Start Building Your Real Estate Machine Today

It’s the middle of July.

Interest rates are at an all-time low and the prognosis is they will stay that way for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, you’re starting each day, on the phone, calling expireds and FSBOs from Vulcan 7. You’re getting listings and your pending list is growing. And because you’re highly regarded, you also have buyers wanting to avail themselves of your expertise.

In all, it’s a great scenario, and one you should feel pretty good about. There’s also a catch. And that is, you have more work than you can handle staying on top of all of your summer business. You might be feeling a little overwhelmed. While it’s an enviable situation on one level, it can also work against you, especially if you have outsized goals for building your future business.

If you want to start building a real estate machine, now, in the middle of an active summer, is the best time to do it. Here are a few tips:

• Focus on REVENUE PRODUCTION: You need to continuously remind yourself that the best way to grow a real estate machine is to expand your ability to gain listings as the most profitable revenue source. When you focus on revenue as your primary responsibility, above all else, you can then develop strategies to help you keep your eye on the prize.
• Hire a transaction coordinator NOW: If you don’t have someone to help you with the nuts and bolts of your business, now is the time to act. A transaction coordinator (or executive assistant) helps to keep you out of the weeds by focusing on those aspects of your business that are NOT revenue producing. Perhaps you’ll only need a coordinator to get you through the summer, but that’s a good start toward building your machine.
• Think INVESTMENT not expense: One of the most challenging aspects for any small business person (especially a real estate agent), is to shift your mindset with regard to new hires from seeing them as an investment, rather than an expense. Our inclination is to always minimize expenses to increase our profitability. But an investment is about you! You invest in your success, in strengthening the foundation for your future.
• SHARE and share alike: If you’re not 100% certain that you need to hire someone full-time, consider sharing a coordinator with another agent. Perhaps you each get the coordinator for four hours per day?The truth is, having someone covering your details, for even 20 hours a week, frees you up to focus on revenue production.
• FEAR as motivation: Strangely enough, having a coordinator on your payroll, either full or part-time, can serve as excellent motivation for you to keep driving toward your goals. This motivation is fueled by a natural sense of responsibility we have to take care of our employees.
• Next hire-BUYER’S AGENT: It won’t take long to realize the value of having a transaction coordinator in your employ. In fact, as your productivity increases, it won’t be long before you decide that you need more than a part-time coordinator. That’s when you can focus on the next step in your machine-building strategy: bringing on a buyer’s agent. As a Vulcan 7 agent, you’re more than familiar with our mantra that success lives with listings. Having a buyer’s agent allows you to stay focused on prospecting, lead generation and securing listing presentations.

They’re known as the “dog days of summer.” That’s probably a convenient way to remind yourself that is important to be dogged about your business, and taking steps to ensure your long-term success. Such success might begin with investing in a transaction coordinator. Free yourself up to focus on revenue production, and building your own real estate machine.

Doug Spak

Doug Spak has over four decades of experience as an advertising copywriter, agency creative director, blogger, and content creator. He joined Vulcan7 as a Content Specialist in 2016. In addition to ongoing website copy refreshes, Doug has produced over 300 blog posts while developing content for Vulcan7’s social media platforms.