Chapter 1

Cultivating Skills and Strategies for Success

IN THIS CHAPTER

Defining financial success

Understanding the role and importance of a professional real estate agent

Knowing the importance of lead-generation and sales skills

Building your success as a listing agent

Choosing the right path to real estate success

Each agent defines success slightly differently. Some agents set their goals in dollars, some are attracted to the opportunity to be their own bosses and build their own businesses, and some want the personal control and freedom that a real estate career allows. Achieving success, however, requires the same fundamentals regardless of what motivates your move into real estate. Agents who build successful businesses share four common attributes:

• They're consistent. They perform success-producing activities day in and day out. Instead of working in spurts - making 50 prospecting calls in two days and then walking away from the phone for two weeks - they proceed methodically and steadily, day after day, to achieve their goals. And, instead of slamming their Facebook friends or Instagram feed with a barrage of posts, reels, and long videos over a two-week span, they consistently post, engage, respond, and add value multiple times a week. (See Chapter 5 for more on marketing with social media.)
• They believe in the law of accumulation. The law of accumulation is the principle that says with constant effort everything in life, whether positive or negative, compounds itself over time. No agent becomes an overnight success, but with consistency, success-oriented activities accumulate momentum and power and lead to success every time.
• They're lifelong learners. The most successful agents never quit improving. The real estate market adjusts, trends, and shifts, and the great agent's passion for improvement is acute, so they commit the time, resources, and energy it takes to constantly enhance their skills and performance. You're reading this book because you have a desire to be better, but that quest can't stop with this book. You must continue with additional reading, watching, listening, and attending events to improve.
• They're self-disciplined. They have the ability to motivate themselves to do the activities that must be done. Successful agents show up daily and put in a full day of work on highly productive actions such as prospecting, lead generation, and lead follow-up. They make themselves do things they don't want to do so they can have things in life that they truly want. Personal discipline is a fundamental building block for success.

MY OWN INAUSPICIOUS BEGINNING

As an original dummy in real estate sales, I'm the perfect author for this book. On my very first listing presentation, I went to the wrong house. Can you imagine arriving at the wrong address for your first presentation? The worst part is that the man who answered the door let me in. To this day, I'm not sure why he let me in and let me begin my listing presentation. I was nearly halfway through my presentation before I figured out the mistake! He just sat quietly listening to me talk about listing his home. He actually did have an interest in selling his home in the near future, so he just listened. I finally realized I was in the wrong house when I glanced over and saw the address on a piece of mail on the table. I had transposed a number on the address; the real seller was waiting for me down the street. The good news was that I successfully listed the man's home a few months later.

In the end, it really doesn't matter where you start in your career or what mistakes you make in the early stages. Everyone makes mistakes in new endeavors. What matters most is having a plan or process that keeps you moving down the track toward your goals. Many people would have quit with such a rocky start as mine. However, the sure way to lose is to quit. The only way you win is to keep going.

You're already on the road to real estate success, demonstrated by the fact that you picked up this book to discover what it takes to become a great agent. This first chapter sets you on your way to success by providing an overview of the key skills that successful real estate agents pursue and possess.

Having Goal Objectives and Sales and Income Targets

One of the first steps toward success is knowing what you want out of your real estate career. However, "financial independence" is not sufficiently specific.

I've been in real estate, either working in direct sales or teaching, speaking, training, writing, or coaching people, for nearly 35 years. I've spoken to sales audiences on five different continents. I've met hundreds of thousands of agents, and nearly every one of them started selling real estate with the same goal of financial independence. Countless times I've asked the question, "Tell me, how do you define financial independence?" What I usually hear in response is some variation of "So I have freedom and don't have to worry about money anymore."

The key to freedom - financial, time, and choice freedom - is establishing a financial goal that you need to accumulate to achieve the quality of life you want to enjoy. Financial independence boils down to a number. (It can be a gross number, net income, created annually or monthly from your asset base.) Set that number in your mind and then launch your career with the intention to achieve your goal by a specific date.

By having your financial goal in mind, you find clarity and can see past the hard work that lies ahead of you. When you have to endure the rejection, competition, disloyal customers, and challenges that are inevitable along the way, your knowledge about the wealth you're working to achieve helps you weather the storms of the business.

I must share that this focus on a financial independence number is more real to me today than ever. Thirty-five years ago. I created a plan exactly as I have described for you, and I have worked that plan ever since. It has compounded to the point where I don't have to work. The financial piece of the puzzle has been accomplished. I choose to work because I enjoy what I do, not because I need the money it brings. That is true freedom. I can choose who to invest my time with, the activities I participate in, and the locations for my life. These freedoms are due to financial independence. I wish that for you as well.

Acting Like a Top Producer from Day One

Real estate agents join doctors, dentists, attorneys, accountants, and financial planners in the ranks of licensed professionals who provide guidance and counsel to clients. The big difference is that most real estate agents don't view themselves as top-level, highly paid professionals. Many agents, along with a good portion of the public, perceive themselves as real estate tour guides, as home inventory access providers, or even as mere cogs in the wheel of the property sale transaction. The best agents, however, know and act differently.

The internet and the open access to real estate information have accentuated the view that agents are simply home access providers. Consumers in the real estate market are able to find so much information online that they often view themselves as the experts and think of agents as simply the key holders. The increasing strength online of third-party sources of real estate information like Zillow, Homes.com, and Realtor.com has created another gap between agents and consumers. I'm not advocating a return to the dark ages of MLS (multiple listing service) books the size of a local telephone book with property information printed biweekly. That is certainly a bygone era. But to succeed in these technological times, you must expand your offerings and showcase that your services go well beyond basic real estate information and access into homes. You must clearly communicate with the online consumers what they don't have access to, what information they are lacking, along with your benefits and value - even in their early researching period.

Real estate agents are fiduciary representatives - not people paid to unlock front doors of houses for prospective buyers. A fiduciary is someone who is hired to represent the interests of another. A fiduciary owes another person a special relationship of honesty, commitment, exclusivity in representation, ethical treatment, and protection. Build your real estate business with a strong belief in the service and benefits you provide your clients, and you'll provide a vital professional service while being recognized as the valuable professional you are.

Serving your professional representation

Real estate agents represent the interests of their clients. As an agent, you're bound by honor, ethics, and duty to work on your client's behalf to achieve the defined and desired results. This involves the following functions:

• Defining the client's objective: To serve as a good fiduciary representative, you need to start with a clear understanding of the objectives your client is aiming to achieve through the sale or purchase of property. Too many agents get into trouble by starting out with uncertainty about the interests of the people they're...