Based on my observations, here are the top ten reasons why most brokers seem to fail in their first year.

1) They take things personal. Whether it be a buyer or seller doing a deal behind their back, or another broker stealing their business under their nose, they take it personal and then go down the wrong path to self destruction. At the end of the day it's just another deal, nothing more, nothing less.

2) New brokers don't make a business plan, and if they do, they don't reflect back on the plan and constantly tweak it to improve performance. Without a plan to grow their business they are effectively treading water until they run out of energy.

3) They find (borderline) unethical ways to make "easy money" and eventually get caught. Too many to name here, but seasoned brokers know exactly what I am talking about.

4) They don't stick to a system, consistently refining it to generate more sales. Related to #2 above, but much more specialized in that everybody needs a niche. Your system should be your niche, you do it better (or working your way towards) than any other broker out there.

5) New agents don't realize the critical importance of teaming up with ancillary professionals -- mortgage brokers, title and escrow officers, builders and subcontractors, to generate cross referrals.

6) Many agents can't give it their full 100%. Without a time clock to punch or a boss telling them what to do, they get lazy, sleep in, take too many days off, slack off on fine tuning their SYSTEM, etc. and eventually give in.

7) Newcomers fail to recognize that it takes time to get that first deal done, sometimes even a full year (worst case scenario). However, it really takes off right around deal number ten which can take two or more years to reach..

8) Buyers and sellers can detect acts of desperation and quickly get turned off.

9) New agents often interject their own opinions which more often than not kill a deal.

and my favorite..

10) The greenhorn thinks he needs to speak more than listen to his clients. The only time a novice should be speaking is when he is asking questions of his client. Strategic questions can effectively give you control while learning precisely what your clients value or prioritize. This information in turn helps guide a realtor into providing a better value proposition, which culminates in a sale. The bigger the deal the more the questions...

I've actually heard that ~95% of all new brokers fail the war attrition before the end of their third year. And of the 5% that survive, about 20% (or 1% of all brokers) generate over 80% of the total business. The rest just manage to get by month to month or work part-time.

Brightlight,


Informative post, always good to learn new things.

Great thoughts, probably would've been even better in the "Aspiring Agents" section for all us newbies

Great Post.

I think when new agents can learn they have to try to generate leads everyday, it becomes much easier. If they could do just one thing to move their business forward each day, within 30 days they would have quite a bit to work with.

Lead generation has to be kept top of mind. Without that constant stream of steady leads, we are forced to work with anyone and everyone rather than picking and choosing the opportunities that we want to work with.

best

Marty

I would think the new brokers would be the hardest working people out there and definitely not slacking and sleeping in during their first year. At least that's not how I would run things if I was a broker and looking to make a name for my new company.

Great post. I had to print it and put in my RE folder.
Thanks for your insight!

So when you made these observations, did you learn the difference between a broker and a salesperson. Is a misleading title to a post a sign of an unscrupulous or deceptive person, could be.

I will add that everything takes twice as much time and 50% more money than you think it will.

This is my favorite, clear and to the point.

I used to be a recruiter and lead generation is always key. Keep your funnel full and it will constantly drop golden nuggets. But never stop recruiting and Always Be Closing (ABC).

Absolutely true, prospecting and lead generating are critical to survival during that first year. It always seems to be the case that when one is at their hungriest point, and I mean STARVING, that they seem to find a creative new way to promote their business. For me that was a combination of readvertising other brokers' listings (with approval, of course) with a marketing technique that was truly a cut above the competition. I didn't have many of my own listings in those early days, but I did have the skill and proprietary software to persuade other brokers to let me reposition their properties web presence. Their listings then generated leads which I had to work on converting to get deals done. Every lead has potential; its learning which to prioritize while consistently refining your unique value proposition that generates the cash flow to perpetuate your business.