The 90 Day Productivity Cycle

Your real estate business is built 90 days at a time. Have you ever felt like you were legitimately working and wondered why you aren't getting anywhere? Frustrated with your ability to get things rolling? 

First, it's not your fault. It's likely no one has ever explained how the cycles in the real estate business work and what it is going to require of you to get traction and some business rolling. I like to use the example of a plane upon take off.  If the plane doesn’t have a long enough runway and is unable to get enough speed, it won’t be able to have enough momentum to get lift and take off.  The plane requires a certain amount of energy being generated from its engines (thrust) to keep it ascending, eventually, reaching its cruising altitude. This is where the plane requires less energy or thrust to maintain flight; you could say the plane has momentum now.  The most energy the plane exerted was getting the plane from a standstill to its cruising altitude. (This is no different for us in real estate.)  We have the same process to go through the plane does. Often, the key difference is when a plane takes off, the pilots have taken into consideration many variables before they attempt this process.  Things like the length of the runway, load (or weight of the plane), fuel on board, weather, the altitude of the airport and a list of many other items. When we “take off” (as Realtors, the majority of the time) we don’t have as well organized plan and as a result, find ourselves not getting off the ground, often, we feeling like we’re on a hamster wheel going in circles and grow increasingly more frustrated. What we find is after a few honest attempts without any measurable success, our enthusiasm diminishes, and we lose the passion we once had to grow our business. If this sounds familiar, it’s not entirely your fault.  It’s likely no one has explained how you “take off” in the real estate business...this can be accomplished using 90-day cycles.

What is a 90-day cycle? Consistently taking action on your desired activity for at least 90 days straight. Keep in mind we're focusing on real estate related activities here. However, this could be applied to anything in your life. Ground Rules: 90 consecutive days of staying engaged in the activity(s) you've made a commitment to. Monday thru Friday or days you designate to be working days. Here’s the reason so few can complete a cycle...if you miss one day, you start over at day 1. The purpose of this is to create a habit around the behavior and build momentum in your business leading to increased production and income.

What have you observed over the years?: What we see showing up in our businesses today is usually a result of what action we've taken, or not taken in the last 90 days. Who we are right now is who we've been up to this point...not necessarily who we are at the moment. It’s simply showing up in our present. So, if you're happy with what's showing up, continue with what you've been doing. Should you want to change anything, it's important to remember that what you do (or don't do) today is going to show up in the next 90 days. Understanding the process is key to maintaining a good mindset and awareness of what's taking place in your business.

Also - many agents begin pulling back towards the end of the 3rd qtr.  This leads to a slow 4th qtr, and when the new year rolls around, agents begin getting back to work. However, since the business is built in these 90-day cycles, many of them lose taking advantage of the 1st quarter...results typically show up as spring begins.  This means if this is you...you are losing as much as six months of production.  You can check this by looking at your goals … are you consistent