The key to becoming and staying a top-earning REALTOR is to manage your time, your clients and your transactions like a business. The most successful real estate agents arent just a part of a whole as a member of an agency. Theyre small business owners.

To view your work as a business, you have to act like one. That means having business systems in place for each aspect of your real estate practice. What is a business system? Its a process or method designed to achieve a specific result. Think organization, marketing, and transaction plans. All of these individual systems work together toward the overall success of your real estate business.

Organization and Time Management The simplest and most important system to implement is one that impacts every part of your life: organizing your day. How you allocate your time can be the difference between a decent year and a great year.

From planning client fact time and nurturing leads to keeping up with your referral thank you gifts and finalizing transactions at the closing table, it may seem impossible to do everything that needs to get done. Putting a system in place can take the challenge out of time management. Check out our recent post on time blocking for tips on making the most out of your busy schedule.

Marketing and Lead Generation Once you have your time management plan in place, its time to start thinking about marketing. New business doesnt make itself. Having a marketing system can help ensure a steady stream of new leads for future home sales. Whether youre taking out local ads or promoting yourself online, once you have a marketing plan in place, youll be better positioned for steady and sustainable growth.

Transaction Management Next, you should implement a process for managing each transaction so you can get through each sale or purchase from start to finish without worrying about the chaos that can accompany business growth. At Benchmark, we provide all of our agents with easy-to-follow checklists and a three-step compliance process. Plus, our full-time compliance broker reviews the language of every contract. Our agents also have access to cloud-based systems, making it easy to stay compliant.

Whether you create a custom checklist, use a calendaring system or consider hiring an assistant, having a plan to manage your transactions will help you avoid the chance of missing important timelines or details before closing.

Let Your Agency Help Does your agency provide access to proven business systems or readily available resources (like Benchmarks compliance broker) that can make elevating your real estate practice even easier? At Benchmark, we provide business-focused professional development to do just that. If youre looking to make the most out of your real estate business, consider joining the Benchmark team. Take our quick online assessment today to learn more.