I am one of those Agents that are willing to share everything that I do that is successful, share what I have done that has not been successful (so you don't make the same mistakes) and encourage you to be an ethical, personable, responsible, exceptional Agent.

I can teach and talk and coach until I am blue, but if an Agent does not want to work for success, does not see the point in marketing themselves, does not take advantage of free seminars and Continuing Ed, does not show up for twice a month desk duty, does not RETURN PHONE CALLS IN A TIMELY MANNER (as you will learn in future blogs from me, this is one of my biggest pet peeves), does not communicate well with a co-op Agent - then the Agent will NOT become a success or if they do happen to have a closing, they will be marginal and few and far between. These things mentioned are basic things and even seasoned Agents don't do them on a regular basis.

Break down each negative mentioned here and think about what would happen if, for example,  you went to a free Continuing Ed class that teaches you about Termite Infestation. (This is mainly in FL and GA, so Agents in other states who are reading, please bear with the termite talk) I know, sounds boring and it is kind of boring, BUT, let's say that you pay attention and you learn the conditions that termites thrive in, you learn what termite tunnels look like, you learn what is needed to treat them.

Now let's suppose that you were too busy to go that class and never heard of termites or what kind of damage they will create. You have a First Time Home Buyer and the Buyer is relying on you to find them a house that will not only suit their needs, dreams and desires, but a house that is free of preventable defects. Any Agent remembers from their days in Real Estate School that we always, ALWAYS recommend an inspection, no matter what the age or condition of the house we are selling, however, how many Agents recommend that the Seller provide the Buyer with a Termite Clearance? And what if you know nothing about Termites and the word is never mentioned and you go to closing and you get your check and you move on to New Buyer and then you get a call from your Old Buyer (who is now your future referral source) and they tell you they have these weird bugs flying all over their new house that you helped them purchase. What are you going to do? You are going to probably call a pest control business and explain to them what the Buyer has told you and they will tell you that these are called Swarmers and they are the first indication that you have termites. You ask them what they can do and they tell you for a minimum of $500, they can treat the termites and set up baiting stations.

What this translates to is that because you have not taken the hour or two to learn about termites and what they can do to destroy a home, you have just cost your future referral about $500 off the top and additionally more money to maintain the bait stations. Do you think this Buyer will remember all the houses you showed them, the nights you spent away from your family because it was the only time they could meet you to sign documents, the COMMISSION you may have cut to make the deal work??? No, they will only remember that you didn't suggest that the Seller provide them with a Termite Clearance in order to close and now they have had to spend their own money.

Please don't miss the point in this posting and think that it is all about Termites and what does that have to do with me, it's about taking every opportunity to educate yourself as a professional and that means taking time out of your day to sit in a room and listen and learn and bring that knowledge to the table when brokering deals. Educating yourself means educating your Clients and that will result in success everytime!