Perception is key to success. If you’re having trouble, it might be time to shift your point of view.
January 2014 | By Jason Forrest
Author and speaker Wayne Dyer distilled a great number of scientific observations when he asserted that things change when we change the way we’re looking at them. But he also made an observation that’s important for real estate brokers, believe it or not.
I believe completely in this principle. It’s a belief that permeates my approach to the world—my work, my life, and everything in between. If you’re just taking in information without allowing for a change in behavior based on new information, the whole exercise is useless. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a broker who wants to lead a team (or team member) to grow or an agent looking to have a breakthrough in the coming year. The most effective, longest-lasting way to change behavior is to change the way you see the world. If we can change what people believe, we can change how they behave. Beliefs drive emotions, emotions drive behaviors, and behaviors drive results.
It’s not about working harder, either. It’s about thinking differently. Instead of just addressing behaviors (whether our own or someone else’s), I advocate for coaching, which teaches beliefs and then follows up with experiential training. If the beliefs line up, the behaviors will follow. And with changed behaviors come changed results. I believe in this concept so wholeheartedly that I personally hire coaches to help me where I’m weakest. I know that there’s a reason they’re successful in their specialty areas, and if I can believe what they believe, I can be successful too.
Brokers are in a unique position to improve agents’ lives by influencing the way they think and leading them to see things differently. The most important first step in holding team members accountable is to first demonstrate the beliefs you’re advocating. You can hold your team members accountable for being more than they believe is possible—and, ever important in this business, increasing their earnings— only if you believe in what you’re telling them.
With its many ups and downs, real estate is a tough business! Brokers: If you would rather manage tasks than change lives, this profession probably isn’t for you. Agents: If you would rather make excuses than take the tools of success into your own hands, this profession isn’t going to be satisfying for you. If you don’t care how you get sales, just that you get them, then you should stop reading right now.
If, on the other hand, want to truly make a difference in people’s lives, this profession certainly is for you. If you want to build a career on the principle that what you do matters, then you’re in the right place. Keep fighting to improve yourself and those around you.
What we believe, how we feel, what we think, and how we see ourselves all have more influence over our sales success than anything else. And the coaching we get along the way makes all the difference.
Jason Forrest is a sales trainer; management coach; member of the National Speakers Association’s Million Dollar Speakers Group; and author of three books, including his latest, Leadership Sales Coaching. One of Training magazine's Top Young Trainers of 2012, Jason is an expert at creating high-performance sales cultures through complete training programs. He incorporates experiential learning to increase sales, implement cultural accountability, and transform companies into sales organizations. Learn more at www.forrestpg.com.
