By Steve Morris
There are those who make things happen, those who watch what is about to happen and the rest who wonder what happened. Some people instinctively know precisely what to do next in order to progress and succeed, and yet the high majority has to be shown the way. The former are the leaders and the latter are the followers. Which one are you?
A leader in the real estate business in a brokerage is either the managing broker/owner, the top-producing salesperson or an administrator overseeing secretarial. It’s the individual who leads the pack, sets the tone and radiates an absolute sense of conscious competence. In other words, “they know that they know.”
In all expressions of human potential, no matter what the endeavor, energy flows from the high potential to the low potential. That’s simply Physics 101. The ones on top have acquired their knowledge, wisdom, understanding, strategy and timing through book learning, seminars and experience. The ones at the bottom haven’t. Moving from bottom to top is a matter of desire, absorbency and doing what works.
To move from here to there as quickly and effectively as possible requires leverage and momentum. In this regard, it’s imperative to surround yourself with good people and systems that are “state of the art.”
If you are an associate broker, broker/owner or someone who has a deliberate intention of running their own brokerage someday, then consider the following based on what has been said:
1. There are thousands of real estate agents who are Baby Boomers (50s and 60s) who are going to retire in droves over the coming months and years.
2. Like most people in North America, many of them have no pension to speak of and very little savings.
3. The change in market has eliminated a large segment of the cash value in their homes.
4. It’s going to become time for them to retire but they’re probably in a quandary as to how to do so gracefully.
5. If they quit their present brokerage, much- if not all-of their cash flow stops.
These people are between a big rock and a hard place, and old brokerage systems won’t solve the problem.
Let’s examine this further.
An Agent’s Predicament
The real estate industry has always been predicated on the fact that, “you’re only as good as your last transaction,” or in other words, when you stop selling, the money stops coming. From this perspective, it becomes obvious that tremendous indifference concerning a salesperson’s family, future and safety is highly prevalent at all levels of a typical real estate brokerage operation, and runs rampant throughout the entire industry.
The entrepreneurial anthem has continued to be, “you eat what you kill,” and while this is fine and dandy in high-rising, long-lasting, positive marketplaces, it smacks of “who cares” when reality sets in and those so-called disposable salespeople simply cannot pay their bills or feed their kids, let alone have any kind of a lifestyle. From 2006 onwards, the foreclosure fiasco regarding sub-prime mortgages has rendered brokerages, salespeople and administrators in America rather helpless, all things considered. The fish are no longer jumping into the boat. It’s time for a reality check.
A Change in Approach
Change is in the air in real estate. It’s occurring at every level of what we do and what we stand for. For instance, the approach used by many top producers over the last 25 years has been customer-driven, not client-driven. The “Do Not Call List” is starting to change all that. Hunting over the telephone is going to become a thing of the past in real estate, and because of this, the modus operandi of taking listings is going to have to be rearranged accordingly.
Up to this point, it’s been all about the numbers game of “taking the customer off at the knees” with sophisticated closing techniques and then letting the MLS sell the listing. The greater the number of listings, the greater the sell-through and dollar return. This, however, as a system, is going the same way as the dinosaurs. Once you’re on that list, you’ve stopped agents from calling. The methodology is then rendered benign. Again, the indifference of a non-service oriented approach has to be eliminated. It simply isn’t good enough.
The public wants service. Let’s face facts, they’ve already figured out that the MLS sells their listings. After all, how many double-enders have you done all year-5% or less? The industry is going to have to shift over to client-driven methods-a customer buys from you once, while a client buys from you every time. If they were good enough to deal with once, they should be good enough to do business with every time. Agents are actually going to have to develop a reputation for service again. Imagine that. But today, try to find an agent anywhere across the board who really follows up and follows through with people, with systems and services to the point that the customer would recommend them to others, or come in again for another try at a future date. It’s no wonder that the public is unimpressed with Realtors. They find them to be-let me say this one more time-indifferent.
My Own Personal Rant-Maybe It’s Yours, Too
The industry allows just about anyone who can pass the “Pittsburg Glass Test” to have a real estate license. If your breath appears on the mirror, they will hire you. After all, as an example, you can get your license in Brooklyn, New York, with course materials lasting just six days and costing a mere $200. This bottoms out at $100 in some places in Florida.
In other words, there is practically no educational prerequisite of any consequence and no expense factor to overcome in real estate whatsoever, and, these factors can lure in those who are basically unemployable anywhere else. This makes for a loser mentality. This is an embarrassment to anyone and everyone who considers this to be a career and a reputable profession, as opposed to just a job. We all know that you become what you surround yourself with. The result of this is a pathetic state of affairs. Last year, more than 400,000 Realtors, out of a total of approximately 1.4 million, wrote not one nickel of business from selling real estate and they were allowed to keep their jobs. So the question is, where is management? But then again, nothing from nothing is nothing.
If you ever wonder why we took the time to create, develop and build EXIT Realty Corp. International and all that it stands for, you don’t have to go too much farther than this. We learned a long time ago that you can’t soar like an eagle if you’re going to surround yourself with turkeys.
An Interesting Comparison
While getting my hair cut, I asked the manager of the operation how much it costs to get a hair-cutting license, and how long it would take. I’ve known him for years and he immediately responded saying, “You have to attend 220 days of classroom study and pay between $7,000 and $10,000, depending on the school. Now just imagine that-a solid year of participatory training and that kind of cost factor just to cut hair…and today, most use buzzers. By comparison, you can get a license to sell the largest asset a person will probably ever own for as little as $200 and six days of education. Now you can understand, with this “lack of flesh in the game,” why it’s quoted that 68% of all lost business in North America transpires because of indifference. Most of our industry’s participants just couldn’t care less. They’ve got nothing to lose.
So you can see, even with this, that most of the sheep are heading for the cliff. In order to make progress and succeed, it’s imperative to go in the opposite direction.
EXIT Realty is purposefully designed to be different but never indifferent. The “same old, same old” is simply not good enough here.
Prior to EXIT, there were companies that provided straight commission splits, desk fees, deal fees and multi-level marketing and they have not remedied the situation nor the circumstances whatsoever. None of the problems have been eliminated by those systems. They aren’t geared to provide financial leverage in shifting markets, let alone create a future or generate safety for a family. You could literally work there 40 years and retire broke. There are no retirement or beneficiary benefits whatsoever. They all scream out their battle cry, “Me first!”, “It’s all about me!” and “What about me?” and finish broke or broken. Try to find anyone who ever retired rich as a result of selling real estate to customers on one of these systems. I’ve been searching for 32 years and I haven’t found one yet.
The ego-driven attitude of “gimme, gimme” has resounded in real estate for decades. However, when you look at your own life and all of the goodness that has transpired there, am I correct in saying that most of it happened because of giving as opposed to getting? Isn’t empathy what we’re all looking for? Isn’t helping others for their sake important? Isn’t empathy (giving) what you’re trying to teach your kids?
With this in mind, we structured our entire system at EXIT around empathy. People helping other people; it generates a more productive, harmonious and compatible workplace. This far outflanks brokerages that are filled with people simply looking out for themselves. Ours is a safer, sounder and healthier work environment.
Keep in mind that with those 10 signatures in the example above, (agents sponsored in earning $100,000 each), John would have $1 million in the bank in 10 years, generated by someone else’s energies.
Well-what are the chances of you having $1,000,000 in the bank in 10 years based on what you’re presently doing?
Interesting question isn’t it?
Look at this: If an owner of a substantial brokerage with 60 agents, for example, earning an average of $60,000 each, decided to convert to EXIT, some interesting financial benefits transpire. The broker would sponsor all the agents into EXIT at 10%. Well, 60 people earning $60,000 gross would generate $360,000 a year to that broker with no management hassles. Plus the broker could retire and still receive $252,000 a year. Not a bad pension!
If he continues the old way, however, he’ll eventually try to sell the brokerage. Question: For how much and to whom? Will he get all his money upfront, and if not, what and when, etc.? At EXIT, upon retirement, he would generate $504,000 in two years. Try to get that as a sale price on the street on the old system.
This EXIT System is great because it means more…much more of everything. In fact, single-level residuals were so impressive to the Canadian government that they paid us over a million dollars in grants for the development of the software program that pays residuals out through e-business. When your government backs you, you’re probably on to a pretty good thing.
Since the industry lacks education that’s thorough, effective and appropriate for the jobs that need to be done, we at EXIT have again gone the opposite way. We have the most advanced, most highly refined and most effectively taught educational programs in real estate anywhere in the world. Those who have witnessed it will attest to this. We consider all our agents valuable. They’re the assets of our business. And since selling is the only source of income flowing into a brokerage, whereby everything else costs money, we act accordingly. We respect those people and we do everything necessary to get the very most and best out of them accordingly.
Our mission at EXIT is simple and straightforward. We intend to be the very largest and most productively successful real estate company in the world. We are all focused on absolute success and we refuse to be indifferent!
Those who have taken the time to listen to the EXIT Formula of single-level residuals know and understand that our mission will become an absolute reality. It’s just a matter of time.
Those who have been all wrapped up in a busy market, now have the opportunity to revisit EXIT and take a longer look. Those who do so will recognize the opportunity immediately. Those who don’t will have to put up with the industry’s old ways.
EXIT is designed for those who truly want to get the finest return on their invested time from this business. If you’ll explore it, just for a moment, you’ll find a new world of potential that you would have never dreamed possible. We would love to have you join us and become part of this revolutionary movement of progress. If you’re a leader, you will find EXIT irresistible. If you’re a leader’s leader, you will recognize EXIT as a calling, not just a career. RE
Now Look at This for a Moment!
-All of those Baby Boomers previously mentioned, who will eventually be looking at retirement, have a unique potentiality at EXIT.
-During the currency of their stay at EXIT, they can introduce other agents to management and receive a benefit based on closed transactions equivalent to 10% of the gross of the new agent’s production every year the agent stays. This does not affect the new agent’s commission.
-When they retire, this reduces to 7%. This means cash flows in from the efforts of others still working, while they’re in retirement. It’s unlimited.
-An example (in large round numbers) would be as follows: John sponsors 10 agents producing $100,000 gross into EXIT (any place we exist) and Head Office pays him the equivalent of 10% x $100,000 or $10,000 per agent x 10 = $100,000 of extra money yearly. This is in addition to his commission for selling real estate. When John, retires this is reduced to 7% or $70,000 a year.
-Seven signatures equaling a pension of $70,000. Not bad!
-You can’t get that anyplace else. In fact, what is your pension when you retire on your current plan?
-Perhaps it’s a good idea to own a brokerage that provides this kind of opportunity.
-It’s certainly a fine decision to join EXIT in either case.
Steve Morris is the CEO and founder of EXIT Realty Corp.
For more information, please visit www.exitrealty.com.
