Manage your time or fall behind: How agents stay on top of tasks

The two top REB agents said that real estate professionals should structure their days, utilise technology effectively, and delegate tasks within their team to focus on the most important aspects of their role.

Here are their top tips to help agents manage their time:

Structuring agents’ day

Porter said that it is essential for agents to structure their day and allocate a specific time for each task, including prospecting, administrative duties, and meeting clients.

For example, when she first started in real estate, Porter said she would prioritise prospecting in the mornings and schedule her client appointments in the afternoon.

“Then if I didn't have any appointments for the afternoon, then I would continue to prospect, so that just meant that as I got busier, I was still allocating my mornings to prospecting,” she said.

“I didn't lose consistency because as soon as you stop doing the prospecting, then the listings start dropping off, so that was my way of maintaining productivity.”

She also said that she would break her tasks down into separate parts to make them easier to manage, such as buyer enquiries on the markets, withdrawals, for-sale-by-owner listings, and other agents’ listings.

Furthermore, Porter also advised agents to schedule their day to the fullest and set aside time for other activities, such as checking emails, taking lunch breaks, and preparing for the next day.

“I actually divided my time up every single day, so that way I knew what I was doing. And then at the end of the day, I had time allocated to prep the data for the following day,” she said.

Similarly, Carter said agents should set aside dedicated times for emails, as they can often distract agents from other tasks.

She said that she personally tackles them early in the morning and again from 5pm for two hours, when distractions are minimal, freeing up the rest of the day for other tasks.

“During the day, you normally add on inspections, and it's very hard to get all your emails under control – once everybody goes home, I can then just pump them out and it's good,” she said.

However, despite occasional distractions from her team, she said she was never too busy to answer questions and made herself available to assist if needed.

“I've never put myself out of bounds. So some days all I hear is, ‘excuse me, Kim, excuse me, Kim,’ – So I'm constantly there to answer questions … at any one time they know that I'm there and available.”

Sharing the workload

Carter said that while it was important for agents to structure their days, having supportive colleagues remained pivotal to ensure that all tasks could be tackled by the end of the week.

“At the end of the day, it just comes back to having a good, strong team behind you. I've got a team and they all know what their certain things are.”

Carter said that when employing staff, she tried to choose team members who would fit in with the team and have similar thought processes, allowing for an efficient agency where everyone knew what needed to be done.

She said that aside from working well together, many members of her team were also cross-trained, allowing them to carry out different tasks when the office was particularly busy.

“When listings are quiet, they'll help the listing people. If sales are busy, they'll help the salespeople."

“So that's how we work, where everyone can do everything, and it's like, ‘okay, who needs help? And where are your strong points?”, she said.

Likewise, Porter said that she often shared the task of responding to buyer enquiries with her team, meaning each buyer could receive the best possible service.

Additionally, to maximise their own time and focus on the more dollar-productive aspects of their roles, Porter advised agents to assign tasks to assistants where they can.

“I have a marketing assistant who does the organisation of all of my letterbox drops, my sponsoring events and all the material that's required for that, ordering our supplies, our hampers, … putting up sold signs and things like that,” she said.

“There's a lot of day-to-day tasks, attending, building and pest inspections, attending valuations that I do not do and I won't do because there's not a whole lot for me to gain out of that.”

Leveraging technology

While sharing the workload with colleagues remains a key part of agents’ successes, Porter said that agents should also utilise technology to help with organisation and save time.

“I use Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools to help me with the prospecting side of things. I think it's the best way for me to stay on top of all of my conversations with all of my clients.

“I can't remember everyone, so that way I can usually pick up from where I left off with each client.”

She said the technology assigned tasks every day and prepared a list of contacts for her to call, allowing her to plan her time more easily the day before.

“We use the CRMs to log all of our buyer enquiries, create great databases, and notify them of all our new listings.”

Additionally, Carter said the use of AI had been particularly helpful with tasks such as writing ads, freeing up time to focus on other duties.

“I used to sit at home at nighttime writing ads for houses and that, whereas AI seems to simplify that a lot. I've noticed that I'm not sitting up at nighttime doing them anymore,” she said.

Ultimately, Carter said that as she has gradually taken on more responsibilities throughout her career, she has had to adapt and find ways to stay on top of her work.

“Whilst I can manage my time, there's still that thing where you're taking on more, so you feel like you've got more work there. But it's just [about] having systems and schedules in the office.”

Likewise, Porter said that it was all about finding what worked for her team and ensuring the right procedures were in place.

“Whenever we see something that needs to be improved, we add another process into the system so that way, nothing falls through the cracks. So I am very big on checklists, trails, tasks, it's all in there,” she concluded.

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