Top 10 Activities Top Agents Do To Kick Start 2019

Wade Webb on January 16, 2019

top 10 realtor activities for 2019It is that time of year when you feel a little holiday hangover and the motivation levels are not what they should be. It is the time of year when an agent cannot control what the market or their client is doing but it is essential an agent control what it is they are doing in January to kick start their year off right! This week I want to share the top things an agent can do at the start off the year with a bang to ensure you got a good jump to 2019.

Top 10 Activities for Realtors© To Kickstart 2019

1. Happy New Year / Gratitude Message – create a message for everyone expressing your gratitude for their support for you and your business in 2018 and wish them all the best in 2019. Let them know none of your success would be possible without them and you appreciate them all. Create a video, letter, email, Facebook social media post and share the happy new year – gratitude message to everyone you know!

2. Rebranding Launch 2019 – time to reinvent and relaunch your brand with a new photo, new logo and a new slogan and rebrand your old real estate self and create a fresh new look and start for 2019 and your business. Ask for your clients for input and poll their feedback on your new photo, new logo and new slogan over social media and build up the hype for your new branding launch in 2019.

3. 2018 Market Review and 2019 Predictions – create a message for everyone reviewing the past year and what the real estate market did in 2018. What did price do? Inventory? Sales? List to sale ratios? Recap and summarize the past years market and let them know what is trending and share your bold predictions for the market in 2019. Create a video, letter, email, Facebook social media post and share this with everyone in your community!

4. Pop by gift – always a great time of year to pop by and say hello to everyone you know with a jug of window washer fluid with a tag message “I’m happy to provide great clients like you with a clearer view of our local market.” Courtesy of Buffini and Company. (See attached)

5. Checklists / Procedures – time to get the systems, checklists and procedures created or upgraded. Do you have a process in writing for every activity you perform in real estate? The greatest challenge for all agents in their business is they are consistently inconsistent. Having written checklists, processes and procedures for each activity in your business will make a huge difference for implementation and execution in 2019.

6. Database Touches – the highest R.O.I. source of any top producing agent is repeat and referral business. Having an intentional value added process to engage and deepen your advocacy with people that already know, like an trust you is absolutely key to any agents success in 2019. Spend more time money and effort keeping them than we did getting them! (See attached)

7. Lead Generation Funnels – the top reason for agents not doing well enough is due to the lack of leads. Without enough leads we are forced to work with anyone and everyone. Without enough leads we can’t generate enough appointments and then enough listings and sales in 2019. Focus on the “FAB 5” lead generation funnels of the industry in 2019. 1. Database 2. Geographic Farm 3. Expired or FSBO 4. Open House 5. Online Leads

8. Tools In Your Tool kit – do you have a pre appointment package for buyers or sellers. Do you have a marketing tool you can deliver to the clients in advance that sets you apart from all your competitors before you even meet them? Pre listing and Pre Buyer packages deliver that punch in 2019.

9. Presentations and Process – do you use professional dynamic presentations with your buyers and sellers? Presentations that share with them the benefits of doing business with you vs. the rest? Does your process set you apart from the competition? Do you show them why they should sign with you a listing contract? Buyer agreement? Price their home properly the first time? Or do you just wing it?

10. Complimentary Market Analysis – provide a package of listings, sales and expired comps for the last year to every client and person you have a relationship with. Provide them with enough information they can get an idea themselves of the value of their property. 3 days later follow up and ask them if they have any questions? Ask if they have other real estate properties you could evaluate for them? Ask if they know anyone else you could provide them with this complimentary service as well. This usually leads to listing appointments for agents in the new year and a great jump on spring listing inventory!

So there you have my top activities for kick starting 2019 off on the right foot! Feel free to comment on some of the things you do to get your business year started off right below. Don’t sit around and wait for real estate to happen. Take steps to create real estate in January 2019!

 

Strength and courage,
Wade

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Creating Vs Waiting

Wade Webb on October 31, 2018

create your own real estate marketAlmost every week I open my email and see a last minute travel deal or an item for sale from one of my favourite brands like Under Armour even though I am not in the market for these things at that particular time. Have you ever seen an ad, read an email or read something that just grabs your attention and is such a good deal you end up buying it or sharing that deal with someone else?

I was over playing cards with friends of ours one evening and my friend shared how his car salesperson from GM had called him that day just to touch base and let him know he had this great deal on a used Honda on the lot and wanted to see if my buddy was interested in it or knew someone else who would be. I am sitting playing cards and remember my personal trainer and I were talking the past week about him getting another vehicle and I texted my trainer right then about this used Honda and the sales reps info at GM to contact if he was interested. The next day I get a text from my personal trainer saying Thanks! I bought it.

Imagine as agents if we had a consistent system for communicating the buying opportunities and best buys in real estate to our audience? What do you think just might happen? Spending a set amount of time on the MLS system daily, weekly, monthly and identifying the best buys in real estate and then sending it out via email, phone, social media and print. Branding it your “deal of the day” “pick of the week” “Your Best bets”. Sending it out saying “I have no reason to believe you’re in the market for another property but if you know someone who might be interested in the hot buy, call me!”
Rotate the product type, price point, location to increase your chances of capturing a lead. Here is a list…

Create Your Own Real Estate Market

1) First time buyer
2) Down Size
3) Move up
4) Rental
5) Recreational
6) Commercial
7) Luxury
8) Investment

We can’t just ignore this strategy in real estate and now is the time to shake things up and create real estate instead of always waiting for real estate. Implement a buying opportunities strategy today and let me know how you make out. Feel free to share and comment below some of your existing strategies.

Strength and courage,
Wade

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Is Your Real Estate Business Unshakeable?

Wade Webb on September 19, 2018

unshakeable real estate businessIt 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

  1. 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!
  2. 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!
  3. 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.
  4. 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!
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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”
  8. 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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6 Secrets for Realtors© to Implementation & Execution

Wade Webb on September 12, 2018

implementation in real estateBeing genuinely disciplined as a Realtor© and in your personal life requires you develop the ability to take action. You don’t need to be too hasty, but you also don’t want to lose much time. The time to act is when the idea strikes us—when it is hot and the emotion is strong, before the feeling passes and the idea dims. If you don’t, you’ll fall prey to the law of diminishing intent. A month from now, the passion will be cold—a year from now, it won’t be found. So take action.

  1. If you’re faced with a mental roadblock, put it down on paper. Remember, creativity is the first requirement for self-enterprise. When you put a problem on paper, you take the emotion out of it. With the emotion gone, you can look at the roadblock objectively. You can figure out what you did right. You can figure out what you did wrong. You can figure out how to change it. Pick a problem out of your head and pull out a piece of paper. And then draw a line down the middle. On the left-hand side, jot down the problem. On the other side, you put the solutions. And I have three questions you must ask yourself to find the solutions:

What can I do?

What could I read? You don’t need to reinvent the wheel… do your homework and find the solution.

Who could I ask? Approach them and say, “I’ve researched this material and I’m still short. Can you help me?”

  1. Develop the ability to brainstorm. We hear this term all the time. But what is brainstorming? It’s letting your brain go. It’s being free from all inhibitions and objections and negatives—just putting an idea into your brain and letting it take off, not planning a train of thought, but thinking freely. Effective brainstorming can only happen if you’re free from your ego. You can’t be worried about saying something stupid, or silly, or totally off the wall. Because your silly thought may trigger someone else’s brain to take it one step further. Brainstorming in a group is an experience of collective thought, an experience of developing one idea, or several ideas, through a variety of thought processes. It can’t be effective unless everyone involved is comfortable with each other. If you don’t feel comfortable within the group, you may withhold the very thought that provides the solution to the problem.
  1. Imagine outlandish solutions. This is really an extension of No. 2. Get your brain out of the rut by considering ideas without considering their practicality. If you allow yourself to think without confinement, you might come up with a solution that seems totally inappropriate. But it also allows you to open up the process, which will eventually lead to appropriate solutions.
  1. Doodle. That’s right: Doodle. The thing you got in trouble for in middle school is actually quite stimulating to the brain. Because the way you think while doodling is quite different from the way you think while creating a flow chart or writing a formula. Your doodles might end up looking like some symbol that will trigger your brain to think of an alternative solution. Doodling wakes up a different part of your brain. Try creating your flow chart to success. It doesn’t matter if it ends up being accurate or not. What matters is that it’s stimulating the creative thought process. Once you awaken that creative part of you, you’ll be amazed at the opportunities that were always there, ones you never saw before. It’s all a matter of how you look at life and opportunities.
  1. Access the information highway. You need to start networking with people whom you’d otherwise never meet.
  1. Commit yourself to learning. Feed your mind. Sharpen your interest in two major subjects: life and people. Learn how you can better interact with others. Learn more on how to get the most from life. Learn all that you can so you can become all you can become.

Learning is the beginning of a life worth living.

Learning is the beginning of wealth.

Learning is the beginning of happiness.

Learning is the beginning of health.

Learning and searching is where the process of creating your own personal miracle begins.

Learning is the beginning of self-enterprise.

Set up discipline when the excitement is high and your idea is clear and powerful. You’ve got to take action, otherwise the wisdom is wasted. The enthusiasm will soon pass, unless you apply it to a disciplined activity. Discipline enables you to capture the emotion and wisdom and translate that into action. The greatest value of discipline is self-worth, also known as self-esteem. Because once we sense a lack of discipline within ourselves, it starts to erode our psyche. One of the greatest temptations is to ease up just a little bit. Instead of doing your best, you allow yourself to do just a little less than your best. Sure enough, you’ve started, in the slightest way, to decrease your sense of self-worth. There is a problem with even a little bit of neglect. Neglect starts as an infection. If you don’t take care of it, it becomes a disease—and one neglect will lead to another. Once this has happened, how can you regain your self-respect? Act now. Start with the smallest discipline. Make the commitment: I will discipline myself to achieve my real estate and personal goals so in the years ahead I can celebrate my successes.

Strength and courage,
Wade

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Time For A Breakthrough in Your Real Estate Business?

Wade Webb on August 15, 2018

real estate breakthroughNo matter how good you are at running your real estate business, there will come a moment when you start to feel your business levelling off. Maybe it’s a lull in your sales, maybe you aren’t bringing in as many leads as before, or maybe you simply don’t feel the energy, drive, and creativity to move forward. Now is a great time of year to work in your business and develop some strategies for a fall breakthrough for your business and bust through those plateaus in business finishing your year strong.

7 Breakthrough Strategies for Your Real Estate Business

  1. A Rebranding Strategy – One of the most effective ways to break through a plateau is by rebranding. However, this is only a viable option if you’re truly in need of a brand refresh. If your current branding is old and outdated; starting new and designing fresh ideas can spark the creativity you need to drive more sales. However, beware of alienating clients with something that comes totally out of left field. Your new vision should still stay true to your core values while elevating the overall perception of your company.
  2. Invest in a New Website – A new website is an investment. However, it is one of the best ways to drum up business and carry your company into the digital era. Today’s real estate agent needs a sleek and sophisticated website with bright, clear photos, enticing content, and persuasive call-to-actions. Working with an established website designer is hands-down the best way to go about launching a new website, as they will take care of every bell and whistle to make sure the website functions in today’s fast-paced tech world while also looking elegant and beautiful for customers.
  3. Add to your Team – If you are worried your team is starting to feel stagnant, it might be time to switch things up a bit. ISA (Inside Sales Associate) departments are the new big thing in real estate, but the idea has been around since the beginning. Essentially, an ISA team is your sales team. These independent sales agents work all day on the phone following up with and scrubbing leads in order to hand them off to a selling agent. They’re ideal for growing teams and established teams alike because they take away all distractions and focus solely on sales. ISAs don’t do administrative tasks or any other daily work other than lead generation and conversion.
  4. Change Some Processes – If you currently have an ISA team and you feel they are starting to lose momentum, you can always change up some of the processes to keep things fresh. For example, re-negotiating commissions, implementing new software, or adding tracking to your current processes are all ways to “light a fire” and inspire teams to try something new and exist outside their comfort zone.
  5. Adding A New Lead Gen Layer – So many agents don’t seem to have enough lead generation sources to their business and have been putting off adding another lead generation process or system. Don’t be one dimensional or have too few ways of generating leads and prospects in your business. Do you have all the “Fab Five” lead sources running in your business?
    1. Database touches
    2. Online leads
    3. Expired – FSBO
    4. Open House – Door knock
    5. Geographic farm?
  6. Pre, During, Post Sales Service – Do you create certain customer service experiences for your clients pre, during and post their sale? I call these critical non essential’s like a one day, one week, one month post sale check in call? Providing a moving day meal for the clients and more. “People don’t remember what you said but they remember how you made them feel.” Take the time to increase the consumers experience with you and your business and wow and awe the clients.
  7. Set New Goals – Maybe you have met your goals for the year and you really have nothing to shoot for the rest of the year. Maybe you didn’t really set a goal for the year and now is the time to set some goals and have a vision or target for the balance of your year. Most agent’s aim for nothing and hit it with amazing accuracy. Don’t be that agent!

There you have a few simple and practical ways to create a breakthrough for you and your real estate business to finish 2018 strong. Take the time to rekindle the fire and really go for it! To your success!

Strength and courage,
Wade

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Mid-Year Real Estate Reflection & Assessment

Wade Webb on July 10, 2018

real estate business assessmentI don’t know about you but I cannot believe that we have already hit the half way mark to 2018?! We all know that what we measure gets improved!  This week we want you to take some time to reflect on YOU and your real estate business.  What have you accomplished in the first half of the year; and where do you want to go in the next 6 months.

See where you have been, where you are at and where you are going in 2018!!

MISSION/VISION REVIEW – What is my reason for doing this business?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

YOUR PASSION – What do I love about my business?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WHAT SETS ME APART FROM MY COMPETITION ?_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WHO IS MY IDEAL CLIENT?_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO MY CUSTOMERS?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WHAT WILL TRIGGER MY CUSTOMERS TO THINK OF ME?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WHAT ARE MY TOP THREE TOOLS I’M USING TO REACH MY GOAL?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

HOW MUCH IS EACH TOOL CONTRIBUTING?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

REFLECTION ON THE PREVIOUS 6 MONTHS

1 – WHAT HAVE I DONE RIGHT?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2 – WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3 – WHAT DO I NEED TO CHANGE?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 MONTH NUMBERS

GCI ____________________________________

VOLUME________________________________

SIDES___________________________________

NUMBERS FOR NEXT 6 MONTHS

GCI____________________________________

VOLUME _______________________________

SIDES__________________________________

AMOUNT SAVED FOR TAXES_____________________

AMOUNT SAVED FOR RETIREMENT_______________________

GENERAL SAVINGS ACCOUNT____________________________

STRATEGIES/PROJECTS TO REACH MY GOAL?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEW TOOLS TO RESEARCH/IMPLEMENT?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS TO MY BUSINESS/LIFE?

OPPORTUNITIES                                                                               THREATS

__________________________________________                ______________________________________

__________________________________________                ______________________________________

__________________________________________                ______________________________________

__________________________________________                ______________________________________

PERSONAL GOALS

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT – WHAT DO I WANT TO ACCOMPLISH IN 6 MONTHS?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

EDUCATIONAL CLASSES I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE?

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WEBINARS/YOU TUBE/TED TALKS/PODCASTS – WHAT DO I WANT TO LEARN?

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THREE BOOKS TO READ BY DECEMBER 31

1 – __________________________________________________________

2 – __________________________________________________________

3 – __________________________________________________________

FAMILY – WHAT DO I WANT TO DO WITH FAMILY?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FUN/RECREATION/HOBBIES/VACATIONS

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HEALTH/FITNESS

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6 MONTH BUCKET LIST – WHAT DO YOU WANT TO HAVE?

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WHAT ARE THE MAIN TOPICS YOU WOULD LIKE TO WORK ON WITH YOUR COACH OVER THE NEXT 6 MONTHS?

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We trust this reflection and assessment will help you see the success and opportunities for an even better second half of 2018 and encourage you to take time and celebrate your successes in the first half of 2018.

Strength and courage,
Wade

Time to Track & Measure Your Real Estate Biz

Wade Webb on April 4, 2018

Track and measure your real estate business resultsThe first quarter of 2018 has come and gone. The key to knowing how you are doing in business and life is to take time to reflect and see where you have been, where you are at and where you need to be heading. So let’s look at how to track and measure your real estate business for the first quarter. Look at the activities and not just the results. The results will come if the activities are in place.

How did the first quarter of your year go for you personally and in your real estate profession? Are you behind your goals? Ahead of your goals? Just right where you targeted for your start to the year?

We are now entering into one of the typically best quarters of the year; Q2. My question to you is… is it time to change things up? This week we look at some critical steps to take today if you are not on track:

 How to Track and Measure Your Real Estate Business

#1. Take Some Time To Look At Your Status

What is your current situation? What are your biggest challenges or issues you are facing? What were your goals and why you wanted to accomplish those goals?

#2. Measure Your Quarter

What were your numbers for the first quarter? How many calls? How many appointments? How many presentations? How many Listings? How many buyer agreements? Don’t measure your quarter success solely on results but even more important is measure your quarter on activities. You have to be faithful with your activities to receive the success you deserve.

#3. Growth Checklist

Based on the first quarter and what the numbers are saying what do you need to do different? What do you need to do more of? More leads, appointments, follow up, conversion, presentations and contracts this quarter? What changes need to happen to achieve your goals and breakthrough this next quarter in Real Estate.

#4. Working On Your Business

How does your operation, systems and automation look right now? Do you have systems and checklists for everything in place? Are you leveraging with someone or something else that is generating you business while you are busy being busy or getting some sleep? Time to schedule that “hour of power” a day and work on your business and not always in it.

#5. Time For Help?

Is it time to delegate the low dollar productive activities and free up time for you to focus on the high dollar productive activities? Remember someone or something else doing the low dollar productive activities is better than you doing them, right?

#6. Sales and Marketing

Is what your spending and doing generating a return on your time and investment? How are you positioned in your marketplace? Is your unique value proposition to the customers being communicated in all your materials? Growing your business is no small task and there are many different moving parts.

#7. Income and Expenses

How much are you spending? How much should you spend to meet your goals? Are you profitable? Do you take time and measure your expenses and the R.O.I.? Remember we are in this to make a profit and not all about the gross income being less than the expenses.

#8. Technology

Is technology ruling you or are you ruling the technology? How much technology is enough? Am I relying solely on technology and not enough on old fashion full contact with people belly to belly? We all need to embrace technology because it isn’t something that will just go away. In the same breath we need to not just rely on technology because sales always has and always will be a full contact sport.

So there you have it 8 solid points to help you track and measure your real estate business and turn your year around and really make Q2 the best quarter of your year. Take the time to look at your first quarter numbers and your goals and refuel your “why” for crushing it in the second quarter of this year. I dare you!

Strength and courage,
Wade

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Habits That Hinder Our Success

Wade Webb on February 21, 2018

bad habits in real estateDo you feel you never have enough time at the end of your day? Never enough money at the end of the month? We all have certain habits we need to quit to start increasing our own personal and professional success. Here are some of the top habits that always seem to hinder one’s success.

1. Saying YES When You Want To Say NO. If an activity, partnership or opportunity doesn’t resonate with you and does not feel aligned with your values and goals, you need to be comfortable about setting boundaries. Learn how to say no with kindness right from the start because, as you become more successful, more people will compete for your time and attention. Not setting healthy boundaries will end up in overwhelm and burnout. I am that classic people pleaser and have had to learn the hard way to learn to say NO and stop saying YES to everything and everyone. “This has everything to do with me and nothing to do with you and I need to say No for me, right now and I hope you can understand.”

2. Losing The Yearn to Learn. If We Are Not Growing Then We Are Dying. You have to eliminate the status quo and constantly looking to self-improve. As realtors we are business owners and need to understand the key to growing our income and business comes directly from growing ourselves. Remember that earners are learners and the agents who invest in themselves and take action on what they learn show a direct correlation to higher income levels.

3. Working Thru Meals & Breaks. Working through meals and breaks is a habit I find a lot of agents take on. Most justify it with, “If I work through lunch, I’ll just leave a few minutes early” and that isn’t what ends up happening. It’s hard to disconnect midday, especially if you’re in a productive spurt, but it’s important to take a few minutes to recharge. Not doing so will lower your productivity and lead to burnout faster. Success isn’t about time management it is about energy management.

4. Failing To Exercise. This is not something I find easy but I personally know the ramifications of not finding time to exercise. If you fail to exercise, that lack of discipline will translate into other areas of your life, including your business. When you exercise, you are more alert and sharp, and you will operate at a higher level. It allows us time to burn off stress and think clearly and feel like you have so much more energy to maintain a peak state.

5. Multi-tasking. What agents call multitasking is really task-switching. Contrary to popular belief, multi-tasking doesn’t save time. In fact, it will probably take you longer to finish two projects when you’re jumping back and forth than it would to finish each one separately. It is technically impossible to multitask. When you try to do multiple things at once, you effectively take away full attention and concentration from anything, and you shortchange whatever it is you are doing.

6. Striving For Perfection. I was speaking with a Psychiatric doctor not too long ago and he said we have people who feel “it isn’t good enough” and the rest feel “we aren’t enough” and that nobody feels “good” is an option any more. He spends all his time pulling the perfectionists back and pushing the underachievers along reminding them they have value. I often let the perfect become the enemy of the good. The result is I have a lot of projects that are still in the “development” queue, while I continually refine them. The fact is, however, most defects I see are not elements others will see. I am working on letting go of the hesitation to perfect everything I work on.

7. Not Protecting Your Recharge Time. If you’re a workaholic, it can be easy to let your own time get taken over by work, over and over until you’re not taking any time for yourself. This may seem like it’s making you more efficient, but it will start quickly doing the opposite. There’s no faster way to burn out. Don’t fall into the habit of denying yourself the time you need to recharge.

8. Immediately Responding To Texts & Emails. This is by far the largest problem with many people achieving success, especially on a day-to-day basis. If you answer an email or text, you should be committed to it, or it’ll quickly take you away from whatever task you are completing at the moment, hindering success. Plan periods every hour or two to answer daily emails or texts and stop being reactive and start being proactive.

9. Not Prioritizing Your Day. I always ask myself if each task is something important or is it unimportant? It forces you to actually sit down and only pick a few things you’re going to get done, especially the things that often end up getting punted from day to day. Before that, I was letting my calendar and to-do list run my day and never felt like I was getting the important stuff done.

10. Needing To Know More. How many of us feel we need to know more or come up with more ideas and constantly just go through our days and never really get anything done? Isn’t it time for us to take action and do what we already know we should be doing? Implementation and execution is a huge issue for so many agents who are busy worrying about what they don’t know instead of acting on what they already know.

So there you have some of the habits that hinder so many of us in business and life. I trust you will find a way to be able to remove those habits that are hindering your own success and take things to the next level.

Strength and courage,
Wade

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How To Turn The “No’s” Into A “Yes”

Wade Webb on November 22, 2017

realtor no to yesThere 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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Power Planning For Success In 2018

Wade Webb on November 15, 2017

realtor Business plan 2018When the year begins to wind down you should not wait until the very end to start planning for next year. This means having a crystal clear understanding of the successes and challenges of your current year, how it impacts your upcoming year, and developing a vision of what you want to accomplish, and how.

I believe you should always start working on your next year strategy months in advance of the new year. This awards you enough time to make an impact on your final quarter, and lay the groundwork for making sure your next fiscal year starts off on a solid footing.

For agents who want to achieve greatness, push the envelope, and grow their business through market share, market penetration, paying down debt, increasing sales, profits and cash flow, I urge you to get going now! The way I see things is, if your business isn’t growing, pushing the envelope, thriving, and maximizing profit, then all you’re really doing is suffering a slow death. Believe me, your competition is fighting the fight every day, and they didn’t wake up in the morning and say “Gosh, golly, I hope I stay even in 2018.” They want to eat your lunch, take your business, absorb your market share and steal your customers away.

Some people might ask me if they should start planning by looking at their competition, and I say NO. Why focus on the competition, instead of focusing on yourself? When it comes to my business, I don’t care what others do. I care about what I do. Recognize your competition for what and who they are, and then put your best foot forward by pushing the envelope in your business. You should approach the new year as if you are going to battle, and for that you should develop a strategic plan.

Business Plan – a written document that describes in detail how a business, usually a new one, is going to achieve its goals. A business plan lays out a written plan from a marketing, financial and operational viewpoint.

FACT: LESS THAN 3% OF REAL ESTATE AGENTS HAVE A BUSINESS PLAN

FACT: ESTIMATED 3% OF REAL ESTATE AGENTS IN NORTH AMERICA DOING 97% OF BUSINESS

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Writing a business plan may seem a daunting task as there are so many moving parts and concepts to address. Take it one step at a time and be sure to schedule regular review (quarterly, semi-annually, or annually) of your plan to be sure you are on track to meet your goals. It is that time of year again when we begin to build our plan for 2018 so let’s look at the key areas of the agent’s solid business plan.

Business Plan for the Successful REALTOR©

Step 1) “Success and history always leaves us clues.” I began by looking back to identify the clues that have been left for us and the business. I would look at the real estate market first and search for the following clues.
What have the number of sales been doing the last year? 2-5 years? Up? Down?
What have the number of listings been doing the last year? 2-5 years? Up? Down?
What have the average and median prices been doing?
What price ranges are experiencing more activity? Less activity?
What neighborhoods or areas are experiencing more activity? Less Activity?
What property types are selling more? Less?
What buyer types are buying more?
Where are the buyers coming from? Local? Next state or province? Over Seas?

Imagine the targeted and strategic plan you would be able to build for you and your real estate business with this kind of information?
Now you are not just winging it. You really know where and what to focus on.

Step 2) Looking At The Present State of Your Real Estate Business
What have my sales been doing? Up? Down?
What have my listings been doing? Up? Down?
What is my average price? Can I raise my average selling price?
What is my Gross Commission Income doing?
What is my average deal worth?
Where are my listings and sales coming from? Sources of business?
What types of buyers do I represent?
Where are the buyers coming from? Local? Out of area?
What are my pending sales?
What do I have for potential buyers and sellers?

Strategic Business Planning for Your Real Estate Business
What if you took the time to really track and measure and reflect on your business at a deeper level and see your strengths, weaknesses and opportunities?

Step 3) Activity Plans – Take the time to lay out your activity plan calendar a year in advance. Focus on the activities you know you are good at and you see a return on your invested time and money. I am guessing for most agents it would be your sphere of influence, referrals and face to face or voice to voice activities.

Step 4) Budgeting – Profit is the goal in business. Knowing what your personal life and your business world cost you monthly is so important. Expense management is just as important as your income and earnings. Have a clear picture of your expenses and measure all of them for their return on investment or if they can be reduced in any way.

Step 5) Goals – If your “Why” is big enough the “how” will take care of itself. What is your purpose? Vision? Values? Mission Statement? Taking the time to know what it is you want and why you want it is a game changer for us all. Nothing gives me more joy than impacting and improving people’s lives personally and professionally every day.

In my own real estate business, taking the time over the last 22 years to create a business plan has been so incredibly beneficial for me and I know it will for you as well.

In today’s post I have given you a brief business plan overview. To help you get going with your own plan I put together a step by step Business Plan Workbook you can download for free by clicking the link below.

Click here to download new business plan PDF….

Strength and courage,
Wade

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