Life-Defining Moments
Jun 27, 2009 Real Estate Properties
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When I first got my real estate license, I went to work for a small brokerage not far from my home. Our little office was made up of my broker, who was a great salesman; an administrative assistant; and supposedly another agent. I never saw him, and he never sold any homes, but he was rumored to have his license with our brokerage.
My broker also owned a printing business. His real estate company shared office space in his printing business. There was no sign on the door for the real estate company. In addition, he didn’t have his real estate business listed in the phone book. In addition, my broker wasn’t a fan of marketing. His entire business was built around referrals.
During my years there, he never ran a lead generation advertisement. He never sent a client newsletter. In fact, he never promoted the business to the public. He simply waited for referrals to come in from past clients, friends and a vast network of business owners. I believe this broker meets the definition of “old school.”
His setup was similar to most agents because he handled the listings and gave his buyer referrals to me. I improved my skills and became very good at helping buyers find and buy their homes.
Everything was going fine until…
One morning, my broker stopped into the office and said “Cancel any meetings you have today and go get your golf clubs.” We left the office and played 18 holes. As usual, we had a few beers as wel played. He was an excellent golfer and always beat me by plenty. I didn’t care because golf really never meant that much to me.
When we finished golfing, it was still pretty early, so we went off to the bar. This bar had an outdoor boccie court, and as we continued drinking, we soon got into some competitive boccie games. I beat him the first game, and when he challenged me to another, I beat him again. I couldn’t believe it, and he got a little irritated because he hated to lose, especially to me.
I started trash-talking a little, finally beating him at something. Then the alcohol must have kicked in, because he said this to me:
“Who changes your kitty litter?”
This changed my life forever, one sentence becoming a life-defining moment for me. This broker was telling me that he was responsible for all my sales and commissions, since he provided me with buyer referrals. And he was right. I was 100-percent dependent on him.
But I was ticked off, to say the least. I vowed then to start my own company and show him that I didn’t need anyone to change my kitty litter.
I immediately started looking for my own office. I found an ugly old office and rented it at $425 a month. I had a meeting with him and re-negotiated my commissions to a higher commission split because I would no longer accept his referrals and I would no longer use his office, supplies or administrative assistant. I was going to change my own kitty litter!
I began to study marketing and slowly but surely began selling homes on my own. Within a few short months, I finished the required classes to obtain my brokers license and started my own real estate brokerage.
Fast forward…
I would go on to sell my real estate business when we were selling an average of 30 homes a month. This was the approximate number of homes my old broker might sell in a year. By the time I sold it, my company won an award for being among the fastest-growing companies in Northeast Ohio — the fourth-fastest in fact. I believe I proved that I didn’t need my former broker’s referrals and that I could build my own business.
Looking back, I now realize how important this “Kitty Litter” comment was for my personal development. It forced me to go out on my own and make things happen all by myself. Had he not said this to me, I probably would have continued working his buyer referrals. Who knows where I would be today. I’d probably still be working in a spare desk somewhere in his printing office. Or more than likely, I would be out of business because his business model wasn’t sustainable.
I now believe that we all have “life-defining” moments such as the one I described. In fact, we can all probably call the recent real estate crash a life-defining moment for us. These moments are critical to our success because they force us to do things we might not have done otherwise. My desire for success, to “beat’ my broker and prove myself, forced me out of my comfort zone and made me do things I had never done before.
Pertaining to this recent market crash, some experts are saying we probably have hit our bottom. This is where you now get to decide how you are going to handle your life-defining moment. If you have survived this crash, you are working your business with a clean slate now. The market is at or near the bottom and will improve going forward.
So will you get out of that comfort zone and do what it takes?
Will you prove to the world that you can build an amazing business?
I hope you answered “Yes.”
I wouldn’t want to see someone else changing your kittly litter for you.
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