Michael Jordan- Michael Jordan is probably one of the best known sports Icons ever. He won a championship at the University of North Carolina. Then Olympic Gold which was followed by several NBA Championships. He broke just about every record there is when it comes to basketball.
Everyone wanted Mike to endorse their items. He had advertisements on everything from shoes, to cars, to underwear.
What made Michael Jordan so successful? While many of his friends were sleeping in, or out riding a bike, or doing anything else fun, he was practicing. He spent hours a day practicing basketball. When he tried out for the team the first time he was cut. That didn't stop him though, instead he pursued on and made it the next year.
How does this relate to real estate? Well, I am glad you asked. To become the best in real estate, it takes lots of hard work and determination. You have to be willing to put hours of time and effort into this business. You have to be strong to accept rejection and still press towards the prize. In 2005 our area like most of the US saw a boom in the real estate market. With the higher demand came a greater supply of agents. Unfortunately many of those agents saw an opportunity to capitalize on something and make some quick money.
Here are 5 basic principles to help you become the best:
Market to your Sphere of Influence- How often are you in contact with your direct sphere of influence? You should be in contact daily with at least 3 people from your SOI. These are your bread and butter of your business. You don't need to invest hours here, but some time needs to be focused on this group. Send them a quick email, or a polite phone call, even just a brief letter is all it takes.
Market yourself- How much time and money are you spending on branding yourself and marketing your business to the public? I have seen many times where a new agent sends out one or two just sold postcards and gets frustrated because they don't receive 5 new listings from the postcard. In fact, they don't even receive a single inquiry. When marketing your business, you have to remain consistent to doing it on a regular basis. To be effective your name and face has to be in front of your target audience on a regular basis. What I have experienced is those who call from a letter or postcard are people who have received multiple pieces from us. Many times they even keep the stack and pull them out while we are there listing their property. Marketing is a lot like learning to ride a bicycle. The first few times you don't have a lot of success and get a few bumps and bruises along the way. But over time, it begins to pay off and you begin to sail along!
Make a schedule- It amazes me how often an agent does not have a daily planner with their schedule in. This is so crucial to success. You need to plan out your days and have objectives & goals for each day. You don't have to micro-manage each day, but you need a rough plan for each day. Here's my schedule from yesterday:
- 8:30AM-1PM Morning floor duty- During which I planned to put together 15 new buyer packets, write a post, and leave comments on Activerain. Also, finish scheduling appointments for afternoon.
- 2PM- Meet with buyer to sign buyer agency contract & show property.
- 6 PM- Wednesday Evening Church
Now, while many other things were accomplished yesterday one thing I didn't get done was writing a blog post. But it is ok. This leads me into my next basic principle.
Prioritize things- Once you have a schedule for a day, you need to prioritize those items. Yesterday, the one thing I didn't get done was writing a post. While that is something I really wanted to accomplish, unfortunately, I did not have enough time. I could have done that instead of some of the other things I did, but I thought being prepared for my buyer was more important than that. I know on many occasions I have found myself wrapped up in reading a news article and its related topics and 2 hours have been wasted away. Since I have adapted following a daily schedule and prioritizing, this has not happened.
Close the Deal- I remember as a new agent I was so afraid to ask those difficult questions. Questions like "Would you like to go back to my office and write an offer on this property?" If you never ask buyers this question how will you know if they are ready or if there is some sort of objection not yet met in their criteria, or are they just kicking tires and wasting your time? In my first few years in real estate I didn't ask this question. I was one of the busiest agents around, but didn't have near the amount of transactions as other agents in my office. This is when I realized I needed to be confident in myself and ask the question.
These 5 tips along with many others have helped me to become successful in real estate. And, in 2002 helped my father & I become the top team in our company of over 250 agents. Since then we have been the top team in our office every year and in the top 5% of the entire company.
If you have any questions or want more information about what I do daily to increase business feel free to email me.
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I am the Co-Founder of 210 Consulting- Social Media Advisors. If you would like more information on any of the topics discussed in this blog, please contact me directly. Also, please visit my other online consulting blog for more social media tips, tricks and enhancements.
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