Bonnie Cox Real Estate Musings

Most people don't like change.  It means having to re-adjust routine, change habits and throw your order of process into upheaval.  You are leaving your comfort zone.  Most people don't want to do this, so those people fail.  Even when that change could mean something GOOD people balk.

Real estate is no different.  You're used to a sellers market, bidding wars and offers that ascend from the list price.  Well gone are the days you could just punch a for sale sign in the yard and have several offers on the table in front of your customer in a week.

I keep hearing the old saying over and over again in my head:

If you keep doing what you're doing . . . you're going to keep getting what you're getting.

When my income, my open house activity and my listings hit a plateau and I wasn't at my goal, I knew I had to do something different.  I totally believed in what I was doing, I enjoyed it, but it became routine.  When that happens a complacency takes effect and it's picked up in your presentations, your follow ups, and even phone communication with your customers.

Somehow, you realize that you have gotten away from your purpose, but you are doing everything you know to do, and nothing new and exciting is happening.  This also happens when you TRY to do something different, but slide back into the same habits and routines because they are COMFORTABLE.  Even seasoned agents run into these roadblocks.

When I began working in real estate, I was excited.  It wasn't because I saw all this potential money in it, because it really wasn't about income.  The subject matter of that site was something I was passionate about because its focus was on helping people find that perfect home . . . something I really never had. 

I jumped right in with just my passion alone and not much substance (knowledge) and I was getting lost.  I had to stop and take a step back to see where I was going.  Sometimes when your nose is to the grindstone, you can't see the goal in the distance.

I was always used to working alone in everything.  Even with my marketing business five years ago, I did everything alone.  I tried partnering up with an old pro in my office.  That gave me a whole new perspective and fresh look at how things are done.

That's when I felt it.  And that's when I began re-animating!  I took the focus off myself and trying to accomplish 2001 sales in a 2009 market and instead focused on helping the very people that this  market victimized.  I began going about my business with a consultative point-of-view, not from a sales point of view.  Then I realized something!

I REALLY DID want to help people!  I had been there!  These people weren't looking for the same huge prices they used to be able to command.  They wanted someone to understand!  They wanted out from under and they wanted help.

I have seen agents who weren't used to working as hard, who got into the business during the bull market of real estate, freeze up.  Some have left the business.  Those who saw the underbelly of what was really going on stuck around.  The agents that really wanted to help people.

Now even though this is a rather extreme example of fear of change, but it was an eye-opener and a wake-up call.

Give a little something.  You don't want to just take money from people, there's no fulfillment in that.  You want people coming back because they believe you.  They trust you.  Make them feel good about hiring you, recommending you.  The more you give, the more you will get in return and the more fulfillment your real estate business will give you.

Internet marketing, once you get good at it and gain a little recognition, is a heady, seductive high.  This is what I did for a living before I ventured into real estate.

In the eleven years or so that I've been on the internet, I can proudly say that I have been the Empress of Email, and I have also seen exile.  With the first few deals I put together online, I was on my way to internet fame.  I became good at wheeling and dealing, I was persuasive.  I was courted by network marketing companies, sales team leaders and affiliate managers alike to train their sales people, sell their goods, or write a testimonial.

From 1999 through 2005, I either assisted, partnered with, or created myself:

A 1500 person sales team in one affiliate marketing company

Launched one lead generation and management company from $0 to over $2 million in revenue in less than a year.

Partnered with another to launch another lead generation company.

Was a leading revenue producing advertiser for five different companies.

Launched my own lead generation affiliate program

Published two newsletters and an e-course on internet marketing

Owned my own advertising company and developed international and fortune 500 customers.

Was invited to speak or train at conferences, launches and seminars

 Stop!

Yes it did.  It all came to a stop.  It was painful and it was costly.

The reason my services took off in the beginning of my "Hooked-on-Marketing" chapter of my life in the first place, was because I went out of my way to help people.  I enjoyed the interaction, the camaraderie, the successes I felt that I helped others in creating.  People whose faces I never saw became like family.  I was making money hand-over-fist and I felt good about myself and what I did.  I felt useful!  So what happened?  Why did it all come to a stop?

Money.  The number one reason anybody does anything stupid. 

I did two things wrong.

1. I began making decisions based solely on money. 

2. I did not prepare for growth.

I couldn't delegate tasks.  I wanted to handle it all.  I wanted responsibility for it all.  I wanted to be the boss.  I wanted to be in total control.  (looks really stupid when it's written down, doesn't it?)

One by one, things started falling apart.  The same thing can happen in real estate.

New people getting in (hello!  wave, wave!) wanting no part in sharing a deal because of money, pride . . .whatever else you want to throw in there.  More experienced real estate agents that get so busy that details of deals fall through the cracks or their customers feel as if they are waiting on hold with Comcast and there seems to be no personal interest from the person that's getting 3% of their proceeds from the sale.

If service is going to suffer because you become successful, consider hiring an assistant or better yet, teaming up with another agent.  It doesn't have to be permenant.  You can even do this on a couple of deals just to get through a busy period.  Regardless of how busy you become, you make sure your customers get the best possible service, or they will go elsewhere.

This is a tough market.  There are hungry agents out there that are more than willing to help you or better yet, take over for a customer that cancels a contract because they are not happy.

Leave your ego at the poker table.  Don't sacrifice smaller, yet more loyal customers to go after the business of one big sale that may not even sign with you.  Your reputation is everything.  There is no deal out there big enough to replace your reputation.

The morale of this story, which is most probably not only mine, is this.

Remember the purpose in which you set out to do something in the first place, and remember it as offers are flying at you.  You do what is right, what is ethical and what is in the BEST interest of your customers, and the money will come.