What’s the difference between profit seeking versus prospecting in real estate?
Although this might sound like just a semantic difference, I believe the underlying value is the Grand Canyon of difference. I guess after 20 years in real estate I shouldn’t be surprised when I hear agents tell me “real estate is hard” and they hate to prospect….hmmm, there just might be a correlation there. I think one of the reasons that agents find this business difficult or hard is that they are not continually building their business and generating new sources of revenue.
It should come as no surprise that just as with every other successful business enterprise, having a real estate business, whether you’re a brokerage of one or many, profit seeking should be your second highest commitment. The first, of course is unparalleled customer service. If, as Stephen Covey suggests in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, ( Habit #2 “Begin with the end in mind), envision the final result before starting a new endeavor. Deciding on what profit you want to obtain is the first step.
His analogy of building a house was perfect; we don’t just go out and start building, it would be far too costly and full of mistakes. Instead we first envision our new home, then blueprints are drawn, plans are made, etc. So it is with real estate. Your profit seeking activities such as Open Houses, Internet Marketing, Direct Mail, should be seen as just that, activities that will bring you profit rather than prospecting which is not as directly tied to your end result.
My challenge to you is if you do not know what profit you want to have at the end of the next 12 months, take that first step and envision your future.
