Christine Norris, of ‘smart girl solutions’ talks about some of the things you need to think about while planning your career in real estate.
Write Down Your Goals
Women today are more focused than ever on achieving recognition, managing their own affairs and those of their family, and becoming wealthy in their own right. Significant changes need to take place in your world and your business strategy to enable you to achieve your goals, your dreams, wealth and success in your choice as a real estate consultant. Deciding what to do next will change your life course ‘forever’.
To start, write down your goals and dreams for yourself and those who are dear to you. Determine:
- What it is that you want to change or receive and the date you wish it to happen.
- What is the mission, the vision and the value of the goal?
- Are you willing to pay the price? Do you really want this?
- Make a commitment and tell someone.
- Set up action plans with time frames.
- Establish the things that will have an effect on your ability to proceed, and find a way to eliminate those obstacles; for example, negative attitude – yours and others.
- Write down your commitment to celebrate when you achieve the goal.
- When you have achieved one goal, review your action plan for your next goal.
- Seek advice and assurance from a successful salesperson or mentor you already know.
The Qualities and Attributes Necessary for A successful Career in Any Business
It is well documented that successful, professional women have many attributes in common, which are well worth thinking about for yourself. These people share harmonious attitudes. They are happy, well balanced, courageous, generous, loving, active, strong and visionary, and they always set their goals for days, weeks, months and years. As a female (particularly if you have a family) you will have to be expert at time management and accountability. It’s what you decide to do next that will change or kick-start your career forever.
Choosing the Right Agency
Study the agencies in your area and ask other people about the agency’s ethics and business practices before you make a choice.
Some agencies fail to prepare their team for the letdowns and problems within the industry. Even when a salesperson achieves their first listing they rarely knows what to do next. From commencing a file to a settlement and beyond, when a salesperson you must be well prepared to get involved in the process right from the start. If you’re not it can get hard and you may decide you want to leave. Don’t let this to happen to you!
Training, internally and externally, forms the basis for a great sales team and agency. Today most salespeople rely on outside influences to assist them with their business, and when they are ‘let down’ by their agencies and principals it is no wonder they give up too early.
Principals must be aware of their commitment to their salesperson and her needs for training, to ensure they can offer and assist with motivational courses, internally and externally. Personal one-on-one programmes are essential to any agency, and without a doubt assist the salesperson in achieving both the company’s and her own goals. Should the agency of your choice not guarantee to train and assist you, you need to look at alternatives.
Create A Business or Strategy Model
You’re now in a period of great change, and to achieve your most important goal for a successful career you must:
- Create your own ‘smart’ business or strategy model (even if you are working in an agency under their business model).
- Be ready and focus on the important aspects of a successful business life.
Set yourself up for the greatest success of your life by creating a simple business strategy or model, along with a diarised ‘game plan’ which incorporates the following:
- Innovation – ask yourself ‘What can I do better than anyone else?’
- Follow the golden rules of prospecting.
- Set plans and goals to action – daily, monthly, yearly.
- Monitor your successes – be accountable to someone.
- Enjoy the ride and celebrate.
Although writing a business strategy/model can be very simple, there are certain basic rules for a successful, easy to follow, business strategy. They are:
- Discover your niche market and your USP.
- Include your mission statement, vision, purpose.
- Complete a SWOT analysis, on you and your competition.
- Schedule in all action and production plans.
- Commit to a ‘customer service centre’ (essential for real estate agents).
You must:
- Complete your business plan for the next 12 months.
- Make a firm commitment to have someone assist you and revise accordingly.
- Update your knowledge base of your company and your local area; incorporate your talents and abilities and those of your company.
- Include all training courses for twelve months on ‘selling’ (never think you know it all, because you don’t).
- Produce and include a diary for continued networking and prospecting
- Determine your time-wasting activities and attend time management courses
- Resurrect your office and personal database of past clients and build your ‘customer service centre’ into your business strategy.
Completing the ‘customer service centre’ of your business strategy will show you that your customers or clients have a choice. By understanding and exceeding their expectations, you will experience ongoing customer or client loyalty, thereby creating your ‘client for life’ program that other agents fail to consider when looking at the long-term structure of their business.
Your objective should be to remain profitably in business by forming long-term relationships with your customers and clients.
After you have been in the industry for a while, you will come to realise that anyone can sell real estate in a booming market. All agents need to do is sit at an open house, take names and sign contracts. But when agents experience a ‘down’ market and no one attends open homes or responds to their marketing, they need to re-assess and take stock, so to speak. The ‘state of market’ should not be the issue for you. Your future in real estate, should you take that step, will be about your successful business strategy and the value of your ‘customer service centre’.
Your Next Question is Likely to be, ‘Is it All Going to Work?’
By following a few simple steps prior to commencing your business (and indeed applying them if you haven’t already done so), you will have a new energy, new confidence and the enthusiasm to obtain all the attributes of other successful women in real estate.
Christine Norris is Australia’s ‘makeover’ strategist for women in real estate. A multi- award winning sales agent, accomplished auctioneer and principal of an award-winning agency, she offers her knowledge and 30 years’ experience as a mentor to many agents and agencies. Author of the best-selling sales book ‘Up ‘til now,’ Christine has also produced the exclusive on-line coaching programme for women, ‘The Missing Link – a 12- step formula for achieving greatness’.
