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35 Listings in 90 Days? Do Your Goals Support Your Business Model?

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Just got off the phone with an ambitious newer real estate agent who is all fired up about selling some real estate. Some serious real estate. He has a plan. He's committed to this plan. He's passionate about his plan. He WILL meet his goal or die trying.

His goal? To have 35 listings in the next 90 days.

Impressive. And given his enthusiasm and commitment, I think he can do it.

But should he?

This agent is a follower of SWS which means, among other things, that he is committed to being the best thing that could ever happen to his clients. Which, it is understood, will result in business and referrals coming his way for years to come from all his happy, satisfied clients.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

No new agent can properly service 35 listings. Oh, I'm not saying that he can't HANDLE 35 listings (although it's questionable), but actually SERVICE them? No way. Very few agents of any experience level can provide repeat-and-refer-worthy service at that level of production.

So, what do I mean by "service?" Well, you can bet I mean more than taking a listing agreement, hiring someone to put a sign in the yard, having the receptionist write up an inaccurate and boring MLS description, taking some awful photos, creating typo-infused home brochures and showing up six weeks later with a smile and an amendment to reduce the price.

No, I mean overseeing all the moving pieces and parts of the complicated process of preparing, marketing, selling and closing a listed property. Really caring about the outcome. Making sure your seller knows you care about the outcome. Keeping your seller informed and involved. So many other things I've written about in the past.

Many say that most of the post-signed-listing-agreement functions can be handled by a $10/hour assistant. I disagree. But that's a post for a different day.

Anyway, I asked this agent if he really thought he could knock the sox off all 35 of his seller clients with his service... or if, more likely, he'd just find himself with 35 unhappy clients who would not use him again or refer him to others.

He's thinking about it. What do YOU think?

Stay tuned for more on the subject in an upcoming post...

Posted by Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn, Author of Sell with Soul on 07/07/2010 09:00 AM

Comments (200)

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Originally posted at: Selling Soulfully with Jennifer Allan: 35 Listings in 90 Days? Do Your Goals Support Your Business Model?

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Post is included in group: The Ninety-ninth Percentile
Post is included in group: Selling Soulfully
Post is included in group: New Agent's Fasttrack to SUCCESS!
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200 Comments on 35 Listings in 90 Days? Do Your Goals Support Your Business Model?

JUL

2010

I am thinking as an experienced person I could not handle 35 listings !!!! This is a really big number and I would co-list with a couple of different people on some of them to ease the burden

Gotta admire his enthusiasm! But I'm with you -- properly servicing 5 listings is much more rewarding than cringing every time the phone rings with another call from an unhappy seller!

I think that you have to be positive and realistic at the same time. I, too, started in real estate thinking I was invincible. Since I'm SUCH A NICE PERSON, how could anyone ever be anything but HAPPY WITH MY SERVICES??

Boy, was I in for a rude awakening.

I agree with you. I think that it will be nearly impossible for 1 young rookie to appropriately service 35 listings. What happens when 15 of them are under contract at the same time (YAY!), and are all complicated? Something's bound to slip through the cracks.

Does this person have a family? If so, that will make it even tougher to meet such a lofty goal. Something will have to give....

I think the new agent is setting himself up for failure, at some level.

He will either miss the goal, or will fail in service level.

Now, a feller's reach should exceed his grasp, I think. But, by how much?

I think that perhaps he should be more realistic and set his goals a bit lower so that he won't be disappointed. This way when he achieves his goal it will then drive him to want to continue his success. Real Estate can sometimes burn an agent out very quickly.

I personally wouldn't be able to handle it but maybe he is superman. Perhaps you should coach him to get in contact with half as many top listing agents and partner each listing up with them, go 50/50 on commission and have them service the listings and he gets the mentoring from 17-18 different agents.

That's the ticket ;)

I'm not sure any agent can personally service 35 listings. If his business model includes having a support team that shares his commitment to exceed expectations, he may be able to pull it off, but I think the "personal" touch may be lacking as a result.

My goals are far less lofty...I'd rather have a handful of listings that I can personally "service" with excellence. I've never cared about being a Top Producer, but I'm more of a quality over quantity kind of gal. :)

I'm thinking he should set a goal of 3 listings in 30 days, then re-evaluate his next months goal. Maybe he'll be one of the rare ones that can handle 35 listings at a time soulfully, but he's probably better off taking it in baby steps to find out his true potential.

Keep him in line Jennifer.

Hi Jennifer. Has this agent ever had a listing?

35 listings in 90 days seems hard to imagine...

Let me know if he succeeds and share his secret!:)

Thanks for writing,

Ken

Thanks for all the comments - and I think (no, I know) the agent has nothing but good intentions toward his clients; he just hadn't thought all the way thru it. We focus so much in this industry on prospecting prospecting prospecting that it's often forgotten that once your prospecting starts to work, you'll be busy SERVICING. At least, we hope so.

Frankly, I think that trainers who encourage this sort of production are doing a terrible disservice to the industry. And I think a lot of them are lying as to what sorts of production "their" followers are doing. When I "do the math" to figure out how on earth someone could even GO on 35 listing appointments (probably a lot more since he wouldn't get all the listings he interviews for) PLUS the prospecting time to get those interviews PLUS the paperwork involved in the 35 listings without even talking about actually doing anything to get the listings sold... it just doesn't add up.

I think the best option would be to say...if you consistantly lead generate and prospect the numbers will come. Maybe not 35 in 90 days now, but if you continue to be consistant everyday with your tasks the numbers will come.

Quality VS Quantity.... if the sellers are not happy at the end of the day, what is the point of having 35 listings? Bad news travels MUCH faster than good news, and one un happy seller will scream the bad... Our reputations are worth more than that 1 commission check.

Jennifer, as you said the math doesn't add up. In my market listing agents show their own listings. Without a team his goal would definitely be impossible. Sounds like he is just too new to know better and he is lucky to be in good hands...yours of course. :)

That's why I like the Virtual Assistant model. I have a couple of friends with over 30 listings... difficult!

I think that the new agent is very ambitious and enthusiastic. That can be a great thing; however, he needs to think about Quality over Quantity. I am saying that I agree with your post completely. This new agent should take all of that gusto and apply it to servicing a few clients that will grow to admire and refer his enthusiasm!

If he assembles a team of 4 or 5 realtors,he should definitely go for it. 35 listings by yourself is definitely too much. But I definitely admire his enthusiasm. He inspired me. Great post.

I'm a firm believer in doing something well or not at all. Your reputation is very important in this industry. I do think that agent has an amazing sense of optimism and drive...hope he can maintain that level without burning out. I do love real estate, but I also love my family and other things and there is no way I could maintain 35 listings without a team of people.

I agree with everyone who has said Quality over Quantity. Sometimes its better to have 5-10 clients extremely pleased with the attention and service you have provided them, then 35 angry clients who will never refer you business because you couldn't dedicate all 35 clients time.

How about aiming for 35 good long term prospects in 90 days instead? To even meet with a client, analyze the market, set up the listing & then get the marketing up & running is a good 2-3 days worth of work (or more!) for each one. By my calculations, you might be able to do it if you didn't take a day off and only slept 4 hrs a night. And then on day 90 you could start returning the buyer's calls you were getting off the day 1 listing.

Yeah, not a good idea.

As long as he doesn't have a life AT ALL. He might be able to do it. Also, he's not allowed to sleep either! Other than that, it would be a challenge for even the most experienced individual agent to pull off properly without the right support team.

I agree that it would be next to impossible for him to provide good service to these listing clients. I really don't like to see that happen, where an agent takes a lot of listings, sloppily adds them to MLS with BAD PHOTOS, and then no more marketing. And I've noticed that what sometimes happens is these agents may get a lot of buyer calls from their signs, and they wind up taking the buyer business but not selling them one of their own listings, which is PERFECTLY WONDERFUL if the listing clients are at the same time receiving the service and attention they deserve.

I may have to do a spin off on this one.

Have a newer agent here that has built an entire short sale division.

He has something like 200 listings in all stages.

I had an escrow with him.

Wasn't allowed to phone or ask for updates.

Never got an update in the 2 months we were in escrow.

My buyers walked due to life circumstance changes.

A month ago.

Listing is still contingent in my name.

Kindly told them twice.

After reading this post initially.

Still under contract under my name.

What a pity and disservice to the sellers.

Jennifer,

I applaud his objective, and look forward to hearing about any actual accomplishments. The difference is huge.

Let me know if he makes the 35 listings and I'll comment on whether they can be serviced effectively.

Rich

You kind of hate to dash the dreams of such an eager beaver. But perhaps he should target 5 listings in the next month and see how that works for him. And then he can incrementally add to his listing inventory as he becomes more experienced and in touch with his limitations. And no one gets hurt in the process.

It never hurts to try but he will find out quickly how much he can handle. If he gets too busy he can maybe refer some of it out. If he can generate 35 listings in 90 days then he really has a business generating machine and can then farm it out to agents who have the time to handle the work.

Just doing the leg work to properly take that many listings, photos, marketing etc would be an enormous job

I love the idea of a big goal. There was a time when no thought that a person could run a four minute mile, guess what we conquer this goal.

Getting qualify sell-able listings well....thats another story.

It is a great goal, but it would be hard to maintain 35 available listings in our market in San DIego. They sell so fast.

Given that he is a new agent, I think this is out of whack. He doesn't have the systems in place to take on that workload. It took me three years in the business before I had my systems that make larger volumes of business easier.

Hi, Jennifer. I think if we do the things right, anything up to some degree is possible. Having many Listings is like having many Buyers. Lots of showings doesn't nessassarily mean having many sales. Many Listings also does not mean many Sales. I like to have many Listings and many also Buyers only in a way that can serve them properl. If I get confused and can not get them what they need, then I wouln't do it. My purpose is not just doing many deals. I think of doing it right. But handling many deals wouldn't scare me. I can handle that. But a new agent? Depends what kind of new. Mabe someone with lots of experience in the field but just got Licence can do that. Someone with no knowledge of course can not do it. Also I doubt these news. I heard of people saying about this number games and most of the times numbers don't work evenly for all people same way. We are all different people with different qualities and capabilities so I seriously don't think numbers work really same way for everyone.

Input from a new agent....

I had ten years of relationship-sales experience when I got into real estate at the beginning of the year. In my first 90 days, I didn't take a single weekend off and it was rare for me to get home before 7 o'clock. There was very little downtime and I was (and pretty much, still am) ALWAYS actively engaged in something productive - even late at cooking up CMA and putting together ad material. To cap it off, I really didn't have anything 'go wrong' in that first 90 days. The result? 14 listings, 5 sides closed, and 3 sides pending. I'm sure that there are folks out there that could have put up bigger numbers in this market, but he's not going to double it. It's just not gonna happen. In fact, without at least one full-time assistant, I'd say 35 in 90 days is a physical impossibility.

That goal is admirable, but useless because it's absolutely unattainable. That's my two cents.

A new agent dosent have anything to do in his first days and weeks on the job except prospect. I think his first 90 day goals should be related to prospecting activities, not results. for example make 20 new contacts a day or do one listing presentation per day...The listings will follow the activities.

I understand his goal....but whats the plan (including how will I service this load)

It seems to me that a goal without a plan is meaningless.

The questions in my mind (presented in logical order) are : what is his income goal for the first year? and what percentage of his income does he want to derive from listings vs buyers? and what is the average price of the homes he is hoping to list? and what is average time to sell in his market? and what percentage of his listings does he expect to sell?

Then and only then can he answer the question how many does he plan to maintain in his inventory?

For example: if I want to make $100000 after expenses and I want $50000 from listings and $50000 from buyers) and the average time to sell is 30 days and my average commission per sale is $2000 (after my broker split and expenses) than I need to list about 50 homes a year or 4 a month

To meet my goal as outlined above (and if Im right in my assumptions) than I only need to have 12 new listings in my first 90 days. not 12 a month,

Obviously his goals and market are different. If he needs 35 listings in 90 days; he has to go for it. If he needs to hire help, or refer out his buyers or build or join a team, so be it. Thats a nice problem and he can solve it later

There is a natural (almost Darwinian process). When you get too busy you loose business because your service suffers. Now some can handle more than others. I also know some build teams or a back office system, but those teams or systems can break down too and they need to be maintained. Some people get turned off by the team system on the other hand just being big gives you recognition and can get the phone ringing.

I am trying to quantify the hours it takes per listing A-Z. I am starting with 150 hours and analyzing whether this is too low not too high.

The agents in our market who have the most listings are also the agents in our market with the most amount of expireds and withdrawns... hmmm... Looks like a pattern

Cheryl - I think 150 might be a little high - maybe a lot high, but servicing a listing to the degree our sellers deserve definitely takes a lot of hours!

Gene - Good stuff. But you know what? IF you can get yourself busy AND provide exceptional service to all those clients, they WILL take care of you in the future. Lather, rinse, repeat. After a few years, you should have a sweet database of satisfied past clients who can do the majority of your prospecting for you. Honest-to-gosh, it does work that way.

Ron - Very good approach! It's meaningful, thoughtful and most important - doable.

Chris - I agree and I've written a follow-up post similar to your comment... stay tuned!

Fred - I can handle a large amount of business, too - probably more than most agents, but in my first few years? No way.

Chris Ann - Same here.

Melissa - Sounds sweeeeet!

Judi - Stay tuned for tomorrow's (or Friday's) blog on that topic.

Tim - that's a good point, and it's not as if the 35 listings will all come in at once. If he gets 5 and is overloaded, I assume he'll step down his goal a bit! But yes, if he CAN generate that kind of business, that's a business model in itself.

Kathryn - I was feeling exactly the same way - when he first told me of his goal, I had a gut reaction that was oh-so negative. I felt bad that I was a wet blanket raining on his parade (to mix metaphors). But after a moment or two of thought, I realized that my reaction wasn't just a lack of rah-rah; it was a reasonable response to an impractical idea...

Rich - I will definitely keep you posted!

Renee - What a shame. That's pathetic. Please DO a spin-off and share the link!

Kate - I think they forget that they owe a duty to their clients... it's not all about ME ME ME!

Liz & Bill - Absolutely.

Julia - watch my blog for confirmation of your thoughts...

Jose - wouldn't it be a shame to blow it with 35 future referral sources? I'd much rather impress and wow 10.

Josh & Julie - I did handle that level of business once, for a few months, and it was brutal. No way I could keep it up long term and expect 1) to stay positive and 2) to stay sane and 3) to get referrals.

Lanre - But which comes first - assembling the team or getting the business...? And running a team is a full-time job in itself unfortunately. At least in my experience.

It's great to see all the excitement but he doesn't have the experience to understand what servicing his clients entails.

Hi Jennifer. It is possible that someone new can manage 35 listings. I don't know why he's that ambitious in the beginning but if he thinks it's possible then why not? He can achieve what his mind envisions. Me personally... who am I to discourage him? :)

I admire his energy, but we all know that what you say is true. Any agent can sit on 35 listings, but nobody can do a FANTASTIC job with 35. That's not possible.

It's like anything good. If you have it in excess then you end up sated. Everyone wants to be the exception so that they can boast but even if he closed 35 in a year that would be a sweet accomplishment. I certainly do NOT want to be on the other side of his transactions.

Someone needs to give him permission to learn to be a great Realtor. Just my 2 cents.

With a new agent who may not have proper systems, processes, in place, I doubt 35 clients could be simultaneously happy...

Great post as always Jennifer. I have to agree, I think it would be physically impossible without assistants. That would be a listing every 2 1/2 days and like you said when you figure he won't get the listing on every appointment that adds up even more.

I do like his enthusiasm though!

This agent's enthusiasm is 1000% sincere. And I believe he's capable of talking to and being charming to enough people to get those listings. I just don't think it's the "right" goal to have.

Maybe he talked really fast and said he wanted 'three to five' listings in the next 90 days. If you slur it together I think that was probably the answer. ;-)

I remember when I first started in real estate and I had 9 active listings at the same time, I asked my managing broker, how many listings is too many to handle at the same time? She did not give a specific number, but said once you have more than you can comfortably maintain, it is time to look at getting an assistant, obviously adding buyers into the mix takes much more of your time.

If he does it, I sure would like to know how...

Jennifer - He should certainly try to meet his goal. Without any goal, his accomplishment will be nill. Why shouldn't his goal be ambitious? His result will be higher than someone who only seeks 3 listings in three months, for example.

Jennifer, I think that is extremely attainable and doable. I have over that many and feel like I service them well.

I would think most coaches would feel the same. If you don't think you can handle 35 listings then either your attitude is wrong or maybe the way you priortize what you do is wrong.

There is no failure. if he shoots for 35 and hit 18, then that is probably a higher number than if he would have shot for 20.

The service time depends on what type of listings he's looking for. If he wants traditional listings he better hope he prices them right. Then he'll just have to manage 35 offers (or more). If he's siingle maybe he's planning to devote his life to it for three months. If he's targeting short sales, an agent can (I'm not saying they should) do less in the way of video tour, call capture recording, on site brochures, etc. Of course the less you do, the less buyers you get too. Maybe with 35 listings he could hire a buyer's agent...

I do see your point though, it's a tough load to handle without a team.

I have a hard time telling anyone they can't do something. I've always prefered to say "That's only possible if..." I hope it is possible for him and would love to hear the follow up in 90 days!

JA - I think it may be possible depending on how many quad vente' mocha lattes can be consumed in a given 24hr period. Now for the selling side, that'll be a lot of Cab intake. You didn't hear me say "moderation" did you?

Love your new look also!

I believe that the agent has the right idea. He has designed a map for success and though he has lofty goals to say the least, his outcome will probably differ from his goal. Like most agent's with a lot of listings, he will probably taper off around 20 if he is capable to make it to that number. This will allow him to reevaluate his strategy. Now just to make it to 20 listing as a new agent in a buyers market such as the one we are in now would be enough work for the year considering the true ideal of selling what you list. But I try my hardest not to discourage any agent in any market. Most agents come into the market with high unrealistic goals, it is only the experience of time that will change his mind. But to accomplish 15-20 listings in a market like this as a new agent I would consider him a success.

Gotta admire his enthusiasm! As long as he can keep his ego in check, he can always grab another agent in his office or his broker to help him out.

Jen -- First, great new photo. You seem to be loving that beach.

Second, I agree that 35 listings is a handful for even experts. You need a great contact management program, follow up on showings, feedback to sellers, and nonstop "touch" methods so you don't lose track of any sellers. It is hard.

Perhaps this guy should set goals of not so much going after new listings, but selling the listings he has.

PS As I wrote that I realized that in the past 2 days I have taken 14 listings (12 were lots and 1 was a spec home on those lots).

I went home to my husband and told him and he replied, that is GREAT ... now how many did you sell?

Listings are great but you need to SELL them to get paid.

I could go get 100 listings by the end of the month... but they would be 100 crappy listings ending in 100 angry sellers... It isn't about what we can get, but about what we can do once we get them.

I like the enthusiasm he has... hopefully he can find a better balance between listings and service. Thank you for sharing this post.

Interesting goal - someone has coached him on listing inventory but hasn't told him "the rest of the story." Like the time, cost and diligence those listings will take. I'd love to increase my listing inventory, but quality is so hard to find in our market right now...

Please keep us updated. I'd love to hear how this turns out.

I can't handle 35 listings, so I wish him the best!!

We'll I'll tell ya what, the title caught me so congrats on the feature. As to the goals set for this agent. We are always told to set the bar high. I think he needs a pole vault for this one. One person could not possibly effectively service if he were sucessful.

I don't think ambition is a bad thing at all. But experience will need to play its part for him as well. He does need to provide good service to his clients if he wants to have any longevity in this business.

Maybe his answer is to start a team with other agents in his brokerage, because anyone who can bring in 35 listings in 90 days really knows how to market!!

Great point. I agree with you. Thanks for the post!

Lofty goals. I hope the sellers do not suffer. This is where a good broker will temper enthusiasm with common sense.

Reading all the responses to this blog made me stop and think about each one of my clients to determine if this a realistic number. 35 listings in 90 days is a great goal and if you achieve 6 in that 90 day period that is a great percentage. But, I thought I would give my 2 cents on this from a different point of view. As a Real Estate Virtual Assistant I have two clients that maintain 40-60 each, my other clients maintain around 10-15 per month. And, they are closing a majority of them in a 90 day period, so they are keeping their goal of steadily maintaining 10-15 at one time.

Each one of my clients have a great reputation in their market, so they are very well known and known for their excellent customer service. They do this with a clear vision of what their systems are and make sure that we have one in place. I have alot of clients come to me needing systems created and it is so refreshing when the system is in place and everyone knows their roll with the team, even if this is a single agent. I am a part of that team and when my client takes the listing she/he knows that they system or the action plan will be followed. This allows my client to spend more time dealing with new business. The seller is happy because all the details are taken care of and communication is developed.

35 listings in 90 days in this economy, probably not, but you have to reach for the moon and if you land on the stars you are still a winner. Just make sure you have systems in place so when you meet your goals you don't get lost in how to maintain what you have and lost control.

The core of a successful business is to have your systems in place.

Wishing everyone much success ~ both professionally and personally.

Kim Hughes

Pretty ambitious and SCARY for a newbie. Good luck to them. I'd rather have 15-20 that I can sell than a handful of crap.quandong

What a great goal ! Always good to Aim High ... If this person falls a few short, At least they worked their goal. Any would be better than none at all.

There are plenty of agents that carry 35, 50, 75 and more listings and service them just fine. You definitely need a good team and administrative assistance, though.

I currently have 17 listings and 8 pending transactions with 1 assistant and we're handling the volume just fine, although I think we're probably at around 85% capacity or so. Once I get to 20 listings, I plan to hire another assistant.

-- Danny

JUL

2010

Coming from a reference of carrying a lot of listings.

Nestor and I carry between 40 to 60 listings. 80% of those are also short sale listings which take a lot more time.

But we have a well oiled team. We also have a trained VA staff that we ourselves trained to do many of the listing tasks, we outsource as much as we can off site.

We automate much of our business. We use time saving techniques especially on the short sales. Because we have a track record of closing our short sales, the sellers are expected that in return they will play a part. They take the photos of their homes especially if they are vacant because at least I'll have some staged photos for the internet. We take the short sale listings over the phone and via email. Saving more time while spending the time we save negotiating for them.

Our daughter is our listing manager. She puts the listings in the mls and is a pretty good writer. She sets up the files and then turns over the files virtually to our VA who then inputs all our listings into Realbird, our website, craigslist, etc, etc.

Right now she is also our closing coordinator and she is a short sale negotiator, a very good one at that. So all three of us handle the short sale negotiations when it gets to that point. She initiates all the short sale offers and paperwork into the system. We use Google Docs that any of us can access from anywhere for our paper trails of our short sales progress and negotiations.

We have a runner to put up signs but most of our areas don't allow signs.

I do the marketing strategies and Nestor does all the values and cmas. My job is to get listings through the internet. Nestor's job is to get listings through our database and SOI. He does the follow up stuff for lead generation. We must always be moving forward getting new listings to survive in this market.

In this market here, if you have 20 listings that are priced right, you will get about 4 closings a month. So if you want to eat, you need to carry listings. SO then you need to also have a team that will carry out the details.

We know it can be done because we get wonderful testimonial letters of a job well done. But we also found early on when we started this team thing, that some sellers are not a fit for it. Sometimes if they want to reach me or Nestor only, we pass on those listings. Now we explain each team members position to our sellers and that works well. As long as we are all on the same page.

We do not please everyone and I don't have any illusions of doing so. When you have one or two clients it is easy to make them happy but when you work on numbers, it is inevitable that you are not going to have 100% happy clients. And that's OK. Katerina

I would love to work for Katerina for a month and learn how she runs her team. From her comment I've learned that she has clear and specific roles for each team member and she clearly communicates her system to her clients. This keeps her business from getting dragged down with sellers who just don't fit her model that is oriented to getting sales done.

I cannot imagine a newer agent having the level of experience and support to fine-tune a listing management operation that provided a decent level of client service. I unabashedly declare that I could go out and write 30 listings in 30 days -- or even a shorter time period if I made a few extra phone calls. But since I am running a business that delivers a predictable level of service to our clients, and that delivers a predictable income to our business, I would never just willy-nilly write-up listings.

Someone has to stop and ask "do you want to list the house or sell the house"? Listings are easy, selling is hard.

We have a few here that carry a hundred or so listings at a time. The theory is: throw enough crap against the wall and some will stick. To hell with the clients.

I have always pressed that I take a limited number of listings to provide concentrated efforts to sell my listings and not be overwelmed and this has attracted more listings.

Master the basics. Execute. Systemize. Hire the best. Scale up. Seek inspiration. Seek out the masters of the craft. Learn from whom ever is willing to teach you. Serve your clients. Fail forward. Be humble. Point at others when there is success, look at yourself when there is failure and improve the process. Lead your staff and get out of the way. Help others. Be sincere.

The listings and closings will follow.

Great comments. Thanks Dave. 35 and service... not likely. But better to shoot for the stars and hit the moon than not aspire to anything.

Robert Boyer
WJB Home Loan
Investment Property Search
San Diego Real Estate Homes for Sale

There is an experienced agent in our area who once told me he'd be taking 3 more listings over the weekend, bringing his total to 20-something. I asked him if he could service that many.

His response was "[Big Eyes] Yeah, y'know I thought about that...but you know I don't do all that stuff you do for your listings.... hell, I can't sell any of them anyway - they're all overpriced.... [Big Smile] But hey, you know my signs in their yard - FREE advertising - and with all those listings, some of 'em are bound to sell sooner or later, right?"

Each of us has a number of listings that is too much for one person to handle. We each decide what that number is for ourselves. When we routinely carry more than that number of listings, it's time to hire an assistant, form a team or get help. If we do not - if we choose to be greedy and keep all the money for ourselves - the sellers are not getting the service they deserve.

We currently have 34 active listings plus quite a few working towards closing along with a number of buyers with contracts on properties.

We currently have two licensees plus a part-time unlicensed assistant. The three of us can keep up with the workload but it's tight at times. We're adding another licensee later this month as a buyer/tenant representative.

We took nine listings in June and already have two under contract.

We work almost exlusively by referral and have hundreds of raving fans. It's about having systems in-place and working hard to under-promise and over-deliver.

Tom

All I can add is "good luck" to him. I don't think a lone agent, much less a newcomer, can properly service that many clients. All the more power to him if he pulls it off.

Well, well..interesting. First, let's see how this agent goes about successfully obtaining 35 listings. That's the first thing. And, I say, go for it if you think you can. Heck in my small two little towns we have about 135 home sale listings!!

The most important thing is to communicate with your sellers. Keeping them up-to-date and making sure you are the point of contact. If that can while havinig 35 listings, then so be it. However, it will take a lot of money and experience to hire the best in the business to do the things that make these 35 listing work, as 35 listing and doing right by the client - just keeping in touch, up to date on market conditions and such is a full time job, all unto itself.

I do think he will soon see that 35 listings is unrealistic at any point; but bless him for trying. I'd like to know if he did it, and if he makes it was he able to spend the money keeping them. :)

It's a rather aggressive goal but can be done by networking with other experienced agents, and settle for a 50%/50% split. He can continue to service these clients for future continuity of business.

Such fun to wake up to so many thoughtful, insightful comments.

Many have mentioned the team approach and I agree, if an agent has a team IN PLACE, 35 listings can be done, and done well. And maybe he'll do that, although I would probably recommend that he stay on his own long enough to truly master his craft - all sides of it - so he can effectively be a team leader some day.

But to return to the original point of the blog - Do your goals support your business model (and vice versa)? I believe that every business plan should include a whole section devoted to Customer Service and that's what I believe is lacking in my agent friend's plan. Imagine if he was capable of generating that level of business AND had the systems in place to blow them away with his service? Holy Moly - he'll set the world on fire!

Maria - Those sorts of stories almost make my cry... I can't even imagine taking on business I have no intention of serving. Blech.

Wow we learn so much at the beginning stages of our careers. The first listing is learning experience.

Can it be done?

yes, but it would be hard unless you had a team to manage them and you only communicated with the sellers. Which is most important in any listing is the communication.

Can it be done? Yes. Can it be done well? Yes. Will he need to learn a whole new skill set of client care and management? Yes. Are there other agents in our industry who are performing at a much higher level than 12 listings/month? Yes. Is it possible to learn from them? Yes.

It can be done, and it can be done well, If he makes it his decision to do so. I would never tell anyone anything is impossible. And because it may be difficult or he may have challenges is not the same thing as it cannot be done, and it cannot be done well.

I'd rather tame a tiger than paint stripes on a kittycat.

Good luck to that new agent! Go for everything that he dreams is possible, and better yet, when he fails (as we all certainly will) fail forward!

In success!

Well, god bless him and his lofty goals.

There's a pretty strong concensus here, and I agree with the majority that it can't be done well. (Those who say it CAN be done well, while continuing the efforts to get all those listings, probably have a different definition of 'well' than the others.) But if he can get 30 listings in 90 days he could write a book and retire rich!

So true. Our business is so much like a yoyo it is difficult to make sure the business comes when you have the help to take good care of the clients. Have a great day!

Maybe I am missing something here but the idea that a brand new agent can get 35 listings in 90 days seems pretty absurd to me. Who would trust him?

Marcy

I do not think any expereinced agent could handle 35 listings alone, they would need a great support team. So for a new agent, near impossible

I disagree. There's no physical limitation that says he can't service all of them. The caveat is that you can't expect him to service them all himself. As a business owner, I've learned to delegate all sorts of tasks. Paperwork goes to person x, appointments are made by y, and the important stuff is done by me.

If you think that only one person can handle a task from beginning to end, take your dentist for example. You would think that she/he would treat you from beginning to end, but they have hygenists to expedite it. Would you rather wait for service from the dentist...or would you rather not sit idling and get a few tasks completed by a hygenist?

I am sure if a new agent can get 35 listings in 90 days then he won,t have any trouble getting agents to come on board with him. Good Luck!!

I like his goal! I used to always carry between 40-50 listings myself. Lately they've been selling so quickly I'm down to about 15 active and 10-15 in some phase of pending. He'll need to follow a good system but for sure can be done :)

Very good comments~ I always say - it's one thing to have listings - but it's much better to have sales. What good is a listing if it doesn't go through to a closing!

Never, ever, never discourage a goal just because you can't accomplish the feat. Wouldn't it be a great lesson for him to go after that goal and learn from it instead of raining on the parade. An offer of encouragement and mentoring the goal setter through the lesson would have been of more value to this new real estate agent then setting the standard of it can't be done because it has not been done by anyone you know of by your self.

"Shoot for the Moon because if you miss you may end up among the STARS!"

Being a Lemming only has you following all the other Lemmings off the cliff.

I would love to have seen this plan, help the person execute the plan and be there to help the goal setter with the possible stumbles along the way. Offering help, encouragement, and constructive criticism is what all new goal setters need.

Go forward young goal setter and accomplish the things the nay sayers tell you can't be done. It is people like you that we will eventually look up to as the successes in our industry.

Love his goals and definitely think he will be successful, but as you and others have mentioned, the goals need to be based on what he can realistically, successfully service. Most Top Producers I know have a high number of listings and they also have a Team of at least 3-6 people in place to handle all of the necessary tasks related to effectively servicing that many listings.

That is quite a workload for any one agent. To give give any level of service above mediocre to that many clients will be almost impossible.

Love his enthusiasm. When I started, I was focused on education, learning from the experienced realtors and Brokers, asking questions, taking notes, holding open houses to get my feet wet. Would not have been able to take care of my listings..certainly not 35 of them. And now that I do mostly Short Sales..no way! If he gets a request for a Short Sale..is he taking that too? Yikes!!!

Jennifer, he's fortunate to have you as a sounding board. Hard isn't it? Not wanting to step on a fired up new agent, but wanting to cushion them from a hard hit... Whatever he does finally end up you can be sure it will be more than most new agents. As you pointed out... he has a plan

Pamela

Positive enthusiasm is a wonderful thing....tempered with some degree of reality....or the disappoint of failure more than likely will cloud his future.

Can he service them? No way. I think it's a moot point. I'm real curious about his business model how he can get 35 listings. He must have an ungodly SOI or be willing and have access to tons of capital. I say go for it. He needs to get 10 that first month. Report back in 30 days and let me know what he has. Once he starts with that and has 10 listings under contract and starts to deal with them let's see what he says.

The most successful, and well to do, agent in our area once told me his goal was to have a closing every week. Just a paycheck, like he had a job. Well he does that and more, usually, almost all very high end stuff too. A closing every week is a great goal, and leaves you time for life too.

Larry M

FIVE STAR REAL ESTATE

GRAND RAPIDS , MI

Jennifer,

That's a whole lot to try and do in such a short time. Has he ever even had a listing? There was no mention that he actually intended on selling any of these listing. Just putting a sign in the yard and some scribble on the MLS will not sell the listing.

It is great to be ambitious and to set your goals high. However, having been in the business a little more than a year, 12-15 listings is a more realistic and manageable number if you are handling the listings yourself and concerned with giving the proper attention to the sellers and all the activity that goes with the listings. With a team obviously that number goes up exponentially.

Good luck to him!

well i can tell you i personally have 35 listings but it took me 6 monts to get them and plenty of hard work went into it and having a partner helps BIG TIME! Most are Short Sales so you have more than double the work. And I'm not new to the game either. Good luck to the new agent!! After all, Skies the LIMIT!!

Listing Real Estate

I agree with the majority here, 35 is a huge number, to accurately and enthusiastically keep control of all that is required for a seller and this market. I have half that number in listings as we speak, and it requires 7 days a week to promote, inform, and show these listings and inform the owners involved. Not to mention working with buyers in between.

I enjoy my work, and I believe if a new guy or gal put themselves in such an overload position they would be burnt out by day 135. This is a business that requires calm, and persistence. Being motivated is key, however planning your moves and sticking to the plan will make you a better agent, and better person.

It is unfortunate these programs don't teach every aspect of what would be required after a listing is obtained. So many important and necessary steps must be taken to secure trust, and loyalty between agent and seller. Once the greenhorn learns this he or she will go far with there successes.

Great topic! I wish him luck!

Brent Laugesen, Realtor 727-735-1510

http://www.Clearwaterbeachwaterfronthomes.com

Serving

Clearwater beach Real Estate, Island Estates Real estate, Sand key Real estate, belleair Real estate, Belleair beach real estate, Dunedin real estate, Indian rocks beach real estate, Tampa Bay real estate, Madeira real estate, Commercial Real Estate, Residential Real Estate

I'm just curious how he came up with that goal? Had someone else in his office done something similar that he was trying to best? Seems rather unrealistic but I don't know what market he is in. Sounds more like wishful thinking though. I also wonder has anyone shared with him the monetary cost of having 35 listings, I know when I started I didn't have that much extra cash laying around. Good Luck to him though! I hope he has success in his goals.

Unless the agent has a team for support behind him, he will burn himself out trying or end up killing any future success he could achieve by not truly servicing the clients he gets.

This business is more than the NUMBERS. It's about QUALITY.

He has a great goal, but I don't think he can handle all of the work himself. Looking forward to the updates.

I think to only way to manage that is if a majority of the listings are from a builder where you only have that client to manage instead of herding 35 cats.

Well put... it depends on if he is flying solo or if he has a team to help him accomplish great service. I think it would be difficult in either circumstance.

You know the funny thing about being new is that you don't know what you Can't do. You don't have the inhibitions necessary to prevent you from reaching your goals. So...you just do it, and gosh darn it...newbies like that put us all to shame by doing what we know to be impossible.

I think most of us are comfortable with what we do and how we do it, so if someone comes along and does things differently...or heaven forbid better...we all get uncomfortable and look for the "Yeah, buts" to make us feel secure again....

Yeah, but he can't service them,

Yeah, but he is new who will trust him,

Yeah, but are they quality listings?

Yeah, but...fill in the blank

I say...More power to him. I'm rooting for him to reach his goal...and my first thought to him would be, "How can I help you get there?" And in return, perhaps, if I am lucky, I as an experienced agent can learn something...from him.

Hi Jennifer...maybe you could follow up in 90 days and let usknow how he is doing...always good to have big goals...he'll figure it out as he goes if he gets that many...more power to him.

Wow. 35 in 90 days does seem like a bit much. Your advice, Jen, was quite necessary, and your point well taken. It's best to only take a few listings at a time and service them very well.

Jennifer,

As a seller I would ask him how he can handle that many and still sell my house with any kind of quality attention?

This is exactly the approach I use in a listing presentation. On the other side.

Why discourage anyone if he has a goal. But I would love to talk to his potential listings right after him.

Bill Schroyer

Good answer Bill. I have had as many as 125 (with a full time partner) but many were with the same seller. This makes it much easier than with different sellers, but he needs to always remember that good news travels slowly and bad news travels at the speed of light. Be careful what you wish for in this business.

I hope this kid knows how to mix drinks because if he does get 35 listings the service will be so bad his name will be MUD around town

This is an obtainable goal, I currently have 60 listings and in the low months average over 30 listings.

You will always have the one client who no matter how many times their property gets shown, will always want to knwo why you are not the one showing their property and even after you explain that their are far greater buyers with the thousands of other agents in your area than what a single agent could have, they still will look at you with a glazed over look from their eyes.

But that is about the extent of any negativeness. If you want to be the Alpha Dog of not just your office, but your region, then you have to pick and choose which listings you go after. You have to have the listings that you want to represent and believe in.

It can be done and it just takes discipline.

as a new agent, I can imagine that you experienced agents are correct...it may not be possible. but; I also wonder, is there a way to model a plan that might make some sence...? maybe not, but I like to think its something that Id like to actually see his/her plan, before discounting the idea...

having said that, i can imagine that since most of you seasoned agents say its not posible, then its likely not... but I can only say likely, because people break the mold every day.. and good for this person for setting a goal to do that... hopefully they have resources to back up on if there is a problem, Im guessing that if they try to swing it, then they may learn something that no one else has tried.... Id be really curious what thay figure out.

Hey you,

Great post! Love the new photo too,,,,on the beach and all!

Agreed-- too many. I can't stand working with agents who have so many listings that I'm not allowed to call them and check on things...what kind of crap is that? Are we not in the business of service? Um, yeah.

So what number is a good number? For me, I cannot imagine having more than 10-12 listings at the same time, because, after all, if they are priced properly, they will be in all different stages all the time, so that in itself would keep me busy full time...and still able to properly serve my clients (and work with a few buyers).

Hope all is well...drop me a line sometime!

Tamara

The only way that can happen successfully is if he has AND USES EFFECTIVELY a complete set of systems and checklists in place to confirm that everythig is being done correctly and on time. They would need to be refered to daily or in the case of strategy based CRM (client relationship management software) (Top Producer / ACT / Agent Office) the daily list of things to do pops up on his computer in the morning. When one is completely organized and has a strategy in place to do what needs to be done, yes, i think one person could handle it - if he doesn't want to go get 35 more in the next 90 days..... which as you say,.... is another blog altogether.

If he is successful and gets the 35 sold effectively, then he can hire 3 assistants, get 35 more and enjoy life as well!! The key for him is to do negotiations effectively, the weekly contact for the sellers and let the assistants take care of the rest. Isn't that the idea??

I admire the mindset - but his inexperience is showing with his goal setting. World class customer service is what we read and write about and hopefully strive to achieve. It's hard to deliver what you may not clearly understand. Perhaps a well developed campaign that delivers 3 to 4 listings a month for 90 days will help him develop the systems, support and techniques to push the limits later. One also has to wonder what may be the underpinning reason for such a loft goal! Great dialog and some great ideas are flowing from up. Thanks for sharing.

I would encourage him to go for it, but at the same time to hire an assistant if he actually gets all the listings. A good book for him to get is The Million Dollar Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller - in it he will be given the systems he needs to set up to run a business that he is dreaming of having so he will be able to service his clients appropriately. It's all about systems and putting them into practice that will gauge how succcessfully he'll be able to service his clients. I say good for him - indeed encourage him to get a mentor to help him along - but lofty goals are better than no goals - and if he reaches for the stars he'll at least land on the moon.

If he is successful in setting up a business plan that allows him to get 35 listings in 90 days, chances are he will be successful in setting up a plan to service them. He just needs to hire a good support staff.

Please invite him to join Active Rain. He probably has some great ideas to share and you have to love that enthusiasm.

Jennifer,

I carry between 20 and 40 listings at any given time. I call them weekly for an accountability review. We discuss the showings, open houses and where they line up to the competition. The key is organization and duplicatable processes and systems. It can be a challenge especially with some shortsales, needy clients and showing my own listings but it is possible. 8am=8pm 6 days a week.

I think the new agent has do able goals. The road less traveled. He will learn alot, lose alot and eventually reap alot.

I agree with you Jennifer. 35 listings is a lot of inventory for one person. With as much time and effort it takes to properly prepare for taking a listing, and then get it on the market, take photos, prepare brochures, post it to all of the different web portals, proofread it, etc. It would seem to me that by the time you got to the 10th one, the first one or two should be under contract, and by the time you got to the 20th, several would be under contract and some would be closed.

There is an agent in our mls who regularly carries more than 80 listings, and she's proud to have a 22% success rate.

Maybe I miss the point of real estate, but it seems to me that the point of taking a listing is to get it sold, and that a 22% success rate is a 78% failure rate.

That is quite an ambitious goal. Hope he has a team to help him. But the big questions is,,,,will he have enough energy to service these listings after he get's them???????

Agents who spend a little bit more, will typically make a little bit more if they spend it right. There are many companies out there that assist Agents with all of their marketing needs and this gives the Agent much needed "Face to Face" time in the field and at the table.

There are tools and resources available, but it amazes me that only a small percentage of professionals utilizes all of them. I agree, that they all cost dollars, however... the profit always outweighs the loss.

In other wordsYou can have both the Quantity and the Quality if you play it right. I have clients that produce record amounts of listings every quarter, and while 35 listings in 90 days seems a bit much... I have seen it done several times.

Nathan Strauch
www.PrintMyRealEstate.com

Might I add the most important aspect of them all, Great Communication Skills with the Sellers!!!!

I can NOT believe how often I still hear from sellers how they had little to NO feedback on the previous listing.

Even if there is nothing going on, you need to call them and let them know, they will appreciate hearing from you and after a few weekly calls that nothing is happening, they will ask you to lower their listing.

and that will get it back out in front of the people and thus get it more exposure.

I don't know what "SWS" is, but I like the guy's ambition. In 90 days, he'll get over it. Since my market of central Nassau County, LI,NY does not do any real buyer brokerage, the object is to be a listing agent, and the secretary's are supposed to help posting the listings to MLS and marketing the consumer's open houses. With 35 listings, other agents would salivate over doing the public open houses in order to get buyers and make offers thereby getting a commission split. The agents real goal should be to set up marketing, get calls, go on appointments, and list. Everything else can be outsourced, and if he doubles it, great! I suggest he get a website with a front landing page, capture seller info, and find a company that know how to drive internet traffic to his site. Then list,baby,list!

Admirable goal, but I do not think he can properly service that many people at one time. Perhaps having an assistant would help. But who knows.......he could surprise all of us...............

This zealous agent simply doesn't know what it is he doesn't know!

35 Listings in 90 days, I admire his entusiasm, it will be difficult to offer premier service to 35 listings. Especially in todays environment. Just in your marketing plan alone, you always have to make adjustments for each listing. Cutting it down, he might be better off.

It can be done depending on how big an area he is Trying to do.I do everything my self yes put up Signs ,Input on MLS,Marketing, I have 34 listing 6 closing this month, 3 conditionally sold. I am working with right now 6 buyers and I turn down 5 listing each week and if i find that the client want's to much of my time i pull my sign kill contract and continue on my way. This year alone 95% of my sales I listed and sold to my buyers .My area has 6600 homes . And yes after my transactions i receive referrals from both clients without asking them. I don't do foreclosures as they requires to much paper work and to much time .

But then again i have been selling since 1999 and should be handling 50 listing by my self

Stay positive

Jennifer,

Your post is right on. When I read the title I thought, "How can you possibly give quality service to all those sellers".

I think it's great that he has a goal and sounds like, a plan, so he's definitley heading in the right direction. Hopefully he will see your perspecitve as another item to work into his plan instead of running full speed ahead without considering the outcome.

By the way, I love your signtuare at the end of the post!

Adrienne

Great post. He needs to consider his future reputation when he fails to service those 35 listings. It's great that he has so much excitement and passion. But, he needs to write a business plan while he is looking for his listings.

Jennifer,

I think he would need to have 72 hour days to handle that volume. It's great that he has such lofty goals, but I think reality will soon bite him very hard. Even an agent in a limited service discount brokerage would be hard pressed to manage that many listings effectively. Please let us know how he does!

Can 35 listings be done for a new agent, i personally think he is just been ambitious or he just wants to be like the agent Maria Morton talked about have 20 listings,market yourself with yard signs and no results-lol

I run my business on referrral and without excellent service there is no referral.I recently fought to have a foreclosure rescinded for us to do a short sale,took a lot of time,energy and persistence to do this, honestly i doubt if i can have the time to devote to this client if there are 34 other unhappy seller's blowing my phone up.

Let this new agent imbibe "Service above self,He profits most who serve best"-Rotary international theme and maybe after that he can set realistic goals.

I would like to hear the full story success or otherwise after 90 days.

When he does it, or is well on his way, I'd like to know how he did it.

I think it is a great goal to strive for, even if he hits half it is still wonderful. As far as servicing them all can be done with the right Team...however a brand new agent will have more than a bumpy ride. Dont be suprised if the word "help!" comes along soon. :) Kudos for the awesome attitude tho.

Unhappy clients??? I think that is understatement! I'm glad he's ambitious, but he needs to LEARN the business and then grab that goal!

This reminds me of a little kid who sees a giant ice cream sundae, and wants to eat the whole thing. His parents likely tell the child that "his eyes are bigger than his stomach." I think this new agent is well-intentioned, and I admire his chutzpah, but I don't think he truly understands what it takes to service all those listings, and service them well.

Admirable goals that's for sure. In todays market you need to be positive and as they say, Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars! When I look back over my 12 years in real estate, my idea of service has certainly reached higher levels than when I first began. Go get 'em!

Jennifer,

There's a great deal to be said about confidence and enthusiasm! That being said, I agree that it will be very hard to successfully service 35 listings as a new agent. I love gumption, tempered with foresight and a little attentiveness.

Yes if he can do it, more power to him. he will be the area Specialist.

Jennifer,

What a great post and discussion! I agree with you and most of the commenters here that the agent's goal, while admirable, is likely not attainable with his level of experience and resources. True, he could partner with other agents or delegate tasks to assistants, but delegating effectively requires significant experience and understanding of all of the tasks involved.

For experienced agents with a well-defined process, the number is definitely doable. But for someone who hasn't experienced all of the tasks required, plus all of the things that can go wrong (and may not know how to avoid or overcome them), even a handful of listings could be a challenge.

To your point, it's important for our goals to be in line with our business plan. High level goals are useless if they're not supported by all of the smaller tasks and milestones required to achieve them. I applaud the new agent for what he wants to achieve, but it sounds like he needs more insight into how to get there...

Thanks for a great post!

Good post and the follow up comments gave me lots to think about. I know agents that have lots more listings, mostly short sales and reo properties. I think that each agent needs to know herself/himself best. My number is 6 at any one time. I like being the point person for the seller. I am hands on. Would love to have an assistant to help with some of the behind the scene items. I do outsource to my daughter some times!

Can't really say he can or he can't - can we? What type of listings will he take, etc. And as you said maybe as he gets his inventory up, he may rethink his goals. That is the great thing about goals, they give you a target to shoot for, but they are changeable as you change.

You never know, kid could have a realitive who is getting ready to do a sub-division. 20 lots here and there add up. Never jump to conclusions. What is a severl day paper work for one agent might be handled with a good sec. for another. Cheryl(I perfer to stay under 20 myself)willis

Hey Jen - LUV the new photo! Getting 35 listings in 90 days might be a doable thing, depending on the area. BUT, getting 35 "sellable" listings is a whole different ball of wax! My mantra this year is listing property that will sell. We see new listings every day that are unrealistically priced for today's market. Having and servicing that number of listings that aren't selling is just going to be a huge discouragement after about 180 days.....so in answer to your question...nope. He is setting himself up for failure and heartburn.

Jennifer:

Agreed, it would be hard for an experienced agent to handle that many without a set team and procedures to do so. He needs to sell them or carrying that many listings will put him out of the business.

Love the pic too, great beach.

Lisa aka Allstarmom3(twitter)

Great Blog!! This why a well thought out plan should have a list of how to reach our goals and how to handle things when we do reach our goal. And, reach our goal, how do we maintain it?

I wish him much success.

Aloha,

Karla Casey
Principal Broker
Hawaii

I think he should go for it, but be prepared to have some unhappy clients if he thinks he is going to manage them all himself. If it were me, I'd need a team to handle all of those listings and be any type of sane human.

I took 48 listings my 6 months in real estate, and I can tell you for sure now that I would never do that again. Not that it went badly, but it just wasn't smart business. I would rather have 4-5 at a time, serve my clients well and sell their homes quickly. Sometimes new agents have to learn the hard way!

Sounds like he has a plan, hopefully a great mentor, team, and capital! Agree with others that I'd LOVE a follow up in 90 days!

Shoot for the moon and land on the stars??

Lots of listings are great, but I think when you first start out the goal should be to bring one transaction to a successful closing so you can get an idea of the entire process from start to finish, and also to see what kind of expenses you will incur for the one transaction.

It is fantastic that the agent is eager and ambitious, I wish him all of the luck in the world and I hope he gets lots of listings. I also hope he pays attention to the nuts and bolts of selling real estate and sticks close to his Principal Broker with every conversation and change in a contract - it takes some time to get used to the mechanics of this business.

With all of this listing activity, the new agent should not forget to accumulate CE credits to renew the license within the 2 year period, I have seen the new agents forget about this and have to cram for credits at the last minute.

Great post!

Sounds like newbiemania!

My personal high was 24, and that was tough to service alone.

Better idea: 6-12 well priced listings that sell quickly.

If he can do that, sellers will have a reason to list with him.

He is an OPTIMIST. I can set up myself a goal to call 35 agents every day but it doesn't mean that I will have 35 clients from all those attempts. Good luck to this guy. I am sure with his entusiasm he will get some listings. Hopefully he will not go for numbers but for the quality. Great post.

Perhaps such an aggressive goal is unrealistic but might result in more procured clients than a lower goal. A rookie agent should be cautious on trying to achieve this goal and the office broker should be close at hand. For a new agent, so much could go wrong with even the easiest of transactions.

Keep us posted!

I think he has a plan to self destruct I have seen husband wife teams attempt to have lunch

together and both of them are on phone talking with clients while having lunch. where is quality time

they had several listings but not 35 have observed some agents attempt similar goals and they are

no longer Realtors.

No WAY! Especially if he's in a decimated market where the majority of those will be short sales... The end result for a new agent taking on that many listings at one time will do more damage then good.

It will take a lot of prospecting to get that many listings in that short amount of time which means No time for actual servicing...

I hope his enthusiam lasts! If he hires an experienced Real Estate Virtual Assistant to take care of posting the listings to online marketing venues, creating and/or linking the virtual tour, creating the direct mail marketing pieces, sending his sellers reports each week on the visit stats, etc. he will have time to take care of this many listings! One of my RE clients has numerous listings and I take care of all the online/offline marketing & listing coordination for her.

It is possible if they are short sale listings, he has a great negotiator in place, and he has a way to screen the tons of calls he will be getting from buyers agents... before they even show the property.

Most short sale clients want the short sale to go slowly and they are not price sensitive. So most short sale clients are very easy clients once they trust you to get the deficiency released. I have taken at least a dozen listings over the phone. So 35 in 90 can be done. In fact I probably did it two years ago.

The hard part of short sales is getting them approved before the buyers walk and and getting the deficiency released in writing.

That is a lofty goal for a newbie! I just wanted to chime in and say that I think that 35 listings can be serviced properly by an experienced and driven agent. It would just take organization and the right systems in place and of course good work ethic. I currently have 18 listings (8 residential, 10 land) plus 3 pre-listings and I have had as many as 25 listings in the past. The number changes as listings close and I get new ones. I don't have a team or assistants so I have to be very organized and on top of things to make sure all the sellers (and buyers) receive the service they deserve.

With that said, I don't think that I could have handled that many listings when I was new. He should work on getting a few listings to begin with so he can learn and gain experience before he takes on too much. Not only would he need to be able to service all those listings but what about the buyers that he is going to inevitably pick up. Has he thought about how he could service everyone and not let anyone fall through the cracks? If he wants to continue prospecting how is he going to be able to manage his time for it? If he can answer those questions and has the systems in place then I wish him the best and he may just be able to handle it. If not then I think he is setting himself up for a lot of disappointment.

I don't know what I can add that hasn't already been said. Great post and great picture, by the way, and I look forward to the followup. It is good to hear the new agent is sincere and customer-service oriented -- where did he get the idea of this goal or this number? Enthusiasm is great, as is a good attitude but so is professionalism, common courtesy, steady communication, excellent customer service, responsiveness, patience and realism. I think you know where I'm going with this. After three years in the business and a person who values quality over quantity, I am glad to see that my sentiments were echoed by so many other professiona Realtors and I was not setting high enough goals. With this person's enthusiasm and sincere attitude of wanting to help the customer, I think they would bode well to build their business in a steady, yet persistent manner where the success builds on itself. I can already see after only three years how referrals start coming out of the woodwork.

Sometimes this industry promotes the impossible goals which many of the Type A personalities grab onto as a reality. One of my 7 personal core values is "reality based" and another is "customer focus". In order to handle 35 listing and meet the obligations that coincide with those values, an agent would need a team and set processes in place going in... Of course we all know that already, right? :-) Good selling!!!

It's so easy to burn out in real estate and 35 listings will do it to you! Then again, maybe he is such an extraordinary person that he'll be able to pull it off and not drown while doing it! I really admire his ambition and drive. On the other hand, I personally think that it's a disservice to the seller and other agents when you take on more listings than you can comfortably handle. I have run into agents like that and I end up doing ALL the work in the transaction. If it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, imagine what the seller has had to put up with!

I love his enthusiasm, but 35 for the year and server them well is a better goal. We have some local teams that handle 25-30 per month, but they have it down to an art and I am not sure about thier level of service.

I vote quality over quantity! To STAY in business is the goal!

Whoa! 165 comments and counting. I guess that's what being the headliner on the Active Rain Daily Drop will do for ya. Thanks!

So, most of us seem to be in agreement that a goal of 35 listings in 90 days is unrealistic, particularly for a new agent (stay tuned for more thoughts on the matter tomorrow). But some interesting questions and concepts were raised...

First, if this agent proves himself capable of generating that sort of business, well then, he has a gift that can and should definitely be harnessed. If his efforts start to work reliably and he's getting listing appointment after listing appointment followed by listing agreement after listing agreement, then I think he'll figure out pretty quickly that he needs and can justify help.

On the other hand, part of being a good listing-getter is having experience with listings. And that obviously doesn't happen overnight. A newer agent without that experience will likely have to go on far more than 35 listing appointments to get those 35 listings.

But my overall point, as I said above, some 100 comments ago, is that our industry celebrates prospecting competence over competence competence, which leads new agents to focus on prospecting to the exclusion of being passionate about learning their craft.

GREAT stuff, my friends! Thanks so much for all the interest in this post!

I have had up to 50 listings. It is a lot of work and very long hours. You have to be willing to work to make it in my area. I do have a part time assistant who keeps my books.

I am down to 27 listings at this time with 6 pending closings. Having several listings from one seller makes it a lot easier to keep up with. I am planning on going after more listings to get back in the 40 or 50 range. When fishing the more bait in the water the better chance of catching something. The same thing is true with listings.

If that rookie keeps that attitude and has a good work ethic and is willing to spend money to grow is business he will soon be one of the top agents in his area.

Love this thread. The main thing is to make sure he has his systems in place before he ramps up. That is the only way to service a large number of listings. Hope we all get to hear how it goes!

Everyone can build up their capacity to whatever volume they want. Learn the business and get the systems in place to generate and maintain your volume.

The problem he had not factored in is that every task he's doing is for the first time. He has no corporate knowledge and will be spinning his wheels on little tasks that an experienced person can breeze through. Not knowing what he doesn't know makes it hard to plan for the problems. And problems he will face.

I think if you are helping him then don't focus on the numbers he wants to aquire. Ask how he will handle the problem of an unwarrantable condo about 7 days before settlement. How does he plan to handle the buyer who switches lenders 3 weeks before settlement causing an inevitable delay with a buyer agent on the other end who is equally clueless. Is the condo he took the listing on FHA approved or do they have defaults on their condo dues by owners, causing lenders no amount of panic. If he can't answer very quickly or have someone who can pull his you know what out of the fire quickly, it won't matter if he only has one listing to service. Once those problems mount up it's very hard to find the time to adequately prepare for the next victim, um, listing.

Hopefully you can help him see that he should be looking at the long term and not such a short term goal. Especially if he is not in a big market that can hide his inevitable mistakes. Reputation is very hard to redeem no matter how lofty your ambitions or your how noble and SWS your goals were.

Josette

pace yourself dude !!

Connie Winstead, Realtor

Signature Properties

Central Coast of California

I am a very good Realtor and there is no way I could properly "service" 35 sellers with years of experience. I do admire his enthusiasm and drive but he would not be in business in a year at that rate. He'd be burned out and pursuing something easier, like brain surgery! :-)

I love his enthusiasm. Part of me wants him to succeed and the other knows he's going to have a hard time. I don't know what his background is, but my hat's off to him.

I wish him luck. He may want to partner up with another agent just to make sure all the details are done.

Jennifer,

As a new agent myself I would love to have 35 Listings in 90 days but the reality is that I would be doing a diservice to me and my clients. After becaoming a SWS fan and reading all I could about taking care of my customers, I wouldnt want 35 listings at least not now. Even though I am an agent I am still new and still learning about this business. I am so focused on taking care of each and every client that I know I couldnt handle them all at the same time at least no now. All I want to do is to provide the finest service to my existing customers and potentially new customers. I am fortunate in that my broker is a customer service Broker also. Thanks for all that you do. You have this agents ear.

John Wilhite

Well, let me just say this. I was in this guys shoes just 7 years ago. While I did start out on a team, just 4 years ago I went out on my own to manage 30 listings with no assistant. Yes it is difficult, however, if you have "systems" in place to handle this many listings, it moves along smoothly. Also, keep in mind that this guy may be thinking in percentages. For instance, with 30 listings if 25% of them sell on a regular basis in turn moving about 5-6 a month there will be huge referrals after a year of doing this. Think of how many happy past clients will send him business then. As far as the rest of them, you can't please everyone!

I also want to have lots of listings, but I think is so important to keep each of your clients updated and show them you are working to sell their homes, not just list them. In this market they don't sell them self, and let's face it cost to have listing.

What great goals! If he shoots for 35 and falls 30 short of his goals, he will still take 5 listings in his first 90 days. I for one can say that I did not take more than a couple of listings in the first 90 days of being licensed. That being said, I have made up for it since :) and I can attest that it is possible to list and SELL many more than 35 listings at once to and do so with diligence, quality, and care.

If he approaches his real estate sales business as a business, he can achieve anything that he declares.

By the way, time in this business has nothing to do with experience. Time being successful in this business and doing many transactions equals experience. As we all know this is an incredibly difficult business with many challenges. Those that do much business have the opportunity to learn more than those that don't. All of had to learn the ropes - if someone takes many listings quickly, he will have the opportunity to learn quicker than someone that does not do as much business in the same amount of time (or ever).

I hope that he keeps the winning attitude, because if he does, he will be more experienced than most in a very short period of time and he likely will create a successful quality business.

If you think you can or you think you can't, your right!

JUL

2010

Though I admire the enthusiasm - there are two questions: Can he even begin to achieve that? If he does - can he hope to service them?

The mathematics wouldn't work where I practice. Even top-producers in our area are carrying less than 1/3 of that. My broker - who competes and who is one of the heaviest hitters in the county has 9 Actives/contracts/pendings. The story is the same for other major players. I have 1 contract and 1 listing about to come on - and that's a lot for this market. Some very strong agents have nothing right now. In a city of roughly 60k residents there are about 470 listings that are currently active - that's all. For a rookie to grab close to 7.5% of the available listings in an area serviced by close to 1000 agents is simply impossible.

Now, my guess is that this is very slow for most parts of the country. But he needs to sit down and see how much market share he's going after and get real.

Big question: Does he have a marketing plan? If he is going after that many at once - he needs to have the pieces of the marekting puzzle in place so he can promote them VERY effectively. What I wouldn't want to see is for him to chase listings like crazy - get a few and "forget" to service them properly. If he's slamming away at prospecting - he might not have thought that far ahead.

Everyone needs to know that these comments reflect the type of market I work in. Ours is a very slow market and you have to really price them right and hit them hard with marketing right out of the starting gate. Otherwise your in trouble and they just sit. It usually takes me about 15 hours to get things the way I want them when I first put something on the market. I am very picky about what I put in MLS and the photos are crucial. I also make videos and spread the listing all over the place. Unlike Katerina - I'm a one-person show - but so is this rookie. I can carry about 5-6 Actives at once, but not much more than that. My listings tend to go fast. I usually have about a 55 day period to contract - others tend to have 3 times as long to contract. So my actives (with a couple of exceptions) are very active.

Btw, I just saw a couple of your posts. I have been reading blogs, but not the way I generally do because of my Dad's passing and all that needs to be done. Yes, I do think you are a wing-nut. I do sincerely feel that the right wing of this country will destroy what they already haven't decimated it if they are allowed to regain power. However, that as an assessment of politics not ability. They are two different animals altogether. My father was a wing-nut - complete with double barreled shot gun, ammo, and supplies for armmageddon. When I was cleaning out his effects last month the shot gun shook loose from the things I was removing and practically hit me on the head. Thank GOD it wasn't loaded. I thought he was simply NUTS. But he still was a great attorney who practiced law until the day before he died. Point being - I would never hesitate to reccomend you to an agent wanting coaching or to someone needing real estate advice in Pensacola. Sadly, I don't know too many people wanting to buy or sell there right now. If I think my market is slow - yours must be at a standstill.

I don't think he can Jennifer. I agree with you in that even experienced agents would have a hard time really blowing the socks off that many listings. It is the issues that come up that take so much time. If they all went along smoothly everything might be a little different. Thanks for your post.

All I would have told him was " See you at the Top"

Here's my follow-up post: http://activerain.com/blogsview/1731933/41-listings-in-30-days-let-s-do-that-math-

Would you follow up with the results, 90days from his 1st day, I'd love to learn from this Newbie to see what I'm not doing right. (I mean it in a good way).

Jennifer, first of all, I LOVE your new picture!

Great post, and I think I would die if I had 30 listings or 41. Couldn't do it, and do it right. I'm less than 3 years in the business, and I've never had more than 5 at a time. I also work with lots of buyers, and finding the time for everyone (and my family) is really tough. But I'm happy with my production, and have had my best year ever in my 2.5 years in the business.

I want to do my business the right way...by the Golden Rule. I myself don't think I would want to list my house with an agent who has 30+ listings.

Great post!

I think the new agents enthusiasm and eagerness to get his footing in the business is great but I have to agree with you in knowing that customer service will ultimately be lacking with that many clients. Especially knowing he'll still be learning the ropes of the processes it takes to get listings sold.

Awesome post!

Enthusiasm is so wonderful when you're a new agent -- I enjoyed that for a brief time! However, I am all about Customer Service and obtaining/keeping and providing a high level of response and quality time for my clients! While 35 may be doable (if he has a top notch team in place!), I agree that the level of service just may not be there... Thanks for posting!

Rosemary A. Shirley, Keller Williams Realty-Danville

I think you are incorrect. I've done it and you just need systems in place. That's not really that much volume except for a Newbie. IMHO

I'm in agreement with Leslie at #69.

JUL

2010

ughhhh! is all I can think of when I think of trying to get 35 listings in 90 days... lol No sleep, no eat, no time...ughhhh! (see there I go again.) :-)

JUL

2010

Have you heard of Alex Szinegh? He sold over 100 homes a year for over 25 years running. Yes he had a team and systems. He also had a saying, "If you don't have an assistant, then you are one. Point is that with a good team and off the shelf systems now available, it could be possible in some markets.

I kread this article and I think of the phrase the Richard Dreyfuss would say top Bill Murray "Baby Steps Bob" I've been at this for 6 years & I can barely service the 20 listings that I currently have.

Getting 35 listings is one thing - servicing and selling them is another. Great lofty goals, but how about learning the business first? My broker told me that if you get your systems in place first, then you can take off like a rocket. He'd better have some systems and know how to use them before he takes on 35 Sellers.

JUL

2010

It's a learning experience. I'm skeptical he'll get there. Either he'll get swamped around 10 or 15 and have to take time to work on his business model or he'll not have the time to continue looking for new listings and won't take the time to change his business model. Either way, I doubt he can get there that quick. That sort of growth needs to transition over time. I wish him the best, but I think he may be running before he's walking.

JUL

2010

I wish I could bottle up some of that enthusiasm, because the market has me down!

SEP

2010

Ah! The enthusiasum of youth and the inexperienced! Reality will soon set in.

APR

I love a new agent's enthusiasm! I love the fact that they see this business as so easy to have such lofty goals.

Let's talk to him in 90 days...will we be able to find him?

AUG

Anyone care to share some of the systems to have in place?

AUG

I believe if this goal is overly ambitious, he will self correct. That is, at some point he'll begin to realize that his plate is so full his degree of service quality is suffering. He will slow down on the acquisition of new contacts and find his comfortable level. As someone said above, "Go for it!" but I add, "Be open to revision."

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Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn, Author of Sell with Soul

Pensacola Beach, FL

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