Does the title of this article resonate with you? How often do you open your email and find someone trying to sell you yet another new system? I get several of these emails every single day, and I’m sure you do, too.
There’s one system for tracking leads, one for communicating with leads, a different one for nurturing and analyzing leads, one for your calendar, your car’s maintenance, the mileage on your car, another for your payroll, and yet another for controlling the temperature in your office or home. You name it, and there’s a system for it.
Yet all of these systems require someone to put the system into action, which is typically the toughest part. And, in the meantime, the market has become inundated with more creative types who have started successful companies tasked with taking the systems you buy and putting them into action for you. We’re so busy looking at new systems to simplify our businesses and make them more profitable, with less hours invested, that we forget the main reason behind our decision to implement the system in the first place. In their simplest form, systems are designed to bring leverage into our lives. Leveraging our systems more fully allows us to enjoy life more.
But what does that even mean? Leveraging our systems means putting them to their maximum use so that they take hours off your days, and people off your payroll. For example, the simplest CRMs on the market can save you the cost of a part-time assistant. So, why are so many real estate sales businesses not profitable? Because they’re not focused on their strengths, and their focus gets more and more diffused because of the number of shiny, new objects thrown at them daily. Where do you even begin to decide which one will make your business, life and profitability better?
Here’s a simple answer: Create a business plan and stick to it. If you’re not sure about how to do this, ask for help. You may have done a business plan at the end of 2017. Where is it? If it’s not thorough, redo it now. It’s never too late to create a great business plan.
Once you have a thorough business plan put together and you’ve completed your SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats), you can begin to decide which systems support the business you’re designing. As you make your way through this process, stick with the plan and don’t lose focus. Don’t allow the many new objects out there to distract you from the simple basics like lead generation, lead follow-up and getting face-to-face with buyers and sellers. The more your business grows, the more you will be able to use the systems you have in place to free yourself up and make the business more sustainable.
And last, but not least, don’t bring on a new system or new hire until your existing systems and hires are operating at full strength. Tweak, twist and change until everything is operating at maximum potential before bringing on your next new hire or system.
Time to get to work!
Rick Geha of The Rick Geha Real Estate Team began his real estate career at age 22, and has been selling for over 36 years; he has run, managed or owned real estate offices for the past 23 years. His love of people and mentoring their passions has led him to a successful career as a speaker, trainer and coach. Over the past 15 years, he’s led more than 1,000 classes and workshops throughout the U.S. and Canada and has presented keynote addresses to thousands of professionals from all industries and walks of life. Rick is proud to be someone who’s spent nearly three decades helping people worldwide discover and walk their path to personal freedom and is currently a coach with Workman Success Systems. Contact him at Rick@RickGeha.com. For more information, please visit www.workmansuccesssystems.com.
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