What Do You Measure Yourself By?

Really growing your business is about focusing on measuring just one or two key things. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll tell you what to do to get that growth you’re capable of. Let’s begin with this simple question: What do you measure yourself by?

In Phil Knight’s book, The Shoe Dog, he says, “You measure yourself by the number of people that measure themselves by you.” That means being a role model inside of your industry. A lot of agents are set on increasing income for short-term gratification. They want to look successful on Instagram and build that image of affluence when they should be building their true net wealth. The conditions of the day won’t always be as great as they have been the last five to six years.

To be a great agent you need that level of stability that ensures you know how to adapt regardless of market conditions. That’s why you need to measure yourself the right way, and the best benchmark is the number of appointments in your diary every week. In my training sessions I teach the 3/15/60 method:

Book 3 appointments every day, which gives you 15 appointments a week for a minimum of 60 appointments for the month.

The other number you can track on is your open for inspections every Saturday. Five to six opens each week gets you three to four listings and sales each and every month. And that income will put you in the position to put on your first assistant.

There’s a system and a formula for everything in your business. If you haven’t achieved the level of growth you want then get focused and put better systems in play. One of the best ways to learn those systems and to get clear on what you measure yourself by is through training at our Master Class Programs and the Josh Phegan Membership. Start measuring those key things you must have so you can fully live out your potential.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Feature Interview – Alexander Phillips & William Phillips Part 1

This is a special holiday edition of our High Performance Podcast featuring Josh Phegan in a live interview with Alexander Phillips and William Phillips. Today’s discussion took place at the 2016 List Sell Negotiate event. They cover a list of questions for the audience beginning with database size and time it takes to build it. That segues into how to build a nourished database.

They talk about building and maintaining relationships, using data for client qualification, and taking a long-term view. They do a role-play around how to interview a visitor to an open home to get the information you need to qualify them as a buyer or seller, now and for the future. They emphasize following up in a timely manner. Discussion then continues in Part 2.

Getting Back to Financial Safety

Having money put aside really does change the way that you work as an individual. In this Coaching Tip I’m talking about getting back to safety and out of panic mode with your finances.

You need to be in a position in your life that your income is greater than your expenses. The problem comes when you feel really successful and start to spend what you’re making. Before you start spending that extra money coming in, calculate what it costs for you and your family to live each month, then triple that amount. This is the minimum savings you should have in your bank account. This is your first level of safety.

Next, decide how much savings you need to feel comfortable and put back that amount. Then project on how much you need in order to become entrepreneurial. Here, you won’t be depleting your savings if you buy an investment property or a house, and putting undue pressure downwards on your assistants and yourself because suddenly you’re in panic mode not having that cash at call.

You owe it to yourself, your team and your customers to buy yourself that knowledge that everything’s going to be okay, for you and for them. Yes, it’s tough to start that savings account when you’re a new agent working to just meet your current expenses, but as soon as you start to earn good money make sure you start saving some. With enough reserve income you have no worries around whether or not you’ll survive. You will.

Keep yourself in a position of safety so that you can help people make better decisions around selling their properties now or waiting for the right time. You can give your best advice because you don’t need to make the sale. And that’s where your position is most powerful.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Ep 84 — Why Age Is Not a Barrier

In this High-Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips tell why age isn’t a barrier. Josh notes that agents may think they’re too young on the one hand, or too old on the other. Alexander explains how to counteract perceptions other people may have about age with demonstrated knowledge and confidence. Josh states that capability and competence are what people are looking for, and advises getting skills and knowledge from great mentors. Discussion continues around ways that mentoring helps.

They discuss how to combat complacency as you get older, and stay fit and healthy to remain competitive. Josh ends with a reminder to have a vision for a bigger future than your past, and stay hungry to achieve it.

The race for growth

Your only job is to be on the phone or in front of the customer every day. If you’re doing anything else you’re doing it wrong. In my Coaching Tip today I’m going to tell you how to scale by 300 using milestones to guide you in leveling up inside of your business.

Administrative work is necessary, but it’s not the work that brings in the fees. If you’re doing $30,000 a month 3 consecutive months then you’re at the point to put on an assistant. Once you get on the phone booking appointments full time you will radically see the results shift, but you have to make that decision to become an absolute specialist around making those calls and getting face to face with customers.

One thing you will surely discover when you put on that assistant is all the flaws inside of your business. You will have to stop working emotions and improve your systems, your checklists and your database, and that’s a good thing. You’ll learn to build a team and scale the effort in lots of 30 transactions, first to 300,000, then to 600,000, and beyond. Build that momentum and then you can scale around that.

Set your vision to focus on what you’re really good at, and have someone else to do 100% of the other work. You’re the one who understands how to take a client from one point to the next, wherever they are in their process. You help them make the decisions that will take them where they want to go. Let go of the less specialised work – including some of the phone work – and let your assistant provide the value you hired them to do. Help them build confidence and capability so they become a real asset to your business.

So, starting from day one, treat each new hire the way you want them to work inside of your organisation and they will help you scale by 300. Teach them your systems and make sure they follow them. Use checklists and forms to maintain consistency. Give them everything they need to do their work better than you can, then focus on doing your own work that mattters most.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Resetting for a New Year

Beginning a new year is an opportunity to think about what it takes to be that great real estate agent you want to be. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll help you focus on resetting for a new year through scaling, planning, commitment, and making good decisions.

Multiplying your business really comes down to understanding three simple numbers: average sale price, volume, and fees. Every year you’ll want to think about how you’re going to scale your services so you can do more, charge more, and sell higher priced properties than the year before.

Scaling is about increasing your capacity through fitness, systems and people. It’s getting fitter at the work you do, like fee delivery and the way you prospect. Systems involve checklists and forms that ensure everything gets done properly and consistently. Position the right people at the right time, beginning with yourself. Make that decision to be a much better agent. Prepare to deliver a higher level of service. Follow the routines that will set you free to be at your best every day.

Plan ahead to make the most of your time this year. Know that there are only seven auction Saturdays in the first quarter, so set your auction dates early so you can run great campaigns in March and early April before the holidays. Plan your first quarter well or your second quarter will suffer. And make sure you schedule in your own holidays so you can really be customer-focused every workday.

Don’t forget that we’re here to help you with a range of brand new programs. There’s also our continuing MasterClass Program, and the Josh Phegan Membership will feature new short courses and additional content this year. We’d love to be involved in helping you become that much better agent in 2017.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Mergers and Acquisitions

So you’re ready to open your second site. Brilliant! Have you considered buying out an existing agency? In my Growth, Leadership and Management Tip today I’ll advise you on the benefits of mergers and acquisitions, being friendly with your competitors, and growing a business that’s sellable.

There’s an organic way to grow a business, but you might do better to grow through through a merger or an acquisition of a competitor’s agency. It’s my opinion that you should always buy someone out, especially for your second site, because you won’t have to start from scratch with your building and equipment, with hiring all new people, and prospecting for new clients. Particularly in buying a property management business you’re also acquiring a whole book of potential sellers and investment properties to establish your brand with. Plus a property management asset is a sellable element

Negotiating a merger can be an advantage for you and the people you’re acquiring the business from. A merger with a sunset clause can help them save face upon their exit by removing any appearance of failure. This is why you maintain good relations with all of your competitors, because you never know which one you’re going to buy out one day. And you never know when you’re going to need to sell, so set a long-term goal toward building a sellable business driven on renewable income streams.

Buying a great property management business and bringing it into your own helps you get to that next scalable commercial size more quickly. You’ll have more property managers who can then split portfolios based on geography and functionality, and the way you do the work will also change. Once daily property management revenue meets cash flow requirements, sales will happen naturally. That annuity income will get you through bad markets as well as good, establishing your business as profitable and thus sellable.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this Growth, Leadership and Management Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next month.

Ep 83 — The Power of Routine

This High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips on the power of routine and how it affects an agent’s fees and success. Alexander  explains how following a routine helps you stay fresh, balanced and structured. Josh points out the importance of focusing on making decisions that are important and simplifying everything else through routine. Alexander describes prospecting and training routines new agents can really benefit from.

They discuss the necessity of building recovery into your routines, knowing when to be flexible, working smarter and always being “on.” Josh suggests identifying opportunity gaps and challenging the routine you have in place if it’s not working for you.

Ep 82 — Marketing in the Modern Age

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips cover marketing and what it looks like in the modern age. They discuss direct mail, how to use it, and where it is still relevant in a campaign. Josh details how additional mediums support your phone calls from awareness to conversion. Alexander tells how most agents stick with a pattern or copy each other rather than thinking about what their customer will benefit from.

They talk about agent marketing vs. property marketing, brand experience, consistent and professional presentation, and preparing marketing campaigns now for 2017. Alexander projects on changes in the market next year, and Josh notes ways to prepare for the first quarter.

The Role of Planning

To be that great real estate agent who is refreshed and energetic in front of the client you need something to look forward to every four to six weeks. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll explain the role of planning in making sure you’ve got your business covered so you can take some time off when the time is right.

You can live out of season inside of your business if you understand what’s important and what’s not. That takes planning and most people don’t do it. You can avoid getting yourself into situations and not knowing what to do to get out by looking ahead up to 180 days from now. For example, there are only seven auction Saturdays in the first quarter of 2017. Then April will be a busy month with three 4-day work weeks. If you plan ahead and set things up right you can actually take a few days off around those holidays without missing any real business opportunities.

It’s all about learning when to take leave and when not to. I’ve found the best times are December 10th through January 5th, two weeks around Easter, and maybe a week between June and August. Once you hit August it’s a big run through to November. The key is to plan for those seasons well ahead of the curve and make sure you hit your targets, because if you don’t finish that business then you can’t take the time you need to refresh and prepare for the next run.

So the role of planning is to help you make better decisions about how you use and regenerate your energy so you can be a great agent and a great person, have a satisfying life, and stay clear about what success looks like for you.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.