Sobering thought: If they don’t expect anything from you, how much effort will they put out to see you are successful?

The Ten Commandments

From working as an agent for 8 years, and managing agents for almost two decades, I’ve drawn some conclusions about the ‘turnabout’s fair play’ that I believe agents owe managers. I’ve also listed these in Up and Running in 30 Days, to give agents a ‘heads up’. I believe if managers are willing to give 100% support through training and coaching each agent to success, agents need to give it their best, too. Here are agents’ ten commandments:

1. Do the work. You know what it is!
2. Don’t argue.
3. Don’t make excuses for not doing your start-up plan.
4. Don’t tell the manager you’ve been in the business two weeks and you have a better way.
5. Do thank your manager frequently.
6. Do tell other agents that you appreciate your manager’s efforts.
7. Do tell other new agents you meet in other companies that you have a great manager.
8. Don’t bug other people in the office to find another answer because you didn’t like your manager’s answer.
9. Don’t change the Up and Running plan because you “don’t like it”. (You just don’t like lead generating, do you?)

10. Don’t miss a coaching appointment!

I’d love to hear what you think of my ‘ten commandments.’ Are there others you think are important? Before you hire on, get in writing exactly what your manager is going to do to assure your success, so you won’t have disappointments later. Getting agreement on what we both expect before deciding to work together is key to a happy partnership. The only surprises I want you to have after you start are good ones!

Ask your Interviewer: Five Critical Points

If you’re looking for effective training to get your career started fast, you need to choose a training program that has these features. So, in your interview ask the manager if the training program has these attributes:

1. The objective is fast productivity, not just knowledge. When you interview, ask what the objectives of training are with that company. If it’s just knowledge, run the other way! You will know a lot, but you won’t be in business very long.

2. The training program has business-producing expectations and goals. For example, if you expect to make money fast, your training program needs to help you learn to set prospecting goals and attain them. That doesn’t mean lecturing in class. That means you have an activity plan and are working in the field during the class duration. That also means that you aren’t in class all day.

3. The training program is built around a business start-up plan. Ask to see the company’s business start-up plan for you. If it isn’t sales-producing, it isn’t a real start-up plan.

4. Sales skills are practiced by the students in class. How can you expect to be competent with clients if you haven’t gained competency and confidence in the classroom? Clients are very discriminating these days. They expect agents to know what they’re doing! During the interview, ask for a description of how the students spend class time. If the manager says the students listen all the time, pick up your materials and go to the next interview. You need skills training; you don’t need to know everything the instructor knows.

5. Expectations for achievement in sales developing and packaging are clear. Is this a college-level training? In college, students are expected to perform during the course. If you’re not expected to practice outside class, and get your sales packages together (like listing and buyer presentations), then this isn’t a real training. It’s just a time-eating event. Wouldn’t your consumer expect you to have a high level of competence? Then, your training program must deliver.

Armed with these 5 critical expectations, you can choose a training program that is dedicated to assuring you quick results, high sales skill, and confidence with consumers. Why settle for less?

I’ve done surveys to managers and to newer agents about the value of their new agent training. I found a great disparity between what the managers thought, and what the new agents thought—six months after the training. So, I’m gathering information from the source—you newer agents—to find out what you found valuable, and what you wish you had experienced in training. I will also do the same from the management perspective.

Here are some things to think about:

How well did your training prepare you to give effective listing and buyer presentations?

How could it have prepared you better?

How well did your training prepare you to answer buyer and seller objections?

How well did your training prepare you with visual buyer and seller systems so you appeared to be a ‘seasoned agent’ to compete with the best?

How well did your training prepare you with the self-confidence to work with difficult buyers and sellers?

What did you want your training to do for you—before you entered that training?

After having been in the business awhile, what do you wish you had experienced during the training?

Did your training lay out a business start-up plan, and did it train and hold you accountable to that plan until you got results?

Did your training require you to demonstrate enough competency that you could effectively work with buyers and sellers?

How well did your training prepare you to write and negotiate purchase and sale agreements?

How well did your training prepare you to gain loyalty and buyer agency agreements?

What Else?

Please comment on the positives and negatives of your training, so I can better help managers and trainers prepare newer agents for the ever challenging markets and sophisticated buyers and sellers. Thank you!

 Too Much Energy, Too Little Results

 Worse yet, we bounce off that ceiling and hit a new low every thing we get up the energy to try to break through it. Not only that, the last few years have been discouraging for many in real estate. Don’t give up on yourself! You do have the talent, the skill, and the determination to succeed at a much higher level again.

 All Performers Hit ‘Ceilings of Achievement’

 As a long-time performing pianist and flutist (I spent the first thirty years of my life playing and teaching music), I had to learn how to constantly change up my playing for the better. In these next few blogs, I’m going to share what I learned as a musician that will change your 2010 performance dramatically—for the better.

 You Aren’t as Good as You Can Be—I Promise

 I just did a talk for our area’s Women’s Council, on how to have a much better 2010—how to smash through that ceiling of achievement. (Title: Everything I learned about Achievement I learned from Tickling’ the Ivories—also the title of my latest keynote).

 As a four-year old, I climbed up on the piano bench and figured out, by ear, how to play “Sue City Sue”—with bass notes, chords, rhythm, melody—the whole shebang. I was acclaimed as a little kid. However, as I got a little older, I found that playing by ear just wasn’t getting me to be a better player. Here’s what I did to get to concert artistry level, and earn a bachelor’s in piano performance—and how you can translate these performance principles to your real estate business.

 Get from ‘By Ear’ via your Talent to Conscious Systemization

 As a musician, I know that no one can play very well when they try learning only by hearing (playing ‘by ear’). To progress pass a ‘whiz-bang, aren’t you wonderful’ amateur level, musicians must learn to read music, get a great teacher, and learn to practice perfectly. Generally, their teacher/coach will teach them how to practice, and provide the best editions of music. They will teach them will a specific system. The better the system, the coach, the music, and the practice, the higher the performance—the sky is the limit.

 The First Time You Do Something Isn’t As Good as it Gets!

 What does that mean to a real estate professional? Most of us started selling or managing ‘by ear’. Some of us were talented, and that carried us pretty well for quite a while. But, then, we hit our ‘ceiling of achievement’, and found we were working 24/7 and expending way too much energy—and money. The way out:

1.  Grasp systems (the best systems you can find)
2. Follow processes and checklists
3. Get a great coach
4. Practice as perfectly as you can

 Practitioners—Watch Those Actions, Not Just the Words

 Unfortunately, we real estate professionals don’t realize that we are judged on our performance, not our knowledge. So, when you get all antsy because you think you need more classes, stop and think about your performance level, not your knowledge level. Spend more time evaluating your performance, and pay someone to coach to you get better (all performers, whether musicians or golfers, do this, by the way). Critique your systems, and keep refining them because they will subconsciously affect your performance levels.

 If I had a piano, I’d demonstrate these points (I do use the piano in the keynote!).

 What Do You Want to Work on This Year—from ‘By Ear’ to Systematic?

 Do you have some business plan goals for yourself this year to raise your ceiling of achievement? What do you believe is most valuable for you to work on?

Remember, if you’re a newer agent, you’ll be tempted to hang back, keep your fingers off the keys, and wait for something different–or better–to happen to you. Don’t get tempted! Put to work these performance principles and see your 2010 improve dramatically.

                                        within your first month in the business. 

Are You Going to Hit the Ground Running?

 My assumption: You want a fast start! If you already have my business start-up plan, Up and Running in 30 Days, you know I start you right into the business so you can realize that sale within your first month. This is, unfortunately, very unlike the start most agents get (they get a very slow start—keep reading!).

 Your Manager’s Expectations May Surprise You

 Your expectations may vary from your manager’s expectations of you. If the new agent expects high earnings fast, what did his manager expect from him?  Most of the respondents from the survey didn’t know what their manager’s expectations were.  71% of the respondents didn’t know even the minimum expectations of their managers–the minimum production standards they would have to meet to have their contracts renewed the second year.

 Be Sure Your Manager’s Expectations Match Your Goals

 To assure that the new agent and manager see ‘eye to eye’, you need mutual expectations in writing prior to hiring on. You need to see the exact business activity plan you will be coached to. You also need proof that the plan works! What if your manager doesn’t care how fast you make a sale—or even that you make a sale? You need much more support than that.

Be sure your manager has expectations of you that you can fulfill, and that your manager will actively coach and support you to realize.  (Psst: Go ask NOW!) Now, get up and running to that first sale! (or more)

What’s a ‘Sacred Cow’ Anyway?

So, let’s get right to the looking. To do this, let’s use the ‘sacred cow’ approach. What is a ‘sacred cow’? In animal life, is a “plodding, bovine mammal of numerous stomachs and dubious intelligence regarded in some climes as holy in origin and therefore immune from ordinary treatment.” In business, it’s “an outmoded belief, assumption, policy, system, or strategy, generally invisible, that inhibits change and prevents responsiveness to new opportunities.”

Some Sacred Cows That Need to be Put to Pasture

If you’re newer to real estate, you may not realize that our industry even has   ‘sacred cows’. That’s when you should be extra cautious. So, heads up.

Here are four sacred cows that real estate professionals need to examine for their viability (and perfect for reviewing your business plan):

            1. ‘If you don’t list, you don’t last’. How much money did you spend on listings last year? How fast did they sell? Change that sacred cow to “if your listings don’t sell, you don’t last!

            2. ‘The best way to establish trust is to have all the answers’, Are you talking too much and finding out later that you’re missing a critical piece of information about your buyer or seller? Quit talking and start asking great questions. Take the ‘consultative’ approach.

            3. ‘Any client/customer is better than none’. Really? How much time

are you wasting with buyers who can’t or won’t buy—and sellers who won’t list at the right price? Change your paradigm to ‘I work with people who value my time.’

            4. ‘An experienced agent doesn’t need a visual presentation’. Sure. They’ll believe what I say if I just talk a lot. Not anymore. Substantiate your claims of excellence with sophisticated visuals such as testimonials and statistics. That’s professional sales. We believe what we see, not what we hear, should be your new presentation mantra.

Taking the ‘sacred cow’ approach at least yearly is the way you can assure your business strategies are up to date. You can’t afford to put your head in the sand as changes are occurring with warp speed around you! Are you ready to kill your sacred cows—or, at least, put them out to pasture?

 I’ve compiled 10 questions you should ask yourself. In the last post, I gave you the first five.  In this post , I’ll give you the rest of the questions.

Ask yourself:

1. Do I know how long it will take to get a sale? To get a listing? To get a listing sold? (so you can project your income) (New agents tend to wait, and wait, and wait, to get into the business ‘stream’, thinking that there is no time frame to buyers’ decisions—wrong!)

Key point: Use the time lines in Up and Running to project your income. You don’t want to run out of money before you run out of time!

2. Do I have a method of setting goals and tracking accomplishments in the areas above—so I can analyze my specific strengths and challenges in this business? (Most agents never track what they do, so they don’t know what worked—or why what they’re doing isn’t working).

Key point: If you know how many listing appointments it takes, for example, for you to list one marketable property, you can project with confidence your income. You have truly become independent.

3. Do I have a budget so I know how much money I should be spending in marketing myself/marketing my listings?

Key point: Creating a marketing budget from day one assures you get paid for all that work you’re doing in lead generation (Up and Running has a prototype marketing plan for you, too).

4. Do I have someone to talk to regularly, to coach me, to keep me on track, and to help me if I fall off my start-up plan (to keep me from failing)?

Key point: Most new agents drastically over-estimate their mental toughness in the face of adversity. Studies show that having a mentor, a coach, someone on your side, greatly increases the chances of your success.

5. Do I have a method to keep myself motivated and inspired to keep on keeping on (like a coach or your manager)?

Key point: All the successful people I’ve ever met have a method to ‘keep themselves up’—diaries, logs, inspirational notebooks, readings, CDs, etc. That’s why I put so much inspiration and motivation in Up and Running—we all need it!

Give yourself every chance to succeed to answering ‘yes’ to all of these ten questions. You deserve success! Quit stumbling and get Up and Running!

 I’ve compiled 10 questions you should ask yourself. In this post , I’ll give you the first five questions.

Ask yourself:

 1. Do I have a ‘start-up’ plan—a plan that tells me what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and why to do it? (Or, do I just come to the office and ‘go with the flow’)

Key point: This isn’t an ‘on accident business’ anymore!

2. Am I waiting for someone to tell me what to do each day, or do I have focus and purpose with my plan? (it doesn’t work to ask your manager what to do each day, and, as a newer agent just told me, your manager answers, “Mail some postcards.” You wouldn’t expect a Starbucks franchise to ‘guide’ the new franchisee that way, and you’re not going to get a business start with that kind of piecemeal ‘advice’!)

3. Do I have a daily schedule that is prioritized with the business actions most important to me to assure I make money? (If you’re just relying on your office for its floor time and meeting schedule, or, worse yet, those awesome (ha!) Internet leads, you aren’t in the business!)

Key point: You should be scheduling at least 75% of your time. (the other 25% may be scheduled by your office—meetings, etc.)

4. Do I know the best methods of lead generation—and how to implement them? (You can’t wait for ‘training’ that starts in 3 months to start your business!)

5. Do I know the numbers? (how many contacts does it take to get a lead, how many leads to get an appointment, how many appointments to get a listing, showing, how many showings to get a sale, how many marketable listings will sell) (If you don’t, you are destined to be an ‘on accident’ agent—only selling someone something when the stars are aligned).

Key point: Knowing your conversion numbers puts you in the driver’s seat and allows you to really be independent—your own manager.

 If you can’t answer the questions above with authority and confidence, you need much more business direction than you’re getting now. It’s time for you to get serious about real estate as a business, and grasp a start-up plan and the support you need to assure your success. Quit stumbling and get ‘up and running’!

Social Networking has Taken the Place of Databases, Carla–You old Fuddy-Duddy…..

I know. You just love social networking. You could spend hours on it (in fact, you do). You go to all those classes on social networking, and, by golly, you know more about it than your manager. Don’t get too cocky yet. There are two problems you’re creating for yourself by relying on social networking:

1. You are probably spending too much time at your computer and not enough time neeting real people and forming relationships. Remember, buying a home is not like buying a set of knives. You’ll have to work hard to establish a trusting relationship. Most of us aren’t good enough at writing to do that without finally meeting someone.

2. You are not gathering your future goldmine–your database full of people who are going to love you and what you do.

Who do you ‘Own’?

Here’s the problem with relying on the social networking sites to keep track of your potential clients. You don’t own them. The social networking site could go out of business. It could start charging you. It could sell your contacts.  That’s why you need to ‘own’ those contacts in your own database. Now, you can create a marketing plan. You can communicate with those people on a schedule.

Start and Populate your Database Intensely

You’re a newer agent. You want to make money fast. You want to establish a solid long-term career. Become a ‘database freak’ so that you can remember all those wonderful people you met. Lead generation is the most important part of the sales business. Doing a lot of it assures high income. That means tracking all those people you meet. It takes more than one communication to create a loyal client.

New Agent Key to Success: Right Priorities

Those of you who have used Up and Running in 30 Days to start your careers know that I have worked hard to prioritize your business for you so that you are successful quickly, and gain business management habits for life. I’ve prioritized types of business, best sources of leads, and all the activities you’ll do to get started quickly. I want you to prioritize your technology activities, too. Remember, you’re a salesperson.

Become that database freak and see your business develop quickly.

If you’re like 62% of agents I interviewed for my Become Tomorrow’s Mega-Agent Today book,   you expect to make a sale your first month in the business.

Dumb Luck and Accidents Could Do It–Once….

Two or three years ago, agents were experiencing the best kind of ‘dumb luck’ and happy accidents. Without working hard at it, they sold enough houses to encourage them to stay in the business. Then, the business changed, and they found themselves without those happy ‘accidents’. So, my one most important piece of advice to you is:

Don’t start the business counting on ‘accidents’.

Put yourself on a stringent, strict business start-up plan, get a coach, and stick with it. Now, you’re teaching yourself to drive your business on purpose. That means you’re creating business relationships that will continue to build as you build your career. Think long term!

What if you Don’t Make a Sale that Fast?

How long will you keep perservering if you don’t get that sale that quickly? That’s the question that separates the winners from the “I tried it once and it didn’t work for me” group.

Test your perseverance. Think of a time when you were ready to give up, and, in fact, everyone around you gave up. But, for some reason, you kept on ‘keeping on’. Now, how much perseverance do you have? How much can you muster? As long as you are doing business-producing activities, you should stay ‘in the fray’. A trusted coach can help you evalute your chances for success.

Remember the words of the great comedian, Jonathan Winters: “I didn’t have success, so I started without it.” Remember, we ALL started without success. It was tenacity and perseverance (not just talent), that helped us succeed. You can, too!