We all want success easily. We all want to 'do it our way'. And, if
we're honest, in our quest for easy success, we'll all done dumb things.
That is, we realized they were dumb--after the fact. So, just because
I'm picking on new agents here doesn't mean I haven't done many more
than just ten dumb things!
I'm listing these here, though, to help you
avoid the mistakes I made as a new agent, and the mistakes I've observed
thousands of new agents make over the years I've managed, trained and
coached.
Some mistakes don't mean much, but, when an agent fails, it costs money to everyone-agents, offices, and consumers. It's
estimated that it costs a manager $15,000-30,000 for every agent hired
who fails! So, that agent isn't a profit-center, she's a cost center! In
addition, an agent who fails spends at least $5000-15,000 just in
'subsidized living' and real estate expenses the first three months in
the business. Finally, the consumer loses, because the agent is out of
the business before serving the consumer.
Heads Up
New
agents don't come into the business to fail. But, they don't realize
the effort and skill it takes to succeed. In addition, there are
increasingly difficult challenges for new agents:
1. The gap
between consumer expectations and agent performance is widening quickly
and dramatically. New agents must have better training, coaching, and
commitment from their brokers.
2. The market in most areas has become more challenging, so new agents can't get those 'easy sales'.
3. The committed, career-oriented agent is taking much more of the market share.
It's estimated that 50% of new agents fail and get out of the business
in their first year, and 75% are out in two years. That seems to me a
huge waste of resources-and a huge contributor to that expectations gap I
listed above. We need to stop that attrition now.
So, new agents,
I've created a list of the ten dumbest things I've seen thousands do to
fail themselves right out of the business.
1. Thinking that there are lots of
ways to start the business. There aren't. Real estate sales is sales,
and sales is a numbers game. (Up and Running in 30 Days, 4th edition, shows you exactly how to
work those numbers to your benefit).
2. Thinking they don't have to
lead generate, because they'll "do it differently." Don't talk to people
consistently and in great numbers and you'll be flipping burgers before
you know it! (Not that there is anything wrong in flipping burgers, but
you won't be "selling real estate".
3. Thinking that their manager
or office or the Internet will supply them leads. If that were the case,
your commissions would be much smaller.
4. Thinking that this business is about tasks and technology. It's not. It's about people relationships.
5. Treating the business like a 'next' business. It's not about finding
and selling a customer. It's about finding and keeping the customer for
long-term referral business.
6. Starting the business part-time,
with no ‘drop dead’ exit plan from your other work. I know. I started
part-time, but, within three months, I realized that I could not serve
my consumer honestly when I had to run to another job. The truth is that
you just don’t care much about the consumer if you’re not committed and
working a real estate at least 50 hours a week. If you have to start
part-time, give yourself a deadline to become full-time.
Managers, don’t hire without that dead-line in writing. You’ll be wasting your time training and coaching.
7. Not getting a commitment from your manager
that he/she will consistently and frequently coach you to a game plan.
If your manager can’t rise to that level of commitment, how successful
to you think your manager intends you to be? (Side note to managers: I
believe you need to be 100% committed to your agents, or else the
likelihood they will fail is 100%. Use a precise, consistent, proven
game plan like the 3rd edition of Up and Running in 30 Days
to put your agent to work, and coach your agent with Managers: Putting
Up and Running to Work, now in its 4th edition to match the new,
expanded agent’s start-up plan.)
8. Thinking that the best commission plan is the best place to work.
As the old song says, “Nothin’ from nothin’ is nothin’.” You need to
sell lots of real estate—lots and lots of real estate. Choose the place
where you think that will happen. New agents who figure out they only
have to sell three homes a year to pay those fees are thinking like
losers.
9. Not investing in the business until they ‘get
successful’. When would that be? Why do you get to be successful without
an investment? With that attitude, how are you going to compete with
those great agents—and how are you going to meet those amazingly high
consumer expectations?
10. Going into the business to see if they like it.
I’ll bet 50% of new agents don’t really go into the business to make it
a career. They go into the business to ‘try it out’. If that’s your
attitude, how do you expect your manager and your company to be 100%
committed to you, when you’re 25% committed?
A Great Manager Plus a Great Plan Plus Accountability = Success
Harsh
words above, but true. If you want to succeed, find a great manager
who will coach you and hold you to a start-up plan. Find a manager who
will tell you the truth—even when you don’t want to hear it! Find a
manager who is 100% committed to you, and you will be one of those 50%
who survive their first years, and go on to great careers.
If you've been in the business less than a year, what are the big mistakes you've seen?
Seasoned agents: What have you seen that causes agents to fail? What should and can managers do to avoid 'assisting' failure?