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Schedule Your Success: 7 Ways to Secure Daily Appointments

Mark Johnson 8 Comments

“In the end, someone or something always gives up. Either you give up and quit, or the obstacle or failure gives up and makes way for your success to come through.” ~ Idowu Koyenikan

Consistent appointments are the lifeblood of a thriving real estate business. Just imagine the impact of adding one moreappointment to your workday. This post provides seven key strategies to help you schedule your success.

Focus on Action and Control:

While we can’t control the market or other people’s opinions, we can control our actions and our response to market conditions. By focusing on deliberate appointment setting, we take control of our business growth.

Why Appointments Matter:

An appointment is more than just a meeting; it’s an opportunity to build trust, provide value, and establish yourself as a trusted advisor. These valuable interactions can take many forms:

  • Listing presentations with motivated sellers
  • Buyer consultations to understand their needs and goals
  • Property previews with potential buyers or sellers
  • Networking with past clients, centers of influence, or potential referral sources
  • Meetings with investors or HR professionals involved in relocation

By consistently scheduling these types of interactions, you create opportunities for growth and establish stronger client relationships. These opportunities often arise from what we call the “8 D’s” of real estate:

  • Death: The passing of a homeowner often requires the sale of the property to settle the estate.
  • Divorce: Separating couples frequently need to sell their shared home and divide the proceeds.
  • Diamonds (Marriage/Engagements): New couples often choose to purchase a home together.
  • Downsizing: Empty nesters or those seeking a simpler lifestyle may opt for a smaller home.
  • Diapers (Growing Families): The arrival of children often necessitates more space.
  • Deployment: Military deployments can require homeowners to sell their property.
  • Default (Foreclosure): Financial hardship can unfortunately lead to foreclosure.
  • Displacement (Job/Career): Job loss, new career opportunities, or company relocation can require individuals or families to move. (This also includes life changes like graduations, where a parent might sell a property purchased for a child in college.)

How? 7 Keys to Daily Appointments:

  1. Prioritize Setting Appointments: Make it a non-negotiable part of your daily routine. Schedule dedicated time for it.
  2. Define Appointments for Success: Expand your definition. It doesn’t always have to be a signed listing agreement. A valuable initial conversation, a property preview, or a networking coffee meeting can all be successful.
  3. Positive Self-Talk: Cultivate a positive mindset. Use affirmations like “I confidently schedule valuable appointments each day.”
  4. Stay Connected with Leads: Utilize a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system to effectively manage and nurture your leads.
  5. Identify Your “Automatic Shot”: Determine your most reliable source of appointments (past clients, referrals, etc.) and consistently leverage it.
  6. Develop Closing Skills (Value-Based): Focus on mastering objection handling and asking insightful questions to uncover client needs. This value-based approach builds trust.
  7. Maintain a Goal-Oriented Mindset: Focus on your daily appointment goal, but don’t get fixated on how each appointment will materialize. Trust that consistent action and a focus on providing value will create opportunities.

Action Steps:

  • Schedule Appointment Setting Time: Block out specific time slots in your calendar.
  • Craft a Concise Introduction: Develop a brief, compelling introduction that highlights your value proposition.
  • Practice Handling Objections: Prepare for common objections by scripting and practicing effective responses.
  • Track Your Progress: Monitor your appointment setting activities and track your results.

My Conclusion and Call To Action :

Consistent appointment setting is the cornerstone of a successful real estate career. By prioritizing these valuable interactions, focusing on providing value, and maintaining a positive mindset, you can schedule your success and build a thriving business. That is how you win the day!

If I Am Always Shaking The Tree, An Apple Will Fall Somewhere!
If I Am Always Shaking The Tree, An Apple Will Fall Somewhere!

Your Real Estate Business Is Like A Rowing Team

Mark Johnson Leave a comment

Your Business Is Like A Rowing Team

“A coach is someone who helps you see what you don’t want to see so you can be who you’ve always wanted to be.” ~ Tom Landry

One of my former associates, real estate team leader and top producer from Austin, Texas, is also a “coxswain” and a rowing coach. He told me a story about a new rower placed on a boat with eight others. He noticed she appeared to be working very hard and sweating profusely. Yet, her technique was so off it wasn’t helping the team.

Can you relate to a time when you’ve been working hard and not getting the result you intended?

A rowing team – and your business – need more than just quality, skilled resources. You also need all your resources in the right seats, doing the right things.

Here’s the thing I learned about rowing: in an eight-person boat, each rower has one oar—four on port and four on starboard. If one side pulls harder than the other side, the boat turns. If one side’s oars are raised higher than the other side, the boat tips. To find the set and create a swing, everyone must work together to balance the boat and have the exact timing. Your hands must be at exactly the right height as you slide up to the catch. Every oar has to drop into the water at the exact same time. Everyone needs to pull under equal pressure. All the blades need to come out of the water and release in unison. Any deviation disrupts the boat.

So, what can we learn?

First, have a clear direction, but an easy hand on the steering: The “coxswain” job is to keep the boat on course and steer the straightest line possible. Steering too much means zig-zagging over the course and rowing far more than 2,000 meters, which adds to the time. The trick is to keep the end in sight and steer to a center point far down the course, not trying to keep coming back to the center every stroke. To do this, the coxswain calls out increased pressure for a few strokes on one side of the boat or the other to correct the course rather than use the rudder, which slows down the boat.

Learning: High-performance teams always keep the end in sight and know the ultimate objectives of their work. Without a clear picture of the goal, teams thrash with the process and fail to achieve proper alignment in their activities. Going in the wrong direction as fast as you can doesn’t get you any closer to the finish.

Second, it’s not how hard you work; it’s how hard you work together: It turns out that pulling as hard as you can without pulling together actually slows the boat down. Imbalanced power will veer the boat in one direction and throw off the catch and release timing. Uncontrolled straining at the oar can tip your weight left or right and toss the boat side to side. A successful team pulls in perfect balance and with perfect timing.

Learning: Successful teams know that performance is a function of collaboration and coordination, not a sum of individual effort. Knowing how your contribution affects the outcome and staying highly aware of what others are doing while staying in sync are critical to delivering results. Reacting quickly, deliberately and in a coordinated fashion allows teams to adapt to changes, handle new information, and stay on target.

#WinTheDay

Row!
Row!

In Real Estate Sales: To Team Or Not To Team?

Mark Johnson 1 Comment

To Team Or Not To Team

 So, you want to start a team?

Or you already have a team and are now questioning that choice?

Maybe you already have a team performing at a high level, and you are looking for a boost?

You see, we’ve just about seen it all:

  • Starting a team too early;
  • Starting a team for the wrong reasons;
  • Starting a team without a straightforward value offering;
  • Starting a team with no or poorly written team agreements;
  • Letting your team and performance get stagnant.

In the most successful teams we know, the leader assumes the CEO role of the team, and they always lead with revenue! And they understand this:

“A system will produce what a system will produce, nothing less, nothing more.”

Here are a few thoughts to consider as it relates to team leadership:

Team Requirement No. 1:

Do you have a clear and compelling value proposition?

  • Will you be a lead provider?
  • Will you be a coach, trainer, and mentor?
  • Without a clear value, turnover will be the challenge you face.

Team Requirement No. 2:

You’re on Target or Ahead of Your Production Goal

  • Bringing additional team members aboard is not only a big responsibility… It’s taking on a serious expense.
  • If your income cannot support additional team members, you only set yourself up for failure.
  • Get your house in order, and then consider taking that next step.
  • Lead with revenue first

Team Requirement No. 3:

You Have At Least 4 Successful Pillars of Lead Generation

  • You have solid influence strategies (referrals) in place or control strategies (online leads) in place.
  • You’re tracking and measuring all your leading indicators, right? (If not, you’re not ready for a team.
  • When you look at your lead sources, are you producing multiple sales monthly from AT LEAST four different pillars?
  • The key here is to ensure your business is diversified sufficiently to support additional sales agents on your team.

Team Requirement No. 4:

You Have Lead Follow-Up Systems in Place That Create Raving Fans and Ensure a High Level of Service

  • Are your systems in place to the point that you can say you’ve operationalized your business?
  • If not, it’s not a total deal-breaker, but know that developing systems as you grow your team will steal precious time away from your more immediate dollar-productive work. Can you afford that?

Team Requirement No. 5:

You Have an Accountability Structure in Place That is Utilized Daily

  • As a team leader, you need a built-in system to hold you accountable to your schedule, the systems you have in place, and the others on your team.
  • This accountability structure begins with you and must extend to all who join your team.
  • Suppose you’re not consistently sticking to a morning schedule and setting that example for others. In that case, it will be difficult for you to expect team members to perform with the necessary daily discipline to succeed.
  • If not, you might want to work on your discipline a bit before putting yourself out there as a role model.

Team Requirement No. 6:

You are on a mission to grow your leadership skills and serve your team members

  • Face it, some of us just don’t want to “manage” others, and all that entails
  • If you are not into people with a decent EQ level, you might want to consider options like a sales or operations manager who can handle those things.

Now that you’ve considered six factors for team success, I have a practical exercise to start the process.

  1. Why do you – and your team – do what you do? This may sound like an odd question, yet one example could be: Are you in the real estate business (I sell real estate) or the problem-solving business? (We help consumers navigate the complex process of buying, selling, or investing in real estate with ease, transparency, and less stress.) See the difference?
  2. How are you different or unique? And does that matter to the typical consumer?
  3. Who is our ideal client? And how do you reach them in relevant, consistent ways?
  4. Hyper-local. Are you constantly working to become a hyper-local expert? The portals and national chains can never be the hyper-local expert.
  5. Growth plans – what is your vision? If you are in one city, do you want to expand into other cities or even another state?

There you have it; the opportunity is yours.

Consider this…

With all the plans, strategies, goals, innovations, business practices, and culture that make up your team, you are getting exactly the results your business systems and processes are currently capable of producing – nothing less, nothing more! Looking to be more outcome-focused? Read this blog from Mark Johnson, co-founder of CoRecruit.

To get better results, you must improve the design and execution of your business systems and processes—at the detail checklist level.

The law of cause and effect governs all business outcomes. To change an effect or result, you have to change the cause.

#WinTheDay

 

By Design vs. By Default

Mark Johnson Leave a comment

By design vs. by default with Seth Godin

Leaders make one thing more than any other: decisions.

Every environment has constraints, and the decisions about how time and resources are allocated – about what to do next – drive all outcomes.

How do leaders decide what’s next? Is it based on urgency, proximity, or values? It’s a mix of each, yet the top 1% make more value-based decisions.

The top 1% know the first in + first out approach is not an effective strategy; it’s typically an excuse or by default. Even worse: defaulting to the squeaky wheel strategy. Leaders minimize the whirlwind. By design vs. by default.

 

By design or by default
By design vs. by default

 

PS: Need help with talent attraction, selection, or sourcing accountability? Just a DM away.

Is It A Real Estate Seller’s Market?

Mark Johnson Leave a comment

Jennifer Love Hewitt turns 44, and Corbin Blue 34. The job market is booming. Inflation is falling. Yet, if you asked your neighbor, the news about eggs and housing might get in the way… is it a real estate seller’s market?

  • Sellers are hard to find…
  • Active inventory for sale fell 1.5% this week
  • Nearly 6% fewer homes went pending this week
  • Mortgage rates ticked up to nearly 6.3% from 6.1%
  • The percentage of listings that have executed a price cut has dropped nearly 24%
  • Bottom line: buyers have fewer choices

Check out the latest stats in your area – click here –  and if you need a local area expert, I know a few around the country.

 

If Information Was Enough

Mark Johnson Leave a comment

If information was enough, we would all be top performers in our profession, exercise every day, eat more vegetables, be within the government’s height and weight standards, and have a ton of money saved for the future.

Think about it: you can use Google or YouTube for the instruction manual for almost anything. You can access a step-by-step guide, the best practices, and the quick start guide. So, I have a straightforward question – with access to all this information and proven evidence – why do we still struggle with limiting beliefs and behaviors?

The answer? Our feelings outweigh our commitments. When our commitments outweigh our feelings, that’s when a breakthrough begins.

The five words that kill more dreams, more potential, and more happiness than any other five words spoken are:

“I don’t feel like it.”

 

I’m not sure of your dream, yet I suspect that for many of you, it’s more financial freedom, better health, stronger relationships, and more connectedness with your community. Yet let’s face it, so many times when you are about to start something toward those dreams, the onslaught of excuses flood your mind like water gushing out of a broken pipe. The theme of these excuses always traces back to the same root:

“I don’t feel like it.”

 

How often have you said, “I don’t feel like it?”  How often have you listened to that thought, allowing it to alter the course of your actions? What has that cost you physically, financially, and emotionally?

What if you could make a different choice?

 

I know that “I don’t feel like it” is the universal human condition that silently kills dreams. Yet you and I don’t have to accept this dream killer, and we can overcome the feeling and move powerfully toward our goals and objectives. It starts with intention: the intention to live on your terms, not the terms of your moods and feelings.

 

When our commitments outweigh our feelings, that’s when a breakthrough begins.

 

6 Steps To Expand Our Possibility Thinking

Mark Johnson Leave a comment

Sports psychologist Bob Rotella, said “I tell people: If you don’t want to get into positive thinking, that’s OK. Just eliminate all the negative thoughts from your mind, and whatever is left will be just fine!”

Maxwell provides 6 steps to expanding our possibility thinking:

  • Stop focusing on the impossibilities
  • Look for possibilities in each situation
  • Dream just one size bigger
  • Question the status quo
  • Find inspiration from great achievers
  • Keep the “critics” at bay

#100DaysOfSuccess

What If Today Was Your Last?

Mark Johnson Leave a comment

As you know, Steve Jobs was an American entrepreneur and business magnate. He was the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and a co-founder of Apple Inc., Chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar, a member of The Walt Disney Company’s board of directors following its acquisition of Pixar, and the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of NeXT. Jobs is widely recognized as a pioneer of the microcomputer revolution.

What can we learn from Steve that applies to leading our real estate practice? Plenty, read on:

When Steve was 17, he read a quote like, “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on him, and since then, for the past 33 years of his life, he looked in the mirror every morning and asked himself, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, he knew he needed to change something.

Remembering that you’ll be dead soon is the most important tool Steve Jobs ever encountered to help him make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you will die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked, and there is no reason not to follow your heart.

No one wants to die. Even people who – like me – want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. Our time –  your time –  is limited.

Dare to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

So What’s Holding You Back?

What Action Have You Been Putting Off?

What’s The One Thing You Know, If You Took Action Today, Would Make A Positive Impact?

Do that today, do it NOW as if today was your last.

#WinTheDay

PS: Looking to increase your real estate team or office recruiting game? Book a demo to find out how we can 5X your ROI.

6 Business Lessons from the Wu-Tang Clan

Mark Johnson 2 Comments

From music to fashion, hip-hop is a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity. The Wu-Tang Clan’s rise to fame is a particularly compelling story of how a group of young men with a clear vision and diverse talents took the world by storm. Their success offers valuable lessons applicable to any business or project.

Here are six key takeaways:

  1. Collaboration: Strength in Numbers: The Wu-Tang Clan’s strength lay in its diverse roster of individual artists. This collaborative approach allowed them to reach a wider audience and explore different styles. They collaborated with artists across genres, like jazz musician Robert Glasper, demonstrating the power of reaching beyond traditional boundaries. This principle applies to any business. Consider strategic partnerships and collaborations to expand your reach and offer more value to your clients.

  2. Quality over Speed: The Wu-Tang Clan prioritized quality in their music, creating timeless albums that continue to resonate with fans. In any business, focusing on delivering high-quality products or services is essential for long-term success. Don’t rush the process; invest the time and effort needed to create something truly valuable.

  3. Simplicity: Clarity and Impact: Wu-Tang’s music, while complex in its layers, often conveyed direct and impactful messages. In business, clear and concise communication is key. Avoid jargon and focus on delivering your message in a way that resonates with your target audience.

  4. Boldness: Taking Calculated Risks: The Wu-Tang Clan wasn’t afraid to be different and take risks. This boldness helped them stand out in a crowded industry. In business, calculated risks are often necessary for growth. Don’t be afraid to try new strategies and push the boundaries of what’s possible.

  5. Versatility: Expanding Your Reach: The Wu-Tang Clan expanded beyond music, creating their own record label, Ruff Ryders Entertainment, and venturing into other business ventures. This versatility allowed them to diversify their income streams and build a stronger brand. Consider how you can expand your business offerings and reach new markets.

  6. Creative Thinking: Innovation and Adaptation: The Wu-Tang Clan’s innovative approach to music and business demonstrated the power of creative thinking. They weren’t bound by traditional methods, which allowed them to forge their own path. In today’s rapidly changing business environment, creative thinking is essential for staying ahead of the curve and adapting to new challenges.

The Wu-Tang Clan’s success story is a testament to the power of these six principles. By applying them to your own business, you can increase your chances of achieving your goals and making a lasting impact. And that is how we win the day!

There’s nothing more rewarding than seeing your hard work pay off.

Ryan Clark with his Wu-Tang Tee
Ryan Clark with his Wu-Tang Tee

Resistance Is Like A Jedi Mind Trick

Mark Johnson Leave a comment

Resistance is like a Jedi mind trick. It’s not really there, but it feels like it is. And the more you think about it, the more powerful it becomes.

New goals are likely to fall apart before February ends. That’s according to data from Strava, a social network for athletes. The company analyzed more than 31.5 million fitness records from its users and found that our annual commitments start crumbling in the middle of January. Strava’s research only draws from its own user base, so it could be skewed, yet a frequently cited study from the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment produced similar findings:

Only 55 percent of participants stuck to their resolutions for a full month.

Yet don’t let the data discourage you.

Resistance is normal. You’re likely to experience it at some level when trying to change, regardless of how positive your intended change is. Try not to fight resistance; instead – accept – that it will happen. By recognizing resistance and understanding why it happens, you can focus your energy on making positive changes stick for the long term.

And by spending a little time thinking about the potential obstacles, roadblocks, and impediments you may encounter during the change process, you can reduce your resistance levels and increase your chances of success — and overcome resistance.

“In the end, someone or something always gives up. Either you give up and quit, or the obstacle or failure gives up and makes way for your success to come through.”
~ Idowu Koyenikan

Step one is getting back in touch with the reason you started the change, resolution, goal, or process to begin with. Review these four questions:

  • What will happen if I do change?
  • What will happen if I don’t change?
  • What won’t happen if I change?
  • What won’t happen if I don’t change?

Step two, no judgments! Once you’ve identified the reason for your resistance (typically fear of something) – the root cause of your frustration – you can look for a way to meet the needs of your resistance while not allowing it to prevent achieving your goals. Like taking a 10-minute break, then returning back to the task – a pattern interrupt.

Step three is to act opposite to your feelings. Of course, if you don’t feel like making your sales calls, make them anyway!

Step four, take action. Let go of what you have no control over. Sometimes, becoming aware of your repetitive patterns – and making a new intention – is all that is required. But other times, a deeper dive is needed.

In the book A Course of Miracles, it is written there are only two emotions: love and fear. If you are in a place of resistance about something, look for the fear behind it and find a way to dissipate it. Find a way to embrace it and “love” it!

And finally, my friend and mentor Tom Ferry wrote about four “addictions” that kill more dreams than any other. In my view, they are all patterns of resistance that each of us can control and change if we choose:

  • The Addiction to the opinions of other people. As a society, we’re addicted to what others think about us and how others’ worldviews affect us.
  • The Addiction to drama. Some people are drawn to and consumed by any event or situation that occupies their thoughts and fills their minds with negativity, which often brings attention to them in unproductive ways.
  • The Addiction to the past. These people have an unhealthy attachment to events or situations that have occurred in the past and are stuck in how things used to be.
  • The Addiction to worry. This addiction is comprised of all the negative and self-defeating thoughts that make us anxious, disturbed, upset, and stressed that hold us back in life.

Resistance is not futile it’s a valuable learning tool. Use it to your advantage. Think breakdown to breakthrough!

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”

~Henry Ford

 

Resistance is normal. What you do about it creates the future!
Resistance is normal. What you do about it creates the future!