Coaching, Consulting, and Business Mentoring

What Will You Be 5 Years From Now?

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 20:37:00 +0000

Back in the early 80’s, Jim Rohn was mentoring a young business manager and said, “Bob, what you become five years from now will be largely the result of the people you meet and the books you read.” Jim went on to explain the importance of developing the habit of reading as well as the skills to be comfortable meeting and talking to people. Jim also warned that this lesson works in both positive and negative directions of life.

Looking back on Jim’s advice 30 years ago, I diagramed my life and low and behold, at each major intersection of my life’s direction I had either met someone that exposed me to a compelling opportunity or I’d just learned something vital to my making a life changing decision.

Today I often talk to people who are in a rut or feel stale having been in the same dissatisfying place they have been for far too long. I ask, “What are you reading, or where are you networking to meet different people?” Can you guess the most common answer? The August 2010 issue of Forbes Magazine revealed that the average American barely read a book a year while their Fortune 500 leaders averaged a book a week. Imagine that.

Therefore…READ AND NETWORK MORE!

In 2010 I had the privilege of both meeting and talking with several compelling authors. I then read their books. I met and heard Jeffery Gitomer, my favorite sales author. Listening to him, I could feel his passion. Then reading his books on sales, trust, networking and relationships changed my basic view on selling any product for the better. Thank you Jeffery, you improved me.

Dr. Daniel Amen author of “Change You Brain, Change Your Body,” spoke in my town of Dallas. Listening to him and reading his book changed the way I look at my health. Thank you Dr. Amen, you improved me.

Dan Castro wrote, “Critical Choices that Changed Lives,” a profound piece of research into dozens of famous characters revealing life moments that changed everything and in most cases, it changed history itself. Dan, a fellow Texan and I are developing a friendship that has already altered and enriched my life. Thank you Dan, you are improving me.

Meeting and listening to Jon Gordon the author of “The Energy Bus” has changed my way of looking at organizational life and group motivation. Jon’s book is a simple story with profound insight. Thank you Jon, you have improved me.

I have just finished reading and studying Rhonda Byrne’s masterful sequel to “The Secret” called “The Power.” Nothing since having read “The Shack” by William P. Young has changed my life’s perspective so. Thank you Rhonda, you have improved me.

My work blesses me in that I get to attend and hear great speakers and authors. I love to read at a pace of about three books a month. My life is blessed in this way and has been for years because I choose it to be. If you are not so blessed, go to your library or your bookstore today. Watch the biography channel instead of Dancing with the Stars. Put your drive time to better use by filling the front seat of your car with books on CD. Expose yourself to fascinating people and new ideas. Experience the difference.

Get out there into networking groups even as simple as your local chamber of commerce. Meet new people. You never know, the next person you meet may very well change your life forever. Your life will be richer for it. Moreover, I can guarantee if you read and network more in this New Year something special will happen in your life.

Finally, please make sure that when this happens for you, you let me know because I care just as Jim Rohn cared for me. Thank you Jim from the bottom of my heart, you improved my life.

Three Months to Live

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:04:00 +0000

Recently, I was in a small business on Main Street of my home town. A darling little specialty shop and ordered something special for a friend's birthday. As I always do, I asked the owner, "so how's business?" The reply broke my heart when the owner said sadly, "I don't think I will make it to fall." She lamented about the recession and how business is so down that there was debt piling up with no obvious solution.

The coach in me kicked in and I began to ask questions like, who is your most loyal customers, where do they come from, what has worked in the past? I then asked, do you have a record of any kind of your customers and how to contact them? No was the answer.

I volunteered to be the first by putting my business card in a bowl, to encourage her to start a data base of all those people who frequent her shop. Can you see where this is leading?

BOOK OF BUSINESS, the data base of customers to communicate with, send promotions to, invite to an open house and the list goes on. My email is full daily of solicitations from all over the globe but I never hear from that very cute store on main street.

Well anyway, she got excited and called a few friends to help her get her database started that would be the future platform of repeat and new business. Is there any business, large or small that should not have an organized book of business and working it like crazy? Never. I am going to make sure that little specialty shop has much more than three months to live.

Adjusting Your Game Plan

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 16:40:00 +0000

“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.

A Recession is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:59:00 +0000

We in real estate experience a recession every seven years on average, twelve of them since 1929. We all know this is a cyclical business yet every time we go through down turns we act surprised and hear the same sorrowful laments. Each down turn is different in nature due to compounding economic factors of the time, but the effect is the same for our industry. Recently, I heard Brian Buffini use this title phrase and it sent me reflecting on some truths of our business that may possibly help you now or in the future.

No pain no gain. Pain, if properly framed will always bring about gain. What a frustrating place to be to have lots of pain with no gain at all. We believe we are near or at the bottom of our crisis remembering real estate is always first in and first out of a recession, so let’s make sure we do not experience the pain of the last three years and miss the gain. Here are six lessons from my experience.

Expect the cycles and plan for them. This is not “rocket surgery” for crying out loud! What goes up will always come down. If we are in a recovery now knowing our trending let’s look ahead to 2017-18 and be ready. Planning ahead is what good leaders and business people do. We have an echo boom coming which will bring a whole new opportunity to our industry so do you know who they are and what they will want? As surely as it is coming it will go or geo-political events will interrupt it. OK? Think, read and be ready.

Save and develop reserves in the good times. You could not have enough cash reserved to endure a four year down turn. You can however have equities in property, building cash and loan value. You can grow and protect your credit. You can pay off as much debt in the good times and limit your spending. I believe we are entering a period of national frugality which is so smart. We realtors love to drive, wear and live in our reserves which may prove very foolish in the future when we could be turning it into equity and investments instead.

Brail the marketplace and know where it is trending. Take a Macro view of things by being active in realtor groups, reading realtor publications and attending local business or networking meetings. Reading and paying attention to the business news from reliable sources is a must. I believe there had to be an awareness, even some lack of responsibility about putting millions of people into houses with little down payment, weak appraisals and stated income loan approval that we knew would not work. When you see and feel bad business practice, know it will end and not well for anyone no matter what the temporary gain.

Realize the opportunity in any market. Many speakers remind us that the market simply is… so what difference does it make because there is opportunity in both up and down markets. Buyers or sellers market...so? In the early 80’s those who learned all inclusive trust deeds and seller financing did well in 20% + interest rates. Likewise, in the early 90’s prudent realtors did very well moving into the REO and short sale business quickly. Remember life itself (marriage, divorce, births, deaths, transfers etc) continues to drive the majority of the demand for realtors. Always have faith that real estate will continue to change hands, so seek and find the opportunity to bring more value to your marketplace. The pie gets smaller but the size of your piece is up to you.

React quickly to changing trends . I watched in horror a year into this down turn as realtors made no adjustments at all. Overhead stayed high far too long. Offices filled with new and non-productive agents. Agents were complaining about the slow down yet doing nothing at all differently except demanding more commission. REO’s were soaring and realtors made no attempt to learn the systems or make connections with lenders. Therefore a few who read the market got in early and are still there with consistent flow of business while the Johnnys come lately pound on the door wanting into a room that is already full. Some never see the changing trends but sadder yet some see it and do nothing about it. So how to you boil a frog? Don’t tell him the water is getting hotter and he will do nothing about it!

Basics will always win. Throughout my forty years in real estate I have continued to observe companies and individuals that move out ahead of the pack. I usually observe no new tricks. Sound vision and leadership; the discipline of daily execution of basic activities like recruiting, prospecting, practicing skills; innovative marketing and branding; these are the things that still win in the battle for market share. True innovation is rare, but it is there, and usually it is just a slightly different approach to some age old business and personal practices.

We have been through a very tough time that has hurt so many. I relate to that pain myself. If you are ready to move on, even grow from this experience, realize there is always gain from pain. With great respect and regard for my fellows I say, seek the gain and win the day.

Real Estate Coaching, Real Estate Broker Training, Real Estate Franchise Building, Real Estate Mentoring

Bob McKinnon - Coaching / Consulting / Mentoring
Fiffty (50) years in Sales and over forty (40) years in Real Estate make Bob McKinnon an insightful Coach and Consultant unequaled in the field of Real Estate and in 1-on-1 coaching. Bob’s Sales and Team-Building Principles have been proven again and again; and many who have attended his training seminars leave with a renewed focused on their career, and become driven by success and determination. (817) 832-0938

Real Estate, It's not as hard as it looks

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:54:00 +0000

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

Bob McKinnon brings energy to Exit Brokers in Charlotte NC

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 01:46:00 +0000

Bob McKinnon brings energy to Exit Brokers in Charlotte NC

Blog posted by Key Yessaad:

2009.03.05 - Michael Washburn, of Exit Realty of The Carolinas, invites Real Estate Guru and Philosopher to shed light on Real Estate Today.

“Put your Fear of Today into Affirming the Hope of Tomorrow!!!” – A quote that resonated in a room full of Exit Realty Broker/Owners from North and South Carolina.

Bob McKinnon brought his wisdom and decades of experience and coaching to illuminate the conditions of Real Estate today and how to prepare for The Real Estate of tomorrow… Brokers feverishly took notes and got down to the basics of planning for the future – at Exit Realty “We are building a Company by Design that honors Production and Success.”

The workshop helped Brokers re-focus on planning the future and making it measurable, and as Bob says… it all starts with Reflection… A time one needs to get in touch with the truth of today and design the future for all around. At Exit Realty Brokers are committed to make their Real Estate Professionals better; and make a promise to do so by bringing timely training and one-on-one coaching.

Bob McKinnon, Senior Regional Consultant, McKinnon Enterprises, 2194 McPherson Dr., Grapevine, Texas 76051 – (817) 832-0938.

Bob McKinnon - Guest Speaker in Charlotte NC, Exit of The Carolinas.

Michael Washburn - Regional Owner in Charlotte NC, Exit of The Carolinas.

Web Link: Bob McKinnon brings energy to Exit Brokers in Charlotte NC
Local Blog: Bob McKinnon brings energy to Exit Realty Brokers in Charlotte NC

Exit of the Carolinas, Charlotte Real Estate Training, Exit Realty North Carolina, Exit Realty South Carolina, Bob McKinnon, Real Estate Web Trainer, Michael Washburn, Exit Realtors.

Key Yessaad – Real Estate Trainer & Internet Strategist.
To train, inspire, and coach Real Estate Professionals succeed is my passion. I specialize in training Realtors to compete online. My Trainings and Internet Strategies intersect in my seminars with powerful ideas and Plans of Actions that produce results. Google or call me (910) 538-6610 and let’s discuss how I can help your Agents climb the Google Tree of Success. I can tailor my Real Estate Seminars to the level of sophistication of your agents and I promise they will leave inspired and will produce results!!! Read some of the Realtors Testimonials.