A Fresh Approach to Real Estate Rookie-hood with Jennifer Allan: August 2008

"Can a new agent make it in today's real estate market?"

This question has been asked and answered hundreds of times throughout Cyberland... both here at Active Rain and on other real estate forums.

Here are my thoughts...

I tend to be a Positive Attitude kinda gal - but not in the sense that all you need is one of those (a positive attitude) in order to succeed. I believe that it's simply one of the requirements to succeed, ‘specially in our business where the vast majority fail. If you don't have a Positive Attitude, you will fail. So, while having a positive attitude is not a guarantee of success, a negative one is most certainly a guarantee of failure. IMO.

Neither am I believer that daily meditations or repetitive mantras will give you this positive attitude. No, I think that you earn your positive attitude by being PREPARED for whatever life throws at you; thus you have the confidence and assurance that you CAN DO IT - whatever that "IT" may be.

For rookie agent wannabe's... I suggest that you do not waste your time and your money and your emotions on this career if you are not prepared AHEAD OF TIME. To me, this means:

•         You have bought or sold a house before and somewhat understand the process from a consumer's perspective

•         You have the full support of your family (financial and emotional)

•         You know your way around your town

•         You know people in your town (100 or more)

•         You have the financial means to attack your career with all your heart (and time)

Am I saying that you can't succeed if you don't meet the above criteria? Of course not, but I won't pussy-foot around the fact that the odds are stacked against you already, so the more pluses you have in the preparation column, the better chance you'll make it to your second year. Today, qualified buyers and motivated sellers are not lined up around the block waiting for you to hang your license on the door. Heck, there aren't even that many UNqualified buyers or UNqualified sellers! The ones that are out there are tougher to deal with than in years past (when plenty of newbies failed by the truckload, too).

So... don't jeopardize your family's future by pursuing a dream you aren't yet prepared to pursue. If you're new to town, spend the next year learning your way around and making lots of friends. If you don't have any money in the bank, take a second job and build up a nest-egg. Prove to your family that you ARE prepared to do this so that they'll have 100% faith in you.

Yes, you CAN DO IT!!! But not just ‘cause you want to. Make like a Boy Scout and... y'know...

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Confidence Builders for Rookie Real Estate Agents

I recently wrote a blog called "Hang in There, Rookies! It Gets Easier, I promise! which was about how once you get a few SPC's (satisfied past clients) under your belt, this job really does get easier - the bringing-in-business part of it anyway. SPC's are by far the best source of business in our business and if you have enough of them... who know where to find you... you can pretty much be set for life. It's a beautiful thing.

However, in the meantime, while you're searching for those soon-to-to-be SPC's, you need to come across as a Reasonably Competent Human Being (RCHB) to everyone you know and everyone you meet. An RCHB is someone who is reliable, intelligent, organized, ethical and knowledgeable and can be trusted to show up and work hard. Whether they sell real estate or take your order at the Village Inn - you can just TELL if someone is an RCHB, can't you?

If you're new, but are perceived as an RCHB in your social circles, it will go a long way toward generating business and referrals from the people you know. Perhaps even more than being friendly, although being friendly will help a lot, too.

So, how can you demonstrate to the world that you're an RCHB?

1. Be on time
2. Return phone calls promptly
3. Strive for 100% error-free written material
4. Watch your language
5. Be emotionally mature
6. Do what you say you're going to do

Be on Time is self-explanatory. Don't be late. Not for business appointments, social engagements or your massage. Every single person you come in contact with has the potential to be your biggest fan. Don't blow it by disrespecting their precious time or looking too unorganized or flustered to show up when promised.

Return phone calls promptly. Ditto. Return all calls as soon as you can, not just business ones. Call even if you don't have an answer yet. Call even if you don't want to.

Strive for 100% error-free written material. Obviously, this includes any promotional material you create (personal brochures, newsletters, website, etc.) but also any personal communication between you and your SOI. Your announcement or reconnection letter, and even your emails should be pretty darn clean. Not everyone is a terrific speller or grammar-phile, but please make the effort. I'd hate to see you run off even one referral because you can't find the spell-check button or figure out how to capitalize the first word in a sentence.

Watch your language.  I hope the following doesn't offend you. If you want to demonstrate your professionalism to the people you know, you need to cut down on the four-letter words. It's a habit many of us have, but unfortunately is a habit that can cost you business. I have a friend who is an insurance agent, but her language is so rough I wouldn't dream of referring anyone to her. I'm sure she wonders why. Does she behave that way with her clients? I don't know, but I'm not willing to take the chance with my precious referral business. 

Be emotionally mature? Huh? This is another potentially touchy subject. And, females, it's mostly directed at us. Some of our friends have seen us at our most pathetic, haven't they? And we've seen them at theirs. But, as someone who is hoping to project a professional persona to her friends, you might have to tone that down, or at least be very particular to whom you... um... "talk" to. It may be difficult for your sob-sister to see you as a competent professional. I've had a few girlfriends in my life whose personal lives were such a mess I truly couldn't imagine they could perform professionally in a work environment. I'm sure they did, but, as much as I loved them, I simply wasn't confident in their professional abilities.

Do what say you're going to do.  Strive to never let anyone down. Don't cancel at the last minute or simply not show up. Learn to love a to-do list if you don't already. If you tell someone you'll call, call. If you RSVP to a party, go. If you promise to put a check in the mail, do it NOW!  If you owe someone money, pay it promptly. If you borrow a book, return it in a reasonable amount of time

Notice that none of these items are specifically about being a good real estate agent. That's because if a friend or acquaintance has never used you as a real estate agent, there's no way to prove to them that you're a good one until they do. And, of course, it's not effective to simply tell someone how great you are - you have to show them, which you can't do until they hire you. But if you come across as a generally reliable, responsive, intelligent, competent person, most people will assume that you're a good real estate agent, too.

And then... you're on your way to having some SPC's!!!

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www.sellwithsoul.com

I know it's tough. You sit in your office and see all the activity and chaos and excitement around you and wonder when you'll have some of that. You're watching your bank account dwindle and your enthusiasm fade. You might be asking "Remind me again why I signed up for this? "

Patience, grasshopper. There's a reason we real estate agents have enormous earning potential and it's not 'cause this job is easy. Oh, sure, it's easy for me to SAY that, now that I'm past my rookie year, but sometimes, pithy little cliche's are true. But I know you're not looking for witticisms or bumper-sticker mottos, so here's a little solid encouragement for you (at least I think it's encouraging):

The BEST Source of Business
    In my experience (and I think many will agree), the easiest source of business in THIS business comes from satisfied past clients (SPC's). This is good news and bad news for our beloved rookies.

The bad news is, obviously, rookies don't HAVE any past clients, satisfied or otherwise. But the good news is... you have the time and the enthusiasm and the energy to go all out for the clients you will have over the course of your first year.

DO IT! Go above and beyond every chance you get. Don't listen to Old Fogies who advise that Open Houses are a Waste of Time or that All Buyers Are Liars or that You Should Fire a Buyer if he doesn't buy after looking at X number of homes. Service the heck out of your listings and bend over backwards for your buyers. It WILL pay off for you in the future... BIG TIME.

Then, After Blowing Your Clients Away with Your Service... All You Gotta Do is Stay in Touch
   If you read much of my stuff, you know I'm a big proponent of staying in touch with your SOI, which should obviously include your past clients. However, y'know what's really cool about SOI'ing with your SPC's? If you did a wonderful job for them, it doesn't take much to retain your status as their Favorite Real Estate Agent on the Planet. A few notecards every year, a few interesting, non-salesy emails  - that's really about it. You've already proven yourself to them and in our industry, being GOOD can be a bit of a rarity, unfortunately.

In the absence of SPC's, you can easily demonstrate to your Sphere of Influence (SOI) that you're an RCHB (love all the acronyms?). RCHB stands for a Reasonably Competent Human Being which means someone who is reliable, intelligent, organized, ethical and knowledgeable. Because the general public doesn't think that our job is all that hard, as long as you come across as someone who can be trusted to show up and work hard, that's about all it really takes to get business from your SOI. However, this obviously requires you to do two things:

1.        BE an RCHB

2.       Put yourself in the position to demonstrate your RCHB'ness to other people.

Since I'm already over 500 words, I think I'll wrap this up and continue the RCHB discussion on another blog.

But here's the thing for rookies. THIS JOB GETS EASIER! In all likelihood, your first year will be your hardest and your lowest -paying. Well, duh! As you acquire SPC's and begin to master your craft, you'll GET more business and perhaps more importantly, you'll CLOSE more business.

And guess what? It's a blast and something to look forward to!

 www.SellwithSoul.com

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