Real Estate Training Articles and Videos

SMART Goals Aren’t Enough

If you have received even a modicum of real estate training, you know about SMART Goals. In case you’re a bit rusty, let’s do a bit of revision.

It is said about goals that they should be SMART. This is what I said about SMART Goals in an earlier blog post:

Specific: the goal must be . . .   more →

A New Focus

If you are like many agency leaders, you probably began your career in Sales. And the fact that you now own your own agency means that more likely you were pretty good at it.

This ability is actually a two-edged sword. On one hand you have the ability to train your salespeople and, if you . . .   more →

Create A Success Environment


“One of the most important lessons of my life forced itself on me at about the time I was graduating from grammar school. It was a lesson that turned into a major principle: You are subject to your environment. Therefore, select the environment that will best develop you toward your desired objective.”

The Success System . . .   more →

Your Number One Leadership Asset

No matter whether your team is large or small, your leadership is constantly being tested. Those little chats behind your back in the team room, team members whining about you not giving them enough support, salespeople giving you lip during sales meetings – they are all tests. There are various ways to deal with . . .   more →

Go Hard or Go Home

One of the biggest complaints agency leaders make is that they cannot get their people to do the right actions. The ‘right actions’ to which they refer are specifically prospecting actions – meeting with and talking to people.

I think this complaint misses the point. The problem is never getting the right people to do the . . .   more →

How To Enjoy Your Work

” Passion for your work, a pervasive commitment to quality, and relentless attention to details are essential markers of excellence. Quality work and an appreciation for the importance of details benefit not just the clients a business serves; these attitudes and habits also bring joy and peace of mind to the person who . . .   more →

Leadership’s Most Ignored Tool

The most effective tool leaders have at their disposal is also the most ignored.

What happened to talking with our team members, one-on-one, over coffee? I think we’ve become so busy that we no longer allow time to do this most important leadership function, but do we really save time by neglecting our one-on-ones?

There is . . .   more →

Habits Reign Supreme

You may have heard of The Mirror Principle, which contends that the quality and performance of the team is a direct reflection of the leader. Lazy leader = lazy team. Focused leader: focused team.

Your team is less inclined to listen to what you say. The team is more inclined to do what you do. . . .   more →

Regular Tough Self-Talk

I’ll try better tomorrow” or “I’m tired – result or not, I’m going home!” Most people need to be tougher on themselves, to expect more from themselves. Most people need to give themselves regular, and tough, self-talk.

Have a tough talk with yourself. Refuse to accept excuses from yourself, or to allow yourself to be . . .   more →

No Bad Days

In his book, The Accidental Salesperson: How to Take Control of Your Sales Career and Earn the Respect and Income You Deserve, Chris Lytle discusses the concept of No Bad Days.

Fire fighters have a saying, “If we have a bad day, somebody dies“. Lytle expands on this by suggesting that we can make a . . .   more →

Communication Shortcuts

Everybody loves a shortcut. I know I do. But some shortcuts turn out to be not so short – client contact, for example.

During the boom, I saw a lot of salespeople taking shortcuts with seller communication. The argument was that they were so busy with buyers, and with finding listings to replace the properties they . . .   more →

Keep Marketing

Some agents never learn. Erratic actions, erratic marketing, and then they whine about how tough the market is. It doesn’t matter whether you are an individual working in an office (Salesperson or Property Manager), or whether you own the business, if you want consistent incoming enquiry you must keep marketing.

By marketing I mean making . . .   more →

Genius: Making the Complicated Simple

Typical real estate agents blame the market for poor sales. And they resort to all sorts of expensive, and quite useless, tools to make sales.

In early November I saw a news item on Channel 10 about an American real estate agent who hired actors to be in attendance during inspections of one of his/her . . .   more →

Courtesy Costs Nothing

Salespeople who treat buyers with disdain would do well to remember that those buyers will become sellers one day. And they will remember those agents who treated them well when they were purchasers.

No salesperson will admit to treating people badly, but you do see it all the time.

A classic example can be seen around . . .   more →

Big Waste of Time Part Two


Part One of this feature covered the importance of conducting a Time Log, as recommended by Alec McKenzie in his book The Time Trap. Many salespeople waste so much time thinking about what they need to do next. In Part Two we look at the rewards in focusing on the right activities.

What are the . . .   more →

Where Are You Taking Your Company?

If you own a real estate business, you are the leader. You are leading your company somewhere, but the question is where? Where are you taking your company? Do you know?

Business consultants, and I’m one of them, talk about the importance of a Vision. Over the years I’ve seen people come up with Mission Statements, I’ve seen them . . .   more →

Big Waste of Time

You often hear industry pundits talking about how much money is lost to industry through such problems as alcoholism or stress. I have no doubt that this is true, but a far more common reason for loss, to real estate agencies at least, is through salespeople not knowing what to do next.

Many salespeople believe . . .   more →

T.T.P. That’s Our Job

I recently saw an advertisement for a new software product that promised:

Never Deal With Tenant or Buyer Enquiry Ever Again…

It got my attention. I just had to find out more. Not because I wanted to buy it, mind you.

When I read this I was gobsmacked. “Is this a joke?” How could anybody think that . . .   more →

The Right Amount Of Pressure

Many leaders seem reluctant to pressure their people to perform. This is a big mistake. While nobody loves constant pressure, true winners thrive under regular positive pressure to perform. Mediocre salespeople, on the other hand, detest it. But do you really want mediocre people in your company?

Winning actions, when performed in high and regular . . .   more →

Expensive Day Off

Would you pay somebody $9,400 to ‘hold the fort’ while you had a day off? If this sounds like an expensive day off to you prepare to be shocked: there are many leaders who pay this kind of money to non-performing salespeople for little more than the luxury of having somebody in the office . . .   more →

FAIRNESS Is A Great Sales Tool

Salespeople often blame their clients for indecision. Many prefer blame to taking responsibility for their lack of results. This approach doesn’t help the bank balance. Instead of thinking the worst of people, why not think the best?

I believe that most people are FAIR.

And…

IS A GREAT SALES TOOL.

Indecision has a cause. Sure, some people . . .   more →