What does your real estate practice have in common with toothpaste?
More than you might think.
Example: What would happen if I squeezed a toothpaste tube with the CAP on?
You and your business have a capacity, and that capacity is only as good as the systems you have in place. My favorite saying is: “a system will produce what a system will produce, nothing less, nothing more.”
Not getting the results you want?
Be hard on the systems and soft on the people.
- What systems in your business are at or near capacity?
- Are you squeezing the tube with the Cap on?
- What SOPs (operating procedures) do you need to have in place, so your business is flowing with the “cap off?”
In 1955, Northcote Parkinson came up with the theory that the demand for an economic good expands to match its supply. In economics, this is called “induced demands.” It’s why, for example, expanding roads never actually reduces traffic congestion because more drivers show up to fill those extra lanes.
The same is true for work, hobbies, and school.
Work always expands to fill the amount of time you make available to complete it. For example, if there are six months available to complete a project, you’ll spend six months working on it. Give yourself only one month, however, and you’ll get the same amount of work done in one-sixth of the time.
Lesson 1:
Assign a time frame to everything. Ask yourself and your team: “how much and by when?”
Lesson 2:
Lead with profit
In traditional accounting models, sales growth is what leads to profit; what’s the saying: you have to spend money to make money. But what happens is you can sacrifice profit for the sake of growth. Ideally, we can do both… yet in a shifting market… our task is clear:
Lead With Profit
Flip the script: profit leads to growth.
“More growth can happen when there’s less money.”
Say that again.
“More growth can happen when there’s less money.”
Become More Resourceful
When there’s less supply available, we become more innovative in extracting more value from what remained. So, taking our profit first and having less money available for operating expenses facilitates growth because it forces us to be innovative.
Lead With Profit: How?
- Effective lead generation
- Lead conversion
- Number of Size of Transaction (per person productivity)
- Cost of lead, cost of a sale (client acquisition cost)
- More referrals: Google My Business (reviews and your closing photos) and more
- Reduce the break-even point and or raise prices
A system, your systems, will produce what a system will produce, nothing less, nothing more. If you are not getting the results you want: be hard on the systems and soft on the people.
Framework: This post is part of Action Produces Data, the coaching framework for consistent production: take the next right action, track it and let the results, not opinions, guide what you do next.
Want help applying this in your brokerage? Book a 30-minute conversation with Mark at calendly.com/mjsession.
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