Are You Running Your Business with Systems? What You Need

Are you running your business with systems–or, do you feel like the picture to the left–being overwhelmed with pieces of paper?  If I walked into your office, could I see processes and systems you and your team members (if you have them) use? Could I see the checklists, posted, so that I knew they followed a regular, proven procedure for each group of activities? Could I see pre-made, ready to use, presentations for buyers and sellers? Could I see binders labeled with each subject (like ‘listing process’), and filled with ‘how-tos’ for assistants (or themselves inside? Or, would I see stacks of disorganized papers?

Tired of Working 24/7?

If you’re tired of working 24/7 and you want to expand your business, you HAVE to have systems. If your time management quite frankly ‘sucks’, you need systems. Otherwise, how are you going to train your assistant or buyer’s agent in the way you want to do business?

Having been in sales and management a long time, I understand how difficult it is to organize that blizzard of information. And, admittedly, you’ll have to keep changing your organization as you progress. Yet, until you meet the organizational challenge, you can’t really move forward.

There are two reasons to organize.  The first is that it provides much better customer service. If I’m the consumer today, I want to know that your agents trustworthy—that you’re good for your word. If I can see that the systems, I know that you will have a much better chance of keeping your word to me. I’m using the word “see”, because we believe what we see, not what we hear.

The second reason is that it provides you much better time management. The agent’s biggest challenge is to find a way to make the same amount of money and quit working 24/7. Creating systems will take a long way toward that goal.

Below are some checklists of the processes and systems agents need in place to take their careers to the next level. Take this system inventory now:

Here are the minimum systems agents need:

For sellers:

• Lead generating system (should be run with contact management software)
• Automated process for following the lead from first contact through listing
• Visual marketing presentation and a system for having them pre-done and always ready to go
• Pre-first visit presentation and a system to have them packaged, ready to use
• System for following the listing from first listed to after closing (can be automated with use of a contact management program)
• After close/client retention system (can be automated)
• Your personal marketing system—a marketing plan that can be automated and delegated to someone

For buyers:

• Lead generating system—driven by contact management
• System to follow the buyer from first contact to sale (can be automated)
• Visual buyer presentation—packaged and ready to use
• Pre-first visit presentation—packaged and ready to use
• Checklists: process during buying/before closing/after closing—client retention
• Your personal marketing system

How to begin. Real estate professionals are doers. We talk our way through processes.  We dread organizing things, and frankly, we’re not good at it. So, how do we begin?

Start with one system or process at a time.  Make a list and prioritize it for the systems they believe they need first. Put a date to start, and a date for completion (I know, there’s that organization again!). You’ll find that the first is the hardest, and then, it starts to actually get easy! It’s a skill like anything else. Bottom line: Systematization allows you to actually run a business, not just run after buyers and sellers.

Note: If you want to make it easy on yourself , get The Complete Buyer’s Agent Toolkit and Your Client-Based Marketing System, the complete buyer and seller systems, with dozens of checklists, processes, and presentations already created for you.

Now, you’re on your way to ‘unclutter’ the clutter!