Harris Real Estate University  recently received this great question from a Realtor whom had requested a Free Coaching Call….

"Dear Tim and Julie,

My challenge is the dramatic swings in my income…one month I will do great…and for the next couple months I will be in survival mode. How can I get my business to the point where I can have cash flow…vs cash spurts?

Connie, Realtor from Arizona."

Tim and Julie’s response:

Hi Connie,

Your question is symbolic of a major problem that 99.9% of all real estate agents face. So, if it makes you feel any better…you are not alone!

The problem is that agents think too much like sales people and not enough like business people.

Let me explain…

Agents will go from intense periods of looking for business…followed by intense periods of servicing the business they found.  The challenge is to learn to do both simultaneously.

For example, if you were to decide to list 2-3 houses..what actions would you take? Listing those homes would be your mission in life…nothing would stand in the way of you accomplishing that goal.  You would be a focused, driven house listing machine.  You would be in 'looking for business mode'.

In order to accomplish that goal you have to become more intense, more focused…..you become what we call at Harris Real Estate University …a Real Estate Navy Seal. You are intensely focused on:

1.  Asking for business. When you are in the "Real Estate Navy Seal" mode you have NO fear. Everyone is a prospect! Your mind is focused like a lazer beam.

   

2. Lead generating, prospecting. You don't stop until you have accomplished your goal. Its not about how many contacts or how long it takes...your focus is only on results!
3. Real Estate Tip: Everyone you know is interested in a loan mod. Who doesn't want to save money on their house payment? Want to make money now helping others...start your own loan mod business. Do this in addition to your real estate business. Start now by modd'ing your own loan..save yourself $100s per month...$1000s per year. Next, make money doing mods for everyone you know! Watch the FREE Agent Loan Mod Secrets video now!
4. Going on appointments. Almost magically when you are in Real Estate Navy seal mode you are flooded with appointments!
5. Doing lead follow up. (have you ever noticed the amount of time you take to call a lead back is directly related to the size of your checking account and number of pending deals?) When you are in Real Estate Navy Seal mode you call all leads back within minutes if not seconds!
6. Taking action..you are going on appointments, follow up on every lead...nothing (and I mean NOTHING is getting by you) You are doing the things you must do to accomplish your goal.
7. Being truly of service. Start every day with this affirmation, "Today I will be of service to 'x' number of buyers and 'x' number of sellers. My mind is intensely focused on helping others. I know when I have the mindset of service everything else will follow."
8. Give the people what they want. It absolutely amazes me that there are still sooo many agents who have no clue how to successfully list and sell short sales. In virtually every real estate market the fastest way to build any real estate business is learning how to easily list and sell short sales. YOUR area sellers are in desperate need of agents who have these skills. Watch the FREE Agent Short Sale Secrets video and download the FREE Agent Short Sale Secrets book NOW.

As a Real Estate Navy Seal you are more intense, more focused, more driven. If someone from a mile away mentions selling a home….your heightened Seal ears pick up on the words and you are asking for the business…

The Real Estate Navy Seal is proactive…taking action now. Where the normal mode most agents are in is being reactive. They only take action as a result of something happening..or trying to avoid something bad happening.  This is the typical 'fire putting out mode' that many reactive agents fall into.

Ask yourself this question: Are you being PROACTIVE and taking the actions necessary to make things happen... or are you being REACTIVE and only doing things as a they happen?

So, because you were in Real Estate Navy Seal Mode..you indeed accomplished your goal of listing 3 homes. You did it…goal accomplished!

Now what happens?

You go from being from being a  Real Estate Navy Seal Mode (RENS) into…..a……

Not so intense, slower moving, not all that motivated…Real Estate Sloth (RES). As a sloth you move slower, talk slower, think slower….you are no longer in Proactive take ACTION NOW MODE….you are now in reaction mode.

Your focus and energies are no longer on generating the business. That powerful, focused intense agent that you had to be has been replaced by its alter ego…the the Real Estate Sloth.

You are now focused on doing things like:
1) Making home brochures.
2) Realtor tours and maybe open houses.
3) Putting the homes on 6 bazillion web sites.
4) Servicing your sellers.
5) Speaking with potential buyers
6) Working on your websites.
7) Going to endless office meetings….

Obviously, this list could go on and on.

The real question is..how much time are you spending being the Real Estate Navy Seal vs the Real Estate Sloth?

You can spot a Real Estate Sloth from a mile away. They walk slow, they talk slow, they think....slow. The Real Estate Sloth often times will have a less than professional appearance. The sloth is the agent who spends their day with no schedule, no goals, no accountability....

Real Estate Tip: Have you ever wanted to write your own book? What is more respected than an expert, published author? Imagine the power, the confidence that would come when you present to your real estate clients a copy of your very own book? But, you are busy and writing a book takes a ton of time...right? Well, not now. Become the co-author of our book, "Should I Short Sale My Home". Learn now how you will become our co-author. Watch the FREE Video now. (P.S. you will literally have books with YOUR name and YOUR picture on the cover....on your next listing presentation how will the sellers react when you show them an actual copy of YOUR book?)

Here is a great question for you.....

How much time did you honestly spend in the last 30 days being in Real Estate Navy Seal Mode vs being just another Real Estate Sloth?

Chances are, if your income is constantly going up and down…or maybe you aren’t earning what you need/ want to earn…its because you have yet to understand that being a RENS is actually LESS work than being a RES…..

Why? The Real Estate Navy Seal has no fear.They are confident. They know that their actions will assure their success.

They aren't worried about their next paycheck they are focused on bigger picture goals. At the end of the day the Seal can relax and enjoy their non-working time.

The seal actually works LESS hours...fewer days..Often times Seals don't even work in the evenings or weekends.

You see, the Real Estate Navy Seal works less because when they are proactively working..they are actually getting things done. Think of it this way..if you successfully listed 2 homes today and had a closing...how do you feel at the end of the day? Are you feeling like a Rock Star or are you stressed, worried and feeling burnt out?

Every day at HREU we have literally thousands of Realtors participating in a coaching program. I am not telling you that to brag. HREU is now the nations largest online real estate univerisity. Know that what you are experiencing is common. We have helped literally 1,000s of Realtors create a consistent, reliable and secure real estate business.

Believe it or not…there is a proven path for you to follow so you too will learn how to go from being the Sloth to being a Seal. Once you learn how to become a Real Estate Navy Seal you can stay in that mode...forever.

How much better will your life be when the ups and downs in your income are no more?

Your success in this business doesn't have to depend on...the real estate market...your broker....other agents....etc. Your success, your outcome is directly related to you actions..

Ok, now what...how do you take action ?

The first step in creating consistent income is learning how to work consistently.

Real Estate Tip: Here is a well known secret..Consistent Effort and Actions = Consistent Results. What actions your take TODAY will pay you in 90-120 days. Listed a home today, priced it to sell? Perfect, you will earn money in 90-120 days. What more tomorrow..take more actions NOW.

The Navy Seal is in GO mode at all times. He is ready for action NOW. Even more so…he makes things happen. He IS the action. Most importantly, the Real Estate Navy Seal has learned how to be intense..focused…even when he doesn’t feel like it.

Here is a secret...(this one changed my life when I learned it..and took action)

"One of the greatest secrets to success is doing what you don't want to do when you don't want to do it....at a very high level. Your feelings will follow your actions"

In other words, do you only get results when you feel like it. Do you only become proactive and take action when you feel motivated, when you feel 'happy', when you feel excited...etc…(or on the negative side do you only take action when you feel scared because you are broke etc)?

Real Estate Tip: Its NOT too late to become an REO Listing Agent. Over the next 6-12 months the largest wave of foreclosures will be landing. Make no mistake...the banks ARE hiring agents now to list their REOs. Watch the FREE Agent REO Secrets video and grab your FREE Agent REO Secrets book NOW.

Think about that question. If you are honest with yourself you will probably discover that you only DO get results when you feel a certain way. How much better would your business be, your life be if your results were no longer tied to your 'feelings'. Remember, do what you don't want to do when you don't want to do it at a very high level. Your feelings will always follow your actions"

Look around your market place…you know who the Real Estate Navy Seals are.

They are the agents who produce month in and month out. These are the agents who are growing their businesses in this market…helping more people…making more money than ever before. In case you haven’t discovered our FREE Realtor Superstar Interview site…check it out. Free Weekly Interviews with the nation's real estate movers and shakers.

On the other hand, the Real Estate Sloth is rarely if ever intense....maybe 10% of the time are they truly taking action. The rest of the time…they are just hanging out doing stuff that..... ‘fills your day…but, empties your wallet.’

Are you being consistently inconsistent? Be honest how much time do you REALLY spending at these activities:

Take this simple test:

1) How much time are you devoting to lead generating? Old school over the phone prospecting to 21st Century methods…they are all valid and great ways to generate business. How much time (honestly) did you spend this week…heck, all month…on proactively going AFTER business?

(If you don’t know the answer to this question its a sure sign you are currently in Sloth Mode.)

2) What is your lead follow up plan? I can tell you from our personal real estate selling experience that lack of effective lead follow up is costing you at least 20 sales per year. (easily). In THIS housing market you have to call every lead back within no more than 5 minutes. And your new lead follow up rule should be:

“I will follow up with this lead until one of two things happens…they list or buy with someone else or they file a restraining order against me.”

Hopefully you know that I was joking about the restraining order. But, its my intention that you understand the intensity that is absolutely required in this market for lead follow up.

(Real Estate Navy Seals have pre-qual forms, scripts, systems…they are ready for action!)

3) Are you pre-qualifying 100% of your leads…100% of the time? Do you use anything resembling a script when you pre-qual? Do you ask them questions that are designed to….you know…generate business? How much more time would you have, how much more…dare I say….money would you have IF you were to actually learn how to truly prequalify every buyer and seller lead you speak with?

4) Presenting. At HREU we coach our students to have an organized listing AND buyer presentation. But, no presentation is worth anything unless YOU are out there..in front of potential buyers and sellers…presenting. Are your listing (and buyer) presentations just a mish-mash of things you have picked up along the way? A little of this..a little of that? Maybe your presentation has ‘worked’ for you 50% of the time. In other words, the buyer and seller prospects you were presenting to didn’t run and hide from you as a result of your ad-hoc presentation. Think about this, what happened to the other 50%? How much more consistent would your income be if you not only had a very professional sales presentation…and you were using it on a regular basis?

5) Closing. How much time are you spending….asking for the sale?

Julie and I occasionally watch HGTV real estate shows…Seems like most of the shows feature Realtors showing endless homes to their weary buyers.

It’s interesting to watch as the agents seem to always complain about how many houses they have to show….and at the same time the buyers complain about how many houses they are being dragged to see.

I can tell you from personal experience that when we had our real estate team, we sold many homes to many buyers who came to us having grown discontented with their previous agents.

In the course of pre-qualifying them we would learn that the previous agent had been working with them for months (and months). I can clearly remember many of these wayward buyers telling us that they had seen a home with their previous agent that they had indeed liked…but, didn’t buy it. (and it had subsequently sold). When we would ask why they didn’t buy it they would always tell us the same thing..

”The agent we were working with didn’t ask us to…or we didn’t know that it was out job to tell the agent….we wanted to buy…”

In other words, their previous agent never asked for the sale. Generally speaking if a buyer is in your car, and they have been fully prequalified..ready to buy….they are indeed ready…to buy! So, close them. THAT’S YOUR JOB.

Hopefully at this point you have woken up to the fact that you do have a choice. You can choose to take the action required to even out the ups and downs in your income. Your real estate business (and the quality of your life) has everything to do with the actions your take consistently.

Bottom line, consistent organized actions will create consistent income. If you are ready to make the leap to become a Real Estate Navy Seal start by requesting a FREE Coaching Call.