Do Agents Really Run On Systems? Or Just Good Instincts?

Agents often talk about systems, workflows, and playbooks. Ask someone how they manage their business, and you’ll likely hear about a CRM they use, a transaction checklist they follow, or a preferred vendor list they’ve built up over time. There’s a sense that the business is under control, that things are streamlined. But when you start asking questions or watching how the work actually gets done, it’s usually less about structure and more about reflexes. Habits. Muscle memory.

And that’s not a knock. It’s a testament to experience. Most agents didn’t get where they are by diagramming operational workflows. They got there by solving problems fast and reading the situation better than the next person. It’s not that they have no system—it’s that the system lives in their head. It's instinct. They know what to do because they’ve done it before. That knowledge is real. But it’s also reactive. And over time, it starts to burn energy.

According to the 2024 NAR Technology Survey, 78% of respondents said they're not seeking out new technology tools.  

This becomes especially clear in the parts of the job that rely on other people. The parts you can’t fully control. Like repair coordination. Pre-listing updates, inspection items, move-in touch-ups. These things happen in nearly every transaction, but they rarely unfold the same way twice. Sometimes you’ve got a go-to person who can jump in. Sometimes you’re scrambling for someone new. Sometimes you just negotiate a credit and hope it doesn’t come back to bite you. Whatever gets the job done.

You can get pretty far that way. But at some point, you start to feel it. The texts. The follow-ups. The “hey, just checking in” messages. The client worried if you’re on top of everything. The potential listing delay. The inspection deadline creeping up. The sense that something small will knock your whole timeline off balance. Not because you don’t care. Not because you don’t know what needs to happen. But because you’re back in improv mode, a Jenga tower starting to lean, wondering if this was avoidable. 

That’s the thing about instinct-based workflows. They work. Until they get in the way. And most of the time, you don’t notice that until you’re already in the middle of a deal. You feel it in the background stress, the distractions, the missed opportunity to spend time elsewhere. It’s not about being unprepared. It’s about having too many moving parts still running on hope and hustle.

There’s no perfect system. Every transaction has variables. But if there’s one part of the process that deserves more structure than most agents give it, it’s probably repairs. Not because they’re the hardest part, but because they’re one of the easiest to underestimate. And when they go wrong, they tend to take everything else with them.

Take our survey about repair workflows