You Might Be An Amateur Real Estate Agent If You...

NUGGETS FOR THE NOGGIN

YOU MIGHT BE AN AMATEUR

REAL ESTATE AGENT IF YOU…

OR A CASE OF TOUGH LOVE!

By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, July 8, 2012

• Calculate your commissions before you close
• Use another agent’s photos for a new listing
• Use another agent’s square footage calculations (or not) on your new listing
• Find “busy” work and call it “working your ass off”
• Envy the achievements of other agents
• Do not have a personally created self-improvement training program
• Fail to have goals for your business, your life, your health, your family, your finances and your spiritual growth
• Fail to fill in all spaces on all forms
• Fail to read the REALTOR® Code of Ethics at least annually
• Fail to read the State’s Real Estate Commission’s Rules & Regulations, at least annually
• Talk about others, especially when they are not present
• Talk about others WHEN they are present and the talk serves no purpose but to hurt
• Form quick opinions about buyers, sellers, cooperative agents and your team members
• Fail to start and end the day with something positive
• Have no goal sheet
• Have no Daily To Do Sheet
• Complain
• Find yourself starting a lot of sentences, “Did you hear…..”
• Fail to maintain contact with customers who have bought and sold using your talents (or not)
• Fail to believe you are worth what you “want” to charge (as compared to actually charge)
• Arrive at meetings late
• Leave ongoing meetings
• Leave meeting early
• Answer and talk on the telephone while you are talking with someone face-to-face

We all know characteristics and traits of others that we find annoying these are certainly not things you do but we all know you-know-who that does.  The real question to ask is do you talk about these things with others.

 If these are the traits and characteristics of the AMATEUR REAL ESTATE AGENT, what are the traits and characteristics of the PROFESSIONAL REAL ESTATE AGENT?  Thought you would never ask.  You might want to start with the 80/20 Principle where 20 percent of the people do 80% of the work; 20 percent of your work results in 80% of your accomplishments.  The same principle applies with determining who are the “REAL” Real Estate Professionals in our business.  You can automatically eliminate about 80% of those in the business.  The question then becomes when you line up 10 real estate agents, and you are one of them; look to your right and then to your left, ONLY ONE OTHER WOULD BE CONSIDERED A TRUE REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL.  Any Aha’s here?  The REAL Real Estate Professional may be an endangered species but not need be. 

Let’s count the ways you can identify the other REAL Real Estate PROFESSIONALS in the business:

• NEVER calculates a commissions before it closes.  If you are in the business solely for the money, this attitude will come across in your words, deeds and body language.
• NEVER uses another agent’s photos for a new listing.  Way too easy, why take more and more current photos when someone else has already done it.  First because it is illegal and secondly because the photos may not be the best and therefore not in your customer’s best interest.  Imagine that.
• NEVER uses another agent’s square footage calculations on your new listing; If it is not your calculations or calculations you paid for using a REAL professional, how can you be certain they are correct and represent the best interests of your customers.
• Focuses on the most important tasks FIRST!  NEVER engages in “busy” work and then call it “working their ass off”.  If you are not lead generating at least 3 hours a day and let nothing deter you from doing so, you are engaged in “busy work”.
• Applauds the achievements of other agents.  Personal pet peeve of mine occurs when people envy the sales achievements/awards of others.  These same achievements/awards and MORE are available to everyone who attacks their profession as a PROFESSIONAL.
• Has created a self-improvement training program and then works the program.  In most cases, agents do not have a self-improvement plan.  They take the required CE and that is about it.  Why on earth would anyone ever take a course because it might make them money?  If you are not improving, you are not even standing still, you are moving backwards! 
• Has WRITTEN GOALS for business, life, health, family, finances and spiritual growth.  If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.  And if you don’t know where you are going or want to do, how will you know when you get there?  Just asking…..
• Fills in ALL spaces on ALL forms.  How much simpler can that be?  DAH?
• Reads the REALTOR® Code of Ethics at least annually.  Some have not read it since they were first licensed.  Takes about 30 minutes; go figure.
• Reads the State’s Real Estate Commission’s Rules & Regulations, at least annually.  If the non-professional fails to read the REALTOR® Code of Ethics, it is very doubtful that same agent would ever revisit the State’s Rules and Regulations and yes it takes a bit longer but this is your business is it not?  Again, just asking….
• Does NOT talk about others.  PERIOD!  EVER!
• Does NOT talk about others even when they are present.  EVER! And especially when such talk serves no constructive purpose.
• Does NOT form quick opinions about buyers, sellers, cooperative agents and your team members.  Again, if such opinions serve no useful purpose why take up your mental memory space with needless thoughts about others?
• Starts and ends EVERY day with something positive.  While others wake up and retire complaining and watching the horrors of the news, the PROFESSIONAL uses such time to start and end the day reading, listening or watching something that helps them to grow nothing but positive thoughts in both the heart and mind.
• Have WRITTEN GOALS.  If you don’t write your goals down ON PAPER, they are nothing more than dreams.  Written goals tend to come true OR you discover you set your goals far too low which is usually the case.
• Work from a Daily To Do Sheet.  Do you know what you want to do TODAY?  Do you know what tasks are the MOST important to complete?  The LEAST important?   Tasks that can be DELEGATED?  Tasks that can be TRASHED?  PROFESSIONALS DO; imagine that.  Professionals ask Joe Tye’s Direction-Deflection-Question (DDQ):  Is what I am about to say or do consistent with completing the most important task of the day that when completed will lead me to completing the most important goals of my life?
• NEVER Complains.  EVER!  Instead of complaining about something, the PROFESSIONAL finds solutions!
• NEVER starts a sentence with: “Did you hear…..”  EVER!
• ALWAYS maintains contact with customers who have bought and sold using your talents.  WITHOUT FAIL!
• ABSOLUTELY BELIEVES they are worth.  They charge for their OUTSTANDING services!
• Arrives at meetings BEFORE THEY START.  Need more be said?
• Remains attentive for the entirety of meetings. Even boring meetings because there is always meet being made available; leave and lose – always!
• NEVER leaves a meeting early.  Besides being just RUDE, when you leave, you may miss something of a critical nature; you will never know.
• NEVER answer or talks on the telephone while in the presence of others. THE CELL PHONE IS UNQUESTIONABLY THE KISS OF DEATH TO CIVILITY AND COMMON SENSE; ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU ARE BEHING THE WHEEL!

A REAL REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL is a team player.  An AMATEUR is all about the individual. 

A REAL REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL is always looking for ways to make his or her own business more profitable and in turn makes the company more profitable. 

A REAL REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL strives to always be ethical even when being ethical is tough and may cost a commission. 

A REAL REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL fails forward.  No one is beyond experiencing failures but instead of moaning and groaning about what happened, the PROFESSIONAL looks for ways to learn from those failures.  The Amateur?   

A REAL REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL looks for way to help the “new agent” and in so doing improves both the real estate professional and the quality of the company.  Many of these activities go totally un-noticed and that is understood by the PROFESSIONAL; while many others are looking for recognition. 

When you take a serious look at the real estate profession, the 80/20 Rule may be a bit optimistic, 90/10 might be more realistic?  Look around, judge for yourself!