If I asked you to put your head down and work hard for one hour to earn $10,000, would you do it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, duh! Who wouldn\u2019t? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, it takes way more than one measly hour to earn a $10,000 commission. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I\u2019m talking about the times when you missed out on a commission for want of a tiny <\/em>bit more effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trying to earn a commission with as little effort as possible is like being a reckless amateur gambler. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll still win sometimes, but you\u2019ll lose way more commissions than you should.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Putting $10,000 into perspective.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Think about how long it takes a skilled tradesperson to make $10,000. If they\u2019re highly qualified with several years experience and are lucky enough to have a top-paying job in their industry, $10,000 probably represents a MONTH of hard work at around $60\/hr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Compare that to the last time you lost a great listing because you didn\u2019t spend an extra hour (or ten minutes) ensuring that you were fully prepared. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you ever foolishly blown up $10,000?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I have. Many times. Some of my past blunders from years ago still make me cringe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For missed listing opportunities alone, here are three of the dumbest reasons I gambled away $10,000 or more:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. It was a referral from a friend, and I thought it was a slam-dunk; <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. I got busy doing other stuff and didn\u2019t allow myself sufficient time to prepare;<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. I was just plain lazy and figured that what I had prepared was \u201cgood enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever the reason, over the course of my career, I\u2019ve lost the equivalent of several YEARS worth of a skilled tradesperson\u2019s wages. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I finally figured out how to minimize the odds of losing<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s how you can do it too:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1. You must <\/em>have a professional Listing Presentation. If you don\u2019t have one or yours needs work, schedule time to improve it and practice weekly<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you invest 50 hours into developing a great listing presentation over the next six months (two hours per week), it will pay off for the next TEN years. That investment of time could easily return a million dollars or more in additional commissions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s $1,000,000 for 50 hours of work ($20,000\/hour). Is that enough incentive for you? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Life Hack #1:<\/strong> Some investments don\u2019t have an instant payout, but the return can be life-changing over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Try to schedule your listing appointments for 3-4 days after the first contact. The extra time provides flexibility to schedule CMA prep time around other vital tasks without cutting corners and causing unnecessary stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (If you\u2019re worried about losing the listing to another agent who might react quicker than you, there\u2019s a simple way to ensure that never happens, but it\u2019s a big topic. If you\u2019re curious, book a 15-minute call with me here<\/a>. I\u2019m happy to help anyone who asks.<\/em>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Immediately after you set the listing appointment, schedule an ** \u2018Appointment with Yourself\u2019 ** to get started working on your CMA. It\u2019s good to get your brain thinking about how to approach your CMA as soon as possible, long before your appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Life Hack #2:<\/strong> Every successful person in the world purposely schedules time to think and plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Schedule another \u2018Appointment with Yourself\u2019 one day before your appointment to review and fine-tune your CMA. This might take only 10-15 minutes, but you\u2019ll be surprised how often a second look will give you a different insight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Life Hack #3:<\/strong> Your brain is a powerful engine, and it can do amazing things all on its own if you keep it primed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Block off one more \u2018Appointment with Yourself\u2019 for a full hour right before your listing appointment, not including travel time. Most times, you won\u2019t need the entire hour, but it\u2019s no big deal to have time left over. For example, use 10-15 minutes of the allotted time to review your CMA, and then use any spare time to respond to messages or check your email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you do need the entire hour, you\u2019ll be glad you\u2019ve allotted that vital time immediately before your appointment. I can\u2019t tell you how often I\u2019ve had a last-minute insight and made a critical change to my CMA within an hour before my listing appointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. Plan to arrive 15 minutes early. This eliminates anxiety in case you run into bad traffic or whatever. (If you\u2019re perpetually late, read this.<\/a>) \u23f0<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you arrive, park down the street, and review your CMA and presentation one last time. This final review ensures that the information is fresh in your mind and increases your chances of a clear and polished delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you do everything above, you will dramatically improve your success rate. Most agents will earn at least an extra $50,000 or $100,000 every year, with just a LITTLE more effort.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The main point of this post is that you\u2019ve got to plan to succeed, which means you must purposely allow sufficient time for preparation to ensure you are on top of your game. Of course, this goes for all the other ways we gamble away our commissions\u2014not just listing appointments!<\/p>\n\n\n\n REALTORS\u00ae are notoriously terrible at leaving everything to the last minute, which is an exorbitantly expensive and simple problem to fix. If you need some help with this, book a 15-minute call with me here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n