your state laws, you may be able to shred all those paper files you keep in your garage.
Client Management & Transaction. This is really a key point. Most agents long ago gave up index cards, three-ring binders, and scrawled notes as a way to keep track of their clients’ information. Many use the ready-made programs such as Top Producer, Wise Agent, and LionDesk. They do a great job of organizing the contact information, notes, and reminding you to do certain tasks. They also allow for some customization. That said, I admit I’ve not looked at them in a couple of years as I fell in love with Realvolve. Realvolve allows me to customize what I want to do using workflows that I design. For example, I use a workflow that I created that takes me step by step through a buyer’s pending to post-closing interaction – using my own criteria and in my own words. I don’t have to recreate each activity over and over again. An email to my sellers with all of the closing, utility, and identification information? It automatically asks me to send it out a week before the set closing. I simply push Enter. Most CRMs and transaction managers do things like this. The difference is that I am able to customize it to my own unique locale and workday rhythm. It takes a little time to set up, but I’ve found it an incredible time-saver.
Office Space Focus. When I was a teenager, my father’s real estate company had several offices and I was its after-school messenger who took notes and other paperwork between them. One of the top agents in the firm was incredibly messy. Her books, notepads, thick files, and other work-related items literally towered above her cubicle walls and threatened her neighbors. Somehow, however, she knew where every note or file was hidden. I have to think she was great at playing Jenga. What strikes me now is that, aside from one or two family pictures, there was nothing unrelated to work. No awards, plaques, or pictures with the celebrities she helped. To her, everything was focused on the present day work she had to do.
Until recently, this was the opposite of my own work environment. Items from travels, bookshelves of architectural books, and many curiosities frequently lured me away from septic inspections and termite treatments. This changed several years ago when I moved my office during the minimalist craze. The only items not related to work are a baseball from fourth grade (I was an unlikely right field Little Leaguer who somehow caught a potential home run, thereby ending and winning the game), a fraternity mug from college, two good oil paintings, and a few books that I will read at lunch. I no longer even have an exterior window, but have installed a large screen television that usually streams the California coast so as not to feel too claustrophobic. With so little to distract me, I’ve never been more focused on my work.
Whiteboard. Whiteboards used to be standard equipment for real estate offices. That has changed somewhat due to conflicts with agency relationships. But for agents who work from their own lockable office or at home, whiteboards are perfect for that quick at-a-glance reminder of current, upcoming, and potential transactions and clients. While I fully embrace the freedom of a paperless office, the ever-present, physical quality of my whiteboard has been great to jog my memory.
GB Landrigan