How Do I Pick The 20% Activities?

Nationally, 90% of all of the income earned in real estate commissions is earned by less than 10% of the agents. Conversely, 90% of the agents fight for just 10% of the commissions.

So, what is it that 90% of the agents do that keeps them from being successful? It’s simple. They focus on unproductive activities over and over, and over again, until they perfect doing things that don’t make them money.

By focusing on The Pareto Principle, you can be one of the few agents that shares 90% of the commissions. The Pareto Principle states that 80% of all of your success (or money), comes from 20% of your time (or activities).  Let’s apply this principle to an agent that is working 40 hours per week and earning $100,000 per year.

$100,000                                    40 Hours

  x     80%                                      x   20%

$80,000                                      8 Hours

In other words, you work:

• 8 hours every week to earn $80,000.
• and you work the remaining 32 hours each week to earn the other $20,000.

 

80% activities include: taking educational courses, (except The Metamorphosis course), ordering surveys, checking e-mail, updating files, managing information and inputting information into the MLS or your contact management system. This work has to be done, but could be delegated to an assistant. Are you so busy doing these things every day that you run out of time to do the things that make you money?

Most agents are so busy doing this work that they forget to work on the 20% of the activities that make them a success. What are these activities? Most of them involve 4 forms of communication:

• Face-to-face
• Phone conversations
• Direct mailing
• E-mailing

Ask yourself these questions in preparation for the coming week, then pick the top 10:

1. What can I do that will help me sell each listing?
2. What is my next step with my best buyers?
3. What is my next step with my hot listing prospects?
4. What do I need to do with my pending contracts to be sure they close? (Baby these contracts, until your check clears the bank!)
5. What should I do with my best past clients, advocates and sphere of influence, to be sure they refer more business to me.
6. What should I do to get more hot buyers?
7. What should I do to get more listing prospects?

 

There is no way you will get to all of the possibilities that you identify above for the week. Instead, practice picking the top 10 activities for the coming week. This is the list you should be sharing in your weekly coaching calls because these are the activities that generate income. The more you practice (spaced-repetition), the more successful you will become picking the “right activities.”

Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. The more you focus on the 80% activities, the better you will get at “not doing” the right things that make you money.  So, start today. Answer the questions above, then take the top 10 list, and each day during the week, identify which one’s you can get done. You’ll be surprised at how quickly your income will increase.