This episode of Agent Rise is going to make most of you nervous - because I’m insisting that you hire a transaction coordinator now - no matter where you are in your real estate career. Actually, let me backpedal on that a bit: If you have less than 10 transactions under your belt, this is not for you - YET. But notice what I said - 10 transactions. You’ll be to this point soon enough.
You may think I’m crazy. Maybe I am - No, I’m not. I know that I know that I KNOW from personal experience that hiring a transaction coordinator will set you free to do what you need to do in order to increase your overall business momentum and set you up to do more deals this year. It’s that simple. Listen to hear my reasons, learn what you should look for in a transaction coordinator, know what they can do for you, and hear how I’d go about interviewing a potential TC. It’s all on this episode of Agent Rise.
The thing that holds most Agents back is that we are wrapped up in the details and minutiae of transaction after transaction - and we have no time to build our business. The details are all important stuff that needs to be done, but who says WE have to be the ones doing it? If you are a control freak who can’t delegate, you are holding yourself back. You need to let go. You need to get help.
OK, so let’s talk about the money part of things. I know you feel like you can’t afford to hire a transaction coordinator. I felt the same way for almost 90% of my career. But I’m telling you from hard-learned experience, you truly cannot afford NOT to hire a TC. Why? Because your overall transaction volume will go UP when you hire a TC. That means you’ll have the money to pay them, no problem. Listen to learn how you can get out of your own way and level up your business by hiring a transaction coordinator.
I have to be honest and let you know - out of the 1000 transactions I’ve done in my career, I’ve only done the last 50 to 100 transactions with the help of a transaction coordinator. And those last 50 to 100 transactions have gone more smoothly and have been done in a way that has allowed me to produce more and provide better service than ever before.
Recently I was in a meeting when my transaction coordinator discovered that a few numbers on the paperwork did not match up. I saw the issue come up on the email app on my phone during my meeting - and a series of emails went back and forth. I knew something was blowing up and it made me nervous about what I was going to have to deal with when I got out of my meeting. When I finished the meeting I checked the last email and it was from my TC saying, “I got everything taken care of - no worries. Enjoy the closing.”
MAN! That was a powerful reminder to me of why my transaction coordinator is so important.
There are so many things that go into a typical closing and most of us do them as second nature without thinking through the details. But if you’ll take the time to look over the home buying process, you’ll see that there is a TON of stuff that you’re doing that you really can pass on to someone else. And here’s the good news - you can pass it off to someone who not only does it better than you, but who also enjoys doing it!
Here’s what you should look for when considering a person as a transaction coordinator:
You know there is a lot of detail that goes into every transaction. Let’s break down all the things that you can and should delegate to your transaction coordinator...
And that’s just a part of what I’m sharing on this episode. I also provide a list of things your new TC should NOT be doing - and tell you how to ask the right questions to find out if the person you’re interviewing is the right fit for you.
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
It’s not uncommon for agents who have been successful so far in their real estate career to question whether or not the role is still a good fit for them. This questioning happens for a lot of reasons. Sometimes they’ve lost the fire and excitement they once had about the industry. At other times they’ve experienced setbacks that have been discouraging or deflating. I’m here to tell you that this kind of questioning is very common - and it also follows a pattern.
In this episode, I want to reveal something that I believe is missing in your career and business when these types of questions arise. Listen to learn how to address these issues - or to be prepared to address it when the time comes that they arise in your real estate career.
Many agents who have been in their real estate career for some time hit the point where stress is taking hold. Others find themselves lacking motivation and feel they are missing the drive they had when they first started out as an agent. Others, in spite of running a very successful real estate business always feel tense about things that are going on.
Every single one of those is an indicator that something needs to change. Often, the agent in question begins to wonder if the thing that needs to change is their career. I’m going to suggest that you’re in exactly the RIGHT career - but that you’re needing a different kind of change. It’s time for you to level up, to step up, and to begin leading others. Before you give in to the discomfort you might feel about that suggestion, listen to this episode. It’s not what you think - and it can happen in ways that energize and motivate you beyond what you can even imagine.
When you hear me say that you need to step into leadership you might pull back, saying that you don’t have a high enough volume of leads or big enough budget to provide leads for a team. Be honest, is that what you’re thinking? If so, it’s a clear sign that you are thinking about the issue all wrong. Becoming a leader in the real estate industry is possible without subscribing to that flawed rainmaker model that is so prevalent in the industry. You don’t have to be the one hustling, producing leads, or paying for resources for your team - you just need to lead by example, coach, and equip others to be successful.
This episode highlights how I discovered this to be the case in my own real estate career. It was a glorious day, a career-changing event when I was finally given the opportunity to lead others. It infused me with a motivation I hadn’t had before, gave me something bigger than myself to work for, and enabled me to impact the lives of other agents in ways I hadn’t thought possible before. You’ve got to hear how it happened - on this episode.
It’s amazing what happens in our own souls as we intentionally set our sights outside our private little world. Other people NEED your help. In fact, they already look up to you in ways you’re not even aware of. Think about your day to day life in the office. Who are the agents who seem to come to you for help or advice most often? Where are the places where you are already going over and above in the teamwork of your organization? Those reveal places where your leadership is already being appreciated and noticed, you just haven’t been given the title of “leader” yet.
Please, consider this leadership option as a way to ramp up your motivation and vision for the future of your real estate business - by helping others to make their business more successful. You’ll find a lot of benefits you didn’t know where possible.
I’ve heard teachers and leaders in all areas say that they get more from being a leader than they ever give out. I can attest to that fact myself. There’s something about coming alongside others that encourages me like nothing else. I love being able to encourage - to help - to equip - to enable others to overcome obstacles and reach a level of success THEY didn’t think was possible. Doing so builds me up and fills MY head with vision and optimism.
And guess what - I see my production as an agent go up as well. Please - if you’re considering calling it quits on your real estate career I urge you to reconsider in light of what I’m saying. Listen to this episode. Ponder it. Think through the issues I mention - then give it a try. You’ll find the benefits of becoming a leader might be just what you need.
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
All of us who work as real estate agents know that we’re supposed to ask quality questions of our customers. But do we really know what that means? I’m convinced that most of us don’t know how to do it. Why am I so convinced? Because I have been geeking out about this topic - studying it, reading lots of stuff about the quality of questions we can ask to help buyers move their decision along - and I’m telling you, this is powerful stuff. That’s not an exaggeration, it’s fact. On this episode of Agent Rise, I am going to walk you through the principles behind asking the right kind of questions and explain why it’s a vital skill for every agent to learn.
Let’s consider the average listing appointment. As the listing agent, you’ve got lots to say right? You need to explain your process, inform the customer about what to expect, address legal issues, and more. But should you launch right into your prepared speech? Maybe a better question is this: Should you have a speech at all?
I suggest you learn to ask quality questions that get your customer talking - because when your customer talks, you have the opportunity to learn exactly what they are looking for. That provides the insight you need to serve them extraordinarily well. When you ask questions that get your customers talking, you can...
Asking the right kind of questions makes the conversation better, which leads to serving your customer better. All of that adds up to a really happy client, and we all know what ecstatically happy clients do - they refer others.
You may be doing a great job when it comes to asking the right kind of quality questions. But I’ve found that it’s easy to think you’re doing great when you really aren’t. How can you know? Here’s a quick way to get your finger on the pulse of how you’re communicating with clients…
In your last listing appointment, how much did you talk compared to the customer? Most agents I ask, say they talked 70% to 80%, to 90% of the time. If that’s you, you need to learn to ask better questions. When you are doing all the talking you don’t have time to find out the crucial things you need to know in order to set the stage for a supremely happy customer experience.
On this episode, I explain a little bit of how I avoid talking so much at listing appointments. My process focuses on doing the “talking” in bite-sized chunks the customer can digest - and NOT doing it all during the listing appointment.
One of the most powerful things to know about developing the skill of asking quality questions is this: People pay attention to the topics that you ask questions about. When you know that, it opens the door to all kinds of opportunities to guide the conversation where you know it needs to go.
There’s another secret power of asking the right kind of questions and it’s this: The right kind of questions enable people to drop their guard and truly engage with you on a heart level. THAT is the kind of response you want because when you get your customers talking on that level, you’re going to find out all kinds of things that will help you serve them well.
And be sure you pay special attention to that last part - this is all about service. There’s no manipulation or coercion involved in what I’m talking about. Asking quality questions is you helping your customers let you help them. Read that last line again…. It’s a bit confusing but vitally important.
Perhaps the toughest part of asking quality questions is that sometimes, they are the hardest questions to ask. Why? Because the places you feel tension in your interaction with a customer - or the subjects that the customer seems least eager to get into - are often the places where the greatest needs exist. And remember, your job as an agent is to meet your customer’s needs, to solve their problems. You can’t do that if they won’t talk about things.
So - you’re going to need courage to step into the awkward questions waters. You’re going to need to care about your customer more than you care about your own comfort. Serving people isn’t easy. It takes commitment, willingness to sacrifice to help them accomplish their goals, and willingness to wade into the waters that you know are the most troubled. But often, the greatest rewards come from those places.
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
The idea of a mastermind group has been around for a long time. In fact, it was Napoleon Hill who first coined the term “mastermind” in his 1925 book, “Think And Grow Rich.” Masterminds have been used by successful people all over the world, even before they were called that. I’m in a mastermind group right now and I can’t tell you all the ways my participation in the group has changed my life and improved my business. It’s been that kind of benefit to me for a long time, and I can’t believe I’m just now telling you about it. But better late than never, right? So listen as I explain what a mastermind group is, why I’m in one (and a huge fan of them), how it benefits my business, and so much more!
A mastermind group in the context that I’m discussing on this episode is a group of professionals who get together on a regular basis to seek and give advice to each other in relation to what each of them is doing in their business. They can be structured in many ways but the main goal is for each member to share their expertise and insight - AND for each member to glean valuable insights from others.
As you might imagine, a mastermind group can become very close relationally speaking, as each member becomes intimately aware of what the others are doing in their businesses and are committed to holding each other accountable for the actions they commit to during the group time. That means you also receive the benefit of friendship and referrals. Listen to learn more and to hear how my mastermind group is structured.
There are no rules about how a mastermind group is structured, but those who have taken part in masterminds for years have learned that without a clear structure everyone will feel their time has been wasted - and the group will be ineffective. In the case of my mastermind group, we meet quarterly - which I really like, and we meet for 3 hours each time.
Here’s what we do each time we meet:
Listen to learn how this meeting agenda helps us stay on track and move our businesses forward.
It’s hard to build a business by yourself, primarily because every one of us will have blind spots that limit our effectiveness. We need the help and insight of others to keep us on track and moving in the right direction. There is nothing like meeting regularly with a group of people who are also eager to grow and succeed - and who are willing to hold you accountable in firm but loving ways - to put yourself on the fast track to growth.
The opposite is also true: If you are not willing to be honest about your successes and your failures, don’t want others seeing and speaking about what you’re doing in your business, or are unable to receive feedback so that you can grow, you may not want to get into a mastermind group. I, for one, think you’re crazy if that’s how you feel about it, but hey - to each his own!
Every mastermind group will have its own unique mix of people - in terms of professions and types of business as well as with a diverse mix of personalities and backgrounds. In my mind, that’s exactly how it needs to be. You don’t want to be in a group with a bunch of people who are just like you and who do exactly what you do. You want varied perspectives to maximize your potential for growth.
When it comes to the type of people you want to involve, my only requirement is that they need to be people you look up to in some way. You want to ensure that the people there are people you want to learn from and people you want to help. When that’s the case, everyone benefits. Listen to learn more. I can’t encourage you enough to get into your own mastermind group as soon as you can.
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
This episode is one borne out of frustration - because the leadership lessons I’ve learned throughout my career and am still learning, seem to be misunderstood or poorly applied by most leaders in the real estate industry. Hear me now - I’m not holding myself up as one of those leadership gurus who can do no wrong. Not at all. But I CAN look back over my career as a leader and see how I’ve grown. I feel it’s my responsibility to share the leadership lessons I’ve learned. I hope you understand that's the heart behind this episode.
This recording features some of the lessons I’ve learned about the effective use of competition within a real estate office, why promoting shiny object syndrome in your agents is a terrible idea (and how you may be doing it without knowing it), how to let vulnerability lead the way in your leadership, and more.
One thing I’ve found in my journey is a leader is that a scarcity mindset within a team is like poison. It works its way down into the souls and psyche of your team members and breeds an inner pessimism that is hard to overcome. But let’s back up - you may not even know what I mean when I refer to a “scarcity mindset.” It’s a belief that there is only so much to go around. It's a mindset that leads to unhealthy competition and an unwillingness to share and collaborate.
That brings me to performance scoreboards. It’s common practice in the real estate industry to post “leader boards” in the office, showing which agent has the most sales. If the motivation behind posting these boards was simply to encourage the leaders, that would be fine - but scoreboards also highlight who on the team is struggling or lagging behind - for everyone to see. Scoreboards promote a scarcity mindset. They encourage unhealthy competition among agents on the same team that fosters stinginess, not collaboration. Listen to hear why I think leaders should be promoting a different kind of competition among their real estate agents - and how you can implement it immediately.
An outgrowth of the scoreboards we see posted in real estate offices across the country is that agents who are not performing well become distracted from the proven fundamentals they need to improve. They start questioning, second-guessing themselves, and getting pulled away from the very things that will provide success over time - because they are trying to imitate those in their office who are more successful. The problem is this: The things those who are more successful are doing may not fit the personality and gifting of the new or stuck agent. But they'll try to apply them anyway.
The leadership lesson I want you to take away from this is that what will make your real estate team more effective is not competition, but collaboration. Working together, sharing resources, building cooperative efforts is what makes the team more successful. Listen to learn how a cooperation saturated environment in your office will beat competition every time.
There’s a myth that’s made the rounds in our culture for a very long time - that leaders can’t express weakness or vulnerability. We tend to believe that leaders need to be strong, unshakable, examples of strength and reliability. While some of that is true, it doesn’t mean that any leader can be perfect, or lead perfectly without the normal stresses, doubts, and failings we all experience as human beings.
As I’ve said often, people can’t relate to your perfection. That goes double for leaders. Before long those you lead will resent you because you’re putting on a face that reveals no weakness, while deep down those who follow you know you aren’t really that way - because nobody can be. That is exactly why vulnerability is so powerful. As a leader, it’s your job to show your team how to move forward and achieve in spite of being imperfect. They need to learn how to be a flawed human being who is still able to accomplish great things - and they need to learn it from you. Listen to this episode to hear about the resource I’ve been drawing this lesson from, and how you can learn it as well.
I’m tired of hearing the same old thing from real estate agents - that the spirit of secrecy and competition in their real estate office is demoralizing them instead of empowering them. I’m tired of seeing promising, talented, competent agents run down and discoured through bad leadership. I’m definitely not a perfect leader, and maybe that’s why I can see what’s going wrong in the way real estate managers are leading their teams - because I have done the same things. But I’m learning, I’m growing, and I’m changing to a new leadership approach that is empowering and equipping my team in significant ways.
I hope you’ll take the leadership lessons I share on this episode as encouragement and not criticism. I don’t want to see you perpetuate a failing model any longer. If something I share on this episode were to help you make a change that makes you a better leader or empowers your team to a greater level of personal or professional success (or both), I’d be so happy.
Recommended Resources
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
We all know what it means to do client events. They could take the form of a ball game, hosting a bar-b-que, or holding a “client appreciation party.” That’s great, we should appreciate our clients, but we can do so much more - and do it in a way that broadens our reach and connects us with pre-clients. The ideas I’m having around this topic flow out of what’s been happening with the “I Love Madison” meetups my team has been putting together. Such amazing things are happening, I want to share it with you and encourage you to do get your own brand of community events going. Listen to learn more!
You know what I’m talking about - Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, LinkedIn - all of the social media platforms are incredibly helpful and useful in a variety of ways. But the remote nature of how they work often isolates us even more in real life. Instead of being better connected, many of us wind up feeling lonely.
I believe this is a growing problem that Realtors are uniquely positioned to address. How? By hosting client events, and even better - community events. On this episode, I want to explain some of the dreams I have for the “I Love Madison” meetup events and give you some ideas that you can use in your own community. Who knows what could happen if we all do our part to bring our communities together? Maybe someone will meet their new best friend through an event you host. Maybe love will blossom as a result. Maybe you'll find 2, 5, or 10 new clients. You never know what could happen!
Real Estate agents are uniquely positioned in the community to host unique and appealing events that people really enjoy. Why? We know the community, we know the happening places, we know the things that newcomers to our cities need to know about and become connected with. That means we have the potential of being a huge asset to the people of our communities. Why are we not taking advantage of that fact?
Listen to hear about the results of our “I Love Madison
meetup group and how we are pulling it off with very little effort, almost no overhead, and are getting great results. I’m meeting more people every month through these simple groups and my network continues to expand. Most importantly, it’s exciting to see what’s happening as people connect and exciting to be so involved in making it happen.
I recently heard Gary V. talking about the idea of psychographics. I didn’t even know what the word meant so I looked it up. Here’s the definition:
The study and classification of people according to their attitudes, aspirations, and other psychological criteria, especially in market research.
What does that mean for us as Realtors? It means that the better we know the way the people in our communities think, what motivates them, and what their hopes and dreams are, the better we can serve them. We need to become students of our communities. Then we can host events that are designed specifically for them and invite them to come. The I Love Madison Team is working on plans to do a concert series featuring local artists. Why? Because we know that people in our community often gather around music, so we’re going to take full advantage of that (in a good way). Listen to learn more!
It’s easy to think that demographics and targeting for client events like I’m talking about in this episode has to do with age, but it doesn’t. One example I mention is that a 28-year-old could be married or they could be single. They could have kids, or they could not. They could be employed in a white-collar profession or a blue collar job. There’s no way that age is a clear enough indication of what a person is like to bank on it when it comes to planning events.
Instead of looking at age, we should be considering “stage of life.” By doing this we’ll be much more effective at discovering interests, hobbies, and preferences that a wide range of people will enjoy - and we can host events that are “beyond client events” - events for the entire community. Listen to learn why I think these events are are so powerful and to hear what the I Love Madison team is cooking up for the city of Madison.
Recommended Resources
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
Gary V is a big-time successful entrepreneur who you’d expect to have a great productivity tip or two to share - and he does. But I recently saw a video of him being asked for his top productivity tips and the first one he mentioned blew me away because it wasn’t what I expected to hear from him. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized there was a reason he gave it as the very first tip - it’s the most important one. When you have it in place, it shapes the way you apply all the others. What was his #1 tip? Practice gratitude.
On this episode of Agent Rise, I’m going to walk you through Gary’s 6 productivity tips and give you my thoughts about how they play into a real estate business. At the end, I’m going to invite you to interact with me about these things because I believe that together, we can put them to work in our lives and make our businesses soar.
How is being grateful a productivity tip? Maybe an attitude tip or a success tip, but productivity? Yes, productivity. When we are able to approach our business with an attitude of gratitude we’re able to put things into perspective. Let’s look at an example…
If you are able to find those things you’re grateful for about the way your business is running, or where you've come from over the past few years, you’re going to find that those are the things that are going well. They are the things that are encouraging to you, that are having the biggest impact. In doing so, you’ve also discovered the things that matter the most to your business, which helps you to prioritize to a greater degree. Now you are set up to be more productive because you know what really matters.
All of us are in business to serve people, right? We’re also building teams of people who can help us do that. And none of us want our teams to feel we disregard them or don't appreciate them. Gary V’s first productivity tip applies to our interactions with our teams because the more grateful we are for the people on our team and the more we express that appreciation to them, the better they serve our clients.
Think about it - when you feel appreciated by your boss you are more motivated to work, to do well, to accomplish more. It’s the same way for the members of your team. But it also applies if you’re part of the team and not the leader. One member of my team excels at gift giving and has inspired and motivated me to get better at it myself. It’s an amazing example of how gratitude for one area or person bleeds over into gratitude across the entire team - and amplifies your productivity.
Another productivity tip Gary V shared is to remember that 99% of things don’t matter. What’s he saying? We need to learn to relax, to take the pressure off ourselves so that we can clear away the fog of busy-ness in order to see the 1% of things that actually DO matter. When we can see those things clearly, we are more clear on what we need to work on to move the business forward - and THAT equals greater productivity.
So take stock of your business and your life with that truth in mind. Most of what you stress about won’t matter much in the end. It’s like worry - we worry about things that might happen but never do, which means we’ve wasted all that time and energy on something that was nothing more than a misplaced emotion. Break out of that cycle and watch your productivity soar as you focus on what really matters.
Every business, including your real estate business, has many parts to it. As an example, you may have noticed that I teach 10 Agent Rise steps - things to focus on to make your real estate business thrive. But none of us can focus on all of those things at once. We need to select the one that has the most impact and focus on it until we have it down really well.
So take the time to look through your business and figure out what’s driving it. In most cases, it’s your attraction pillar or your chase pillar. Double-down on that. Make it a priority and make it the most excellent part of what you do. Then you will be ready to move ahead to the other things, adding brick by brick to your strategy until it’s all in place and functioning smoothly.
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
The 10th step of My "Agent Rise Steps" is the Team-Building Step and it's all about building real estate teams that rock! How do you do it? One of the popular approaches recently has been what’s called “The Rainmaker” model. It’s a model a lot of people say is the best approach, a model that many people have subscribed to but that I don’t particularly like. Why? Because of the way it puts undue pressure on the team leader and obscures the identity of the individual real estate agents on the team.
What do I like instead? I like to think of it more as a coaching model, or a mentorship model. On this episode I’m going to explain why I think a coaching approach is a better approach, and how real estate agents can experience greater freedom within my model.
I’ve been there, friends. I’ve been a full-blown practitioner of what is known as the Rainmaker Model of team building in. Trying to pull it off, I was spending $3000/mo on advertising and lead generation. I was the sole person on the team responsible for getting those leads into the pipeline. I was single-handedly supporting Zillow with what I paid them - at least if felt that way.
And the way that translated into our team dynamic was anything but healthy. I was pressuring my team to convert the leads I provided. I was hounding them, riding them, not exactly being nice to them all the time, because I felt the work I was doing and the money I was spending was not being effectively utilized. Unhealthy, right?
Now I’m dealing with my team in an entirely different and healthier way - and I want to explain it to you so that YOU can do the same. It’s on this episode...
When it comes to building a real estate team, you have to answer a very basic question: Are you building a business or just creating a job for yourself? It may sound a bit snarky to ask it that way, but it really cuts to the heart of the matter. If you are content to be a solo agent and never build a team around you, you’re going to limit your potential and be solely responsible for everything that happens or doesn’t happen in your “business.” It’s a job, nothing more - and it can be a very un-fun way to live and work.
But if you build a team, you not only relieve the pressure and stress on yourself by sharing the responsibilities, you also leverage the combined efforts of your real estate team to do more business, which brings more success for you and everyone on your team. But be careful when it comes to how you GO ABOUT building that team. There are good ways and not so good ways to do it. On this episode, I want to outline what I see as the very best way to go about it - by building a team that agents LOVE to be a part of.
When I speak with agents about building a team many of them are hesitant. They don’t see themselves as leaders, they don’t feel they can do everything required, and in the end, they are simply afraid of success. Yep, I’m talking about THAT again in this episode, because it’s a HUGE LIMITING factor for so many agents. Learn how to overcome fear of success and build a team that not only makes your business thrive but that also makes everyone more successful - even your clients.
Many real estate agents think in terms of “someday” when it comes to building a team around them. They think, “When I get to ___________ level of success, I’ll build out a great team.” The problem is that you can’t typically get to that level of success without building a real estate team. It simply isn’t possible for you to handle the amount of work required to get there. You need help.
So the time to build a team is now. Think it through, you need it and deep down you likely want it as well. Start dreaming about what that team will be like, how you want the culture to be, and what you’ll do to support and empower your team to be successful as individuals. On this episode, I tell you some of the pieces you want to consider and why you might benefit from getting coaching yourself - to help you build your team the right way.
Recommended Resources
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
One of the biggest challenges facing real estate agents today is trying to stay productive. It’s difficult because even if you’re days are filled with tasks it doesn’t mean you’re actually accomplishing the growth you desire. Being busy does not mean you are being effective! Do you understand the difference? Are you driving your business or driving yourself crazy? Find out on this week’s episode of the Agent Rise Podcast.
Something I say all the time, whether it’s on the podcast or in coaching, is that in order to succeed as a real estate agent you have to develop a clear business plan that’s congruent to you. You will never stay productive if you don’t. However, it’s incredibly important that we define what “congruent to you” means as you develop your plan. In simple terms, it means to play to your strengths. You can’t simply copy the strategy of a successful agent on your team and call it a day. Their plan works for them because it is FOR THEM. Just because geo-farming is how one agent rises to the top does not mean you will have the same level of success. You may need a more fast-paced approach and get better results with online leads. The “what” does not matter nearly as much as the “who”. Just remember, the most important ingredient in developing a successful business plan is YOU.
Too many realtors have invested a ton of precious time and resources into playing the wrong game. They’ve either borrowed someone else's successful business plan assuming it will bring them equal success or they hear a strategy they like and assume that because they like it they’ll be good at it. Yet, year after year their growth is non-existent and their income bracket stagnates. Don’t let that be you! Before you can play to your strengths you have to know what your strengths are. Sometimes it’s hard to see that for yourself and that’s where coaching can be an invaluable resource. Rushing into action with a half-baked business plan will cost you more than investing in self-discovery ever will. Stop missing the mark and figure out what works best for you instead of relying on assumptions.
A few weeks ago, I brought up the idea that a lot of us are busier in our heads than we are on our calendars. If you want to stay productive you have to clear out the junk in your mind. I know how hard it is to stop thinking about every minute detail of our business. It’s so easy to be consumed by thoughts that steal our joy and keep us from moving forward. We have to learn how to command negativity to leave and only focus on what we can control. Stop worrying and let go of what you can’t change. It’s not worth the stress and anxiety you’re creating. By clearing your mental calendar you will finally start working ON your business instead of always working in it.
It may seem contradictory, but one of the biggest components of staying productive is learning how to rest. Rest is what enables you to recharge and allows you to breathe fresh life into your real estate business. If you’re constantly tired and on the edge of burnout you will only be able to strive for mediocrity as a means of survival. However, if you give yourself the space to unplug and enjoy life you will find that there is no limit to your potential. Learn how to set healthy boundaries for yourself by prioritizing fun, relaxation, and even sleep. After all, how are you ever going to dream big if you don’t sleep enough?
Outline of this great episode
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
Are you ready to stop settling? Do you find yourself in the same income category year after year with no idea how to break the cycle? Do you feel like getting to “good enough” is all you will ever be good for? The truth is that the limits on your life are mostly self-imposed and in order to break through them you have to figure out where they are coming from in the first place. It’s time to dig deep on this week’s episode of the Agent Rise Podcast.
Jim Collins once said that “Good is the enemy of great”. This means that if your goals are simply to maintain the status quo you are dreaming too small or not at all. You may not be failing, but “getting by” should never be a benchmark in your business. Don’t let comfort lull you into complacency. Be bold! Take risks! Do the things no one else is willing to do so you can live like no one else will get to live. One of the big catchphrases right now is “work/life balance”. By no means am I knocking the need for balance in your life. You absolutely need to have clear boundaries between work and rest. What you CAN’T afford to do is let balance be an excuse to not be bold and give everything you’ve got to your real estate business. Don’t rob the world of what you could have created if you really tried.
Something that revolutionized my world is intentionally seeing my business as a business. If your business is something you can’t walk away from without the wheels falling off and everything bursting into flames then you don't have a business. What you have is a job. Gainful employment and nothing more. This is why it’s crucial to build teams as a means to growth in your real estate business. Successfully built teams will multiply your revenue and decrease your workload. Stop equating the amount of revenue you want to make with the amount of time it will take to make it. The root of that mindset is one that refuses to allow other capable people from doing jobs that they can do well and you don’t need to be doing. You actually gain control of your future when you release control of your workload.
Too many real estate agents believe the myth that you HAVE to be a rainmaker in order to build and lead a team. The money you’ll spend on leads alone chasing that lie will make breaking even a task in and of itself. There is a better way friends! Rather than taking on the sole responsibility of distributing fish (so to speak) to your agents, develop solid systems that will teach your agents to fish for themselves. You don’t have to build a team based on your production. It is not your job to spoon feed your agents success. YOUR job as a team leader is to coach, mentor, and empower your team to obtain success for themselves. By eliminating a rainmaker mentality you will severely reduce your stress and allow your agents to develop their own unique identity in real estate.
Bill Walsh, one of the most successful and influential coaches in NFL history, wrote a compelling book entitled The Score Takes Care Of Itself. In summary, when you focus on the fundamentals and your responsibility to those core disciplines the results will follow naturally. The same can be said of your real estate business. If you constantly focus on the deficit between where you’re at and where you want to be you will never remain focused enough to accomplish the things that will actually get you there. You have to work according to your vision and not according to your needs. Don’t let one failure derail your entire strategy. Stay focused and keep working the clear plan that is congruent to you and I promise the score will take care of itself.
Outline of this great episode
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
With the biggest superhero movie in history premiering last weekend, we are going to take a deep dive into the villains keeping you from achieving success as a real estate agent. What is holding you back from the success you want to reach? We all have SOMETHING we struggle with that is standing in the way of breakthrough. Maybe you know exactly what that is. Maybe you don’t. Or maybe you only think you know and a blind spot has been hiding your real enemy for a long time. It’s time to unmask your villain on this week’s episode of the Agent Rise Podcast!
When limiting beliefs set in, it’s really easy to assume that the things you struggle with will always hold you back and there’s not much you can do about it. Friends, that is an absolute lie! You CAN rewrite your story and achieve success as a result. However, just because it’s possible does not mean it’s easy. Rewriting your story will take discipline and possibly some painful conversations. More often than not, the true identity of the villain in your life has been hiding in a blind spot and it takes coaching and transparency to bring it to light. Stop fighting the wrong enemy and do the work to figure out what is really holding you back. Do you have what it takes? The answer is YES!
Yep, you read that right. The majority of our villains are easily slain by taking 100% responsibility for what happens in our life and business. Blaming your lack of achievement and success on anything and everything is an incredible waste of time. Blaming, in general, implies that we are passively helpless to our circumstance and shortcomings. Nothing could be further from the truth! Stop playing the blame game and start taking 100% responsibility for what goes on in your world. When you start seeing yourself as the only entity responsible for your success you begin to not only pursue it but also achieve it.
Good techniques are great, but they don’t matter if you can’t stay consistent in your real estate business. This is where a lot of agents struggle, but consistency becomes easier once you have a clear plan that you are totally invested in. You have to believe in the strategy you develop for yourself. You could have the greatest plan in the world, but if you’re not committed to its execution then what you have is NOTHING. Unbelief will kill your consistency and derail you when tougher seasons come. It’s easy to stay consistent when everything is going your way, but you have to learn how to hunker down through changing markets and seasons so that you can achieve the success you are striving for.
The real villain keeping us from being able to achieve success is our limiting beliefs. We often blame our lack of achievement on the first thing that comes to our mind when we reflect on our obstacles, but the root of almost every single one of those obstacles is usually a lie we believe about ourselves. Maybe it came from things that were spoken over us in childhood. Or maybe we’re letting a past failure define our future. Either way, we are operating out of fear of lack instead of nurturing a mindset of abundance. We limit the resources we spend and the effort we exert because we are terrified of running out of both. Stop believing you will never have enough or be enough to achieve the success you seek. You ARE enough! It’s not that as a new or stuck real estate agent you can’t afford coaching. You can’t afford NOT to be coached. You can’t afford NOT to invest in your future. You are worth so much more than the lies you have believed about yourself. It’s time to unmask your villain and kick butt!
Outline of this great episode
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts(formerly iTunes)
Are you a new or stuck real estate agent who wants to unlock your potential? Maybe you hit a wall in your business a long time ago and you’re finally ready to break through. Well friends, this is the episode for you! Breakthrough starts in your mind before it ever hits your profit margin. Today, I’m going to show you how to master your mentality so that you can stop fearing success and start achieving your goals.
Real estate can be both incredibly fun and incredibly challenging all at the same time. Sometimes the challenge can seem to outweigh the reward. Especially, when we don’t know how to let go of what we can’t control and start owning the baggage of our business. We constantly replay the frustrations of every transaction over and over again until it dominates our every thought. Look, I’ve been there. We all have. It’s completely overwhelming and it makes us feel so swamped with work that it seems impossible to take on any more transactions or grow our business. The truth is, if we really examined our calendars we are far busier in our minds than we are on paper. It’s time to press stop on the toxic mental replay!
Your closet isn’t the only thing that needs an overhaul this April. One of the major ways to unlock your potential as a real estate agent is by getting rid of the clutter in your business and the lies in your head. Clutter will keep you from developing a clear business plan that is congruent to who you are as an agent, but lies will keep you from knowing who you are in the period. You need to renew your mind daily and identify where limiting beliefs are creeping in. You can’t address the fear of success if you believe the lies that built that fear in the first place. The easiest way to expose a lie is to flood it with the truth and you can’t do that without a daily commitment to renewing your mind.
As I’ve stated, renewing your mind is an essential part of building your breakthrough, but what does that look like? Personally, I’ve made it a habit to start my day off right so that I get my mind in order before anything else. As a believer, I read Scripture, pray, and spend time with God to make sure I’m casting all of my worries onto Him so I don’t own what I can’t control. I’ve even begun journaling in order to gain perspective and reflect on everything I have to be thankful for. It also motivates me to live more intentionally so I have something good to write about. Your mornings don’t have to look like mine. However, you should be pursuing some sort of gratitude time where you can really appreciate everything you have. It’s so easy to get caught up in the negativity of life and the comparison game. Start renewing your mind with gratitude and you will change the way you see the world.
Professional athletes are the best example of people who pursue excellence that I can think of. Take Steph Curry for example. This guy's reason for being such an incredible basketball player is that he never stops putting in the work to be great. He’s coming in three hours before practice and staying well past when others leave just to perfect his shot. Maybe you’re not a sports person, but I’m sure you can appreciate the pursuit of excellence. The same thing goes for your business. You have to make up your mind that you are going to pursue excellence no matter what. Even if it means long hours. Even if it means doing the things that no one else is willing to do. If you set your mind on pursuing excellence I promise you will unlock your potential and experience the breakthrough you’ve been looking for.
Outline of this great episode
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts(formerly iTunes)
It’s been a while since I have talked about building your attraction pillar, so I thought a great way to revisit the topic would be to give you 18 Youtube titles you can use to ramp up your Youtube channel or get a new one started.
Youtube is a powerful discovery and distribution channel. It’s one way agents can put themselves on the map with people looking to move to their city or sell there existing home. People use Youtube to educate and entertain themselves and you can take advantage of that fact to build a platform that doesn’t stop working for you.
But it’s often hard to get started because you don’t have a good idea of the topics that would make for good Youtube videos. That’s what this episode is all about! Listen to learn!
Every real estate agent is working in a geographic location (DUH) and most are in cities. The people you serve in that location are very interested in what that city has to offer, especially if they are new to the city or are considering a move there. What a great opportunity for you to create helpful videos that give them the exact information they are looking for.
Consider creating a number of “top 10” or “top 5” type videos. Here are some starter ideas…
Get the point? My recommendation is to record these videos outside, record some b-roll footage of the places you’re talking about in the videos, and make it engaging for your viewers. That’s just one of my ideas - listen to hear all of them!
It’s great to create content that’s about your location, but you also need to demonstrate your expertise as a real estate agent. But most real estate videos are boring and dumb. You don’t want to be that. Here are some great ideas for helpful content to get you started:
If you sat down to do a brainstorming session for yourself and came up with every video title you can think of to put on your Youtube channel, I’m confident you’d find at least as many as I did. But then what? What do you do when you run out of ideas?
I’ve discovered that the questions you get from customers, clients, people in your community, and co-workers usually make for excellent video topics. That’s because you can be sure that if one person is asking you the question personally, many others are wondering about it as well. They just haven’t asked.
That’s a great opportunity for you to create content people are already searching for - and it positions you as the expert who can help them with other needs, like buying and selling their home.
Establishing a Youtube channel is hard work, but it’s work that is well worth the effort. Many agents start elements of their attraction pillar (like a Youtube channel) without having their eyes wide open to what it’s going to require of them. That’s a recipe for failure.
You’ve got to examine your existing life and work rhythms in order to determine how and when you can insert video content creation into your schedule. If you don’t, your Youtube channel is going to start in a blaze and end in a flicker. I suggest you start when you are the busiest, like in the Spring. That way you’ll see firsthand how hard it’s really going to be during your most busy time and can make the adjustments you need to make.
Listen to learn more about how to create a Youtube strategy and approach that will set you up for success, on this episode of Agent Rise.
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Maintaining a confidence mindset is the key to “keeping the engine running” in your real estate business. If your sphere of influence and chase pillars are the transmission, then your mindset is the engine. Just like a car, if you don’t properly maintain your mindset you will stall out. Do you struggle to have confidence in yourself? Are you plagued by lies and limiting beliefs that are holding you back? Get the encouragement you need to break through on this week’s episode of the Agent Rise Podcast.
One of the coolest things I get to experience as a real estate coach is watching new or stuck agents finally break through. And when everything does start to come together it’s not because they found some magical system that generates success. The number one catalyst for growth is creating and maintaining a confidence mindset. One of the big confidence boosters I have had to work at is knowing who I am. When you are firm in your identity you will have the ability to call out and cast out fears from your life. A mindset free from the power of fear is the best soil for confidence to grow.
A huge obstacle in maintaining a confidence mindset is emotional baggage. Sometimes we can’t control the things that have happened to us or the words that have been spoken over us. Scars from past experiences will continually hold us back if we let them. Choosing to believe lies and limiting beliefs is just that: a choice. You don’t have to believe what that person said about you. You don’t have to let that failure or circumstance define you for the rest of your life. You CAN break through even the most painful of pasts if you learn to cultivate confidence with a healthy mindset.
How you view other people will determine the health of your mindset. If you see other people as the enemy of your growth then you will never get to where you want to be. Blaming others for your lack of results is a key characteristic of a scarcity mindset which breeds jealousy and creates an unhealthy need to constantly prove yourself. However, if you take full ownership of your future and embrace the fact that the only person holding you back from growth is YOU, there is no limit to what you’ll be able to achieve. Stop competing with other people and start challenging yourself.
Without vision people will perish. Your real estate business is no different. Don’t get distracted by every whim that comes your way and stick with the vision you set out to accomplish. That is incredible advice if you have a good vision that’s crystal clear. But what if you don’t? It’s going to be a trainwreck! The opposite of clarity is clutter and too many realtors have a vision for their business that could use some spring cleaning. Before you can pursue your vision you have to make sure the vision is not only clear but that it works and is congruent to you.
Outline of this great episode
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
It’s time to get real about overcoming distractions as a real estate agent and I’m calling out the biggest one: social media. Most of us use it and love it, but is the time we spend on it worth the return? Is Facebook marketing driving your business or keeping you distracted? Is your addiction to Instagram stories keeping you from writing your own success story? I’m helping you answer all of these questions and more on this week’s episode of the Agent Rise Podcast!
Last week, I made the statement that by saying “Yes” to one thing we are saying “No” to another. I’m realizing that too many real estate agents are saying “Yes” to crazy amounts of time pursuing social media marketing while saying “No’ to things like matchmaking and building an effective chase. I’m going to make a bold statement and say that for a new or stuck agent social media is probably a waste of time. I get that SOME of your drive you business with social and that’s amazing, but I’d also bet that’s because you’ve spent a good amount of time and resources making that work for you. Hear me new/stuck agents: You don’t have time to play the long game. You need to walk (or maybe crawl) long before you can start running. Invest in things that will grow your business NOW.
Theodore Roosevelt once said that “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Maybe social media is less of a distraction for your business and more of one for your life. If you constantly consume social content you are subjecting your mind to whatever random thing shows up on your feed next. It might be positive or it could be an angry rant that feeds you anger. Perhaps it’s a picture of another agent taking their family on vacation that sends you into a shame spiral and makes you believe you’ll never be able to do something like that for your family. Don’t let Facebook steal your joy! Keep your clarity about who you are and where you're going by limiting exposure to the filterless influence of social media.
The reality is that social media can be an incredible tool when used properly. Real estate agents with a solid and lucrative foundation CAN drive their business further by using Facebook and Instagram. How do they do it? They know how to control social media without letting it control them. They don’t let one hour of post scheduling become that plus two more hours of scrolling. Don’t use the legitimate social media needs of your business as an excuse to stay distracted. Be intentional with your business plan! If it includes social media marketing then let that be your purpose for logging into social media. PERIOD. Part of creating a plan that’s congruent to you is acknowledging your weaknesses. If you can’t be on social media without getting lost on your news feed then contract social media marketing out to someone else so you can stay focused. Don’t let Instagram stories fill your days. Write your own.
If I know anything from my own battles with distraction and addiction, it’s that half-measures just won’t do. You have to get serious about weeding out the things that are draining your productivity and sucking away your success. If that means deleting social media apps from your phone then DO IT. If you have to hire a coach to hold you accountable, go ahead. No matter what you’re dealing with in the realm of addiction and distraction it’s always ok to ask for help. The key to overcoming distractions is to be aware of how much time you are investing in something, evaluating the benefit of that investment, and then making the necessary adjustments to get rid of what is wasting your time. Start saying “No” to the things that are not driving your business so you can start saying “Yes” to success.
Outline of this great episode
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Are you a busy real estate agent looking for the right time management tools to help you take the chaos out of your calendar? Look no further! The reality is time management is less about systems and more about having a proper mindset. Today I want to give you the tips you need to turn your ever increasing “do list” into a “done list” and help you run a more efficient real estate business. It’s time for a mindset shift so press play!
I think attraction pillars are awesome. After all, my entire reason for starting a podcast was to talk about the need for one. The problem is that attraction pillars are the long game for real estate success. If you are a new or stuck agent, time is the one thing you don’t have. Making a profit sooner rather than later may mean the difference between staying afloat or not. You need to focus on creating an effective chase and building up your sphere of influence far before you should put work into creating an attraction. If you introduce this pillar too soon it will become a distraction and create major problems in your quest to manage time wisely.
Picture this: It’s almost five o’ clock on a Friday afternoon. You have twenty-five newsletters to send out to your sphere of influence by the end of the day, but you REALLY want to start your weekend. Do you send them? If this is just a task to you then it’s probably something you don’t mind pushing till Monday. However, if you start viewing tasks as commitments and scheduling them as appointments I guarantee you will be more efficient and begin clearing out the number of snoozed reminders on your calendar. This kind of mindset shift will help you gain more discipline in how and when you complete tasks as well as what tasks you choose to take on.
Admittedly, I’m not the best at this, but it’s something I’ve HAD to learn over the years. Overcommitment will kill all efficiency in your business. “No” can be one of the most powerful time management tools in your arsenal. Think about it this way: Every time you say “Yes” to something you’re also saying “No” to something else. Have you been saying “No” to the right things by saying “Yes” to everything else? Is people pleasing keeping you from achieving the success you’re chasing? These are hard questions, but the answers may be the key to freeing up your calendar and getting results.
Real estate agents operating out of scarcity believe that it’s a waste of money to hire anyone to do a job that they could do themselves. I’m here to tell you that just because you can do it doesn’t mean you should. If you find yourself doing the same monotonous tasks each week like writing newsletters or scheduling showings it’s time to bring someone else in. Your time is worth more than the fifteen dollars per hour you would pay someone to complete these tasks for you. It’s amazing what we think we HAVE to do when we don’t know how to let go. Focus on what only YOU can do and leave everything else to someone else. Stop believing in scarcity because it doesn’t believe in you.
Outline of this great episode
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Because the tenth Agent Rise step is all about team building, I thought this episode would be the perfect opportunity to update you on all things I Love Madison. I’ve recently made some big changes to that brand around team building and it’s been a huge win for my real estate business. I want to give you all of those details plus show you how you can build a great team of your own. If you are struggling to build a brand that people can get behind then this episode is for you. So what are you waiting for? Press play so we can dive in!
One of the biggest pitfalls of an attraction pillar is that it takes too long to bear fruit and can ultimately become a distraction. This is especially true for the new or stuck agent. However, one of the reasons attraction pillars can fall flat in the results department is that there is a disconnect between the brand of your business and the attraction itself. People recognize me from the I Love Madison Show all the time but not once has that resulted in a sale. Some even thought I had quit real estate to do that full-time. Talk about a disconnect! That’s one of the reasons I rebranded my real estate business as the I Love Madison Home Team. By capitalizing on the success of the I Love Madison Show I’m allowing my brand to fuel my attraction pillar and vice versa. Now when people talk about the show their also talking about my business which is what is ultimately going to make this attraction successful.
Building a brand is easy because it can be anything you want it to be. However, building a brand well and making sure it lasts is something different entirely. A big part of that is making sure your brand is something that you can build a team around. I recently rebranded my business as the I Love Madison Home Team because I wanted to have a brand that my team could get behind without losing their own identity. By moving away from the Neil Mathweg brand, I am able to elevate my team instead of just myself. Having a brand that allows you to uplift others is a critical part of team building and will help you take your business to the next level.
If you’re considering a rebrand maybe it’s time for a heart check as well. What I mean by that is with rebranding your business comes a focus on mission and vision. What you do and why you do it is the heart of your business and if your brand needs a change perhaps it’s time to examine what makes you tick as well. You might have a solid mission and vision or you may need to go back to the drawing board. Either way, there is no better time to fine-tune the critical components of what makes your business uniquely yours than during a rebrand.
One of the biggest pushbacks I get to team building is that it isn’t the right time to build a team. So many agents have this idea that they can’t build a team unless their cup is running over or they have too much work to handle by themselves. The former is a myth and the latter is the kind of desperation that few would actually want to be a part of. People don’t want a rainmaker they want a leader. Agents want to be led and mentorship is a much better selling point than workload or excess. The systems you create and the team atmosphere you cultivate is your greatest asset when building a team. As long as you have those in place there is no better time to build than now!
Outline of this great episode
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
One of the biggest struggles we face as real estate agents is continuing to provide world-class service even when we’re crazy busy. If you’re anything like me, you are gearing up for or diving head first into the busiest part of your year. Sadly, this is the time where your level of service can take a back seat to “getting stuff done”. Don’t let it! Taking care of your clients with excellence is what will set you apart. Today I want to share with you some of the systems that helped me turn first-time clients into raving fans with a full plate.
A resounding client complaint that I hear too often is that once they hire a real estate agent they never hear from them again. That’s a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point. If you want to be an uncommon agent you can’t just list them and leave them! The only time your client hears from you should NOT be when you deem it necessary. I set the expectation with my clients that I will contact them every Tuesday to give them an update and go over anything they may have thought of throughout the week. This creates a clear communication plan that also sets a healthy boundary for casual information and clears the way for important 911 calls if they come up. Your day doesn’t have to be Tuesday, but pick a day and stick to it so you can stand out.
Part of providing world-class service is making sure you don’t miss a necessary step. A game changer in this area for me and most of the people I coach has been email templates. Creating templates for things like an offer to purchase or next steps will ensure that every communication detail is executed perfectly and consistently. It’s also a time saver too because there is nothing worse than having to delay a closing because you didn’t communicate a vital piece of the puzzle. Including definitions and suggestions in your templates will also save you time and help your clients feel more comfortable with the process every step of the way. Don’t spend time responding to tons of emails when you can put all the necessary information all in one place!
Your role as a real estate agent is to drive your business by loving on your sphere of influence and running an effective chase. So tell me, why are you still wasting time and energy running to EVERY showing or coordinating every part of your transactions? If you want to grow your real estate business and offer world-class service at the same time you need to hire a showing assistant and a transaction coordinator. You may believe you aren’t big enough to have other people in those roles, but the truth is you will never grow big enough if you don’t! Even if you think you can do it better I promise that you can’t. Why? Because you can’t do it all my friend. You can’t grow your business AND handle everything else with excellence. Growing your business takes a great deal of attention and there are some details that you have to let go of. Do the job that only you can do and let others handle the rest. This will allow you to provide consistent world-class service while doing business on a larger scale.
I’m just going to say it: Stop believing the lie that in order to be successful you can’t say no. You are worth more than that and boundaries are an important part of being a successful realtor. You are not pushing people away when you set a specific day off for yourself. It’s actually the opposite! Clients will respect you and want to work with you because you have a healthy balance in your life. You also have to stop agreeing with this idea and postponing the application of it until you “get busy enough”. That’s stupid. Just like investing in showing assistants and transaction coordinators, investing in yourself will get you unstuck and give you the sense of freedom you’ve been longing for. Taking a break is how you keep your sanity and still provide world-class service.
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
After years of being a real estate agent coach, the amount of excuses I’ve heard as to why an agent can’t succeed is ridiculous. That’s why one of my absolute favorite things is to help people turn obstacles into opportunities. No matter what obstacle you are facing as a realtor I believe that opportunity is just around the corner and all it usually takes is a mindset shift. Stop making excuses and start embracing opportunities by pressing play on this episode!
It is incredibly disheartening to prepare for an open house only to find out that it has been canceled due to the property already being sold. How are you going to get those leads in your matchmaker in order to convert them if you never met those potential leads in the first place?! What if there was a way to beat the sold sign and start turning that obstacle into an opportunity? Well friends, there is. Start having your open houses the day the property is listed. If it lists on a Tuesday morning, do an open house that night. It may be unorthodox, but it will show buyers you mean business and help you stand out in a saturated market.
What if I told you that your biggest obstacle was actually a lie? So many agents tell me that open houses don’t work in their market when I know for a fact that another agent in the same market is excelling in that area. You may believe that lie because you tried to put on an open house and it failed. Just because it didn’t work when you did it does not mean that there isn’t a way to make it work. Maybe it was the wrong season or maybe you had the wrong approach? When I take agents through the process of how to have an effective open house it is oftentimes a game changer for their business. You have to believe that open houses work because THEY DO.
In the world of “the more I do the more successful I’ll be” the idea of having two chase pillars seems like a good idea. After all, what’s the harm in casting two nets right? The most common example of this is running Facebook ads while holding open houses. The glaring issue with this is that if open houses fall through we become tempted to use our ads as a crutch. You’ve probably said things like “Well at least I have my ads”. I’ve found in my own business that not a lot of Facebook leads convert and if you use it as a crutch it will eventually cause us to fall on our face. I want to go deeper on this so listen to this episode for more insight.
Sometimes the way we turn obstacles into opportunities is by embracing what is right in front of us. So many realtors out there want to become listing agents. My solution? Work with buyers that have houses to sell. I know that sounds obvious, but you would be surprised by the number of agents that want to be listing agents and are targeting first time home buyers. That is completely counter-intuitive. I became a listing agent without trying because I sought to work with people who needed to sell their home before buying another one. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel and just hop in the car.
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
There isn’t a week that goes by where I don’t talk to a stuck agent who wants to quit real estate. While there are a select few who may need to move on, the majority of stuck agents are just a few practical steps away from turning it all around. No matter how far away you feel from success or how long you have been there I believe there is still hope for you yet. So stop looking at job listings and press play on this episode!
Fear is the stuck agent’s worst enemy. Some agents are so scared of their ability to handle the workload of success that they shy away from doing the things that would give them more than one client at a time. The root of fear (and specifically fear of success) is often a limiting belief. “I can’t do this because...fill in the blank”. It doesn’t really matter what that blank is because almost 100 percent of the time it’s a lie. The blank is something we picked up along the way, either from people or circumstances, that tells us we are not enough. It tells us that no matter what we do we will never succeed. Friend, hear me when I tell you that is an absolute lie. It’s time to start commanding fear out of your life and tearing down limiting beliefs! I believe in you and this episode will help you start the journey of getting your mind ready for success.
The more I coach stuck agents the more I realize one thing: Stuck agents are often great students and terrible at applying what they’ve learned. What I mean is that it’s usually easy and fun to learn all about real estate, but when it comes down to actually doing the work a lot of agents fall short. The reason? They have shiny object syndrome. They obsess over the latest strategy that will “explode their business” only to forget about it next month when a new one comes to light. They never stick with anything long enough for it to actually produce results or they only do something if it’s fun. The problem with the latter is that the steps that lead you to success aren’t always fun. Sometimes they are tedious and require a great deal of self-discipline. If I’m describing you right now, don’t get discouraged! Listen to this episode because I want to help.
You will never be able to gain consistency in your life and real estate business without taking on your limiting beliefs and the clutter in your business strategy. They are distractions and you will always gravitate towards the wrong things if you don’t face this now and from now on. I say that because if fear is something you’ve dealt with in the past you may be tempted to let it creep back into your life as you experience new levels of success. Or maybe you used to consistently chose what was fun and enjoyable over hard and necessary work. That is something that requires a daily commitment to overcome. Identify where fear and distractions are getting in the way of your success and commit to taking the necessary steps to ensure that they stay out of the way.
Once you get your head in the right place and recognize the distractions in your strategy, it’s time to focus on the things that will drive your business. You need a great chase pillar that will generate leads. You need a matchmaking system that will convert those leads and a business tracker to help you stay on top of your calls and mailings. Then you need to day block so that you can stay consistent in your strategy and get the results that come out of that. It sounds simple, but so many agents go after the fun and flashy business plan over a strategy that is clear and congruent to them. Don’t be that person. Be an uncommon agent and put the work in now so that you can reap the benefits for years to come.
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Last week I unveiled the Agent Rise 10 Steps for Success and focused on how they can empower the new real estate agent. This week I want to take a deep dive on how these steps can be a game changer for the stuck agent. If you feel like you’re at the end of your rope because you’ve “tried everything”, this episode is for you. Take a deep breath and get ready to be encouraged because right behind that play button is a world of perspective to help you get to the next level.
Relax, I said vulnerable...not weird. The truth is I think most stuck agents try to overcompensate for their lack of productivity with the perception of perfection. They hide behind an image of success hoping that it will catch up to reality sooner or later. That’s why the idea of sending out an announcement letter to your sphere of influence that honestly communicates where you are struggling to breakthrough seems terrifying. Like it or not, vulnerability is relatable. If your sphere is supposed to be the people who already know, like, trust you then this could be a critical move to building a stronger an effective database. Need more convincing? Check out this episode for greater insight.
For weeks now, I’ve been stressing the importance of the sphere of influence pillar. However, for the stuck agent, it’s the chase pillar that is going to revitalize your real estate business. The sphere IS important, but as someone who has been a realtor for a while, you likely have that in place to a degree. Stuck agents need to focus on what drives their business to get moving in the right direction again. Maybe you doubt your chase because what you’ve tried in the past has failed. Don’t discount the chase altogether because of a misstep! Figure out where you went wrong last time and put the right systems in place to convert leads to sales. This episode is full of tips on how to make the most of your chase.
Nothing can be quite as refreshing to a stuck agent as creating a system that increases the repeatability of success. This means there is a light at the end of the tunnel! For a new agent, this might seem like a low success step on the totem pole. However, stuck agents know the value of putting a good system in place because it eliminates the fear of success. The reality is systems help you do more because it takes unpredictability out of the equation. Go from doing maybe three transactions a month to seven or eight by getting the right systems in place to drive your real estate business.
Most real estate agents are ok with asking another agent in the office to hold them accountable. There’s just one problem with that: it rarely works. Largely, because it results in a blind leading the blind situation. The agent your asking to hold you accountable may be as lost as you are on how to move from stuck to success. This is why I recommend paid coaching. If you pay someone you are far more likely to pay attention and they are far more likely to know what they’re doing. This will enable you to develop a clear plan that’s congruent to you so that you can stay consistent and get to the next level.
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.youcanbook.me
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
If you are a new agent or a real estate agent who’s been at it for a while but feels like you’re not making any headway, you’ve found the PERFECT episode to listen to. As I’ve been reading Donald Miller’s great book, “Storybrand” I’ve been inspired in a lot of ways. But one of the biggest things it’s brought to light is that my experience as an agent has given me insight into how to set up a new agent’s business from square one - or how to help stuck agents get unstuck.
This episode is my introduction of the Agent Rise Steps - 10 things you need to understand and apply in order to set up your business for success if you are a new to real estate. And if you’re an old hand at this but need a little guidance, you’ll see that these 10 steps toward success apply perfectly for you too. Take the time to listen and change your real estate career forever.
Put 100 people in a “Sphere of Influence” database
Mail an announcement letter
Select and maintain your “Sphere of Influence Pillar”
Generate leads with your “Chase Pillar”
Convert leads with your “MatchMaker” System
Systematize your business
Grow your “Sphere of Influence” database to 300 and build a “Top 25”
Select and maintain an “Attraction Pillar”
Accountability and consistency
Teambuild and coach others
OK, there are many terms in there that seem like jargon - things you sort of understand but don’t quite get. If you haven’t been listening to this podcast for a while that’s definitely the case. But don’t worry, I’m going to break down every one of these steps in this episode. I give explanations and examples of each with nothing held back, so don’t sweat it.
In any business, there are certain things that have to be done that are more appealing, more fun for the business owner or team than other things are. It’s a reality. But it’s important to keep yourself focused on the things that matter and the timing in which they matter. STEP FOUR of my Agent Rise Steps has to do with implementing your “chase” pillar, which I’ll admit is not always the most fun to do. But it’s the heartbeat of your business.
What do I include in the chase pillar? Open houses - Facebook advertising - online leads - FSBOs and expireds - these are the things that generate leads for your business and MUST be done before you move to the more shiny objects that are honestly a bit more “fun.”
But it CAN be fun if you do it right. The matchmaker system I outline and teach in my Bootcamp is one of the tools that make it fun. It’s where the magic happens when it comes to generating interested leads. Listen to learn how you can get better engagement with leads, get more responses to your calls, and even create reasons you WANT to call more leads every week.
For some reason, in the real estate business agents tend to work on their business in hit and miss fashion. I understand how showings and listing appointments are random by nature and require a certain level of flexibility, but that doesn’t mean you can’t systematize other things to make them work flawlessly every single time.
I’m talking about things that DO need to follow a pattern, things like listing appointments, buyer consultations, your accepted offer process, etc. Every step along the way you need to have a specific process for how you do things.
When you do, there are tremendous benefits.
All of that comes by McDonaldizing your business - creating and using systems. This one step is powerful - it removes the fear of success.
It may seem a bit touchy-feely to talk about “loving” a group of people as a real estate agent, but that’s EXACTLY how you need to think about your “Top 25 List.” What is it? It’s a list of people who you deem to be incredibly valuable to your business because of their ability and/or willingness to give you referrals that generate business.
Take the time to identify these people, then create a system that enables you to love them well and consistently. Buy and give away great books, provide birthday gifts when their special day comes, whatever it takes, you want to take care of these cherished referral partners. You should not only do it because it is the right thing to do - out of gratitude for what they are doing for you - but it keeps you top of mind so they remember how much they appreciate what you’re doing for the people they refer to you.
Who are the kind of people who make YOUR “Top 25 List?” It's going to be different for every agent. For me, there are a couple of unlikely people. One is a propane tank delivery driver and another is a mail carrier. Who will make YOUR list?
I hope you take the time to listen to this episode - more than once. When you systematically work through each of the Agent Rise Steps in order, you’ll set up your real estate business for the kind of success that can’t be stopped.
Recommended Resources
Easy Agent Pro - to get a website like mine (neilmathweg.com) go to www.easyagentpro.com/oj
The Agent Marketer - to take your digital marketing to next level go to www.TheAgentMarketer.com
To hear more great shows like Agent Rise visit www.industrysyndicate.com
Schedule a free 30 minute breakthrough call with Neil, schedule your call at neilmathwegcoaching.
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Trust is the thing. It’s the bomb. It’s the key to success as a real estate agent. You won’t even get the opportunity to serve people unless they feel they can trust you. So work out the logic on that - you should learn how to help people trust you - even before they meet you. Right?
This episode is about that. I’ve been reading the book, “How To Build A Storybrand,” by Donald Miller. It’s an amazing look into the fact that everyone is living out their own story - and those of us who make our living offering services to others need to learn how to understand their stories. When we do, we’ll be able to offer them exactly what they want and need, to their delight.
What’s that got to do with building trust with those who haven’t even met us? Listen to this episode and you’ll find out.
Yes, shame on me! I’ve done it myself. We all tend to speak about the things we’ve done to get a win for our clients. We talk about the credentials we’ve earned and the things that make us a better choice than the agent down the street (or in the next office). But there’s a problem with that approach.
Our customers don’t care.
Really, they don’t care. They aren’t interested in those things nearly as much as they are interested in knowing if we understand them and can help them get what they want and need. When you’re able to do that, you are able to build trust with them - which is what enables them to choose you as their real estate agent.
The first thing most people do when they are looking to work with a company or individual is to check out their website, right? When they go to YOUR website, what do they find? It might interest you to know that most people visit the “About” page immediately upon landing on your site.
Why is that? They want to know if you are the kind of person they can trust.
Building trust with people is key and sadly, most of us agents don’t know how to do it well. So here’s a bit of homework for you. Go to your own “About” page and read it. Does it make you out to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, or does it resonate with your potential customer’s needs? If you honestly say it’s the first of those options, you have some work to do.
Building trust with people happens over time, as you consistently communicate your message. So it makes sense to ask, “What message am I communicating?” and “What message SHOULD I be communicating?”
People who are looking for a real estate agent aren’t necessarily looking for the best agent - even though they may say they are. What they are really looking for is a person they believe will best understand their wants and needs and be able to help them meet those wants and needs.
That’s where the content you share on social media, on your blog, via Snapchat needs to demonstrate that you understand homebuyer (and home seller) needs. It’s a subtle shift in your messaging that could make all the difference when it comes to building trust.
How many times do your customers give you an exact description of the type of home they are looking to buy and then wind up buying something that doesn’t match that description at all? It happens a lot. Why? Because there are deeper issues at play, things having to do with lifestyle and way of life that they aren’t totally clear about initially.
Listen to this episode to hear my example of how you can build trust with people by tapping into the lifestyle needs they don’t even know they have. It’s a sure fire way to enable them to trust you more because of the way you care for them in the home buying process.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
“Neil, what do I need to do every day in order to be a successful real estate agent?” If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked that question I could probably retire. The reality is most new or stuck agents don’t know what they need to do on a daily basis in order to be successful. Sure, the big picture is to sell houses, but what are the things you need to be doing on a random Tuesday to make that happens? You’re in luck my friend because that is what this episode is all about.
If I were a betting man I’d say that there isn’t a single successful real estate agent out there who isn’t using some version of the three pillar system. Seriously, if you don’t have a sphere of influence, chase, and attraction pillar what are you doing? These things are the foundation of your business because they help you develop a clear and effective business plan. Without clarity and consistency, you WILL fail. Not sure what the three pillar system would look like in your business? Press play to find out!
As a new or stuck agent, having a schedule void of appointments may be a regular occurrence. It’s in those moments you are probably wondering “What can I do to change this?!” If you already have a clear business plan from your three pillars the answer is simple. Day blocking! Use the plan you already have by picking specific days of the week to work individual pillars. By doing this week in and week out you will create the consistency you need to be a successful real estate agent. This episode is full of examples of how day blocking can turn an empty schedule into a productive one.
Remember when you were a kid and your parents would mark the wall to record how tall you were getting? Okay, maybe they didn’t do that, but for a lot of kids that was the easiest way to prove they were growing. Your real estate business is no different. By using things like engagement and lead trackers you will not only be able to see your growth but also diagnose the source of it. Tracking your business can also be an enormous source of encouragement because it allows you to see how far you have come and can motivate you for the future.
It’s not enough to simply have a business plan. In order to become a successful real estate agent, you have to understand that plan and why it works for you. Don’t just run with something because your buddy Neil said so. You have to work in accordance with your strengths. Being successful is not a one size fits all formula. It requires a level of consistency that is unique to who YOU are as a real estate agent. That’s why I love the deep work we are able to do in Agent Rise Bootcamps. It’s time to start focusing on what’s driving YOUR business and take things to the next level!
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
After last week’s episode, you may be feeling like building a real estate database is too daunting of a task. You know you need a database, but getting to 300 people in your sphere of influence feels a lot like climbing Mount Everest. Fear not! While 300 is the ultimate goal it’s by no means where you need to start. In this episode, I’m going to give you all the tips you need to develop a manageable real estate database for your sphere of influence and show you how to get to the top of the mountain.
Have you ever sat for an extended period of time looking at the work that needs to get done as if to will it into completion? Yeah, I’ve been there. I think we all have. The reality is that your database won’t build itself and you NEED that database. If you’re like most real estate agents out there your sphere of influence is what is driving your business. Having a database of those people is the tool you need to cultivate leads and maintain relationships with your sphere of influence. Don’t freak out because this episode is full of tips to help you get started. Just press play and get inspired!
The other reason you might be stalled out in starting the database for your sphere of influence is that 300 people seems incredibly overwhelming. If you are a new or stuck agent I completely agree! I believe your database should ultimately contain 300 people, but by no means do I think you should start there. If 50 people are all you can reasonably mail to and maintain relationships with then that is the perfect number for you RIGHT NOW. Stick with the number of people that you can stay consistent with. I would rather you have a database of 50 people that you can really love on than 300 people you basically ignore. From there you can add more people as you gain more confidence in your ability to effectively reach greater numbers.
In this episode, I share a personal story about when my younger self almost bit off more than he could chew. It’s a fantastic story so make sure you listen in order to get all of the juicy details. However, I want to talk about the reason why I told that story. Too often in real estate we see successful agents as goals and we try to be them as fast as we can. We take shortcuts where we should have taken more time. We try to run a marathon when we’re only ready to run the first mile. The goal isn’t to be successful as quickly as you can. The goal is to to be successful as long as you can and the only way you do that is by remaining disciplined, staying consistent, and maintaining the right pace.
A big part of building your real estate database is filling it with the right people. However, I guarantee that most of you reading this have some of the wrong people in your sphere of influence and it’s time to fix that. You have to know, like, and trust the people on your database. These should not be people you are trying to impress, but rather people who you are trying to include in what you are doing as a real estate agent. Stop adding entire neighborhoods and stick to the neighbors you already have relationships with. You will save yourself so much time and money if you do. Start assuming the role of quality control for your database and only put people on it who want to see you succeed.
Our sponsors:
You can find my personal real estate coaching website here
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)