The Key to Big Business

by Carla Thompson, Founder and Coach at Agent+ Coaching

Could It Be Simple?

Many real estate agents recoil at the thought of growing a big business. A common response I hear is “I am already busy enough trying to remember all the details of my current deals. How could I possible handle more?”

Well, you have probably heard this advice before—the way you grow a great big business is to start with a great small business. Sounds practical, right? It is! I have realized over the years of coaching real estate agents that even in a small business, a single tool can make all the difference—

a checklist!

Often agents will pride themselves on being able to stay on top of all of the logistics of a transaction; they even say things like “I just keep track of it all in my head.” And this seems to work until . . . it doesn’t. Usually this shows up in the form of an agent forgetting to call back a client or forgetting to submit an addendum to title or even the classic—“I wrote that lead on a piece of paper and I cannot find it!”

When I have suggested to agents to start creating checklists to follow in their businesses, frequently they will resist on the grounds that it will take too long to create them or they simply won’t follow them anyway. The challenge is that agents would seemingly rather make mistakes than ensure they follow predictable procedures in their businesses. Now, we know this isn’t true. Who wants to make mistakes?

So what could be the motivation to change, to actually start using checklists?

The secret—checklists are a sure-fire way to grow your business! Yes, grow your business!

Why?

Once people can articulate the predictability of high standards in a business, they can absolutely refer the business with confidence! So while you may think that a mistake here or there is not a big deal, it completely undermines your clients’ confidence in your reliability. And therefore, no matter how much they like you, they cannot be sure that if they refer you to someone, that you will follow through.

Checklists are a simple tool to keep you predictable, to help you follow through EVERY time. The more quickly you start using them, the more quickly your business will grow. And before you know it, your great small business turns into a great big business that is running predictably!