OK, so I like to cook! I’ve learned that cooking and baking are very different. I’d have to admit 
that I prefer whipping up a Cajun chicken pasta over baking a cake. It’s not that I don’t like cake, but when I cook I am able to create, to use my imagination and combine key ingredients that create unique flavors and ultimately a great meal. The greatest pleasure I get from cooking is not from the meal itself, however, but from the reaction of the people for whom I am cooking (my core value.) I love to watch other people enjoying eating my creations.
Success in real estate is very much like cooking. You start with basic principles that always work (the recipe), add some personality and a variety of new ingredients, add to that your core motivating values and a coach that can help you make necessary adjustments along the way, and you’ll be headed in the right direction.
Success in today’s marketplace is not about rigidly sticking to cut-in-stone processes. It is about understanding your specific market and applying the right systems at the right time to generate the right leads. So, where do you start and how do you become the next award winner/top producer/rock star? Here are five critical ingredients to your recipe for success:
1) It all begins with a plan, a recipe if you will, that outlines what it is you are going to accomplish this year. Without a plan—and some specific goals—you will end up just making a mess of your kitchen, or rather, your business. Begin with the end in mind.
2) Build and work your database. The key ingredient here is a real estate-specific database management system. Your system must be able to manage people and properties, apply and create action or activity plans, manage your listings and closings, and do a great job with lead management and follow-up. There are many other things a good CRM can and should do, but without these few key ingredients it’s not worth investing your time or money.
3) Prospect daily. Sounds simple, but this is rarely mastered. Top performers know that they are in charge of making it rain. If there are no new leads coming in constantly, they know they are losing ground. There are several ways of prospecting and this is where you get to be creative. You get to choose what activities fit your personality, your market and the specific opportunities you identified in your plan. The key here is consistency. You must block time every day for what I call MMAs – Money-Making Activities.
4) Stop doing $15 an hour tasks. It is virtually impossible to get to a place where you are making $300.00 an hour if you spend the majority of your time doing administration-level activities. This is one of the hardest things to do, but once you realize that you cap your earning potential by being a control freak, it makes it a lot easier. I have always said: Systems first, assistants second. Set up the right systems and then get great assistants to administer them.
5) The best of the best all have personal coaches. There is a reason for this. A coach can look at what you are doing and help you make the necessary changes to perfect your recipe to success.
Being a successful real estate agent is not rocket science. Take it from Chef Verl, you just have to have the right recipe or plan – and then you have to execute on it!
By Verl Workman, Pinnacle Quest Consulting © 2011