Email Elizabethtips for success in real estate
Success Comes by Focusing on the Client, Not Commissions
Success comes by focusing on the client, 100% of the time for this Sacramento Realtor.
When agents ask this Sacramento Realtor for advice and I give it to them — like success comes by focusing on the client not on your bank account — they often come back with a bunch of reasons as to why they can’t follow my advice. It usually starts by pointing out they are not me, they are a different person. If they didn’t figure that out at the inception of our conversation, I can see where they are having difficulties because, like it or not, we are all different people. How much fun would it be if we were all alike, like Donald Trump, for example? Would you want to see a bunch of Donald Trumps running loose in the street, no, you would not. In fact, that would be called a nightmare of enormous proportions.
When agents start out in real estate, they know success comes by focusing on the client, but they can find it very difficult to conduct business that way. There are often financial pressures. It takes a while to learn the business, find a client and get into escrow. At that point, it can become an internal struggle, even among the most ethical and honest agents. They might feel torn between doing the right thing or making sure the escrow closes so they can get paid.
It might not even be a conscious thing. I’m not saying agents are evil and only thinking about themselves, far from it. It’s human nature. Agents need to make a living. Pay a mortgage, make a car payment, maybe support a family. They can’t do that if every transaction cancels, blows up or falls apart. It can be agony. Some agents decide they can’t be in sales due to these types of conflicts the business can present, so they go back to safety of the 9 to 5 grind.
I decided early in my career that I did not want to face conflicts like that. I did not want find myself in the position of being forced to choose between putting bread on the table or doing a good job for my clients. The only way I found to get around that dilemma was to make sure if a client expressed a desire to cancel a contract, for example, because it was best for the client, that I would acquiesce without trying to talk them out of it. Because I am not motivated by money and I never want to be. I purposely made that leap to believing that success comes by focusing on the client.
It was a leap because I harbored initial hesitation. Well, you just have to get over that. With great conviction, I soldiered forward, repeating that mantra over and over: success comes by focusing on the client. It became true for me. My reality. I shot my sales into the stratosphere. And the best part is I feel good about the service I provide and derive great joy by hearing how happy my clients are with my performance. There is never a doubt in their minds whose best interests I serve. And if that isn’t a good enough reason to turn around a real estate practice to really serve your clients, I don’t know what is.
Should You Go Into Real Estate?
People often imagine great wealth for those who go into real estate, and it rarely happens.
If you’re wondering if you should go into real estate, especially because it seems so easy to do and the rewards are so high, stop it. Reconsider. Those are not reasons to go into real estate. I have been in the real estate business since the 1970s and, if I had known the odds against my success back then, I might not have done it. You might say to yourself, well, hey, she is a top producer Sacramento Realtor who made it big by being clueless . . . but it doesn’t mean that you will, so don’t even go there with that train of thought.
First realize that at least 80% of the people who go into real estate to become an agent don’t actually make it. By “make it,” I don’t mean turning yourself into a megastar real estate agent; I am referring to earning a good living, enough to pay your mortgage or rent, support a family, put food on the table, buy a car, take a vacation, and make ends meet every month. The carrot is there every month. It’s within reach and that’s what keeps some people moving forward.
On the other hand, you might think that positive thinking will get you there. It won’t. You can hang up all the positive affirmations you want on your bedroom mirror, and it will be just words staring you in the face. What the positive thinking seminar gurus don’t say as they pocket your money: you’ve either got it or you don’t. You can’t learn how to be positive. You can learn how to accept failure and defeat, though. If you go into real estate, failure and defeat will be your two best friends at some interval.
When I was lured in the 1970s to go into real estate, I received training by some of the best, mentors who are long dead now. I absorbed what they taught me, manipulated it to fit my personality, and somehow persevered. It takes self motivation. Real estate is completely consuming. It is my passion. It might eat you alive. I surround myself with smarter people, including my Weintraub Team members, who exhibit exceptional commitment and routinely perform. They paid the price. And don’t you let anybody tell you there is no price. There is a price.
The Price of Success If You Go Into Real Estate
Other drawbacks: Clients call at all hours and expect immediate replies. If anything goes south, it’s your fault, even if it’s not. You go to sleep thinking about real estate and you wake up thinking about real estate. Real estate school and passing the exam teaches you almost nothing that you need to go into real estate. You sometimes forget to eat lunch. You don’t have time for your friends. Your family rarely sees you anymore. Pretty soon, superficial wounds don’t require Band-Aids because they’ll heal on their own, eventually. You are glued to your computer and cellphone.
Last week I mentioned my theory to other agents in my office that only misfits and oddballs go into real estate and make it. People who can’t really fit into any other kind of work. Successful Sacramento Realtors are not what you would call normal nor ordinary people. My personal recipe for success is extreme focus and sincere dedication to the client. I derive great satisfaction in knowing I have performed above and beyond a client’s expectations. If you can overcome the negatives, you just might make it if you go in real estate.
I’ve been working in real estate for more than 40 years and cannot envision myself in any other line of work. I absolutely love this crazy life. If you need a Sacramento Realtor, please call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
