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Nine years ago, I decided the way to build my business was to help Realtor’s build their business. I created a two-hour workshop called “Real Estate Sales Mastery” which I did by myself. It has revolved to a half-day seminar that I do with one of my key realtors titled “Fortress Builders”-Seven Pillars for Your Real Estate Sales Success”.
The failure rate of successful agents is probably the same for those in our industry. The purpose of Fortress Builders was to impact the real estate community with powerful ideas and strategies that would change the lives of those who attend. At the end of the seminar, the realtor completes a questionnaire that offers additional information in the areas where they feel challenged. We then pass these completed questionnaires to the loan officers in the office and hopefully a relationship can be formed. This seminar has generated 35% of the relationships in my office and we have helped our agents increase their business by a minimum of 25%. Here is a snapshot of the seven pillars that we go thru during the seminar. They also relate to our industry so there will be things within this article that might stir some thoughts. Pillar One: Assess the Damage
People are motivated by either pain or pleasure. The first pillar does provide pain for most of the attendees as they really haven’t assessed where they are in their business when it comes to systems, business planning, lead generating and time management. The agents go thru a number of questions that assesses where they are in these areas. Another assessment in Pillar One is entitled, “Why is Your Production Where it is Today?” Here are some of the statements that I’ve heard during my 25 years of loan production: “I’m new at this”. “I could never be a great producer”. “I wish my company would invest more money in my business”. “I don’t like or know how to prospect successfully”. Saving the best for last, “If you only knew my past”. This is where I can challenge most people as I have a past that tops most humans (lost my mom and sister in the same week at 13, dad murdered at 19, was a drug addict from the time I was 16-22, arrested by the FBI at 15 for robbing a Federal Credit Union (by the way, I didn’t do it), almost put in prison for an assault, slept in a car for two years of my life) I think that’s enough to prove that most backgrounds can be overcome. There isn’t any power in the past; there is great power in the present. Pillar Two: The CEO Mindset
We need to take hold of intentional thinking. Having a CEO mindset and being intentional is so important to the success of your business. Intentional thinking helps you become more aware of getting what you want. It is a process that begins with making astute decisions with the use of your time, staying in your “giftedness-zone” and the use of your capital for best results. So as the CEO of your company, where are you spending your time? If you calculate your hourly rate, (desired annual income divided by the amount of weeks you work throughout the year, divided by the amount of hours you work each week) and then assess where and what you are spending your time doing, you find that most of the time it is not doing the dollar productive activities that you should be doing. CEO’s think differently. They invest monies and time to make improvements in themselves and their business. They plan and investigate first before calling on clients. They create systems to differentiate a client’s motivation and buying time frame. Pillar Three-Engage in Strategic Thinking
I heard real estate teacher Mike Ferry once say, “You can wait for the business come to you, or you could pay for the business to come to you, or you can earn it like a pro. By creating actions through a well thought-out plan, you can create a replicatable and predictable business. I believe there are some key strategies that create this kind of business. They are: Work with a business plan and execute the actions/disciplines on a consistent basis. These actions I call “non-negotiable”. Another key is with the use of a database system or automated process, converting contacts into closings. Marketing to your past clients is another key along with creating professional business partner resources. The professional business sources that I have created are like having an additional sales force for me. The real estate professional can create the same kind of business model. The last key I believe is having a business coach to keep you accountable. I’ve been with Building Champions for a number of years and I believe that having someone holding me accountable has made a big difference in my business. Pillar Four-Facing the Challenges
Facing your challenges head on is defining successful salesmanship. What are your biggest challenges? Competing for the same buyers, long hours with low volume, deals that don’t close, competition, resources, etc. Pillar four encourages those in attendance to change their perspective and harness adversity. There is one major difference between the average person’s success and a high achiever’s and that is how they respond to failure. The Passion Principle is to do what you were created to do. It is your purpose in life. Thomas Edison was a great enthusiast of failure. His failures are what encouraged him to create his inventions. Pillar Five-Creating Your UMP
What is “your UMP”? It is your Unique Marketing Position. It’s the elements of a strong position that differentiates you from the rest of the pack. It’s showing your true and unique self. Maybe it’s how you communicate that makes you different. 7% of Realtors control 93% of the business. What’s an UMP? It’s how your clients see you. What your clients say to others about you. It’s how you define your business. We need to put “UMPF” in our UMP. Actions that need to be taken would be to define your expertise, create a written marketing plan, and put it in place with consistent actions. Pillar Six-Developing Systems
The first five pillars set the stage for Pillar Six. Pillar One focused on an honest assessment of where your current business is; what are the excuses that you are using to limit your success, and which areas do you need improvements. Pillar two stressed that you need to take ownership in all aspects in your business. Strategic thinking in Pillar Three, forces the question, “Where is my business coming from?” Pillar Four stressed that failures happen and that I need to harness the adversities when they happen. Pillar Five’s focus was creating your UMP in your business. Pillar Six is showing the Realtor’s my business system called PROS. The “P” stands for “Perpetual” –how can we create a business that will keep creating business within itself. The “R” stands for “a Referral-Based Business. The “O” is for running as “Optimum” as possible; to create a wow experience for our clients and also creating a non-event for them, and the “S” is for “Saleable”. To create a business that runs so well in its operation that produces business perpetually from the referrals that we receive from our past clients to the point that someone would be willing to buy your business would be the ultimate goal of any CEO. I personally have done this in business and it is a burning desire to share my plan to as many loan officers and real estate agents as I can. By taking the wonderful four-letter word LEAD from start to finish and creating four referrals from it is my goal. I show the realtor/audience how to do this. Pillar Seven-Partnership Alliances How do dynamic partnerships develop? For myself, I’ve had the same realtor/builder base for the last 6 years; some as long as 16 years. Pillar Six will show those in the audience that the “three-card” syndrome doesn’t work. By forming a true partnership with one Title Company, one mortgage professional, one 1031 company, etc., will create more business because of the essence and loyalty that is formed within the group. I have my realtor partner cover this whole section as it comes from the realtor’s point of view. Additional Tools for Those Who Attend
Always provide “take-away” for those who just spent four hours with you. Some of the take-away would be cross-selling scripts for the realtor/lender relationships, Daily Disciplines for the CEO Realtor, and Building Champion’s Business Building Tool. Remember the questionnaire for the agent to complete where they can request additional help and assistance in the future. I strongly encourage you to create this kind of seminar for your realtor community. If you would like myself and John Roush of Atrium Realty to come to your area and do a Fortress Seminar, you can contact Tom Ninness at 303-270-9600 or go to the website: www.summitchampions.com
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