Troubles with Realtor motivation? Use these techniques to tap into real estate agent motivation by keeping them focused on the activities they need to perform to succeed.
On today’s podcast, I am going to help you with Realtor motivation. Specifically, tips, techniques, and scripts to help you motivate your agents and focus them on the activities they must perform in order to succeed.
Ultimately, this is your role as someone in a leadership position in the real estate industry. This is usually the challenge that faces team leaders or brokerage owners. Your job is to keep real estate agents focused on the activities! Motivation isn’t always easy, but it is the key to getting agents on the right track.
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VIDEO: Realtor Motivation – How to Help Agents Focus
Realtor motivation when lateral moves are easier
These concepts that we will cover today also apply to real estate agents themselves. Solo agents who aren’t on a team or at a brokerage need to find a way to motivate themselves to do the necessary activities for growth and success.
Whether you’re the real estate agent, the team leader, or the brokerage owner, at some point in time you will be on the struggle bus. This is when you are looking around for something to motivate you to keep going. You are looking for external things, rather than internal things, because that’s easier to solve the problem.
This is when you see lateral moves happen. It’s happened a lot lately. With the interest rates going up and the market slowing down, many agents are trying to find the magic pill.
Rather than focus on what you must do (internally) to grow, it is easier to look externally at how you can change your environment. These are lateral moves. Not all lateral moves are bad … that’s not what I’m saying. But, it’s important to do an internal check first, to see if you are doing all the activities you should be doing before making an external switch.
When the grass is always greener
I refer to the Winter of 2022-2023 as “The Great Migration.” Agents moved out of the business. Agents left their teams or brokerages to go solo. Many agents also joined new teams or brokerages, or switched offices. Lots of career moves, all over the place. Realtor motivation to do the essential activities has been at an all time low.
This is reactive. Agents reacting to changes in the market by switching things up for themselves, thinking that may solve all of their problems. You aren’t actually pivoting by doing this. You’re making these lateral moves and then you need to publicly justify your moves.
You must be wary of constantly jumping around looking for things that will make you happy. The grass is green where you water it. Internally, what are you doing?
Lateral moves provide you with busy work to keep you moving when business is slow. It is distracting and an illusion of change. Typically, you weren’t doing the activities you needed to do in the first place to get more business. The same struggles you were facing before you made your lateral move will still exist after your move.
You must be wary of constantly jumping around looking for things that will make you happy. The grass is green where you water it. Internally, what are you doing?
Brian Icenhower
Realtor motivation: build bridges first
What I would like to see you do instead of making lateral moves is to turn internally and focus on your activities first.
Once you strengthen the core of your business, you can then move, or add on to your business. Make your big changes once you have built a structurally sound business. Then, you can pivot and build a bridge to add a new pillar of income. This is a healthy way to evolve and grow.
Don’t blow up the bridge behind you. Build it up before you move on to the next idea.
A concept I like to talk about is “responding vs reacting.”
Responding is more of a thoughtful process where you contemplate pros and cons. When you respond, you do an internal check-in. Am I doing everything I can to succeed in the situation I’m already in?
Reacting is all about fleeing from pain. I’m struggling, and I just need to get away from it. It’s more reactive and emotional, done out of haste, anger, and a scarcity mindset.
Good business people are responsive. They look at all the data and they make sure they are doing their part before making any changes. Good business people know that they will take the problem with them if all they do is move on before looking internally.
There are no magic pills floating around out there. Typically, all the tough activities in the real estate industry are the ones that you must do in order to grow. Growth is hard. Everyone wants to grow, but not everyone wants to do the hard activities that are necessary.
Good business people know that they will take the problem with them if all they do is move on before looking internally.
Brian Icenhower
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Realtor motivation: your job as a leader
When you are doing the activities you should be doing, and you are seeing the positive results, the last thing you are going to want to do is make a lateral move. You are going to want to stay in that positive place where you can see your growth and your progress.
How do you know when to change vs. when you should just buckle down and focus on your growth activities? First, ask yourself if you’re doing what you should be doing. Are you the problem? Are you placing the blame on others, making yourself the victim? This is key.
As leaders, it is your job to hold your agents accountable. They need to know what they should be doing. And, you need to remind them. Don’t think that just because you told them, they are going to do it. You must constantly remind them and stay with them.
Stay with your people. This will preemptively strike lateral moves. You need to be with them and stay with them as they grow. You motivate them and you keep them focused by being there and providing them with the systems, structure, and support they need to succeed.
Stay positive for effective real estate agent motivation
Don’t be negative with them. Stay positive and keep them moving in a good direction. Struggle is common in real estate!
Always do an internal check first before making a big change. Am I doing my growth activities? Or, am I just in problem-solving mode all the time? Where is it that I wanted to be? What is my finish line? Why do I want to get there? What do I need to do to get there? What are the activities that I can control that will help me get there?
Yes, typically those activities will be painful and not fun. This is true for just about anything in life. You don’t need to like the activities, you just need to like the results, and that will motivate you. Be focused on the results and be committed to the activities that get you those results. That’s the key.
