Monthly Archives: November 2017

Make NOW Your Turning Point

It’s almost December.  One of my favorite months of the year… December is delightful, magical and eventful.  It is when relationships are solidified and memories made.   AND it’s the most sacred and holy celebration of life.

Yet, for me as a Coach, the reason December is delightful, magical, and why relationships become reality is because December is when the good become GREAT in real estate.  Professionals who are playing to win, play their best game in the final month of the year.

The turning point and most critical season of 2018 is December 2017. Make your move now to be the change you wish to see in your business.  Consider these three essential components.

1. Set aggressive goals and objectives for 2018
   a.  Goals must be non-negotiable.
   i.  Identify who and what will suffer if you fail
   ii.  Make adjustments and modifications as needed to succeed, not to short-cut or short-sale your business
   b.  Discern the best objectives and execute each.
   i.  The goal is the what; the objective is the how
   a)  Have step by step systems in place to hit each objective
   b)  Make each step measureable and inclusive of elements of accountability
   ii.  Celebrate each objective’s victory; re-evaluate each missed opportunity
2. Know your numbers
   a.  What is the source of each closed sale in 2017
   b.  What was the investment in the source
   c.  What is the ROI on each investment made in your business
   d.  Determine what you need more of and what you can simply do without!
3. Embrace the concept that “Success take a Village”
   a.  Identify your tribe
   i.  Personal Influencers; Supporters; Center of Influence
   ii.  Allied Resources
   iii.  Professional mentors; colleagues; associates
   b.  Seek and find and accountability partner
   i.  Hire a professional coach
   a)  Weekly calls and accountability
   b)  Professional tips and advice to keep you on track
   c)  One who can advise and analyze market vs. personal production
   ii.  Accountability Partner
   a)  A professional partner NOT a friend
   b)  Checking in for measureable outcomes of goals/objectives vs. actual numbers

Tis the Season.

The season to show gratitude and celebrate.  Make the most of “the most wonderful time of the year” by planning to make your next year the best ever.  It’s simple…plan, work and as always: “Be a resource, not a sales pitch”.

A Bountiful Harvest

In this season of Thanksgiving, I pause and wonder…why is there a season of Thanksgiving?

My hope for all this season (especially myself) is that we are reminded of the unearned blessings which are showered upon us.  The complicated, yet simple things most of us take for granted each and every day.  Breath, water, clean air, freedom and of course the five amazing senses to experience each and every opportunity surrounding us.

This season, let us hold the light and be the reflection of an amazingly complicated, yet simple industry.  As real estate professionals, we represent the essence of servant leadership. We work tirelessly to serve in hopes that we will be compensated 45 to 60 days later…and what an amazing opportunity and ride that is!  At the end of the event (homeownership) we witness the essence of life’s purpose…empowering others to live the life of which they have only dreamed.  The gift of creating and maintaining future memories that will leave a legacy for generations.

This week’s Tuesday’s with Kathy’s focus is not on a better industry, yet on the business of being better in and for the industry.  While you allow your light to shine…turn it up a bit.  Yet don’t turn it on yourself…turn it on others.  The greater you allow them to shine, the greater your reach and impact.

As you greet friends, family and acquaintances over this week of Thanksgiving.  Leave a sweet scent with every step you take.  Rather than walking in with an air of “Here I am!!!!”, enter and serve with an attitude of “There YOU are” ….

Our industry provides both the stage and opportunity for the season of Thanksgiving to become a daily practice.  Be a resource, not a sales pitch.  Sow graciously and cheerfully and you will reap abundantly.  Far beyond your imagination.

Gather, be thankful, love, and be purposeful.

Stop, Drop, & Listen

As you may know, or perhaps even listened, I recently had the awesome opportunity to be interviewed by an amazing influencer in our industry and he asked some simple questions that I would like to delve a bit deeper into now.

What’s the most important habit a recruiter can refine?

If I have only ONE…it’s to refine the art of listening.  Hearing is one of the five senses….and listening is an art. The habit to refine?  Become an artist.

Steps to master the art of listening:

1. Master the scripts for all calls.
   a)  You must master scripts for your phone calls, texts, social and most significantly your face to face interview.
   b)  Remember there are 3 phases to scripts mastery:  Memorize, internalize and customize…
   c)  Once you are confident of what you are going to say…you strengthen your position and your ability to listen aggressively.
2. Once you have mastered your scripts here are examples of what you are more open to hear:
   a)  Phone interviews:
   1. What is the speed at which they speak?
   2. What is their tonality?
      Listen to identify their behavior style and you will then know how to drive the interview should you get face to face…Are they motivated by emotions or money?
      Why?  70% are emotional decision makers.  It’s not the money it’s what the money will do that compels them to move.

   b)  Face to face Interviews:

   • Listen with more than your ears…listen with your eyes, your ears and your heart.
   • IF they are in front of you, in your office…they are hirable TODAY.  Period. End.
   • Listen aggressively to find out where their pain is…this is unlocking the key to recruiting success and mastering the art of attracting the talent you desire by mastering the ART of LISTENING.
3. You may have coaches recommend that it’s all about the questions you ask…YES!
   a)  You do ask probing questions, yet if you are not listening to their response and responding appropriately, it moves from a consultation to an interrogation very quickly.
   b)  The 70% of prospects who are emotional decision makers will make their decision to join you during your presentation.

In a world so filled with instant reactions, gratification and responses, we often catch ourselves so eager to respond that we truly fail to listen.  Stop that now. Instead, be a resource, not a sales pitch.  Listen more than you speak.  And when you do speak, contribute value and solutions, not babble.

Recruiting is weaving the amazing tapestry called your story…each thread is important.  What holds it all together and completes the tapestry is the art of listening.

Top 5 Tips for Real Estate Recruiters

I recently had the awesome opportunity to be interviewed by an amazing influencer in our industry and he asked some simple questions that I would like to delve a bit deeper into now.

What is the Best Advice for Starting as a Recruiter?

Be a resource, not a sales pitch—remember, your job is not to “sell” your company, yet it is to discern if your company is the right fit for your candidate.

Here are the Top 5 things to remember:

1.  What and whom are you attracting?

• Part-time
• Co-Career
• Full time professionals
• All the above

And it’s okay, there is no wrong answer!  You must stay true to your model and how you support your model, which means everyone is not a fit! Find those who are, hire them and move onward!

2.  Do you provide resources to support each?

• Why?
• How?
• When?
• What difference will it make (transactions) to the candidate?

3.  What is the value of your company based on benefits, tools and services you provide?

• Be prepared and confident to discuss and consult to the value of each. —This is NOT an elevator speech! This is the heart of the consultation.
• How can you dollarize each tool, benefit, resource that you provide?

i. Meaning how many additional transactions will each add?
ii. What do that do to the candidate’s bottom line

4.  For Heaven’s sake, you cannot lose what you don’t have. Make the call!  While you are worried about what you will say, they are worried you will not call!  The worst thing that can happen is they say…No…and by the way, they are not saying “Heck NO! NEVER” …they are saying…. “Not now”, or “Not yet”, or “I’m not in enough pain where I am to overcome the fear of change” …

This has been magnified through social media.  If you are doing a great job (and if you are not, why not?) allowing candidates to sneak a peek at how attractive your business model, office and culture is for the real estate industry, you must pick up the phone and call and invite them in.  When you don’t call them, they are like the pretty girl who was never asked to the dance.  They are sitting by the phone and waiting.  They may say “Not yet” and that is okay.  They are still longing for a call.

5.  Be so good and know your value so well, that you are unstoppable and you WILL attract who you want.

Recruiting is telling your story.  It is weaving the fabric of your organization, including your value, tools, resources, benefits and culture into a beautiful tapestry in which your prospect or candidate wants to be securely wrapped in.  Tell your story better.  Be so compelling that they ask you to join, today.  If they don’t…make sure you ask them.  They just might do it.