Coaching, Consulting, and Business Mentoring

“Adjusting Your Game Plan”

By Bob McKinnon

In most team sports the games have time periods. In football for instance the game is played in four equal quarters with a locker room break at half time. Each team also starts the game with a game plan where their strengths are targeted toward their opponent’s weaknesses as a strategic plan to win the game. At each quarter they stop, change ends and go again and at half time they look at the actual outcome in relation to the game plan and make adjustments as to the best approach. If the team is ahead and doing well, little will be changed but if they are twenty points behind, the entire game plan is scrapped and a new one is quickly fashioned to recover and make a comeback.

Similarly, major corporations live and die by their their quarterly projections and quarterly reports. Major shifts are made if the profit or earnings are low and made quickly. Heads will roll.

It has long been my belief that as real estate professionals we operate in four separate quarters as well for two significant reasons. First we are in a seasonal business and January February are much different than, June or October. Each quarter in real estate has a historic and somewhat predictable market so each quarter should have its individual strategic focus. Second, it makes no since to set a company or personal target for the year then somewhere around October realize you are way off the mark with little time to rectify the problem.

In real estate as in football, manage your year in four separate and distinct quarters. Near the end of the quarter, stop and compare the plan to the actual numbers. Yes, every quarter. The most important review in my mind is half time. In this month of June, stop and look at the goal vs. reality. A broker or manager needs to do this for the company, the manager needs to do this with the agents and the agent needs to do this as an individual.

Here is what to look for.

1. Get Real! Many times the goal was not realistic to start with. If that is the case, make a reasonable adjustment for the second half of the year that fits what is achievable then make a fresh start.

2. Be willing to face brutal facts. It usually is painfully clear what is not being done or is not working. If you are what’s not working, call it and make the basic choices to fix it.

3. Do not compromise, focus. It is easy to abandon the plan and settle for less, but great moments in life happen when we refuse to lessen the goal and decide to increase the effort.

4. Focus on your strengths. If part of the plan is working keep doing it and more of it. Conversely if there are things that are not working stop doing them altogether or make necessary adjustments. Ask these three questions, what should I start doing, stop doing and continue doing?

5. People fail systems do not. Evaluate your systems to make sure you are taking advantage of every tool or process to get more productive.

6. If there are individuals holding you back or distracting you… well face brutal facts and only be around cooperative and supportive people. Brokers there are agents that you could ask to leave and agents, there are distractions you are allowing so make some changes or stop finger pointing.

7. Visualize yourself achieving your goal by putting up posters, reminders, photographs of the outcome you want. Get excited then recommit to making it happen. Watch a few of your favorite underdog wins the game movies like “Hoosiers”,” We are Marshall” and “Rudy” just for fun.

8. Courage and faith in you can really make things happen for the better. Life is full of choices and making a choice to work harder, stop blaming and taking responsibility are all moments in a life that are worth living.

So take my advice and make June your month for a huge mid-year review. Take these eight things to heart, be thoughtful and make the rest of 2010 your year to remember.

By Bob McKinnon

For forty years now I have watched the ongoing cycle of this business of thousands of people each year going into real estate while the same number leave the industry having failed or not liking it. In many cases the process damages these well meaning individuals financially and emotionally in significant and sad ways. Granted many were not suited for our industry or prepared for the realities of it but so many could have made it if pointed in the right direction earlier.

My belief is that we do not imprint new people properly. We actually tell them how tough this is and that they should be prepared not to make any money for a long time then allow them to sit and get ready for months when they could have been doing something to make money from minute one. Proper imprinting starts from the big picture first by telling a new agent what the point of all this is and what their real job description is.

Let me illustrate. In my coaching of new agents I try to get to see two things from day one. First, the point of a twenty year career in real estate is to end up wealthy with equities and residual income. From the days of John Jacob Astor we learn that most all wealthy people became so by investing in real estate. We therefore are working in the commodity of wealth! You get that? When we list and sell we are working for tips while someone else gets the meal. See from day one that you should see our profession as a means to learn to see good investments and to buy, sell, develop, manage real estate as soon as you can get the money to do so. We can get rich selling real estate we get wealthy owning it.

Second. Your job description is and I make them memorize this is, “Hello my name is Bob, I am a Realtor, I help people invest in Real Estate. Now when at a party or meeting people that is what you say. So where do I get leads? Put on a suit, get a chair and sit in the middle of your local mall with those words painted on a sign. Sit there for twenty minutes not saying a word just smile. Soon you will have a small line of people asking you questions, I guarantee it. One girl I trained I told her to get 15 business card each morning and leave home. Give all fifteen cards away during the day and say those words. Within two weeks she had three buyers and one listing. Stop being a “secret agent” and start telling folks who you are and what you do, the commodity will take care of the rest.

So could it be that easy? My belief is yes it could. Please know that you must take the time and energy to learn our business but at the end of everyday it is your job to get out there and get leads and that is not as hard as it looks.

Bob McKinnon - Real Estate Coach and Consultant (817) 832-0938