Not Enough Time? Set Better Boundaries - Part 2

Place More Value on Your Time

Last year I had a client who was being run ragged by her business. She was in real estate and was relatively new to the field, less than a year. Like many newbies in the real estate field, she received most of her clients by being in the right place at the right time on her "office days" taking in-coming calls from prospective buyers.

One such prospective buyer was a business man from New Jersey interested in a summer home in the Hudson Valley region of New York, where we live. He was very demanding, and had a busy schedule and could only come look at homes on short notice, as he never knew when he'd have free time. So, many times he would call when he was ready to leave his home or office (about a 2-hour drive), and expect my client to be ready to show him some homes when he arrived.

When the call came, my client would drop everything and be ready to show him homes. Of course, many times, he showed up late with no apology and expected my client to serve him on his schedule. My client was stressed and frustrated, and dreaded meeting her client everytime. She called me wanting a solution.

I said, "you have to set boundaries with him."

"What do you mean?" - she asked

I said, "let's role play. I'll be your client and you be you, okay?"

She said, "Okay."

I said, "I'm coming up this weekend to look at homes and the only time I'm available is between 2am-4am on Sunday morning, I'll see you then, and I'm sure you'll have a few great options for me to look at, right?"

She said, "You're kidding, right?"

I said, "No, that's the only time I can make it and I need to do it this weekend, 'cause I'm away on business the next two weeks."

She said, "You're crazy!"

I said, "No, you're crazy! That is what you are basically allowing your client to do to you. Granted, you're not showing homes at 2am, yet, but he hasn't asked you yet either. In every other way you are doing exactly that. You have to take control of this relationship if you want to be successful."

She asked, "What do you mean?"

I said, "You do not value yourself enough to place a value on your time. You need to decide what your time is worth."

I coached her saying, "I want to you schedule only 3 days each week when you will show homes to prospects, and to pick in advance the 4-hour time slots on those days you will show homes. By taking control of your business you will automatically project professionalism, and confidence and this will do two things:

1) You're present and future clients will work around your schedule;

2) You will begin attracting more of the type of people you want to work with


Both things will begin to make you more successful.

She took my advice, doubled her production by the end of the year, and started this year by closing a deal on a home valued at $500,000. Before taking this new approach in setting boundaries, she wouldn't have come within a mile of even thinking she could list and close a deal on a home valued at half-million dollars!

What can you learn from that story about setting boundaries? How can you use it?

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