If you take 5 minutes to read this…it will be worth every minute.
Bullet Points for those that don’t have 5 minutes:
- Summary of Blitz – What did you take home?
- Profit – Decrease Expense, Increase Revenue
- The importance of Value
- Dave Ramsey – Pain of Change
- Thank you
Wow, it was great to see some of my friends and make some new ones at this year’s Blitz! Despite the negativity in the media and challenges on the frontlines the group seemed to be very positive and upbeat. Who was at Gee Dunsten’s final session in the day? Did you get his message? I think he made some key points, one that really stuck with me is getting your clients, prospects, friends and families engaged in your business as well as your success. I honestly believe that if they help create it, they own it and are a partner in your business. Think about how easy and powerful it would be to invite 5 people from your database to your office and get their opinion on your website, marketing materials etc. Take some advice from them, after all they are the consumers you are hoping to be in business with. If you make a couple of changes that they suggested imagine how honored AND enrolled in your success they will be. If you really want to come out on top in this market, you must create RAVING FANS, create a lot of them and create them quickly. If you can think of another way, let me know and I will publish it next week of course citing you as the contributor.
Another powerful point was treating your business like a business….focusing on PROFIT! This is one that you hear me talking about quite often as it is one of the most important business principles you can adopt. Shifting from measuring success by how busy we are to how profitable we are is a huge shift in personal accountability. So where does the profit we seek come from? Two places actually, reducing expenses and increasing revenue. In our “new” market we need to focus on our revenue producing activities more than ever and leverage our support activities. This is not as easy as it sounds because our revenue activities are what most of us avoid….lead generation. A fear of rejection, a level of discomfort, poor time management, a lack of clearly defined goals and not knowing what to do all lead to another day spent on website maintenance or marketing material production. How are you going to break through those road blocks to massive success? I recommend www.GoForNo.com as one source to do so. You need to find a way and a consistent time to meet new people and earn their business through effective communication. How much time do you spend on support, the things you would have your assistant do if you could afford one? My guess is that your income proportionately reflects that!
The other area to look at is expense. What overhead do you have? What does that do for you? Can you hold that expense accountable to specific revenue? How can you decrease, eliminate or leverage that overhead? Remember in our “new” market we should all check our pride and our egos and switch over to life support. You have heard me ask this before and all machismo aside, do you see proportionate value in what you share in commission dollars with your company and the fees you pay them. Our new market will hopefully help you re-evaluate where and how you spend your money. Think of the entire commission amount on a property coming to you, now think about walking into your brokers office and laying out the company share in hundreds on his/her desk for every closing you have. Did they deserve that income? Did they earn it? How specifically did they earn those thousands of dollars per transaction? You know this email/blog goes out to my agents as well and I ask them the same thing. If the answer is “they haven’t earned it”, ask why… “Is it because I have not taken advantage of the tools and support offered, or is it because there are no/limited tools or support offered?” If “yes” stay where you are, but you better mean it. It isn’t hard to say it is acceptable when you never see the money in your hand, but at every closing think of laying the individual hundred dollar bills on your broker’s desk after and honestly ask yourself, “Was it worth it?”
What I found intriguing was Gee Dunsten going through his power point at the end of the day explaining his “Power Tools” and how we had a great deal of them at KW. The first being the Kodak V705 Series cameras, we have them for use at our office at NO charge in combination with View Vista Suite linked at the right. We are committed to providing you the tools for success and think back to earlier in this email, how excited would everyone in your sphere be if you did a tour for them, used it as a “proof of personal property” for their insurance providers and hand delivered a copy to the insurance agent building a referral relationship. It is not just the tools, it is knowing how to use them in a dollar productive way. Another tool we have again was mentioned by Gee and is powered by www.AnnounceMyMove.com at no additional cost to our agents. This is an introduction to your client’s sphere of influence, again growing your sphere to its greatest potential. Where do we learn how to turn all of our tools into a lead generation machine? It is our education and coaching that illuminate the path, breaking down our personal roadblocks to success that have haunted us for years. Maybe you are wildly successful…chances are there is more you could be doing to earn a greater profit while earning back more time with your family or doing the things you love most. Take a look at our educational path and know that some of these courses can get you on the right path, some of them will just tweak the path you are on and some of them will profoundly change your life and the way you look at it and yes we teach them locally in Madison, 6 times per week. Brand NEW KWU Training and Education Video! Here is a link that explains precisely how our online education works and is also Brand NEW How KW Connect Works!
We have all of these tools and all of this education, what we know is that only 20% of agents will actually take advantage of it, implement it and succeed to the highest level. If you were at Keller Williams Realty, would you take advantage of what we have to offer? This is a suite that POWERS YOUR BUSINESS for $35.00 per month and on average agents in the KW system keep 81.9% of the commissions. What is your broker doing with the rest of the revenue? Ask them to show you! Darren Kittleson asked me to create an office with an unbreakable culture, amazing tools and a productive & proactive mindset. I didn’t do it alone, but WE did as a team with our agent partners and we have climbed to #17 in our market by volume today from #36 when I had started. My question is why haven’t you partnered with our company? You have nothing to lose in meeting with me, I have made agents thousands even if they don’t join our company they renegotiate with their broker. So if you find out we are a great fit, GREAT. If not, you still make more money. Where is the downside for you? We know there is loyalty, I propose in a “new” market a loyalty to VALUE, not your broker. Will they have the same loyalty to you if presented with a better opportunity? You have friends at your company…. I get it… bring them with, I encourage you to bring your friends and family when we meet because it is a big decision. Whatever your reason for staying where you have as long as you have…what has it done for you? I have met with many of you that love what we have to say, and then hesitate….falling victim to complacency and another year of the same. What I have yet to find is someone that hesitated and then blew the doors off at their same company that year. This is one of the biggest challenges we face as a human race…complacency.
I will leave you this, a quote from Dave Ramsey about change from his book “The Total Money Makeover”, it reminded me of you. For those of you that read the book, you may have noticed the “Dum (purposeful misspelling) Math & Stupid Tax” boxes with fun facts….I wonder what would be in that box about the KW Model vs. a traditional brokerage. Anyway….
“Change is painful. Few people have the courage to seek out change. Most people won’t change until the pain of where they are exceeds the pain of change. When it comes to money, we can be like the toddler in a soiled diaper. “I know it smells bad, but it’s warm and it’s mine.” Only when the rash comes will we cry out. I hope that Sara’s story and the others in this book will make you unwilling to stay where you are. If you keep doing the same things, you will keep getting the same results. You are where you are right now financially as a sum total of the decisions you’ve made to this point. If you like where you are, keep it up…” (The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, pg15)
What is the point at which you have had enough… for many, that point may be today. For others that point may be far down the road. Which are you?
“…Are you really looking for something more? If so, I’ve got great news. This plan works! Break through temptation to remain in the same situation, and opt for the pain of change before the pain of not changing searches you out. Don’t wait for a heart attack to show you that you are overweight. Cut the carbs, the fats, the sugars and lace up the running shoes now.” (The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, pg15)
The story about Sara is one where she sat in denial about her financial situation, which I’m sure is the case for so many of us. I found so many parallels in this page of the book and that of real estate and the choice we all make to stay vs. go. What will be your wake up call?
Thank you so much for sticking with me to this point! I can’t wait to build relationships and work with you all whether in our office or through co-brokes. Remember your company and our association is not great because of the entity, but those of you that are in it. You deserve more, your families deserve more, call me today.
Sincerely,
Brett Boettge
Team Leader | CEO
Keller Williams Realty – Madison Crossroads
608.661.7000 for your confidential call.
P.S. When you call ask us about our NEW Health Insurance Plan for agents.
In My Head 