The Leader?s Choice

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RISMEDIA-NRRE July 2001

The Leader?s Choice

By Mark Leader, as told to Marylyn B. Schwartz, CSP

Mark Leader?s real estate career spans nearly 20 years, and in that time he?s been a successful agent, broker/owner, speaker, trainer and now entrepreneur. His latest endeavor, Leader?s Choice, a comprehensive real estate training program, brings him to the forefront of training and is proving to be another success story to add to the others.

Mark?s energy, enthusiasm and commitment to excellence was noticed and embraced by some of the industry?s leading real estate professionals. In particular, RE/MAX International has glowing things to say about what Leader?s Choice did for their company and agents.

Jim Sutton, regional director, RE/MAX Mid-States and Dixie Regions, had this to say about Mark?s program. “It?s innovative. It builds trust, instills accountability, creates positive momentum and gets results. The content is updated and fresh. For management, Mark helps with retention, upgrades and increased commitment to real estate. That?s the best we could ever achieve.”

I sat down with Mark and asked him to tell the story of Leader?s Choice and where he sees training today. Here?s what he had to say:

Many people asked me why, with the number of real estate training programs already out there, would I want to start another one? It?s a fair question. Sales people were concerned that the real estate industry was changing. They said that it was not one thing in particular that concerned them but a series of things that were happening simultaneously.

They felt that the public was better educated in years past and demanded to know what they were getting for their money. They were highly service oriented and knew that with so many sales agents to choose from, they could afford to be selective. In addition, more sales people than ever were seriously concerned about running their business with greater independence rather than looking to the broker to do all of the advertising, marketing and business development. For an agent to succeed today, self-reliance is critical.

In addition to what I was hearing in the field, I called top-producing agents to see what they thought the industry needed relative to training initiatives. I translated all the feedback into the Leader?s Choice program. I was fully convinced that agents were not getting what they sought from the available options and that there was a real need for what I had to offer. It was more than the need to cope with industry changes; it was about running their businesses. They wanted skill and, most of all, accountability, someone to care about what they did on a regular basis and help them to achieve their goals.

There is a lot more to real estate than listing and selling. You have to be an adept businessperson. That?s the foundation, and without business prowess the other components are irrelevant. Agents often believe that if they get out there and list and sell, they will make it. It simply is not the case.

When agents run their own real estate business, they are not only an employee, they are the boss. A boss?s job is to be sure that things that need to be done in the company are getting done. Think about this. If on Friday at 3 p.m. an agent had to sit down and write out a check for $2,000 to themselves for a fair week?s work, would that agent be able to say that they paid for services rendered? That they got their money?s worth? If not, they have a problem. The secret to success in real estate is to learn how to become accountable to your self.

We are in an industry with a 60% to 70% turnover rate. For all of the people coming into the business, good business skills are relatively unknown. Most new recruits have never had to worry about running their own business. Someone else took care of the details.

Agents must build relationships, not only with the public, but with other agents. For most top-producing sales people, other Realtors sell more of their listings than the public buys directly. That makes agents each other?s direct customers. Those are critical relationships to nurture. That?s part of being a savvy businessperson. In addition to knowing who your customer is, agents must understand budgeting, cash flow, and how and where to market themselves. It?s not about gross production. It?s about net and how much money they put in their pockets at the end of the year.

Time Management

Another glaring lack in other programs was effective time-management techniques. We teach agents how to do the high-income producing activities first. For many, the problem is that they just do whatever is there in front of them and give little thought to what is the best use of their time. I believe that with great time-management techniques, an agent can do 50 transactions a year without a personal assistant.

I hear a lot about technology and how the computer will free you up and almost do your job for you. I don?t believe that to be the case. What it comes down to in real estate is contacting people, getting face-to-face and shaking hands. If an agent is not using the computer for self-promotion and prospecting, I don?t think it?s streamlining anything. I encourage agents to outsource the maintenance of their databases, e-mail distributions and record keeping and get face-to-face to build their business.

We teach our students to use e-mail to build new clients, regular mail (eight to 12 times a year) to maintain relationships with their cheerleaders (past clients) and the newspaper to market their products. We want them to use the least expensive form of advertising to reach out to the greatest number of people. Time and time again that?s been proven to be the phone.

Achieve Greater Results

Another important component that sets my program apart from the rest is that the other programs teach students what to do based on the experience of the program?s developer. His/her way is the best and only way to do it. I?ve learned that there are many ways to make it in real estate.

True, there are things that have to be done consistently such as prospecting and advertising. However, thinking that one particular way is the right way is an Achilles heel for a trainer. I would never tell a student that mailing is the right way for them. What I do tell them is that if they will do what they are really good at, and do it consistently, they will be successful. When we do the things we like, we achieve greater results. The key is scheduling three listing appointments a week. The law of averages says that if you do that, you will get one out of the three. That?s 50 transactions a year and two weeks off.

The most important job of a broker or manager today is to make their team independent of them. Train them to do high-producing activities first. Once they have that down and do them regularly, they are truly independent. Prospecting is the highest income producing activity of all.

One of the other things I stress in the program is that an educated consumer is the best consumer for an agent. I never believed an agent should give a price to a client. I believe the agent must provide all the pertinent information so that the client can make an educated decision. As well informed as the public is, they don?t need an agent telling them what to do. They need well thought out information so that they may come to their own conclusions.

I didn?t reinvent the wheel when I developed Leader?s Choice. It is a combination of many programs. I took the available information and made it simple and modern. Our results show that typical graduate does better than 18 transactions in eight weeks, new agents learn a proven method of success and experienced agents significantly increase their present activity. The results are proof it works!


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