Technology TransactionsCoaching Replaces Training for Some Top Agents
As the real estate business becomes more challenging and complex, top
brokers want what the celebrities and star athletes have - personal coaches.
Instead of toning thighs and buttocks, real estate coaches are helping their
clients achieve goals in production, time management and in their personal
lives.
According to Newsweek Magazine, coaching is the second fastest growing form
of consulting. The International
Coaching Federation (ICF) has seen its membership triple in the past year.
Many successful speakers such as Tony Robbins and Dennis Whately have added
coaching arms to their training empires.
An ICF survey found that 98% of clients interviewed said their investment in
coaching was "well worth the money." The majority stated that having a coach
increased their "self-awareness, attain a better balance, helped them set more
effective goals, and lowered their stress levels."
With REALTOR® organizations cutting back on training and time short for many
top agents, brand name trainers are turning to other means of providing
coaching. One popular solution is for agents to purchase tapes and videos by
well known trainers such as David Knox
and Mike Ferry. Another solution is
prohibitively expensive for some agents - "shadowing" a top agent such as
agent/author Ralph Roberts and
Coldwell"s number one producer - Eleanor
Mowery Sheets.
Other agents are finding that they want their coaching more personalized. A
real estate coach can offer individual solutions for agents to help them better
manage their time, employees and personal life, or whatever each agent/client
needs. They make the agent stretch out of their comfort zone to overcome their
fears and help them gain strength in areas which are holding them back.
Oregon agent Sheila
Gunderson was number 15 in her market before she contacted real estate
coach Dirk Zeller. Four months
later, she is in the top three.
"At first I thought the idea was ridiculous, but my mortgage broker, who had
been coaching me about loans, suggested I give it a try," said Gunderson. "He
gave me Dirk"s name."
"I thought, what did I have to lose?"
Zeller put Gunderson on a six month coaching program concentrating on
helping her to become a more successful listing agent. Another problem was time
management. Working primarily with buyers, she felt she had no control of her
time.
"I was only listing three or so homes per month and I was missing family
time with my three teenagers," complained Gunderson. " Buyers seem to own you
and all your time. If they want to look at a property, they want to go right
now. If you have church in 15 minutes, you have to make a decision."
"What Dirk showed me is that I could change that by changing my way of
thinking."
Zeller had Gunderson write her goals and expectations. Then he put a plan on
paper of the steps Gunderson needed follow to make it happen. In order to get
her listing inventory up, Zeller worked out an income plan - backwards. By
establishing a year-end income goal, they determined how many sales would it
take to meet that goal. They did the math - 15 listings per month. Then Zeller
took the goals and broke them into monthly, weekly, and daily increments.
Gunderson now knows what she has to achieve daily in order to reach her
year-end goal.
Then the workload shifted to Gunderson. "The other powerful thing is Dirk
took my greatest fear and made me work through that first," recalls Gunderson.
"My fear was rejection. That is the real reason I didn"t have many listings.
Now I have learned to disassociate myself and think of listings as numbers. If
I lose a listing or don"t get one, there is another one around the corner and
the numbers will be in my favor."
They started in November. By mid-February, Gunderson exclaimed, "The month
isn"t even over and I have 15 listings already!"
The results are all the more impressive when you consider that Gunderson and
Zeller have never met. They communicate only by e-mail, fax and phone.
"We have all experienced the seminar where we get the "Brain Dump," says
Zeller. "They crack your brain open and throw all the ideas in and you maybe
retain 10%. Agents want more. A quality coach will help you create wealth in
all major accounts of your life."
"Anyone can make more money if they invest more time -the key is someone to
teach you to make more in less time, so you can spend time with your
family," says Zeller.