As I have been talking with people about how SCHC works with and trains new agents through our mentor program I have received a lot of good interest and feedback.  I have also remembered when I was a new agent starting in the real estate business.

 Aaron Cole – younger years

When I started in the business my broker spent quite a few hours over the first week showing me contracts, forms, home finance, and other information about how the office works.  This information covered during the first week turned out to be extremely valuable as I progressed in my real estate career.  However, what would have been more valuable and was not covered in much detail were the business-producing activities that have fueled my success over the years.  I learned these business-producing activities by trial-and-error and in doing so made lots of mistakes and spent lots money on ineffective activities.  I consider my first year a success producing over $4,000,000 in sales with 25 transactions, but I wonder how much better I could have done had I had mentor to keep me focused on doing the right things.  My success that year was not by any specific plan but more by determination.

If you’re considering getting into the real estate business as a professional agent, now is a great time. South Carolina Corporation has spaces available in the SCHC Mentoring Program. Mentoring Program goals include selling a home your first month and $2,000,000 plus in annual gross sales. If you are a new or struggling agent, we invite you to find out more about the SCHC Mentoring Program. Contact Aaron Cole, SCHC Broker-in-Charge, at (864) 322-1220.

Your real estate business starts when you start contacting people.

To be successful quickly, the most important activity you need to accomplish every day – at least several hours a day – is to communicate with people with the goal of getting a lead.  This activity of lead generation starts the business cycle… business cycle = contact, lead, appointment, listing contract, sale contract, closing $.  The more often you communicate with people, the greater your chances are of continuing the business cycle (the greater your chances are of working with someone to help them purchase or sell a property).  Your business plan should ensure that you spend enough time working in this sales cycle to reach your sales and commission expectations.  Remember, the biggest reason agents fail is they don’t contact enough people.

If you’re considering getting into the real estate business as a professional agent, now is a great time. South Carolina Corporation has spaces available in the SCHC Mentoring Program. Mentoring Program goals include selling a home your first month and $2,000,000 in annual gross sales. If you are a new or struggling agent, we invite you to find out more about the SCHC Mentoring Program. Contact Aaron Cole, SCHC Broker-in-Charge, at (864) 322-1220.

The best way to change your attitude from negative to positive is to make a sale.

Attitudes can change in seconds.  Each day, hour, and minute, you evaluate your feelings about the business.  Your experiences as you perform the activities in your plan fuel this evaluation.  You conclusions are based on your personal belief system.  It’s not the activities that cause you to have a certain attitude about the business, but the conclusions you draw from your experiences while you complete your activities.  Let’s say you contacted 25 prospects without getting a lead.  What do you conclude about that?  Agents who fail conlude that prospecting does not work.  Agents who succeed imagine themselves one step closer to a lead with every rejection.  Successful agents realize they must experience many rejections to get success.  You must have a “never give up” attitude about your business.

Agents expect a sale in the first month; not getting a sale can create a very negative attitude.  Remember, your protection against a negative attitude is to contact and talk to lots of people quickly.

For real estate success, action is more important than training.

An agent, especially a new agent, does not need a lot of training and good ideas on how to do the real estate business.  An agent needs a simple business plan so that the agent stays focused on the priorities of the business. Very few agents ever develop or implement a business plan, because they are too busy learning ideas about how to do the business (examples include multiple ways to contact FSBO’s and ideas on social media and marketing campaigns).

New agents need a clear, prioritized, directive plan telling them what to do every day, week and month to be successful.  They need direction from their first day in the business.  (Many experienced agents who have learned bad habits need this, too.)  They don’t need to do long-term goal-setting.  They need to know what to do on Monday, for example, and why to do it.

Many agents receive some bad advice from experienced agents on what they should be doing.  After all, most experienced agents don’t close very many sales.  Most agents, if asked, will give you their version of a business plan… a business plan that often results in a slow  start and/or low production.  New agents want (and need) a fast start.  So, a new agent simply can’t follow a “slow-start, low production business plan” from an experienced agent who does not do much business.

Remember, a business plan gets you motivated and moving toward success by telling what to do and when to do it.

An agent succeeds not because the agent has a plan; an agent succeeds because the agent is accountable to the plan. 

If action brings about success, then why don’t agents get in to action?  Because it is human nature not to.  What is the missing ingredient an agent needs?  An agent obviously needs a great plan and action-oriented training to have the skills needed to implement the plan.  But, what is critical to the agent’s success is someone to whom the agent is accountable.  Study after study shows that we attain our goals when we are accountable on a regular, short-term basis to someone who shares our desire for success.  That’s because we tend to work on time frames and schedules.  Those studies prove we work best with deadlines.  We work best when we have a heavy workload.  We work best when we have high expectations of ourselves, and we have someone – our coach or mentor – who shares those high expectations.

SCHC offers an agent Mentoring Program that includes a daily action plan, one-on-one training, guidance and accountability.  Specific goals of the Mentoring Program include selling a home your first month and $2,000,000+ in gross annual sales.  If you would like more information on the SCHC Mentoring Program, contact Aaron Cole, SCHC Broker-in-Charge, at (864) 322-1220 or email info@SCHomeCorp.com.