“Why are you missing assignments in History?”
“I’ve been busy,” said my 15 year old son.
“Try again.”
“There are too many to keep track of. We get like three a day.”
“Try again.”
(sigh) “I’m being lazy…”
“Thank you. Now do better.”
I feel like I’ve had similar exchanges with many adults lately. I don’t know if it’s the negativity in the press, the barrage of natural disasters, or seeing humans in crisis every where we look, but there just seems to be a lot of stuff that people close by and far away are going through.
But unless you are going through something utterly devastating, there really isn’t a good enough excuse to not do your job. Sadly, but honestly, our clients don’t care what we have going on. Sure, they tell you they feel bad if you are sick, or are dealing with personal tragedy, but let’s be honest here- deep down they care more about how you being distracted away from your job is going to affect them and their transaction.
Probably the greatest compliment I’ve received recently was when one of our agents said that he didn’t even know I was in the middle of moving the week that we moved. Why? I was still making an appearance at the office, still returning phone calls, and still listing and showing houses. I unpacked boxes early in the morning, and stayed up really late at night until the job was done.
Was it exhausting? Yes. But it was more important that my clients were well communicated with, and their transactions were as uninterrupted and smooth as possible regardless of what I was personally dealing with.
I made my business a priority.
But, look, I’m not perfect.
I’m not always good about sending mailers out.
Or following up with warm leads.
Or being proactive rather than reactive.
That pesky 20 pounds I’ve been trying to lose for the past two years? Still hanging around.
And I’ve got lots of excuses as to why I can’t lose those pounds: Lack of time, being busy, kid’s activities, etc. But the truth is, it’s not a priority. I know what I need to do, I just haven’t made time for it to happen.
If I truly wanted to focus on that and make that my priority, I’d get the job done. But until then, the excuses are great disguises for a complete lack of motivation.
Every time we use an excuse to explain why we skipped the office meeting, didn’t return a phone call, or show up unprepared for an appointment, we are choosing our priorities. And that priority is not our business. It’s not our client. But it is something else. 
And only you can identify what that something else is. It’s okay if you want to focus on something other than your business for now. That’s fine. We all need breaks. But you need to be honest with yourself, and the people around you.
If you can’t care for your business the way you should, you need to reach out and find someone to help you. Your clients need to be taken care of. They hired you for a reason, and you owe it to them to still help them one way or another until the job gets done.
So don’t make excuses. Set your priorities. And if your business isn’t your priority, ask for help until it is. Because if you don’t, you won’t have a business to come back to. And, honestly, there’s no excuse for that.
Amy Gilpin, Associate Broker, Manager, ABR, SRES.
Fifteen years of helping clients. Seven years of helping agents. All for this crazy thing we call real estate.
Production Realty 517-879-4141 Jackson, MI Amy@ProductionRealty.com
