Ep 56 — Adapting to Change

In today’s High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips focus on adapting to change quickly and scaling your business effectively. Alexander describes how he structures his proposal process and ways other agents fail at this basic task. They stress quick response times, face-to-face interactions, keeping all text and visuals to a brief summary of what you’ve discussed with the client, and always making the best use of your time. Josh stresses keeping everything immediately relevant, simple and scalable.

Alexander describes how he implements exciting new ideas and functions, and Josh tells how he evaluates which new ideas will truly add value to his business.

Going the Distance

Being a great agent is all about going the distance. That means demonstrated tenacity, stability and consistency. In today’s Coaching Tip I’ll be talking about the things you need to focus on to take you where you want to go in your career.

The best way to maintain consistency is to start off where you want to end up. Real success takes years to achieve, but it takes even longer if your path is not direct. You’ll need to develop keen capabilities around generating leads, listing properties and maintaining relationships. How you work with people is so important for getting listings. Learn to ask the right questions to get the information you need to advise your clients and guide their decisions to get the results they desire.

You have to be a great prospector, on the phones every morning without fail. This is how you get face to face with clients every day, build relationships, get listings and generate referrals. You also have to be an effective lister and know how to present to each customer individually. And you must be committed to serving the client’s needs first.

Going the distance is all about being there fully day after day for your client, for your team and for your business. It’s longevity that establishes you as a great agent. One signboard at a time.

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

What Are You Building?

As an agent, everything you do is about building a great business and capitalising on what you’ve already done. But what are you building, really? In my Coaching Tip today I’ll help you see what you’re already doing and where you can go from there.

In my coaching work I see lots of agents who have been in business for years and still don’t see the opportunities they have sitting in their databases. Your database is a repository of relationships, not just names and numbers. Everybody you know, or have ever known, should be in there. And you should be active and current with all of those relationships. It’s important to add new contacts to your database, but even more vital to work with those people you already know.

Too many agents are focused solely on transactions and are missing their best leads, referrals and future business. Learn about your clients: where they live, what their life situations are, and how things are changing in their lives. Not only does this foster great relationships, it also helps you provide the information they need when they’re ready to buy or sell properties. It positions you as their trusted advisor, and it makes you a better agent.

Understand that you’re building momentum by building your database and using it to create productive call lists. Use your filters and categories to target market appraisals, sellers, and especially past clients who are your key referrers. You’re building your numbers and measuring results. Then you’re building in improvements to your prospecting and marketing. And that’s how you build your business.

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

Ep 55 — Prospecting Lead Sources

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips discuss prospecting lead sources and choosing the most beneficial. Alexander lists his best categories of lead sources and describes how he handles them, and Josh describes his philosophy of building on the results of successful transactions and great client relationships. They discuss the importance of open for inspections, and Alexander describes how he would start gathering lead sources as a new agent. Josh then lists opportunities many agents miss and advises how to avoid those mistakes.

Alexander notes turnover of properties is faster now than in the past, and Josh stresses the importance of following through with clients. Both agree that maintaining those relationships is crucial to generating leads.

Staying Hungry and Humble

Some people are drawn to a real estate career by the image of wealth. Holiday travel and expensive cars are fine, but real success over time takes staying hungry and humble. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll tell you what that means and why it’s important.

Your real estate career can bring you financial success, but to stay hungry you have to know what you want. Instead of spending your income on symbols of success, invest in security for the future. Most of all, put that money into growing your business. The team you build, coach and mentor will help you build your business. A great agent also understands the importance of being of service to their customers. It’s all about their needs and situations, and how you can help them. Being humble in your work will help you build the relationships and longevity you need for long-term success.

A business that’s not successful has a lack of vision or a shortage of capital. It’s up to you to stay focused on your goals and manage your profits wisely. The key to staying hungry is a desire to be the best you can be. Put the right people in the right positions so you can do your most inspiring, challenging and necessary work.

It’s also important to balance your private and public life to serve your customers and still do things that are important in your life. Your image should reflect stability and substance, not vanity and consumption. Being humble and approachable will help you connect with customers through empathy with their desires and concerns.

Your greatest competitor is yourself. Your challenge is to get better every year. And you’ll achieve true success through staying hungry and humble.

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

The Talent Bench

Who is your next hire and how do you find that perfect fit for your organisation? In this month’s Growth, Leadership and Management Tip I want to talk with you about the importance of building your talent bench and how to make sure that’s happening inside of your business.

Suddenly having a vacancy is not the time to start looking for someone to fill it. Prospecting for talent is an ongoing process. You want to have new hires in mind far in advance of needing to bring them on. Remember that the people you hire really shape your business and help you grow, so recruiting the best talent ahead of time is crucial. That’s what your talent bench is about. Not only will you be looking at people who apply for positions inside of your business, you’ll be actively seeking talent as well. Build relationships and interest along the way and keep in touch with prospects so that when you do have that vacancy you’ll know who to call immediately.

Improve your talent bench by knowing the skillsets required for all positions inside of your business and keeping lists of potential hires that can best fill those roles. The people already working for you are always progressing so you’ll need to fill their positions as well as hiring members for new teams. Having an impressive recruiting campaign to send to all your prospects regularly and consistently will generate interest and drive momentum for people who are interested in joining you.

You must maintain a long-term vision and make a commitment to stay out of scarcity mode. Foster the talent you have whilst seeking and recruiting quality prospects for your talent bench. And make sure everyone inside of your business understands that you’re always prospecting and recruiting. You never want to miss out on an opportunity to bring in great people for the future.

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

Ep 54 — Receiving Feedback

This High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips on the benefits of being receptive to feedback from clients as well as coaches, trainers, and other agents. Alexander tells how there’s always more to learn no matter how long you’ve been an agent. Josh advises having a growth mindset, then both share some of their greatest career lessons around communication, relationships, scheduling, and target goals.

Giving feedback to others is also valuable and they discuss how and when to do that effectively. Josh reminds to praise publicly – criticise privately, and closes with the suggestion to be coachable and be a good coach.

Learning the Key Numbers of Measurement

The only way to know how well – or how poorly – your business is doing is through measurement of key numbers. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll tell you which numbers to watch and why they matter.

Tracking all of your numbers is important, but there’s one number you need to focus on above all else: Appointments. Everything you do depends on booking appointments, from listings to personal meetings with customers. Just 3 appointments a day means 60 in a month, and every one is an opportunity for a listing or a referral.

There’s just one other significant number to watch and that’s your open for inspections each Saturday. Set a minimum number and work to reach it – then set a higher number. Opens are your best lead generator for new clients as well as people you already know and will grow your database steadily. All your signboards and sold stickers in yards increase visibility and social proof in your marketplace, too.

Without measurement you can’t know where critical changes and improvements are desperately needed. By focusing on appointments booked and open for inspections – the numbers that really determine your progress – you avoid distraction and wasted effort on minor tasks. Take care of these key numbers and success in all areas of your business will follow.

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

Ep 53 — Negotiation Skills

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips tell how negotiation skills need to stay fresh and adaptable. Alexander starts with considerations that affect the way he negotiates, especially communication with buyers. Emphasising percentage over price and knowing how to motivate clients to make a timely decision are crucial skills. Josh describes the psychology of transaction vs. transformation, and how to employ humour with the percentage close. Alexander stresses getting the details of the transaction set so there are no delays once a decision is made.

Ego Fullfillment vs Financial Security

Are you investing in your confidence or your ego? My Coaching Tip today is about avoiding vanity spending and increasing your financial security so you can grow your business and your confidence.

When you first begin to see some success in your real estate career it’s so easy to feel that you deserve a flashy car and expensive clothing, especially when you see so many other agents doing it. It’s an attractive image and you want to present that way, too.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting those things and having them, but you’re going to feel a lot better about them if you’ve built a firm foundation for your business first. And true confidence will take you much further in your career than an overfed ego.

Confidence expands in direct proportion to the size of your bank account, and here’s why: The more money you have in reserve, the more you can do with no worries in your business and your life. Building a great business requires reinvesting some of your earnings back into it. Are you investing enough in your business, or are you putting your financial resources into cars, clothing and image to feed your ego?

There are 3 levels of financial stability: Safety, Comfort and Entrepreneurial. Getting barely into safety mode is not the time to buy a $130k car. Even at comfort level you’re just maintaining. It’s when you reach entrepreneurial status that your confidence can really carry you higher.

Once you have enough of a financial buffer that you can take some risks and cover your losses without really feeling it, then you can enjoy some of those high-level rewards. By then you’ve truly earned them.

So when you’re making those decisions around how to allocate your financial resources, consider whether you want to throw money into boosting your ego instead of investing in your confidence and financial security. Maybe today you’d be wiser to hire on your first assistant with those same funds so you can grow your business instead.

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