#transaction coordinators

Yesterday, during a coaching call with one of my clients, the topic of self-care and making time to do things other than work came up. It’s one that I personally have been working on for the last few years and believe as a female entrepreneur it’s one I’ll likely be working on the rest of my life. Funny, when I started my business one of my goals was freedom and flexibility, then I spent years working more hours than I wanted, thinking I had to prove something. Competing in a way with myself to work more, get more done and accomplish more. To PROVE something to an unknown someone.

What did that get me? A business I resented, a body that was exhausted, nearly on the verge of a breakdown and a family that missed me. Now don’t get me wrong, I do know there is value in hard work, and that we have to do things that others won’t do to achieve big goals, but what happens when we’re too tired to enjoy them? Or can’t continue the journey because we’re exhausted physically and mentally? Is exhaustion and burn out the goal? Or is it a business that supports you in living the life you want? I now choose the latter.

Each year I choose a theme for the year, to remind me of the vision I have for the year and help me make decisions. Here is my current theme

“This year, I commit to saying YES to myself. The more I fill my cup, the more I have to offer others.”

I think now more than ever as we enter the busy buying season we have to make self-care and time to recharge a priority. I’ve found that when I take that 20-minute walk in the afternoon or go to lunch with a friend I feel better and surprisingly I actually get more work done. All of the coaching clients’ I’ve polled say the same thing, YET, we all struggle to make the time to do things for ourselves. Is it because we were raised to clean our room before we go out to play? To do our homework before we watch TV? Or is there a tinge of guilt that someone may judge us for not working hard? We may be caught doing something fun or for self care during our normal work hours? Or a combination of all of the above? The reason I am sharing this with you is that I know that without taking the time to fill your cup, you won’t have enough to share with others. That eventually, you’ll be like I was, tired, resentful and exhausted.

Several years ago I met with the owner of a Florida based brokerage about encouraging the agents who worked with him to use our Transaction Coordinator services. There were several savvy Realtors in his firm that were already clients who suggested I call on him. At the meeting he was a bit stubborn and was rather ‘old school’, saying that “What will they do then if they don’t coordinate the transaction?”. Shocked I said, “Sell more homes, take a vacation, volunteer…..uh,…., the list is almost as long as I am tall”. As we wrapped up our meeting I said I’d put together my top 10 list.

Soon after he received this list he called to let me know he’d missed this before and furthermore was now convinced that with our help, many of his top selling agents would be even better.

Here’s the Top 10 list I shared with him:

10. You want to reduce and control operating costs. You know that you are ready for a transaction coordinator but aren’t ready for the huge expense a full-time employee may cost. You should not be working harder just to make payroll, try outsourcing.

9. You are ready to improve the focus of your business. As a Realtor most of your business comes from referrals through your networking, prospecting, and farming efforts, not the fax machine or filing cabinet. With that said, your time is better spent on activities that generate business transactions.

8. You want the very best for your clients. Outsourcing can give access to high level coordinators that have successfully handled thousands of transactions. Hiring and managing a full-time transaction coordinator is expensive. Hiring a team of transaction coordinators with years of experience is beyond most companies means. Access to those coordinators by outsourcing to the Online Closing Team at TMC is feasible to ALL.

7. You’d like to spend more time on other passions you have such as volunteering. Many of our clients regularly spend time on various boards and volunteering at local agencies. In addition to giving back to their community they have also grown their business through these activities. Having a TC on their team gives them more time to be of service in their community.

6. You would like to free up resources for other purposes. By controlling the costs and most importantly the time associated with managing a transaction your resources can be better used to increase marketing and other revenue generating activities.

5. You need help but don’t have time to train someone to do things the way you want them done. Hiring an assistant to help you is an excellent way to grow your business, most however don’t have the systems or training in place to make it successful for both parties. Hiring a transaction coordinator like our team with systems and experience can save you time and money.

4. You’re new to the business and know that you could use the help of an experienced coordinator to “coach” you through the process. The “School of Hard Knocks” is not the best way to learn especially when so much is at stake for your clients. Having someone guide you through the process can make a HUGE difference in the outcome of most transactions.

3. You’re looking for an edge in the marketplace. Your clients are tech savvy but you aren’t sure how to bring more of that to your clients after contract. Our transaction coordinators utilize a software program where invited participants can view the transaction and documents. This can save you money by not having to purchase expensive software or investing the time it takes to learn and customize something new.

2. You are ready for a raise! Spending too much time on administrative duties or the ever-consuming time spent waiting on a fax or return calls reduces your bottom line. Have someone else handle those items and increases your per hour pay rate immediately.

Several years ago I came across a video on TED by Shawn Achor titled “The Happy Secret to Better Work”. I’m always on the lookout for innovative business ideas to share with my team of transaction coordinators and the title intrigued me. After viewing it 4 times, I knew this was something that I had to share with the team.

After the team watched it we all accepted the calling to be, as Shawn put it, “Unaverage”.

“If we study what is merely average, we will remain merely average.” Shawn Achor

In Shawn’s studies of people in the workplace, he found that only 25% of their job success is predicated by their IQ. That 75% of it relates to optimism levels, social support, and their ability to see stress as a challenge instead of a threat.

If our focus is wrong, he tells us that it simply leads us to more unhappiness. The typical success formula of, “work harder and you’ll be successful, then when you’re more successful you’ll be happier” simply can’t work because we’re constantly chasing happiness. And that, once we achieve some level of success we move the goal and go back to chasing happiness. If happiness is on the other side of success then we’ll never get there.

By being what I like to call Happy Now his studies show that our brain simply performs significantly better with positive input. We get what he calls a happiness advantage and our energy is up, our creativity is better and imagine this, when we’re happy at work, we’re actually more productive.

Shawn shared with us some small changes that we could implement into our days that would create positive changes. That in just 21 days of doing each of the following action steps we could actually rewire our brain to allow it to work more optimistically, efficiently and more successfully.

The transaction coordinating team and I truly believe that it is important to live our happiness NOW, not sometime in the future feeling as though we’re always chasing it. For many months now at our weekly meeting we’ve been discussing this topic. The action plan from Shawn gave us simple steps to help us be more in the happy zone and less in the stressful zone.

Each member of our team committed to working on each of the 5 action steps described in the video which are as follows:

Write down 3 new things we’re grateful for each day. After just 21 days in a row of this activity we can train our brain to scan the world looking for positive things instead of negative.

Journaling 1 positive thing that happened in the last 24 hours helps our brain to relive that positive experience.

Exercise daily, he tells us this teaches our brain that our behavior matters.

Meditate, which allows our brain to get over our cultural ADHD that we’ve created by trying to multitask and focus on the task at hand.

Do a random act(s) of kindness, or actually conscious acts. Something as simple as praising or thanking someone daily via email.

For the last few weeks our team has been working on these items and at our weekly meeting we’ve been discussing our progress in making these small daily changes. The best discovery we made was that we’re all pretty great people. No we’re not perfect but we do work hard to be our best and to spread happiness to others in our work. We’ve found that the simple task of writing something daily is easier said than done sometimes, yet when we did we felt good in doing so. We’ve learned that taking action is the key to change and true success comes from enjoying the process.

Over the last few weeks we’ve all shared things we’re grateful for, some were more deep and heartfelt like our family time or quiet time with our partner. Others were silly yet still things we were grateful for like new yoga pants, electric tape, and concert experiences.

The conscious acts of kindness have reminded us to do special things for others, with no thought of receiving anything in return. We’ve donated money to help others through Kiva, bought breakfast for a veteran, helped an older person in the grocery store reach an item on a high shelf, paid for an auto part needed by a total stranger who didn’t have cash on hand, all simply in an effort to share kindness.

We’ve collectively changed our position on happiness; we’re doing our best to be happy now, not in some distant future when we’ve accomplished something. Sure, we’ve got stress, after all we’re real estate transaction coordinators, and sometimes being happy isn’t what we really feel like being. However I can say for myself that by simply being conscious of this and doing most of the action steps daily I’ve noticed that when things are stressful, frustrating or even scary, they don’t stay that way as long as they use to. That my focus is actually better, my relationships with others are better and YES, I actually do have more energy.

Being happy is a choice, like many things it takes effort, but the reward is well worth the small amount of work it takes to get there.

Watch Shawn’s talk here and join us in being “Unaverage”.

More than 17 years ago, when I started in real estate, we didn’t use the internet. There were no websites to get instant information on taxes or neighborhoods. We didn’t have “CrackBerrys” or “iPhones” to instantly know when someone wanted us either by mail or text.

Yet, closings took place day after day after day.

Now, I’m not suggesting that we go back to the dark ages, I love technology and can’t imagine life without the internet or my android phone. What I am suggesting is that we regain control over our communication and make meaningful connections to build relationships and future business. Here’s a few strategies we’ve found helpful in our transaction management business that you may also:

Let your clients know that you reply to emails several times a day to ensure they get the best answer to their question possible. This will prevent them from being upset when they don’t get an almost instant reply to their email.

Schedule weekly appointments to check in with clients you’re in contract with. Not only will this make you “the professional” in the eyes of your clients, it will be a better use of everyone’s time. Having a set appointment, like Tuesdays at 2:00 PM, will ensure that the communication happens and that the client is actually available when you call, because they’re expecting it. Comfort them by letting them know you’ll immediately call with anything urgent.

Schedule weekly appointments with key members of your team.  Block off a recurring appointment to connect, keep the communication lines open and update one another on what’s happening in business.  If you have an assistant or are using one of our Fantastic Transaction Coordinators, schedule an appointment to meet with them as well.

While technology is great, it can zap our energy and often eat up time. Setting appointments, keeping in touch and working from a schedule will allow you to get more accomplished. Checking in regularly and connecting with the people you’re working with will also help develop satisfying and fulfilling relationships.

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Halloween Wishes from Pia the Office Manager @ TMC

Here in West Chicago, the winds are kicking up, the temperature is dropping, and the leaves are falling from the trees. There aren’t as many children playing at the park across the street. And just the other day one of my neighbors, a fluffy white dog, was walking her owner and had a bright red sweater on. How insulting!

  Apparently, there is something brewing, and with this being my first year living outside of Florida, I’m not sure what to make of it. Speaking of brewing, those wacky Transaction Coordinators have been up to some shenanigans again. And I have a video to prove it! Check it out below.

  On behalf of the entire team, I want to wish you a Happy Halloween. May you enjoy lots of treats today.

  Sincerely,

      Pia Office Manager/Blogger/Nap Queen