SNAKES ON A LANE

Sorry to disappoint you but this post is not literally about snakes on a lane.

My team "Snakes on a Lane" just finished our second year bowling in a league together and we finished 2013 in 2nd place. 

So many people are surprised as it is not something that most people can see me doing. Truth be told, it is something that I have been doing for quite some time.

One thing that I noticed about bowling is how to become better at bowling... consistency

1. Number of steps from where you start to where you finish. 
2. Ball speed (don't over-power!). A bowling ball is designed to work in a certain way. If you throw the ball too fast or too slow the ball will react as such 
3. Keep your eye on the target. This target will change depending on if you are rolling for a strike or a spare.  
4. Adjusting to changing lane conditions 
5. Have Fun  

One Tuesday evening while at league bowling (I do most of my blog post at this time) I was thinking about how bowling, real estate, and any sales position are so similar.It's all a process. From lead generation to post closing marketing.

Number of steps from where you start to where you finish - I'm sure you all have your system in place to get you from once the lead comes in to the settlement table, so there's no need to go into that on this post.Within this system, there are a certain number of steps that you must take to get there. Some of us use tools such as Top Producer, Realty Commander, etc to help guide us along the way.

Ball Speed - Real Estate transactions work a few different ways with one end goal in mind which is to help a seller and a buyer get to the closing table. However, if we act/react too slowly (time is of the essence) or try to over power (buyer or sellers and sometimes their agents think they are in total control).

Keep your eye on the target - Again, the end goal is to help the buyer and seller to the settlement table (strike). Sometimes the end goal changes and retaining the Earnest Money Deposit becomes the goal (spare).

Adjusting to changing lane conditions - Professional Bowlers have an eye on figuring out the change in the lane conditions and adjusting prior to. The best ones do it before all of the others. This is the same for Real Estate Agents. I'm not specifically talking about the height of the market, nor the real estate bubble burst. When you study the market, become a pro at your market then you can start to foresee slight changes in market conditions. The best of us start to adjust to the change in the market. This is the same for the tools and strategies that we utilize (having a website to having a mobile optimized website).

Have Fun - Real Estate, like Bowling should be fun. Yes there are times when we are in a transaction that is driving us crazy. Nothing is reacting the way that it is supposed to. Stop, take a deep breath. Figure out exactly what we did or what went wrong. Figure out a solution to resolving the issue. Having a clear mind is key. When you absolutely love what you do... it isn't work!

For those of you that want to know, I averaged 179 for the year with a high game of 258.