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Category: Talent Selection

CoStar and Move – A Match Made In Heaven?

Mark Johnson Leave a comment

The acquisition of Realtor.com could boost competition, says Mark Johnson, Co-Founder of CoRecruit and former CEO of JPAR – Real Estate.

I recently had a call with Candace Evans, the Founder and Creator of CandysDirt.com, and she asked me if the CoStar and Move proposed acquisition was a big deal.  My answer was yes! The rumor on the street – started at the Inman Connect Conference – is a possible acquisition price of $3 billion dollars, and that certainly is a big deal.

My business acquaintance and friend, Steve Murray, co-founder of REAL Trends, said, “I’m not convinced a sale would have a meaningful impact for real estate brokerages. These firms think if they control the information, they’ll control the distribution of buyers and sellers to agents and change the economics to where they’ll be getting a bigger share of the commission dollar. I suppose all those things are possible, but Zillow hasn’t been able to pull it off.”

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation purchased Move Inc. for nearly $1 billion in 2014, followed by the 2018 acquisition of the Austin, Texas-based lead-generation firm OpCity. CoStar has spent more than $2 billion on residential real estate deals over the last decade, beginning in 2014 with Apartments.com and later acquiring Homesnap in 2020 to launch Citysnap. CoStar’s market cap has more than doubled since 2018 to $32 billion, compared to Zillow’s $10 billion.

You never know the true motivations of sellers and buyers, yet for Move, it could be cashing out at the right time to focus on other aspects of the business, and it seems CoStar might be taking advantage of a strong cash position and difficult market conditions to make a strategic acquisition at a favorable price. CoStar understands the business and has a strong track record of adding value. A new owner always brings new ideas and new innovations, and that typically drives more competition. And competition always creates more favorable pricing for users. For agents, teams, and brokers, this could be really good news.

Across the industry, you are seeing major players acquire tools and technology to serve the consumer and the agent from the contemplation of a home sale or purchase all the way through to closing, funding, and post-sale support. So this will not be the last acquisition we hear about as the big players in the industry want to capture a larger share of more services within the nearly 5 million homes sold each year.

Inman Connect NYC – 4 Steps To Maximize Your Investment

Mark Johnson 1 Comment

There seems to be today an endless array of conference opportunities for agents, team leaders, and broker-owners. Inman Connect, both New York and Las Vegas are two worth considering. This year’s New York event did not disappoint with something for everyone to learn or network.

Katie Lance from Katie Lance Consulting delivered a powerful update on social media, Facebook Live and Video. In her talk, Katie pointed out that Facebook Live is more effective when promoted ahead of time and when you engage the audience with polls or surveys. For short-form videos, Katie recommends obviously to be quick, to the point, have a hook and use appropriate hashtags and captions.

For agents, one of the favorite sessions was the session on “How To Win Listings In A Competitive And Challenging Market.” For company leaders, the CEO connect session was powerful, and team leaders participated in sessions on growth. Of special note, Ryan Serhant spoke to every person who wants to be a real estate agent regardless of race, gender, handicap, military status, or personality style. Rayna said, “even if you have no personality, you can sell real estate to anyone, anywhere, anytime.” Virtual replays are available to purchase on the Inman website.

A hot topic at the bar and after parties was the possible acquisition of REALTOR.com from MOVE by CoStar.

So regardless of what conference you attend, you might want to consider my 4 Step Post-Conference Guide. Professional conferences are an unparalleled opportunity to build your network, get new ideas, deepen connections, get out of your routine, and shake things up.

Yet so many of us fail to act… why?

Because you probably went home with loads of information to digest and a feeling of being overwhelmed. So, plan a post-conference action plan that empowers you. The key to a successful post-conference routine is taking ACTION.

Here are 4 steps to maximize your conference investment:

  1. Network post the event– Don’t forget those connections you made. Close the loop, follow up, and build relationships for referrals, accountability, and more.
  2. Leverage your social channels– How can you communicate your time investment to show potential customers your commitment to excellence and serving them at the highest levels? Make your public posts about serving your customers and potential customers better.
  3. Organize your notes into a checklistfor the items you are committed to act on and share them with an accountability partner, mentor or coach. Do you have a checklist? A checklist not only helps you get more done, but your brain loves them. According to research summarized by best-selling author Maria Konnikova, here are some of the reasons why:
    1. Your mind seeks organization. Lists tap into our preferred way of receiving and organizing information at a subconscious level; from an information-processing standpoint, they often hit our attentional sweet spot.
    2. When we process information, we do so spatially. For instance, it’s hard to memorize through brute force the groceries we need to buy. It’s easier to remember everything if we write it down in bulleted or numbered points.
    3. Your mind wants to categorize. We can’t process information quickly when it’s clustered and undifferentiated (like in standard paragraphs). A list feels more intuitive.
    4. Your mind wants to know how long this will take. The more we know about something—including precisely how much time it will consume—the greater the chance we will commit to it.
    5. List completion is self-reinforcing. We recall with pleasure that we were able to check something off the list. This makes us want to go back to the list for another dopamine hit.
    6. Do your brain a favor and break down what you learned and your action steps into a series of checklists.
  4. Take action NOW! –don’t wait! Nothing good happens when you wait.

So, there you have it, 4 steps to win the post-conference game.

By design or by default
By design vs. by default

Four Factors You Need To Create Any Outcome

Mark Johnson 1 Comment

As a real estate professional or affiliate service provider, do you ever wonder,

“How can I be more outcome focused?”

If the answer is yes, you’ll find value in this post.

The latest numbers show roughly 2 million licensed real estate agents in the United States. That’s about one agent for every 52 households. About 65% of these agents (1.3 million ) choose to be held to a higher standard and join the National Association of REALTORS®.

What’s the difference? That title REALTOR® is essential to know because it separates the professionals from the rest. Becoming a member requires adherence to a strict Code of Ethics and agree to be held accountable by a local board. All agents are agents, yet not all agents are REALTORS®; there is a difference.

As you can imagine, professional real estate sales is a competitive space. Not too long ago, nearly 5.3 million homes sold in the US annually, which means, on average, the typical agent closes three transactions.

‘The secret of getting ahead is getting started’ ~ Mark Twain 

Productivity matters as today’s modern consumers want to be confident that they deal with a full-time professional, not a hobbyist. Productivity matters to the top producing associate as they desire to be surrounded by other high-producing full-time professionals.

Iron sharpens iron is the mindset for peak performance.

There are four factors you need to create any outcome.

  • First is a solid Mindset 
  • Second is a strong Game Plan
  • Third is sales Skills
  • Fourth is a complete set of Tools

Mindset is #1 because, without it, you are paralyzed. You can have the best strategy, yet you will struggle to execute consistently if you are not in a growth mindset.

A solid game plan is second, as all top performers I’ve studied have one. A start-to-finish step-by-step checklist that is simple to follow and execute. Now you may have seen these two great quotes about planning from Dwight Eisenhower, a 5 Star General, and our 34thPresident:

“No plan ever survives the first contact with the enemy,” and “In preparing for battle, I have found that planning is useless, yet planning is indispensable!”

Meaning the skill of being adaptable – quick on your feet – is critical to success in any endeavor.

Skills come in third, as we all need the skills to execute the game plan. One of the four critical skills for the modern sales professional is understanding “why they buy.” Once you have mastered why they buy, your results will skyrocket.

Fourth, what’s in your tool bag? Tools help you uncover and serve buyers, sellers, and investors. Tools can help you automate, eliminate, or delegate critical tasks. Top performers have essential systems for operations –  a CRM, for example – and marketing automation.

Teams. One of the trends in professional real estate sales is teaming up. It’s hard to go solo; even the Lone Ranger had Tonto. Teams outproduce an individual and create a better consumer experience for the client and a better quality of life for the agent. CoRecruit recently released a comprehensive guide covering the six factors to master before you create a team, part of which is covered in the blog to team or not to team.

Some suggest that professional coaching makes a difference in your performance; our survey shows that to be true. Yet, our survey also showed that being an active member of a small weekly accountability group can be just as effective. Those agents that participated in both – coaching and small groups – created exponentially higher earnings.

There you have it, four ways plus a bonus way to be more productive.

  • A solid mindset,
  • A well-thought-out game plan,
  • Persuasive skills,
  • Tools designed for productivity,
  • And teaming up.

“Don’t count the days. Make the days count” ~ Muhammad Ali.

 

Mindset, Game Plan, Skills and Tools
Mindset, Game Plan, Skills, and Tools

It’s Not Necessarily How Hard You Try; Ask Avis

Mark Johnson Leave a comment

It’s not necessarily how hard you try; ask Avis. 

The top 1% know you can spend an inordinate amount of effort inefficiently and gain nothing, and sometimes you can invest less effort more efficiently and gain plenty. 

Choose more often what’s important over what’s urgent. 

The best entrepreneurial drug: momentum. And the hardest part of building momentum is starting. A barrier to starting: the daily whirlwind. 

Start with the “not to do list!”

Why? 

There are few things as pointless as doing something well that shouldn’t be done at all. 

#100DaysOfSuccess 

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

Start With The "Not To Do" List!
Start With The “Not To Do” List!

Persistence Is Difference Than Pressure

Mark Johnson 2 Comments

Persistence is different than pressure! 

The top 1% understand that persistence is much different than pressure and that you must expand your perspective to be persistent. 

One study shows – in a service business – 2% of sales are made on the first contact and 80% of sales between the fifth and twelfth contact. 

Only 25% of “leads or inquiries” ever receive a second contact. 

Persistence is the key to your success. 

In a study specifically related to real estate sales, sales professionals that made three attempts vs. those that made five or more attempts had more than a $100K difference in annual income.

Persistence is easy when you believe in something and your value. 

Pressure is when you just want to make a sale. 

One works, and the other does not. 

 

 

Persistence Is Difference Than Pressure
Persistence Is Difference Than Pressure

The Quantum Leap Strategy

Mark Johnson 2 Comments

Consider this:

  • Today’s smartphone have the same computing power as the whole US government in 1983
  • 3D printing is the only technology where a more complex object doesn’t cost more to make
  • The average lifespan of an S&P 500 company has gone from 67 years to 12 years today
  • Autonomous driving cars will prevent 30,000 road deaths in the US alone

Exponential Growth

Exponential growth does not just apply to technology, large or small firms. Exponential growth applies to you and me.

One of the most influential books I’ve read. The book is just 36 pages long yet is packed with practical insight and action-creating motivation. It’s called “You Squared by Price Pritchett,” an instruction manual for taking a quantum leap in your business and life.

Pritchett states, “we don’t have to be content with incremental, gradual change through applying hard work.  Rather, we are capable of an explosive jump in performance at an accelerated rate, requiring less effort.” How?

Here is a summary:

Quit Trying Harder – Trying harder only produces incremental gains.  A quantum shift is an elegant solution requiring less effort.

Ignore Conventional Approaches – A quantum leap requires an abrupt change in behavior. It requires finesse over effort, simplicity over complexity, a new paradigm, and a fresh perspective.

Think Beyond What Common Sense Would Allow – Quantum leaps require “uncommon sense.” Rethink your thinking.  Violate the boundaries of the probable.

Suspend Disbelief – Act as if your success is for certain and proceed boldly.

Focus On Ends Rather Than Means – Having a clear picture of what you want to accomplish is crucial.  Solutions will appear. Draw the map as you go.

Rely On Unseen Forces – When you focus on the clear picture of what you want to accomplish and move confidently toward it, unexpected and unknown resources materialize.

Choose A Different Set Of Rules – You can never avoid risk; you can only choose which risks you will take.  Risk believing in yourself.

Trust In The Power Of The Pursuit – Dreams begin to crystallize into reality when they are pursued, because the world behaves differently when you go after what you want.

Seek Failure – Unless you are willing to fail, you will never have the opportunity to test the limits of what you can accomplish.

Get Uncomfortable – Quantum leaps jerk you out of your comfort zone.  If you aren’t experiencing discomfort, the risk you are taking probably isn’t worthy of you.

Open Your Gifts – Unused gifts are waiting to play a role in your quantum leap; open them.

Fall In Love – Create a dramatic dream that goes beyond the ‘reasonable,’ and then allow it to become your “magnificent obsession.”

Make Your Move Before You Are Ready – You don’t prepare for a quantum leap; you make it… and then fine-tune it as you go.

Look Inside For The Opportunity – Everything else that’s needed comes from inside you, not from anything outside you.

If you take the leap, consider what area of your business is holding you back.

Maybe it’s hiring an assistant, outsourcing that new digital ad campaign you desire but don’t have the skills or time to pursue, or delegating your files to a transaction coordinator? Whatever it is, one or more of the principles Pritchett presents, I suspect, resonates with you, so…  just do it!

Take the leap… and see you and your business take a quantum leap.

#WinTheDay

 

What Story Are You Telling Yourself?

Mark Johnson Leave a comment

Have you ever thought that the person you have the most conversations with is YOU? And if that is the case for you and me, then the next natural question is, “what story are you telling yourself?” 

Various studies suggest we have anywhere from 6,200 up to 60,000 thoughts a day! Not sure who counted them all, but that is a lot of conversations going on in our heads. 

From this, we can conclude that one of the tendencies of the mind is to focus on the negative and ‘play the same songs’ repeatedly. One study suggested that 80% of our thoughts are negative and 95% of them were the same repetitive thoughts as the day before. So why is this, and what can we do about it? 

 

Why is it easier to think negatively?

 

The fact is negative events have a more significant impact on our brains than positive ones. Psychologists refer to this as the negative bias or also called the negativity bias.  Combine this with what psychologists call a confirmation bias, and you have a one-two punch. 

Confirmation bias is the tendency to listen more often to information that conforms with our pre-existing beliefs. Through this bias, people tend to favor information that reinforces the things they already believe. These biases combined have a powerful effect on our behavior, our decisions, and even our relationships.

In the Leahy Study, 2005, from Cornell University, scientists found that 85% of what we worry about never happens, and 15% of the worries did happen. 79% of the subjects discovered that either they could handle the difficulty better than expected or that the problem taught them a lesson worth learning. So, the conclusion? 

 

97% of our worries are baseless and result from an unfounded pessimistic perception.

 

Some ideas to redirect negative thoughts: 

  1. Start with a mindset of “No Judgments.” 
  2. Reframe the story. 
  3. Reframe your expectations.  
  4. Find a healthy distraction. 
  5. Commit to keeping optimistic company. 
  6. Question and rotate the media you choose to consume. 
  7. Start a beginning of the day and end of day gratitude journal 
  8. Connect with a mentor, coach, or trusted advisor 

If we took the time to document all the thoughts that pass through our minds, we could write a book every day.  Yet would that book be one that anyone else wants to read? Create a better story, wrote a better book. The question is: 

 

Who’s in charge you or your thoughts?

#WinTheDay

 

Technology vs. Relationships

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Technology vs. Relationships.
The top 1% approach it differently.

Peter Sheehan, a leading expert on generational change and business performance, wrote about how peak performers use technology yet stay in touch with genuine relationships.

There are over twenty different ways to affirm others, but you can reduce them to just two verbs:

Notice and Verbalize.

What would happen if today:

  • At family gatherings, invite everyone to mention something they admire about another family member.
  • Look for someone making do in disappointing circumstances and affirm their perseverance.
  • When someone helps you change your mind about an issue, affirm their persuasiveness and communication skills.

Success can take many forms, like affirming others through noticing and verbalizing.

#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.

Why Do Most Efforts To Change Fail?

Mark Johnson Leave a comment

Well, that is a bummer of a headline! Read on.

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

~ Leo Tolstoy

According to Harvard professor Dr. John Paul Kotter – and confirmed by my coaching experience – efforts to change fail due to a lack of a STRONG sense of URGENCY. In his book, “A Sense Of Urgency,” Kotter states:

Change efforts most often fail when those desiring to change do not create a high enough sense of urgency to make a challenging leap in a new direction. Urgency and urgency is key. Urgency is the state of mind that creates IMMEDIATE action in your new direction.

Once you have determined your desire, take action. Any action. A small step, a medium step, or a massive step. Taking action and taking more action is the ONE THING we must all learn to cultivate to achieve higher levels of success.

If you believe what you have in mind will make a difference, I just have two questions.

  • What are you waiting for?
  • What’s holding you back?

Whatever it is, push through it today and TAKE ACTION.

Share with someone right now the action step you are committed to taking… and ask them to help hold you accountable.

#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.

 

Top Gun – What The 1% Do Consistently

Mark Johnson Leave a comment

Think about it. In sports –  and all other endeavors – the game is won in the days, weeks, and even months leading up to the actual game, event, or project. The game is won in preparation. Watching films of previous games, memorizing plays, hitting the gym, eating correctly, and even getting enough sleep.

Professional real estate sales are no different.

I spend a lot of time with the top 1% of producers, helping them grow, solving business challenges, and documenting what they do. Curious?

Here are the top six things our top 1% do consistently:

  • They do their research.
  • They’re genuinely interested in and understand others’ personality styles.
  • They’re prepared for anything, especially the objections and most frequently asked questions.
  • They leave their ego in the car.
  • They are a master of managing expectations.
  • They debrief and learn from every situation.

Research

We know from the National Association of REALTORS® that 63% of consumers find real estate professionals through a referral from a friend or a past business relationship. And 68% of consumers choose a real estate professional based on their perceived trustworthiness, experience, and reputation.

Top producers know these numbers and invest their time, energy, and effort into where the business will most likely be generated.

Genuine Interest

What I have observed from top producers to those struggling is glaring. Top producers genuinely care about the relationship, while those struggling care about making a buck.

I’ve used a unique system called B.A.N.K. to pinpoint anyone’s personality in nanoseconds. It’s fun, engaging and helps create rapport.

This high emotional intelligence approach leverages the best assessment tools, high-energy training, and cutting-edge technology to maximize results.

Leave Nothing To Chance

Top performers rehearse or role-play frequently; many do this every day! Here are some tips I picked up:

  • Make a list of every question, concern, or objection your prospect might bring up.
  • Create a list of everything that could go wrong.
  • Develop a transparent, logical, authentic, and persuasive response to every possible question, concern, and objection.
  • Think of how you can get ahead of these circumstances by using stories and anecdotes, case studies and testimonials, statistics and facts.
  • Have your information, ideas, and documentation well organized so you can reference the appropriate notes and materials at any time.

Ego

Gary Vaynerchuk put it well: “When you care more about the other person than you care about hitting your quota – when you make that shift – you go into the Jedi-ness of becoming a great salesperson.”

A professional real estate salesperson with a massive ego can easily mistake refusal for rejection. When you make this mistake, it’s all too easy to take it personally. The truth? Far more people will say no than say yes.

So, how do you deal with this?

The top 1% have learned not to internalize rejection. Top performers exert power over their emotions and know this is a critical skill to master.

Managing Expectations

As a former Chief Executive of a large organization and co-founder of a going concern, I get the problems that others have not solved. And literally, I’ve been tracking these, and guess what – they all have a common root:

Unmatched expectations!

Many things have to happen, often in a specific sequence, before a transaction closes. Do you know what these things are? Do you know where you’re at in the process with each client, prospect, and partner?

  1. Seek to understand what has come before each step
  2. Don’t assume everyone knows what will happen next
  3. Anticipate needs before others
  4. Communicate constantly and clearly
  5. Under-promise and over-deliver

Debrief

Debriefing is a structured learning process designed to evolve plans while they’re being executed continuously. It originated in the military to learn quickly in rapidly changing situations and address mistakes or changes in the field. In fact, I shared this document with my team – glad to be here – after seeing the Blue Angels do a flyover.

In business, debriefing has been widely documented as critical to accelerating projects, innovating novel approaches, and hitting challenging objectives. It also brings a team together, strengthens relationships, and fosters team learning.

Top producers have mastered this concept and execute this discipline more often than others. As such, these high-performing teams are more tight-knit than those who don’t.

The game is won or lost before stepping on the playing field. So, before you play in sales again, do your research, be genuinely interested in others, be prepared for anything, leave your ego in the car and become a master of managing expectations. Finally – just like the Blue Angels – debrief and learn from every situation.

#WinTheDay