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Key Takeaways:
- Many time-consuming tasks can be Delegated.
- Fear of Delegation is a real, crippling hurdle.
- Many agents fear what lies at the end of a successfully-leveraged business.
- We must face our fear to create the business and freedom we seek.
As a real estate broker in Boise, Idaho; I hear the oft-repeated refrain from coaches, trainers, and speakers. In fact, I have spent many a council meeting or ELEVATE training lecturing on this very topic: Leverage. That is, a Realtor and Entrepreneur’s need to leverage their time, delegate low level tasks, and focus on their core competency. In fact, I have created entire slideshow presentations on this topic in order to show our local real estate experts where they earn their highest “Dollar Per Hour” and where their time will be sapped without a measurable gain.
Simple and short interviews with experienced Realtors will quickly show that they are far better at some activities, in their daily work, then they are at others. Further, many will readily admit that they can pinpoint exactly which activities net them the most reward, and which would be more efficiently accomplished by an assistant. It is often the case that they should be face to face with clients and prospects, as much as possible. Most Realtors are at their highest productivity when they are generating new business through face to face communication, negotiating terms between a buyer and seller, or performing a skill in the prospecting and marketing arena for which they are particularly suited.
As a strategist and trainer, my objective is then to work with the agent to move them towards creating systems and finding help for these lower-level activities, so that they can focus on their high dollar work. At the point where the conversation moves from theoretical, to implementation and accountability; I often run into a brick wall. The agent will begin rationalizing behavior that was just established as counter-productive. They will begin making small hurdles to delegation seem monstrous in size. They will work themselves up into such an uproar of confusion, lack of time, and lack of resources, that they will take the worst action of all: None.
At the root of this behavior, in my experience, is very often Fear. The fear takes many forms. Some are afraid of the time it would take to set up a new process or train a new assistant. Some are fearful of the impact a change could have on their clients. A good many agents are afraid of change and the unknown of a shift from the way they have, “Always done things”. Still, there is another fear out there, more insidious and rarely unmasked. The fear of success. You read that correctly.
Let’s suppose, for a moment, that the agent is successful in working through this process of delegation. They hire and train an assistant. Perhaps, they hire and effectively train a buyer’s agent. They work for months to set up a streamlined process to achieve efficiency. All their “Busy Work” and simple, time-sucking tasks are now completely off their plate and they are left free to focus on… Listing Appointments, Buyer Appointments, Marketing Presentations, Contract Negotiations, and Prospecting. So, what is the problem? Many agents are terrified of these activities. They are terrified of the prospect of rejection and consequential interaction. The prospect of their day(s) consisting of nothing BUT these activities are enough to make many agents consider leaving the business altogether. By stripping away their busy work; they have effectively been robbed of all excuses as to why they have not been doing these productive tasks in the first place.
- “I would have made those phone calls but I am just too busy catching up on email today.”
- “I can’t imagine setting 5 client meetings this week as I am far too busy catching up on all this paperwork.”
- “How am I supposed to find the time to work with 15 listings at the same time? The paperwork, seller updates, and marketing of 5 alone nearly kills me!”
We all have certain limits with which we are comfortable. We all have certain levels of success with which we are truly content. We all have certain duties which we truly can perform better than most other Realtors. However, none of us want our business to be guided by Fear. It is only through love and passion which we can find our greatest contentment. Don’t be afraid of success. You never know what you are capable of until you deliberately place yourself in a new set of circumstances.
Should you, or anyone that you know, have any questions related to this post, please do not hesitate to reach out via phone, email, or text. I am passionate about helping others along their real estate journey.
Nick Schlekeway – February 2, 2017
