Category Archive

The Realtor Success Series

A Seminar on Team Building

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Russell Shaw

Over the years I’ve had agents tell me they "wanted a big team".  Or they "didn’t want a big team".  I’ve never seen anyone who didn’t want "a big team" have a need for a team at all.  And (other than an oversized self image) I’ve never seen any good reason to "want a big team".  It just doesn’t work that way. Further, most "real estate teams" are not "teams" at all but simply people who sit at offices in the same building or room.  They are not teams in any real sense of the word, "team". I believe the

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No BS Real Estate

Posted on August 8, 2010 by Russell Shaw

I don’t think Jeff Brown’s (BawldGuy) head is much larger than Jay Thompson’s head or my head .  The three of us will be on a panel together on Tuesday, August 24th in Scottsdale.  Each of the three of us has a different approach to our business and yet I can’t remember a time I disagreed fundamentally with something significant that Jeff or Jay had to say about how to get and keep customers. That last part of that last sentence is THE most important skill in business success: HOW TO GET AND KEEP CUSTOMERS.  If you are good at that

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How Many Problems Can You Handle At The Same Time?

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Russell Shaw

At any given time we all have a limit.  That limit varies depending on a number of factors: the nature of the problems, the emotion tied to the problems, how far down into "seriousness" one is, even how well rested or hungry one is at the time.  Bottom line, it becomes too much when there is more external push against self than there is left of self to push back. I’m really not interested in proselytizing but I ran across this little gem the other night and I saw so much potential for anyone who could understand it that I

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I Hate Most Every Sales Pitch And Most Salespeople But Make My Living Selling

Posted on August 3, 2009 by Russell Shaw

It’s true.  I really don’t like salespeople, I don’t like to listen to a sales pitch and anytime someone says, "I just need twenty minutes in person to explain it to you", I already know in advance that whatever it is I don’t want it.  And, for sure,  I don’t want to listen to them explain it to me. It is also true that I have made my living on straight commission since I was 17.  I have not had a "job" or worked for wages, I’ve lived on commissions all these years.  Several times over the years people who

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Russell Shaw Webinar for Number1Expert

Posted on July 3, 2009 by Russell Shaw

Here is a link for a webinar I did about a week ago for Number 1 Expert.  You do have to fill out a short form to listen and give them them information to get to the actual recording.  It is about an hour long and you will see slides on the screen that are in sync with my answers.  They titled the talk, "How to Stay Positive in Uncertain Market Conditions". Some good stuff.

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We are looking to attract more listings without paying a lot of advertising expense

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Russell Shaw

This was passed along to me by Benn: We are a small real estate company in Md.  We are trying to expand our clientele do you have any advice on how we can grow our business.  We are looking to attract more listings without paying a lot of advertising expense.  We tried the expired listings but most of the time the homeowner phone number is not listed. Thanks, (name deleted) I’ve deleted your name, so in case you feel insulted by what I am about to tell you – you can feel a little less insulted because no one but

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The Secret to Becoming a Top Listing Agent

Posted on May 26, 2009 by Russell Shaw

  Here are some factual statements: Most people who enter the real estate business are gone in just a few years.  Most real estate agents, who stay in the business, are not very successful.  To be in the top 1% of all agents in the U.S. would require about 50 – 60 sales a year.  Most agents, who are successful, (50 – 60 sales per year) do not really know why they are successful.  They think they know but they are usually wrong. Only about 25% – 30% of the top 1% of all agents actually know why they are

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To Clarify ….

Posted on March 15, 2009 by Russell Shaw

A great question from Mike Price in response to this post: Russell, What percentage of brokers would you guess use any sort of formalized tracking system for analyzing lead sources? At an agent level? When you finally created and implemented a business system, did you put into place your own tracking system or did you use something off the shelf? Excellent questions, Mike.  I’m glad you used the word, "guess", because that is what I will have to do to respond.  At the broker level, I am thinking any brokerage firm with 20 or more agents – that is still

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I Mean Business

Posted on March 12, 2009 by Russell Shaw

What is a "top producer"?  How is it defined?  Why would anyone care? Some would say if you are in the top 10% you qualify.  I set the bar higher because the bottom 90% is doing so poorly.  To be in the top 1% – of all agents in the United States – you would need to sell about 40- 50 houses a year.  The first year I qualified I sold 38 houses.  At 40 – 50 sales in a year you would probably always be in the top 1% in your area and in the country. Why does it

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1. The Discount Realtor Rain Dance

Posted on February 24, 2009 by Russell Shaw

  I believe that the success of a rain dance has more to do with timing than the quality of the dancing.  A few short years ago the discount real estate companies were being heralded as the wave of the future.  "Traditional brokerage" was all but finished.  Game over.  Now the internet based, lower fee, more modern, forward-thinking companies would dominate the industry. Virtually all of the real estate companies that proclaimed this the loudest are either already completely out of business or have dwindled down to the point that few think of them as much of a threat to

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