After 15 successful years,I am contenplating switching from selling IT services and products in the Corporate world and starting down the Real Estate road.

Can anyone tell me what the average "success rate" is for Sr. Level Corp. sales guys who make the leap into real estate sales???

Do they sink or swim?

Thanks for your feedback.

Bump Bump. No takers?

If you have a good sphere of influence you'll have an easier time starting out, so keep in touch with all of your current clients, coworkers, ect.

I will tell you that a lot my clients tell me they choose me to list their homes because I don't seem like a salesperson, that they thought I conveyed my interest in their best interests.

With your background you may want to look at Commercial Real Estate instead of Residential.

I'm not sure anyone keeps such a narrow statistic, but I was in a similar boat when I went into RE about 2 years ago. I was an experienced and above average (but not stellar) salesperson then sales manager selling enterprise telecom services and hardware to small and medium businesses.

My first two years have been pretty amazing in RE. Your main hurdle will be learning how to prospect and/or market to this particular market since you already know how to manage relationships and sell.

I'm forever spoiled and hope to god I never have to work for someone ever again.

I have a few friends who were pretty good sales people at places like Apple, AutoDesk and Media100. They success/failure rate did not seem to be any different than the general public. In my specific example, 3 out of the 4 did not last it past the 18 month mark.

R

2 of the 3 women I got to know and kept in touch with during training 2 years ago recently quit real estate. One of those two didn't surprise me when she quit, but the other one had a successful business before real estate and was extremely sharp with lots of connections and lots of money for marketing. She sold her own home first and then family and friends, and had quite a few sales her first year. The market started to slow and she got discouraged. Her problem: She didn't do any marketing or prospecting while she had the SOI deals in escrow, and then quit instead of looking for clients after they stopped coming to her easily.

My real estate career has been the opposite. I knew very few people when I got my license, and didn't have much of a SOI since I was new to the area. I tried lots of things to find clients (some not so smart or productive), and worked with pretty much anyone I could. My first year was pretty bad in terms of making money. My husband got his license a few months after I did, and we were both full-time with no other income but decided we would make it work. We were both new to the area and like I said, knew very few people. Now I'm glad we just jumped in. Financially it was very tough in the beginning. This year has been really great, even in the "doom and gloom" market here. We've never been busier and are closing lots of deals. We just keep plugging away. I've never loved a career so much, but it is harder than it looks, especially in the beginning, but it can be done!

With the right personality, I think real estate is a great business. My broker once said that this is a low capital entrance business with lots of potentials (inventories all over).

I tried selling lipsticks (Mary Kay) and sucked at it (granted, tried only for about 30days). My personality just didnt fit that product. I cant sell a $20 lipstick, but I can sell a $200K house.

If you never try, you never know. I say, Go for it!

Thank you all for your great feedback.

The Pitchman