Someone said to me today, they called in and they asked about the coaching services. And they said, “You know, I’m a successful agent but I’m not where I want to be in my business. I don’t have predictable systems of creating listings, but I kind of think I know what I know, I just need to do it.” And I said, “Well you know, that could be true, we all know what we know, we all could probably inside of our day in our career do more, and yet I wonder, without advisors, without consultants, how do we know what we don’t know?” You see I have a goal, and my goal is to be, whenever possible, the dumbest person in the room.

And what I mean by that is I want to surround myself with smart people. I have a number of consultants on my team that I pay a great amount of money to, to advise me to catch the things I don’t know. Because even though I’ve been in real estate for over 30 years, I’ve been coaching since 1999, I’ve done almost 60,000 private coaching calls, I’ve ran coaching operations; I’ve done all of these things, but how do I know what I’m missing if I don’t have that expert advice to guide me? So if you don’t have a coach, you may want to consider hiring one.

Because read the other day that 90% of the top 10% have a coach. If you do have a coach, then you might consider listening to your coach, and actually doing what they tell you to do. The good thing about this is, while we’re never perfect, we’re never implementing everything we can, that always means there’s a great opportunity for growth and improvement. So if you need some help with this, reach out to us and we’ll help you.

If you are a real estate agent or broker that is looking to for more insight and direction on how to get more listings, sell more homes to your investors, and work with more buyers, then this podcast is just for you!

I had a conversation with a client this morning, a very sad situation with a family member suffering with cancer and her taking time off out of her busy week to spend some time with them and do the things that she needed to do. It just made me think about in all of our lives, there are those moments where personal drama and circumstances interfere with our work day. And its things that are important, that we must take care of, that we must take time out for. Her question to me was, you know I still need to make money. How do I manage this? How do I manage to deal with the family situation and be there for them at a high level, and yet not completely let my business fall apart?

Well a few things that I suggested, is number one – lighten the load on any other activities or responsibilities that could be put on the back burner at this time. So if you’re on the Homeowners’ Association Committee, you can’t do it right now. Maybe you can’t volunteer right now to help in the fundraiser at church. Maybe you just can’t spread yourself that thin. So pick the activities that you might be able to eliminate just to lighten your load. Then really look at: if I distill down my business to the key things that make me the most money, if I narrow my focus to my hottest and best opportunities, if I make at least five very very high quality contacts every single day that could potentially do something to create new business, I could probably keep my business moving forward. So we all have those moments and

So we all have those moments and yet unfortunately, we still need to make a living to support our families, so we have to find a way to manage those pieces. So just slim down everything you do, focus on the highest and best, and really pre-qualify carefully the people that you are choosing to work with because you cannot afford to waste a moment of time.

So we all have those moments and yet unfortunately, we still need to make a living to support our families, so we have to find a way to manage those pieces. So just slim down everything you do, focus on the highest and best, and really pre-qualify carefully the people that you are choosing to work with because you cannot afford to waste a moment of time.

So we all have those moments and yet unfortunately, we still need to make a living to support our families, so we have to find a way to manage those pieces. So just slim down everything you do, focus on the highest and best, and really pre-qualify carefully the people that you are choosing to work with because you cannot afford to waste a moment of time.

If you are a real estate agent or broker that is looking to for more insight and direction on how to get more listings, sell more homes to your investors, and work with more buyers, then this podcast is just for you!

Today I want you to think about putting together your top ten. Your allies, the people who love you, the movers and shakers that you know who care about you, they’re supportive of you, and they would absolutely be happy to give you referrals. Maybe we’re just not asking them; maybe they’re not clear on all of the areas that you work; maybe they don’t even know you want referrals.

Or the most important of all, maybe they don’t know how to deliver those to you. So here’s what I mean by that. They may think they’re doing a great job for you when they meet someone and they say, you know, “They’re a great agent, you should call them.” And they maybe even give them your card. But what they might not realize, is that because you’re a stranger to that person, that person may hesitate to reach out to you.

And that’s why it’s important to say, “When you give my name out, will you please also give them my email, give them my phone number, and then of course send me their same contact information so that I can reach out to this potential buyer or seller, introduce myself, say hello, because they might forget to call me, or they may be a little bit shy. I want to make it easy for them to connect.” So let’s make sure they know you want the referrals, they know the areas you service, that you’re talking to your allies often, and you’re telling them exactly how to deliver those referrals to you.

If you are a real estate agent or broker that is looking to for more insight and direction on how to get more listings, sell more homes to your investors, and work with more buyers, then this podcast is just for you!

Today we’re talking about how to do events effectively. The reason I bring this up, I had someone reach out and they said, you know I put on an event, a photo in the park or something that they were doing in their community, and they only had a couple of people show up. And I asked them, who were your joint venture partners? And they said, what do you mean? Well, you see let’s say, for example the photo in the park event.

Well the photographer could invite them, and maybe you connect with a lender, who helps you offset some of the costs, and they participate, co-brand it in the marketing, and they market to their database of consumers. So you see what I mean? You need to get partners involved that have a decent sized database in the community so that you can all co market together. So because you’re meeting their people, who they already know and like, you’re naturally going to have an easier connection when you meet them at this event. They’re

So because you’re meeting their people, who they already know and like, you’re naturally going to have an easier connection when you meet them at this event. They’re meeting your people, so they’re naturally going to have an easier connection and opportunity. So let’s make sure that you put a good plan together and you have some good partners with a great reach into the community so that you have a successful event. And remember it doesn’t have to be a huge group to be successful. It only takes one terrific lead to turn into a transaction to make it all worthwhile.

If you are a real estate agent or broker that is looking to for more insight and direction on how to get more listings, sell more homes to your investors, and work with more buyers, then this podcast is just for you!

Today I want to talk to you a little bit about your marketing. You know it’s really a shame that 80% of marketing dollars are wasted on the wrong messaging. And yet it’s really critical right now that you are getting out in front to the community because 75% of clients select an agent from the community that they know and that they have connected with.

But I want you to give some thought to what are the types of messages that would really be relevant, that would be exciting, that the consumer would say, yes I want that! You know in our new Community Marketing Systems program, we offer consumer guides and different tools that are not saying: sell your house right now, but instead they’re saying here’s a guide that would help you feel valuable and then when they reach out and ask for that guide, you now have an opportunity to deliver it, to meet them and greet them, and to find out when they would like to buy or sell.

Alright, so I want you to think about: what are you sending out, is it a message that they’re actually interested in hearing about, and is it something going to likely cause them to reach out to you and ask for more information? And if you’re not sure what to do about this, reach out to us and we’ll talk to you about it.

If you are a real estate agent or broker that is looking to for more insight and direction on how to get more listings, sell more homes to your investors, and work with more buyers, then this podcast is just for you!

Today I wonder, what are you doing to show the buyers that you’re meeting at open house, that you’re talking to as they reach out online, that you meet at a networking opportunity, wherever you meet them; how are you showing them that you are different? T

hat you are exactly the agent that they need to work with? Because remember, they don’t get it, necessarily. Because they feel that they can get online, they can pull the data, they can see properties, and so what do they really need you for? Well, they need you to help them interpret the data, to help them beat the crowd to some of the best properties in town. So you really need to talk to them about what are those services that you provide.

And maybe talk to them about the fact that you actually get out there and hunt down great listings. That you leave no stone unturned to really find those terrific gems of a property versus just showing them the picked over leftovers. So what is it they want? They want what no one else has. So show them how you’re going to help them get that.

If you are a real estate agent or broker that is looking to for more insight and direction on how to get more listings, sell more homes to your investors, and work with more buyers, then this podcast is just for you!

So today’s tip is a short one: I just want to encourage you, please schedule the time, take the time, to be extremely well prepared for your listing appointments. So often I’ll speak with real estate agents, and they’re taking their coaching call from us and they’re rushing out the door to their listing appointment and they set the appointment a week ago, but now here it is, time to go and they’re not prepared and they’re frantic. You know, this is go time. This is what you’ve worked so hard for. So, a couple of days ahead, put everything aside, get extremely prepared, then the day you go, stop everything at the office 30 minutes before you leave. Don’t talk to anyone, don’t answer your phone, review your listing package. Then, as you get in the car, don’t get on your phone.

If you want, listen to higher energy music, or your recording of your scripts, but really get your head in the game. Because when you walk in, you want to be 100% focused, 100% mentally ready to get in there, do a great presentation, and take that listing. Alright so let’s remember: prep, practice, rehearse, get your head in the game, and then get to that table and win that listing.

If you are a real estate agent or broker that is looking to for more insight and direction on how to get more listings, sell more homes to your investors, and work with more buyers, then this podcast is just for you!

So today I’m going to suggest something, might scare some of you; just think it through for a moment though. What if you turned your phone off at 8 o’clock at night? Now if you’re turning your phone off sooner, good for you, but for those of you who sleep with it next to your bed, taking that 10 o clock, 11 o’clock, 12 am panicked call from a seller or buyer, I wonder, what would really happen if you turned it off at 8 o’clock?

You know I always worry that after 8 pm, everyone is tired. You know, and maybe the client has gone home and they’ve had a couple of drinks and they’re really fired up emotionally and they get a hold of you in the middle of the night and now you can’t sleep, and you were tired when you responded, maybe the next morning you wish you’d said something differently. And really, when you think about it, what are we going to be able to do for them in the middle of the night anyhow? So think about it.

Think about turning off your phone at 8, and having a voicemail that says: “If you’re calling after 8 pm I may still be with clients and it may be late before I’m through. Feel free to text me if it is absolutely urgent.” You could add that if you’re nervous about turning off your phone. Because I find that most people won’t say that it’s urgent, if it really isn’t. Or just say, “If you’re calling back after 8 pm, I will get back to you tomorrow morning, please leave the best number and I’ll be calling you between 8 and 9.” See I think what’s important is if you’re going to turn it off, you leave a message where they know when you’re going to get back to them so they have an expectation. I just really want to be careful about you feeling that you need to be on call 24 7. It’s exhausting mentally and physically and every now and then, you deserve just a little bit of a break.

If you are a real estate agent or broker that is looking to for more insight and direction on how to get more listings, sell more homes to your investors, and work with more buyers, then this podcast is just for you!

Today we’re talking about The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs. You know I’d heard it said over and over again by so many people that it was a terrific book and I finally got around to reading it and it was a great book. And I encourage you all to read it because even though your day may not be like mine where you’re on stage and you’re presenting to an audience, but when you think about it, every day you are on those very important presentations, presenting to your own audience of one, two, or three people. You’re at open house presenting your services.

You’re sitting with your seller. You’re negotiating over the phone to get an offer accepted. See every single day; you’re making multiple presentations throughout the day. So it’s a great little book, I’d highly recommend you read it. One of the things I learned from the book is just exactly how short everyone’s attention span really is. So make sure when you’re doing your presentations that they’re interesting, that your voice is not monotone putting them to sleep, and that there’s a lot of engagement and interaction. Because you see when they’re talking, they will not be bored. Alright so it’s a great book, check it out, let me know what you think and I’ll talk to you soon.

If you are a real estate agent or broker that is looking to for more insight and direction on how to get more listings, sell more homes to your investors, and work with more buyers, then this podcast is just for you!

Today I just wanted to talk a little bit about working smarter versus harder. You know what’s interesting, often as I talk to some of the terrific agents across North America that we work with, is how little they value and appreciate their own time. And here’s what I mean by that. How often in your day are you spending time doing something that you could delegate or even eliminate, that would allow you to open more time to really focus on items that are your highest and best use? What are you saying yes to, and this often comes in the personal side of your life: committees and organizations, and while it’s great to be involved, and some of those activities can be fantastic networking opportunities or they’re things that are really important to you.

All I ask is that before you say yes to a new responsibility that you take 24 hours to think about it and really make a decision about if it’s something you have time to do. And then also, let’s take a look at the clients that you’re working with. You know, someone asked me today, should I drive 31 miles, which will take me an hour and a half, to get a listing, or should I refer it? Well, if you were in the middle of the country, you might have to drive an hour and a half in a rural area to get to the next listing. However, when you’re in the city, where this person was, it probably doesn’t make sense to drive an hour and a half, or 31 miles, to take a listing when you could refer it out and focus on listings in your own neighborhood. Now on top of it, this particular seller wanted to overprice their property, and I mean seriously overprice their property.

So it really didn’t make sense. So there’s really only one thing you can control when you think about the time in your day, and that’s how you use it. Because of course, we can’t add more hours to the day, and yet we can control how we stack the deck of the day. So I want you to think about: 50% of your day should be spent on income producing activities. Now ultimately, I’d love to see you get to 80% of your day. But let’s start tracking: how much of your day is income producing versus income servicing. Then shut it all down, go home, and get a well-deserved rest. Maybe turn off your phone at 8 pm and just relax, so that you can hit it hard the next day.

If you are a real estate agent or broker that is looking to for more insight and direction on how to get more listings, sell more homes to your investors, and work with more buyers, then this podcast is just for you!