Welcome back to Mike Ferry TV. My name is Tony Smith, coach and speaker for the Mike Ferry Organization. Pleased to be filling in for Mr. Mike Ferry this week, the week of February 24th. Okay, so 50 years Mike Ferry has been doing this work, opened the company back in 1975, and has been coaching and training and leading real estate professionals for 50 years. And I was going through some materials from Mike Ferry and the Mike Ferry organization and something popped up. Okay. And when I saw this little list, this was probably written by Mike, maybe 20 years ago. Okay. But when I saw this list, it has so much truth in it that I thought I would share it with all of you that are willing to participate in this here today. Okay. And Mike created this list of basically the reasons why a real estate agent succeeds. Why does a real estate agent succeed? And he came up with this series of thoughts that are a little bit all encompassing, but they’re so true today. So, I’d ask you, as you hear these thoughts, to just check yourself on it and see if it’s something you’re doing or not doing, and see if it might help you succeed at a higher level. All right. Why do agents succeed?
1) They have a high level of focus on daily generation
The first thing that Mike had written down was they have a focus on daily generation of business agents succeed if they have a high level of focus on daily generation. Generation prospecting generation daily. So, I was taught that you’re only in business on the days you prospect. And that’s the way I heard that point, was that I’m only in business on the days that I prospect. So, if I go into the office and work on a file all day long and work with the deal, and even if I get a contract signed, if I didn’t prospect or didn’t generate, I wasn’t really in business. So, the agents succeed, have this high level of focus.
2) They prospect earlier in the day
Two they prospect earlier in the day. Okay, we have proof. Okay. We have so much proof of agents that have tried every imaginable prospecting technique in the world. You know, I’m a prospect in the evenings. I’m a prospect in the weekends. I’m a prospect in the middle of the day. And what we figured out, sustainable wise, consistency wise, um, energy wise, performance wise, the agents that succeed long term figure out how to do their generation, their prospecting earlier in the day versus later in the day. I don’t know what level you’ve tried, but have you tried to do it in the evening and been successful? If you have, you’re a bit of a unicorn long term.
3) They are tough on pricing and they go back faster for price reductions
Okay. The third thing that we had noticed about agents that succeed is they’re tough on pricing and they go back faster for price reductions. The agents that succeed long term understand that sellers always want more. They always want a list higher. It doesn’t matter what the market’s doing. They want a list for more money than everybody else. That’s never going to change. But we as an agent, if we want to succeed, have got to learn how to be tough on pricing. Tough. It’s a tough conversation. It requires some grit. It requires some persistence. It requires some thick skin, if you will. It requires your ability to sit in that moment. That’s not uncomfortable. How tough are you on pricing? And do you go back for price reductions quicker, or do you wait that it goes weeks and weeks and weeks before you suggest adjusting the price?
4) They prospect for appointments, not for leads
Look at four on the list. They prospect for appointments, not for leads. The agents that succeed, they get that they’re looking for appointments. The whole purpose of prospecting is to set appointments. The purpose is not to accumulate piles of leads. It seems like the entire universe is trying to present to us that we should be gathering up leads and putting in these very complicated, very intricate drip campaigns and be working with leads for months and months and months and months and months, when the truth is, we should spend our day looking for an appointment every day. That’s how you succeed.
5) They monitor everything they do
The fifth on the list. The agents that succeed, they monitor everything they do. They track everything. They track their numbers. They track their success rate. They track. You know how often it takes. They have to prospect to get an appointment, how many appointments they have to get to get an actual listing taken. They track everything they do. And we’ve noticed that the less than successful agents tend to hide from or have a hard time ever tracking everything they do. Okay. How are you doing with that? Are you tracking everything you do? Are you staying true to our numbers analyzer? If you’re in coaching. Are you keeping track of the contacts and all the things you do? The successful people track. Unsuccessful people don’t track.
6) They review their business plan every single week
Next on the list, number six. They review their business plan every single week. Minimum. The agents that succeed even in our system. Right. If we look at agents in general across North America, yes, they succeed if they if they really review a business plan. But even within Mike Ferry coaching, the agents that tend to review their business plan week in and week out, address it every week, take steps forward every week. Succeed higher than those that don’t address the plan every week. To what level are you addressing your business plan every week? Agents that succeed.
7) They work on their scripts and skills every single day
Number seven is they work on their scripts and their skills every single day they work. Okay. How sporadic are you? How inconsistent are you? How lackadaisical are you? How do you lack intensity in your scripts and skills practice? The agents that succeed have this intense, never-ending desire to improve their skills. It never ends. Where are you in that process? Okay.
8) They work relentlessly at sticking to a high production-based schedule
Number eight. The agents that succeed. We figured this out that they will work relentlessly at sticking to a high production-based schedule, and they’ll work relentlessly at trying to follow it. Right. Time management never ends. Do you have a production-based schedule that is set for this year, and are you being diligent? Are you working aggressively at all costs to follow that schedule? How quickly do you deviate from it?
9) They always address standards and keep their standards really high
Okay. Number nine on the list. The agents that succeed tend to always be addressing standards, and they keep their standards really high Like they have standards of who they’ll work with, standards of how long they’ll take a listing, prospecting standards, pricing standards. Right. Commission standards. The agents that succeed long term are in this basically a never ending measurement of the standards they have in their business. What standards do you need to take a closer look at for yourself right now? Are there any standards that you need to improve or upgrade or intensify for yourself today? Are you working and operating under strong standards? It’s very valuable.
10) They don’t get emotionally involved
Look at number ten, the agents that succeed at the highest level somehow, some way figure out how to not get emotionally involved in this stuff. We talked about it last week keeping your emotions between the lines. Agents that succeed figure out how to not get emotionally involved. They keep it in a very logical state. How do you do when it comes to keeping things in a very unemotional but passionate way? And then the last one on this list, the agents that succeed at a high level, they have a strong plan with accountability and structure around it so they can make their dreams come true. Do you have the plan? Do you have structure around it? Do you have strong accountability around it? Do you basically boxed in to a point that you really feel like you have a series of things to do, and you can’t let yourself out of it? Okay, so I thought about this from, say, 20, 25 years ago when Mike created this list. It’s so true today, isn’t it? It’s so true. Take some time. Address these thoughts. If you do want to succeed at the highest level possible, I believe that you should have every one of these 10 or 11 thoughts down pat. Take some time. Get it there. Thank you for your time today.
