Anyone can sell 200-300 homes per year, so why do most agents struggle? Real estate coach, top producing agent and fellow podcast host Marguerite Crespillo joins us to share practical steps we can all take to be more successful agents.
Marguerite shared her views on how new agents should be brought into the business, with an apprenticeship program and a reduced commission for the first 12 transactions. She also explained that both sides need to have the training checklist so the mentor and new agent don’t sign off till they both agree that the new agent is fully trained and prepared to work a deal on their own. This would prevent most of the quality issues we see in the business today.
She explained that if you’re new to the business and your broker or team doesn’t have this structure in place, you can still reproduce this by pitching an experienced agent by offering to give them a split of the commission in exchange for an apprenticeship.
Then we tackled the issues of expansion, and Marguerite shared her views: “There’s a big thing going on right now that’s somewhat scary, which is the whole mega agent thing.” She explained that expanding into a market you don’t really know and understand in exchange for generating leads and coaching the agent doesn’t serve the agent, the broker or the consumer. This also affects how teams recruit, which is based entirely on whether an agent has done a few deals with no attention paid to HOW the agent handled those deals and if they’re really good at handling transactions.
Next we dive into why agents struggle, including the perception that agents don’t need to work hard. “The agents who are in that top 10% are the people who get up, show up and dress up...Those people do well. If you’re not willing to do any of that, you will always struggle.”
Marguerite went on to explain “Anyone can sell 200-300 homes, but are you willing to do the work associated with that? Are you willing to sacrifice?” She gave a terrific example of an agent she recently interviewed who is a single mom and built a successful business that allowed her to be off at 3pm to pick up her kids. “So what do you want your life to look like first, and then build your business around your life.”
We finish up the interview with the power of saying NO. It’s critical to know your goals so that when unrelated opportunities come up, you can confidently say NO and focus on the things that directly help you reach your goals.
If you want to stop struggling and start succeeding in real estate, start by looking at your personality and what you’re willing to sacrifice to build a successful business. Anyone can succeed as long as you Get Up, Show Up and Dress Up!
Marguerite Crespillo is the Owner of Realty First, a 20+ year veteran of the business as a high-producing agent, team leader and broker. Marguerite is also a John Maxwell Certified trainer and founder of MasterClass Real Estate Academy. She hosts a podcast called Real Estate Real World. Listen to the podcast and learn more about Marguerite at http://www.margueritecrespillo.com/.
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