Our CEO, Victor Lund, is always saying it: "Plan your work and work your plan." And he's usually saying it when he's trying to motivate our team to do the things we don't want to do. He's a smart guy; he knows that it's easy to remember the things you enjoy but conveniently easy to forget the things you dislike.

Technology Can Help

What are the things most real estate agents don't enjoy? Cold calling is a good example. It's essential for your business, but it's the last thing you want to do. So you put it off . . . to your own detriment. Instead of continuing this pattern with cold calls and the other tasks you dread, it might be time to find ways to keep yourself on track. Technology can help; here are a few suggestions:

CRMs
Invest in a CRM. Customer Relationship Management tools organize contacts and automate some of the tasks for keeping in touch with those contacts. In fact, some CRMs offer pre-programmed activity plans with calendar reminders.

• Read more about CRMs
• Find a CRM

Transaction Management
Many transaction management tools also include a calendar to remind you about important tasks. These tend to be transaction-specific (linked to a certain listing), rather than related to general business development (like cold calling), but they can be helpful in reminding you to check-in on whether or not documents have been signed, etc.

• Read more about Transaction Management
• Find a Transaction Management tool