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How Do I Finish 2018 Strong?

Wade Webb on November 7, 2018

I always remember this time of year when my family always said to me “Dad, when you’re too busy you’re freaking out and when you are too slow you’re freaking out. You’re always just freaking out!” Being a chapter member of the control club it is so hard to remember what is in my control and what is out of my control, when you are someone like me who believes I can control everything.

Ugh!! This is the time of year and season in real estate that is typically slower and consumers tend to not be as much in the buying and selling mindset and that my friends is out of our control! What is not out of our control is what we do, what we think, what we say and what we believe is to be true. I love the photo of the small goldfish with a shark fin attached to the top of itself. It kind of reminds me of real estate agents at this time of year. We are either the gold fish and being eaten or we are the shark fin and we are the one that is eating. Right now ask yourself, which one do I see myself as the goldfish that is being defeated and eaten or the goldfish with a shark fin and is rising up and taking what it deserves? What is your mindset? How do you see yourself right now? What do you believe about yourself? What is your inner voice saying about you and real estate? What do you hear others saying about yourself? If I can encourage you to take control of one thing at this time of year about yourself personally and professionally, then take control of your mindset! If you can’t buy you then who will be able to buy from you?

I am reminded of the story where the British shoe company sends two shoe salesmen over to Africa. They wait a few days and call the first salesman and he reports back to head office that it is a waste of time here because nobody here is wearing shoes and I am heading back. Then they call the other salesman and he is so excited because the opportunity is beyond belief because literally nobody here is wearing shoes! It is the same for us in real estate at this time of year. We can think it is over and this is it for me and my business or you can think this time of year is the greatest gift and that the coming year is going to be my best as agents leave the industry and it moves to a professionals market. Now that we have our thoughts and mindset in check for the balance of 2018 let’s look at activities that will help us finish the year strong!

How to Finish Strong in 2018

1.) Low Lying Fruit – What would help me get paid today??

a) Get A Listing
b) Get A Price Reduction
c) Present A Reverse Offer To Interested Buyers
d) Find Something For My Hottest Buyers To Buy
e) Get A Buyer To Sign An EBA
f) Get A Private Seller To Sign A Fee Agreement or Exclusive Listing and find them a buyer

2.) Now More Getting Lucky – Time to work on
a) Seller Counselling Skills
b) Buyer Conversion Skills
c) Questioning Skills
d) Presentation Skills
e) Pre Listing Packages
f) Pre Buyer Packages
g) Closing Skills
h) Advisor Skills

3.) Full Contact Sport –
a) Present Offers Face To Face
b) Present Counters Face To Face
c) Get Signatures In Person
d) Take Clients Their Paperwork In Person
e) Meet Your Clients At The Office For Advisement Session

4.) The Gift Of Time –
a) Coffee, Lunch, Breakfast
b) Pop By gifts
c) Calls, Texts
d) Calendars, Christmas Cards,
e) Hand Written Notes
f) Client Event g) Complimentary CMA
g) Business Directory Book
h) Santa Visits

5.) Face To Face Activities –
a) Open House
b) Mall Kiosk
c) Door Knock ( Just Sold, Bona Fide Buyer )
d) Networking
e) Volunteer

6.) Planning 2019 –
a) Business Plan
b) Marketing Plan
c) Budgeting
d) Track, Plan, Measure
e) Implementation Execution

7.) Make a list of activities that generated your business this year. Now go do what already has made you money and do more of it!

Let us recap…..Change Your Mindset ( Hunt or be hunted! ) Worry about the things you can control and not the things you cannot control. Get Face To Face, STP (see the people), Implement & Execute ideas are useless. Do what you already know works. Back To Basics. Practice Your Skills vs. Being Lucky. Be Intentional, Strategic and Planned. Do More Of What Worked. Give Others Your Greatest Gifts (Time, Touch, Talents and Treasures).

Strength and courage,
Wade

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Accountability Doesn’t Work?

Wade Webb on October 17, 2018

Is accountability for a Realtor© necessary or in a boss/employee or coach/client dynamic? What really happens when we hold someone accountable or you allow yourself to be accountable to someone else? Accountability is a huge focus for many organizations including the real estate business.

Employees are accountable to managers who are accountable to CEOs who are accountable to business owners. Those in leadership positions assign tasks then consistently follow up with their team to ensure that said tasks are done well and in a timely manner. Likewise, most business coaching models encourage coaches to hold their coaching clients accountable – in other words, to monitor their actions until they reach their goals, or to call them out when they don’t follow through.

So why don’t I like the accountability model?

It’s because, let’s say I hold you accountable as a coach and it works and you’re happy. Then what happens when your coach goes away? You’re left to your own devices. So what I’ve done as a coach is I’ve created a dependency, and that’s not very ethical in my mind.

But it gets worse.

Why do people come for coaching in their real estate careers? Typically people come for coaching because they are frustrated they haven’t achieved their goals. Typically they are frustrated and they have a whole set of beliefs about themselves: “I should be further ahead,” “I’m not doing a good job,” “I can’t do this on my own,” etc. What happens if the accountability model doesn’t work? Now I’ve made that situation worse. So at best it’s unethical and at worst it’s detrimental. They walk away in a worse spot than when they started coaching.

From my perspective, coaching isn’t about accountability. Coaching is really about examining a person’s thinking and helping them line up their thinking with their goals and desires. And once we line up someone’s thinking with their goals and desires, they naturally do the things and have the behaviors that lead them to those goals. I don’t have to monitor, or keep track of or hold anybody accountable. My interest is in what’s preventing you from holding yourself accountable. What’s preventing you from keeping the promises you make to yourself? That’s an interesting question. You don’t need to answer to me – who am I that you should answer to me? But why aren’t you answering to you?

Strength and courage,
Wade

12 Ways To Get More Listings & Stop Being A Secret Agent

Wade Webb on October 10, 2018

The real estate market all over North America is beginning to see housing and commercial inventory levels rise and the difficulty of getting and keeping listings is beginning to fade away. So if the trend for inventory is on the rise but you are not getting listings or seem to be carrying any more than you normally did, what do you need to do to change that?

I use this analogy, that agents without listings are like a Starbucks franchisee without a coffee shop. How hard would it be to run a Starbucks and succeed without a place where they come to get their coffee? Not easy at all I am thinking. I would think it is just as difficult for an agent being a secret agent who isn’t carrying any listing inventory as well! So let’s look at ways we can trigger more listing inventory and finish 2018 and begin 2019 strong!! Here are the top 12 listing sources….

12 Ways to Get More Real Estate Listings

As I reveal the list, ask yourself if these strategies are something you do or something you’ve avoided. Remove the fixed mindset and bring an open mind to all of these being viable options to help grow your business.

1. Database – Not surprisingly, working your past clients and center of influence was the top strategy for Elite+ members to generate new business. With what frequency are you informing homeowners in your database? Do you truly know your customer? Become the knowledge broker for these people, and I guarantee you’ll win.

2. Mega Open House / Event – Who says Open Houses only attract buyers? When you create Mega Open Houses that truly give people a reason to show up, you can meet the neighbors, impress them and position yourself as the listing agent of choice. Provide food, drinks and fun, invite the neighbors and make the most of your Open Houses.

3. Geographic Farming – Identifying a group of homes with sufficient annual turnover to justify a large enough return on investment to offset the costs of your direct mail, marketing efforts, Facebook ads, etc. — and then inundate them with your message until you become their logical choice. Demonstrate proof of activity (Just Listed, Just Sold, Market Updates, etc.) to win over potential sellers and become the listing agent of choice in your marketplace.

4. Agent-to-Agent Referrals – A sharing of ideas and referrals many of our coaching clients cherish. But you can still capitalize on referrals by doing your research and forging relationships with agents in strategic locations. Determine the areas that statistically contribute the most people to your community, and then build networking relationships with agents from those communities.

5. Zillow/Realtor.com/Trulia/Homes.com/Online lead generation – Today’s most savvy agents are over-indexing on online arbitrage and seeing it as a significant listing opportunity. Why? Because those who are shopping for homes online often have to sell their own property before they can buy.

6. Expired Listings – Before you freak out and tell me how much you hate the idea of pursuing Expireds, think about this: A homeowner of an expired listing is just a human being facing a challenge. You’re a confident Rockstar listing agent. Be the knowledge broker and help that person solve their problem. When you do this, it becomes the Ultimate Proof of Success, showing how you achieved what other agents could not. So reach out — via direct mail, phone calls, door knocking — any way you want, but don’t allow a fixed mindset to blind you to the huge opportunity in Expireds.

7. Seller– Specific Online Marketing – “Curious about the value of your home?” Seven simple words that can get people to raise their hand and indicate the possibility of selling their home in the future. This isn’t a quick hit solution, but if you’re willing to provide information to these people, get them in your system and nurture them, you can convert over the long run.

8. Sign Calls – Have as many signs as your local regulations allow! (Another reason to do big Open Houses frequently with lots of signs.)

9. FSBOs – Love ‘em or hate ‘em, FSBOs are the fastest source of business opportunity. The truth of the matter is there’s a small percentage of people who won’t be able to sell their home themselves and will look to hire someone like you to help them achieve their goals. Remember, every home you list means more signs, more exposure, the ability to help more people.

10. Investors – There is so much money coming into the marketplace right now, and the question becomes are you paying attention to capitalize on the opportunity investors provide? What if you sat down with your title rep and asked for a report on everyone who owns three or more properties in your area. Identify them, work with them, help them sell when they’re ready, bring them meaningful value, and make them customers for life.

11. Builders/Developers – Similar to investors, you can capitalize on working with builders by having your title rep identify any properties zoned for R2 but currently only has one unit on it. Find those properties that have been owned 20+ years and ask the right questions to present the possibilities to the property owner.

12. Professional Networking / Corporate Relocation / Radio / Seminars / Yelp Reviews – These all tied for 12^th.

So there you have 12 of the top sources and activities for generating listings and I challenge you to act on one or two of these on our list and implement and execute them at the highest level. You can and see what happens to your final quarter for 2018 and your listing inventory.

Strength and courage,
Wade

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Is Your Real Estate Business Unshakeable?

Wade Webb on September 19, 2018

It is time for North American real estate agents to accept the fact this is our new normal real estate market. Real estate markets are shifting all over North America and this is now the market agents are needing to be comfortable working in. The nice part about this new normal market is it is not a global recession or not a global housing crisis but it is also not the record breaking sales and increase in values we have seen over the last number of years either. Currently we have about 1.3 million real estate professionals in the U.S. and about 110,000 real estate professionals in Canada. Last year only 3% of the agent population sold more than 25 homes. Almost half of the agent population sold no homes last year. The forecast is 78 million people will move in the next four to five years. Ancillary companies invested 5 billion dollars into the real estate industry this year to capture a piece of the 100 plus billions of commission dollars that will be generated in real estate sales in the coming years. So how much of that pie do you want to capture? What do you need to do to ensure you capture a piece of that pie? Here are my top tips for you to create an unshakeable real estate business and to capture the biggest piece of the pie in the coming years.

Tip to Create an Unshakeable Real Estate Business

MINDSET – The most important factor to any agents success is their identity and how they see themselves in their own marketplace and how the marketplace sees them as the trusted expert in their community. You need to fall more in love with the fact you can change lives with your real estate business and what you do truly does matter. You need to have the mindset that this is my business and not a job or a hobby but this is my business! How I treat my business matters. How I run my business matters. How I step up my business matters. How the community sees me as a trusted real estate expert matters. Change you own identity and your communities identity about you and your business today!
STOCK PILE CASH – The biggest reason for so many agents leaving the industry in 2007-2008 was the fact they had not saved any of the money they made in the previous real estate boom. Having capital and some access to cash to live personally and to run your day to day business is critical. Start now and save. Begin to pay down debt now. Look at ways to consolidate your debt personally and professionally now. Get a business line of credit or enquire about increasing your existing business credit line now while you can. Remember in any economic correction cash is king!
TOP LINE REVENUE – I always love coaching successful high producing agents who are in a downward spiral with their real estate business. My first question to them is make a list of the top 10 activities you did to generate all the business success you had. Then tell me all the business activities on your list you are presently doing. The session is over and the light comes back on. There are so many ways to drive sales and revenue into an agents business. Create your list of top line revenue drivers in your business and get at them and double the amount of times you normally do these activities and watch what happens to your top line revenue.
REAL ESTATE IS MATH – Your business is just math and all agents business really breaks down to knowing exactly three numbers that will get you to any real estate income goal. The first number is the number of people a day you need to speak to about buying and selling real estate. That is your DAILY number. The second number is the number of bona fide listing or buyer appointments you need to attend a week. That is your WEEKLY number. The third and final number is the numbers of transactions or sales a month you need to perform. That is your MONTHLY number. Those three numbers equate to any agents annual income goal. Easy as 1-2-3 numbers to determine your income success!
TECH ENABLED – The biggest challenge with our on demand world is the agent who is struggling with the tech enabled business world we live in. You either need to learn it or get someone to do it for you that is tech enabled. The real estate business cannot be done to the speed of expectancy from the customers without technology. Apps, CRMS, Digital signatures, The Cloud, Paperless transactions, Email, Text, Video and on and on and on.
MARKETING – You just can’t be the one trick pony agent and be able to manage in the new normal market and economy. Agents need to have at least four to six marketing funnels generating buyer and seller leads a day for them to be able to cope with any correction in the market. If agents don’t have enough funnels then they don’t generate enough leads. Without enough leads there are not enough appointments. Without enough appointments there are not enough listings and sales. Get those four to six marketing funnels firing on all cylinders now before it is too late.
CONVERSION – The greatest problem in our industry is the inability of real estate professionals not being able to convert a lead to an appointment. You need to be a lean mean appointment setting machine in this business to survive. Lead conversion 101 is simply asking the consumer engaging thought provoking questions that allow them to discover the challenges, difficulties and pitfalls a buyer or seller may face in today’s market place and then having a system or process to help them navigate those challenges. After that all we need to do is L.G.T. “Let’s get together”
SCALE THE BUSINESS – We all have in some way shape or form issues with control. We have convinced ourselves we just cannot let go. The issue today is we only have so many months, weeks, days, hours and I don’t care who you are, you cannot do it all alone. Finding help and automating, systemizing and delegating allows an agent leverage and them a chance to really focus on what they do best and that’s people! Let go! It will change your life! Take it from me the president of the control freak club!

So there you have it, 8 powerful ways to help navigate and crush it in this new normal market. All that is left is you and making the choice to get at it! There is a huge pie of commission income available and you need to decide how much pie is going to be yours!

Strength and courage,
Wade

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What Is Your Online Real Estate Reputation?

Wade Webb on July 18, 2018

Realtors© often ask me if as a real estate agent does their online reputation really matter? Stop and think about this scenario for a second… A homeowner smack dab in the middle of your market is considering selling her home. Once that idea is in her head, what’s the next step in her process? If she doesn’t already have an agent who is “top of mind”? Her next move is likely to go online and start reading reviews of agents in her area. Suddenly, without ever meeting you, this prospective client is making decisions about your quality, your character, your ability to deliver results. So when she lands on your name… What does she see?

•Tons of 5-Star reviews full of vivid detail? GREAT!

•A few mixed reviews? NOT AS GREAT!

•Nothing at all? UH OH!

What is your online real estate reputation?

Social proof is essential in today’s Review Economy.

2 Sites Where You Absolutely Must Have Reviews. There are many different places where people can review things online, but for your purposes, the two most critical are Google and Zillow. Zillow gets tons of traffic for people looking for all things real estate. And Google is, well, Google… People search on Google all the time, but there are more reasons beyond them being the search giant, which takes us to…

3 Reasons Why Google Reviews are Beneficial to Your Business

1. Social proof and credibility. Ninety percent of consumers today read online reviews before engaging with a business! Not only that, but 77% of consumers believe reviews older than 90 days are no longer relevant! You know what that means? If people can’t find reviews about you and your services, you’re eliminating yourself from consideration by 90 percent of homeowners! The second stat means even if you have reviews, you need a consistent flow of fresh reviews to make sure you are perceived as being relevant.

2. Google loves fresh content. You know me… I have no secrets, and when I learn something from our business, I want to share it with you. In January of 2018, we began a concerted push to increase our Google reviews. We’ve added 874 reviews since that time, and because of having those reviews, our organic website traffic has increased by 47 percent! Long story short, the more Google reviews you have, the higher Google will rank your site, and the more eyeballs your site will attract.

3. Google Ads cost per lead decreases. If you’re using Google Ads, having an abundance of Google reviews makes your quality score go up and Google will add your five-star review rating to all of your ads. In the process, your cost per lead will decrease.

5 Strategies to Generate More Reviews

1. Incorporate reviews into your dialogue. Every time you meet a client, you need to “seed” the idea of them writing a review at the end of the process. Tell them your goal is for them to provide you a five-star review.

2. Remind them during “Hero Moments”. Anytime you slay a dragon in a transaction, take that opportunity to point it out to your client and specifically mention it would be a great detail to include in their review. Not only does this remind them of your expectation of receiving a five-star review, but it adds detail that enriches the review for readers.

3. Add a “Review Me” link in email signature. By incorporating a link in your email signature to your Google or Zillow profile, you can generate more reviews in a low-pressure manner.

4. You gotta ask! You can’t sit around and hope people will write a review. Whether it’s in person, by phone, by email, by text… you’ve gotta ask! When you ask, remember these two keys:

•Remind them your focus is on receiving a five-star review

•Direct them to tell a specific story, ideally about how you solved their problem

5. If you’re new, focus on Google. If you’re a new agent wondering how you’ll compete with agents with many more reviews, focus on getting Google reviews from people who you’ve worked with – colleagues, previous employers, etc. who can write about you even if you haven’t helped them buy or sell a home.

I encourage you to use these techniques to build more online reviews!

Strength and courage,
Wade

Blow Away The Competition For A Listing Or Buyer’s Commitment

Wade Webb on April 18, 2018

The spring market doesn’t begin in the spring. It begins now! What you do now to get a listing or buyer’s commitment is what you get in the spring.

Think about the amount of time you invest into finding a listing or a bona fide buyer? Someone who wants to sell their home or wants to buy a home. Then think of all the time and money you spend before, during and after the marketing of that property or servicing the buyer. Then think of all the money you will earn if you successfully get the listing and the property sells or place that buyer into their new home. What is it worth to you?

One of the most powerful ways to blow away the competition for a listing or buyer’s commitment before you even meet with them in person is the use of a pre listing or buyer package or what some of you may call “The informed seller or buyer package.”

Imagine sending a package, basket or beautiful marketing book to a buyer or seller via a courier delivery person to their home prior to your actual appointment. What kind of impression does that make on the client? How much would that increase your commitment? How much time would it save if they informed themselves prior to the actual physical appointment? Let’s look at what you need to build the ideal pre buyer or seller appointment package……

Your Biography – Share with them your past, a little about your family, your successes, awards and achievements in and outside of real estate. Include your business, years of experience and your expertise and passion.
Your Team – Include a photo, name and biography on each team member, their responsibilities and their role within the team. For those of you saying “I don’t have a team”, include your mortgage broker, home stager, accountant, broker owner, home inspector, photographer, technology supporter, graphic designer and any more you can think of. They hire them all when they hire you.
Corporate Charter, Mission Statement, Core Values – This includes your purpose, who you are, your values, what it is you do, your practices, your principles and your promise to them. This is important for your customer to understand your values and who you are and what you believe and illustrates your integrity in life and business.
Feature-Benefit Marketing Service Guarantee – This is not a guarantee their home will sell or they will find the perfect home to buy. It is a guarantee you will perform the services you said you would perform. Example -I/we are putting your home on MLS and the benefit is global exposure of their home to prospective agents and their buyer pools.
Step by Step Buying or Selling Process – Describe each step in their buying or selling journey before it happens.
How You Find Buyers – Illustrate five things you do to find buyers for their home.
How you Find That Right Home to Buy – Illustrate five things you do to save them time, money and stress in buying.
Testimonials – Provide them with third party testimonials from previous buyers and sellers and what they experienced buying and selling with you in the past. Call some of your past clients and ask them these questions. 1) What they liked most? 2) What you do the best? 3) One word to describe the experience? Put their responses into a quote and ask permission to display.
List of What the seller Will Need to Have Available at the Appointment – Survey, Tax notice, Utility bills, 2 house keys.
List of What the Buyer Will Need to Have Available at the Appointment – Wish list, Pre approval, Deposit, Measuring tape.
Ten Best Features of My Home – Make up a form that allows the seller and buyer to list the best features of their home they are selling or wanting to buy.
Include DVD’s – Recommend the following by my mentor David Knox. Pricing Your Home to Sell by David Knox (I am NOT compensated for any sales through this link)
Make it pop! Package it up with Microwave Popcorn and Two Bottles of Water. Go to www.shutterfly.com and put it into a coffee table hard cover book as well.

Take the time to invest in a pre-listing or buyer package and start crushing the competition and getting more listings and getting more signed buyer commitments in 2018. The spring market is now! Go get it!!

Strength and courage,
Wade

How To Turn The “No’s” Into A “Yes”

Wade Webb on November 22, 2017

There will be plenty of times in the early days of a business when you’ll ask for something you want, and the answer will be no. For most people, that “no” is the end of the conversation. Real estate is a business full of rejection. How you respond to it is what matters. If you let it get you down, you’re going to lose. If you persevere in the face of adversity, you’re going to win. It’s been estimated only 4-6% of appointments are booked on the first call. That means success in real estate requires you making yourself vulnerable time after time after time. Picking up that phone again, being confident the next “yes” is coming. From a conversation standpoint, it takes almost 8 conversations to get a yes.

1. A No Means a Yes is Possible.

Most people won’t say yes to an idea without saying no first. In fact, studies show the average customer says no an average of five times before saying yes. This is because decision-making is an emotional process, not an intellectual one. Most people will do more to avoid pain than achieve pleasure, so the first impulse most people have when asked to make a decision is to find reasons not to make that decision. This usually takes the form of a no when what’s actually meant is maybe.

2. There are three generic types of no.

Assuming you’re asking the right person (that is, someone who ought to say yes), a no usually means one of the following:

a. Wrong information. You didn’t explain well enough why yes is a good decision for the other person. Therefore, you must now do a better job of explaining.

b. Wrong timing. The other person needs some time to ponder and thus is saying no to stall. Therefore, you must now be patient and ask for the yes later.

c. Wrong circumstance. There’s something over which the other person has no control that’s blocking him or her from saying yes. Therefore, you must now work with the other person to transcend the block.

3. Be curious rather than persistent.

The old adage “never take no for an answer” is usually misinterpreted to mean “keep pestering customers until they say yes.” This doesn’t work; in fact, it only hardens the no. For example:

You: “Would you accept an offer of $2 million?”

VC: “No.”

You: “Are you sure? It’s not a bad offer?.”

VC: “Yes, I’m sure.” (i.e., “No.”)

You: “How about $2.1 million?”

VC: “Please leave now.”

By contrast, if you become curious about the no, you can continue the conversation and find out what it will take to get to yes, like so:

You: “Would you accept an offer of $2 million?”

VC: “No.”

You: “If I understand rightly, though, you are looking to move. What is it about the offer that isn’t working for you?”

4. Move the conversation forward.

Depending upon what you learn (as the result of being curious), move the conversation so it gradually opens up the possibility of a yes. For instance, in the example above, your question might get any of three responses:

1. Wrong information. In this case, you roll back to that part of the discussion and clarify the misunderstanding.

VC: “I don’t understand how you’re monetizing.”

You: “I apologize for not explaining it well. Let’s go over that part again, and I’ll try to make things more clear.”

2. Wrong timing. In this case, you focus the conversation on making commitments to meet again to discuss the matter.

VC: “I need to think about this for a while.”

You: “I understand. What are the areas of uncertainty we should clear up before we meet again?”

3. Wrong circumstance. In this case, you suggest a creative approach that overcomes the blockage.

VC: “We know the offer is not what I hoped for.”

You: “Maybe we should be thinking in terms of a concession. What can you tell me about the approach you had in mind?”

Needless to say, there’s a lot more you can do to turn a no into yes. In my door to door encyclopedia sales days we always said “I am just one more “no” closer to that “yes!”

Strength and courage,
Wade

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The Oz Principle & Living Above The Line

Wade Webb on November 8, 2017

I love reading the comments on my blog articles or listening to agents responses in coaching sessions. You know I do. But every once in a while, I’ll see or hear a comment and I can’t help but shake my head. “Thanks Wade, but what if I’m a new agent?” Or “Great info but how do I use this if I live in ________?” Or “That’s not the way that we do it around here.” I wonder if these people are truly seeking solutions, or… Are they looking for excuses? “Well Wade, I’m new, this doesn’t really apply to me.” Yes it does!
“Well Wade, my market’s different. I’m not sure that would work here.” Yes it will! Use your ingenuity!

One of my favorite books, The Oz Principle by Paul J Kelly talks about living above the line and living below the line. The Top 20% of real estate agents wake up every day and choose to live above the line. They take 100% responsibility for themselves, they value and love themselves, they choose and own their choices and seize the opportunities they are given. The other 80% of agents live below the line and deny anything they do wrong, they blame others, create and make problems even bigger than they are and respond dramatically to everything they come face to face with. I always ask myself and my kids when we are tested, are we living above the line? Or living below the line today?

You’re in the Big Leagues Now.

News flash #1: There are no “minor leagues” in real estate. You’re in the big leagues now. If you’re new, that just means you have to work much harder and maintain your focus that much stronger. You have a lot of legwork ahead of you — systems to put in place, your business plan to create, marketing plans to develop, sales skills to refine, training to attend, books to read, etc.

News flash #2: Your market isn’t that different from everyone else’s market. Even if your market has some unique characteristics, you can always adapt what you’ve learned or what others are doing to fit your market and/or clientele. But whatever you do, you cannot allow yourself to make excuses for underperforming. Don’t Regret Your Inactivity If you allow yourself to make excuses, you’re only setting yourself up for mediocrity. Instead, commit yourself to training, learning, doing. Five years from now, you’re going to look back on the next two years of your life and say one of two things: “Wow, I really kicked ass and gave my business the jump start it needed.” Or “Ughhh! I wish I’d done more to put myself in position to succeed in this business.” Doing Something Is Always Better Than Nothing. Agents who succeed are the types who put their thinking caps on and are willing to adapt. They hear about a successful strategy and adjust it to fit their market, their business model, their level of experience in the industry. Nobody ever said you have to copy a strategy in its entirety. Pick and choose what works best for you. The point is to DO SOMETHING. The next time you catch yourself coming up with a reason why an idea won’t work, flip the script and instead focus on how you can adapt it to make it work best for you.

Don’t make excuses. Find solutions. Live above the line!

Strength and courage,
Wade

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How To Finish 2017 Strong. The Final Countdown!

Wade Webb on November 1, 2017

Why is it so easy to get apathetic, complacent or take the foot off the gas in the final quarter of the year. The seasons are changing and the days are getting shorter and the sense of urgency with our real estate market and our business seems to be settling down for a long winter’s nap. For a lot of us this is not good nor can we afford to let this happen?!

Do you want to finish the year with a whimper or finish it with a bang? Do you want to have to snap out of a funk to start 2018… Or steamroll into it full of momentum? With that in mind, here are some actions steps to dominate and finish 2017 strong!

1. What Is It You Want? Personally? Professionally?

When I ask agents “so what do you want”? It amazes me how many don’t have any idea what it is they want out of their personal or professional lives and that my friend is the root of why many don’t finish the year or start next year the way they should. A clear vision of what it is you want drives you to take action and moves your emotional meter.

As a Realtor what do you want your business to look like when January 1, 2018 arrives? What do you want your personal life to look like come January 1? How many sales do you want? How many active listings do you want? How big do you want your pipeline of leads to be? Where do you want to be physically, mentally and what do you want to experience come January 1? You know the people who want to put things off over the holidays but come January 1 will be serious. The moment you finalize these decisions, you need to align your behaviors with those goals to make them happen.

2. What & Who Gives Me Joy?

This past few weeks I can’t believe how many of my coaching clients have one thing in common right now and that one thing is they have no “Joy”. They have been going at such a ferocious pace and can’t even remember when they did the activities or spent time with the people that give them “Joy”. The best way to ensure a productive AND enjoyable holiday season is to open your calendar today and mark off all of the time you’re taking off. The vacation time. The snowboarding trip. The holiday time with family. The “I’m taking this day off just because” time. The dance class or spin class. Etc. Etc. Make those commitments and schedule it. Remember: If it’s not in your calendar, it doesn’t exist. Once you’ve marked all of the time you’re taking off and the activities that give you “Joy” then take stock of what’s left. This is the number of days you have remaining to achieve the results you desire. Seeing that concentrated schedule will be a great motivator to make things happen and get stuff done.

3. Set Some Key Goals

To finish 2017 with a bang, make sure these three goals are up and visual in your office. 1. How many appointments I want to book before the end of the year, how many listings I want to take before the end of the year and how many sales I want to make between now and the end of the year. 2. Schedule time to plan my 2018 and build that business plan for next year based on what you learned from this past year. 3. Schedule time to see all the people prior to the holiday season. Ken Blanchard wrote in the book “The Generosity Factor.” That the greatest gift we can give others is our time, talent, touch and treasure. Create that sense of urgency and finish strong!

4. Develop An End Of The Year Sales and Marketing Plan

You set those goals in the previous step, but how are you going to achieve them? Map out your marketing activities that will reach those goals. How are you going to touch your past clients? What are you going to deliver to your geographic farm? What special event — a holiday party, Mega Open House, movie theater promotion, etc. — are you going to hold in the final weeks of 2017?

5. Implementation and Execution Creates Momentum

Why is it important to close the year strong? To get some results and things done and accomplished the final days of the year? These results, accomplishments and successes impact how you start 2018. You want momentum. You want energy. You want to wake up January 1 feeling ready to run through a brick wall to make 2018 your best year ever. So let me ask you this: Has there been a New Year’s Day (or two, or three, or 10 or 20?) where you woke up not exactly feeling your best? Is that how you want to start your pursuit of your best year ever? By feeling like crap for Day 1 of 365? Do the things that will allow you to wake up on January 1 full of energy, ambition and confidence in your plan.

Implement one or more of these ideas and finish 2017 strong…

Strength and courage,
Wade

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Lesson’s For Agent’s From Toys R Us

kelowna on October 4, 2017

This year continues to present a challenging retail environment, which has now been further disrupted by the Toys “R” Us Chapter 11 filing. Toys R Us did two things over the past few decades that were not the best business decisions for them. The first decision was in about 2001 – 2002 when they chose to use Amazon for their fulfillment and make them the main fulfillment for their toys instead of believing in the internet.

This basically made buying toys off the internet from Amazon something we became very comfortable doing instead of us buying from Toys R Us and fulfilling their own toy orders to their customers on the internet. The second decision and most important decision was to not innovate themselves as a company and began to die from their lack of change and the toy world began to pass them buy. They didn’t change their stores to a place where you could have an experience with the toys. Why couldn’t they make video gaming stations, Lego building areas, slime centers, skate and bike park areas and millions of other toy experience ideas in their retail spaces and would still be alive and well today?

They chose to just sell toys where no parent wanted to really go and besides could just buy it online and not even leave their own home or they just pick it up for cheaper at Walmart while they are buying some groceries or buy it from a YouTube marketer or Instagram or Facebook ad. Toys R Us was not selling an experience and literally died from their decisions and lack of any retail innovation. This is the best example today for anyone in business or any of you in real estate if we don’t change, grow and innovate ourselves and our business and just rest on your laurels and do real estate the same way you did it 20 years ago!!

Our customers don’t just want to buy or sell a house just like they didn’t just want to walk into a Toys R Us and buy a toy any more. They want to have an experience and are willing to go where they can find that experience when buying or selling a home. So let me ask you what kind of an experience do you create for your clients and who is telling your story of what they experienced buying or selling with you? Are you having buyers virtually tour homes on a huge flat screen TV while they choose their short list of homes to physically view? Do you leave time at the beginning of touring homes for a stop through at Starbucks drive thru to pick up their favorite coffee and a snack for their tour? Are you preloading a tablet for your buyers to search homes using Wi-Fi and they are able to make notes on the tablet with a stylus about each home they tour? Are they viewing their paperless purchase contracts on the tablet and then digitally signing their offers on the tablet using Authentisign? Do you present to home sellers on a large iPad or laptop showing them the 3D floor plans, drone videos or interactive virtual reality goggles that their home will be marketed with when for sale with you and your brokerage?

The list of innovative ideas for agents and creating that innovative game changing experience for their clients is endless! The truth is so few agents are choosing to change, innovate themselves and their business and sadly my friends face the similar demise as Toys R Us in the coming 5 years. I challenge you today to commit to making a change with the way you market yourself and your real estate business and become a game changer and market leader in your market place today!

Strength and courage,
Wade

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