Time is money. Time is wasted, or it is spent. Time is the one resource that every person receives in equal shares. No one gets more than 24 hours in a day, or more than 60 minutes in an hour. Yet REALTORS are routinely waste this precious gift and allow clients too much access to their time until little is left for a rewarding career or personal life.

We Realtors have the ultimate responsibility to control our time. We are the owners of our time and it is no one's responsibility but our own to control how we use this important tool. Unfortunately, as members of a misunderstood industry, we often have three strikes against us before we even begin.

Strike one: The general public has little respect for us as a profession and little understanding of what Realtors really do. Most people think that if they call or page us we should return their call within minutes and drop everything to show them a home or meet with them. They think we should show them our listing at any time of the day or night, even if they have no intentions of buying it, or it is out of their price range, even when they have not met with a lender yet, or even if they have already selected another agent who will be representing them in their purchase.

If the prospect on the other end of the phone has no respect for your time; that prospect will not have respect for the other parts of your service as well. He or she also will not have respect for you as a person. If a prospect has little respect for you, his or her attitude will not change as a client.

You must earn a level of respect for your time on the first call, whether you call the prospect or the prospect calls you. You must set the tone that my time is valuable, and if I am going to give you, the prospect, some of my time I expect to be paid. I am making an investment of my time with that prospect to turn him into a client.

How many times have you called an attorney to ask a few quick questions and you are billed for 15 minutes to 30 minutes of time? You will receive a statement almost every time. Rarely do attorneys not start the meter when they pick up the phone. Of course they do, because the caller is buying their knowledge and their time. Why should we as agents be any different? Our time and knowledge are what we are selling, and we are assisting in some of the most important transactions of our clients' lives.

I know I provide as much value as an attorney - do you? What do you make per hour? Do you have an idea? If you do not, you should. To figure out your hourly wage, take your gross commission dollars earned and divide that figure by the hours you worked in a year. Remember to count all the hours. The answer will give you what you earn per hour. In real estate, it is clear that some activities are worth more per hour than others. Focus on doing the activities that pay you what you are worth per hour. Only a few activities that we do allow us to be highly paid.

Strike two: We help perpetuate the problem by not controlling our clients. There are too many agents who are available 24 hours a day, seven days per week. Can you name another profession in which individual members are on-call 24 hours a day, seven days per week? Our clients do not work a schedule like that in their jobs, why should we? Do you really want to do business with someone who does not want you to have days off or family time? We are proud that we are there for our clients at all times, but you have to weigh whether the cost is worth the reward. If you are losing touch with your family, take back your family time. Inform your clients of your days and evenings off and stick to your schedule, so that you will be able to replenish your energies. It is solely up to you to set a clear standard.

Strike three: We are independent contractors with a wide variance in professional standards. I have observed some of the work habits of my colleagues and found that many do what they want and when. It is not a mystery to me why many of my colleagues do not make any money; they don't treat the real estate profession as a real career. If you want to be successful, you must treat yourself and your career with respect. Show up at the office at the same time every day. Complete your workday at the end of the day. Do not regularly take a two hour lunch break. Your clients are counting on you to do so. If you have that philosophy, you cannot help being successful. I have never seen an agent who came in early and put in a full day's work who was not successful.

Being strong in our time management skills can mean the difference between success and failure in real estate sales. But no one is going to help you develop the time management disciplines you need, not even your broker or manager. Learning to manage your time to be more productive is something you will have to do yourself. And if we all join in, we can raise the standard of performance for the entire profession. And, clients would treat us with more respect for our skills and for our time.

Wouldn't that be a home run?

Published: December 4, 1998

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Dirk Zeller is an Agent, an Investor, and the President & CEO of Real Estate Champions. His company trains more than 350,000 Agents worldwide each year through live events, online training, self-study programs, and newsletters. He's the widely published author of Your First Year in Real Estate, Success as a Real Estate Agent for Dummies®, The Champion Real Estate Agent, Telephone Sales for Dummies®, and over 300 articles in print. You can get more information by visiting RealEstateChampions.com.