According to data from Inman, a significant portion of real estate agents utilize coaches, with close to 90% reporting that their coach contributed to their number of listings, and 80% stating coaching increased their buyer client count. Many agents also reported seeing a 10% increase in their bottom line during their first year with a coach, highlighting the potential positive impact of real estate coaching on business growth.
Knowing this, why wouldn’t you hire a coach to help you increase your productivity and therefore your income, your control over your schedule, and your ability to prioritize effectively?
While the added layer of accountability is the most powerful benefit of hiring a coach, there are quite a few models one might follow, given they are disciplined enough to do so, to coach themselves. Today I’m going to let you take a peek at the man behind the curtain, and give you several tools you can use today to become a better business owner.
Tactic One: Use The Feedback Triangle
As mentioned in a previous post, the fundamental practice of coaching is primarily based on some version of the Feedback Triangle, and most effective coaching conversations will follow, to some degree, this tactic. Regardless if you hit your goal or didn’t, the Feedback Triangle will allow you to target specific areas and opportunities that helped or hindered you.
If you DID NOT hit your goal…
You need to know WHY.
- Did you have a clear understanding of what you were committed to do? If you didn’t, you can stop right there and get to work on setting effective SMART goals. If you DID know what you were getting into, move on to question two.
- Did you have the tools, skills, mindset and/or knowledge to hit your goal? Was there training you were missing? Did you second guess your ability to hit the goal? Did you need to download or learn a program or platform to complete goal? If the answer is no, go back and find out what you need to know and/or change in order to hit your goal. If the answer is yes, move on to question three: the zinger.
- Did you have it in your SCHEDULE? Friends, this is the goal-killer of 90% of our missed shots. If it is not in your calendar, it doesn’t exist. If you find yourself missing the mark on a regular basis, it’s time to sit down and get right with your schedule.
If you DID hit your goal…
You need to know HOW.
Go back through the Feedback Triangle and ask yourself the SAME questions, to find out HOW and WHY you hit your goal so that you can recreate the magic for your next plan.
This triangle is simple enough in explanation (it only took me about five minutes to crank out a design in Canva to illustrate it for you, however it can be complicated to unpack how and why our goals are being met or not met. The hardest part is confronting the beast head-on and making a conscious effort to learn and grow from our experiences.
Tactic Two: Use the “Might As Well’ Technique
Uncover the roadblocks to your activities and reduce them to their fundamental parts so that once a portion of that part is overcome, you might as well keep going. Let me explain. James Clear writes in his book Atomic Habits that one of the most important things you can do to accomplish your goal is to reduce as much resistance as possible. I’ve found myself after swimming several laps negotiating to cut my workout short. Maybe I was tired, maybe the pool was too ‘peopley’, maybe (and this is my most common obstacle at the gym) I was just bored. For me, I’m committed to getting those laps in, and if I erase them I must somehow replace them. The inconvenience of making a separate additional trip to the gym isn’t worth it, nor is the discomfort of having to swim additional laps the next time I’m in the pool to make them up. The angel on my shoulder nearly always wins these arguments, because I tell myself that I’m already here, I’m suited up, I’ve already started, so I might as well complete the rest of the session.
This also works for daily habits like lead generation and followup, or for one-off activities like running to the post office or the grocery store. Identify the primary barriers and resistances and remove them. For instance, if making your calls is tough because you don’t know who to call, add another layer of preparation into your routine to set up your call list so it’s ready for your lead generation time. If your insurmountable task is going to the post office, then stick all of your mail in the front seat of your car so it’s ready to drop the next time you drive by the post office. Identify what parts of grocery shopping are painful for you. Is it the crowds? Consider going late at night or early in the morning. Is it overwhelming? Maybe try shopping online and doing a curbside pickup!
Tactic Three: Be Kind and Gentle With Yourself
It goes without saying, the majority of people go ‘hard’ on themselves. I’m not saying we’re always pulling a Dobby every time something doesn’t go our way, banging our heads against the wall or punching ourselves in the face. Most of us do have a nasty habit of speaking unkindly to ourselves if we make a mistake. I don’t often tell you what to do but this is one of the exceptions: Stop it. Stop it right now. Words matter. Let me say it again: Words matter. To ourselves, to our children, to the people we lead and to the people we serve. Words matter, inside or outside. Words matter because they teach us how to behave, think, and feel. Words matter because they condition our brains in their beautifully neuroplastic ways to become something we might not want them to become. Pessimistic. Ungrateful. Hurtful. Unkind. Defeated. Depressed. No. No no no no no nope no. Knock it off.
It’s a hard habit to break, speaking poorly to ourselves. Let’s reframe by using a language barometer. Ask yourself: would you speak to your best friend in this way? Would you say these things to your parents? The little neighbor kid? The person ringing up your groceries? If the answer to these questions isn’t a vehement yes, then immediately reframe your personal message. Teach yourself how to speak kindly and it’ll get easier and easier. Sometimes I find myself making a mistake that someone I’m currently coaching might have made and it is so powerful to imagine how I’d coach that person through this process rather than flicking myself in the head with my thumb and forefinger.
It Is Never Easy
You’re going to set your goals and you’ll either hit them or you won’t. It’s up to you if you’re going to learn from that or not. Quite frankly, my friend, this is hard work. You’re doing it. Go you!
On the other side of pain, remember, is growth. Isn’t that why we’re all here in the first place?
As always, it is an honor and a privilege to be in business with each an every one of you.
Yours in Success,
Coach Lins
