Posts Tagged ‘recession’
Recession? What Recession?!
Monday, September 14th, 2009Just finished having one of my eTEAM meetings and came away thinking that there is something VERY wrong with this industry. How is it that some sales associates in the hardest hit parts of North America are awash in business, when the vast majority of others, in much better markets, are literally hanging on for dear life?
For example, Lee and Noel Bittinger (long time students of mine and now part of my ULTRA eTEAM) work in the Canton, Michigan area. In case you were wondering, that is a suburb of Detroit —you know, the place where the U.S. car industry imploded and is currently experiencing a 19% unemployment rate (near Great Depression levels). YET, they shared during today’s eTEAM meeting that they have so many online leads that their buyer agents can’t keep up
—go figure.
Then there’s Chris Coveny of Ottawa, Canada. His situation is a bit different and in a much better economy than the Bittinger’s. However, prior to implementing the Critical First Response email script (required by all eTEAM members to use), he was finding very few online leads bothered to return initial replies from his staff. Today he reported that in just over 10 days, his secondary responses to this proven email script has exploded to about 80% of every lead that comes in!
So what gives? How is it these folks thrive when so many others are flailing and floundering? In working directly with these two (and many others that share the same qualities) I can say that it is simply the fact that they see real estate sales as a business, not a job. A huge distinction that results in incredible differences in bottom line and quality of life. Now here’s the best part of all —no one but you has the power to prevent you from treating real estate sales as a true business. So what’s it going to be?…
No Doubts About Success
Friday, April 17th, 2009
Do you ever doubt what you are doing? You know, that especially nagging feeling that says “I wonder if this is going to work…” Not very empowering, is it? Doubt is the disk brake to our success.
Most people allow doubt to slow them down because underneath that doubt is a fear of disappointment. We are afraid that things won’t turn out according to our expectations. Bummer.
Part of the very fabric of our Western culture is to avoid disappointment at all costs. And if we are, God help us (and anyone who happens to be within earshot), it just ruins our day, week or maybe even our life!!
Now let me share a secret that I personally had to learn the hard way. Disappointment is just a feeling. It has no real substance, no power, no nothing over you. When you feel it, step aside and “look” at it and say “Hmm, there’s that darn disappointment again, isn’t that interesting!” And like a diaphanous vapor, it just dissolves away leaving you quite the same as you were before…
The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.
Robert Kiyosaki
If you can let go of disappointment , you can do the same with doubt. The uncertainty of today’s world gives us plenty reason to doubt our actions and our future. Now imagine going through any kind of market where you shooed away your doubts and fears as you would a pesky fly. You have the power to do this right now. It’s quite easy actually, just be clear about where it is you want to go and then move forward without letting your fears and doubts slow you down.
Speaking of doubts, sometimes it is better to be absolutely clueless about how “bad” things are. Just read an article about how the unemployment rate in California (11.2% as of March ’09) is the highest since 1976. What surprised me about this article is that until now, I didn’t realize that there even was a recession in 1976! You see, it was April of 1976 that I started my real estate sales career, in sleepy old Santa Barbara, CA. I didn’t know that the economy was hurting –I was having way to much fun making more money than I ever thought I could (legally) listing and selling FSBOs. My mother had a common expression for this: “Ignorance is bliss.” (she was speaking of my Dad at the time 
). I guess sometimes it really is )
