If I asked you to put your head down and work hard for one hour to earn $10,000, would you do it?
Well, duh! Who wouldn’t? 🤪
Of course, it takes way more than one measly hour to earn a $10,000 commission.
But I’m talking about the times when you missed out on a commission for want of a tiny bit more effort.
Trying to earn a commission with as little effort as possible is like being a reckless amateur gambler.
You’ll still win sometimes, but you’ll lose way more commissions than you should.
Putting $10,000 into perspective.
Think about how long it takes a skilled tradesperson to make $10,000. If they’re 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.
Compare that to the last time you lost a great listing because you didn’t spend an extra hour (or ten minutes) ensuring that you were fully prepared.
Have you ever foolishly blown up $10,000?
I have. Many times. Some of my past blunders from years ago still make me cringe. 😳
For missed listing opportunities alone, here are three of the dumbest reasons I gambled away $10,000 or more:
1. It was a referral from a friend, and I thought it was a slam-dunk;
2. I got busy doing other stuff and didn’t allow myself sufficient time to prepare;
3. I was just plain lazy and figured that what I had prepared was “good enough.”
Whatever the reason, over the course of my career, I’ve lost the equivalent of several YEARS worth of a skilled tradesperson’s wages.💸
Then I finally figured out how to minimize the odds of losing.
Here’s how you can do it too:
1. You must have a professional Listing Presentation. If you don’t have one or yours needs work, schedule time to improve it and practice weekly.
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. 💰
That’s $1,000,000 for 50 hours of work ($20,000/hour). Is that enough incentive for you?
Life Hack #1: Some investments don’t have an instant payout, but the return can be life-changing over time.
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.
(If you’re worried about losing the listing to another agent who might react quicker than you, there’s a simple way to ensure that never happens, but it’s a big topic. If you’re curious, book a 15-minute call with me here. I’m happy to help anyone who asks.)
3. Immediately after you set the listing appointment, schedule an ** ‘Appointment with Yourself’ ** to get started working on your CMA. It’s good to get your brain thinking about how to approach your CMA as soon as possible, long before your appointment.
Life Hack #2: Every successful person in the world purposely schedules time to think and plan.
4. Schedule another ‘Appointment with Yourself’ one day before your appointment to review and fine-tune your CMA. This might take only 10-15 minutes, but you’ll be surprised how often a second look will give you a different insight.
Life Hack #3: Your brain is a powerful engine, and it can do amazing things all on its own if you keep it primed.
5. Block off one more ‘Appointment with Yourself’ for a full hour right before your listing appointment, not including travel time. Most times, you won’t need the entire hour, but it’s 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.
If you do need the entire hour, you’ll be glad you’ve allotted that vital time immediately before your appointment. I can’t tell you how often I’ve had a last-minute insight and made a critical change to my CMA within an hour before my listing appointment.
6. Plan to arrive 15 minutes early. This eliminates anxiety in case you run into bad traffic or whatever. (If you’re perpetually late, read this.) ⏰
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.
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.
The main point of this post is that you’ve 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—not just listing appointments!
REALTORS® 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
Or, if you’ve already taken the Master’s Program, go back and review ‘Getting Stuff Done’ and ‘Setting the Stage’ one more time.
Last word: You just read this entire post, and you’re saying to yourself, “Who has time to book all these ‘Appointments with Themself?’
Answer: I did. But only when I was making over $800,000 per year in commissions. Before that, when I was making less, I didn’t have time either. Think about it.
The time we have every day is limited. It’s all about using more time doing the right things and less time doing the wrong things.
If you’re overwhelmed and still not making the money you want, all you need are better skills. Perhaps you should consider taking my course.
** ‘Appointment with Yourself’ ** Treat every ‘Appointment with Yourself’ precisely like an appointment with your best client or your dentist or a date with your spouse. That means you block off the time and work the rest of your schedule around your appointment. Your time is just as important as anyone else’s. This is one of the cornerstone principles I teach in ‘Getting Stuff Done.’
Ted Greenhough,
Agent Skills, Corp.
I teach GOOD REALTORS® how to become GREAT REALTORS® with a simple, logical, easy-to-follow, step-by-step program.
