Great post Fran! I tried to learn as much as I could from the few brokers I've been with. I'm sure next Tuesday you'll be grooming a fine new agent into the business.

Fran - Heck, I've found many mentors right here on AR.  I believe having a mentor and then one day becoming one...is vital for the success and health of this business, personal & across the board.

I couldn't agree more,Fran. I have been in the Business for over 25 years as well and unlike You, I was NOT fortunate enough to be mentored by the experienced people in the office. This led to a little office jumping to try to find some help, but it was very elusive ! Most of my knowledge came slowly over time and through the School of hard knocks !

  I started my own Brokerage in 1996 and even though we are mostly a Virtual Company, I understand Mentoring of the Newbies !

Eugene: I've done this several times and enjoy the interaction!

Jason: Good point...couldn't agree with you more!!!

Doug: You wouldn't believe how I learned the title business!!!

Thanks,   Fran

I was lucky that there were people in my office to mentor me. I also took the initiative to meet with title and LO's in the beginning.......who still walk into the office and say, "HI Sally!".  I also work in our office part time and help out new agents.....I know what it was like....and how it feels when there is someone to help you.  I'm sure you will give the agent beneficial info and insight that you will be long remembered!

Mentoring a rookie is a great way to raise the professionalism of our industry and to help keep the energy and excitement of the business in us going

Sally: Also the one being mentored needs to be like a sponge...soaking up all the good wisdom...the ones who aren't are 'know-it-alls'!!!

Joe: You got it, Joe!!!

Thanks,   Fran

Fran, The AR Members have been gracious great mentors! But I agree it's nothing like being in person.

Duane,

I'm not ruling out the prospects of mentoring online!!! Thanks,   Fran

Fran

A World is nothing without mentoring.

Sincerely

Tom Braatz

Tom,

Climbing the ladder of success means having someone trained to take over your job quickly!!! Thanks,   Fran

Fran,

I wish you were my mentor! You seem to have the wisdom of an owl...

As you know I am a newbie, actually in my second week now. I have a mentor he has only been at it one year now but did one million so far,  so he must know something!... I want to do a million in my first year.

-Jeff

Jeff,

As Jason Sardi expressed in his comment, there are many mentors here on Active Rain...seek them out and be like a sponge, soaking up all their good wisdom...and stick close to successful people like your mentor friend...you'll make it...just believe in yourself and work at it!!! Thanks,   Fran

P.S. I have written a few posts on juggling priorities and 'balance'...read through them...priorities are important!!!

Fran, You really are THE MAN and thats one lucky agent meeting with you next week. Three years ago I took a new agent under my wing and today she is my partner. Our profession has been deluted by the lack of mentoring and the mentality of a lot of agents is they know it from day one.

Cameron,

Everyone who knows me knows I believe in learning every day...it never stops, otherwise we regress and actually slip backwards!!! You're never too old or too smart to learn!!! Thanks,   Fran

Fran, very nice post. Since you can't take it with you, why not impart a little bit of knowledge along the way? It's like continually paying it forward with a specific person.

Steve,

That's exactly the way I see it, also!!! Thanks,   Fran

Mentoring is a good idea.  I even thought that new agents should be willing to pay the seasoned agent for the privilege of following them around and receiving help.  A referral fee on their sales as long as they are being tutored by the agent.

Mentoring is a great idea Fran. People are so afraid they are going to give away "trade secrets". It just does not work that way. Mentoring makes the whole profession better.

Barbara,

Respectfully, I would rather leave money out of the equation, but I can see the seasoned agent paying the newbie 'apprentice level' wages!!! Thanks,   Fran

Wayne,

I said to Tom Braatz above,

"Climbing the ladder of success means having someone trained to take over your job quickly!!!"

and I believe it's true!!! Thanks,   Fran

Bob,

And what a feeling to see another succeed using your knowledge and technique...isn't that an ego builder of its own!!! A win win! Thanks,   Fran

Congrats on the well deserved feature, Fran!  Let's celebrate and go fishing!  :)

Seriously, I agree that mentoring is crucial in this business.  I am fortunate enough to have a buyers agent working with me that wants to soak up as much knowledge as possible.  She is so very eager to learn and the best part is that she will do what she is taught. If you talked to her she'd afford me all the credit for being the teacher, but her willingness to learn is what is her making her successful.  I absolutely love what I do.

It's been said time and again here in AR, but I have learned more here in the last 6 months that I have in my entire real estate industry career.  It just doesn't get any better than that!

Amanda,

Well said!!! BTW...can you fish at Billy Bobs??? LOL Thanks,   Fran

Fran, you are so right.  Finding a mentor is not easy in the RE world.  Like others, I have learned more here on AR, too.  The work I did in the corporate world required that we help each other, we wouldn't survive any other way.  Unfortunately, my observation in my first year and a half as an agent, is that there is more selfishness than not.  I don't see that here on AR, but it's sometimes it's right here in my face.  

Doreen,

Selflessness, not selfishness, is what's needed tp overcome a poor public perception!!! Thanks,   Fran

I loved this blog.  I have used Active Rain as my Mentor many times and the one thing I had wished was that I had someone who would have shown me the ropes and watched my back (and therefore the backs of my clients) when I was first starting out.  I now have the opportunitiy to mentor a new person in our office and I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge (for what it is worth) with this person (and no, I do not get paid anything for this) It's the right thing to do.

I wish I had a mentor in my first year of real estate, it would have changed a lot of things. At the beginning of my 2^nd year I was introduced to just one of my real estate mentors and it changed my outlook and life!

Good for you mentoring a newer agent, it will change their outlook in real estate for the positive for sure!

I have found that it is hard to find a mentor willing to give of him or herself - the sign of a great mentor is the willingness to tell the disciple about the bad times as well as the good.  Thanks for reminding me about the purpose of the mentor.

Vince - DUCTZ

623-262-3614

Fran-I am watching the Lakers right now....the team.  Can you imagine if only Kobe Bryant went out on the court....how could he win?  It takes the whole team, including  the coach to win, and that's how RE is.  It takes everyone, the Agent, Lender, Title, and Escrow all working together, as a team, to win (close the transaction).  So, taking a new agent and training them (mentoring) helps everyone to win.

Tracy: It IS the right thing to do!!! :)

Todd: One on one is always a goo deal!!!

Vince: A mentor can't hold back...by definition!!! :)

Kathy: Aren't the Lakers the team from Minnesota??? :^)

Thanks,   Fran

I read an article on Active Rain where a lady real estate agent was perturbed that another agent called her to ask here some questions.  She didn't feel it was her responsibility to "train" somebody.  I wanted to say that she was selfish but I didn't 

Russ,

You can always say it here...I agree!!! Thanks,   Fran

Great post Fran.  I think mentoring helps the mentor get back to the basics as well.  I think this helps anyone that has been in the business a long time.  Gets the mentor to rethink his strategy as well.

J.

Great article Fran!  I couldn't have put it any better myself!!!  That is something my father & I encourage our mentees all the time with.  You gotta get into the office when you are new, sit in and listen to our conversations with buyers and sellers, go along on listing appointments with us, see how we communicate through email.  My father calls it shadowing.  You need to be there all the time, just like a shadow. 

Lone "J",

Excellent point, and right on target...that's one of the selfish reasons I like mentoring!!! Thanks,   Fran

Jeremy,

Your father gives good advice...I can tell you've listened to and watched him closely!!! Thanks,   Fran

It is always good to help others even if we are like contractors.  Didn't someone help us become where we are today?  Pay it forward!

Fran, I love this post!  When I started as a new agent, I made sure I was in the car with the experienced agents when we'd go on caravan.  I'd sit in the back seat and listen to their conversations about the neighborhoods we were in, the listings they had, the buyers they were working with.  I learned so much from them.  I'd go to lunch with them every chance I got and again would listen to their conversations about deals that fell through, the problem they were having getting one to close and how they solved the problems.  They knew I wanted to learn and when I needed help, I had several of these experienced agents to go to for help.  I'm trying to pay it forward by helping new agents.

Naoma,

Paying it forward always comes back to benefit you!!! Thanks,   Fran

Judi,

Excellent comment...the 'spongier' the better!!! :) Thanks,   Fran

Great topic Fran, and the best part about being a mentor is the questions the mentee asks.  Sometimes you have to think or re-think about something you haven't had to think about in a long time.  It's second nature to you, but having to explain it to someone new, makes you think.

Kevin

Kevin,

Right...there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers!!! :) Thanks,   Fran

Fran, when I was new, it was pretty much the same process as Judi's. I learned some, but came up with most of my material on my own.  Howeve, I think the business is much different today than it was back then.   It took me a long time to put my marketing materials/dialogue, but think I have a pretty good system down.  I have shared ALL of my materials with new and veteran agents in my office in an effort to help all of them succeed.  I think if more folks had the sharing, helping attitude it would be a better place for all.  Great post to remind us to help and mentor others.

Audrey,

If I teach you all that I know...you should be capable of exceeding my achievements, because now you know all I know plus what you know!!! Simple, isn't it!!! :) Thanks,   Fran

Great information.  We always try to be mentors to each other in our office.  Agents that have been here for a long time are often asked if new agents can "shadow" them for a day.  They may get to go on a listing appointment, go out with Buyers, go to a closing, etc.  There is no better experience than getting to see someone who you look up to and aspire to be like in action!  I once had a boss (an attorney) who told me that I should be paying him - "this isn't work, it's school".  He was right - I learned more than I could have if I was in a classroom!

Sarah,

I like when the Mentor takes the initiative, and doesn't feel pressured into the mentoring!!! Thanks,   Fran

Nice points you make and it doesn't surprise me this is something you give your time to! I find the payback is HUGE! I learn so much from the one's I give to. And teaching something always leads to re-examining your own business. Nice post from a nice guy!

Joeann,

Thanks for the visit and the comment!!! Thanks,   Fran

Fran, Graet advice.  I always learn a lot from listening to other talk on the phone.

Nicole,

Good listeners are rare, hard to find, and worth their weight in gold!!! Thanks,   Fran

Fran,

When I started in this industry I worked for a real estate attorney and had a great mentor,a paralegal named Marsha.  She was patient and knowledgable.  After working with Marsha for three years,she passed away suddenly at the young age of 50.  I think of her and the time she took with me.  They were invaluable to my career.

I applaud any mentoring efforts.  I think you see this on some agent teams, but certainly the effort has dissipated.  You can witness this in the number of new agents leaving the business and those that applaud the exit.  Not all of them were in it for the quick buck. 

Rebecca,

If there's any love in this business it's passed on through mentoring!!! Thanks,   Fran

Fran, what a great post!  In fact, I just got a phone call yesterday and I got my first Mentee.  Our office always has a new agent mentored through the first two transactions.  I've had many transactions and I still feel very comfortable calling my mentor if I need to.  I, like you, believe mentoring, teaching, caring and modeling is a lost art.  I also believe it is vital to our real estate community and our extended community.  I was a Director of Mentoring for an Association that I belonged to previous to real estate and those relationships are still precious to me.  God bless.  Gina Gulliford, Long & Foster, Columbia, MD

Gina,

Thanks for the kind words...I'll bet you're a good mentor!!! Thanks,   Fran

Now this was a refreshing post. taking time for other who may not be as knowledgeable as yourself. A lost and dying art. Thank you for the reminder.

Fran,

Magnificent post....I agree about mentoring. I do my best to mentor where-ever possible and am always willing to help someone out if I have some spare hours in my week.

Congrats on your star!

Jo 

It is so true. We are in a world where most people think of themselves first and foremost. And we want everything by yesterday!

Robert: Thanks for dropping by!

Jo: :)

Christy: Unfortunately!!!

Thanks,   Fran

Fran:  I totally agree that mentoring is very important.  It isn't gone in all agencies though.  We mentor on a regular basis in our offices.  Our recruiting ads even use the words "constant mentoring".  Real estate is very local as are the customs in a particular area.  Although there is much to learn on the internet, it will never replace a personal mentor.  Obviously, I liked your post! :-)

Katherine,

You and I are on the same wavelength!!! THanks,   Fran