Posted on 08/09/2021 by pat

As an estate agent I’m going to take some calculated guesses that you are reading this article  because you are:

- Working over 60 hours a week and no closer to reaching your new leads and conversion goals

- Want to know how you can “find” more hours in the day 

- Wondering how many more hours your competition is working and how you can get ahead of them

- Want to know how you can save time as an Estate Agent

Did you know that the most stressed-out, hardest working Estate Agents that are consistently working over 40 hours are not always the most productive?  In fact, they are likely to be the least effective.  Yes I am suggesting that you can work less and achieve more.

Now you may be thinking how am I going to cram everything into 40 hours, surely that’s more stress? Yes you're right it would be and I am not suggesting that. Instead we will look into what it is exactly that you do in that time and what you need more hours for.

Let me take you into the future. Imagine an alternative of:

- Working a 40 hour week and closing more deals

- Having more personal time whether that’s more time with family or pursuing your hobbies

- No rushing and comfortably paced days

I get it. Running an Estate Agency is hard. 

Between administration, managing employees, marketing, chasing leads, taking on new instructions, managing your website and social media platforms and that’s not even taking into account all the calls/post/emails that come in that need to be answered.

And even with all the advancements in technology all designed to make our lives easier and quicker, we are still overworked.  How is that?

President Dwight D. Eisenhower once famously said, “What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent is seldom important.” Related to Eisenhower’s dictum is the 80/20 rule: 80% of results come from 20% of effort.  

This is what I am going to focus on in this blog, sounds good?  

I’m confident that if you start using these time management tips it will help you as an Estate Agent

Let’s dive in.

Table of contents

• Why is time management important for Estate Agents?
• Do you know where your time is going?
• What is your plan for the week? And for the day?
• Prewrite your content for blogs
• What can you delegate?
• Automate, Automate, Automate
• Want to get more done - stop checking your emails!

1. Why is time management important for Estate Agents?

As an estate agent, your time is precious. You are constantly juggling appointments, viewings, meetings, and paperwork. It can be difficult to keep on top of everything and stay organized. This is where time management comes in.

Time management is the process of planning and controlling how you spend your time in order to achieve certain goals. By being more mindful of how you use your time, you can increase your productivity and efficiency. This can lead to better results for both you and your clients.

Here are some key benefits of time management:

1. Increased productivity and efficiency
2. More time to focus on important tasks
3. Improved organization
4. Reduced stress levels
5. Better work/life balance.
6. More time to enjoy your personal life
7. Greater sense of control over your time
8. Improved work quality
9. Better relations with clients
10. Increased commission earnings.

2. Do you know where your time is going?

Firstly, take some time to think about what it is that you did yesterday (or if it was a weekend, your last working day) Struggling to remember?  You know you were busy but busy doing what?

The first thing is to get clear on how you spend your time.  Think about it, how can you get better at managing time if you don’t currently know how you spend it. 

I like to use an app called Toggl, although there are many out there to choose from. Every hour I record what I have been doing from the moment that I wake up to the end of the day.  Why am I monitoring what I do outside of office hours?  Because I sometimes find that I am taking work home, making me even less productive.

I suggest over the next week, use a time management recording system to start tracking what you’re doing in a day. At the end of each day make a list of the tasks that:

1. Were productive and will give you results that you can measure (these will be things like (responding to new leads, managing FB ads, taking new instructions, viewings, time with clients)

2. Tasks that you’ve done but are not sure on what return they will give (social media posts, blogging)

3. Stuff that you just do because you think you should do as an Estate Agent and you think/know the competition is doing.

4. Tasks that have no real bearing on your Estate Agency and you probably secretly enjoy them too!

Once you have categorised your tasks you’ll have a clear understanding of what your days are filled with.

3. What is your plan for the week? And for the day?

You will benefit from sitting down for an hour or so each week to think about how time might be used more efficiently.  

Can I ask how you start your morning?

There are science-backed benefits that a morning routine that is slow and includes taking time for yourself (exercising, having a healthy breakfast, connecting with loved ones) will prepare you for a productive and calm day ahead. 

Starting the day rushed?  Expect the rest of the day to follow suit.

It doesn’t really matter what your morning routine contains, it matters that you have a routine. Find your perfect practice and stick to it daily.

Set up clear goals for the week and break these down into the days.  List all the tasks that need to be done.  Note these are all the ones that you listed under 1a).

Use a calendar to schedule your tasks and ensure that you look at it every morning and throughout the day to keep you on track.

Neuroscience PhD student Steven Miller explains that in the mornings (between the hours of 8 am and 9 am) our cortisol levels are at their highest. Cortisol isn't just the "stress hormone"—it's also correlated with our alertness levels.  So you want to be doing the most important and urgent tasks first thing.

Perhaps it could also be the time you choose to have the difficult conversations with your team where you discuss the hard stuff; what went well and what needs improving.  By doing this you are creating a culture of continuous business improvement and less about blame.  At this point you can also share each other’s priorities for the day/week to ensure you're all working towards the same goals.

You want to get to a point where you have an answer for the following;

“If I could only accomplish two things today, what would they be?”

Planning your day or weeks without an underlining strategy can potentially lead to issues in the future. If you haven't already, create a business plan, and break down what your goals and objectives are. Once you have these, you can plan a more time-efficient schedule for your days, weeks, and months.

4. Prewrite your content for blogs

Heard how bunching a heap of tasks together can save you time?  This is largely because you are in the ‘zone’ and not having to spend time remembering where you last left off means you can plough through tasks that are similar. 

Why not take some time to write all your blogs for the month in one sitting?  Save them in numerical order per month so that you can find them easily when posting.

Did you know you can tweak past content to make it more current; you’ll save time whilst still putting out quality content.  

You can even set up your Facebook, newspaper, and media ads once a month. This scheduling creates a specific amount of time once a month to concentrate on ads only. 

5. What can you delegate?

Do you have a hard time delegating?  If so, ask yourself why. Is it because you prefer to be in control  because you're not aware of what help is available or you don’t think that anyone can do it better than you?

If the latter, it might be time to let the ego take a back seat.

Can you delegate your social media? Can you hire someone to do your customer nurture journey?  Get a professional to set up and manage your Facebook Ads?  

If you want an easier life, delegating is the way to go.  If you are unsure about what to delegate, knowing what your strengths and weakness are can help make that decision that little bit easier. Conducting a SWOT analysis will identify what tasks benefit the most from your strengths, and what tasks will gain more value being delegated to someone else who has the required strengths.

6. Automate, Automate, Automate

Are you using an up -to -date email program that will allow you to automate your email nurture journey to your customers?  Is it worth the investment? Think about how much time you and your team are spending crafting individual emails or using the ‘bcc’ function in your email program. Having reflected on that, is it worth spending the time and extra money to make it all automated, and looking even more professional never hurts too.

Do you have a  good CRM (customer relations manager) system?

This could be your new best friend when trying to save yourself time.

A great CRM system such as the one Reapit provide will help you to target the best leads at the right time, with the best message. You can even record cool stuff such as client birthdays and anniversaries and make a note of conversations that you’ve had with new and potential clients - you know all that critical stuff needed to nurture potential buyers and sellers.

Check out our list of the top free CRM systems on the market to help you become more organised for no extra cost.

7. Want to get more done - stop checking your emails!

In The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss talks about how emails should be checked just twice a day as part of the quest for a more reasonable, productive life.

Why not give it a go and see if it works for you.

Perhaps you might find that you are addicted to email and find yourself twitching because you haven’t been in your inbox for the past hour.  This is also insight as to where some of your time might be going.

Email may not be the only thing that’s draining your time.

Do you have a limit to the amount of time you might spend on the internet, looking at competitor websites and posts?  Looking for ideas for social posts but finding yourself distracted by loosely connected business stuff?

Do not do what is not important.

But wait, what about the tasks that you categorised under c) and d) under point 1?  Well, they aren’t making you money and you're simply just filling your time with them because you think you have to.  So stop doing them!

Ready to delegate?  

Why not get in touch and find out how we can help. For only £5 a day, we can provide you with an average of 72 new valuation leads a month!  Whether we create your Facebook ads with guaranteed results, or following up on cold and warm leads, we’d love to have a chat.