A Career in Real Estate… How Hard Could It Be? The Qualities of a Successful Real Estate Broker
Posted on: May 24, 2007
Photo by Sarah Harmon of
Hood Photography
Click here to read my previous post: The Difficulties of Selling Real Estate
How about the positives? Who is the most likely to thrive in real estate sales?
One thing that I have noted is that the people who do the best seem to really enjoy the sales cycle. They are exhilarated by being in front of buyers and sellers. Competition excites them and they actually like people! I know this may seem trite, but there are entirely too many licensees out there who don’t seem to like people at all. To be fair, they may have thought that they liked people before they got in the business, but the “no’s” got to them (go back to paragraph 6 in my previous post). In sales, genuinely enjoying personal interaction is a huge plus.
New brokers who have some financial backing have a much higher success ratio. I have heard that a broker should have 6 months expense money in reserve prior to leaving a more stable situation, i.e. a regular paycheck. Six months seems a little long to me, but there’s no doubt that a lack of resources can be a challenge. Successful salespeople place their client’s interests in front of their own. Buyers and sellers do not want to feel that their broker is more interested in a paycheck than providing the highest level of service. The best salespeople I have met adopt an attitude of nonchalance. It’s as though they could care if they ever get paid! This is subtly reassuring to clients, and helps to build a good referral base.
I have saved the most important consideration for last. It is my professional opinion that the greatest attribute successful salespeople exhibit in this profession is self-discipline. Without the discipline to get up early each morning and head into work to do the things that need to be done to generate new business, a broker’s new career will be unproductive, at best. The problem with real estate sales is the very reason so many want in: freedom. We want to be our own bosses, to set our own schedules, to captain our own ships. Unfortunately, freedom is a two edged sword. Human nature is to take the path of least resistance. Without discipline, many salespeople drift away from consistent prospecting. Prospecting in sales is like planting seeds to a farmer. It’s hard work and the reward is often a long way down the road. Undisciplined real estate salespeople gravitate towards less productive and lower risk behavior. They delude themselves into thinking that activity equals productivity. It’s easy to keep busy. You can attend a lot of luncheons, training sessions, and property tours, none of which will put a dollar in your pocket. In fact, in most instances these activities cost money! Great brokers understand planting and harvesting. Without the discipline to prospect consistently and effectively every workday, the rewards will be minimal if any at all.
I would be remiss without adding a word about training. Effective training is important, and can accelerate a career into monetary rewards. There are few firms that do not tout their training programs. Many new brokers fall into the trap of thinking the longer the training program, the more successful they will become. I believe that lengthy classroom training can actually insulate a new broker from the outside world where the paying customers are. I am a firm believer in “on the job training.” By “OJT,” I am not referring to the practice of shadowing another broker who may or may not be successful, and who is then entitled to a share of your commissions. I am talking about structured class time in the morning and afternoons spent in the field generating income. I have noted that experiences coupled with training have a much greater retention rate. Also, the instructor should be an accomplished producer. It surprises me how many instructors have so little experience selling. Often, this is why they are instructors as opposed to salespeople. The side benefit of this program is a newer broker can get paid that much sooner.
In closing, I will share with you a personal experience from the day I started on the job. Thirty years ago, my first broker told me something that I will never forget. He said, “Son, real estate sales is the highest paying hard work or the lowest paying easy work in the world.” How true these words turned out to be! Work hard and prosper.
I would appreciate your thoughts on this article. Also, if you have been considering a career in residential real estate sales, please feel free to contact me. I am actively recruiting and training brokers to work with the fastest growing real estate franchise in the world, EXIT Realty International.
Article written by Don McCredie, G.R.I., CRS, is the owner of portlandrealestate.com. He is a Life Member of the Million Dollar Club and a past REALTOR of the Year for the Portland Metropolitan Association of REALTORS. Currently, he serves as the Broker/Owner of EXIT Acclaim Realty, and can be reached at 1-800-203-9898.