Here's something fun to ponder: In 2010, Kansas City broker Mike Phillips sold an average of three homes a day, seven days a week, every week of the year. In all, the owner of Century 21 All Pro sold 1,268 houses in 2010 - all of them REOs.
That flurry of activity was enough to earn him the title of the #1 real estate agent in transaction sides in the United States for the year. Those numbers are from a recently released report by Real Trends, a Wall Street Journal publication.
It was the second time in the past three years Phillips has completed more transactions than any other broker in the country. I thought it might be interesting to hear what he has to say about that. So I called him. For more on how easy it was to contact Phillips, read this recent blog: http://actvra.in/rYN.
"I don't do anything really special," Phillips told me recently. "I'm just very well organized."
He uses an assembly line approach to selling real estate. The entire sales process from beginning to end has been broken down into individual parts, with each part being handled by a member of his support staff. "We all have very specific job descriptions."
He also is a strong believer in technology and credits much of his success to online marketing and social media venues. Phillips makes sure his listings are posted on dozens of websites, including sites in multiple languages. Because Phillips does much of his communicating on-line, he spends most of his days in jeans and tee shirts.
"It's better that way when I'm crawling around in some basement. I clean up okay when I need to, but most of the time, I'm just too busy for that."
Phillips told me he almost always is busy. "Mine is a caffeinated energy drink society, but I love it. I usually have a grin from ear to ear." When he does have a spare minute, he uses it to teach area foreclosure classes or to spend a bit of time with his "extremely understanding wife."
When asked what advice he had for other agents, he repeated he is nothing special and that others can enjoy his success. He advised agents to set lofty goals and then to do what is needed to reach them. At the same time, it is important to remember why one is going to the effort in the first place. Family, friends and a personal life need to always be balanced with professional efforts. One shouldn't be ignored because of the other.
Keep busy, but keep things in perspective. "Do that, and things will fall in place." Throughout our conversation, Phillips sounded like an optimistic guy - both about his future and the future of others.
"2012 can be the best year of your life if you want it to be - you just have to work hard and smart enough to make it happen."
Grant Sasek works for Real Estate Pipeline, an Internet-based lead generation service.
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