You can't miss, if you'll just try...

“Get the right perspective. When Goliath came against the Israelites, the soldiers all thought, ‘He is so big. We can never kill him.’ David looked at the same giant and thought, ‘He is so big. I can't miss.’"  (Russ Johnston) – from the Jack’s Winning Words blog.

I get the opportunity to help a lot of new real estate agents get started in the business, sometimes as a mentor in our office, but most of the time just because I’m there when they have a question. One of the first things that happens to most new agents, after they’ve completed their licensing training and perhaps the introductory training that our company offers, is that they get this overwhelming feeling of “what do I do now?”

It is rather daunting to tackle a new career, especially one that is so dependent upon being a self-starter and self-motivator. The independent contractor business model for agents means that there is normally no one there monitoring and directing your daily actions. There is no instruction manual for the job, although companies like the one I work for try to have frameworks to guide new agents through the first 6 months of getting started. Still, there are lots of blank spaces in even the best outline of things that one should be doing to get started. I suspect that many newbie agents find themselves thinking, “This is so big. I’ll never get it all done.” I try to help them see that, “This is so big, whatever you do will help you be successful.”

Of course there are things that should be done before others and that’s where our frameworks and mentoring help the new agents get started. Helping people get comfortable with being a bit uncomfortable is a big early thing to accomplish. New agents are often frozen into inaction by the feeling that they don’t know enough or they don’t know everything that they should know before getting in front of a potential client. If they can get over that and realize that they’ll never know everything in this business, they’ll be OK. They need to develop the ability to say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out.” In the case of our company they can add, “That’s one reason I joined Michigan’s largest Real Estate Company, so I’d have access to the help and accumulated knowledge of all of our great agents.”

If they can put themselves at ease with that approach while they accumulate knowledge of their own, they’ll be ahead of the game. People really aren’t looking for a “know-it-all”; in fact that usually turns them off. Rather people are looking for someone who says. “I understand what you’re asking and I’ll find out the answer.” Being genuine with that approach will also give you a self-confidence that will show through to the clients and they usually like that, too. If it helps, you should also remind yourself that just getting licensed equipped you with more knowledge about real estate than 90% of the population and every day that you spend learning from your experiences just increases your knowledge.

So get our your sling and pick out a good stone; the real estate market is so big, you can’t miss – but you’ve got to get into the game. We can help you with that. If you’re getting your license and are looking for a great place to start, call our office manager – Mary Nicole – at 248-684-1065 and set up an interview to talk about out new agent programs.