Let me paint the picture of the times I had in the past, (and still do today occasionally), when I would get this queasy feeling at the end of my work day and possibly the end of the week! The feeling of, what did I get done today, why are my numbers down, why can I get the phone to ring, where is my next deal going to come from? We can get so caught up in being so busy during our day to come to find out it was not productive busy! Just Busy!! I was tired of the feeling of always being behind and disorganized, so here is what I did to correct that issue and now it is becoming one of my strengths.
S. = Schedule
I. = Implement
C. = Commit / Consistency
I started focusing my business on Dollar Productive Time (D.P.T), which meant that I had to schedule my time for my business activities, made sure that I Implement the process and most of all, commit and stay consistent to my lead generation activities. When I failed to do the above mentioned activities, I actually felt sick! Sick to my stomach! (Guilt was involved as well). Here are a few areas in my business that I apply S.I.C.
Lead Generation: Schedule the time to sit down and exclusively lead generate. This has to be a high priority in your business, in fact in should be number #1 activity during your work schedule. The agents and loan officers that are most successful in the real estate business are the ones that, schedule, implement and commit to lead generation for 2+ hours a day. Nothing will get in their way to reschedule or blow off that appointment. (Golf might be the exception to the rule!)
Marketing Efforts: I have seen this and heard this way too many times over my career from loan officers and agents “I have great marketing ideas but just don’t have the time to put it together!” I was always wondered to myself if they are such great ideas that are going to generate leads, then why you would not apply S.I.C. Schedule time to create, implement the marketing piece, and commit to delivering it to the market place, and most of all stay consistent. Don’t give up on the plan! Marketing takes time and I have seen loan officers and agents give up because they do not see the immediate results and the return on investment. In fact, they were just on the cusp of return on investment when they stopped the marketing campaign! Marketing strategies takes patient’s and persistent. Don’t give up!
Personal Development: For me this is one of my top 5 Dollar Productive Time activities for my week. Life can get very busy and in the midst of trying to create and generate new business, we tend to forget about ourselves! Personal development is very important to the growth of your business and it only takes a few hours out of your week. If you are not growing personally then your business is not growing as well. It’s amazing by just sitting down and reading a business/sales book, taking time to research the market, setting goals, etc…. you can create new ideas and opportunities for your business, plus it's motivating as well!
So remember! Don’t feel Sick; be S.I.C!
Also, don’t forget to Have a Positive Market Mindset!
Mike Elwell
