Floyd Wickman is one of my favorite Trainer/Coach/Speaker. My recent Agent/Broker News featured his series "I Quit Real Estate" with the best line ever for struggling agents "If your commissions aren't paying your bills, don't get out of the real estate business, Get into it!"
So are you really in the Real Estate business? Are you running a business or just hanging on to a dream?
If you really want it, then the solution is simple; act like a successful business person. Do the things they do, think like your in business and work every day to ensure the success of YOUR business.
There are lots of self-help business leadership and management books on the shelf - they should be on your shelf. If this is a stretch for you then start small, literally...small! I still remember the first book I received when I got into Real Estate. It was a while before I actually read it, and boy that was a mistake! It was energizing and lit me up with all kinds of ideas - man was I pumped! You probably even have it; OG MANDINO's "The Greatest Salesman in the World." I also subscribe to any email newsletter I can find about Real Estate, and if they turn out to be no good I just cancel them. But you never know where that next inspiration will come from, so the more input the better your business will become. The best technique to build a library or a list of newsletters is to peek in the office of your local top producer or even the broker/manager and see what they read.
Many of us (me included) got into Real Estate to enjoy the flexibility of being self-employed. But too often we re-define flexibility to mean unstructured, unfocused, unprioritized, unproductivity! In my experience top producers don't wait for things to fill up their schedule, they schedule and plan things to happen, then go out and do them! Don't be afraid to plan out your week. Monday should always be a day of collecting feedback from last weeks showings, and follow ups and thank yous for showings and Open House visitors. Wednesdays and Thursdays should be for setting up time for active buyers to see homes Friday and Saturday - get to them before they ask you, you'll be better able to manage your time that way. And ALWAYS, pre-plan at least 2 or 3 listing appointments, then make them happen.
The success or failure of your business rests completely on your shoulders, no one else. Engage all the resources around you, the web, your broker, manager and trainer, even the top producers in the local market. You should search the web routinely for new insights, and consult your broker, manager or trainer for ideas and coaching - ask them to hold you accountable for your own success. Make friends of the top local producers. Visit their Open Houses and show or preview their listings and give them prompt, straight forward feedback, then ask some probing questions. Get their opinion on some issue you've seen (like this one) and let them tell you how they feel about it.
But most of all, act the part of the successful professional business person you need to become.
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