Here recently, my business has been going well enough that I am now at the point that I need to start looking at expanding the task I complete to another agent.....a co-list agent. In thinking about this, I did have a agent in mind however, I am not exactly sure he is a good fit for what it takes to do the things I do. That got me to wondering, what exactly do I do? Yes, that may seem like a silly question but, it got me to wondering even further about what exactly it takes to be a REO Listing Agent and thus, this blog.
So, before we get to talking about the day to day task, let's talk about some larger concepts that need to be realized by any REO Listing Agent.
First off, let's talk about commitment. Yeah, yeah, you know what commitment means but, how many of you actually put it in to practice daily. I suspect that many of us have so many commitments that sometimes we feel overwhelmed and can't actually get to all of our commitments in a day. In these cases where we put our commitments off till tomorrow because today was so busy, I have to stop and ask you, is what you put off till tomorrow really a commitment? To me, it sounds more like a obligation but, nothing like a commitment. The way I distinguish a commitment from an obligation is by using a time line. More specifically, if my Asset Manager gives me a task and says they need it completed in 48 hours or less, I am committed in that I no longer have the option to complete the task in 48 hours and 1 second later. This is different to me from an obligation because in my mind, an obligation doesn't have a timeline...a deadline. I am obligated to do something but, I can do it in my time....hence, my difference between a commitment and a obligation. In other words, are you committed to doing the task at hand in the time provided, regardless of other obligations you may have? If you are not because of priorities, ie.....I can't complete the assigned task because I have to pick up my child from school, then I would tell you that you may want to reconsider being a REO Listing Agent. At least my Asset Managers are looking for commitment from me and that means when they tell me at 3pm on Friday that they need a monthly marketing report completed no later than 4pm the same day.....it gets done because I am committed.
Secondly, let's have a discussion about priorities. Once again, I know you know what a priority is however, do you prioritize daily? Of course you do, we all do however, the better question is, are you prioritizing your commitments correctly. You see, many of us don't and it's not because we don't know how, it's because in many ways we have too many obligations. For example, I have a priority in my life to spend more time with my family however, that priority doesn't out weight my priority to my clients. Yeah, you heard me correctly, I said it, my family isn't a greater priority than my clients. Pick your jaw up off the floor and breathe. If you are going to be a REO Listing Agent, you need to know that your clients needs and priorities are more important than yours. As such, your clients priorities will always trump yours. For many of you, this is a problem because when I said that my client takes priority over my family, I am sure a lot of you bristled at the idea and some of you may have even said, HELL NO! It's for this very reason that you will not make a great REO Agent. Why? Because people like me will be ready to pick up your slack, show your Asset Manager that we are committed and that they are a great priority in our daily lives. Now, put yourself in your Asset Managers shoes, who would you want to work with? That's what I thought.
Thirdly, let's talk about balance. Believe it or not, you can be fully committed and, have proper priorities and still keep your life in balance. It's not easy....let's be real, it's almost impossible but, it can be achieved. You can give your client all they need....and more, as well as complete the task of other commitments, obligations , and or priorities. What does it take on your part? An incredible amount of attention to details, planning ahead, open dialogue with others, understanding your own limitations and most importantly, knowing when to ask for help. For me, balance is achieved by having the right people around me who share in the heavy burden that being a REO Listing Agent is. Team work is the only way a single person can achieve being a REO Listing Agent who close multiple millions of dollars in deals a year. Now, not all of us have the inventory on hand that would require us to have a team but, if you aren't there yet in your business, trust me, when it comes, this may be the most important thing you take away from this blog and that is Team Work.
Finally, I could go on with this blog and talk about trust, task, following instructions, etc...etc...etc... however, I have a sneaking suspension that for many of you, you never got past the second point I made....lol
