4 Productivity Techniques to Help You Do More, Faster

Rock around the clock with these these techniques to stay in touch with clients and prospects

By Michael Chazin

A REALTOR’s® quest for greater productivity can be understood in terms of achieving harmony in your life and your business, says Mark Given, of Mark Given Seminars, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, and an RRC Certified Instructor.

Given says agents need to focus on what they want and how best to achieve it to become more productive.

1. The PIN Method—Use Time More Efficiently

Sales productivity usually improves when a REALTOR® understands which actions are most important. The PIN Method classifies activities by their impact on productivity and provides a way to use time more effectively.

“PIN encourages agents to look at each day’s activities and classify them as ‘P’ (productive) for income producing activities,” says Rich Sands, Rich Sands Seminars, Inc., Aurora, Colorado, and an RRC Certified Instructor. “I” stands for indirectly productive activities or activities that set up productive activities. “N” stands for non-productive activities.

“Everyone understands that during their day they waste some time,” Sands says. At issue is how aware they are of wasted time and how aware they are of ways to become more productive. Productive activities are easily identified. A listing appointment, showing property or attending a closing are all productive activities.

Income-producing activities should be the top priority every day, suggests Stacy Sanseverino, CRS, and productivity coach at Keller Williams, Philadelphia. “Running an open house, door knocking, making calls to past clients are all productive,” she says. Can an agent be confident she has chosen the best activities? “If you’re really not sure, ask yourself if this activity is going to get you your next appointment,” she says.

Activities that serve your current clients help convert income-producing activities into real income. You interview a buyer, set up showings or work on administrative tasks to get your client to closing. “These activities are critical and can usually wait until noon so you can focus on making sure you have new closings scheduled for the future,” Sanseverino says.

“If agents can identify what they do and whether activities are a ‘P,’ ‘I’ or ‘N,’ it helps them prioritize, which is a major part of increasing productivity,” Sands says. He suggests daily activities be planned the night before to see how many fall into each category. If there are too many non-productive activities, he says, it’s time to delegate some.

2. Time Blocking—Scheduling Made Easy

Time blocking is an approach to scheduling that helps agents manage their time more efficiently. Instead of working by the clock, the idea is to focus on finishing big and small tasks one at a time. This helps limit distractions, get tasks done faster and eliminate lengthy to-do lists.

With time blocking, agents divide their day into segments and each segment supports different activities. Sanseverino suggests that first thing in the morning is lead-generation and prospecting time. “Whether you are calling people, writing monthly cards or doing a blast on social media, it’s whatever helps you keep in touch with clients and prospects,” she says.

Sanseverino suggests agents think of this as an investment. “If you want to earn $100,000, then every Monday you need to spend three hours reaching out proactively.” She says that’s a $20,000 time block. “You need to do it every day, consistently, for a whole year to earn that 100 grand.”

The mid-day time block is for administrative activities, including office meetings and educational classes. The remainder of the afternoon is when agents need to be in the field on appointments, showing properties or running open houses.
“So it is future business first, then now business, then go out and do whatever you need to do to secure now and future business,” says Sanseverino.

3. Microsoft Office 365—Keep Days Fully Organized

“Time management is pretty much worthless without task management,” says Dave Kupernik, CRS, 24K Real Estate, Parker, Colorado. When he first started his own agency, he went to an Apple Store and told them what he needed to run his real estate business; they sent him to Microsoft. That was when he started to run Office 365.

Office 365 includes Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook. “In addition, there are some other useful products, in particular OneNote,” he says. He starts every workday with three programs—OneNote, Outlook and his contract management software.

OneNote is a digital notebook that he divides into sections for each category of clients, including active under contract, and prospective buyers and sellers. He reviews each client to make sure he is aware of any actions that need to be taken that day. “As I look at each person’s file, I take care of their needs, and that gives me control of my day,” Kupernik says.

As Kupernik reviews each client in OneNote, if he finds a task that needs to be handled, he can tag it and it shows up as a task in Outlook, where he keeps his to-do list and appointments. To further streamline the process, he now updates tasks using Alexa from Amazon. When he needs to update his calendar, for example, he just tells Alexa to schedule an appointment, and an email is automatically sent to that contact with all the details.

4. Set Priorities—Take Control of Your Day

To start his day, Given writes down the most important tasks he has to accomplish. He uses printed sheets that say “Today’s Priorities” at the top with five spaces where he writes down important actions that need to be completed. “Before I get fully drawn into the day, I focus on what I need to accomplish and write it down,” he says. As he goes about his daily activities, the sheet is always front and center.

“Every day there are unexpected emergencies,” Given says. Not knowing the most important tasks that need to be accomplished puts you in reaction mode. When an agent is reactive, proactive responses are out the window. “You might say your actions are not on purpose, but on accident,” Given says. “If I am constantly putting out the next fire, then I am stressed all the time.”

It is better to be proactive. “I try to focus on the most important activities,” Given says. “In between those most important activities, I put out fires because there are fires almost every day.”

To become more productive, REALTORS® need to understand how activities impact their ability to list and close properties, and how those efforts contribute to their ability to attain their sales goal. “A huge part of productivity is self-awareness,” Sands says. “Know yourself well enough to know when you are at your best and use that time for maximum impact.” 

Michael Chazin is a freelance writer based in the Chicago area.

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