Got your business plan done? Why not get dozens of tips to polish (or start) that plan) by looking at the webinar I did a couple of weeks ago?
You’ll get guidelines to organize your whole plan, and you’ll get tips to assure that plan works for 2020!
Click here to see the video and get all the handouts, too. Happy New Year!
Are you making career mistakes that are costing you success? If you’re not making the money selling real estate you want to make, it’s time for some adjustments in your career habits. Here’s a list of the 5 most common career mistakes real estate agents make, with some advice in how to correct your course fast.
1. Wrong “career roadmap”
Most agents have unrealistic expectations from the business. Examining your preconceptions–and misconceptions– is important to grasping how you got to where you are now–and why. What’s your job description right now? What kind of activities do you spend most of your time doing?
Recommendation: To make money, you should have only three priorities: Lead generating, showing and selling. Are you spending enough time doing those activities now? Analyzing your time and activities is key to gaining a hold on your time management.
For a Time Analysis tool, click here.
2. Following the wrong role models
With real estate changing dramatically, each agent must know the opportunities and challenges inherent in his stage of the ‘career life cycle’. Without realizing it, many agents today are slipping into ‘decline’, hoping that real estate will go back to the ‘good old days’.
Recommendation: If you want to move your career ahead, you must consider yourself in the “growth cycle” of real estate. Why? Because the dramatic changes in the business force us salespeople consistently to examine our businesses and adopt new methods–just as we do when we want to grow a business, not merely maintain it.
3. Not managing your attitude
A recent survey showed that agents expect managers to “keep them up”. Now, just think about it. How many times a day do you get “down”? Unless you carry your manager around in a fanny pack (that’s a picture), and wire him/her into your emotions, your manager just can’t ‘be there for you’ when you need a pep talk.
Recommendation: Find 4 methods to keep your attitude on an even keel. Listen to motivational audios; watch inspiring videos; read the right books.
4. A ‘peaks and valleys’ business
Do you know agents who have a great month, followed by four terrible months–even when the market is good? They do that over and over until it’s their business pattern. They’ve created a ‘peaks and valleys’ business. How did they do that? Mainly, by waiting for the customer to come to them.
Recommendation: If you’re getting more than 25% of your business from re-active sources, (floor time, open houses, Internet leads), you’re playing Russian roulette with your income. If that pipeline freezes, you’re back to being a first-day agent again! Your business should be coming from 75% or more pro-active lead generation (you go out to find the prospects).
5. Spending your marketing dollars wrong
Recently, I was a speaker on business planning at a large regional real estate conference. I asked the agents what their best source of business was. They told me, “Old customers and clients–referrals.” I then asked them how much money they spent on that source. Out of 400 agents in the room, only one knew his investment in his best source!
Recommendation: Plan on spending 60% of your promotional dollars on old customers and clients. They’re your best source of business.
What did I miss? How do agents in your office get off track?
Don’t forget. Click here to get your time analysis tool. This is a very valuable tool that will reveal to you exactly how you’re spending your time–the good, the bad, and the ugly!
Want the ‘real skinny’ on succeeding in real estate? Read what successful newer agents say to do–and what to avoid.
In the latest edition of Up and Running in 30 Days, the new agent’s business start-up plan, I’ve put lots of updates including advice from successful newer agents. Rather than my trying to convince you of these principles myself, here’s what they’ve said:
On Training
Here’s a quote from Kyle Kovats, who was chosen as one of the finalists for the “30 under 30” honors from the National Association of Realtors. These select nominations are agents chosen because they are under 30 and very successful in the business.
Kyle advises: “Find a broker who has a comprehensive training program. Ask if you can speak with agents who have gone through it to get the agents’ perspective on whether it was helpful.”
{Note: Up and Running in 30 Days has tips for you new agents in choosing the right training program—a training program that actually assures you launch a great career).
The Importance of Coaches and Mentors
There’s a lot more to success than just attending even a great training program. Read this from Merrilee Prochaska, “I wish I had understood the importance of a mentor/coach before I began.”
{Up and Running in 30 Days discusses the trend toward coaches, and provides guidance in choosing the right coach for you.}
On What They Wish They’d Done Differently
. From Cerise Paton: “Followed up more and more consistently; understood the time and discipline and numbers needed for lead generation and lead conversion; recognizing the time it took to build trust; going on more appointments, failing more often, and getting better, practicing presentations with friends”.Gary Richter’s comment on what he would do differently could apply to most new agents: “Contact all of my sphere and ask for business.” Gary admits he was reticent to ask them all for business.
On Prioritizing Your Activities and Lead Generation Sources
Don’t take my word for it that clearly prioritizing your activities as business-producing or business-supporting is key to success. Hear it from Gary Richter, who used Up and Running in 30 Days to start his career. He says his priorities are big reasons he’s succeeding now: “I am cognizant of my daily activities and recognized them as either business producing or business supporting. I spend the majority of my time on business-producing activities.”
And, Diane Honeycutt states, “Take the advice in this plan and be sure you’re not a ‘secret agent’! Develop a work plan and stick to it”.
Here’s what Kyle Kovats, that great ’30 under 30’ nominee, said: “Get out there and just do it. Try different forms of prospecting and see what works. An ounce of action is more powerful than a ton of planning.”
Gary Richter advises: “Get off your computer and go out into the areas. Focus on business-producing activities.”
More great advice from Kyle Kovats: “Be relentless. Follow up with handwritten letters rather than the generic form letters/cards most agents send people. Be unique.”
On the Importance of Client Relationship Management Technology
When I asked those agent and manager contributors the technology new agents should incorporate, here’s what they said:
“CRM and lead management tools”—Diane Honeycutt
“A really good and easy-to-use CRM”—Cerise Paton
“A good CRM”—Chris Cross
So, don’t be like the majority of new agents (and even seasoned agents who put off capturing all those leads in a database and then, even better a CRM!) Start using a database, or better yet, a CRM your first week in the business.
On Spending Money for Leads
Here’s some advice from one of those Top 30 Under 30 finalists, James Pierce: “Don’t pay a dime to sites like Zillow, etc.”
From Cerise Paton: “You will get a lot of calls to sell you leads, google placement, banner ads, shopping carts, you name it. Don’t do it. It either has no value, or you’re not ready for it, or you can’t afford it”
Tip for managers: As you read these comments, ask yourself, “How is my training, coaching, and business start-up plan keeping my new agents on track?” What needs to be changed or refined so I get better results?”
How about YOU?
Are you following these principles? How many have you rejected or violated in your first few months in the business? Why? Success isn’t always easy, but it always has patterns and leaves clues! Don’t try and re-invent the wheel. Follow a proven plan with assured results and you will be wildly successful!
Take a look at what’s in Up and Running in 30 Days: updates in 5th edition. If you’re not reaching your goals as a newer agent (or want to re-start your career), you NEED this detailed start-up plan–chock full of advice that’s up-to-date. only $32.95 plus shipping–and invaluable to your career success. Click here for more information and to order.
I’ve got a bonus, too, for you this month: You’ll also receive my ‘little book of Big Ideas--inspiration and motivation to keep going to success!
Do you know the 5 biggest reasons new agents fail? Here they are.
New agents come into the business, excited because they are ‘in business now for themselves’. They don’t have a “boss”. They can organize their time. They look forward to lots of ‘free time’. They’ve also heard one can make lots of money working 20 hours a week. What a dream world! Worse yet, they don’t know how to start the business! (Who would?) So, they fill the time with what comes easily. Most of us are afraid of rejection, and fear what will happen if we talk to human beings and ask them to buy real estate from us. So, we stay away from those activities that invite rejection. We gravitate toward ‘safe’ activities, such as:
A friend of mine observes that they seem to be “getting ready to get ready”.
The very dangerous thing about agents creating a daily plan without good business-start-up principles, is that they create habits of failure. In effect, they created their own start-up plan—one that assures low production.
1. Wait too long to lead generate–this is the biggest reason of all. They end up with very few leads–and those few leads are poor ones who won’t buy or sell!
2. Copy other losers–go preview pretty properties, drink coffee, gossip, etc.
3. Look for someone to provide them ‘leads‘ (no good producer expects leads to be given to them!)
4. Don’t lead generate at all! (They’re waiting for ‘a better way’)
5. Just hate people (these are those who say ‘I like houses; I just hate people’). These are people who shouldn’t be in sales. I surely don’t blame them. I blame whoever hired them for not screening properly. (I know we can’t be right all the time, but we should be using all the tools available to us, like behavioral profiles, to check our interview conclusions).
So, those are my 5 big reasons. What did I miss?
If you’ve been in the business less than 2 years and you’re not getting the success you deserve, you need to give yourself the gift of this program. All the training, coaching, and supporting documents are online, so you can go at your own speed and go back as many times as you want.
How this program is different: It is foundationed with a business start-up plan, so you learn how to self-manage a successful business, not just do non-prioritized activities. And, there’s nothing else to buy–no extra cards that stay in your trunk! (And, there’s a coaching component for your manager so support you every step of the way!).
Check it out and see how you can reach your potential–and beyond!
What is your list of 10 dumbest mistakes new agents make?
In my last blog, I listed what I thought were 5 of the dumbest mistakes new agents make. Here’s the rest of the list of 10:
6. Starting the business part-time, with no ‘drop dead’ exit plan from your other work. I know. I started part-time, but, within three months, I realized that I could not serve my consumer honestly when I had to run to another job. The truth is that you just can’t care much about the consumer if you’re not committed and working in real estate at least 50 hours a week. If you have to start part-time, give yourself a deadline to become full-time. Managers, don’t hire without that deadline in writing. You’ll be wasting your time training and coaching expertise.
7. Not getting a commitment from your manager that he/she will consistently and frequently coach you to a game plan. If your manager can’t rise to that level of commitment, how successful to you think your manager intends you to be? (Side note to managers: I believe you need to be 100% committed to your agents, or else the likelihood they will fail is 100%. Use a precise, consistent, proven game plan like the 5th edition of Up and Running in Real Estate to put your agent to work, and coach your agent. (I’ve included a coaching plan with Up and Running in Real Estate–Coaches’ Corner).
8. Thinking that the best commission plan is the best place to work. As the old song says, “Nothin’ from nothin’ is nothin’.” You need to sell lots of real estate—lots and lots of real estate. Choose the place where you think that will happen. Why? Because happy clients beget happy clients which beget more commissions and a solid career. New agents who figure out they only have to sell three homes a year to pay those fees are thinking like losers.
9. Not investing in the business until they ‘get successful’. When would that be? Why do you get to be successful without an investment? With that attitude, how are you going to compete with those great agents—and how are you going to meet those amazingly high consumer expectations?
10. Going into the business to see if they like it. I’ll bet 50% of new agents don’t really go into the business to make it a career. They go into the business to ‘try it out’. If that’s your attitude, how do you expect your manager and your company to be 100% committed to you, when you’re 25% committed?
A Great Manager Plus a Great Plan Plus Accountability = Success
Harsh words above, but true. If you want to succeed, find a great manager who will coach you and hold you to a start-up plan. Find a manager who will tell you the truth—even when you don’t want to hear it! Find a manager who is 100% committed to you, and you will be one of those 50% who survive their first years, and go on to great careers.
We all want success easily. We all want to ‘do it our way’. And, if we’re honest, in our quest for easy success, we’ll all done dumb things. That is, we realized they were dumb–after the fact. So, just because I’m picking on new agents here doesn’t mean I haven’t done many more than just ten dumb things! I’m listing these here, though, to help you avoid the mistakes I made as a new agent, and the mistakes I’ve observed thousands of new agents make over the years I’ve managed, trained and coached.
Some Mistakes Cost More than Others
Some dumb actions don’t cost us much, but, when an agent fails, it costs money to everyone–agents, offices, and consumers. It’s estimated that it costs a manager $15,000-30,000 for every agent hired who fails! So, that agent isn’t a profit-center, she’s a cost center! In addition, an agent who fails spends at least $5000-15,000 just in ‘subsidized living’ and real estate expenses the first three months in the business. Finally, the consumer loses, because the agent is out of the business before serving the consumer (or in the midst of trying to serve the consumer).
Heads Up
New agents don’t come into the business to fail. But, they don’t realize the effort and skill it takes to succeed. In addition, there are increasingly difficult challenges for new agents:
1. The gap between consumer expectations and agent performance is widening quickly and dramatically. New agents must have better training, coaching, and commitment from their brokers.
2. The market is softening, so agents can’t get those ‘dumb luck’ first easy sales.
3. The committed, career-oriented agent is taking much more of the market share.
It’s estimated that 50% of new agents fail and get out of the business in their first year, and 75% are out in two years. That seems to me a huge waste of resources-and a huge contributor to that expectations gap I listed above. We need to stop that attrition now.
So, new agents, I’ve created a list of the ten dumbest things I’ve seen thousands do to fail themselves right out of the business. In this blog, we’ll investigate the first five:
The First Five ‘Dumbest’
1. Thinking that there are lots of ways to start the business. There aren’t. Real estate sales is sales, and sales is a numbers game. (Up and Running in Real Estate shows you exactly how to work those numbers to your benefit).
2. Thinking they don’t have to lead generate, because they’ll “do it differently.” Rejecting proactive lead generation (talking to people consistently and in great numbers) and you’ll be flipping burgers before you know it! (Not that there is anything wrong in flipping burgers, but you won’t be “selling real estate”.)
3. Thinking that their manager or office or the Internet will supply them leads. If that were the case, your commissions would be much smaller.
4. Thinking that this business is about tasks and technology. It’s not. It’s about people relationships. Technology is there to support relationships.
5. Treating the business like a ‘next’ business. It’s not about finding and selling a customer. It’s about finding and keeping the customer for long-term referral business.
How many of these dumb things have you done? In truth, we learn from our mistakes. It’s not what we do wrong. It’s what we continue doing wrong. I created Up and Running in Real Estate to cut your ‘mistake time’!
Has your manager shared his/her expectations with you?
A survey I did a few years ago of 155 new agents revealed some compelling facts. For example, most agents coming into the business today as ‘full-time’ careerists have high expectations. 92% of the new agents surveyed expected to make more than the median income of all Realtors. The most stunning statistic, though, from these new agents, was that 65% expected incomes in the $31,000 to 75,000 range–their first year in the business! This survey of new agents was done to gather research for Carla Cross’s book, What They Don’t Teach You in Pre-License School.
New agents need to be focused on business development—not training
Another stunning finding from the research was that 62% of the new agents expected to get a check in their first sixty days in the business! They expect to hit the ground running.
To do this, the new agent’s focus needs to be on business development, not on training. Normally, companies put the new agent into a ‘curriculum based’ program to tell them everything they’ll ever need to know about real estate. Unfortunately, the new agent thinks that all that knowledge equals success in real estate. That’s wrong.
Creating Success, not Useless Knowledge
New agents create early success when they focus on a business start-up plan that contained heavy business-producing activities. If you’re a new agent, you have to develop the mental toughness to ignore information that’s not critical to your business production. If you don’t, your money will run out before you learn everything! (Give it up; you’ll never know everything!)
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 new agent respondents from the survey didn’t know. They hadn’t asked, and the manager, in the interview, had not volunteered to share any management expectations.
No News is Good News?
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 (or to be retained during any start-up period). To assure that the new agent and manager see ‘eye to eye’, both parties need to agree on mutual expectations in writing prior to hiring on.
Not only getting the ‘what’ in writing, but the ‘how’. Even agreeing on minimum activity and production standards doesn’t assure that the new agent will meet his goals with the full support of his/her manager. The new agent needs to see the ‘how’—exactly how that manager will coach the new agent to quick success. If you’re a new agent, you need to see the exact business activity plan* that you will be coached to. You also need proof that the plan has worked with others in the past to deliver the results you expect of yourself your first month, quarter, and year in the business.
Matching expectations assures no surprises and gets planned results. Take the wishing out of business expectations. Both new agent and manager need to get expectations in writing, agree on a business start-up plan, and start working together with mutual accountability to partner in great results. Your manager must be accountable to coaching you on a regular basis with a proven business start-up plan. You, the new agent, must be accountable to do the activities in the plan. Together, you will achieve your mutual goals.
Do you know what your manager expects from you?
I’m consulting with a real estate company about their onboarding procedures. Besides our wanting to assure that the procedure is as close to perfect as it can get, we want to assure, too, that the agent who’s joining understands his/her responsibilities to the firm and to the whole team. Does that sound fair to you?
You Know What They Promised–What Did YOU Promise?
When you interviewed, I bet you asked your manager what that manager and company were going to do for you. Did you find out what the expectations were from you to the company? I’ll bet not. So, in these next two blogs, I’ll tell you what I think the agent should do for the company. Why?
Good Managers: Always Working on Getting Better
Managers study how to attract and keep agents. They learn how to do recruiting presentations that they hope are mesmerizing to their candidates–so mesmerizing that they’ll say yes when offered a position in the company. They don’t rest on their laurels; they hone their skills so they’re better managers, trainers, and coaches. In other words, good managers are always working on how to be better resources, coaches, and trainers for their agents.
What’s the Company Getting from You?
My eighth grade teacher, Mrs. Taylor, had wonderful sayings that she would drop on us at opportune times. These either kept us attentive or scared the you-know-what out of us! They included, “Time passes. Will you?” and “to each his own, as she kissed the cow.” (Well, some were better than others). The saying I’m remembering now, though, was, “Turnabout’s fair play”. In other words, if you mess with Mrs. Taylor, you will get the appropriate treatment! And, if you cooperate and get your work done, you’ll get appropriate treatment, too. So, let’s apply that idea to the relationship and expectations of agents and managers.
Did You Exchange Mutual Expectations in the Interview?
The real estate industry is the only industry I know that hires with a “trust me” from both the manager and the agent. No mutual expectations here, just promises! It may have worked in the past, but it won’t work in the future. A challenging market and/or challenging clients mean we’ll have to do things differently. Managers should have a list of what the manager and company will do for the agent–and what is expected from an agent. This is the Mutual Expectations agreement. As a new agent, you should have gone over that agreement in the interview. (There is an example mutual expectations agreement in Up and Running in 30 Days, the new agent’s business start-up plan).
Consequences of the Mutual Expectations Agreement
Managers are constantly concerned about retention. Providing a mutual expectations dialogue and agreement is one of the best retention tools in the world–hiring agents who promise to go to work! Experienced agents love the fact that the manager is not hiring deadwood to just get in their way and pull down the reputation of the company.
What’s In It for the New Agent?
In my book What They Don’t Teach You in Pre-License School, I surveyed hundreds of agents in the business less than three months. I asked them, “What number of transactions do you have to complete in your first year to avoid being terminated?” 71% did not know! Now, would you take any job where you didn’t know the expectations? Yet, most managers avoid telling those expectations–if they have them. And, agents avoid asking because they don’t want to know. However, if you don’t know what’s expected of you, how will you know if you’re achieving? How will you know if the start-up plan your manager is using with you (your manager is using a start-up plan, I hope….) will get you to your goals? And most important, how will you know if what you’re doing is going to get you to the goals YOU want to achieve?
Lack of Expectations Is a Bad Thing…
If your manager didn’t discuss expectations with you, what does that mean? Probably that anything you do will be okay. That is, you can fail. You can fail to achieve your goals. You can avoid doing the work that needs to be done–and there are no consequences. You know that’s not a good thing. So, if you don’t know those expectations, go to your manager right now and get them. That’s a good thing!
In my next blog, I’ll give you 10 commandments that agents should learn and follow to assure they get the best from their company and manager.
Are You Achieving What You Want?Many times, we’re not achieving as we desired because we’re not following the right plan–or a plan at all! Why not get on track with the plan that thousands of agents have used to succeed? It’s online now, too. Check out Up and Running in Real Estate. It’s so affordable, at only $249, and it’s instantly available to you. In 8 weeks, it will take you from 0 to successful.
Click here to find out more.
New agents: Stop doing these five things and start making money!
New agents unwittingly act themselves out of the business by doing five things that actually cost them money, instead of making them money. Below are the five things you MUST quit doing.
Are You Starting the Business or Waiting to Start the Business?
Why are you waiting to start your business? What do I mean? After all, you’ve probably been ‘starting your business’–you think. You feel you need to do all kinds of things before you actually start talking to people. I know. You’re scared spitless to start actually selling real estate. So, instead, you do all the other ‘stuff’ that keeps you out of trouble–that is, away from clients! After all, you want to te prepared!
That other stuff includes:
Paperwork
Blogging
Social networking (do some of those people do anything else?!)
Going to classes (you just have to know everything before you talk to a person, don’t you?)
And, the very worst, I think, looking at pretty houses.
Why Are These Activities So Bad?
If you are using Up and Running in 30 Days, or Up and Running in Real Estate, you already know the answer. Those activities actually keep you away from selling real estate. As we say in Up and Running,
the business starts when you start talking to people.
Yes, I know. You want to be educated. You want all that training. You want to be confident. But, here’s the big secret:
Performance increases competence and confidence.
Nothing Wrong with Preparation–in Context
Yes, you want to be prepared. Yes, you want to market yourself. Yes, you want to know the inventory. But, you need to put that in perspective.
False Confidence from Getting Ready to Get Ready
The problem about thinking you are getting confidence from all the Support Activities I listed above is that they don’t really make you confident. You just think you are getting somewhere for a short period of time.
Do it and you will gain confidence and competence. What are you waiting for? When are you going to start talking to people–so you can make money?
Are Your Priorities Making or Costing You Money?It’s so easy to get off-track. We all have been there. If you’re struggling to make those sales, you need a program that teaches you priorities, gives you a success path, and the prioritized actions to get there. Oh, and there’s that positive motivation built in you need to keep on keeping on!
You need Up and Running in Real Estate. Check it out here–all online, so you can go at your own speed, too. Click here to see more.
Do you have a great start-up plan?
May is my designated Training Month. So, I’m writing blogs on training for both this blog and my blog for managers and trainers, Management in a Minute. (Help your manager with training!)
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 out—
. 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.)Some commonalities of those bad plans:
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 isn’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.
Let me know your evaluation of your start-up plan with the above points.
(This blog is excerpted from Up and Running in 30 Days.)
Up and Running in Real Estate Starts You Right to an Exceptional CareerIf you’ve been in the business less than 2 years and you’re not getting the success you deserve, you need to give yourself the gift of this program. All the training, coaching, and supporting documents are online, so you can go at your own speed and go back as many times as you want.
How this program is different: It is foundationed with a business start-up plan, so you learn how to self-manage a successful business, not just do activities. And, there’s nothing else to buy–no extra cards that stay in your trunk! (And, there’s a coaching component for your manager so support you every step of the way!).
Take a look and launch or re-launch your career right!
