If one more person says to me, “Sorry, I’ve been busy” as an excuse to not get back with me, do their job, or do as they promised, I’m going to Lose. My. Mind.
STOP SAYING THAT.
Here’s the deal. We are all busy. We all have a ridiculous amount of work and a limited amount of time. We all have endless appointments, tasks, and obligations that need to be met on a daily basis. Add this to responsibilities outside of work and it’s easy to wonder how we manage all that we do.
But we’re not unique. A lot of people have full schedules and full days, but somehow still manage to meet all the expectations placed on them. How?
Stop over-scheduling. A good rule of thumb for Realtors is to not schedule more than three commitments a day. You need to give yourself time around those appointments to respond to emails, phone messages, submit paperwork, put out fires, and all the other inevitable issues that come up on a daily basis. Think about a doctor’s office: They book appointments, what, every fifteen minutes? What if someone is late? Or needs more time? It throws the rest of the day off, the patients get irritated, and the doctor and staff are left playing catch up all day.
Be realistic with time. It drives me insane when people say, I’ll be there in 10 minutes, I ask where they are, and they are actually 25 minutes away. Why do this? No one likes people to be late. Be honest with them (and yourself) about how long things take. This goes for appointments, travel time, and phone calls. When you are scheduling showings, be realistic with your travel time and how long clients usually take in homes. Being late just causes tension and stress for all those involved, and it just doesn’t need to happen.
Keep conversations to a minimum. I work with a lender who prefers phone communication over email. Normally that would make me cringe because the small talk that usually accompanies phone calls can be such a waste of time, but he is precise and to the point. “Hi. Appraisal came in. All good. File is progressing. We’re still on schedule to meet the closing date. Any questions?” Our conversations seriously last less than a minute and I get everything I need with a personal touch. If you are a social person and like talking on the phone and having long conversations, that’s fine- as long as you adjust your schedule to allow for that time.
Your schedule is not an excuse. If you are having a hard time getting everything done, you are to blame. No one else. You need to look at what areas you can improve upon, and make those adjustments. Maybe it’s time to get an assistant. Maybe you need to get up an hour earlier just to respond to emails. Maybe you need to focus more time on the task and less on the distractions. Try writing down everything you did today and the length of time it took, and then examine what you can cut back on to add minutes.
NEVER tell someone you didn’t respond in a timely fashion because “I’ve been busy.” What you are actually saying is that you don’t respect them, their time, or their business enough to return a call. Over time, you will be viewed as untrustworthy and unprofessional.
Being busy is a real thing, but using it as an excuse is wrong. Make it your business to never be too “busy” for your clients or too “busy” to do your job. Ever.
Amy Gilpin Associate Broker, Manager, ABR.
Fourteen years of helping clients. Six years of helping agents. All for this crazy thing we call real estate.
Production Realty 517-879-4141 Jackson, MI Amy@ProductionRealty.com
