Persistence and Discipline – Keys to Success in Real Estate

 January 26, 2015

Real estate can be fast and exciting. It can be hugely profitable.  And sometimes it’s slow, dull and seems hard to earn a nickel.

Which is why it’s important that it takes persistence and discipline to be a long-term success in your real estate business.

Defining our terms

One of the definitions of persistence at Dictionary.com is:

constantly repeated; continued:

Discipline is defined as:

activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or
improves a skill; training

Sounds sort of dull when you look at the definitions.. dull and boring. Discipline and persistence can, however, keep you interested and in the game. A

Persistence & discipline are really about working with people

Real estate is a people business. Sure you need to know some of the technical stuff like how to handle negotiations and how the paperwork goes together in your state. But the real skill you need is with people.

What does it mean to be persistent and disciplined about working with people? Several things:

Deep listening

Probably the most important discipline you need when working with people is listening skills. Some call it ‘deep listening’ or ‘listening with the heart.’

Essentially it means getting yourself, your needs, and your desire to talk out of the way so you can truly hear what the other person is saying.  If you’re planning how you’ll respond, you’re only listening with half your mind.

When you become fully present with the other person you’ll be able to hear both what they actually say and get a sense of what they’re not saying.

It takes practice to hone your listening – fortunately you can do it anywhere, even at the grocery store.

Marketing

Properly done, you’re marketing will put you in front of a never-ending stream of people who may be interested in your services.

You have to be tenacious about your marketing.  However you do your marketing, from cold calling to buying ads, you’ve got to keep it up so you’re constantly generating new leads.

Follow through

You need to be persistent with your follow through. It takes real discipline to always get information added to your contact management system following an open house, networking event, or just the person you meet at the store. T

hen you’ve got to contact them through calls, emails, mailers, newsletters, what-have-you, letting them know you’re there for them when they need help with buying or selling real estate.

You need to be disciplined about working with other agents. That means promptly responding with the right information when an agent shows an interest in one of your listings, And when a client who wants information about some other agent’s listings, you have to be sure you make contact so you can fulfill your client’s needs.

Day in and Day out

You need to be disciplined and persistent day and and day out. Sure, you’re an independent contractor which means, among other things, you set your own hours. And of course you want time for yourself and your family as well as time working your real estate business.

But unless you’re working your real estate business in a disciplined manner, every working day, consistent success will get further and further away.

You have a choice. Being disciplined and persistence doesn’t mean you turn yourself into a robot, but it does mean consistently doing the things that bring you listings and sales day after day after day.

How do you stay disciplined about your real estate business?

real esate

 


Anne Wayman

By Anne Wayman

Before Anne Wayman became a writer she sold real estate in Southern California. She worked with her father who learned the business from his father. Not surprisingly she learned a few things along the way. Since then, she has been freelance writing for over 30 years – she is a grandmother, loves cats and writes about a wide variety of topics including real estate.