Whether you've been in the business for a month or ten years I think everyone has those days where nothing goes right, you can't get ahead, and the stack against you just seems to be getting bigger and bigger. I've been with Coldwell Banker for less than two months. Fully aware that it would take time to establish myself, for whatever reason one particular morning I was unable to see the big picture. I'd been blogging, taking online courses, helping other agents, studying websites, whatever I thought would help further my knowledge. Maybe it was a mixture of work and wedding planning (I'm getting married in September) that was getting to me, I don't know. A colleague of mine must have seen the doubt in my eyes, my voice, something, because she pulled me into her office and told me to take a seat. Uh oh, am I in trouble?
Being the new girl in the Coldwell Banker Lake Oconee Realty company, I take every opportunity that comes my way to soak up the expertise and advice of my colleagues. This is a business of competition. Every person around you is qualified to do your job just as well as if not better than you. So why would anybody want to help someone else? Well, for one, I think a lot of the successful Realtors out there would probably say they wish someone had been there to heed them advice when they first started. Another reason, maybe because for some with seventeen years experience and others fresh to the business, we're all trying to find our position on this "struggling market" playing field.
For whatever reason she decided to talk to me that day, I really appreciated it. She asked if I had found my way around the MLS system yet. Yes, yes I have. What about Paragon? Yeah, got that too. Crest? Yep. Well heck, she says, you are already leaps ahead of where some people would be in your position!
One bit of advice she gave me...know the area. Sounds simple. Having grown up in Greene County I thought I did. It's not that I was wrong but the woods I ran and built forts in as a child are now new developements, new neighborhoods, new subdivisions within the neighborhoods, and covered by THOUSANDS of new properties. She advised me that desk duty in the office is important because you never know when someone will walk in and you might create a new contact which could inevitably lead to a sale for you. She encouraged me to "get lost" in the area so that I wouldn't get lost with potential buyers in my car. For that reason I have done a lot of driving around getting familiar with all the different developments but because of the rapidness of the growth, a lot of GPS and navigation systems aren't up to par and they either don't recognize where you are trying to go or they just take you to a completely different area altogether. She reminded me that no client wants to go see a piece of property only to get in the car with the agent and the agent have to plug in the address just to have an idea where it is they are going. I need to know this area like the back of my hand.
So my plan for the remainder of the month of January is to pick three properties at random every morning from our local Paragon system and find them without navigational aide. No matter if you grew up in an area and know it pretty darn well or not, a new neighborhood is a new neighborhood. Everybody has to learn it and there is no better way than to grab a map, get out and there, and drive!
Margie Kopp
Coldwell Banker Lake Oconee Realty
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