The Wisdom
All of us have talent, but none of us have sufficient innate talent to continuously perform at the top level, in real estate or any field. The top salespeople in an office, a state, or a large real estate company all had a certain amount of talent on Day 1, but the talent that took them to the top was developed after they arrived. This blog was written to draw attention to the fact that “Be Prepared” is more that just a Boy Scout motto; it’s the motto of all Top Achievers in any field of endeavor.
The term Top Achiever does not necessarily refer to those people who get the most recognition or have the most designations or awards. It refers to those people who do the right thing and do it well most of the time. These are the people who, regardless of the market or the conditions they face, always seem to find a way be at or near the top. The reason for this performance? They spend time practicing their skills and learning new techniques.
I’ll never forget the time when I was a young, aspiring CRS instructor teaching a CRS class with an excellent senior instructor from California. I was doing a Read the rest of this entry »
One of the best business books in my library is Who Moved My Cheese?, by Spencer Johnson, MD (http://tinyurl.com/6o5w4m3), so this blog is about the Real Estate Cheese that has been moved—or in some cases removed, never to be found again. The book features two mice and two miniature humans and how they handle change. Two of the characters, Sniff and Scurry, anticipate the fact that the Cheese is moving; they realize they need to adjust their searching to find new Cheese, and they do very well. The other two characters, Hem and Haw, are not so fortunate, as one of them just wants to continue to look for Cheese in all of the usual places even though there is none there. Substitute the words “sales,” “income,” “customers,” or “profits” for “Cheese” and you have a real-life scenario for Real Estate Sales 2011.
Old and New Real Estate Cheese!
Direct Mail. The amount of direct mail marketing pieces sent by real estate agents in the past 30 years would probably cover the earth many times over. The US Mail provided a wonderful way to stay in touch with customers as well as market ourselves, our services, and our listings. But times are changing: the volume of first-class mail has fallen 20% since 2008. In fact, according to an article today in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the USPS is in danger of going bankrupt because they lost $5.1 billion (yes, billion) dollars in the past year, due in part to delivering 3 billion fewer pieces of mail this year than last year. The Cheese that came in the mail is old Cheese, and it’s shrinking. The NEW Cheese is going to be delivered by email and online marketing, so if you need more Cheese, it’s time to Get With It!
Print Media. Print media was a source of great Cheese. Remember the 4P Marketing program? Put a sign in the yard, Put it on MLS, Put an ad in the paper, and Read the rest of this entry »
We’ve arrived at that time of the year when most successful business people will begin to think about what to do to make 2012 their best year ever, or at least much better than 2011. This is one of my favorite subjects to cover, because I know how important it is to start off a new year filled with those dreams and positive thoughts that make a difference in any career. Those thoughts cause a person to take the first steps toward an exciting life, and it all begins with a thought in your mind. I only hope you, the reader, get half as much out of this blog as I am writing it—I’ve just written this one paragraph, and already my mind is trying to give me a list for 2012!
1. Load the Big Rocks First. I learned this from Stephen Covey at a CRS Instructor Development Seminar. The “Big Rocks” refer to the important events in your life that make it worth living and give you so many good things to think about—i.e., your inspirations—and they cause average people to consistently make above-average accomplishments. “Big Rocks” could be vacations, birthdays, paydays, anniversaries, books to read, or even monthly/yearly sales goals and the dates to accomplish them. You can also include important meeting dates and dates of settlements (which are paydays anyway!).
The idea is to put the Big Rocks on a list so you can Read the rest of this entry »