organization — Chance Brown's Real Estate Blog

Getting Ready to Get Ready

September 17, 2016 By Chance Leave a Comment

Have you ever found yourself facing a project to complete but, instead of starting, first you feel like you need to do some research, or get organized, or clean your office? Or maybe it was a personal goal like a diet you wanted to start, but you just need to get through this weekend first because you’re going to be out of town? Or, my personal favorite, have you ever been asked if you were ready to start doing (insert thing you’re supposed to be doing here) and simply answered no because you before you start you needed to do (insert thing you think you need to do first here).

At the end of the day, it’s all procrastination.

The question that matters for the purpose of this post, though, is why. Why are you putting off what you know you need to do, what you know you need to do? In my experience the answer generally boils down to one of two things, or sometimes both. The first is laziness and the second is a desire or need to have whatever the project is 100% perfect before unveiling it to the world. The first one is the easiest to tackle, so let’s get that out of the way.

Laziness

If you’re lazy and you know it clap your hands. Hopefully you aren’t clapping your hands right now, but some of you may be. So, without coming off as horribly rude, if you did, update your resume and get out of here. Real estate is a 24/7 hustle. Sustained success in this industry is not for the lazy. I hate to burst your bubble, but there are no overnight successes and HGTV isn’t waiting outside your testing center ready to give you a show as soon as you pass your licensing exam. Truth be told, we have enough lazy Realtors in the industry. We don’t need another one.

So, you can either get your ass up and go to work or get out of the way of those who do. The choice is yours.

Now, let’s get to the real point here.

Getting Ready to Get Ready

The idea of getting ready to get ready, or procrastinating in exchange for action is neither a new concept nor is it really unnatural. It’s why procrastination is such a problem for so many people. I mean, how many hundreds of books have been written on the subject? When you see people who seem to accomplish a great deal, it is usually not a natural thing. It’s usually a practiced skill, like any other skill. But there’s more to it than just having the initiative to tackle a project. Anyone can start on a project. The key is to finish your project, at least enough to launch it.

It Will Never Be Perfect

Do you own a smartphone? If you don’t, we need to have another discussion, but for now we will assume you do. Every couple of months I’m sure, like I do, you get a new update to the software on your phone, right? Of course you do. So, here’s the question. Why didn’t Apple or Samsung or LG or hopefully not Blackberry wait until every single aspect of their software was 100% perfect forever before releasing it? I mean, aren’t these updates just an admittance of failure?

No, of course they aren’t an admittance of failure. They’re a normal part of auditing systems and updating them for what is relevant at the time. Why then, do we feel like we have to have every aspect of a project perfect before releasing it? Our database has to be perfectly organized, classified, and every aspect of our follow-up system in place before we would even consider the idea of sending an email. We wouldn’t dream of publishing a website without every single last detail being perfectly in place. But why?

How about instead, as you organize and classify your database, you also call them? How about you put your follow-up program to work right now instead of waiting until you’ve written or created every single piece of content that will go out over the next 24 months? The bottom line is that it will never, ever be perfect. Ever. You will make adjustments as you go along or you will find yourself with the most perfect yellow pages ad of all time. In the immortal words of Nike, Just Do It!

You Don’t Know What You Need Until You Do

Until you start, you won’t really know what you need to do to finish. You can plan and scheme and dream, but until you get your hands dirty and actually start, you won’t know what you need to be able to finish. Dan Sullivan, executive coach and co-host of the popular 10X Talks podcast, calls it the 80% Principle. Based on all of the plans you make, you’ll probably be able to finish about 80% of your project. 80% is good enough. Launch it and then put the finishing touches on it. Seek counsel, audit, adjust, and continue to do so at regular intervals to ensure that your plan stays on track for the long-run.

Its A Marathon, Not A Sprint

I get it, you’re a Type A personality. I know. We all are. You’re a control freak. We all are. You feel like unless it’s ready it will make you look unprofessional. I get it. We’ve all been there. Remember, Rome wasn’t built-in a day and neither will your business be. Ten years from now you will likely look back and laugh at how much you worried over this stuff. The point is that if you never start the journey, you’ll never know. Sometimes the first step is the hardest, but, once you make it, each ensuing step becomes easier and easier.

Very Few Others Are Doing It

To wrap this up, let me drop a bit of unadulterated honesty on you. 90% of your competition isn’t doing it. Doing what you ask? Anything. Truly, they aren’t. Less than half of your competitors are using a CRM (and most probably aren’t really using one, they just pay for one), fewer than 10% use video, and the list goes on and on. Almost every statistic available on what agents do for follow-up and marketing is pretty embarrassing, really. So, as you sit there fretting over whether or not whatever you’re working on is good enough, just remember that 80% of anything is way, way better than 0% of nothing.

Book Review: Seven Levels of Communication

September 14, 2016 By Chance Leave a Comment

From the last post, you know that our brokerage has started a monthly Book Club. Our first book was Seven Levels of Communication by Michael Maher. As promised, a couple of times, here is my review of the book.

Bottom line: If you’re in sales or marketing, you need to read this book.

I have a general rule to judge the quality of a business book – If you can take two things out of a book and apply them to your business, it was worth the read. In the case of Seven Levels of Communication, if you can’t take a dozen tips out of this book, read it again. Seriously. It’s that good. Did I mention that I was serious? I don’t want to sit here and gush over 150 pages of paper, but this might be one of the best business books I have ever read.

First, Maher does a great job writing in parable format. The book follows a real estate agent, Rick Masters, as he transforms from a near drop-out to top producer through a coaching program that walks through the 7 Levels. I’m a huge fan of story-telling in non-fiction and Maher does it in a way that is both engaging and lacking arrogance. Honestly, as valuable as the information is, I’m not a fan of books by people like John Maxwell because they tend to be too much “Look at me and what I’ve done and you should be just like me.” This book is written from a perspective of a Coach and, as such, comes off as genuine and truly helpful.

Now, about the tips that the book gives you. The information contained in the book isn’t a reinvention of the wheel. To tell the truth, I imagine that the end product that Rick Masters becomes looks a whole lot like top salespeople from about 30 years ago. He’s more personal, caring, and doesn’t rely on technology and other new gimmicks to build his business. Instead, he relies on tried and true messaging and communication, but he does it with a plan and strategy.

The other great part of this book is that none of the strategies are really that hard to implement or expensive. The result of these strategies is a business that every agent dreams of, one built on referrals. The trick, like with everything else, is that the strategies have to be implemented with a personal touch and executed with discipline and consistency.

So, here’s the deal. I’m not going to reveal everything in the book because you really need to read it. I will tell you this, you will probably want to read it twice. Once you’ve read it once, you can go back
and take it tip by tip to implement in your business. Trust me, it’s worth it.

In conclusion, if you feel like you’re in a rut and need to get out of it, or your new to the business and want to get a jump-start, or are already producing at a good clip and want to take it to the next level, you need to read Seven Levels of Communication. Even if you only get a couple of things out of it or only implement a couple of the strategies, you will without doubt see the results in your business. You can pick up a copy on our Reading List page. Do it.

Our second book, Miracle Morning for Real Estate Agents, will be the next book review. You can also pick it up on the Reading List page.

The Communication Game

March 16, 2016 By Chance Leave a Comment

Not to get all deep and philosophical about things right out of the gate, but I have a serious fear for my children and my children’s generation. It’s a lack of communication skills. Between messaging and Snapchat and emojis and texting in slang or abbreviations, I have a serious fear that the communication skills necessary for success are quickly going by the wayside. I try, the best I can, to limit screen time, make my kids tell me stories or even just about their days, and teach them to look others in the eye when they are talking to them. I want them in speech in debate as they get older. Why?

I truly believe that your ability to communicate your point, regardless of what you are doing, is pivotal to your ability to be successful.

You may be asking yourself at this point just what the hell this has to do with real estate. It’s this simple: if you really get down to the nuts and bolts of what we do, we communicate. We aren’t the parties to a transaction. We aren’t attorneys or title experts. We aren’t lenders or mortgage experts. We communicate. From discovery to service to follow-up, we communicate. We discover needs and wants, we set expectations, we relay information and documentation, we problem solve, and we close. All of that, again, at the base level, is communication.

Selling Yourself

What is brand building? What is advertising? If you can’t guess by now, it’s communication, it’s story-telling. How you communicate your value to your audience is the essential part of creating brand recognition. Creating a solid call-to-action is an essential part of lead generation and capture. Taking those leads from interest to client is a direct result of your ability to tell your story and show interest in their story.

How can you become the first thing people think of when they think of real estate? Continuous brand building and consistent messaging are key to brand awareness with your potential clients. Whether you choose to be topical, clever, or resourceful in your communication to prospective clients, your delivery of the message over time is the key to your success. Being able to do it without being annoying is also pretty important.

Servicing the Client

From the time the prospective customer becomes a client to the time you close the transaction, your communication revolves around the service you provide. Beginning with the discovery phase, you have to be able to communicate with your clients to be able to best serve their needs and wants. Once you’ve done that, and found them either the home they want to buy or an offer suitable for acceptance, your communication expertise in negotiation becomes key. After that, you become a conduit for communication between all of the involved vendors, agents, title people, lenders, and, of course, parties to the transaction. Since we have beaten the expectation setting part of this like a dead horse on this blog, I will forgo it for now, but it is vital. Holding your client’s hands through the process with clear communication is key to creating a smooth transaction. Creating a smooth transaction is key to creating a happy client. Creating happy clients is key to building your referral base.

Building Your Referral Base

Do you have a plan to create a referral engine? When you’re with a prospective client, and then a client, and then a past client, how do you approach the topic of getting referrals? When do you start? If you don’t have that plan in place, I would submit to you that your business is not working for you. That doesn’t mean that your business isn’t working. It just isn’t working for you.

A plan to build a consistent stream of revenue from your current and past clients is pivotal. It should start the first time you meet a prospective client. It should continue throughout the sale/purchase. And, here’s the important part, it should never stop. Ever. The great thing about this plan is that a great deal of it can be achieved automatically through a CRM. You have to have the plan though.

Protecting Yourself and Your Clients

It pains me to say this, but we live in a world where everyone wants to sue everyone when they don’t get their way. In case you were wondering, you are one of the everyone. In this world we live in, we communicate in an ever-increasing number of ways. While I am a huge fan of face-to-face and telephone communication, it should be noted, for your protection and the protection of your clients, that everything should be followed-up in writing. Keep texts and emails. Store whatever other medium you might use to communicate, but make sure that verbal conversations are then put into writing to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

I’ll give you an example. In our new agent training classes we have an exercise we do. The new agents pair up and sit back to back. One agent is given a simple drawing like a house or a bird or a fish. Without telling his/her partner what the drawing is, they have to describe how to draw it. The results are often comical in a classroom setting, but are a perfect example of how easily verbal miscommunication can occur. Follow it up in writing to make sure that your house or bird or fish matches their house or bird or fish.

Going back to the original point, understanding that your primary role as an agent, as a business owner, is communication will help drive your processes and systems. Being an expert communicator will make the difference in your level of success. Even if it is not your strongest natural strength, it is one that can be rather easily developed. Whether you choose to join an organization like Toastmasters or just develop and practice scripts, working on your communication plan is something that should be done daily.

Bumps in the Road

March 2, 2016 By Chance Leave a Comment

In the course of a “normal” real estate transaction there are more ways for something to go wrong than the general public can imagine. It’s one of the many reasons why the general public doesn’t find value in the work a good Realtor does on their behalf. It’s also not the stuff they show on HGTV. The potential bumps in the road are numerous. The good news, however, is that, if handled correctly, these bumps in the road can be handled. Most aren’t fatal to the transaction. So, where’s the “but”? The “but” is whether or not you handle them like a butt or like a professional.

Through properly setting expectations with a client, proper presentation of the problem to the client, and cooperation with your fellow professionals, most bumps in the road in a transaction can be overcome.

Now, that’s not to say that there aren’t problems that can’t be overcome. There are, and if you haven’t experienced it yet, you will. That is, unfortunately, a part of the business and something that has to be dealt with from time to time.

Setting Expectations

In a previous post, we talked about setting expectations at length. So, I am not going to rewrite that post for the sake of this one. The bottom line is this: people don’t like surprises, especially in what can already be a stressful situation. So, don’t let it be a surprise. Setting expectations from the beginning and reiterating those expectations throughout the process will keep your client both prepared for these situations and aware that you know about them and are working on their behalf. Building value in yourself is the bonus.

Proper Presentation

The hidden beauty of setting expectations is that it allows you to present a problem as it arises in a way that doesn’t come as a surprise to the client. How you present a problem to your client, either buyer or seller, is key. If you freak out, they’ll freak out. If you come in laying blame, they will too, and most likely on you. If you come in bad-mouthing the other agent or other party to the transaction, they will feel like you are not in control.

The correct way to present a problem is to, first, go back to the expectation you already set. For example, “Remember, Mr. and Mrs. Seller when we talked about (fill in the blank)? Well, here is what’s going on.” Second, you review what you have already done or are doing to resolve the problem. This, again, builds value in you and what you do. Finally, you leave them with the plan and what could or could not happen in the end. Set a time to follow-up and be very communicative throughout the process. How you present the problem to the client will directly influence not only the way they react to the problem, but how they deal with the problem as you work through it.

Cooperation

Yes, I know, it is hard to be as good as you are. I know that there are very few agents capable of the level of awesomeness you bring to the table daily. I completely understand. However, from time to time you are going to have to entertain these other agents in an effort to serve your clients and make the money you’ve earned. We’ve also talked about cooperating agents in other posts before so I won’t get too deep into it.

Being able to creatively solve problems with the other agent, lender, and/or title company is how you will successfully navigate the treacherous path that pops up when there are difficulties in a transaction. The ability to bring all parties and vendors together to create win-win situations is how you show your true professionalism in times of need. That’s what makes you awesome, not only to your client, but to your fellow professionals as well.

Anyone can navigate their way through a simple real estate transaction. Anyone can also screw up a somewhat difficult transaction. Don’t be anyone. Be better than that. Show your value to your clients. Be the agent that other agents want to be like when they grow up. Having processes and systems in place in your business to deal with difficult situations, unforeseen problems, and less than stellar vendors, agents, and parties on the other side of the transaction is paramount to your success. That’s how you differentiate yourself and become an all-star.

The Top 5 Mistakes Rookie Agents Make

February 11, 2016 By Chance Leave a Comment

To start off, this is just another in a long list of posts that are related to “Your First Year in Real Estate”. It certainly won’t be the last, and probably won’t be the last on this site. Also, if you can keep the number of “rookie mistakes” you make to five, congratulations. You win Rookie of the Year. Hopefully this will help you avoid some mistakes that others out there have experienced and that I see on a pretty regular basis.

To preface the meat of this post, I have to say a few things about this list. First, none of these mistakes are fatal. You can make them and still turn out as a pretty good agent. Avoiding them will just help speed things along on the road to success for you. Second, this is not a 100% complete list. It’s just a list I made based on personal experience and coaching real estate sales people for a decade now, and some input from a friend who coaches agents and is pretty darn good at it. There are other mistakes you can, and most likely will, make. Remember, and not to sound cliché, it’s a journey. Learn from the mistakes and move on. Finally, if you read this list and realize that you’ve made one of these mistakes, that’s ok. Don’t worry. It can be fixed. Nothing in this crazy real estate world is that permanent, especially in your first year or two. Now, let’s get going…

1. Not Branding Yourself

I know, I know. You just took your exam and got sponsored and you think that your Broker/Brokerage/Parent Company/Coach/Kool-Aid Deliverer is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It’s an exciting time. It really is. I’m not just being a smart-ass to make a point. I’ve been there.

There is a little secret that I would like to tell you, though. You’ll probably change brokerages at some point in your career (This is not true of any of my agents that happen to be reading this. Y’all just skip this part). It may seem unthinkable, but the number of agents that have stayed at the same brokerage for an entire career is extremely small. So, brand yourself before you brand your Broker. Get your own domain name and your own email address associated with that domain: yourfirstname@yourname.com. Remember, according to NAR stats, only 3% of people care who you work for. This is a people business. They are buying you, not your Broker. Build your brand, not your Broker’s.

2. You Don’t Focus on Learning

Listen, your education didn’t end when you took that exam. In fact, I can tell you without hesitation that your education didn’t really begin until you took that exam. Most state regulated courses leading up to the exam are a joke and have no practical application in the real world. If you aren’t enrolled in classes (hopefully with your Broker), a mentorship, coaching or something like that a) you chose the wrong Broker, and b) you need to figure that out quickly. Also, start reading, listening to and watching podcasts, surf the web for coaching videos, etc. Follow smart people online, sign-up for webinars, shadow experienced agents. In other words, make learning a top priority in your business. When you aren’t doing something to make you money, you should be learning something that will.

3. Not Putting Systems and Processes in Place

It may not seem like it right now, but, at some point, time becomes your greatest asset and your biggest limitation. There will come a time when you will be so busy that the idea of stopping for a day or two to add systems and processes into your business will seem crazy. The problem is that you will have to do just that or risk stagnation. So, a real simple solution is to put them in place from day one. They don’t have to be perfect, but they do need to be there. You can adjust as you need to. Marketing, customer service, follow-up, transaction management, and database management are just a few areas to focus on. Without scalable systems and processes in place early in your career, your business will suffer later down the road.

NOTE: Don’t spend all of your time doing this. An hour a day or so will be just fine. This isn’t busy work so you can avoid doing real work. You don’t want six months to pass and all you’ve done is organize your contacts.

4. Not Using a CRM Software

We’ve talked about this before, but I just can’t emphasize the importance. Organizing your database, creating perpetual follow-up protocol, and automating as much of it as you can is pivotal to your success, especially at a time when you are initially building your brand awareness. That’s it. There’s nothing else to say. Find one and use it. Remember, the right CRM is the one you actually use. Play with a bunch and find the one that works best for you. Use a CRM or be SOL.

5. Focusing on the Outcome, Not the Input

If nobody told you in your interviews with a broker, let me be the first to break this news to you: success in real estate is not easy. This isn’t HGTV. You don’t just get a license and then the producers show up outside your house and start filming. Real estate is a grind. It’s a game for hustlers. The ones that are willing to do the work, and do it consistently, every f’ing day, are the ones that are making the money here. If that isn’t for you, take your ass back to what you were doing last week. If you’re willing to do the work, focus on the work. Keep your nose to the grindstone and the results will come. They will. I promise. Don’t get discouraged. Don’t get mad (unless that kind of thing motivates you) when a friend uses another agent. Suck it up, put on your big boy/girl panties and move on to the next task. Focus on what you can control. The results will follow with hard work, consistency, and patience.

There you have it. Now, take your ass back to work.

Working In vs. Working On Your Business

July 30, 2015 By Chance Leave a Comment

As your real estate business grows and you find yourself getting busier and busier it becomes increasingly easier to get caught up in the day-to-day details and minutiae of what is happening in the moment. You’re working hard, doing everything you can to satisfy your clients, get them across the finish line, and, hopefully, get the referrals to grow your business. Outside of the client care, you’re still prospecting, marketing, and doing all of the other little things you’ve been doing to grow your business. That’s what you’re supposed to be doing, right? Of course it is. That being said, at some point, you have to step back and focus on your business from the CEO perspective, not the technician’s perspective.

If you aren’t spending as much time working on your business as you do working in your business, you’ll never transition from practitioner to true entrepreneur.

What’s the Difference?

Before I really get into the explanation, if you haven’t read The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber, do yourself a favor and read it as soon as possible. To make an illustration most of you will understand, especially those from Houston where we have a restaurant every 500 feet, have you ever been to a restaurant where the food was great only to see it go out of business a few months later? So many of those close because they were opened by great chefs who knew little to nothing about the business of running a restaurant. You see, just because you are a great chef or a great cupcake maker or, for that matter, a great Realtor doesn’t mean that you would necessarily be a great restaurateur or bakery owner or brokerage owner. That’s really the difference.

Using the restaurant example to expound, the great chef worries about creating a great dish. They want to drive the business to the restaurant by having people tell their friends how great the food was. Sound familiar? The restaurateur, on the other hand, is concerned about the overall experience of the diner. They focus on decor, ambiance, seating charts, service, amenities, staffing, and a million other things, not to mention spin-off concepts, expansion, and, ultimately, an exit strategy. See the difference? The chef works in his business while the restaurateur works on his business.

The How-To

So, how do you step back to work on your business and where do you start once you do? First and foremost, you have to make time. You have to have scheduled time daily, weekly, monthly that is dedicated to your strategic planning for your business. These time blocks have to be non-negotiable. Zero distractions. If you have to get up and leave where you normally work, do it. Turn off your phone and email. Your only focus is your business as a whole.

Below is a short list of the items that you can and should do during this time. This list will expand over time as your comfort level with this grows and as you get deeper and deeper into your business operations, future plans, and all of the new ideas you develop.

Audit, Audit and Audit – To start off, begin with what you’re doing now and examine every piece of it. Make changes where necessary. Lather, rinse, and repeat.
Systems and Processes – What makes McDonald’s successful? The fact that a Big Mac in St. Louis tastes the same as a Big Mac in New York or London or Tokyo. Systems and processes make that happen. Your business, if it is ever going to grow, has to have them. From CRMs to lead generation to follow-up, everything needs a system. That’s how you create an asset.
Expansion and Personnel – That’s right. Most agents wait too long to hire and their business suffers. If you’re not at least thinking about it, you need to be. As your business grows, you need to grow your business and you’ll be glad you’ve been thinking about it all along.
Strategic Planning – Do you have a plan for growth? A real plan, not just ideas? Are there action steps associated with the plan to help you reach your goals? Do you have a plan for marketing, social media, farming, and everything else in your business? Now would be a good time to start. For every goal you have for your business, there should be an action-based plan in place.
Exit Strategy – You might just be starting in business, but, wherever you are in your career, you need to consider your exit strategy. Are you creating a true asset that you can sell one day when you are ready to leave the business or retire?
Technology – If you aren’t regularly looking at ways to leverage technology to increase efficiency, automate what you can, and increase your level of service, you are missing out on one of the best ways to stretch your time and productivity.

Like I said, the list goes on and on and will grow. The key is that you’re actually working on your business instead of always working in your business. I believe that once you change this approach, you will find yourself working more and more on your business. That’s when you truly begin to transition into the CEO role of your business.

Creating a Working Partnership

July 1, 2015 By Chance Leave a Comment

As a real estate agent it is really easy to feel like you’re on an island sometimes. Most agents these days are exceptionally mobile. They work from home, the car, the coffee shop, their clients’ homes, and all points in between. The downside to that mobility is that it follows you everywhere. You never really escape. At the same time, though, despite the increased connectivity, you can feel really alone. In years past, you would have been at a desk in the office and your colleagues would have experienced things with you. Today, you probably don’t interact with a lot of other people who are going through the same thing. Like I said, sometimes you just feel like you’re on an island.

At some point, you have to get away from it all. You need a break, maybe to go to a real island. So, who is going to take care of your business while you’re away? If you don’t have an answer to that question, it might be time to find a working partner.

A working partner can not only be your trusted resource when you’re away, but can also help you build your business over time. If you don’t have one, get one.

Picking the Right Person

Choosing the right person to be your working partner is the most important step, and as you read below, you will see why. First and foremost, this person needs to be at the same brokerage for reasons that should be relatively obvious. Second, don’t choose someone because they’re your buddy. Choose them because they challenge you. Choose them because they are someone who treats their business and their clients like you would treat your business and clients (or would like to). Choose them not because you like them but because you would like to be more like them. Great working partnerships are forged out of mutual respect for each other’s abilities, not just because you’re friends. The friend part often comes as a side effect of the partnership.

Setting Expectations

What makes for a great relationship with your clients? Setting expectations and communication. You know that. The mark of a true professional in this business is the one who has developed systems and processes in their business that set and reinforce expectations through communication throughout the transaction and beyond. So, why would anything differ in your working partnership. Lay down the ground rules up front, follow them through, and get feedback on how it’s going. Change what needs to change to benefit both of you and keep the relationship healthy.

Leave Them Prepared

The beauty of the working partner is the peace of mind you can have if and when you take a vacation, need a break, or have to leave town in a hurry. To make it a true partnership, you must have systems in place for handing over your files to your partner so the level of service to your client doesn’t slip and so your partner can pick them up and start working without having to spend hours trying to figure out what is going on in each transaction. Plan it out in advance. Make sure you have communicated to your clients in advance that you are leaving town and that your partner will be handling anything that comes up. Your end goal here is not only to make it easy on your partner, but give you the ability to truly disconnect and recharge.

So, there you have it. By following these steps, you can create a working partnership that ensures that both partners are able to step away from their business without having to worry that your clients are left out in the cold, or worse, traveling with you.

But wait, there’s more!

If you’re going to go to the trouble of finding this awesome agent to team up with, creating a relationship, sharing business systems, and trusting them with your clients, why not keep the partnership going when you aren’t on vacation? This is the perfect opportunity for you and your working partner to help each other elevate your business to a new level. As I mentioned above, there are a number of ways you can use your new partnership to grow your business, market yourselves, and refine your skills and systems. Here are a few ways:

Mastermind

Once a month, meet over lunch or at the office with your partner and share. What’s worked for you? What hasn’t? What’s going on in the market? Talk about business and only business. Be creative and share openly with each other. Help solve each other’s problems. Be a resource. Strategize, plan and proceed.

Accountability Partners

An accountability partner is an easy transition for working partners. Set your goals for the week and share them every Monday. The next Monday go back through last week’s goals and celebrate each other’s successes, talk through shortcomings, and go over this week’s goals. Don’t be easy on each other. Hold their feet to the fire and expect the same from them. Iron sharpen irons.

Co-Marketing

You might find that the next step in your partnership is to team up and share some costs on marketing, share some event planning for your clients, share more of the day-to-day operation of your systems and processes. This can help you take advantage of efficiencies in pricing, expand your reach, and grow faster than you could on your own.

Birth of a Team

The next natural step in this growing partnership is to consider becoming a true team. If you’re already sharing goals, strategies, cost centers, and marketing, why not just make it official and call yourselves partners. You’re not fooling anyone at this point. There’s a whole other blog post or three about how to do this the right way, but, for the purposes of this post, we’ll just stick to the evolution from working partner to team.

You certainly don’t have to do any of these extra things with your working partner, but why not? Why not expand your business, reach new highs, and help another agent do the same? Once you have a good working partnership in place using the criteria from the first part of this post, go for the gold and make your partnership a part of your business plan. You never know where it might lead you.

Hitting the Wall

June 18, 2015 By Chance Leave a Comment

It’s inevitable. If it hasn’t happened to you yet, it probably will. One day, you’ll wake up and “it” just won’t be there. The spark will be gone. You’ve hit a wall.

The good news is that it happens to everyone at some point (or more than once). But, wait, there’s more!!! The risk that hitting this kind of wall will kill you is pretty low. Yes, you might get down a little. You might experience a metaphorical sense of temporary paralysis. There is also a significant risk of denial that you have, in fact, hit a wall. The one thing you have to remember is that it is all temporary. As my father likes to say, “This too shall pass.” So, the question you have to ask yourself is:

What are you going to do to get around, climb your way over, or bust through that wall like a freaking wrecking ball?

The term “hitting the wall” comes from the running world. “The wall” is defined as that period in a marathon when things transition from being pretty hard to being really, really hard. It is the point where your legs turn into lead and your brain tells you to stop. It’s the perfect intersection of exhaustion and diminished mental faculties.

When I started talking about writing this post, I got this quote from a friend: “The problem in this job is that from the time I wake up to the time I go to bed people need things from me. It’s kids in the morning, clients and agents during the day, then a combination of the two from about 5-10 pm. It’s draining.” You start to lose that feeling of accomplishment, that high of closing the deal, the pride of building your business. That’s not good. Untreated, this leads to an extreme lack of “give a damn” and can severely affect your business. I have a friend in this business, an extremely high producer today, that quite literally quit real estate at one point because he hit the wall and couldn’t figure out how to get back on track. So, here is the Real Estate 12-Step Program for all of you workaholics:

1) Admit You Have a Problem – I once went 67 days without a day off. At the time, I felt like it was fine and that I was fine. Then I got a couple of days off and realized exactly how exhausted I was and how in denial I had been. I never made that mistake again. Sometimes it can be difficult to admit because who else is going to do it? This is your baby and no one can love your baby the way you do. You have to realize the problem before you can attack it.

2) Get Away From it All – Nothing refreshes like a break. A real break. Not a leave town for a couple of days and check your messages and emails every ten minutes break. A break where you disconnect. Leave your files with a working partner, jump a plane and disappear. Leave your cell phone and computer at home. Buy a disposable cell phone if you have to have one and only give the number to people that ABSOLUTELY have to have it.

3) Power Through – Sometimes the only thing you can do is put your nose to the grindstone and just plow ahead. One of my favorite business books is called Rhinoceros Success and the mantra from it is “Keep Charging”. Put on your big girl or boy pants and get through the slump. It will end.

4) Revisit Your Why – What makes you tick? Why did you get in this business in the first place? When you start to lose your motivation and focus, it’s time to revisit the reason you are here in the first place. Make a vision board. Reset your wallpaper on your computer. Put reminders everywhere. Let that reward be the spark you need to re-engage.

5) Make a Plan – Yes, I know you already have one. Yes, I know you probably spent a good deal of time setting goals and working out your plan. Make a new one. Even if it is something totally unrelated to your business. Make a plan for something. Just the simple act of brainstorming a new plan can get the creative juices flowing enough to spark some excitement.

6) Pamper Yourself – When you feel the drag of so many people pulling at you and needing something and wanting your attention and time, go do something that is just for you. Get a massage or a manicure. My favorite thing to do when I feel like this is to get a straight blade shave, even if I don’t need a shave. Plus it has the added bonus of making you feel like an old mobster, which is cool. Spend some time and attention on you, because you are important and deserve it.

7) Get a Coach – Yes, coaching can be pricey. Yes, finding the right one can be tough. Enough with the excuses. Is your business worth the investment. If you go from making $100,000 a year while beating your head against the wall to implementing systems and processes that allow you to make $300,000 a year with far less stress, is it worth it to spend a few hundred bucks a month? Yes, yes it is. Go get a coach.

8) Seek Professional Help – What’s getting you down? What’s the part of the business that is driving you nuts and making you want to quit? Find someone else who can do that and start delegating. See step 7 for the justification. See step 5 for some added fun on what and how you delegate.

9) Go Small – You know the old adage, “How do you eat an elephant?” The same thing could be said about dismantling a wall. One brick at a time. Take baby steps. Do one thing to completion and then reward yourself. Then do it again. Next thing you know, you’ll be on a roll of small successes and the big stuff will look less daunting.

10) Kill Vampires – We’ve talked about this before on this blog, but you have to get to a point respecting yourself and your time enough to get rid of time killers, or, as I call them, blood-sucking vampires. Some clients aren’t worth it. Some projects aren’t worth it. Assess honestly and get rid of them. It’s really hard the first time, but it gets easier.

11) Change Your Surroundings – As crazy as this sounds, making a simple change in your surroundings can make a huge impact on how you feel about work. When I first started in real estate, I worked in an 8×10 office five feet from my bed. I got so tired of it that it would drive me nuts sometimes. Get out. Go to Starbucks or somewhere similar. Repaint your office or rearrange your furniture. Just make a change and see how it affects your mood.

12) Get Very Real With Yourself and Your Wall – OK, you’ve been given 11 things to try. If those don’t work, I think you need to have a very serious chat with yourself. Are you the reason you’re up against the wall? Did you build the wall? Sometimes you have to get out of your own head and way. Be brutally honest with yourself and then power through it.

“Hi, my name is Chance and I’m a workaholic.” After starting my day at 7:00 a.m., I am just now putting the finishing touches on a blog post at 1:10 a.m. If you’re like me, you will most likely hit a wall at some point. I hope this 12-Step Program works for you.

All the Best.

3 x 3 = Success

June 12, 2015 By Chance Leave a Comment

As a busy real estate agent it can sometimes be difficult to take a step back from your business and evaluate how things are going, set goals, and focus on what you have to do to reach those goals. I mean, you’ve got clients calling all the time, closings to attend, homes to show and list, negotiations, prospecting, and a pile of administrative work. Not to mention, you probably have a social life and/or family that require your attention. (It should also go without saying that you need to take to time to read awesome blog posts.) There are only so many hours in a day, so where do you find the time for everything?

In a previous post we talked about periodization as a tool to laser focus your business on the things that help you achieve your goals faster. Periodization is tough and might not be for everyone. So here’s an option that is a little easier to digest and implement, but still requires the same level of focus to reach your goals. It’s called the 3×3 method and has proven successful for a lot of people.

Don’t put the cart before the horse when it comes to planning the execution of your goals. Make sure that you have solid, actionable goals in place first.

Once you’ve got a set of goals, now we focus on the execution using the 3×3 method. This is so simple sounding when you first hear it that it’s almost easy to dismiss. Don’t do that. If you stop reading now, not only will you miss out on my quick wit, but you might miss out on that one tip that takes you from having a bunch of good ideas to acting on those ideas and letting your great ideas take you to the next level. Here you go…

Each month you set 3 goals or select 3 items from your Do, Doing, Done board. Then, each week you select 3 steps you need to complete to reach those 3 monthly goals. Once you have those set for the month, the next step is to go about removing all distractions and hurdles in the way of reaching those goals. Deflect, delegate, outsource, or just say no. Laser focus yourself on the three. Don’t stop until you’ve completed them.

Much like periodization, the key to success is the focus. Imagine though, for a minute, if at the end of the year, you had completed 36 big goals or projects. How awesome would that be? Try it for a month and see what happens. You might be surprised not only by how it isn’t as easy as it sounds, but by the sense of accomplishment you feel once you’ve reached those three goals that have been lingering on your to-do list.

All the Best.

Starting a Real Estate Career Without A Sphere of Influence

June 4, 2015 By Chance Leave a Comment

When starting a real estate career, having a sphere of influence can make a huge difference in how quickly you start to see business come your way. It boils down to the old adage that sometimes it isn’t what you know, but who you know. So, what happens if you’re new to town and don’t have a strong network? Maybe you’re a young agent and your sphere hasn’t started buying homes. What is the best way to start your real estate career without a sphere of influence?

Here are my top 3 tips for creating, cultivating, and connecting to a sphere of influence when you’re starting from scratch.

Create

Networking is a necessity for any agent. It is imperative for the agent without a sphere of influence. That being said, what is the right kind of networking to build a client base as quickly as you can? I am a firm believer that you should do what you want and like to do. Lots of people will tell you to join BNI or the Chamber or Rotary or something like that. Those are all great organizations, but are they great for you? Try joining an organization or club for something you like. If you’re into fitness, try a running club or fitness class. Into politics? Try an organization for your particular party or viewpoint. By doing something you like, first of all, you are more likely to continue doing it instead of just trying it for a while and then quitting out of frustration. Also, because you like what you’re doing, you are more likely to be seen as genuine and not someone who is just there trying to get business.

Cultivate

There are a lot places online where people go to seek out an expert in real estate. Unfortunately, what they get sometimes is a lot of things but an expert opinion. So, here’s an opportunity for you to step in and be the answer to their questions, be the expert. Watch the forums on sites like Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, Homes.com, and your MLS, if it has one. Answer questions, provide advice, and try to score a shot at a phone call or appointment. I have watched one of our agents who didn’t have much of a sphere use this tactic and in less than a year she is one of our top producers.

Connect

At the end of the day, when you don’t have much in the way of a sphere, it all boils down to hustle. How many people can you connect with in one way or another and get into your database. Are you working open houses to meet potential buyers? Are you taking the contacts you meet as you create your sphere through joining organizations and building friendships? Are you working the web for new business and, if so, are you getting the contact info and connecting? Are you leveraging relationships in your everyday life? Make your goal to add 3 people to your database or CRM software every day. Then come up with a plan to stay connected and start asking for business and/or referrals.

Starting from scratch is tough, but can be done if you choose to hustle. Like everything else, you just have to make and work a plan that is driven by your goals.