Online buyers are a new breed. No doubt you know this, so let’s talk about some of the subtle differences between online buyers and those who telephone or visit the office – I will call these personal buyers.
Personal buyers most often give us their contact details and we . . . more →
Owning a business carries many responsibilities. One responsibility many leaders give little consideration to is Results Control.
We can take responsibility for the direction in which we take our businesses, or we can blame the market. Most blame the market.
If you have been in business for 20 . . . more →
Meetings have been referred to as ‘corporate procrastination’ – a way of making it appear that something is being accomplished, that decisions are being made when in fact they are not.
I surveyed 600 salespeople and asked them, “What activities waste most of your time?” Approximately 1 in 6 salespeople thought that meetings were a . . . more →
I hear leaders talk often about trying to motivate their teams, but this is a dead loss. Speaker, John Lees, says, “It is not my job to motivate people. It is my job to hire motivated people“.
As leader, the best you can do is inspire your people. But how can . . . more →
Markets in some capital cities have been vigorous, but there are signs of a slowdown. Does this worry you?
Leaders who worry about the state of the real estate market do so because they rely on ‘good’ markets for their success. This is a dangerous way to run a business. Good businesses do not rely on . . . more →
I read a great book recently – Mandy Johnson’s Winning The War For Talent. In my opinion, it is a must-read for any leader who wants to build a winning team. It is guaranteed to make you think.
One point Mandy makes is that when you write an advertisement for a real estate career, be sure . . . more →
“According to Major General Hoyt S. Vandenberg Jr., USAF, retired, all leaders fall into two groups: the hunters and the hunted. Hunted leaders are trying to avoid failure; in their hearts they lack self-confidence and don’t expect to succeed. Hunter leaders expect to win. They are enthusiastically hunting success—and they . . . more →
“The one thing we could not and should not do was dismiss the ability of any competitor to capture our customers.”
Nothing stays the same. Stand still in business and eventually you will be overtaken by an ambitious competitor.
Never underestimate your opposition. You don’t have to like them, but you should respect . . . more →
The idiom “red herring” is used to refer to something that misleads or distracts from the relevant or important issue.
Wikipedia
Real estate salespeople are in the business of listing and selling properties. Sometimes they need to be reminded of this, because sometimes they try and sell the wrong product. Instead of property sales, . . . more →
“Weekly coaching sessions enable you to identify and eliminate problems that can compound over the year and cost the company money, new business, and countless hours in attempting to salvage an employee. And if you’re losing salespeople as a result of coaching negligence, it will cost your company even more time and money to . . . more →
Back in the nineties we estimated that for every dollar invested in training a real estate business owner saw a return of approximately $30. With the size of selling fees today, the return on investment in training would be closer to $100 for every dollar invested.
This is a big return for a small investment. So . . . more →
My apologies to Charles Dickens for ripping off the title of his classic novel, but Great Expectations encapsulates an important principle of leadership. Great leaders have great expectations, of themselves and teams.
A team will never exceed its leader’s public expectations of the team. If the leader aims high, the team will do likewise. If . . . more →
Leadership is influencing people – by providing purpose, direction and motivation – while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization.
US. Army Handbook
This is a good definition of leadership, however I do not entirely agree with the handbook definition. I do not believe that it is a leader’s job to . . . more →
“In the past a leader was a boss. Today’s leaders must be partners with their people. They no longer can lead solely based on positional power”.
Ken Blanchard
Today’s generation of employees are different from previous generations. Gone are the days when respect automatically came with the title of supervisor, or boss. Today you have to . . . more →
Advertising is of little use, however, when it comes to . . . more →
For many years my colleagues and I have urged real estate principals to give hiring and developing their people more attention. Often this falls on deaf ears. A large proportion of real estate business owners were formerly salespeople, and the sales habit is hard to kick.
Chris Lytle, author of The Accidental Sales . . . more →
Succession Planning is something I hear leaders talk about often. For many, however, talk appears to be as far as it goes. While I hear many leaders talking about Succession Planning, I don’t see too many doing much about it.
The average age of a real estate principal in Australia and New Zealand is around . . . more →
He told me that he used to work at an agency across the road. He said that most of his present team at some time or another also used to work at that agency, and these people are now producing great figures in . . . more →
If a member of your sales team is not performing, then that person is either not doing sufficient actions to achieve desired results, or is performing sales actions incompetently, or a combination of both. Most likely it’s a combination of the two.
Unless you do something about this, your salesperson will enter a slump and . . . more →
I’ve been a big fan of Jeffrey Gitomer for many years. Over that time I have recommended his books to many people and quoted him often.
As soon as I heard about his most recent book, The Sale Redefined, I ordered a copy for my Kindle. Sadly, it was a great disappointment.
I think that in . . . more →
I’ve been reading Stanley: Africa’s Greatest Explorer by Tim Jeal. It’s the biography of Henry Stanley of “Dr Livingstone I presume” fame. Actually, he never said that. Evidence points to Stanley inventing that line, a bad move since it made him the subject of ridicule in many circles.
Stanley accomplished so much. African travel in the . . . more →
