10 Characteristics of Successful Agents – Part 3
We’ve talked the last two weeks about what I call the “characteristics” or “mindsets” of the millionaire agents. We are so lucky as a company to have attracted so many people that make over a million dollars a year. Many of our coaching competitors have people that make a million dollars a year or more, but those are people selling 3, 5, 7, 10 million dollar homes. Our client base are regular people that sell regular homes. We have agents who sell the high end homes, but 98 percent of our agents just sell average sales price properties.
To make a million dollars a year, you gotta to do a lot of deals… our specialty is in helping an agent do a lot of deals. The aim is to increase your productivity, the number of listings you take, the number of listings you have to sell and the number of buyer controlled sales.
We’ve covered points 1 through 20 the last two weeks, let’s continue.
21. Always Be Looking for the Next Deal
Here’s what happens to most agents: you do a deal, you’re excited. You have a right to be excited. You take a listing. Aha! You make a sale. Yay! You have a listing sold. Oh my gosh it’s so great! And I agree with you. Ya ha, and whoop de doo, and great is important. However, remember if you’re celebrating all the time, you’re not going to do the next deal soon.
The key to success is the repetition… the momentum you build. The millionaire agents are looking for the next deal after they do the last one. It’s not uncommon that they do you know 15, 20 deals per month. Listing sold by or controlled sales. Now some of you say, “oh my gosh, I did seven deals last year, and you said they do 15 to 20 a month?” Very, very common because I refer to them as hunters. They’re hunting for the next deal.
Two Methods, Same Results
We have an agent in the Midwest—she does probably 270 deals a year. Probably close to 70 years old… she’s incredible as an agent. She does all of her business from her database. Past clients, centers of influence—270 deals out of her database, she has 7000 plus names in her database.
An agent 100 miles away—been in the business same length of time, does the same number of business—never, ever, ever calls his past clients or centers of influence because he says, “I’m a hunter”. He prospects every day for new people (I suggested one day they get married, they could do a thousand deals a year).
The characteristic of both these agents is they’re seeking, looking for the next deal. They’re not celebrating the last one. Yeah, they’re happy they got it… to do a good job for a buyer and seller. But what they’re really doing is looking for the next deal.
22. Start Everyday at Zero
I’ve said this for years, top producers start every day at zero. Why? Because they don’t live on past performances. You can’t live on past performances and expect to get into the future.
A couple of weeks ago at the Production Retreat, I said to the audience, “You have to create the mindset that when you wake up in the morning ‘I have no leads, have no prospects, I have no listings, have no pendings. I have no money in the bank. I’m hungry every day to go out and find a deal!’”
Start every day at zero!
Then said to the audience, “There are some people on the room that this is pretty easy for them to do, because they don’t have any leads any listings, any prospects, any sales, any money, in the bank.”
If you have success and you hide it from yourself, you have to go find more success. Yes, I want you to have a lot of listings. I want you to have a lot of pendings, a lot of sales, a lot of closings… but you’ve got to start every day at zero, because you can’t live on past performances.
23. Work Harder and Smarter
Millionaire agents work harder and smarter than their competition. Skills allow you to have confidence… skills allow you to be smart when you’re working.
Most people don’t realize, selling real estate is a hard job. It’s an easy job if you want to do 5, 6, 7 transactions a year. But if your goal is to do 25, 50, 75, 100 plus, it’s hard work! You’ve really got to think about what you’re doing every day. You’re going to put in more energy, more time.
You’re going to have more focus, and you’re going to be a lot smarter than the competition working against you. What makes the millionaire a millionaire is that they’re harder in their approach and smarter in their approach simultaneously.
25. Don’t Be Afraid of Confrontation
They’re not afraid of confrontation, and they use it whenever necessary. They have a listing that they’re trying to get, and the seller says, “Well, we want $595k for that property”!
The sellers still think that it’s April of 2017, when it’s January of 2019. Prices were higher then, the market was going up… today it’s not. So the agent says, “I know you want $595k, but at that price, are you willing to sacrifice the fact that you want to move and develop your future with your kids in another house?”
“Well, why would we have to sacrifice?” Because it’s not going to happen. You’re not going to make the sale, and for that reason, we’re not going to have this transaction take place.
Asking questions is a form of confrontation. Learn how to ask questions, because questions with listening creates a level of confrontation. High producing people are very willing to confront the buyer, the seller, and themselves to make sure they keep moving forward with a transaction.
26. Read People through Good Questions
Read people through good questions… listen with intention, integrity and intensity to the answers. After the Production Retreat was done, I did two days of coaches training. I spent a lot of time with the coaches helping them understand the value of asking coaching clients a lot of questions. Why? Because they can read you like a book if you respond to the questions that are asked.
Have you ever notice that all the MFO scripts are simply question based? Most of our competitors have pages and pages of scripts… long conversations! Our scripts are very short to the point, because we ask questions.
Great sales people ask and they listen with intensity. That’s how they find out what they have to do to satisfy the needs of their clients.
27. Always Be Learning
Education is the name of the game… years ago at the Superstar Retreat, I did some research. I thought, “How long does it take to become a medical doctor… just a general practitioner?” After eight years of college, they’ll spend another three or four years in residency learning how to actually do the job.
How long does it take to become a commercial airplane pilot? Five or six thousand hours in the cockpit of a plane, and then train to fly the jet they’re going to fly. How long does it take to become an attorney? It’s going to take a good solid six years, maybe eight years just to be able to pass the exam. How long does is it take to become a professional golfer? It may take 12, 15 years if you start at 5 or 10. They’re life long learners to become professional, because education is the name of the game.
Look at our website, look at our schedule of events. Attend two or three events this year. In the Greater Toronto Area? Go to our Production Retreat in April. If you’re in management and leadership, go to our Management Retreat in April in Orlando. Are you a great manager or broker on the west coast? Go to our Management Retreat in May. If you’re really dedicated to your business, go to our Superstar Retreat in July. If you’re on the East Coast, go to our October Production Retreat. You’ve got to be involved in the information that creates the attitude of productivity. Millionaire agents are lifelong learners.
28. Always Be Coachable
Millionaire agents are very coachable, and yet they’re very opinionated. I’ve been very lucky over the course 31 years to coach a lot of the best brokers, managers, and agents in real estate.
If I say here’s what I want you to do, they don’t go, “Well, I don’t want to. It’s not my style. It’s not what we do here. You don’t understand my market. And you don’t understand the area. You don’t understand the company I work for.”
All the crap that people have in their heads as to why they can’t succeed. Coachable means you’re going to respect and respond to what your coach asks.
29. Don’t Become Complacent
Complacency is when you’re satisfied with the status quo. You’re satisfied with what you have. You’ve got it all figured out! I call it the disease of the human spirit. It’s where you’re saying, “I have my house, I have my car, I have my savings, we take our little vacation, I have a nice income, I’m very comfortable.” There’s more to having what you have!
“No, Mike, you’re just talking about making more money.” You’ve got it! Because money provides you and your family with those things you want to improve the quality of your life. Maybe it’s your grandchildren’s college education, or your kid’s college education. Maybe it’s a nice vacation for you and your spouse. Improving the quality of your lifestyle by improving the home that you live in.
When complacency runs your life, you stop growing and learning.
30. Bounce Back Fast
Millionaire agents are highly resilient. They bounce back fast! Things go wrong in the course of a day, a week, a month. They have good days, they have bad days. Things maybe go a little haywire, but they bounce back fast!
How long do you dwell on the “no”? That the deal that fell apart? How long do you dwell on the listing that you lost? On “you didn’t achieve the goal you set for the month of January”?
How fast can you respond? How fast can you rebound? Because that is the name of the game.
Upcoming MFTV Episodes
Starting next week, I’m going to be talking about the things I discussed at the Production Retreat. I think you’re going to find it interesting.
I hope most importantly that you’ve had a good January, and that you’re planning on having a big 2019. In spite of any market conditions taking place, you’re going to have a great 2019. Why? As the market takes a turn down, the number of agents participating day-to-day as competitors drops faster than the number of transactions.
Your chance, because you’re good at what you do, is probably the highest it’s ever been. I’m excited for you. We’re anxious to help you succeed at a higher level.
We’ll talk to you next week. Thanks for today!
Mike Ferry is the global leader in real estate coaching and training. Watch Mike each week as he discusses a variety of topics to help real estate agents and brokers. Grow your real estate business by improving your mindset, developing your skills and creating a plan of action to increase your production!
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