Ever looked over at the agent down the hall and wondered how they get from home to the office without hands-on help? They usually didn’t get past the front door back in the 1960’s, at least in our offices. I remember vividly that you were tough or you found another place to work. Cream puffs generally didn’t get too far into Dad’s job interview before they knew they weren’t in Kansas anymore. There was no such thing as laser beams back then, unless he was starin’ right through ya.
Dad used to conduct what I’ll call no nonsense weekly meetings back in the mid-20th century. Attending my first one three days after my virgin day at the office was, um, eye opening. It was Tuesday, October 21, 1969. Dad was his usual toned down Zig Ziggler self, with undertones of Darth Vader nursin’ a toothache. It was the first time I’d ever seen how others perceived him as a boss.
They soaked in every word as if he was readin’ off the third tablet Moses lost while coming back down the mountain. Though I could believe it cuz he was hugely successful (1,000 sides/yr), and arguably charismatic, I wasn’t sure about ‘why’ he was viewed this way until much later. One thing for sure, you worked for him or you took up space elsewhere. Even though the firm did so many sides a year, he never had more than 28 full timers, complimented by a dozen or so part timers. To this day I’m convinced the profile of his typical agent was ‘assassin’.
This is all prelude to explaining how a one act pony like Dad (his words, but painfully accurate), went from zero to over a 1,000 sides yearly in just over a year. Ryan Hartman’s excellent post about dominating the market struck a deep chord with me. Not just because it reminded me of the ‘good ol’ days’, but because I think he may have found the key to the mint.
That aside, the plan, whatever it may be, is secondary to the combination of unflappable belief and consistent, long, uninterrupted periods of hard work.
Here’s a Captain Obvious Axiom: The one guaranteed common denominator shared by successful real estate agents is the number of people they talk with each day. The more successful they are, the more folks they’re yakkin’ with. Agents um, not as successful? The only people they ever talk to are other loser agents. Surveys have shown conclusively this has never been a winning strategy.
Seriously, your 2010 can be pretty productive even on a cheapskate budget. I’ll give you a BawldGuyGaurantee: Spend 50-75% of your first quarter days talkin’ with folks who can either tell ya to go to hell, do business with ya, or refer someone, and your year will be better than last year by July 4th.
Once the money starts rollin’ in you can make use of all the cool marketing stuff here. ‘Till then? Don’t make excuses — make good.
Merry Christmas!
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