Let me share
an example. My father had open-heart surgery a few years ago. He was
blessed to have an excellent heart surgeon. That was exactly what this
doctor did -- heart surgery, and only heart surgery. There was an anesthesiologist
who put my father to sleep. There was another surgeon who retrieved a
vein out of my father’s leg and prepared it for by-pass. There was another
surgeon who opened the chest cavity and readied the heart. After all
those functions were complete, the heart surgeon stepped in for his part.
He completed his bypass sections of the surgery and left the others to
complete the operation. Do you have the skills and the systems to run
your business that way? What would your production look like if you did?
How balanced would your life be with this type of a business?
If you had that level
of sales skills and consultation skills, you would be paid
better than that heart surgeon is paid. There are more people
who truly need your services than there are who need a heart
surgeon. You have a bigger market to sell your service in today
than the heart surgeon has. The question is whether you are
truly taking advantage of it and preparing yourself to win.
Abe Lincoln said, “If
I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend the first four
hours sharpening the axe.” He would spend two thirds of his
time improving the tools that make him effective at work. What
would your business look like if you spent time sharpening
your axe?
What do we normally
do? We start right in trying to chop down the tree. We don’t
evaluate how best to chop down the tree. We just start chopping
and hope that the tree will eventually fall. We keep swinging
the axe until the sweat is pouring down before we evaluate
if this is the best approach.
Most of us work to
make progress in our life. By working hard, we make good time.
But we are often making good time in the opposite direction
from our desires in life. The problem is that we don’t know
where we are going. Many of us have not clearly defined what
we want. We also haven’t spent the time to sharpen our skills
so that our efforts can produce much fruit.
Many speakers talk
about being efficient. When your efficiency increases, they
say, you have won the game. It is true that there is value
in increasing your efficiency. Efficiency is great, as long
as we are effective as well. But being highly effective is
more important than being highly efficient. Let me give you
an example. Being efficient is having the skills to drive at
70 mph versus being able to control a car only up to 55 mph.
Being effective is taking the most direct route to drive from
Denver to Chicago. If you are not focused on effectiveness,
you may drive from Denver to Dallas to get to Chicago. The
goal is Chicago; even if you can drive at 70 mph the whole
way, going to Dallas first wipes out all of your efficiency
gains. Take the time to ensure that you are heading directly
in the direction you desire; that you are not taking the wrong
turn; that you are not stuck on the turnpike of life with no
exit for hundreds of miles.
You must spend time
to focus on being effective, to “sharpen the axe.” What is
your axe in the real estate business? Which tools do you need
to spend time sharpening in order to be more effective? Most
of us have quite a few things that we need to sharpen in our
business. Select one thing that really needs your attention
today. Don’t wait until tomorrow -- do it now. Then work, focus
and improve that one area, even if only for 30 minutes a day,
to sharpen your axe. You will be amazed at the ease with which
you can fell the big trees of life.
For more information and help on improving your sales skills, click here.
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