When I was younger, soccer was one of the most popular sports to play. I loved it, and played throughout high school and college.
It’s funny how popular the sport is among little kids, yet it is one of the least watched and followed sports in the United States.
Soccer is a team sport, and players must successfully work well with each other in order to win the game. The best teams have come up with a stellar game plan. The team practices and works hard, both together and individually.
There is the goalie, whose job it is to protect the other team from scoring. They often become coaches out in the field, instructing players what to do and how to do it.
Then there are the forwards, who push hard and are aggressive. They know when to push and when to hold back. Alone, they don’t stand much of a chance. But together, they have the best possibility at advancing the team. Many of these members also have lots of talent and experience.
And let’s not forget about the Defenders. They help the whole team. These players can be in the back helping the goalie, or are out in the middle of the field. Either way, they are constantly analyzing the situation, and move when they need to.
Does any of this sound familiar? I thought so too.
As I try to grow my brokerage, these are the types of team members I am looking for. I want a team that is well balanced, where each individual is strong independently, but works well with everyone else too. In my office, agents share listings, collaborate on marketing ideas and strategies, and we all discuss ways to target our market. I think it is in this way that my brokerage is a bit different than others in my area.
In my 15 years of real estate, I previously worked in a large brokerage where many of the agents actually competed against each other for business, especially when things got slow, and there was a very unbalanced feel. Not something that makes a good team.
How else did soccer help my real estate career? Well, one of the fitness regimens the coach made us do were jumping jacks, but a little differently.
You do a jumping jack, then bring your leg up and touch the inside sole of your sneaker, then with the other leg, you touch the outside sole. So it goes a little like this (with everyone screaming it with you) as you’re jumping “Inside-outside-outside-inside.”
Well, I frequently find myself thinking of that exercise as I read some of the marketing remarks on listings. Inside of the house, outside of the house, outside of the house, inside of the house. Why? Why do the remarks jump around so much?
“Beautiful gourmet kitchen! Heated in-ground pool. Living Room with marble fireplace. Built-in grill. Oversized deck. Great master suite.” See what I mean?
I always recommend that my agents think of the flow of a home and write to reflect that. It’s a little confusing when you are trying to read the features of a home and they are jumping around all over the place…sort of like those jumping jacks…
And of course, the jumping jacks also help with your endurance. One day I will have to count all the stairs I climb in all the Colonials I show.
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