This summer, take some time for yourself

Agents should create temporary work rules that allow for more time away from listings and lockboxes.

The middle of summer is all about family activities. Camping trips. Relish on hot dogs. Hammock naps.

Given everything that summer stands for, like cul-de-sac wiffle ball games and lemonade stand hucksters, it’s easy to understand how real estate agents can get distracted from business commitments. Who wants to pound in yard signs when the county fair just started?

We at Adwerx would also be hard pressed to turn down a few fried peanut butter cups and a spin on the quickly-assembled Stomach Turner, but duty always calls when you sell homes for a living. So, here are some tips that might help you strike a better work-life balance during those few short, family-focused weeks of summer.

Automate

Even if you’re not a fan of automating client responses, there’s no denying bots and auto-response campaigns can really help you work more efficiently.

Consider implementing tools that handle basic responses to initial “more information” requests, or questions about mortgage pre-approval that can recommend your preferred lender partners.

Many of today’s popular CRMs have intuitive lead response features, such as LionDesk and Follow Up Boss. HomeHawk and Skyler360 both use Facebook Messenger to initiate and track lead conversations.

The point is to take a few of these responsibilities off of your plate. If even for a couple of months during summer, embracing the cutting edge of agent sales technology can produce some very important results: a happier family.

Limit Your Hours

With most agents, this idea will go over about as well as a sneeze during a eulogy. Before blowing it off, remember we’re suggesting ways to create a *temporary* respite from your normal 15-hour workday. Try it for a month.

If you can spot a lull in listings or buyer demands, start by emailing all current clients alerting them to a hard cut-off of 6:00 p.m. each weekday, and maybe noon on the weekends.

Another possible byproduct of adjusting your hours is that you might realize how much you can get done when under hard daily deadlines, and you might discover that habit, instead of necessity, is what’s behind your long days at the office.

Focus On Your Sphere

The summer months are slow because fewer people are looking to sell, and subsequently, the buyer market responds accordingly.

Instead of putting in extra hours to dig up more listing leads, spend a few weeks targeting your sphere of influence. Naturally, our Sphere product can help get that going with only an email list. Once uploaded, we’ll make sure the influencers in your database are reminded of your expertise.

And remember, it’s summer. The odds are good you could run into members of your sphere at the town picnic or Fourth of July parade. If you do, take advantage of those few moments to chat or invite them to the house. Summer offers a relaxed time for business, a time to build relationships that come fall or next spring, will bear fruit.

It’s important for agents to look back once in a while at why they entered the real estate business.

It’s a job that at the outset allows for flexibility, and an escape from the sameness of nine-to-five positions. Unfortunately, competition and an ever-connected, on-demand workplace have forced agents into having to be “always on.”

Perhaps this is the summer you reflect a little less on the “why,” and a bit more on the “who.”