Imagine if a deadly disease hit Earth with a devastation rate anywhere near the failure rate in real estate…
People everywhere would live in complete, utter panic.
EIGHTY-SEVEN percent.
Think about that…
100 will start. 13 will survive!
Sounds intriguing.
Except it’s your livelihood at stake.
Why do nearly nine out of every 10 agents fail and quit the business?
I’ve worked with and studied real estate professionals for a long time, and I’ve identified 10 of the biggest reasons why agents fail. Avoiding these pitfalls will help you join that elusive “Club 13” — the 13 percent of agents who actually survive and succeed in this business.
Let’s go…
1. Interested vs. Committed
Just being interested in your career isn’t enough. When you’re interested, you do things when they’re convenient.
Success in real estate is all about being fully committed, which means doing whatever it takes as long as it takes to achieve your goals.
If you’re not fully committed, it’s time to reassess your career choice.
For more on this topic, watch this previous #TomFerryShow.
2. Not Strategic
Can you explain your market trends easily? Do you truly know your market? What’s selling? What’s not?
To survive in real estate, you need to look at your marketplace from a strategic standpoint.
You must look at the hot sheets every day.
You’ve gotta own that knowledge and become the knowledge broker in your market.
It’s not enough to simply like houses and enjoy working with people.
Take a step back, analyze your market and make sure you know it, and you know your place in it.
For more on this topic, watch this video.
3. Fear of Mistakes & the Desire to Look Good
There’s a lot of vanity in real estate, which can lead to people shying away from anything that might paint them in unflattering light.
But you can’t be afraid to make mistakes.
Mistakes are how wisdom is gained.
Accept that it’s okay to make mistakes.
Try new things, see what works, learn from what doesn’t, and always keep moving forward.
The more mistakes you make, the more you’ll bridge that gap between knowing and not knowing.
4. No (or Wrong) Role Model
Having someone to look up to, to aspire to, to model your behaviors on is a hugely critical step to help you reach that “next level” in real estate.
Far too many agents have no role model for their business.
Or they have the wrong one.
To accelerate your ascent in this business, find someone who is successful in both life and business and model your behaviors on theirs.
For more on this topic, watch this.
5. Your Gas Station is Only Open One Day a Week for an Hour
As a real estate agent, your No. 1 priority is attracting customers.
It’s not a part-time pursuit.
Far too many agents do just a little bit of marketing once a week and hope for the best.
Lead generation and lead conversion need to be your primary focus.
If there was a way to teach every new agent this philosophy and force them to live up to it, that 87% failure rate would decrease dramatically.
Focus on the Core 4: (Click on each topic for more info)