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By Jessie Trapp, Marketing Coordinator
So, you’ve decided to take a vacation. I applaud you for taking initiative to achieve a healthy work-life balance! The bad news – nearly 60% of people say that they continue working while they’re away. As an agent, it can be tough to hit the “off” button, but it’s essential in order to truly enjoy your well-deserved time out of the office.
To avoid you becoming the person checking their email at the beach (no one wants to be that person), we’ve compiled a quick pre-vacation checklist to ensure that you can make the most of your trip and feel confident that your business is covered before you take off.
1. Let your clients know ahead of time.
The more notice, the better. Scheduling your vacation as far in advance as possible will make this process run more smoothly – but we get it, things occasionally come up last minute. Regardless of when it happens, send out an email or pick up the phone to let your clients and coworkers know you’ll be leaving the second your plans are solidified. This will remove any potential guilt on your end and they will appreciate your efforts to keep them in the loop.
2. Set expectations.
Make it blatantly clear to clients when you will be leaving and when you will be available again using exact dates and times. No one enjoys feeling overwhelmed the second before a trip, so consider extending the dates you tell your clients by an extra day on either end. This will allow you plenty of time to wrap up last-minute tasks without being bombarded by more to-dos prior to your vacation, and a day to ease back into the flow of things upon your return.
3. Prioritize.
To prevent things from getting messy, prioritize exactly what you need to do before you leave and what is best left until after. Make a clear plan of when you will complete your tasks by to avoid leaving everything until the last day which, if you’re anything like me, will already be filled up with the packing you have successfully procrastinated until the very last second to do.
4. Send out a last call email.
You don’t want to leave your clients in the dark, but you also want to enjoy a work-free vacation. In order to accomplish both, send out a “last call” email one week prior to your departure to see if there are any last-minute tasks you can complete before you log out of your email. And just to make things clear, you will be logging off your email. Trust us, it’s a must in order to avoid any temptation to work during your vacation.
5. Set up an automated reply.
Setting up an automated “out-of-office” reply for your email is the key to avoiding any mix-ups and hurt feelings. You want to choose one that leaves a positive feel, possibly even a laugh – so check out this article for some inspiration to get it right.
6. Assign points of contact.
If you are vacationing somewhere where you can absolutely not be reached – good for you. In this case, make sure to dedicate someone to handle emergencies for you in case any arise. Your brokerage manager or someone equivalent will likely do the trick!
Six simple steps to a work-free, stress-free vacation – that’s not so bad, right? Covering all your bases prior to your vacation will ensure that your reputation as an agent remains in-tact and will allow you to rest assured that your vacation will do no harm to your career long-term. Rest, relax & recharge – you’ve earned it!
