Real Estate: Out of Order!

Have you ever put together an “assemble by numbers” piece of furniture then find that a piece is missing from the manufacturer? You invest all of your time and energy into the assembly of this masterpiece only to find the one piece you need to have it all come together for you is on the floor of a manufacturing plant in China. If you read the instructions, Step 1 is take an inventory of your pieces and ensure your set is complete. It is the most important step of all, it just never seems like it because it is boring and monotonous. By skipping right to step two, you now have burned all of your energy putting together this piece of furniture and now you have to disassemble it and start again….this is that moment where frustration sets in…has there every been a time like this for you?

A real estate career is no different, I would say that 9 out of 10 brokerages assist their agents in starting their careers on Step 2. The contracts, the presentation, the 10,000 websites to update and tweak, inspector topics, appraisal topics, lending topics…Step 2 is an abyss of knowledge and tasks vital to the assembly of a remarkable real estate career and yet one year into real estate you look back and find that you made less than $8,500 for the year. The financial stress applied and lackluster results leave you thinking, how did this happen..What piece am I missing? This moment in your career is identical to that time you were sitting on the living room floor with an almost assembled piece of furniture. Your nearly assembled real estate career is like a sports car without an engine…it looks great with the website, the business cards, the presentations, the great clothes but you can’t get anywhere….why? You don’t have enough clients.

If this sounds like you regardless of how many years experience you have, go back and find your missing piece, Step 1. That step is generating leads through prospecting and marketing…this is not necessarily the hardest step, it is just the most uncomfortable step. You need a steady stream of leads to generate clients that you can hand your business cards, send to your website and demonstrate your contract and presentation savvy to. A couple reasons why I think some real estate companies encourage starting at Step 2.

  1. The Broker is a Competing Broker – They are busy generating their own business so their focus is training on issues that limit brokerage liability, not opportunities to grow your business.
  2. The Broker started their career on Step 2:  They got away with it as a second or third generation REALTOR.
  3. The Broker doesn’t know your goal or understand your need for business and assumes if you close one or two, that was enough for you.

So if you find yourself looking great and getting nowhere, understand it isn’t your fault until you have an awareness of Step 1. After reading this you now have an awareness that systems, models and strategies to generate leads are the foundation that a profitable business is built on. Your commit and discipline to START with Step 1 will ultimately determine your success. If you would like to learn more about Step 1 find me at 561.859.1839 it is my specialty.

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Take a Bow – Top Growth Partners @ Keller Williams of the Palm Beaches

A big round of applause to our TOP 19 Growth Partners at Keller Williams Realty of the Palm Beaches. Their hard work in helping the residents and guests of Palm Beach County with their housing needs has catapulted their success in the last 12 months. Congratulations Keller Williams Realty of the Palm Beaches Associates, I am honored to be in business with you!

Just our TOP 19 are up $40.8 Million Dollars in Sales Volume! Utilizing Next Generation Technology and Classic Marketing Methods We Have the Formula For Success. Curious how we get homes sold in Palm Beach? Contact us today – 561.656.2929

Change in Volume Previous 12 Months vs. Latest 12 Months.

1    Eric    Pruitt    $9,602,526
2    Melinda    Heilman    $8,436,900
3    Dawn    Malloy   $2,539,000
4    Susan    Weiss    $2,135,400
5    Jacqueline    Barber    $2,000,400
6    Carol    Clawson   $1,748,055
7    Barbara    Heilman    $1,717,000
8    Alexandra    Castrillon    $1,245,699
9    Andrea    Fogarty    $1,187,100
10    Zoila    Khouri    $1,177,498
11    Cindy    Halloran    $1,106,800
12    Dorothy    Harper    $1,053,700
13    Rosita    Saintil    $1,034,250
14    James    Corbitt   $1,011,950
15    Keti    Ballhysa    $1,01,1900
16    Consuella    Bailey    $980,000
17    Kevin    Bilafer    $977,100
18    Micheline    Diotte    $974,606
19    Nancy    Becker    $905,000

Keller Williams Realty of the Palm Beaches

Real Estate: Out of Order…continued

Only a super-rant can take up two posts of a blog and that is what we have here. A SUPER RANT! So this starting with Step 2 can leave us with what? The feeling of being powerless? By starting with Step 1, the lead generation step, you empower yourself to achieve a goal, without it you just have a pipe dream. I was curious, how many contacts does it take before you take a listing or gain a referral? How many friends in a database marketed to x times does it take to yield ten sales? How many doors can you knock on before someone answers with a real estate need, or a friend that does? With a measurable action plan focused on Step 1, a path can be created to achieve any goal regardless of how large! Let’s take Step 2 and craft that business plan….

  • I need to sit x hours of floor time to achieve $125,000 in Gross Commission?
  • If I hand out x business cards I’ll hit my goal?
  • If I “work” 12 hours a day, I will make $219,200 in Commissions!
  • If I create 9 perfect presentation covers, I’ll net x

I have yet to find a business planning tool that includes the above steps. The bottom line is that Step 2 strategies will create “average” or below average sales numbers…to put that in concrete terms. Ignoring Step 1 will leave you with less than 4 closings a year. So let’s bust the myth’s right now:

  • You do have to “ask” for business even if it is from your friends.
  • Your amazing customer service will grow your business, but not fast enough for you to achieve your goals.
  • Those scripts that “don’t sound like you” have conversion rates attached to them…so do the words you feel comfortable with…which ones will you use?
  • Fake it until you make it doesn’t mean having a great car, great clothes and a bleached smile, it means being confident when opportunities arise that you created in Step 1. Getting a great car and great clothes won’t by itself generate business for you.

So where does that leave us in this rant of starting with Step 2. Well, it should leave you with an awareness of how to start your career, or how to enhance it and if you continue to prioritize Step 2…..well you will drive always remember this blog and it should haunt your sub-consciousness reminding you that you skipped a step.

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Cyndi Esformes: The Exception

So many come to my office very interested in success, that wasn’t the case for Cyndi Esformes of Keller Williams Realty of the Palm Beaches, she was committed to success!

It was about a year ago that Cyndi and I first met, she was a very seasoned real estate agent looking to ratchet up her success. So what makes Cyndi different? Cyndi just like the majority of REALTORS have mastered the customer service side of real estate and when they look to improve their business, they typically look at the “Lead Generation” side as the place for growth. Most often realtors say they want more, yet fall short when it comes to the price they are willing to pay to achieve it. I am so proud of Cyndi and the steps she has taken grow the lead generation side of her business. No doubt it is one of the most challenging pieces to the real estate business and SO many opportunities are presented to quit, but in the last three months Cyndi and I started working together she has:

  • Mastered the Market Statistics and Keeps Her Fingers On the Pulse of Palm Beach County Real Estate.
  • Mastered Next Generation Marketing Technology to Get Homes SOLD Faster and generate qualified buyers for Palm Beach County Sellers.
  • SHOWS UP! It’s the small things that make a big impact and Cyndi shows up every week to report her progress, success and master the skills required to succeed in today’s market.

The real estate environment has changed and if you don’t adapt to it, opportunity will pass you by. If you are looking for someone walking the path to success by executing proven activities look no further than Cyndi Esformes!
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The Big Why vs. The Why Not’s

I am grateful to be allowed to spew my brand of inspiration and education not just in cyberspace, but in real life as well. That was the case today in Jupiter, Florida’s Keller Williams Realty office as Michael Brue and I brought closure to the course 36:12:3 (a productivity focused lead generation course by Keller Williams University). Fifteen wide eyed agents were graduated today after a month of personal growth, business growth where the theme was much like the title to a John Maxwell book, “Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn”. This course is my favorite course to teach because it unlocks YOU and I get more up close and personal in this classroom conversation than anywhere else in the kw Curriculum. It is just raw, bare-the-soul type honesty in this class  as we peel back the layers of the onion of non-achievement and unleash a more purposeful and productive you.

Today’s session titled, “Living Your Goals” is remarkable as we work to inspire people to tap into their “Big Why”, that fuel in your soul that pushes you through all of your barriers to high achievement. This topic deserves our attention daily since a “Big Why” cannot be determined in the 10 minute exercise the course allows. So, first a series of suggestions to find the inner unstoppable drive within you!

  • Want to travel to Europe? Great! However that is pretty vague! The more clear the goal, the more crystal the vision the more likely you are to achieve. Where in Europe? When? With who? What will you visit? How long will you stay? Create clarity to obsess over!
  • Taste Your Dream! Do you have something on your “Dream Board/Bucket List” Do you like it, or do you just like the idea of it? The only way to know for sure is to do it…so whatever it takes, Sail, Take that Trip, Rent the car you want to buy, the house you want to live in..just do something to “taste” your dreams….if they really are what you want tasting them will give you the ultimate clarity, however you may just find out what you wanted wasn’t all it was cracked up to be…you don’t want to chase a goal like that for five years to find out it wasn’t “Your Big Why”.
  • Find a Dream Partner  – Someone that you can talk to openly about your dreams, someone that won’t judge, call you crazy or tell you your vision is impossible. Schedule time to talk with them about your dreams weekly and bring them to life. Put it on your calendar!

Now it’s about the path to achievement and this is where I mess things up for people… I never emphasize enough the amount of work, pain and price people pay for the achievement of a “Big Why”. They say, “If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.” and from the outside looking in, real estate looks like a cake walk. Pick your favorite show from HGTV, add The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, a bottle of your favorite champagne, valet and no boss into a shaker and out comes a real estate career. I believe the perception of our industry is wildly responsible for our turn over rate……because it is hard work, but it is 1,000 times harder than you might perceive it to be. Now understand that isn’t true for everyone, it is true for anyone that wants to do more than comes to them naturally.

You take your test, you fail, you take it again, you pass, car breaks down on the way to your office, AAA to save the day only to find out a relative passed away, one week later you start again, arrive at the office, computer has a virus, business cards are misprinted and your sister lists their home with her boyfriends, aunt’s, friend. Meanwhile you don’t know what to say, where to find a contract, what the contract means, how to set up your website, what to expect of your broker, the biggest irrational fear is what if someone DOES say yes, what were they saying about an IDX, I am going to need CPR! What I just listed is every reason to quit…to find an easier path, to take the road most often traveled because mediocrity or even the “previous level” for you will always be pulling you back like gravity. So what is the one bullet point I can leave you with to over come the above?

  • Acknowledge the reality of above. Then crystallize your “Big Why” to the point that the pain you will go through above pales in comparison to the pain of not achieving your “Big Why”.

What will be powerful enough for you to make that commitment? Are you sure that is your big why? You see, there needs to be a class on this….DAILY because when you think you got it….the power wears off and needs to be rekindled by a Dream Partner, by another “Taste” or even by refocusing the details. The “defining” step of creating a big why is not an event, but a daily ritual…and to be really honest with you no job, no business, no career will every move forward with the fire, passion and conviction required until this is figured out….once it is you are no longer trying things you are committed to them. Follow these steps and I can promise you will move closer to your potential….

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