Words and Wisdom of Yogi Berra

Over the next month, I will be taking a brief look at the words and philosophy of Yogi Berra as it relates to real estate sales training.  Prior installments of the Yogi Berra Real Estate Sales Training Series included:

• Installment No. 1 - When you come to a fork in the road, take it - The Art of Making a Decision.  This installment focused on the need for decisive action and the need for making informed decisions.

The second installment of the Yogi Berra Real Estate Sales Training Series will start with the now famous quotation "It's never happened in world series history, and it hasn't happened since."  When this statement was made, Yogi Berra was talking about the perfect game pitched by Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series.  Unlike the first installment, it is less about the words of Yogi Berra and more about his philosophy that matters in this installment.  In baseball like real estate sales, there are few perfect games.  It is how we approach the game and how we improve our game by learning from our mistakes that matters the most.

Real Estate Sales Training

So, how does this Yogi Berra quotation relate to real estate sales training?  Well, Yogi Berra didn't start as an All-Star catcher.  In his rookie season, Yogi Berra had the good fortune to play in the 1947 Subway Series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodges.  In the 1947 Subway Series. Yogi Berra made some "rookie" mistakes and faced intense scrutiny, criticism and pressure for his play.  With his usual self-deprecating humor, Yogi Berra described his play in the series as "the Dodgers ran ragged on me that Series, stealing everything except my glove."  However, Yogi Berra wasn't crushed by the criticism and didn't wallow in self-pity.  Instead, Yogi Berra set out to improve his skills in the off-season and developed a very simple system for managing pressure, negative news, and criticism.  Or, more importantly, Yogi Berra recognized that there was no such thing as the "perfect game."

Learn from Your Mistakes - Focus on the Fundamentals

The first step in the Yogi Berrasystem is to focus on your job.  Criticism, scrutiny and pressure aren't necessarily bad things.  It is how you handle pressure and criticism that is important.  So, instead of being crushed by the criticism of his play in the 1947 World Series or worse denying that the criticism had any merit, Yogi Berra viewed it as a part of the learning process.  Real estate agents have to listen to criticism and channel it in a positive manner.  It is easy to rationalize, deny and deflect criticism.  Instead, we should welcome the scrutiny and channel the criticism in a constructive manner.  For Yogi Berra, the scruting combined with his competitive spirit caused him to focus on the basics or fundamentals. 

Yogi Berra could have become distracted and crushed by the criticism of his play in the 1947 World Series.  Instead, although disappointed with his play, Yogi Berra set out to improve his catching skills in the off-season and made improvements that were the building blocks for a long and successful career.  Yogi Berra didn't ignore or deny the criticism.  Instead, Yogi Berra learned from his mistakes and rose to the challenge.  Each day, real estate agents need to take a look back at their performance, figure out what went right and wrong, and be ready to take the field for the next game.  In baseball, there will always be a next pitch, next inning, next game and even next season.  The same is true for real estate agents. It is how we prepare for the next pitch that is important to building a long and successful career.

Stay Positive - Measure Your Success One Sale at a Time

The second step in the Yogi Berra system is simply to stay positive and to develop self-confidence.  Yogi Berra understood that he couldn't be afraid of making a mistake.  Fear of making mistakes created hesitation.  Hesitation allowed base runner to get the jump on him and ended up hurting his team. 

Despite the hysteria and pressure surrounding playing for the Yankees in the 1947 Subway Series, Yogi Berra knew that he had to block out and channel the pressure.  In today's market, real estate agent can't dwell on negative market conditions.  Real estate sales like playing baseball requires a certain mindset.  You have to have confidence, you have to remain positive, and you have to get beyond the fear of making mistakes.  When you reach this plateau, you come to the realization that you are in real estate sales because you are good at it and because you have fun doing it.  

Yogi Berra and the Yankees won the 1947 World Series.  However,Yogi Berra approached his rookie season one game and even one pitch at a time.  Similarly, real estate rookies have to measure their success with some metric other than commissions earned.  While winning the World Series is important to baseball players and earning commission is important to real estate rookies, it is important to learn the fundamentals.  The fundamentals - more than any single game (or sale) - are what build a career.

For the unfiltered words and philosophy of Yogi Berra, take a look at When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take It! : Inspiration and Wisdom from One of Baseball's Greatest Heroes by Yogi Berra and Dave Kaplan.  It is quick read and mixes baseball, business and Yogi-isms in a great little package. 

Interested in real estate sales training? Or, better yet, purchasing a home in Yogi Berra's childhood neighborhood known as The Hill?  Contact Ryan Shaughnessy at PREA Signature Realty at 314-971-4381.