The Zero Out Protocol: A New Standard for Accountability | LeadingLane Podcast | Ep 81

I don't know the first thing about computer programming and how to do it. I understand the concept of it, Right. Like computer programmers, they write code to be able to run a function, right? And if there's ever any sort of disruption or the code throws an error, then that programmer goes back and fixes the code of wherever the error was thrown. That's just like the sop, right? That. That's being able to say, okay, where at I'm writing the code, I'm writing sop. Where at in this process did we, you know, run into turbulence? Where was there friction?

Welcome to the Leading Lane podcast for Real Estate Pros by Real Estate Pros, with your hosts, Ashley Frederick and Stephen Burch. If you're looking for an honest, authentic, and raw perspective, you found it.

Welcome back to the Leading Lane podcast. I'm Ashley Frederick. We're here with Stephen Birch. And Steven has a term. You just told me that it's called a zero out protocol.

Yeah, zero. So we've implemented, like, making sure before you even start the day or leave for the day of work. This is for our office staff, making sure that they're zeroing out all of their inboxes. I'm not asking for a 100% resolution, right? Like, it doesn't mean that you have to make sure that everything is 100% resolved. But I think that we have a disconnect in the industry and customer service in general that just giving a response is still positive, even if you don't have an answer for them yet. Just simply acknowledging them that not it. Hey. Yeah, hey. I've been in meetings all day and I haven't gotten to it. I see it. I'll get back with you tomorrow. You know, like something of a simple acknowledgement. And so I know that you're obviously extremely busy and we talk about this all the time. Like, how in the world do you keep up with it? And I know that sometimes it feels overwhelming, but what we do is a cadence, right? Like a rhythm. Getting people into our team into the same rhythm of, you know, on the 15th, this is what we do. On the 18th, this is what we do. And so if we can start chunking things away, it's a little bit easier. Do you do anything like that to keep yourself in either in the office setting, personal setting, or transactional?

Yeah. So I think you are pretty particular about no long email list. So I used to have, you know, a thousand unread emails, and on one of my airplane rides, I was like, I am going to zero out this Email and I've kept up with it. So that's been one thing for me. I think it's not only like the zeroing out, but it's the, you know, delegating part of it. So you're, you know, do nothing with it, delegate it, do it right away. Right. I think that that's been important. I think we might have talked about it last time, but I am using that fixer AI. Yeah almost auto response, you know, and I just change some verbiages or whatnot. So that's helped me in the fact of a lot of times I would read the email, I'm going to come back to it later and then I forgot where that has already drafted a response to me. And I'll be honest, seen a draft in my inbox. I don't know why, but it like puts me off of a, on a curveball. I can't see the draft part. So when I see that like I'm trying to zero out the draft which the AI created. So that has probably helped me be a little bit more accountable for those emails, but it's the same thing. So I try to zero out like in the morning and at night. So I want my email box to be zero when I start the day and then like by 7 o' clock I'm trying to zero it out. I think where I have done well in the past, but I've been struggling lately is I need to do the same thing with text messages and it's not so much it's the zeroing out, but it's more or less just going back to the last 24 hours. So you know, people have to remember that sometimes those text messages come through while you're, you're driving. So I saw it or it came through on the phone when you're in a meeting etc, and I have all intentions of getting back to it. And then another phone call comes in and another phone call comes in. I do like on, on my Android there will be like a, if it's gone like two days, it, it bumps it back up. I don't know if that's the same on iPhones but it'll say like two days ago, do you want to resend? So that's been helpful. Like I sent a seller, a potential seller a text like two days ago, which is strange, didn't get back to me. So it got me alert this morning. They didn't write back. I get, I wish it would give me an alert that I didn't write back to someone. So it's just when someone doesn't respond to mine, it gives that alert. I'm going to have to maybe talk to Android and see if they can figure out one that if I haven't responded for 24 hours. But I've also, excuse me, prepped some of my clients as well. Like if you haven't heard from me in 24 hours, please send me another message because either it got missed or I in my brain and out. So I think that there's. That part of it too is the commun. Communication part of making sure. Like I think someone sent me one on the fourth and I was just not really online on the fourth and then she messaged me like the day after and I was like, thank God you resent me a message because I completely forgot. But I think there has to be some grace with it too. But if my thought is, is if you just spend five morning, five minutes in the morning, look back through your text messages, just go back to the day before and see if there are any that you missed, then you. The best part too is right, you can schedule. So you can maybe you decide to look at it at five o' clock in the morning and you can schedule them all for eight so that you got back to. To people. But I think that that is just a way to not feel so overwhelmed because I think when people see, you know, 35 emails, you start to just almost turn off or 35 missed calls or, you know what I mean, that like it's just a, a daunting task that I think people then try to avoid.

Yeah. And I think that's with anything, you know, not just emails. Like any task in general, it's finding what works for you, what systems or tech or whatever it's going to be. But I think that the difficult part is really when you have a team that you're all working together for the same common goal. If we allow everybody to only work towards their brain and they don't have the same systemized settings and the same cadence and rhythm on what we're working on. Like we're not going anywhere, we're going everywhere, all in different directions, all at the same time. And it kind of creates that kind of, it does create that chaos. So, you know, for, for us, that zero out gives us grounding in the morning. And so as a team level, being able to say, you know, if there's any confusion in the inbox of who does this go to or is this mine or how do I do this? We already have that predetermined Time so that we don't get that overwhelming feeling when the phones really start ringing and the inquiries really start coming in all over the place. So, you know, I think that even looking back at my transactions that I did when I was selling, like for me, I. And maybe it's just my ADHD brain that like I already know that I'm going to be all over the place. So I have to schedule these things and live by my calendar. I think one of my favorite phrases is like, consult my calendar. I have to make sure that I consult my calendar for freaking everything. So, you know, Mondays were when I followed up with all my sellers and providing them the feedback over the showings over the weekend or the open house, right. On Wednesdays I'm doing a check in with all of my files to see what I mean. And I'm working on it. And on Fridays I'm actually talking to the other agents agents to see what I need from them. So then the next week when I start this over again, I, I'm making sure that I'm on top of my stuff. I dropped so many different things when I was sold because I didn't have a system. I forgot about the termite or the home inspection or the whatever it is, right. So I had to be disciplined and schedule my future self. Tell me what to do. And then that morning when I opened up my computer, oh cool, this is what I have to do. I didn't have to think about it and I wouldn't allow myself for those excuses. So tricking myself on how to be able to work well.

And I think I just listened to a podcast about creating SOPs for pretty much everything that you do. Which, right, Like Chat GPT can definitely do that, but as simple as that. Like, I want Mondays to be my follow up with sellers. Can you schedule this? What does this look like? Over 30 minutes, right? And then chat GPT creates it for you. So it's almost like all of these systems that you're having, you know, if you were to create a standard of practice to hold yourself accountable, right? So you've created a standard of practice. So pretend you hired someone or whatever, they'd follow that. But I think that sometimes if you put it in those terms, you can hold yourself to like, I'm not following this system, I'm not doing that step by step. And that's maybe why it's not working. But then when you get in these patterns, I think that's also where you have like less room for interruptions because this is your time Right. So I have that on my like Monday morning follow up with sellers and buyers and. But I always say too like, I'm flexible, right? It's there, but let's say something else. But I move it so it doesn't get, you know, forgotten. But calendars are extremely important, I think. And I know that some people have paper, some people have, you know, digital. For me, I like on the digital that it'll pop up like 10 minutes before, like yesterday I was at a lunch and it was like 1:20 and I'm like, oh my God, I have to be somewhere in, you know, had I not that had that in there, I might have been late for it. Right?

Yeah.

Just because time flies. But even yesterday I had to put in my calendar an hour block to pack. So like I literally had to put it in there so I would go home and pack and then go back to other appointments. So I mean, that's how dedicated I try to be to my calendar.

It's wild, like, and I think, you know, the first I was not a scheduler at all. I couldn't really do it like, you know, because we don't know. And I think that we try to tell ourselves the excuse of, well, this is real estate, you know, every day is completely different. While that is true, I'm here for it, I understand. But you need to be able to prepare for when the day is so wild, when there is so many dumpster fires all over the place that you have to, you know, go and put out. Like if you only chase the fire, that's all you're going to do is just literally be a firefighter and putting out fires. But if you can control your schedule and your the things of your knowns that you have to do, you know that you have different deadlines, you know that you have different tasks that have to be accomplished. And if those are predetermined and scheduled, the dumpster fires are way easier to run to and put out. And because you're so much more intentional with your time and not being stuck, you know, so I like to look at. I'm not a computer programmer at all. I don't know the first thing about computer programming and how to do it. I understand the concept of it, right. Like computer programmers, they write code to be able to run a function, right? And if there's ever any sort of disruption or the code throws an error, then that programmer goes back and fixes the code of wherever the error was thrown. That's just like the sop, right? That, that's Being able to say, okay, where I'm writing the code, I'm writing sop, where at in this process did we, you know, run into turbulence? Where was the friction? Where did we drop the ball? Now since we have it written out, we can clearly identify, oh, well, I missed it here. I missed this deadline. Okay, so now what is the solution to be able to correct that code, that sop, so that next time that that code runs for that program, we're not going to run into that same issue, that same hiccup. So I really tried to put it into those terms again, not that I'm trying to be a coder, but if you live your life by a code and you know that the, the non negotiables, the normal things that you have to do have to be consistent, things are going to be so much easier to be able to identify, correct, grow and scale your company versus if you have nothing written out, you have no code. Well, no, nothing is working for you because there's no standard of practice.

Yeah, I think it's just, it goes back to systems. Right. And so like we have certain things here that staff meets on, on a Thursday to prep for the next week. Right. And these are like non negotiables. So if something happens that day, they have to either move it to the afternoon, they have to move to Friday morning. But those are meetings that are required to keep the ball rolling. And I think a lot of times it's easy to like, we don't have to meet this week or we can meet next time or whatnot. And then I think every time you miss it gets that much farther, like out of control. And then it's harder to, to come back. So I think it's holding true to your calendar. And like for me, one thing is like our office meeting and I get that every now and then things come up, but it is an expectation to be here. So when someone says they scheduled a showing during our 45 minute meeting, it's like a no go for me because that should be like an actual appointment. Like that office meeting should be just as important as the showing you're going to. So, you know, pretend you had another showing. You would tell your client, I'm not available at 9, but I'm available at 10. So we, you know, worked on that and a very well attended meeting. But I think that that's what you have to remember too is we can't bend on every request that comes through. You have to hold tight to your calendar because otherwise that's when other people are managing your calendar and your time and you're not correct.

And I think that's the big thing there too. And you know, as a leader, when I hear that and when, you know, people say, oh, I had, you know, the showing versus the meeting. So that tells me that you're putting me down as a priority. And I understand that clients and appointments are definitely important. That's what, you know, pays the bills, that's why we're in business. But then, you know, later on I can see, you know, other choices that you're making versus taking that lead or whatnot. And so I think to me it's like it then goes into this whole spiral effect of like, man, they, they put me down, I'm not a priority is really what they just told me. Or walking in late with Starbucks. Why didn't you bring me Starbucks? Right? Like, oh, the line was busy. The line at Starbucks is always busy. And why don't you go to the local coffee shop instead and next time if you're going to be late, why don't you bring it for everybody since you were already there. I just think it's like when you can start pushing back and being able to hold true to those, those expectations and standards, when you start allowing the people to be flexible or, you know, not holding them to it, what, what is going to happen then in a transaction? The expectation, the contract is written, it's black, white. And so since you allowed that flexibility and you're not holding them accountable, it only makes me think what's going to happen in the transaction now because they're used to getting away and bending the rules or finding the loophole of how to be able to take and, you know, give them an inch and take a mile. I just don't feel that like it's a non negotiable. Your calendar is non negotiable, the expectations are non negotiable. And life happens. I get it. But that's where it goes back to the communication aspect of things.

I think they're so afraid to, to give on their calendar. And that's taken me a long time too. But I have found that like when you give too much, like that's when you have burnout, that's when you make mistakes, you know, and as tough it is is, you know, sometimes you just have to tell someone like, unfortunately, I'm not available. I'm really sorry, you know, but also like, we work in a tight knit group that if someone is adamant, I will just say like, I'll try to find you another agent. But you know, like, for me, it's golf. Like we go on on Wednesday nights. It's my one thing. And sometimes I'll get somebody that wants to show in that evening and I'm not willing to give. It was in my calendar. It's in my head. It's another appointment. And, and if that's the situation, we look for another time or we find someone else to help you. And I think just being able to know your own worth to not just keep on giving in to people is the other part of it.

Yeah. And let's be real, the, the person on the other side does not know what type of appointment it is.

I don't need to know.

No, like it's already in your calendar. I already have something on my calendar. You're not lying. I already have something that was another engagement. Like, it is what it is. And we, we try to appease so much. And I think that that's what happens a lot of times is that we're, we think that we're trying to help and we're doing well by providing great service because we can drop the, you know, everything that we're doing to run and go and show or go and do this appointment or whatever the case may be. But in reality what we did is we just made whatever task at hand just like the meeting, not a priority and it's going to get dropped. And what if there's information that you're supposed to be retaining from that meeting? Or what if the, you know, that report that you're supposed to have done is, is what has everything in the future, for the next three months together that you're supposed to catch. Like it really throws everything through a loop. If you don't have the cadence, if you don't have it living by your calendar. And I don't care if it's a full day block or if it's, you know, task oriented or if it's whatever, as long as things are getting done, I'm here for it. But the more and more people that you involve into the, the transaction or into the task and to the, whatever, more people into your team, the more chaos, confusion, friction, inconsistencies, you're going to have it. It's just that's part of the formula.

Well, and I think the other thing that I like to encourage people to do is I think we think that something's going to take a long time. Like this is going to take a long time. And you know, I've said it before, but like this is where the timer method comes in, you know, for me. So I had someone that said that they were really struggling with social media and I was like, literally five minutes, just five minutes in the morning. Do your happy birthdays acknowledge some other people? If you want to post something, you don't have the 5.5 minutes, you're done, you know, and the same thing is like for me, I'm psychotic about my kitchen island. Like, I can't leave the house with it full. Feels like it's going to take a half hour. Right. I set the timer for 10 minutes and I'm normally done before the timer goes off. So it's just these little, you know, if you need to set a timer for 10 minutes to go back to your emails, even the middle of the day, like 10 minutes, gonna turn my phone over, close my door, get through all my emails, get whatever I can do in 10 minutes. Just gets you that much farther ahead of the day.

Yeah. Atomic Habit is a great book to read, right. It talks about the, you know, in the compound effect, being able to marry these things with other habits that you already are doing. So if you are already in the habit of, you know, when you get to the office to go and make coffee, great, either put checking, zeroing out your email before coffee and then you can reward yourself with coffee or right after because you're already getting up and make it. The first thing that when you do, when you sit down with your cup of coffee is to go through and zero that out. There's little tricks and ways to be able to help yourself develop these positive habits and continuing them all the way through. Um, but yeah, you're, you're. It's wild how some people just go with the flow. I used to be one of those people all the time. And I also know that that's why, you know, like when we go on vacation, right. I want to do nothing. I want to plan nothing at all. Because every day, everything that I do is always about the consistency and the checklist in the calendar and scheduling. So I need those times to not do anything either. But I could not imagine doing that anymore. I. I wouldn't. I would have no hair in, all gray beard. Completely look like freaking bald Santa. Yeah.

I mean, it comes after time, right? I think that that's like a new. Like you're so excited, but that's just so much quicker to burnout is when you're just kind of flailing, if you will. So working on structure, working on the zeroing out, giving yourself some time, making timers using, you know, the. The apps that are available for you for your calendar and to do lists. Asana. Those types of things like make those systems work for you.

Correct. And stop trying to. My. My phrase that I've been saying the last month or so is stop taking a square and trying to fit it in a circle. No, like, if it's not working, it's okay, that's fine, move on. But let's stop banging our head against the wall trying to make it work. Let's find something better or that will actually fit and work for everybody. But also don't be a, you know, new shiny object and never truly implement anything. And now you have all these app subscriptions and nothing's working for you. You're working on all the apps. So. Yeah, get your shit together. You got this. I'm talking to myself. Right. Cool. Well, great convo as always. If you have a topic or you would like to be a guest, please reach out to us. We would love to have you, and I hope to have you next time.

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