RISMEDIA, July 4, 2007—When Denise Lones started her career in real estate, she did so with the kudos and enthusiasm of her friends, family and peers; in fact everyone was certain she would succeed.
Lones recalls, “Everybody told me, ‘You know Denise, you’re going to be so good in real estate because you’re social, you love people, you love to talk and to communicate, you’ll be great!’”
Lones goes on to say, “Within about a month I realized real quick that it wasn’t just about being social; that’s not what was making the other agents that I was envious of successful. What was making them successful were some other key things.”
Lones relates that although she had the energy and the drive to succeed as a rookie, she also says that in that first six months, “I sold a whopping zero amount of homes!”
Frustrated and bewildered by the fact that her people skills and excitement about the business did not in any way guarantee success, Lones took a step back and reevaluated her approach.
“So I started looking at the real successful agents; I took them out to lunch, started asking questions, and then I realized something even more stunning: none of them had a system, but each of them had one thing that they did well.” This led Lones to examine her own skill set, and ask the question of herself “What do I do well?”
The answer from a previous business experience was “Follow-up”, but she admits that in her first six months in real estate she hadn’t implemented any sort of follow-up plan because she was too new and was still out there learning. It was then that she began to formulate a plan of attack.
She explains, “One of the very first things I did is that I got myself branded. And then with that brand, I focused on a particular target group of people, and I did it consistently. Every single month those people knew what I was doing in real estate, they knew what real estate was doing in their area, and I started speaking specifically in writing, not about me or how great I was as an agent, I started educating my potential clients in real estate.”
This shift in thinking coupled with the systems she devised to manage her business paid off handsomely; in her second six months in the business this twenty-something rookie had sold 23 homes.
So what sort of lessons can today’s rookie and veteran agents take from this inspiring story? Beyond the obvious inspirational aspect, it’s clear from Lones’ story that it’s not just about personality, or having the right contacts, or even having a fancy marketing plan. It’s the combination of multiple highly effective but very specific spokes, that when combined create a wheel that operates smoothly, like a well-oiled machine.
Lones details the different methods and tools she combined effectively to facilitate her rise to success in a rare interview, in this week’s RISMedia/iSucceed Business Development and Training Call, “How to Dominate Your Marketplace in Six Months or Less”. Hosted by iSucceed’s own Kelly Kelley, the interview will be available for one week only at www.isucceed.com/rismedia. In the interview Lones explains:
– How a unique “Point System” enabled her to classify and rate leads effectively
– What the first thing a rookie should do to jumpstart their career, and what they should follow up with
– The 10 Most Essential Rules for Running a Successful Business
Incredibly successful and the winner of multiple awards throughout her 20+ year career in real estate as an agent, Lones found after a time that fellow agents and peers sought out her advice on a regular basis. Soon afterward came the realization that she in fact enjoyed helping others succeed, so much so that her career shifted slightly into marketing and assisting other agents achieve the success she had so seemingly obtained so easily. Now, as owner and founder of the Lones Group, a marketing company dedicated 100% to the real estate agent and broker, as well as an active career of speaking, training, and business consulting, Lones has found her true calling, in enabling others to follow in her footsteps and live the life they have been dreaming of. Tune in to this week’s call and hear the simple but powerful secrets that can help you too, dominate your marketplace – in six weeks or less.
Every Wednesday the RIS Media/iSucceed Business Development and Training Call presents profitable real estate strategies and introduces agents across the country to the full 30-minute iSucceed Weekly Counseling Call, available only at www.iSucceed.com – the most comprehensive online provider of real estate tips, tools, secrets and success strategies, directly from North America’s 175 most successful real estate professionals.
