Kelowna Real Estate Blog | Kelowna Real Estate News & Information

The market it is hot again and just as we saw membership in our profession balloon from 2004 till 2008, we are seeing it again with no slow down in sight. Personally I welcome this new breed of professionals into the industry. It is the new blood that innovates, pushes the industry further and prevents stagnation. As an old battle worn ninja, yet still young enough to relate to the new class of white belts coming entering the business with zero clue what to expect. I give you the class of 2017 these pearls of wisdom all learned the hard way at the world's most expensive yet least prestigious school of hard knocks.

1. Guard your reputation in the industry with your life.

It's not enough to just do right by your clientele. You need to make sure that your colleagues in the industry have nothing but good things to say about you. I spent the first 5 years of my career pissing everyone off and it's taken me the last 10 to repair the damage...Work collaboratively, respect their time, make them look good, use pleasantries, thank them for a job well done and solve problems fairly and quickly. Return messages, give feedback, be easy to get ahold of and always keep your cool. Bottom line Check your ego at the door.

2. Never leave a client in the dark for any amount of hours.

Problems fester and even though in your mind you have everything under control, they will always be on the edge of their seat and silence is deadly in this business. Check in and give them an update even if there's nothing to report. Practice over communication and you’ll never get hurt.

3. Present your offers in person!

Yes there's an easier way it's called a scanner and DocuSign and other various technologies, but this is the very thing that seeks to destroy our industry. There are a few core competencies that should never be overlooked. Negotiating face to face is a corner stone. It also happens to be the most referable skill set.

Pick up the phone and call, don't just text. Texting doesn’t save time and it leads to all kinds of miscommunications.

4. Guard your time - This is your most valuable commodity.

Agents spend far too much energy worrying about other agents stealing their listings or buyers or whatever and not nearly enough energy preventing the rest of the world from stealing their most valuable asset and that is the hours in their day.

5. Get an assistant as fast as humanly possible.

Even if you don't think you can afford it, tell that wimpy voice in your head to pipe down because nothing will slow your trajectory as a superstar in this business faster than spending your days doing $13/hr tasks, Yes that's the beginning of the pay scale, expect to pay far more after they realize how valuable they are to you.

6. Don't use the exhaustion standard to determine if you put in a hard days work.

This is one of the unique business that allows you to spend entire days doing unpaid busy work that has no impact on your bottom line what so ever.

7. Don't spend the whole damn cheque when it comes.

If you are a lone wolf and not on a team then you need to accept the reality that keeping more than 50% of your cheques is a pipe dream unless you plan to play it very small. Make sure you invest as much as 20% of your GCI to grow your business acquiring new clients.

8. Lead generation first, branding second.

The industry will trick you into believing you need to "Brand yourself" at the start. No! What you need are leads and there are only two ways to get them, network or direct response lead generation.

9. Become valuable in the industry.

Specialize in something, become the best at your niche, you can still serve the entire market in the beginning as you grow your reputation, but pick a specialty and read about it, master it and when you are ready, publish content about it. Producing valuable content is the fastest way to become an expert and elevate you as a professional.

10. You don't sell houses.

You are a consultant that guides people through the process of buying or selling their most expensive asset. In this moment you are even more valuable to your clients than their accountant, their lawyer or their financial planner. Look the part, act the part.

11. Protect your fee.

The compensation we receive for serving people is not there to close gaps on pricing or buy appliances. Learn to negotiate, value yourself and your expertise and they will to. Commission cutting is like Pringles, Once you pop it's tough to stop.

12. Learn how to articulate your value.

Have a killer buyer presentation and a killer listing presentation that shows the world why your different, why you're awesome and what that all means to them.

13. Learn and be ready answer, "how long have you been in the business?"

One of the first things you shoudl learn is what to say (not if, but when) someone asks you the dreaded question of how long you've been in the business. What worked well for me was this :

"You know this is my first year in the business but that’s actually a huge advantage for you as a client. You see right now I haven’t got 20 or 30 clients I’m trying to serve all at once. I’m not running a large team and I don’t have a pile of overhead, so what that means is I have all the time in the world to work on finding you a great home or getting your home sold… And should you have a question I don’t have the answer to, I have a wealth of knowledge back at the office I can tap into with one phone call and we’ll get you all the info you need. So it’s the best of both worlds, you get the attention and the enthusiasm of someone who’s new and eager and centuries of combined experience at the office I belong to, does that make sense?"

14. Put the client’s needs ahead of all else.

This may seem like a simple concept but if it were practiced, our industry wouldn’t have the stigma it does for being pushy salespeople. Your job is Educate, Navigate and sometimes motivate your clients into making the best possible decision FOR THEM.

Put these tips and principals into practice and you will rise to the top of our industry and enjoy the full promise of this amazing business. You may have heard the old adage that 10% of the agents do 90% of the business, well its true so taking this advice to heart isn’t optional if you plan to be around next year. Good luck and I’ll see you out there!