The ability to focus is crucial to achieving success in any endeavors we try. Why do some agents work 70 hours per week while others can work 40 hours for the same results? From personal experience, I know I would not have been able to work a four-day work week without intense focus. How well do you focus? How well do you stay singly concentrated on the task in front of you?

We counsel our clients to time-block their days in order to learn a deeper focus. This time-blocking allows them to stay focused on one thing at that moment. When Michael Jordan is shooting a free throw, he is singularly focused on the free throw. He is not thinking about the foul, the next play they will run, or the defensive scheme to use against his opponents. He is focusing on the free throw and nothing else.

There are always people and circumstances that will try to take you out of your focus such as your prospects, the other agents, your staff, and your clients. The key is not to be distracted by outside forces. During a NBA game, when the visiting team is shooting a free throw, the crowd has long thin balloons that they wave violently to distract the player. Since the backboard is glass, if the shooter is not focused on the rim he will miss the shot. All he should look at and focus on is the rim.

We all have a few rims that we need to focus on every day, such as the rim of prospecting, lead follow-up, listing appointments, showing property, and writing and negotiating contracts. By focusing intently on these rims daily you will achieve massive success in real estate sales.

We are all focusing on something at every moment. For example right now you are focusing on this article. How often are we focusing on the wrong thing? The key is to be focusing on the right thing. If you carry a lighted flashlight that is focused up instead of down at your feet, what would be the odds that you would trip in the dark? The odds, I say, would be fairly good. The flashlight is pointing at something; it just might not be pointing at the right thing.

The most successful people focus on the process not the product. The product is a natural outcome of doing the process well. The process repeated daily truly separates the producers from the non-producers. The process needs to be broken down to what they need to do each and every day to get the product they desire.

The process in real estate is very simple. It is the:

• Generation of new leads daily
• Follow-up on the leads you have daily
• Ask all leads for an appointment daily
• Qualify all leads and appointments daily
• Practice your appointment skills daily (i.e. buyer interview, listing appointment, scripts and dialogues, and objection handling)
• Go on appointments daily
• Ask your appointments to do business with you

If you focus on this process and incorporate it into your daily routine, the product of commission earned, sales made, listings taken, and financial independence for your family will be assured.

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Published: October 15, 1999

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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.