Jared James
By Jared James
At almost every event where I speak, I try to include the topic of environment whenever possible. Some would probably question why I would do that when I am primarily talking to REALTORS®, salespeople, and entrepreneurs, but I always wonder why it is not discussed more.
A few years ago, a study was conducted to try and find common denominators among the top 100 salespeople in the world. They were expecting to get results like customer service, systems, or drive. Those are definitely important, but do you know what the No. 1 was commonality among the top 100 salespeople in the world? It was something called “the ability to manage or ability to control one’s state of mind.”
For any of you who have attended an event I have spoken at live, you know that I could talk about “state of mind” all day long, but that is not the specific point of this article. The common denominator found among the top 100 salespeople is interesting though. When was the last time that you saw a breakout session or keynote dedicated to this topic at your company or state convention? (Cue the cricket sounds in the background.)
So how do you do this? Let’s get practical about it.
Scenario No. 1 – Let’s say you went to a closing where you were representing the seller. At the closing, your seller decides that he/she is going to back out of the deal because they don’t like what the buyer is wearing that day. I would imagine that you would be pretty ticked off about this. While you are in this ticked off state, imagine that you receive a phone call from another one of your clients…
Scenario No. 2 – You are now at a closing where you represent the seller and the seller decides at the closing that you have done such an amazing job that they are doubling your commission. You leave that closing in a jubilant state and receive the exact same phone call as scenario No. 1, only this time you are overjoyed and happy.
Here is the question… Continue reading »
Chris Nichols
By Chris Nichols
There’s a story about a group of students that goes a little something like this:
A Harvard professor was fielding questions from his class regarding the upcoming midterm exam. The questions were varied, but all seemed to carry a similar theme. Upon realizing this, the professor stopped the questioning and said, “Even though your questions sound different, they are essentially all the same; ‘What is the minimum I have to do to pass this test?’”
As of writing of this blog post, the London 2012 Olympics are just two weeks away. Athletes from around the world will be gathering to compete in various events. I can guarantee you, without a doubt, that none of these world-class athletes are asking themselves, “What is the minimum I have to do to get a gold medal?”
There is no question that the real estate business can be viewed as a “test” at times. But are you falling into the trap of finding ways to do the minimum necessary to just pass this test? If you are, I’d recommend you find a way to adjust your thinking and instead “GO FOR THE GOLD!”
Chris Nichols is a REALTOR® with Prudential Utah Elite Real Estate in Orem, Utah. Learn more about Chris at utahrepro.com or @utahREpro.
Jared James
By Jared James
As many of you know, I make my living as a speaker/trainer and have had the opportunity to speak to tens of thousands of REALTORS® and entrepreneurs over the last 12 months. My job is not just to communicate effectively, but to entertain and make the audience feel something. As Maya Angelo put it, “People will not remember what you do or say, but they will remember how you made them feel.”
About six months ago, I had the opportunity to keynote a large event in Texas, and it was one of those times when you feel completely connected with the audience and everything was going well. At the end of the event I had a younger guy come up to me and tell me how he loved my speech so much that he was ready to run through a brick wall. (Not a practice I recommend or condone.) He said that he loved everything I had to say, but there was just no business in his area. He said it didn’t matter what he did, there just weren’t any transactions.
I don’t usually have the time to do this, but on this day I did, so asked him to grab his computer and pull up for me every transaction that had happened over the last 30 days in his area according to his MLS. He did this and it turned out that there were 337 transactions! So much for NO transactions…
I looked him dead in the eye and I said that it seems that the problem was not a lack of transactions, the problem was that his name is not on those transactions! *friendly smile*
I am not mentioning this agent by name because he is not the point of the story. I bring up this point because I think this mindset is running rampant among many REALTORS® today. Continue reading »
Jared James
By Jared James
In my last post I spoke about goal setting, and what we actually have to focus on in order to never set goals that we don’t meet again. I have received responses from many of you who feel that you have everything in order, and yet you still don’t seem to be getting what you want out of your business or life. Many times this is because we still have “inner conflicts” that have yet to be resolved. Watch the video below to see what I mean.
Jared James is the CEO and founder of Jared James Enterprises (JJE) and travels around North America speaking to and coaching REALTORS®. Connect with Jared at www.jaredjamestoday.com, on facebook.com/jaredjamestoday, or follow him on Twitter @jaredjamestoday.
Jared James
By Jared James
Hi Ypn’ers! If you are like most people, you are planning to do one of two things for the New Year:
1.) Get motivated and try once again to set a new goal for the New Year, or…
2.) Don’t even attempt it because you have been there, done that, and are tired of setting goals every year only to disappoint yourself by not achieving them.
There are many things that I am not very good at. For example, I have good form but swim at the speed of a sloth in the water. I am also probably the most directionally dysfunctional person you will ever meet. Don’t challenge me on this. I have come to terms with this fact and I accept it. But one thing I have always been very good at is to understand WHY people do what they do, or don’t do what they do. In every circumstance there are specific reasons why we are successful or not, shy or outgoing, look up or look down, speak high or low and so on.
In an effort to not bore you with the psychology of it all, I will just say this: There are very specific reasons why you have or have not hit your goals in the past or why you will or will not going forward. I have the fortune of keynoting conventions for groups all over North America and recently I covered this very topic. If you want to figure out how to set your goals for 2012 and actually achieve them… then enjoy this short clip!
Jared James is the CEO and founder of Jared James Enterprises (JJE) and travels around North America speaking to and coaching REALTORS®. Connect with Jared at www.jaredjamestoday.com, on facebook.com/jaredjamestoday, or follow him on Twitter @jaredjamestoday.
Anand Patel
By Anand Patel
Successful real estate agents are failures.
Let me explain. To really make it big in real estate, we have to accept the fact that failing — A LOT — is part of the equation. We all know real estate is a numbers game, we just have to remember that every time we fail (i.e. FSBO says, “I just bought this new how-to book and I’m selling my home myself!” Buyer says, “Sorry, I’m working with my sister’s ex-boyfriend’s step mom who just got her real estate license.”) we are one step closer to getting that “Yes!” If we aren’t failing at least weekly, preferably DAILY, we aren’t stepping outside our comfort zone enough. This means we are settling and not pushing ourselves beyond what we “think” we are capable of accomplishing. We all know, deep down, we can each do MORE. I have to remind myself all the time when I get in a rut.
So what do we do to keep moving forward, being persistent, resilient, and staying motivated in the face of “failing” daily?
- Make a game out of it. Why can’t failing be fun? Keep tally on a whiteboard in your office of each call that’s a “No” and then celebrate the eventual “Yes!” with a simple pat on the back, a little victory dance at your desk, or buy yourself that new jacket you’ve been wanting as a reward. Do whatever it takes to make it fun and enjoyable.
- Don’t take it personally. Each person you don’t attempt to call or approach, you are already 100 percent guaranteed NOT to get their business. What do you have to lose?
- My favorite method: Continue reading »
Crystal Webster
By Crystal Webster
The Get Motivated seminar series recently came to Kansas City and I was pretty excited to go! On top of tickets being about $5; Bill Cosby, Joe Montana, Laura Bush, Gen. Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani, Steve Forbes, John Walsh (the list goes on and on) were speaking.
I had some difficult closings happening that week, but aren’t all closing difficult these days? So I decided to take the day to “get motivated.” I walked in the door of the arena to about 20,000 others looking for some mojo too. It felt like a huge rock concert (at 7 a.m.) with people everywhere just excited to be there. We stocked up on our $50 worth of snacks for the morning (it’s still in a concert hall so we got concert pricing…) and went to find our general admission seats.
Wow, just wow. Seeing these people–in real, technicolor life–was pretty powerful. To think, these people were once at the very tippy-top of their industries…
However, the message was not that powerful, nor motivating. There was a lot of, “Remember the time I did this? Yea, I’m awesome.” And this: “I overcame adversity and become the biggest name in ______. I rule.”
I was expecting (or at least was hoping for) some helpful hints about getting ahead, staying organized and motivated, and maybe a little creativity. Instead, I seemed to get a big pat on the back fest. Oh, with a couple of infomercials for investment products thrown in to make up for the fact that the tickets were only $5.
By the end of day I just wanted to take a nap (and, really, get the last 8 hours of my life back). So my recommendation, if you get the itch to go to the get motivated seminar, is to instead buy their autobiographies, burn a $20 bill, and read one of those Dale Carnegie books that’s collecting dust on your bookshelf.
Crystal Webster is a REALTOR® in the Kansas City area. Visit her at www.kcyoungprofessionals.com and www.theheritagehometeam.com.
Dave Robison
By Dave Robison
A few years ago, I was talking with an agent in my office, we will call him Jack. I said to Jack, “Jack, what happened last week? You didn’t make any new calls.” In our office, we report how many calls we make each week to hold each other accountable. Jack said, “The Smiths deal is taking up my time…it’s just all I work on. The other agent is so difficult to work with, too.”
At this point I could have said, “Okay good luck, keep up the good work.” But if I want him to succeed, I have to go deeper:
Me: “Okay, lets talk about that. Yesterday, how many times did you call him?”
Jack: “Once.”
Me: “How long was that phone call?”
Jack: “10 minutes.”
Me: “Okay, so what happened with the other 8 hours of the day?”
He became frustrated with the statistics and was at a loss of words. He realized that his emotions surrounding the deal were consuming him. He had anxiety about the deal going through. A sign that you might be stuck in this same mode is if you have closings one month and none the next. Or, if you didn’t have any time to call new leads yesterday you might be in this mode, too. The top REALTORS® all share something in common: They have emotional resilience. They learn how to get closings every month. Here are some steps to overcome the consumed state of mind and make yourself consistent with closings.
1. Keep statistics: By keeping statistics of your BIG ROCKS, as Stephen Covey suggests, you can ensure you get the most important things done. We keep stats on the number of calls we make. Continue reading »
Jessica Hickok
By Jessica Hickok, 2009 NAR Conference Blogger
It’s Sunday, day 3 of the annual conference here in beautiful San Diego, and I can’t help but think I don’t want it to end…however, I’m really excited to get back to work!
Every year that I have attended the NAR Annual Conference and Expo, I always find it to be a huge shot in the arm. A shot of motivation, a shot of confidence in what I do, and a huge shot of ambition to become even better.
I have put together a list of my personal top 5 highlights of the conference this year and find it to be reason enough to plan on attending next year’s conference.
1. Networking with your peers and colleagues is invaluable.
I have attended some fabulous parties and tweet-ups and learned so many new things about how my fellow REALTORS® balance things with their personal and business life. It’s always fun to meet your online friends in real life.
2. I found out that Transaction Desk is going mobile!
The Expo trade show floor is huge and I have found some new alternatives to managing our office listings and contracts. One thing that I’m super excited about is that Transaction Desk by Instanet Solutions is bringing their stuff to the mobile device! Talk about time saver!
3. I Crossed Something Off My Bucket List.
Speaking for the first time at NAR was a huge accomplishment and opportunity for me. One of the best things you can do to learn more for yourself is to teach what you know to someone else. Again, talking with colleagues is all about sharing and learning. During our property management session, we received so many questions from others that it got us thinking and planning new ideas for the way we run our business. Thank you guys for contributing to our session!
4. I saw the Priceline Negotiator!
Granted, I didn’t get to actually meet William Shatner in person because of the time crunch I was on, but I did get to see him and snap his picture from approximately 10 feet away. NAR does a great job of setting up things to where you don’t feel excluded if you have something else that you need to get done.
5. I love what I do and I believe in the NAR organization all that much more.
It may sound cheesy, but I get all pumped up about what I do from discovering new things. And that is the biggest highlight. I’m proud to call myself a REALTOR® because it is a brand that I believe in and that has treated me, and 19,000 others, very well over the last four days. Can’t wait to see you all next year!
Jessica Hickok, a self-proclaimed blogging and Twittering fanatic, is with Dizmang Properties in Springfield, Mo. Visit Jessica’s blog: www.jessicahickok.com.
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