Change Into Something Less Comfortable…Success

Are the bills piling up on the table? Do you feel anxiety during that silence after your credit card is swiped…approved or declined? Are you facing foreclosure or already in the process? Is your family life turning upside down because of financial stress? For some this is a reality, I know this because I watch foreclosure filings. The question is, how much pain will you endure before you choose to do something about it? At what point does it become less painful to change than it does to look your family in the eye and tell them you have to move.

Now some of you might assume that by me saying “change” I want you to join Keller Williams Realty. That is only true if our model is a better fit for you and we share a similar vision. What I mean by change is change yourself. I’m not saying you are like this, but most fit into this category, the category of victim thinking. “I’m not successful because of my company.” Not all companies are created equal, some provide far more value than others and will net an agent a great deal more, but a company is NEVER the sole reason for an agents success. So why won’t you change even when everything around you is crashing down? Is it fear? You say things like, “I’ll just put in more hours, work harder and do more.” Well I hate to burst your bubble, but if things are crashing down around you, you are probably doing the wrong things….so what do you think doing more of the wrong things is going to get you? More hours doing the wrong things? Work harder at the wrong things? All you will get out of that is phenomenal at the wrong things. At this point I hope you are starting to think….and if you are puzzled than someone hasn’t told you what the right things are. My guess is that most of you know what you need to do, you just aren’t doing it. You are the owner, the employee and the manager of your own business, yet you are only doing what you like and feels comfortable. If you owned the real estate office where you currently practice, how many agents would you be willing to pay a salary to? Would you pay yourself a salary? Here is a better question, if you don’t start moving outside of your comfort zone and doing NOT just what you like, but all of the functions required to be successful in real estate, where will you end up? To answer that, just ask yourself what you did before real estate and if you are excited to get back to that. Did you have to do things you didn’t like in that career? Do you see my point? So how do you change?

The first step is mindset, the vision of what you want your life to look like must be powerful enough to pull you through the pain your will endure. The second step is committing to a process and having blind faith that it will deliver the results you seek. The third step is to stop giving pause to, “I don’t want to and I don’t like to” those thoughts are irrelevant at this stage of the game…..remember the bills are stacking up and you are going to have to look your family in the eye soon and have a very difficult discussion about your home being taken away. The fourth step is prepare for what you don’t know will be a road block…..remember the world will conspire against you and try to make you second guess changes in your life, be ready for whatever roadblocks come your way. Remember when you want to quit your process, you are about to see success as long as you have the right process. There are no silver bullets, magic pills or perfect companies…..if you truly do want a better life it starts with you. My success is attributed to one thing and one thing alone, the ability to push people outside of their comfort zone just enough to see the success that has escaped them their entire lives.

If you would like to see what the path looks like, it is simple, it is not very glamorous and it will be the hardest journey of your life……the reward at the end is true freedom, freedom from debt, freedom from anxiety and the financial rewards….well they simply finance your purpose in life.

Join me, July 6^th from 12:00-1:30 pm as I demonstrate the most powerful, effective and painstaking journey anyone can take in real estate. This is not for the faint of heart or those wavering about their future in real estate, this is for the next generation of career REALTORS®. This is the “Perfect 10” program, a program that is the blood and guts of relationship marketing. A program that will bring you 6 figures in 12 months without cold calling a single FSBO or Expired. This is a program that is FREE, using your existing value proposition. So if you want a better life, are willing to pay the price and endure the pain of change, just respond to this email and I will show you how. I apologize to so many of you for not being forceful enough in helping you change your lives in the past. Change TODAY.

The “Perfect 10” launch course is limited to 30 people on July 6^th and a follow up FREE conference call is limited to 40 on July 20^th at 12:00n. RSVP is required for both. This entire program is completely free, all that is required is a signature and a completed application to the program. TheNextLevel@kw.com

Enjoy the 4th!

Sincerely,
Brett Boettge

Fear of Rejection – You, Me, Everyone, Get Over It.

Tonight readers I’m coming off a great cup of coffee with some very brilliant minds. I enjoyed dinner at Middleton’s “Johnny’s Italian Steakhouse”  and it was delicious but it paled in comparison to the conversation. John Alexandrov, Michael Friedman, Darren Kittleson, Jessica Fox and myself shared some thoughts after John & Michael’s training today on call reluctance. The day was filled with excitement, highlighted by a perfectly timed fire drill evacuating City Center West right at the peak of John’s personal story of the challenges he faced and overcame in his life. After the smoke cleared the story was finished and the message delivered without skipping a beat. I applaud John’s professionalism in that situation and trust that won’t ever happen again in his speaking career. So tonight reader I wanted to share with you my personal story of call reluctance and how I came to where I am today….still call reluctant, but not paralyzed by any one cause.

You heard me talk about “The Midnight Magic Plastic” before, you know those infomercials. What many of you don’t know is that the first business I ever started was created by one of those opportunities. Have you seen the infomercial for SMC? Yep I bought into it, and let me tell you if you can figure out a niche’ to profit selling gift items, it is a valid opportunity. So besides time, what was my biggest challenge? Fear of rejection!  So picture this….2003 I’m sitting in my home office about ready to launch my company “Gifts for Good”. My goal was to wholesale some of my products to local retail shops. I put together my prospect list, collected their numbers, ensured they weren’t on the do not call list, created some scripts on wordpad and opened 6 windows on my computer each titles with a different perceived objection. My palms were sweating, my heart racing, I looked at the phone and it looked back at me showing it’s rabid teeth. All I could think of was how much of a fool I was, how I hated being sold to and despised salespeople in general and how I didn’t really have a clue what I was doing at 22 years old with the title “owner” on my business card. Then I did it, I picked up the phone and started dialing with less and less enthusiasm as I inched closer to the last digit of my first prospect….then it happened I froze and hung up just before I completed the dial. I opened a window and swore I was having a heart attack, this was THE WORST task I had ever faced, but why? I was scared to death of what someone might say, I could be yelled at, asked something I couldn’t answer or even worse, what if they said yes I would like your product? Understand that this routine went on for a week straight…prep, prep, prep, dial, freeze, pass out followed by confusion. Then it happened after watching some violent movie, I picked up the phone, looked at my scripts, dialed and there it was, my first ring…just as I entered the “freeze” portion of my routine I heard, “Hello, thank you for calling _________.” I looked at my script which even included my name if I forgot and simply read and read and read until guess what happened…yep they said come on out we would love to see your products. This was a defining moment for me and I went on to make 10 more calls making 1 more appointment by just reading my scripts. By no means was calling something I looked forward to, something that came easy, or something that I did as much as I should have, but I had moved forward leaps and bounds. Now fast forward to 2006…

I found myself closing my “Gifts For Good” and moving on to real estate sales. Same game, new skill, old reluctance crawled back into my life. I honestly spent my first 9 months purposefully throwing myself outside of my comfort zone and my routine involved at least 3 hours per day scripting with Mike Ferry scripts. I was knocking on doors, doing home buyer seminars, attending seminars, building campaigns, websites and marketing materials. I did essentially everything  I could to keep me away from that phone. I had to have a great suit, great car and even prefaced my name with “Mr.” in my email which is still in effect today to combat my youth and insecurity. I still despised sales people, found myself cutting prospecting time short by not delivering all the door hangers or hand outs sometime tossing out hundreds of dollars of time sensitive marketing materials. I forced myself to stay outside of my comfort zone as much as I could handle and battled every single day to the point of mental exhaustion. So what changed?

I had spent my life savings and drilled myself into debt over my ears. So what changed? I was maxed out! The pride I had would not allow me to turn to anyone for help, or allow me to move towards another career. It was at this point I moved from being interested in real estate to be committed to real estate. Failure truly was not an option and my fear of rejection was dwarfed by my pride and fear of failure. I purchased top producer, implemented a high level of discipline and in the month of January I went from being ranked 400 at Century 21 to number 11. I had the momentum and when I left Century 21 I was on pace for 20-25 units which for my first full year would have been on goal and respectable…..then flash forward…May 2007 I was offered a position at Keller Williams Realty as a TL.

For me and my possible obsession with image I was on top of the world at 25 being named CEO of a million dollar corporation was a dream. The title alone was enough to get me over my initial call reluctance, however I soon found myself at the 30 day mark overwhelmed as the euphoria wore off. I realized that with just over a years worth of experience and a handful of sales that I was expected to be able to educate, consult and recruit top talent. Ha. I was again committed working 90+ hours per week trying every tactic, reading every book and applying as much as I possibly could so that I could play at the same level as top producing agents with upwards of 30 years in the business. I was on a strict regimen of scripts, role play, education and still attempting to impress with reasonable results. Then it happened…my defining moment as a team leader that leveled the playing field for me. One day I asked a top producing agent about their year and they shared openly how great it was. I then asked one of my favorite questions, the question that for me helped me know that I could help ANYONE, ANYTIME. “What would you have done differently last year?” Regardless of peoples success level, they don’t want to come off as arrogant so they will give you an answer….that simple question of self discovery made me look brilliant. SO what about call reluctance today?

I do not have a cure for call reluctance, I still have it today, but this is what helps me face the fear of rejection still lingering in my life.

• I am dedicated to my personal development and mastery of my industry.
• I know my scripts
• I am passionate about what I sell
• I have clearly defined goals
• I know that I CAN help people and I owe it to them
• My fear is not logical, most  calls are pleasurable
• If I screw up a call or an appointment, guess what there are 2899 more opportunities available in my market.
• When someone says no, I know it is just “not right now”.
• Lead generation is a process….I know that if I put 50 people through my process in a week, I will typically gain 4 agents in that month.
• I am proud to speak the language of sales and understand that it is the most profitable language in print.

People say “Brett, you are a smooth talker.” or “Brett those “scripts” just come naturally.” or “You can handle every objection so well.” Well now you all know the rest of the story that started in 2003 and involved a massive personal committment to overcome. I have been so far from my comfort zone for so long, it is almost comforting to be uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong, I still face the same challenges daily I just understand my history with those challenges and have become very efficient at “talking myself down”. Anyone can overcome call reluctance if I can, remember it has not even been 3 years since I left my previous employer. All it takes is confidence and that comes with committment, education and scripts.

So what are you going to do?

Another blog by Brett Boettge

Leading with Value, Leading an Industry

Leading with Value, Leading an Industry

 

What a strange and fantastic journey it has been! It was just eighteen months ago that I had left my former real estate company to take the role of Team Leader for Keller Williams Realty. I actually intended on coming to Keller Williams for sales and was attracted by the phenomenal 70/30 split which caps to a pure 100% after roughly $2.6 Million in closed volume. Very cool isn’t it! Well, expecting everyone to join Keller Williams based on that alone was a HUGE mistake on my part, let me share with you why.

 

Value, plain and simple, if I compete on price alone I have reduced myself and my company to a commodity, a “license holder” not a place of business development for high achievers. Running a single agents business is very similar to running a real estate firm. Have you ever been on a listing presentation where you lead with the commission you will be charging? Has there ever been a time when you were asked to reduce your commission? If you don’t have any extra value to provide than the norm, how do you get that listing? That’s right you end up making a concession! Is that a good business practice? Now apply that to a real estate company…. What would be better, me decreasing you commission cap to $13,000 or showing you how to close just 4 more transactions per year? My way, the leading with value way NETS you, with an avg. commission of $5,000 an astonishing $11,000 MORE than reducing your overhead. Do you see how you can only reduce expense so far? So doesn’t the REAL opportunity in this industry, the opportunity for limitless growth and income potential come in developing your business?

 

This is why I struggled my first year as a team leader, I reduced my company to a commodity by leading with expense reduction. Now don’t get me wrong, my business model can probably save you thousands of dollars, even hundreds of thousands over the next few years…..but we are far more than just a place to reduce expense, we can change your life.

 

Sona Olson – CRS & GRI knows something about value. Tuesday, January 20^th Sona made the choice to partner with Keller Williams Realty, still practicing under the SonaVco name. Sona has many affiliations in and around our industry and most recently was recognized as the Ed Coburn Pride Award recipient for service to our association and serves as the chair of the education committee for WI CRS state chapter. Why would Sona after 12 years as an independent broker choose to partner with a company where she will have to share up to $22,000 of her commissions? Do you think she would make that choice if she didn’t see proportionate value in our company, our education, our systems tools and models? Sona is one of the most fantastic business minds in our market and made a great business decision. You see, it only takes 3-4 additional units at her average sales price to negate the commission paid to our company. Does your firm have a plan for you? If you wanted to triple your business this year would you broker be able to give you a specific plan to do so including the education, coaching and systems support? More importantly would they even ask what you want out of 2009? Vacations, boats, more time with family? If not, why do you think that is?

 

 

Don’t be fooled by “Cyber Plans” and companies that simply hold licenses to reach into your pocket. Join me in success. Find out why Sona Olson made the choice to join the fastest growing real estate company in North America and the soon to be THIRD LARGEST! You deserve to know why 80,000 other agents have made the choice to partner with us and stay with us!

 

Enjoy a sample of what makes us different! CLICK HERE

www.agentmountain.com

www.KellerWilliamsUniversity.com

www.leadershipmountain.com

www.MillionaireSystems.com

www.ProductivityWarriors.com

www.SevenFigureREO.com

 

Sincerely,

Brett Boettge

The Keller Williams Model – Myth #1

Mudslinging 101 (2014 Update at Bottom)

 

What does a team leader do? Well my role is to train agents on how to overcome the challenges faced in any market. I also consult agents on specific roadblocks to unlocking their greatest potential for example call reluctance, time management or fears of rejection, success or failure (all of which I have to continually evaluate for myself daily). I also am responsible for the growth of our market center in agents, market share and most importantly profits.

 

In my appointments with potential candidates for KW Madison Crossroads, you can imagine I have heard every objection to joining our market center. Typically there are a few that continually resurface. Who do you believe supplies these objections to a KW candidate? Right… a fearful broker! Why do you believe that these objections are supplied…MONEY! Do you believe that a competing broker talks negatively about another company because they fear for YOUR career or because they fear for THEIR bottom line? The converse of that is, as a Team Leader responsible for growth and profits, do you believe it benefits my reputation to bring an agent on and have them be less productive at my firm? Would you say that I would be highly motivated to ensure that they maintain, if not drastically improve their production? So to review, you have a broker that is motivated by money to discourage you from talking with a team leader at KW motivated by helping you become more productive and profitable to meet YOUR goals….does that make sense? I’d like to address the first myth of KW, a myth that comes up quite often and even nationally.

 

Per agent productivity! Maybe at a sales meeting, maybe in a one on one, or maybe in passing you have heard this term. What does it mean? Well it means that you take the total units of an office and divide it by its total number of agents. Of the National real estate franchises, Keller Williams consistently has one of the lowest per agent productivities. I’m very honest and forthright so I’ll just throw that on the table for all to see… KW has one of THE LOWEST per agent productivities in real estate. That could be perceived as a very negative statistic if you didn’t understand that it is an integral piece of our business plan. For example, let’s say XYZ Real Estate has a per agent productivity of 12.3 units and KW has a per agent productivity of 5.9… a competing broker may say that if you join KW you will lose 50% of your production or “Clearly their education doesn’t work our agents close on average 6.4 more units each!” Let’s take a look at our business model to understand this once and for all.

 

Keller Williams has a capping commission structure, meaning that after you close (in our market) $2,400,000 in sales volume you move from a 70/30 split to 100% meaning the commissions you pay into our company has “capped”. This means that agent no longer provides revenue to the market center… do you see how this effects cash flow? Lets say that we had an office of 20 agents of which 20 were “cappers” with the seasonality of our market most of those 20 agents would “cap” by July or August… meaning we have no revenue to run our office in September through December because all of our agents are at 100%. What we then do is find 20 agents whose goals are $1,200,000 in closed volume or a “half capper” to feed those months, and finally 20 agents who do $600,000 or less in closed volume to supplement even further. I just describe our perfect and most profitable business model for a capping commission structure – 1/3 of agents Cappers +, 1/3 of agents ½ cappers and 1/3 of agents ¼ cappers. Does that mean that we are an office of low producers? Tell that to Guy Lofts who has been taking home 100% of his commissions since July of 2008 and will until February 1^st 2009. Tell that to Bill Baker who reached his cap in roughly 60 days and carrying a listing inventory nearing $50,000,000. Tell the Mullikin’s that they are not producers when their entire team capped after 5 months, leaving them at 100% commission for 7 months of the year! Explain to Judy Braund that because of per agent productivity, she is expected to under perform instead of receiving 100% commission checks until July 1^st 2009.

 

What about those that do only close a few transactions per year??? First of all they are in your company as well, I track production so you can’t tell me otherwise. Second, for most that is their goal.. they only want to do six transactions. I can’t put my high production goals on them can I? What I can do is let them know my expectation is that they can do 2 transactions or 200 in our firm and it doesn’t make a lick of difference to me. WHAT IS IMPORTANT is that when they handle the sale or purchase of the largest asset in their clients life, they are trained to a T. All of our agents regardless of production level are required to meet a minimum standard of 1 training course per week as of 08/01/2008. First of all I understand my agents goals and what they need to do to get there, second I support them in achieving them regardless of the number. It is that focus on THEIR goals that has created a loyalty, and community of trust as well as achievement. Have you ever let someone else’s goal determine yours? Probably not! So if you choose to do 100 transactions and Joe Agent chooses to do 4, how does that really effect you?

 

Our opportunity is world class, I can assure you of that. Our business model is unique, one that if run properly can reach profitability never before thought possible in a “Shifted” market. This year we are sharing roughly $38,000,000 in profits back with our agents. The more profit we create the more profit we share, because of that we all have a vested interest in your success. So you can listen to the rumors, buy into the myths, or you can stay in curiosity and profit from the truth. Learn why Keller Williams is the fasting growing real estate franchise in North America. Learn how I will serve you in reaching your goals today and for years to come.

UPDATE 06.2014 – Almost 6 years after drafting this post, kw is #1 in North America, rapidly expanding Internationally and I am still with Keller Williams Realty. If you are considering a career with kw, you owe it to yourself to contact me, find out what has changed since I wrote this and what the future holds. The best IS yet to come and I couldn’t be more excited to see how you may become part of the vision. Visit http://www.PropertyReveal.com or call my cell 561.859.1839.

 

Sincerely,

 

Brett Boettge

Team Leader | CEO

Keller Williams Realty-Madison Crossroads

608.661.7000

The REALTOR(r) Holiday Poem (Twas the Night Before Christmas)

The REALTOR® Holiday

 

Twas the end of October and all through city

Not a REALTOR in sight, it is such a pity.

The Supra’s were stashed in the glove box with care

In hopes that after the superbowl they would get their fair share.

 

Their listings are sitting, basically dead

While visions of ’04 and ’05 danced in their heads.

All the REALTOR’S flew South or are staying in bed,

They just temporarily resigned despite what I said.

 

When out in our market there arose such a clatter,

A few sprang from their beds to see what was the matter.

Away to the window they flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

 

The bills piled up just like new fallen snow,

Gave heat to the family as they burned them below.

When what to their wondering eyes did appear,

But the Sheriff for your home because you didn’t come here!

 

Because they didn’t lead generate all winter long,

Their families now suffer and sing a sad song.

More rapid than eagles they lost all their things,

The creditors didn’t even stop at their wedding rings.

 

“No cash, no car, to the bar we are fixin’
No boat, no vacation, our debt has risen!

To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall!

The IRS keeps taking until they have it all!

 

A glimmer of hope had just filled my bucket,

I realized very soon that it wasn’t the market!

So a bus I did take to the office indeed,

With my CAMP 443 materials to read!

 

And then, in a twinkling I heard in the lobby,

The sound of a cash buyer whose name was Robby.

As I took him through buyer steps one through three,

I learned he wanted more than one property.

 

I dug out my supra, and charged it to full,

Knowing quite well it would die before dawn.

Then I hopped in his car, because mine was gone,

And built rapport quickly, trying not to be dull.

We found his dream home in just under an hour,

If we actually close, I’ll be able to turn on my power!

his lender went bankrupt, title closed shop,

Thank god for my team or the ball would have been dropped!

 

I closed six transactions over “The REALTOR® Holiday”,

I wouldn’t have if I didn’t come in the office that cold winter day!

Brett told me this was the key to success,

But he is so young, how could he know best?

 

My family is warm and we are back on track,

I will raise the bar in ’09 and put a trophy on the rack.

My story is almost done at this juncture here,

One final word to help this next year!

 

If you want to excel and reach all your goals,

Get focused and clear on your lead generating role!

Once you do this you will have your “big why”

Stop sitting there waiting for your piece of the pie!

 

Happy Holidays from Brett Boettge and the Keller Williams Realty Crossroads Team!!

 

I’d like to thank the following for making 2008 a fantastic year despite the market!

 

Laura Hartman – Director of Agent Services

Andy Kahn – Market Center Administrator

Darren Kittleson – Operating Principle & Broker

Bill Baker – Agent Leadership Counsel – Finance Chair

Judie Czys – Agent Leadership Counsel – Culture Chair

Mindy Allen – Agent Leadership Counsel – Growth Chair

 

All of our Keller Williams Realty Madison Crossroads agents, we are a great company because of you!

 

The REALTOR® Holiday October 31^st – Superbowl EVERY year!

A day in hindsight….

Good Evening-

Hitting the ground running is all I have to say about today. Before we get to that let’s give a little recap on the happenings of August. Real Estate is location, location, location…. well let me tell you that High Accountability is Results, Results, Results and I fell short of my goal in August… actually I fell on my face short of my goal. If you remember it was a goal of NET 5 and I brought over a single Capper. The past is the past and I can’t change my calender to extend August.. here is what I can say is that September is looking like a great month due to new recruits and the NET 4 from August that will fall in this month. So here are this months standards/goals

Net 8/12
2 Cappers
240 Contacts (Travel/Vacation in Sept Accounted for)
35 Appointments
25 To my FEATURED TRAINING
10 to Gary Keller
2 ALC Meeting’s
SHIFT BOOK CLUB STARTED BY MOPRO 2.0
160 Handwritten Notes

This Week Looks like
2 Hires
50 Contacts
Friday OFF
9 Appointments
30 Notes

Today’s Lead Gen =
12 Contacts
Team Meeting
1 Appointment
1 consult
3 Hours of STUFF Which is why I am still here tonight….. : )

Featured Items: FROM KW… YOUR BLOG FROM THE INTRANET… This is provided from Top Producer free of charge and integrates with you website…. Provide restaurant reviews, pictures, market data, video…. this will give your sight the boost of a lifetime.

TL’s you will love this one…. KW CONNECT DESKTOP! I just installed this on my laptop so regardless of my Internet accessibility I will be able to show this piece of our value proposition….install it today!

Oh my stick and carrot for the month of September which I didn’t have for August : ) The win is the NET standard of 8……. If I fall short of 8 I will host a car wash for KW Cares….. if I reach my stretch goal of Net 12 for September I will treat all of my nieces and nephews to a pizza party and give a gift to the 5 most influential people in my life. If I fall between 8 and 12 I will consider that doing my job.

Have a great night…

Sincerely,

Brett Boettge