What I've Learned about Growing My Business
Bill McFadden's Challenge asks us to tell "what you’ve learned in your real estate career". Here's what I've learned during my 37-year real estate career in about 745 words:
-
If an agent has the motivation and drive to succeed, they'll figure out what is necessary to achieve that success and they'll do those things. There are no secret methods to success in real estate sales.
-
They'll discover that having listings is essential to success. Listings are the: (1) agent's employment contracts, (2) inventory that attracts buyers, and (3) the best way to have some control over their time and scheduling. Without listings an agent is unemployed.
-
Agents get paid in direct proportion to their ability to secure listing contracts signed by motivated sellers. Seller's motivation will fix price, but proper pricing improves an agent's efficiency.
-
Agents can control their business when they learn how to consistently secure listings with motivated sellers.
-
Massive prospecting is the key to finding prospective clients who are more motivated to buy/sell than you are to help them buy/sell them property.
-
A great listing presentation is essential for converting listing leads into signed listing contracts, and that presentation must contain compelling benefits and demonstrate the value of the agent's services.
-
Learn as much as possible because that knowledge plus good judgment add great value to the agent's service. Never stop learning: read, listen to real estate CDs in the car; attend classes and conferences, preview new listings and study the sales in your market areas, and talk to experienced experts in real estate and related industries. There is no substitute for knowing all the listings and sales in a neighborhood where you're trying to get listings.
-
Learn something from every failure. For every failure ask yourself what you could have done to prevent it. Don't blame or complain about others for failures because most likely there was something you could have done to prevent that failure.
-
Always work with an exclusive employment contract, either a listing or a buyer-broker contract, but be willing to first invest time and energy to demonstrate you're worthy of the client's trust and loyalty. You must believe that that exclusive contract is in the client's best interest. If you don't believe that then you must acquire the skills, knowledge and expertise to believe it.
-
Have the self-discipline to do the activities you don't want to do like talking to FSBOs and Expired Listings, or door knocking. You must chop the wood to get the heat. Someone (I don't remember who) said and I believe: "Plan your work and work your plan". I'd add "daily"-- Plan your work daily. Be a tough boss of yourself.
-
Invest a portion of every commission into prospecting for more business, and for education and training.
-
Learn to recognize the feeling of greed so you can be vigilant and defend against it, and don't try to double-end transactions.
-
Don't worry about the money; if you do the work the money will follow.
-
Honesty needs no memory, and all the truth always comes out eventually.
-
Even if it means losing business, specialize. The client benefits from an agent's specialization. Experts specialize.
-
To relieve stress don't: (1) promise more than you can deliver; (2) procrastinate giving bad news; (3) succumb to the temptation of telling anxious clients what they want to hear in order to allay their anxiety; and (4) guarantee anything you can't control.
-
Focus listing efforts in a small geographic area, or a niche market.
-
Many homeowners want to list with the local neighborhood expert so geographic farming works when done consistently with repetitive contacts by mail (newsletters and Just Listed/Just Sold postcards), door knocking, and Open House signs. (The largest producers in my marketplace are geographic farmers of large areas who use direct mail repeatedly and consistently.)
-
Once you give your opinion about market value the prospective client's mind often shuts down. Therefore, don't give your opinion of market value without first showing, in detail, how you came to your conclusion (I compare each good comp to the subject property with the prospective client's involvement), and without first presenting how your service benefits a seller and adds value for them.
- It's easiest to get a well-priced listing when you already have several because you're prepared to walk away if it's not.
-
Develop continuous prospecting system for buyers and sellers which operates on auto-pilot.
Comments(59)