I feel like the luckiest guy on earth.
Why do I feel so fortunate?
Because I am one out of a million people who had an opportunity to work and learn directly from 2 of the smartest, most successful businessmen on the planet.
I spent 5 years learning and growing with them while I built one of their companies.
The ‘secrets’ these folks taught me have been largely responsible for the remarkable success I’ve been able to achieve in my life and career – not just material success, but emotional as well. And I am eternally grateful to them for the experience.
That’s good news for you. Because today I want to share with you what I believe to be the most important “success lesson” I learned in 5 years working with them.
But before I get to that… I need to handle something. I want to take just a minute to give you a quick reminder.
This is the last article of Part I of my articles to you. My goal for Part I was to simply open your awareness to these marketing ideas and concepts – to build your “marketing aptitude.”
Like building a beautiful home, it all starts with a foundation. If you don’t have the important building blocks first and foremost, you’ll never build the kind of solid business you always dreamed of creating.
So if you’ve missed-out on any of my previous articles (or you’ve forgotten them), I want you to go back now and read them…and understand the important details of this strategy.
You can access links to previous articles in the left side-bar just under the header at the top of this page.
In a few days, we begin the ‘nuts and bolts’ of taking your business to astonishing new heights, step-by-step.
Part II will be much different from Part I – we’re going to move fast, and if you’re not up to speed at this point, you might get left behind.
So if you’re not caught-up, please do so as soon as possible.
Let’s move on…
If I could share with you one of the most important lessons I ever learned about ‘success’ from my mentors, it would the following…
DISCRIMINATION Is the
Secret to Your Success!
No…I’m not talking about age or racial or sexual discrimination. I’m talking about something completely different. Let me explain…
If ever a kid could have a dream job, I had it.
At the tender age of 27…barely out of graduate business school…I got to work directly with 2 of the most interesting and successful people in the world.
I won’t mention names…but we owned an NBA sports team, theme parks, huge residential developments (I’m talking about thousands of homes), high-rise buildings, TV stations, custom subdivisions…just to name a few.
I ran one of their companies…a high-profile community icon with 235 employees, 8 departments, millions in revenue and…
Losing Money Hand Over Fist!
I’m proud to say we quickly got things turned-around and created the greatest revenue and profit growth in the history of the company (a story for another time).
But the process was tough…and enlightening.
I remember one day driving in a car with one of my bosses. I don’t know if he realized the importance of what he said…or whether he knew it would become a mantra for my success…but it was a pivotal moment for me – and still is. He said…
“The Difference Between People Who Succeed and People
who Fail Is That People Who Succeed Learn How To
DISCRIMINATE Between The Important and the
UN-Important As It Relates To Their Goals”
Discriminate. For most people it’s an ugly word…a sad description of injustice. But to you and me, it holds Herculean importance.
When you’re trying to get everything you can out of all you’ve got, you can’t afford the luxury of ineffectiveness.
So you need to DISCRIMINATE: Identify and prioritize the most effective ways…and only the most effective ways…to accomplish your goals. This is the only way to maximize your earnings for every hour you work.
Think about the shortest, most direct way you can succeed in real estate.
You can advertise. You can network. You can farm. You can cold prospect. But the question you need to constantly ask yourself every minute of every day is…
What Are the FEW Activities I Do In my Business
That Produce The Greatest RESULTS For Me?
Discriminate and handle what you do best. Then find either SYSTEMS or PEOPLE to handle the other things in your business…things they do best.
In economics it’s called “The Law of Comparative Advantage.”
What’s your highest Comparative Advantage in your business? What are the one or two things that you do so well, it brings the most value to your company (even if it’s “You, Inc.”)?
What is your job?
If you’re like most agents, your focus should be on working with clients and closing deals – creating Throughput™ in your company (remember Article 6?).
If you want to work your highest Comparative Advantage, then you need to find SYSTEMS or PEOPLE to handle the other less-productive things: Lead qualifying, listing management, escrow coordinating, busy-work, etc.
And the ONE system you must have nailed-down up front is prospecting.
Because if you don’t have a system – you ARE the system. And that’s not working your highest Comparative Advantage.
Does this make sense?
You can be busy as a one-armed wallpaper hanger, but not make any money. That’s because you’re busy doing all the wrong things.
It’s the difference between being efficient…and being effective: Efficient is doing things right. Effective is doing the right things.
In closing this article, I have two final points about the business-building system you’ve been learning about for the past 7 articles…
POINT #1: When you decide to implement a system like this, you need to know that CONSISTENCY is critical.
Consistency means you need regular contact every 4 weeks – no exceptions. If you quit – you lose. And if you question ‘why’, see Point #2…
POINT #2: Responsiveness increases over time with regular, consistent contact. And so do your profits.
Your ‘house list’ becomes more and more responsive the deeper you build the relationship. It won’t grow deeper by ignoring them.
So when you really think about it, this whole process is about initiating relationships with the right kinds of people, then working to constantly deepen the relationship, supporting that relationship with on-going value, and giving them almost irresistible reasons for contacting you and referring your services.
Follow this process, and you’ll quickly nurture such a deep and credible relationship with enough people that your production and income become automatic – and the size of your “house list” actually continues to grow for as long as you practice real estate.
Believe it or not, only 4 out of 100 agents understands this and does anything about it – that’s good news for you.
You want to ‘position’ yourself so people seek you out as a trusted professional – not as a salesperson. People are attracted to helpful resources and repelled by salespeople.
That’s because the first one leaves the client in control, and the second threatens the client.
Which person would you like to be?
Today’s Action Plan:
I once read that creating a good habit takes regular reinforcement for 60 days.
Today I want you to start cultivating a new habit. At least 8 times a day (starting when you wake in the morning), I want you to ask yourself…
“What are the FEW activities I do that produce the
GREATEST RESULT for every hour and
dollar invested into my business?”
Then focus your time and energy only on those items – and start looking for systems and people to handle the other less valuable tasks.
Do this for the next 60 days, and the “habit” of working effectively will be ingrained into your mind and psyche.
It’s not going to be easy to break your old habit patterns at first. You’ll regularly find yourself regressing back into old habits. But don’t quit…
I’m certain…master this habit and you’ll quickly increase your profits in real estate…and slash your stress and work effort by multiples!
Just try it and see.
Coming Up Next…
This is the end of Part I of my articles to you.
In a few days we start the ‘nuts and bolts’ of implementing the most powerful real estate success system known to mankind.
A bold statement, don’t you think? But I’ve never seen an agent fail to become hugely successful once they implement this system correctly.
It’s a mathematical certainty!
So keep an eye-out for my next article coming in just a few days – where I’ll start walking you through the 4-Step process of building your business to astonishing new heights.
This is gonna be fun!