Oh, that kind of a WIG… Yea, I’ve got one of those!
Most of us do not have a problem with getting great ideas. Hell, we could revolutionize our industry with all of our awesome thoughts we come up with throughout the day. It’s the plan for execution we trip on. Yep, I’ve felt those bruises, too.
So, figure out what your 1st domino is: what is the ONE Thing that when you achieve will make all your other little goals easier or unnecessary? That, my friends, is your WIG.
There are 4 steps however you have to build a rock solid foundation before you throw up beams and a roof and call it a home.
I left Texas 7 1/2 years ago and started what was an amazing life in Southern California. My real estate team enjoyed some great years in the downturn and my leadership grew due to the opportunity I snatched up all around me. Because of those two combined pieces, I was offered and accepted a position as the Team Leader/CEO of the Keller Williams Metro NW Market Center. My new home is in Baltimore, MD.
That’s right… Maryland! It’s a big move and yet I believe this is an amazing opportunity to let my real estate team in SoCal to continue to grow while I build on my leadership. Even if it’s from the other coast.
This is an amazing opportunity for all of my clients. You now have a coast to coast REALTOR that’s ready to help you find the best agent for you, even if it’s not me.
You’re really lucky if this hasn’t gone down with a friend before:
Friend: Melissa, can you answer this mildly vague real estate question? *insert excitement*
Melissa: Of course, Friend. I’m happy to help with all of your real estate needs.
Friend: Awesome! So, we’re buying this house and our agent said… *insert face palm*
Have you ever had that go down? And, you know what killed me? The next time I saw them:
Friend: Hey, Friend 2, have you met our REALTOR®, Melissa? *your REALTOR®, Melissa?!?!?!*
That’s right. I’m happy to accept the title as *their* REALTOR® even though I — and I really do blame myself — missed the boat on helping them with their purchase.
You want to know a dirty, little secret? I didn’t think they were financially ready to purchase. That was such a valuable lesson. Not only did I learn I needed to get better at my follow-up/touches/dripping, I learned that I shouldn’t judge or assume anything about my clients (or my friends), including what I believe they can or cannot afford.
If you’ve yet to have a friend use someone else, please heed this lesson and learn from my mistake. I’m glad I was able to help my friend with her purchase. I just wish I would’ve been one of the REALTORS® getting paid at the end of the day.
The same thing that made my dad successful, will make me successful. The same things his dad and grandfather did, also will. There’s nothing you can do that someone hasn’t done in some way.
I do want to tweak that a bit though.
The founder of Keller Williams says that he comes from a long line of lazy people and in order to be successful, he had to limit his time with them.
My story’s a bit different. My family has many people who have found success, it’s just that their success hasn’t reached the heights to which I aspire.
Still, I don’t need to reinvent the wheel, I just need to learn how to tweak it. So, I’m on a path of learning how to tweak success.
Seth Godin wrote this great blog entry entitled, What’s It For?, and one line really struck me. He’s stating in his intro, that when asking Time magazine, a food service manager or a kitchen gadget company, what the they’re there for, they’ll give you a long-winded answer with the subtext “to please my boss”. He goes so far to say that “in most b2b [business to business] situations, the answer is always the same, ‘to please my boss.’”
As one would expect, someone as tornado-like as myself (I was literally described as a tornado by a fellow Director when I was newly elected), would take great offense to this statement. I can’t believe that’s the main reason for most companies. Of course, it’s a piece of the objective (it has to be to stay in business) and yet I can’t concede it’s true in most “b2b” situations.
Maybe I just follow really great companies. Maybe the Richard Bransons, Darren Hardys and Gary Vaynerchuks of the world have me a little dazed and confused. Maybe that’s not how all companies are run. It’s hard to believe because I love investing my time and money into companies that have high-level thinkers, fail-forwarders and learning-based leaders. That’s why Keller Williams has been such a good fit for me.
If you asked my boss if I’m in business to “please” her, she would probably laugh out loud. From day one, I’ve been a thorn in her side, pushing her in ways that have made our relationship uncomfortable and yet we’ve propelled our office into the top spot in our area. Thorns aren’t here to please their bosses. In fact, it’s probably quite the opposite. I’m here for your job. I’m here to be a tornado on your existence. As Little Big Town says, “I’m gonna lift this house, spin it all around.”
Are we all working to please “the man” or are we working looking to spin our work-house?
Jim Rohn asks, “What does the word ‘no’ mean to a child? Almost nothing.” He’s so right, too. I have two nieces under the age of 6 that I just spent last week with and they couldn’t understand “no” any less. No candy. No soda. No dessert until after dinner. No playing with your Happy Meal toy until you finish your nuggets. And yet, they still push. They’re relentless. They don’t give up until I give in. And, they always win. Not because I’m the cool, fun aunt. Because I get worn down to a place of exhaustion. It’s so energy-draining that it’s not worth the fight.
I’m not saying you should wear your clients down the way these two adorable rug rats do me, yet, why do we announce defeat at the first “no?”
I have a challenge for you: If you set out to make a certain number of calls today (say 100), set out to get 100 “nos” rather than make 100 calls. It’ll take a few more calls, and yet, that extra call might mean extra business.
When your ‘why’ is big enough, the ‘how’ won’t be an issue. I sincerely believe that. My Big Why is my family. Past, present and future. Seeing them as often as possible, sharing in the great adventures of life with them and relishing in all those simple, silly moments. From watching The Bachelorette with my mom to going with my cousin to get her car fixed to going to church with my godparents. They are my reason for doing what I do.
My father is also a guiding influence in my life. He had an incredible work ethic. And demanded nothing less of me.
Also important to me is my future family; husband and child. I intend to make myself available while also proving that hard work and dedication to your craft doesn’t mean sacrificing your existence and time with them.
See, with those being my reasons ‘why’, it really doesn’t matter how I do it. I’ll fail forward and embarrass myself, trip along the way and get into trouble for being too aggressive. And yet, I wouldn’t take one step differently.
I may be the most domineering person you’ll meet and I don’t apologize for it. Because my family depends on that. Time with my family is directly related to how well I’m doing in work so I will continue to push forward which might mean I frustrate people and rub someone the wrong way and get under your skin. And I don’t care.
Because all I want to do is see my beautiful nieces as soon possible, laugh with my sisters as often as I can and eat as much of my momma’s home cooking as my stomach allows.
They say that bad things always comes in threes. Well, I just got the call about my 3rd one this afternoon. Our local Market Center’s been challenged this last week and this call broke it down for me.
The toughest part about being an eternal optimist is that you’re, well, eternally optimistic. You’re always seeing the bright side of things. You live in rose-colored glasses.
This call. This one shook that resolve. It got me crying and wondering about all that optimism.
I believe that everything always works out. It does. And yet that journey to it “working out” can be a trying one.
Here’s to these Titans and that day in the near future when we can rest easy.
Commercial Real Estate Forecast 2013-14: Will improve marginally with recession having clobbered occupancy of office, industrial and retail space, which pulled rents down.
Residential Real Estate Forecast 2013: The housing market will improve moderately in 2013 and yet nobody should mistake this for a boom. It’s barely an improvement so be glad that we’re seeing black vs. red.
Repeat Home Buyers Fuel Housing Recovery. No surprise here. They’ve been sitting and waiting and now they’re pouncing. They know a good thing when they see it and they’re taking advantage.
Debt soars into danger zone. Canadians have entered the debt danger zone that helped trigger real estate crashes in the U.S. and Britain.
May Dodge Housing Hard Landing. Pressures in the Toronto and Vancouver housing markets are moderating with neither a bubble nor a hard landing in sight for the country’s property market.
When I started in this business I was filled with the excitement of “Being my own Boss”. We all were, weren’t we? We ventured out on our own and had all the hope and naivety that infects any small business owner… then the reality set in. It’s ALL up to ME! Talk about a scary thought! Fear pushed me further than desire ever could. After months of working 60+ hour weeks, I decided to bring in some help and had a Buyer’s Agent help me with showings and writing offers. The title really should’ve been Showing Assistant (with the pay to match) and yet that’s another lesson I learned. We had a good thing going and as my investors took a back seat in my business he was no longer necessary so I went back to a solo act.
It always felt like I was on a lonely island (not a nod to the band) and I thought that’s how I was supposed to feel. We’re independent contractors, remember? It wasn’t until I was introduced to Keller Williams that I realized that might not HAVE to be the way that I worked. While I was skeptical of this company and it’s crazy cult-like followers, it didn’t take me long to realize why they loved it so much. They love it because it loves them. They don’t leave because we don’t leave them. We love our Agents so dang much (and they feel it!) that they don’t WANT to be anywhere else. What a great AHA!
Yesterday, KW Rancho celebrated all of its 200 Agents and how great it’s been all these years. It was so fun and we loved every second and yet, we’ve barely tipped the iceberg. We’re looking toward our next goal and the one after that and the one after that and so on and so forth. So, here’s to our 200:
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Musings of a Career Consultant 