If you went out of business today, would anyone care or even remember you a year from now? The reality is, for most of you, that answer is “no”, even if it is hard to admit.
Let’s be honest, there are tons of other real estate agents your prospects and clients can use instead of you and get the results that matter most to them.
That is part of what makes your job as a real estate agent so damn hard.
The competition is seriously stacked against you.
There are so many qualities and skills that you need in order to make it to the top tier of real estate agents and achieve the success that you dream of.
Unless you are some kind of freaky super-human, my guess is that you possess many of those qualities & skills, but you also lack some of them.
That’s cool. Nothing wrong with having weaknesses along with your strengths.
Being able to admit where you are weak and having the confidence to invest in your strengths is essential to being successful in business and in life.
But in order to help you do that, you are going to need a coach that can mentor, support, and guide you along the way.
The question is how do you hire a real estate coach to be that mentor, that shoulder to cry on, that cheerleader, to see you through?
As a real estate content marketing coach, I come across a shocking amount of people that offer real estate coaching services. In my experience, I believe that there are four key qualities that a coach absolutely MUST HAVE to be worth investing time and money into.
Here they are...
1. Proven Results
Let’s be honest, anyone can call themselves a coach.
Hell, the other day I ran a random search in LinkedIn (are we connected yet?) for real estate coaches and you wouldn’t believe the number of results that popped up just in my network.
However, just because someone says that they can coach you about something, does not mean that they can do so effectively.
Not to mention the fact that even effective coaches are not universally meant for everyone.
You need to find a real estate coach that has experience, proven results, and will be a “good fit” for you.
It is important that you find a coach that is willing to work around you as an individual. You have individual strengths and weaknesses and you need a coach that is willing to customize your coaching program around those.
Do not pay anyone that is going to try and mold you to their program instead of molding their program to you.
The last thing you want is a real estate coach that will be trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
Unfortunately, there is no way you can be 100% positive that a coach will be “right for you” but there are a few things that you can do to make sure you are hiring a coach of quality.
Here are a few important steps I recommend that you take before hiring any coach:
Do your research! Do they have any reviews online?
Find out what their past results have been.
Interview each potential coach.
Check out their website and social media accounts to learn more about them.
I also suggest that if you are going to be comparing different coaches that you come up with a method of comparing them.
My list of 10 Real Estate Coach Interview Questions [FREE download] is an easy, breezy way to do this.
2. Availability
Having a coach that is actually there for you when you need them can really go a long way!
It is important when you are interviewing a potential coach that you find out exactly what kind of access you will be able to have with them throughout your time working together.
Keep in mind that when you are being coached on things that are technical, rather than emotional, it is quite common that you will come across roadblocks and obstacles while working on your own.
When this happens, it is important that you have the ability to get in touch with your coach or a member of their team for support and guidance about how to overcome the obstacle in your way.
For example, I am often coaching my clients on very technical web and social media practices that frequently raise a TON of questions.
Get a free coaching consultation from Sarah
Therefore, I make it a point to be available and accessible to my clients as much as I can on an average of 16-18 hours a day, 7 days a week.
I have so much respect for the fact that they are trusting me with their career and the fact that they are actively investing their money in me, that I feel compelled to make myself as accessible to them as possible.
Keep in mind though that this level of access is not common among most real estate coaches because it is simply not possible for them to execute.
I deliberately keep my client list limited and require my clients to “apply” to work with me so that I am in total control of being able to stay on top of each one of them, as well as, making sure that I am there for them when they need me.
Just be sure that when you are interviewing your potential real estate coach that you are crystal clear about:
How much contact you will have with them
What days and times you will be able to get in touch for support
Will there be any extra charges for additional calls and messaging?
3. Complementary Strengths
I know that I said this earlier, but I am going to repeat myself because I truly believe that this is THAT important for you to take away; find a coach that is a good fit for you.
Your real estate coach is your mentor.
They are someone that you need to be able to respect, admire, and look up to.
They need to be able to inspire you, motivate you, and call you out when you’re fucking up.
But most importantly, they need to be able to do it in a way that will actually resonate with you!
For example, I swear. A lot.
I joke that it is the New Yorker in me, but the truth is it is just what comes natural to me when I speak. For some people, my F-bombs are so offensive, they can’t absorb the message behind what I’m saying. Those are people that would not be a good client “match” for me, nor I for them.
You need to be able to speak openly and honestly with your real estate coach about your strengths and weaknesses so they can help you to develop and exploit them effectively.
The reality is that we as humans, struggle to get past personality clashes when we are trying to learn from one another.
Imagine if you were an atheist looking for inspirational and motivational coaching. You wouldn’t hire a priest or religious leader to inspire you because they would constantly be referencing God and religion, and in turn crushing your ability to trust and believe in their guidance. Your core personalities and beliefs would be too far apart for you to be effective as partners in your growth.
At the end of the day, a partner in your growth is the root of what you are searching for in a coach.
4. Accountability
One of the biggest things that many real estate agents struggle with is accountability.
For many of you, this is your first time being out on your own as a business owner without a boss.
While that can be a euphoric feeling if you crave and love the freedom, it can also be a terrifying one if you lack a lot of self-discipline.
This is where having a real estate coach on your side can become extremely valuable.
I can’t tell you how many agents I come across that have everything it takes to become one the best agent in their market, except they lack accountability; which means they will end up just being average and forgettable like most agents.
Do you want to be average?
Do you get out of bed every morning to be forgettable?
I know I sure as hell don’t - and neither do my clients for that matter.
The biggest difference between the agents that become top-producers and the other 99% is that those top-producers have a person and/or a system in place to keep them accountable for their goals and their results.
Do you ever find yourself sitting around or lying awake at night thinking about the things you could be doing or the things you said you were going to do?
Be honest - do you?
If you are doing that even just a couple of times a month, I guarantee you that you are leaving a ton of money on the table!
With every prospect you fail to follow-up with, every contact you don’t touch, every blog article you don’t write, you are falling behind your competition and screwing yourself out of money.
Even still, the knowledge of that reality is not enough to motivate most real estate agents to be accountable, which is why the ones that are serious hire a real estate coach to hold them accountable.
Click to get your copy of interview questions!
Every coach has their own philosophy and style of holding their clients accountable, and there are even some that don’t believe in doing it at all.
If you believe that you are even slightly at risk of being left behind, being average, being forgotten, then a real estate coach with the ability to hold you accountable is exactly what you need.
Call to Action
Surely, you are not still reading at this point if you have no interest or intention of hiring a real estate coach to help you take your business to the next level.
I mean, I know my articles are just delightful to read and all but, I’m not THAT entertaining.
So, since you are still here, I am going to assume that you are in need of some help with one or more areas of your real estate business.
With that assumption I am going to tell you to think about what I just said in that last section about lying around and thinking about doing things rather than doing them.
STOP fucking thinking about hiring a real estate coach and just hire one.
Stop debating the expense - it is an investment in you and your future.
Stop binge-watching Netflix and fantasizing about success - do something to attain it.
Extraordinary results are not exclusive to extraordinary people. They are exclusive to those that are willing to do extraordinary things.
If you want results you have to be willing to do what it takes to get them.
Not next fucking year.
Not next fucking week.
Not later today.
Invest in your success and hire a real estate coach right now.
