The Value of Your Time and Money as an Agent in Commercial Real Estate
In commercial real estate agency, two of the most important resources that we have at our disposal are time and money. Each day we have limited time to devote to the business building and income process. The money that we have available at our disposal will have limitations. Time and money decisions have to be made each day.
The choices that you make here are most important to your future when it comes to commercial real estate listings and commissions. This then says that your time should be focused on the things that really matter to your career and your income. How we spend our time is a clear indication of the values that we set for ourselves.
It is very common to see some agents start the day with no plan or little time discipline. They simply do the things that need to be done or those that rise to the top of the ‘task list’. Unfortunately, many of those things will not be income earners. You can ‘do the work’ or you can ‘do the business’.
Set Some Rules
There is a big difference between building your real estate business and working under some form of control. In an ideal world, ‘business building’ and ‘control’ should go hand in hand, they are not separate issues.
The controls that you apply to your working day should feature a component of business building, income creation, and prospecting. In that way you will build your market share over time. Focus your efforts on your values and systems. You can control those things.
Given that most of us work on some form of commission structure, the most important activities in our diary should be a combination of the following:
- Prospecting for new business
- Contacting existing clients with a listing update
- Listing properties of a quality nature at a realistic price
- Marketing our listings to the target audience
- Taking inspections on properties with qualified parties
- Negotiating sales and lease transactions with qualified parties
- Closing on property deals and moving them to settlement and completion
- Seeking referral business at every opportunity
- Lifting our personal profiles through direct marketing activities
- Skills and knowledge improvement
Some of these things may be more important to you than others. All of them will have an impact on your career and your income. In understanding that fact, you can focus your time and your money onto these things in a major way.
Incremental improvement in all segments will take you further into your career and help you build market share. Focus your time and your effort; set new values in your commercial real estate career.
