- Walking and exercise (even seven minutes of quick, focused effort) can boost your ability apply creative solutions to common industry challenges.
- Empathize with your customer without adopting his or her emotions as your own. Acknowledge, and advise.
- Keep it simple. Don’t feel like you need to join a gym, start a new diet or exercise program. Try simple exercise apps. Or just go for a walk!
Your work as a real estate agent or entrepreneur demands an intense level of energy. You work long hours, think critically and wear many hats. Use these tips to give your best to your business without going home depleted.
Empathize, then advise
Providing superior service requires deep insight into customer problems. But don’t get stuck there!
Compassionate professionals can get easily immersed in drama, particularly in real estate. Real estate transactions are highly emotional and involve many different people, each with their own agendas and ideals.
A skilled professional can acknowledge people’s feelings while still remaining objective and helpful. Never step down from your primary role as the adviser.
For example, let’s say your buyer is deeply offended by the way a seller and her agent responded to your offer. Never join your customer’s conversation with negative comments about another real estate professional or the buyer or seller on the other side of the transaction.
This weakens your position as adviser and influencer.
Instead, empathize by acknowledging your customer’s feelings and addressing the underlying fear.
You could say, “I understand why you feel that way.” Then follow up with objective and professional advice.
In this example, you could explain that the seller is also afraid (afraid of leaving money on the table, upset about leaving the family home, etc.) and that a fresh attempt at a counter offer (perhaps with a market analysis or buyer cover letter expressing how you plan to care for this home as much as he or she did) might do the trick.
Always remind your customer that you are here to help him or her achieve a certain goal and that you’re here to keep him or her on track.
Fuel your creativity
But sometimes you just can’t solve all of your customer’s problems. Accept that some things are simply beyond your control. But you can apply creative solutions.
These don’t appear magically but must be intentionally cultivated. You can create an environment where fresh ideas just seem to pop up. An environment where creativity is inspired.
An interesting study from Standford University found that walking boosts creative thinking in the brain by as much as 60 percent. We’re not talking about extensive fitness programs or special diets. Just a brief walk around the yard, down the hall to the water cooler, even on the treadmill.
Here’s another hack: if you find yourself working for long hours without taking a break, drink lots of water.
Not only does it fuel the brain and keep you alert, but it also forces you to get up and take a bathroom break every hour or so. Those brief walks away from your phone or your desk can sometimes offer the best setting for a new idea to flash magically into your mind.
Wake up your body
Still feeling drained? A simple seven-minute workout could be the trick. It sounds counterproductive to suggest that exerting energy will actual increase energy. But that’s exactly what happens with exercise!
Experts say one of the best ways to battle fatigue is not with more rest, but with more exercise!
Here are three super fast, effective workouts you can put on your phone and do almost anywhere. The 7-Minute Challenge Workout app is my favorite. It’s fast, plays along with you, and it’s over before you know it.
You can take it easy, by just walking through the motions or by substituting exercises you don’t like. Or you can push yourself to do as many reps as possible in each timed section or repeat the whole series for additional calorie burn.
Want to make it fun? Open Pandora (or YouTube or iTunes), and play a pre-made workout station while you’re doing the exercises. In fact, start the music first. You’ll be more inclined to put on those tennis shoes.
Three fab tools that help a busy agent work out in seven minutes:
- 7-Minute Workout Challenge by Fitness Guide Inc. – $2.99 on iTunes for men or women
- Asana Rebel Yoga Inspired Fitness by Asana Yoga GmbH – Free on iTunes geared toward women
- Lean Thighs – No Lunges by Tracy Anderson – Here’s an infographic you can save as a favorite photo on your phone for quick reference; exercises designed for those who want to take it easy on the knees
Sandy Neumann is the marketing director of The Neumann Group at Keller Williams Realty in Jacksonville, Florida. Follow The Neumann Group on Facebook or YouTube.
