Trend: Consumers are Choosing Agents Differently
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Trend: Consumers are choosing agents differently. This is trend # 9 of 10 trends I’ve identified as very important for new agents to recognize. These trends are from my new 5th edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.
This month, I’m featuring excerpts from this book.
{Click here to see the updates in my fifth edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.}
Also: Check the end of this blog for your free ‘end of sale’ survey to capture and keep more loyal clients.
How Consumer Habits have Changed
Traditionally, consumers either stumbled upon an agent (e.g., going into an open house) or got a referral from a friend. Although thata��s still true, consumers have another powerful method to choose an agent: the Internet. Increasingly, consumers are looking at evaluations on Internet sites such as Zillow or LinkedIn to find out what other clients thought about that agent. Take a look yourself. Some of the evaluations are wonderful. Some are stunningly awful. And all are very public! There are even specific agent-rating sites such as www.realestateratingz.com and www.incredibleagents.com. Also, take a look at Zillow, which has agent ratings now. Bank of America and USAA are also getting into the game. You must work for long-term customer engagement and great ratings to sustain your real estate business. This will continue as a trend, and, I believe, change the way consumers choose and keep their agents!
* Big Idea: It costs six to nine times more to get a new client than to keep an existing client. Retention is king, and reputation is key.
{In the book, I’ve given positives and ‘watch fors’ to agents so they have great judgment on how to use these trends.}
- Positives: It will be great for those competent, caring agents who really take care of their clients. It is easier now for potential clients to get feedback from third-party sources, clients just like them.
- Watch out for: Doing a next kind of business, where you dona��t care what happens after the sale. The client has recourse now, of the most expensive kinda��a poor review!
Tip: Always use a a�?after salea�� survey to find out what your clients thought of your service. If youa��d like a sample survey form, click here.
Managers: Have you read your agents’ clients’ feedback online? Make it a regular habit!
Are You Using the Best Start-Up Plan for your New Agents?
Does your plan have the detailed, prioritized checklists needed to assure a great start? Does it have built-in inspiration and motivation? Does it have dozens of tips to control the attitude? If not, you need Up and Running in 30 Days. Just out in its 5th edition, it’s the most successful book for new real estate agents ever!
Click here to see the updates in my fifth edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.
Are your agents systematized in their businesses–or are they flying ‘by the seat of their pants’?
This month, I’m featuring excerpts from my new 5th edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.
{Click here to see the updates in my fifth edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.}
In this latest edition of Up and Running, I’ve identified 10 real estate trends that most critically affect how agents do business. Here’s trend #4: Systematization.
Why Systematize with Technology
To be more effective, you need to a�?duplicate and delegate.a�? The trend today is for agents to move faster and better by systematizing what they do and using technology to do it.
The First Step: Create Checklists and Processes
The first step is to create checklists and processes for everything you do. These become your systems. For you new agents, take full advantage of every checklist and presentation your company offersa��and those here in Up and Running in 30 Days . Youa��ll save hundreds of hours of time and energy, because these resources are the result of expertsa�� work. Your clients want to know that you have systems so that you provide a high quality of work every time.
* Big Idea: Ita��s much easier to refine a ready-made system than to create one from scratch.
Your Second Step: Add the right Technology
Your second job is to find some technology to support these processes. Your company may have already done that research work for you. It is amazing to me the number of agents who do not take advantage of the technology their company has paid for in research, development, or partnering costs. For example, one large franchise had partnered with a lead follow-A�up company to ensure that their agents had a simple, effective method to follow their Internet leads. The franchise spent thousands of dollars and hours researching companies to ensure that they chose a company in the agentsa�� best interests. They negotiated a great price for their agents, too. However, only about half of the agents in that franchise took advantage of the thousands upon thousands of dollars their company spent to create that partner agreement. I just cana��t see any reason not to take advantage of such a great opportunitya��unless the agent just didna��t care to be successful!
In this newest edition of Up and Running, I have a comprehensive References/Resources section. Ia��ve asked experts in the real estate field to name their favorite technology and Ia��ve provided their recommendations to you.
Gary Richter, one of my agent contributors, advises: a�?Get off your computer and go out into the areas. Focus on business-producing activities.a�? {and use technology as a support}
* Big Idea: Use the technology and systems your company has invested in for your convenience.
Pros and Cons of Systematization with Technology
- Positives: Youa��re going into the industry as it has matured in its choices for needed technology. It will be easier for you to choose those that are important to your career success.
- Watch out for: Invest quickly enough, but dona��t invest in gimmicks. Also, dona��t let yourself think that if you have all the technology toys, youa��ll be successful.
* Big Idea: Duplicate and delegate.
So, here are my questions to you: Have your agents started organizing their businesses with checklists and processes? Have theyA� taken advantage of your company’s resources? Are they starting with the technology they offer to you?
Are You Using the Best Start-Up Plan for your New Agents?
Does your plan have the detailed, prioritized checklists needed to assure a great start? Does it have built-in inspiration and motivation? Does it have dozens of tips to control the attitude? If not, you need Up and Running in 30 Days. Just out in its 5th edition, it’s the most successful book for new real estate agents ever!
Click here to see the updates in my fifth edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.
Client relationship management: When do your agents start–and how can you help them capture and keep clients from day one?
This month, I’m featuring excerpts from my new 5th edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.
{Click here to see the updates in my fifth edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.}
Client Relationship Management Supports Great Time Management
One of the biggest benefits of Up and Running in 30 Days is gaining strategies to conquer time managementa��prioritization and organization. A new agent starts with little concept of whata��s importanta��so everything becomes importanta��or everything becomes unimportant! Their priorities get skewed because of bad training, hiding in low-impact activities, or really not knowing whata��s important. So, time management becomes an agenta��s biggest challengea��whether that agent is in the business three days or thirty years.
The Biggest Key to Effective Time Management
One of the biggest ways to constantly move ahead is to organize your contacts and leads into a database from day one. Yet, very few new agents do this. Why?
- They dona��t think ita��s important for them now (they dona��t realize that every person they meet could be a gold minea��if they track that person, constantly communicate with that person, and show that they care more than a commission!)
- They dona��t think they can afford a client relationship management. Yet, almost everyone has Outlook on their computers. Or, title companies over free contact management. There really is no excuse for not utilizing some type of electronic organization from day one!
For this 5th edition of Up and Running in 30 Days, I asked successful first year agents and leaders of teams what they felt contributed to an agenta��s successa��and what detracted. When I asked those agent and team leader contributors what technology is important to incorporate, herea��s what they said:
a�?CRM and lead management toolsa�?a��Diane Honeycutt
a�?A really good and easy-to-use CRMa�?a��Cerise Paton
a�?A good CRMa�?a��Chris Cross. Yet, Chris has told me that, when he teaches a new agent course, only about 10% of those new agents are populating even a database, although, their assignment is to populate it aggressively.
According to Gary Richter, having a CRM is critical to his success: a�?For me having a CRM to track my leads and contacts is absolutely critical. I live in that database daily.a�?
Picture this: You meet a potential client, and a competing agent like Gary meets that potential client, too,A� The other agent (Gary) consistently followed up and kept in toucha��and you didna��t. Who would finally earn that commission from that client? Dona��t lose out because you are trying to operate without a CRMa��and have a haphazard follow-up marketing plan!
So, dona��t be like the majority of new agents (and even seasoned agents!): Start using a database, or better yet, a CRM your first week in the business.
A�Bottom Line: Youa��ll Make More Money!
A recent study by Active Rain (a popular real estate blog and tech information center), showed that agents who spent more money on contact relationship management (CRM) made significantly more money. It just makes sense. Agents who capture their leads via a database and then keep in touch with them via contact management software assure they keep their names in front of their potential clients, and are able to management and help many more clients. Agents who try to organize their clients via pieces of scrap paper and remember to call them once in awhile are woefully inadequate when it comes to staying in meaningful contact with their potential clients. Which agent would you prefer working with, as a client? An agent who regularly contacted you and kept you abreast of the market, or one who either never called you or contacted you irregularly?
So, the big lesson here is to organize all your contacts into a database, or better yet, client relationship managementa��from day one! Which CRM should you use? Dona��t dither around! Choose one and start. You can always expert your contacts to a more robust program later.
Note: I got lots of recommendations on CRMs from my tech experts for Up and Running in 30 Days. I have made an extensive Resources section in this 5th edition of Up and RunningA� to list all the resources, including all types of technology, training, and support resources.
Managers: Using Up and Running with its extensive resources will save you so much time–and your agents will thank you forever!
Are You Using the Best Start-Up Plan for your New Agents?
Does your plan have the detailed, prioritized checklists needed to assure a great start? Does it have built-in inspiration and motivation? Does it have dozens of tips to control the attitude? If not, you need Up and Running in 30 Days. Just out in its 5th edition, it’s the most successful book for new real estate agents ever!
Click here to see the updates in my fifth edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.
Easiest, Least Expensive Thing To Do to Get Business
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Here’s the easiest, least expensive, and effective thing your agents can do to get business.
Having hired and trained probably hundreds of new agents, I know the myriad of questions they have. So, here’s the simplest, yet most effective thing you can teach your new agents (and your experienced agents) to do.
Herea��s the answer to the question, a�?What is the one thing I should do to get business?a�? Yes, people are always asking me that. I think ita��s because Ia��ve written two resources for would-be and new agents: What They Don’t Teach You in Pre-License SchoolA� and Up and Running in 30 Days . By the way, Up and Running was just published in its 5th edition!
Now, we know that becoming a skilled real estate agent isna��t just one answer. But, there is one thing new agents can do that requires
No skill
No experience
No money
Little time
And, this one thing will make you stand out from the crowd better than any other one thing you could do! What is it? Simply:
Write a thank you note (a real hard copy note, not an email)
Why?
Because manners and a�?thank yousa�� have gotten increasingly uncommon! You will stand out simply because youa��ve taken the time, thought about that person, and cared enough to writea��and put that stamp on it.
Write More Than One Note
Ia��m not going to tell your new agents to write a certain number of notes per day. You and your agents can set your standard (that means the minimum youa��ll do).
What to Say
Thank you. Thinking about you. I appreciate you. I used your advice. Herea��s something for you that would be helpful. I found the information you wanted.
Note to managers: This is also one of the strongest motivational tools you’ll ever have–writing notes to your agents with encouragement, thanks, etc. Do you do enough of it? Set your own goals now.
Big important sales principle:
Contacting people is simply finding an excuse to write, pick up the phone, or go see. Retaining salespeople is similar!
My challenge: How creative can you get?
Your agents are more creative than they think they are. Now, get them to sit down and think hard about 5 people they’ve started to work with, but need to contact now. What about them fits into any scenario for you to write that note, pick up the phone, or go see?
They are now using a�?advanceda�� sales techniques, and they already know how to do all of this.
Sales meeting tip: One of the managers I know actually has agents write these notes during a sales meeting, and brainstorms the reasons one could write a note.
Proof is in the Pudding
My first year in real estate, I sold 40 homes. Also, I sent more things in the mail than any other of the 30 agents in my office. Why? Because I wanted to create a a�?critical massa�� of people who thought I was wonderful. Yes, an agent can also do this with social media. But, you want to stand out. And, you will stand out much more if you write to one person than to many. After all, you are working with that one person who will pay you thousands of dollars. He/she is worth that special, individual effort! That’s the one thing your agentsA� should do to get business.
Managers: How are you making this simple tip work for you and your agents?
Help Your Agents Get a Sale Much Faster!
Why not provide your agents a proven business start-up plan, along with hundreds of success tips? Check out the new 5th edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.
Are you getting the biggest ‘bang’ for your training buck?
Are you frustrated because your training isn’t getting results? Or, people just aren’t showing up? Or, worse yet, falling asleep in that factoid-heavy class?
Maybe you have a specific problem you’ve noticed when you read your latest profit and loss statement. For instance: Perhaps your agents are giving too many commission concessions.
If you’re experiencing any of these challenges, you’ll love the tool here. I’m providing an insightful analytical tool to discover what’s right–and wrong–with your training.
Three main reasons your training isn’t working:
1. It isn’t tied to the problems you want to solve in your office (agents not productive enough, commissions too low, etc.)
2. It doesn’t teach your agents to perform better–just gives information
3. It isn’t exciting enough–teacher just drones on and on…..
As I work with owners, managers and trainers internationally, I see these same three problems crop up over and over.
Click here to get your analytical tool — along with tips to correct your training to make it pay off.
Affiliates: Share this with the managers/trainers in the offices you call on. Use these tips, too, to streamline the training you provide.
Want Help in Improving your Training?
Why not get some assistance in refining your training, creating or improving your training calendars, and energizing your courses with refreshing and effective training methods? Carla Cross has helped the major franchises internationally do just that, and she will help you, too.
Customized coaching to:
- Improve training, training calendars and resultsA�
- Insert more exciting training methods into courses to improve attendance
- Create methods to assure better training results
- Contact Carla to find out how she can help you get better results from your training. Each coaching series is customized to meet your needs and get the results you want.
These series range from 2 sessions to 6, depending on your needs. Carla will work with you one-on-one or with your group of trainers.
How Good is Your Agents’ Start-Up Plan?
By · CommentsHow good is your agents’ start-up plan? (Or, do they have a start-up plan?!)
This month, I’m featuring excerpts from my new 5th edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.
{Click here to see the updates in my fifth edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.}
You know what your training will do for you. So I hope you are convinced you also need to implement a business start-up plan to put all that information in perspective. But watch outa��there are more poor ones than good ones out there. As a CRB (Certified Real Estate Broker) instructor for 12 years, I taught thousands of owners and managers nationally. I saw plenty of poor plans managers shared with me. (These were the plans they were giving their agents, too.)
Commonalities of Poor Plans
- They are laundry lists of busywork activities interspersed with activities that actually make you money, so the agent doesna��t get any evaluative perspective to self-manage.
- They do not prioritize lead-generating activities, so the agent thinks all types of lead generation have equal payoffs.
- They do not have methods of setting goals, keeping track of results, and analyzing results to make changes quickly. (Up and Running provides sales ratios so you learn how many specific actions it takes to get the results you want.)
- They do incorrectly prioritize actions. For example, as a high priority, they direct the new agent to a�?see all the inventorya�? before doing anything else. The rationale is that ita��s very important to see all the inventory to build a knowledge base. It is important, but only as it relates to working with buyers and sellers. (Ita��s the means, not the end.) But new agents dona��t want to do the high-rejection, high-risk activities such as talking to people. So they gladly see all the inventory until it becomes their job descriptions!
- They do include plenty of a�?busyworka�? as equal priority to lead generatinga��such as a broker having an agent visit a title company to learn how it operates. This keeps the agent busy and out of the brokera��s hair! Also, the new agent loves the broker for a while, because the broker isna��t asking the new agent to do those high-rejection activitiesa��those activities that lead to a sale!
Bottom line: No would-be successful agent in his right mind would continue doing this type of plan any longer than he had to, because the successful agent recognizes the plan is a poor one.
* Big Idea: Be very critical before you commit to any start-up plan. It is prioritizing your mind! The start-up plan you may love because it keeps you out of sales activities isna��t the plan that is going to love you back (get you the sales you want). What you do every day becomes your job description.
An Effective Start-Up Plan
Here are the six attributes of an effective business start-up plan:
- Does not give equal weight to all activities
- Provides an organized activities schedule with certain activities prioritized first because they lead to a sale (in Up and Running, these are called a�?business-producinga�? activities)
- Includes an organized activities schedule with certain activities prioritized seconda��and explaining why (In Up and Running, these are called a�?business-supportinga�? activities)
- Provides a road map for a continuing plan (remember that a�?plan for lifea�??)
- Builds in the a�?whya�? of the plan structure, so you learn to self-manage
- Has a method to measure and make adjustments in your plan as you progress
- Has a coaching component, so someone can coach you effectively to the plan
Managers/trainers: How well did your start-up plan score? Why not try using a proven plan that gets much better results faster? You’ll increase your retention and your profits!
Are You Using the Best Start-Up Plan for your New Agents?
Does your plan have the detailed, prioritized checklists needed to assure a great start? Does it have built-in inspiration and motivation? Does it have dozens of tips to control the attitude? If not, you need Up and Running in 30 Days. Just out in its 5th edition, it’s the most successful book for new real estate agents ever!
Click here to see the updates in my fifth edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.
Why Your Agents Need to ‘Go Visual’
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Do your agents try to ‘tell’ their clients everything, or do they show them with credibility and evidence? If you’re not teaching your agents to ‘back up their mouths’ with the credibility of visuals (3rd party sources, statistics, graphs, etc.), you’re not helping them create trust and rapport with their clients!
This month, I’m featuring excerpts from my new 5th edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.
{Click here to see the updates in my fifth edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.}
Here’s one about the credibility/visual issue:
This week, Ia��ve asked you to start organizing your seller and buyer visual presentations. Why? Because I want to give you every bit of support, every bit of guidance, every bit of added edge I can to ensure you convert leads to customers and clients. Creating visual systems does five things for you:
- It makes you look credible and professionala��we believe what we see, not what we hear.
- It is a self-teaching toola��youa��ll learn how to counter those objections and how to present to buyers and sellers 100 percent faster with these tools than without them.
- Youa��ll learn how to best organize your presentation to flow smoothly.
- Youa��ll learn the visuals that best counter the common objections.
- It is a great confidence-building toola��you will never feel like youa��re out on a limb without the answers to sellersa�� and buyersa�� questions.
Trying to give a professional presentation without the visuals is like trying to play a Mozart sonata just by listening to it. Trust mea��as a musician. It cana��t be done. Not only is it very difficult to remember what you wanted to say to a buyer or seller when youa��re under stress, it just isna��t nearly effective for you. I know because Ia��ve had agents do listing presentations in class for other agents with visuals and without them. The agents without visuals were voted worse presenters and not as credible as those with visuals!
Youa��re Going to See and Hear the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
When you talk to agents in your office about presentations and objections, you are going to be amazed. Some of the information you get will be very good. Some will be very outdated. Some will be outright wrong or bad. What may be stunning to you is the lack of substantiation for what agents tell you. Even though wea��ve been teaching agents for years to a�?put your visuals where your mouth is,a�? most agents just think they can talk people into anything!
* Big Idea: Put your visuals where your mouth is.
Are You Using the Best Start-Up Plan for your New Agents?
Does your plan have the detailed, prioritized checklists needed to assure a great start? Does it have built-in inspiration and motivation? Does it have dozens of tips to control the attitude? If not, you need Up and Running in 30 Days. Just out in its 5th edition, it’s the most successful book for new real estate agents ever!
Click here to see the updates in my fifth edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.
How You Can Help Your Agents Create a Better Future
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How can you help your agents create a better future? In my best-selling book (the business start-up plan for the new agent), Up and Running in 30 Days, now in its 5th edition, I tackle lots of motivational, inspirational, and attitude challenges. I want to help you help your agents master the real estate business! Here’s an excerpt from the 5th edition, just out:
{Click here to see the updates in my fifth edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.}
Creating the Future You Really Want
You have been in the business three weeks. {This excerpt is from week 3 of the 4-week quick start plan). Is your image of yourself different from the one you had when you started in this business? Successful performers have learned to create a completed picture of themselves as great performersa��long before they are terrific performers. This helps them to predict the outcome of their efforts. If you dona��t know where youa��re going, you cana��t get there!
Seeing Yourself in the Future as You Want to Envision YOU
Lou Tice, the founder of Pacific Institute, calls this skill self-efficacy. It is the ability to create yourself as a finished product in your head and hold that image, even though no one in the outside world has a clue that you are going to end up that way. What a skill! This technique is practiced in karate. When our son, Chris, took karate lessons he first watched great performersa��black beltsa��performing the katas (fighting moves in a format) and kumite (actual fighting). Then he envisioned himself performing each part of these movesa��just like they did. Finally, he performed the moves for his coach, very slowly, practicing perfectly.
How Coaching Supports that Future Vision
Chris’s karate coach watched carefully to ensure that he was practicing perfectly. After he perfected each move in context, he practiced performing faster. This method of creating perfect performance paid off. He won many medals in national and international competitiona��even while experiencing great growth spurts. His developed skill of self-efficacy ensured that his mind would hold the picture of his perfect performance. This skill has proved to be invaluable throughout his life.
* Big Idea: To become a master of whatever you want, hold your future picture of yourself more strongly than your present reality.
Develop the Professional a�?Youa�?
Take a few minutes in a quiet place by yourself. Imagine yourself as the successful real estate agent you intend to be.
What will you do?
What kind of recognition and power will you gain?
What affiliations will you make that reflect your ideal of yourself as a pro?
Create a movie with you as the star, complete with the movement, color, dialogue, tastes, and smells. Make it fun, exciting, and rewardinga��in color. Play it over and over in your head 20 times a day for a month. Doing this will counteract your a�?growth spurtsa�?a��objections, barriers, negative self-talk, lost leadsa��as you start your career. You must develop some mental ammunition.
Remember, people treat you as they see you.
They cana��t see the new movie you have created until you start acting it out. Even then, they will try to put you back into your a�?old movie.a�? Ita��s human nature. Unwittingly, we help our friends fail by not becoming supporting players in their new picture. You must have a strong movie to move yourself in the direction you want to go so that others can get caught up in the new action and let go of the old.
* Big Idea: Develop an ideal future a�?moviea�? of yourself, with color, sound, and feeling.
Managers and coaches: What skills do you have to help your agent become that agent you know he/she could be?
A�Are You Using the Best Start-Up Plan for your New Agents?
Does your plan have the detailed, prioritized checklists needed to assure a great start? Does it have built-in inspiration and motivation? Does it have dozens of tips to control the attitude? If not, you need Up and Running in 30 Days. Just out in its 5th edition, it’s the most successful book for new real estate agents ever!
Click here to see the updates in my fifth edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.
Are You Helping Your Agents be Accountable?
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Are you helping your agents be accountable? Did you think it was even your job?
I’ve just published the 5th edition of Up and Running in 30 Days. In it, I’ve included lots of up-to-the-minute updates. You can read some of them, in these blogs.
Click here to see the updates in my fifth edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.
Below is an excerpt from the newest edition of the book. I’ve included the important principle of accountability, to help you help your agents follow through and see real results fast.
Why the Best Business Plans Don’t Work
Youa��ve heard it before. Business people make fancy, multi-page, even excellent business plans, and then fail. Why? Because making the plan doesna��t ensure success. Doing the plan does. (You wouldna��t expect that if you studied the life of Mozart you could automatically play a Mozart sonata, would you?)
*Big Idea: No success is realized without action.
If action brings about success, then why dona��t people get into action?
Because ita��s human nature not to! So what is the missing ingredient you need, besides a great start-up plan and action-oriented training so you have the skills to implement the plan? You need someone to be accountable to. Study after study shows that we attain our goals when we are accountable, regularly, short-term, to someone. Thata��s because we human beings tend to work on time frames and schedules. (Do you really get your taxes done by April 15 because you love doing them?) Those studies prove we work best on deadlines. We work best when we have a heavy workload. We work best when we have high expectations of ourselves, and we have someonea��our coacha��who shares those high expectations. (I know all this from being a pianist from age four, and having the privilege of being taught by exceptional piano coaches.)
* Big Idea: People succeed not because they have a plan. They succeed because they get into action and are accountable to the plan.
Keeping the priorities straight without a coach is very difficult to do.
I know what youa��re going to tell me. Youa��re goal-oriented. Youa��re a self-starter. You dona��t need a coach. Thata��s what most new agents say, and over 50 percent of them fail their first year in the business! Unless you have already attained high performance in music, sports, and the like, how would you realize that you cana��t achieve those high levels of performance without a coach?
* Big Idea: The habits you form your first month in the business greatly influence your career successa��forever.
Most agents have never been in a field that requires such a high degree of self-direction and the mastery of many skills to succeed. So they dona��t know how easy it will be to get priorities all backwards! They also dona��t realize how difficult it is to change a bad habit. If you want to be a great pianist, youa��d find a great teacher, wouldna��t you? So, look at starting your real estate career just like you would look at becoming a great pianist or golfer. You need someone to be accountable to. You need a trained, committed coach, so you have deadlines, expectations, someone to help you keep those priorities straight, and someone cheer leading and believing in you.
* Big Idea: No one succeeds alone.
Owners, managers, coaches and trainers: How have you built in accountability for your programs? Do you teach a class and hope the agents take action, or do you follow up with an accountability session to check results?
Do You Provide Your Agents with a Proven Start-Up Plan with Accountability Built In?
Up and Running in 30 DaysA� has lots of up-to-the-minute updates. Plus, a proven, prioritized business start-up plan with inspiration, motivation, accountability, and action items built in. You can coach to the start-up plan, and see great results fast from your agents.
How Good are your Agents at Managing Their Attitudes?
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How good are your agents at managing their attitudes? Did you ever think about that, or think you’d need to manage that–or that they would need to consciously manage their attitudes?
I’ve just published the 5th edition of Up and Running in 30 Days. In it, I’ve included lots of up-to-the-minute updates. You can read some of them, in these blogs.
Click here to see the updates in my fifth edition of Up and Running in 30 Days.
Below is an excerpt from the newest edition of the book.
Wea��ve talked about your managing your Up and Running plan. Thata��s the a�?hard sidea�? of the businessa��the facts, figures, and activities. However, therea��s something else you must manage: the a�?soft sidea�? of the businessa��your attitude.
How Our Attitudes Change with the Challenge
One of the things we managers love about a new agent is the enthusiasm with which they start. Youa��re excited to jump into sales. Sometimes youa��re even overconfident. You tell us managers you are tenacious and that you can handle rejection. You describe yourself as a self-starter; you assure us you can motivate yourself. Then, reality takes over. Youa��ve always thought of yourself as a good communicator.
When You Start Lead Generating….Attitude Counts!
However, as you lead generate, you find it difficult to convince people to work with you. People somehow create many ways to reject you. Youa��ve always liked people, and you sense they like you. Yet they act differently with you now that youa��re in sales. People make up stories to avoid you, say they a�?have a friend in the business,a�? secure information from you but do not give you information, promise to meet with you at the officea��but dona��t show up. You experience these feelings:
Rejection
Frustration
Impatience
Self-doubt
Inadequacy
Your image of yourself is tested. Who is the real you? The one who feels confident and tenacious and is a self-starter? Or the one who feels rejected, frustrated, inadequate, and full of self-doubt? Your attitude about the businessa��and yourselfa��is in danger of shifting from positive to negative.
* Big Idea: The best way to change your attitude from negative to positive is to get a sale.
Attitudes are Fast-Change Artists
Attitudes can change in seconds.a��Each day, hour, and minute, you evaluate your feelings about the business. Your experiences as you perform the activities in this plan fuel this evaluation. Your conclusions are based on your personal belief system. Ita��s not the activities that cause you to have a certain attitude about the business, but the conclusions you draw from your experiences with these activities. Leta��s say you have knocked on 50 doors without getting a lead. What do you conclude? Agents who will fail conclude that a�?this wona��t work in this area.a�? Agents who will succeed imagine themselves one step closer to a lead with every rejection. These agents realize that they must experience many rejections to get success.
* Big Idea: Tenacity is the one character attribute that is 99 percent of an agenta��s success.
* Big Idea: My survey {of hundreds of new agents} showed the majority of new agents expect a sale in the first month. Not getting one puts their attitude in the dumper. Protection plan against an a�?in the dumper attitudea�?: go out and talk to lots of peoplea��fast. That is, lead generate!
Do You Provide Your Agents with a Proven Start-Up Plan with Attitude Advice Built In?
Up and Running in 30 DaysA� has lots of up-to-the-minute updates. Plus, a proven, prioritized business start-up plan with inspiration, motivation, and action items built in. You can coach to the start-up plan, and see great results fast from your agents.
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