Who is Your Mentor?

It is the end of September, and you have three months left until yearend. What you do now will determine the type of holidays you have with your family. It is important we keep our eye on the ball and press on for the next few months.

September is normally when we look at where we are compared to where we want to be by yearend. This is when many of us realize we are not going to reach our income goal this year. With this heightened awareness, what appears to be the obvious solution for some agents is to start cutting expenses.  Cost containment is never a strategy to increase your revenue. You are working from a point of scarcity rather than abundance. We often cut costs thinking our strategies aren’t working when it was US not working them over the summer. The strategies work, we didn’t.

If you are having revenue challenges, let me be clear, it is not because of the market!

• Interest rates are exceptional
• Employment rates are excellent
• The economy is getting back on solid ground
• Inventory is low, but overall, it is a great time to be selling houses.

It is easy to ignore something or retreat. It takes courage to take an offensive position. Making changes in your business can often feel like you are throwing darts in the dark. This is where having a great coach or mentor is so valuable. They can help you apply proven, tactical activities to get the results you want. Without a coach, you’re left stumbling around on your own.

In the past, your manager would have fulfilled the role of mentor, coach, and trusted advisor. Management was really a partner in your business. Today, many managers have difficulty fulfilling this role for several reasons:

• During the pandemic, agents have been working from home and they don’t come into the office to see their manager.
• Because agents are getting higher commission splits than ever before, managers need to increase the size of their salesforce to maintain profits, leaving less time for coaching.
• The restrictions placed on managers due to the independent contractor agreement means they cannot require agents to do specific tasks which would contribute to their success.

In the past couple of weeks, I have had three brokers from different companies call me to ask for help with rebuilding the culture in their offices. With so many agents not coming into the office these days, it is difficult to stay connected and build camaraderie between the agents. Newer agents used to learn how to be successful by watching the experienced agents in action. That doesn’t happen anymore.

If your manager is not your coach, and the experienced agents are not your mentors, what should you do? Many agents are turning to outside coaching companies to get the answers they are looking for. If this sounds like you, Leader’s Edge Training has an elite group of exceptional coaches, all with different skills and experience.

What should a good coach do for you?

• They are your emotional cheerleader
  In commission sales we face a lot of rejection which can be debilitating. We need someone who is in our corner, who understands the business and can pick us up emotionally when we’ve fallen. If a deal falls apart, it can derail us for days, sometimes weeks, but a good coach will get you back on your feet, and get you excited about the opportunities still in front of you.
• They take a holistic look at your business
  In our 1:1 coaching program we put agents through an extensive assessment, so we intimately understand your strengths and weaknesses in every part of your business. A good coach will focus on the highest priority items that need to be fixed first, allowing you to see quick results. Being an entrepreneur isn’t easy. There are so many moving parts: marketing, prospecting, finances, customer service, presentation skills, research, organization, time management, communication skills, technology, systems, etc. Without an outsider helping you look at the entire picture, you can easily get overwhelmed.
• They give you tactical strategies to increase your income
  A coach will help you define the best strategies for prospecting and marketing to fill your pipeline. They will help you build your brand and become a recognized name in your local community. When you hire a good coach, assuming you do what they tell you to do, the increased revenue will far outweigh what you invest in coaching. The secret is…you actually have to DO THE WORK. Coaching is not a magic pill. A coach will raise your awareness and point you in the right direction, but in the end, you must do the work.

Many of our coaching clients, the ones who are serious about their business, find coaching invaluable. Their income increases, they have more time off, they have organized offices, better client service, and they enjoy their work more. They feel like they have a partner in their business. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, you just have work with someone who has been there, done it, and has achieved success. Don’t spend your time trying to research what works when someone already has the answers.

If you want to learn more about what Leader’s Edge Coaching can do for your business, check out https://leadersedgetraining.com/agent-coaching/.

Chris Leader
President
Leader’s Edge Training