Real Clues

[RealClues] #265: Billion Dollar Agent

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AWESOME WOMEN WANTED!
Join the best female talent in the industry for the most awesome conference ever. We still have a few seats for Jennifer Cumming's Potato Chip Marketing Session. This will be worth thousands of dollars to your business. Visit www.ReallyAwesomeWomen.com to sign up now before this opportunity passes you by! This AWESOME conference is sponsored by women leaders for women leaders. March 19-21, 2007 Sandia Resort, Albuquerque, NM. Managers, broker/owners, association officers, executives, entrepreneurs--if you're in leadership, don't miss this amazing opportunity to network with the top female talent in the industry. Sign up today!

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Table of Contents
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1. CoachingClues: Do You Have What It Takes to Sell a Billion Dollars Worth of Real Estate?
2. Welcome Notes: Free Podcast and AWESOME Women Interviews
3. Reprise: Strategies for Coping with a Shifting Market
4. Create a Better Life: Shut Up and Sell
5. Featured Products: Billions of Dollars of Ideas
6. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
7. Give Us Your Feedback on this Newsletter
8. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe

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1. CoachingClues: Do You Have What It Takes to Sell a
Billion Dollars Worth of Real Estate?
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Be among the very first to order this book: Click here to order
http://www.profcs.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=35347&ProductID=3385351

Move over "Millionaire Real Estate Agents"--the new standard for success in our industry is the "Billion Dollar Agent."

What does it take to sell a billion dollars worth of real estate? Steve Kantor's new book, Billion Dollar Agent - Lessons Learned contains a revealing series of interviews with elite agents who have sold a billion dollars worth of real estate or are en route to do so. What's particularly intriguing is how forthcoming the agents were in terms of how they built their businesses, what their ratios were of referrals to new business, and most importantly, what they actually did to achieve this level of success.

A key theme in the book is to build your business on your passion and to delegate everything else. You cannot succeed at this level without a strong support team. Another important theme is that the billion dollar agents wished they had hired their first assistant sooner. A sizeable majority saw an immediate increase in their business when they hired their first assistant. Kantor hopes to capitalize on this trend by providing a virtual assistant service similar to IVAA.org (International Virtual Assistants Association) and REVANetwork.com (Real Estate Virtual Assistants Association.) The web site for Kantor's service, Best Agent Business, is http://www.bestagentbusiness.com/

Another shared trait is having written goals. According to Brad Korb (RE/MAX, Burbank, CA) "Ninety-seven percent of those who have written goals achieve them. Only three percent of those without written goals achieve their goals. Write down your major definite purpose in life every day and write 10 ways to get to it...I have business goals, workout goals, spiritual time goals, family time goals, and financial goals."

Billion dollar agents also take time to "work on" their business rather than just "working in" their business. Michael Gerber in The E-Myth Revisited argues that many businesses fail because the owners are too focused on delivering their services ("working in their business"), and fail to take time to plan ("working on their business"). This process is especially important in achieving high levels of production. Taking time to plan allows you to create systems. Systems save time, create order in your business, and improve efficiency.

Kantor draws an interesting distinction between what he calls "hunters" vs. "farmers." Hunters actively prospect for new business by calling on expired listings, for-sale-by-owners, door knocking, and continuing to call web leads until they make personal contact. In contrast, "farmers" rely more on regular contact with their sphere of influence. Based upon the interviews, a sizeable majority the billion dollar agents were hunters. As Kantor puts it, "Almost every Billion Dollar Agent is a hunter--an extreme hunter. You would not go hungry on an island stranded with a Billion Dollar Agent. If there is meat running around the island, they will hunt it down, close the deal, and bring home the bacon."

Billion dollar agents are also creative in terms of leveraging their systems. The methods for building this level of business are as diverse as the agents who are included in the book. For example, Stephen O'Hara (RE/MAX Monarch Beach, CA) created the Parent Relocation Council. His website, www.schoolfolks.com is the nation's first website that caters to relocating parents. Noah Herrara (RE/MAX. Las Vegas) prefers to market to multiple clients at the same time. "People try to market one-on-one. If you associate with an organization or a charity, you can do a presentation for 50 people for the same effort as for two people." When Herrara shows new construction to first time buyers, he loads them on a bus to see the new subdivisions. His record is 30 deals from a single bus.

Another shared characteristic is that these agents are voracious learners. They are always hunting for the next idea that will improve their business. Many of them also have both personal and business coaches. A high percentage attributed their success to the coaching they received.

It's not all business for these agents, however. Over half are actively involved in charity or in other events that allow them to share their abundance with those who are less fortunate than they are.

What holds ordinary agents back? According to the Billion Dollar Agent, the most commonly cited reasons were:

1. They fail to follow-up
2. They lack negotiation skills
3. They don't put the clients' interests first.
4. They lack listening and communication skills
5. They don't stay in regular contact

How long does it take to become a billion dollar agent? If you and your team sell $50 million per year for 20 years, you would be at a billion dollars. There's a tremendous amount of wisdom in this book from the undisputed best of the best.

Don't wait--order today!
http://www.profcs.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=35347&ProductID=3385351

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2. Welcome Notes
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Welcome to our new subscribers this week. Each week RealClues provides you with great strategies to improve both your business and your life. If you find this issue of RealClues helpful, take a moment to hit the "forward" button and send it to another friend in the business.

It's been an amazing week. Look for our first ever podcast courtesy of our good friend and fellow REC Coach, Joeann Fossland. We also did our first "Awesome Woman" interview with the CEO of UniqueGlobalEstates.com. Donna Lee Laue. Donna shared her considerable knowledge about what it takes to market to the most affluent buyers and sellers in the world. Her moniker is, "It pays to be seen in the right places." Both of these will be posted on the website and on LuxuryClues.com later this week.

If you missed the Monday February 26 session with Jennifer Cummings, we plan to have that posted on our sites as well. These interviews are a fun way to gain terrific knowledge in very little time. Best of all, there's no cost!

We're also pleased to offer Steve Kantor's new book through REC. Billion Dollar Agent is jammed packed with great ideas and strategies from the best agents in the business. Click here to order:

http://www.profcs.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=35347&ProductID=3385351

Have a great week!

Warmly, Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC
www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.RossdalePress.com, www.ConferenceCallTraining.com, and www.TeleconferenceLine.com

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3. Reprise: Strategies for Coping with a Shifting Market
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This article first ran in 2006. It was spot on in terms of the downturn we saw later last year. The tips are particularly relevant given that tax time is just around the corner.

http://www.realestatecoach.com/articles_archive/art20060306.html

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4. Create a Better Life: Shut Up and Sell
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Of all the sales principles you can learn, this one is probably the most important. Since I started in the business back in 1978, I've seen thousands of real estate agents talk themselves out of business by talking too much. When agents show their listings, they often point out features that the buyer hates. In negotiations, agents try to close the seller rather than asking a question and then being quiet. There's an old negotiation adage, the first one who speaks loses. To learn how to avoid these costly mistakes in your business, click on the link below:

http://www.realestatecoach.com/articles_archive/art20021007.html

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5. Featured Products: Billions of Dollars of Ideas
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**Billions of dollars worth of ideas--ORDER NOW!
Don't wait! Order these billion dollar secrets now and watch your business soar.

http://www.profcs.com/app/netcart.asp?MerchantID=35347&ProductID=3385351

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6. Increase Your Production with Personal Coaching
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Looking for a well-trained coach who knows the real estate business? Our coaching team can help you increase your production and make your dreams come true! Send an e-mail to Shane@RealEstateCoach.com and we'll help find the right coach for you.

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7. Give Us Your Feedback On This Newsletter
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We want your feedback-to share your thoughts and suggestions, please e-mail us at Shane@RealEstateCoach.com.

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8. How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe
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Visit our Web site, http://www.RealEstateCoach.com to subscribe/unsubscribe to RealClues.

Copyright (c) 1996-2007, RealEstateCoach.com and Teleclass4U.com, LLC. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute RealClues as long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the contributors to this newsletter is attached.

Contributors to this newsletter:
Bernice Ross, MCC, and Byron Van Arsdale, MCC, Owners, www.RealEstateCoach.com, www.LuxuryClues.com, www.ConferenceCallTraining.com; www.RossdalePress.com; and www.TeleconferenceLine.com
Shane Bowlin, REC General Manager

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