Real Estate Sales Training - The Words and Philosophy of Yogi Berra - Learn from the Past or Repeat the Mistakes of History

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.
• Installment No. 2 - It's never happened in world series history, and it hasn't happened since - The Art of Learning from One's Mistakes.  This installment focused on constructive criticism and the need to learn from our mistakes.
• Installment No. 3 - Nobody did nothin to nobody - The Importance of Teamwork.  This installment focused on the need to make a personal commitment to your brokerage and the attributes of being a team player.
• Installment No. 4 - Slump?  I ain't in no slump... I just ain't hitting - Dealing with Sales Slumps.  This installment focused on how to handle sales slumps by focusing on the fundamentals of sales, by adopting the right mindset, and by refusing to blame the market for sales slumps.
• Installment No. 5 - I don't know, I'm not in shape yet - The Importance of Physical and Mental Conditioning in Real Estate Sales.  This installment focused on the need for a positive attitude in real estate sales and how physical and mental conditioning is important to maintain a positive attitude.
• Installment No. 6 - Public speaking is one of the best things I hate - The Art of Public Speaking.  This installment focused on tips for improving the effectiveness of one's public speeches and presentations by focusing on simple tips to captivate and inspire your target audience.
• Installment No. 7 - He's learning me all his experience - Learning Sales Skills.  This installment focused on the various stages of learning and the importance of mentoring for developing sales skills.
• Installment No. 8 - If you don't have a bullpen, you got nothing - The Importance of Role Players.  This installment focused on the need to build a team that includes role players as well as bench players who can perform multiple roles.
• Installment No. 9 - If people don't want to come out to the park, nobody's going to stop them - Gimmicks Don't Work.  This installment commented on the use of gimmicks as a substitute for natural talent and building sales skills through training.
• Installment No. 10 - You can't win all the time.  There are guys out there who are better than you - Healthy Competition is a Good Thing.  This installment discussed the importance of healthy competition in real estate sales and the dangers of unhealthy competition that lead to uncivil behavior and a lack of professionalism.
• Installment No. 11 - Don't get me right.  I'm just asking - Communication is the Key.  This installment discussed communication as the core skill for real estate professionals from building rapport to closing deals to customer service to managing teams.
• Installment No. 12 - If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there - Success is No Accident.  This installment discussed the need to dream big and then plan how to get there through setting goals, developing a plan, taking action and tracking one's success.
• Installment No. 13 - Ninety Percent of the Game is Half Mental - Looking for Buying Signals.  This installment discussed that you can improve your sales skills by using your head, assessing the situation, and looking for buying signals.
• Installment No. 14 - Why buy good luggage, you only use it when you travel - Character Matters.  This installment discuss that you can't let success change you and that you need to be true to your core values.

The fifteenth installment of the Yogi Berra Real Estate Sales Training Series starts with the quotation "This is like deja vu all over again."  Yogi Berra  played in fourteen World Series with six against the Brooklyn Dodgers and one against the New York Giants.  When asked how he felt about the 2000 World Series between the New York Mets and the New York Yankees, Yogi Berramade his comment about "deja vu all over again."  In doing so, Yogi Berra explained that it was funny how things tend to repeat themselves with the same tension, excitement and emotions.

Real Estate Sales Training

So, how does this Yogi Berra quotation relate to real estate sales training?  Well, Yogi Berra understood that things have a way of happening again.  Well, that seems to be certainly true with real estate as much as it ever did in baseball.

Here are some thoughts on how the quotation relates to real estate sales:

• Market Changes.  The real estate market goes up and it goes down.  Today, it may be a buyer's market.  Tomorrow, it may be a seller's market.  The simple fact is that the market constantly is moving and changing.  When the real estate market is in turmoil and prices are falling, it is good to know and remember that it "deja vu all over again."  We have been there before and we bounced back.  It will happen again.
• Timing the Market.  There will always be someone who tries to time the market to get the "best price" or the "best deal."  Although I pay attention to trends in the market as a real estate professional, I don't subscribe to trying to time, beat or even predict the market on a personal level.  I can't do it in the stock market and I doubt that I could do it in the real estate market.  My personal philosophy is a bit different.  When it comes to buying or selling real estate, I buy or sell based on my personal circumstances.  Otherwise, I would probably mutter its "deja vu all over again" reminding myself about when I bought IBM stock high, sold IBM stock in a panic at its low point, and then saw it rebound.  Just as I thought my IBM stock wouldn't fall and then did or that it wouldn't rebound and then it  did - I suspect that many will see their home values rebound - but how and when won't be easy to predict and many will again chase the shift in the market.
• Technological Changes.  In the past 20 years, I have seen many changes from computers the size of a room to fax machines to bag phones to the rise of the internet to I-phones and more.  In the end, technology didn't change the business basics.  Although texting, social networks and the internet will undoubted change how we communicate with customers or approach business, I doubt that it will change how business gets done.  Real estate has and will always be local and has and will always be about personal relationships.  There are no magic elixirs.  The basics are what worked then and what still work now. 
• Agent Training.  Now, back to the quote, I see many of the same things when it comes to agents embracing technological changes just as I did before.  Just as we agonized over the purchase of a fax machine, were reluctant to embrace the technological change associated with computers and were slow to embrace the internet, I see the same attitudes today when I speak to agents about using technology from social networking to blogging today.  Yes, it appears that some are reluctant to embrace change - yet again will be chasing the curve.

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.