Up and Running in 30 Days

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Are You Committing These 5 Fatal Career Mistakes?

October 3rd, 2019

What if there were things you were doing that got in your way–and you didn’t know it?

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!

Categories 5th Edition Up and Running in 30 Days, attitude, floor time, Internet leads, new agent business plan, New Real Estate Agents, Real estate as a career, Real Estate Sales, Up and Running in 30 Days, Up and Running in Real Estate
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What Your Title on your Business Card Says about You

by Carla Cross

September 20th, 2019

You probably never thought about it, but your title on your business card tells a lot about you. It tells us what you think of your business.

If you’re a newer agent, you’ve probably struggled about what to put on those business cards. Maybe you have shied away from putting ‘salesperson’. I know.

To some, the word ‘salesperson’ has a negative meaning.

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It did to me as a new agent. I came from the world of music, where there was no ‘sales resistance’ and everyone respected me because I was a college music teacher.

The Value of Being a Salesperson

I learned the value of becoming a salesperson–a really, really good salesperson, because I learned I could help people do what they wanted to do–and just needed someone to facilitate that.

If There Were No Salespeople

Where would we be without sales skills and salespeople? Here are some of the notable people today that you don’t think are in sales–but who have really, really good sales skills (and have to have, to get us to embrace their ideas):

Madonna (she may not be the best singer, but, boy, does she know how to sell herself)

President Obama (he must be able to sell himself and his programs)

Warren Buffet (help people embrace his investment ideas)

Bill Gates (Sell Microsoft and its products)

What Salespeople Do–and Why You Should Be Proud to Call Yourself a ‘Salesperson

As my first ‘boss’ in real estate said, ” If there were no salespeople, few/no goods would be bought” (except those that are absolutely needed). In fact, as my manager pointed out, the economy would come to a grinding halt. When the economy is going great in real estate, salespeople aren’t considered as important. But, wait–when the market slows, salespeople will become fewer–and more valuable to the public.

Sales Skills are Artistic and Not So Easy to Master

Now, there is a movement against using anything with the connotation of ‘sales’. Yet, there is nothing wrong–and everything right–about the art of sales. Using properly, sales helps people see the benefits of buying whatever they are considering.

Poor Sales Hurts the Consumer–Really Hurts!

As a long-time real estate salesperson, I saw buyers and sellers actually stopped from purchasing or selling because their salesperson was so inept. That meant the customer lost hundreds of thousands of dollars down the road! In fact, 99% of the mistakes agents I observed salespeople make were not in forcing, manipulating, or lying their way into getting someone to do something not in their best interest but rather

stopping a buyer or seller from doing what’s best for him/her because the salesperson had such lousy skills

Become a Blazingly Good Salesperson

If you have some reticence at the word ‘salesperson’, tackle that reticence right now. You aren’t just a licensee; you aren’t just an agent; you are a sales professional. You discover prospects (lead generation). You uncover prospects’ needs; you help prospects investigate new possibilities; you help prospects prioritize information and properties; you negotiate on their behalf. Those are all sales not agent skills. Agency is just a license. Sales is a skill and an art. Become an artist of what you do!

Question: What do you see agents putting on their business cards? What does it tell you?

Categories 5th Edition Up and Running in 30 Days, Branding, Buyers, Coaching, Marketing, New Real Estate Agents, Personal promotion, pre-license, Real estate as a career, Real Estate Sales, Real Estate Success, Up and Running in 30 Days
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New Agents Speak Out: What Works–What to Avoid

by Carla Cross

September 12th, 2019

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

It’s not all a smooth ride to success! Here are some comments successful agents on what they wish they had done differently

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. 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!

The 10 Dumbest Things New Agents Do (Last 5 Here)

by Carla Cross

August 29th, 2019

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.

Categories 5th Edition Up and Running in 30 Days, accountability, action plan, Business Plan, expectations, income, manager, new agent business plan, New Real Estate Agents, Real estate as a career, Real Estate Sales, Real Estate Success, Up and Running Coaching Companion for Manager, Up and Running in 30 Days, Up and Running in Real Estate
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Do You Know the 10 Dumbest Things New Agents Do? Here’s My List….

by Carla Cross

August 22nd, 2019

Do you know the 10 dumbest things new agents do? Here’s my first five. What are yours?

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’!

Categories 5th Edition Up and Running in 30 Days, action plan, attitude, Business Plan, Coaching, CRM, database, new agent business plan, New Real Estate Agents, Real estate as a career, Real Estate Sales, Real Estate Success, Sales Strategies, Up and Running in 30 Days, Up and Running in Real Estate
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What If Your Coaching Isn’t Working for You?

by Carla Cross

August 9th, 2019

You had high hopes when you hired that coach. But, for some reason, it’s not working for you. Read what may be the matter and what to do about it.

If you’re being coached: You may feel like you just aren’t getting anywhere. Here’s why, and what to do about it.

Coaching is a ‘buzzword’ in the world of business today, and especially in the world of real estate. Why? We have more committed people coming into real estate to make it a real business, not just to sell a few houses. And, it costs much more money to enter and run a real estate sales career than it did years ago. So, committed agents are looking for methods to assure their successes.

Increasing Production Doesn’t Work with a ‘Mass Management’ Approach

Years ago, I discovered that changing an office’s production for the better, and thus, increasing the bottom line, didn’t have anything to do with ‘managing an office’. Instead, it had everything to do with training small groups and coaching individuals to greater successes. However, I found I was one of the few managers that took that approach. Even though my office became number one in productivity per agent and profitability in the company, it didn’t seem that the other managers thought coaching individuals was ‘key’ to that accomplishment.

Getting Lots of Production in an Office Doesn’t Mean YOU will be Successful

From what agents tell me today, I’m sorry to say that it still seems the case. I’m afraid many managers try to increase their salespeople’s performances with the ‘group’ approach. I know that doesn’t work very well. In my ‘other life’, I was a performing pianist and teacher. I taught piano classes and individual piano lessons. I found that students didn’t learn to play very well in a piano class. They needed individual attention, so they could build on their individual strengths, and learn the skills of perfect practice. I believe the same principles of increasing performance are true of sales. After all, sales success is measured by our performance of it, not our knowledge of it, isn’t it? Mastering the skills of sales and business management seems to me foundationed on the same principles as mastering any skill.

The Coaching Feedback Loop

One of the biggest mistakes coaches make is in the feedback (evaluation) part of coaching. Why do you need to know that? So you can seek out a coach who is coaching you correctly.

What is the ‘coaching feedback contour’? It’s the framework for performance feedback in a coaching session. The ‘contour’ shows you how to coach performance so that you encourage good performance, and motivate your ‘client’ (the person you are coaching) to better performance.

Coaching Performance Feedback

Step One Step Two Step Three
Positives First Re-Direct/Questions Positive Reinforcement

What I (you) liked Next time, how could I know you can…
What I (you) attempted you…….. (what Encouragement
What I (you) did ‘new’ resources are available

Is your coach using this contour? What are you learning from taking part in it? Has it changed the way you think about your performance ‘wins’?

Give this feedback loop to your coach and go through it together. It will help you get blazingly good at client communication!

Give Yourself Some Positive Results!

If you’re looking for a more personal and professional coaching experience, why not do a complimentary consultation with one of our real estate coaches? You’ll get to see if it’s a ‘fit’, and learn about how we are uniquely different in our approach. We KNOW one size doesn’t fit all! ***Click here*** to order a complimentary coaching consultation.

Categories accountability, action plan, Coaching, communication, mentor, Motivation, New Real Estate Agents, Real Estate Sales, Real Estate Success, Up and Running in 30 Days, Up and Running in Real Estate
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Lead Generation: What The Experts Say Now

by Carla Cross

June 21st, 2019

Lead Generation: What The Experts Say NOW

You’ve heard lead generation is important. But, do you really believe it? Or, are you like thousands of new agents, looking for a different, a better, an easier way to sell real estate? If you’re one of those looking to reject lead generation as the principle for success, you’re not alone. That’s why the failure rate of new agents is so high! The vast majority fail to start lead generating in time to save their businesses!

My Business Start-Up Plan Again Updated

Dearborn Education Company has published the fifth edition of my business start-up plan, Up and Running in 30 Days. Of course, this business start-up plan accentuates lead generation. For the fifth edition, I’ve added new studies, along with advice and observations from top-producing newer agents and their coaches.

Although all successful real estate agents have embraced lead generation as their main reason for success, the majority of real estate pros haven’t acknowledged this same importance of lead generation until the last few years.

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Up and Running in 30 Days puts lead generation front and center as THE main activity real estate agents do to be exceptionally successful.

One of the studies I included in this latest edition of Up and Running in 30 Days was How to Fix New Agent Onboarding, a special report from Inman Select.

Inman Survey: New Agents Are Unprepared for the Realities of Working Independently

One of the big principles in Up and Running in 30 Days is to reveal how agents succeeded—and why they failed. One of the big takeaways of this report is that three-quarters of the respondents said new agents fail in large part because they are unprepared for the realities for working as an independent contractor.

The study revealed that, though some large franchises and boutique companies’ training programs were highly rated, it’s not enough to assure success. Other support systems, mainly coaching and mentoring, were deemed as needed to assure the new agent transferred the knowledge and skills gained in class to ‘real life’. In other words, lead generation activities need to be featured AND coached to.

Does Your Training/Coaching Spotlight Lead Generation?

In that Inman Select survey I mentioned earlier, How to Fix New Agent Onboarding, 47% of respondents stated lead generation is critical in initial training. And, they observed most new agents struggled with lead generation. That’s why this Up and Running start-up plan is so important to follow to the letter!

Inman also noted that new agents spend too much time on marketing and too little time on lead generation.

Which kind of agent will you be—or are you? One who gets after it by contacting many people each week so you have great leads? Or, the kind of agent who rejects active lead generation and looks for ‘an easier way’? It’s as simple as embracing success or predicting failure!

What is the reason you believe new agents fail?

You’ve observed agents coming in and out of your office. Why do you think they fail? What can we do, as trainers and managers, to assure a better success rate?

Take a look at what’s new in Up and Running in 30 Days: updates in 5th edition. This invaluable book is only $32.95 plus shipping, and has been used by thousands of new agents to launch successful careers. Order here.

Categories 5th Edition Up and Running in 30 Days, Business Plan, goals, income, lead generation, mentor, New Real Estate Agents, onboarding, Real estate as a career, Real Estate Success, retention, Training, Up and Running in 30 Days, Up and Running in Real Estate
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How Much Energy are You Putting into Inaction?

by Carla Cross

June 13th, 2019

How much energy are you putting into inaction?

In the 5th edition of Up and Running in 30 Days. In it, I’ve included lots of up-to-the-minute updates to our business. 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 this edition of the book.

Real Estate Sales IS Challenging!

I’ll bet you didn’t know how challenging real estate sales were until now. To cope with those challenges, your creative subconscious may be coming up with ways to convince you to avoid getting into action. You might even start believing your subconscious!

One of the most common reasons new agents (and some seasoned ones) don’t get into action is the old “I can’t do that because I don’t know enough.”

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Or, maybe your subconscious has convinced you that you’re not organized enough to get into action, or that you’re not perfect enough.

Getting Ready to Get Ready

Ned, an agent in my office, acted in a way that is an example of creative avoidance. In the business eight months, Ned had made only one sale. However, he was in the office regularly and appeared busy with paperwork. He attended law courses and was well-informed on financing. One day I saw Ned collating maps. I asked him what he was doing. He explained that he was putting together a series of maps for a buyer’s tour. I thought that was exceptional; buyers would really want to know the whereabouts of the homes they were seeing.

Does What You’re Doing Matter?

Unfortunately, Ned had used his strategy with only six buyers—all the buyers he had put in his car in the past eight months! He had spent his time on this nifty map system, but had not talked to enough people to get them into the car—or have the opportunity to appreciate the map system! Which is more important to your goal attainment—talking to people, qualifying them, and showing them homes, or working diligently on a map system in case you find someone who wants you to show them homes?

How People Get into Action

How do you “get into action”? In a wonderful book, The Conative Connection, Kathy Kolbe explores the ways different personalities get into action—not how we learn, but how we get into action. Some people barge ahead and worry about the details later. We start badly, but, because we’re tenacious, we surprise people by how good we finally get. Unfortunately, our supervisors often remember only how bad we were when we started. We must be tough-minded and keep at it; we must retain an image of ourselves as “finished products,” because others will not see us that way. Other people observe the action for a long time. Finally, when we feel ready to perform well, we get into action. We start slowly but well.

Positive reinforcement? Because of our slow start, we don’t get much positive reinforcement from our supervisors (or coach or manager), who note our lack of progress compared with others in the office. If slow starters are tenacious and believe in themselves, they become very good because they practice perfectly. Kolbe points out several “get into action” styles. This book will help you pinpoint your “get into action” style as well as the barriers and challenges you face as you start your real estate career.

Embrace Embarrassment

Go ahead—be embarrassed. There is no way to be experienced until you get experience. No agents like to take risks, be embarrassed, or have buyers and sellers guess that they are new in the business. But face it—everyone has been new in the business. Just go ahead and get those first few months over with. You will be embarrassed every day—many times. As a new agent, my most common statement to buyers or sellers was “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” In music, little could stump me—but in real estate anything could stump me! Still, I muddled through it, and you will, too.

* Big Idea: Your ability to get into action and risk being embarrassed is one of the attributes of a successful new agent.

Why not take your time? I’ve interviewed prospective agents who told me they really didn’t want to sell real estate right away. They wanted to learn everything they could. Then, after six or eight months, they would feel ready to sell real estate. It doesn’t work that way! I wish I could tell you that you can successfully launch your real estate career by taking lots of time to “get ready.” However, if you take all the time in the world, you will fail. Why? Because you will lose your enthusiasm and motivation. You’ll start telling yourself you really can’t do it!

Real estate is a performance art. It doesn’t matter how much you know; it only matters how you interact with people. And that takes practice and performance. To remember and emulate good performance, we need to perform right after we have heard, seen, and practiced that performance. Learning something in a class and letting that skill lie dormant for months just guarantees poor skill—and high stress.

* Big Idea: 99 percent of what we learn we learn by doing.

On a scael of 1-10, 10 being “I jump right into action”, how would you rate yourself in getting into action?

Do You Have a Proven Start-Up Plan with Inspiration Built In?

Up and Running in 30 Days has lots of up-to-the-minute updates. Plus, a proven, prioritized business start-up plan with inspiration, motivation, and action items built in. Check it out!

Categories 5th Edition Up and Running in 30 Days, accountability, Business Plan, Experienced agent, Motivation, New Real Estate Agents, Real estate as a career, Real Estate Sales, time management, Up and Running in 30 Days
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The 10 Commandments to Follow to Get the Best from Your Manager

by Carla Cross

June 5th, 2019

Here are the 10 commandments to follow to get the best from your manager.

I’m sure you’ve told your manager what you want from him/her. And, the manager has eagerly agreed to give it to you! But, what’s your responsibility to the firm?

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 the Up and Running in 30 Days, because, 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 to get what you want from your manager:

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

Managers: Why not make your own ten commandments and discuss them in your interview process. Then, turn the tables and ask the agent about his expectations of you and the office.

Agents: 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 we decide to work together is key to a happy partnership. The only surprises I want you and your agent to have after you start working together are good ones!

Side note: Managers: My belief is that you owe it to your agents to coach each one, regularly and professionally, in starting his or her business. That shows your 100% commitment to each person’s success.

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.

Categories 5th Edition Up and Running in 30 Days, Coaching, expectations, Experienced agent, Interviewing, manager, New Real Estate Agents, onboarding, Real estate as a career, Real Estate Sales, real estate team, selection, Training, Up and Running in 30 Days, Up and Running in Real Estate
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Do You Know What Your Manager Expects from You?

by Carla Cross

June 1st, 2019

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?

To get the best from your manager, you must give your best. It starts with expectation sharing, and that’s what we’ll discuss here.

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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?

Click here to find out more.

Categories 5th Edition Up and Running in 30 Days, accountability, action plan, goals, Interviewing, manager, new agent business plan, New Real Estate Agents, Real estate as a career, Real Estate Sales, Real Estate Success, Up and Running in 30 Days, Up and Running in Real Estate
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