By Douglas Smith

What sounds better: a life of frustration or a life of freedom?  Too many real estate salespeople have sentenced themselves to a life of frustration.  They can’t live in the home they want to live in, drive the kind of car they’d like to drive or enjoy the vacations they dream of. Some agents are forced to take on a second job just to make ends meet or tighten their entertainment budgets, or stop funding their retirement accounts altogether.

On the other end of the spectrum are real estate agents living a life of freedom.  They have the power to buy the things they want to buy and do the things they want to do.  They have the capital to invest in their practices, pick and choose the company they want to work for and build a strong, secure future in real estate.

There is only one thing separating those agents living a life a freedom from those living a life of frustration: money.  It all comes down to money.  They say that money can’t buy happiness. While that may or may not be true, it sure does buy you a tremendous amount of freedom.

If you have been frustrated with your results lately and are serious about doing something about it, then the message is simple: you are going to have to start making more money…now!  To move out of a life of frustration and into a life of freedom, you will need to re-think how you approach your job, your opportunities, even how you spend your time every day. 

Consider this: what you have done so far has gotten you to where you are so far.  If you want to be in a different place tomorrow—more money and more freedom—you must start to think and act differently today.  It’s not the market that’s the cause of your frustration, or the economy, or home values, or the time of year.  It is you.  The day you wake yourself up and realize this truth, your life will change forever.

There are four “zones” that control your results in real estate:       
                                                                      
The Mind Zone.  Your mind is the navigator of your life.  Your mind will advise you what to do and what not to do based on what you are telling it.  If you fill your mind with negative messages (the market stinks, nobody’s buying, everyone is slow right now, etc.) your mind will believe it and act accordingly. 

Those agents that live a life of frustration partially do so because they continue to replay the same negative messages over and over again in their minds until eventually they program themselves for failure.  When you think negatively, you do not take action.  Why spend time and money marketing if you tell yourself it won’t work?  Why pick up the phone and call people if you are convinced they won’t be interested?  The first step to making more money and achieving greater success is to switch your brain from broadcasting and receiving negative signals to more positive ones.  When you move to a positive mindset, you begin to take positive action.   It is from there everything else springs into action.

The Time Zone.  We say that time is money, and it’s true.  As a 100 percent commissioned salesperson, you are essentially trading your time for money every day.  When you invest the right amount of time with the right people doing the right things, you will begin to make more money in real estate—period.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to be successful in real estate working a few hours now and then.  You must be committed to your success and achieving a life of freedom by paying the price of
success.  Freedom isn’t free in this business; the price you pay is time…and lot of it.  It takes time to source new business, create new marketing materials, network with other people and learn new things.  It takes time to hold open houses, make prospecting calls and follow up on leads.  Those agents who dedicate a lot of time to their careers will always find success.  Those that don’t will always fall short.

The Contact Zone.  Sales happen when you finally get face-to-face or voice-to-voice with a customer.  When you are in this critical moment, do you know what to ask, what to say, and how to say it?  Great personal selling skills are a core attribute of top producers.  Those skilled in the art and science of interacting with their customers—connecting with people, listening to their needs, asking questions, providing clear, on-target solutions and advancing opportunities by asking for action—are always the highest paid and most successful real estate agents. 

Go to school on this fact.  Selling is a “skill” and like any skill must be learned and practiced continually to be mastered.  Read good books on selling. Attend a sales skill course.  Observe top producing agents in action.   If it is taking you nine months to sell a listing or four months to find a buyer a house, it’s not the market working against you; it’s your selling skills.

It’s a fact that most top producing real estate agents generate most of their business from and through people they already know.  By consistently making contact with friends, family, previous buyers and sellers, neighbors, social and business acquaintances, they create more leads, produce more referrals and land more buyer opportunities than others.

The Future Zone.  If you are frustrated because you are earning $25,000 a year and want to get to $75,000 a year, small steps won’t take you there.  Many agents think that if they make one more call a day or work just a little harder, they’ll reach the level of money and freedom they want.  Wrong; it’s never going to happen. 

Big results in your sales numbers and income require big steps and “major moves” from you.  Perhaps you need to hire a marketing assistant or join a team or re-align yourself with another company on the busy side of town.  You may have to completely abandon the market you now work in for a market where properties are selling at a faster pace.  Whatever the case, no highly successful real estate agent ever reached their level of financial freedom without taking some risks and making some bold moves throughout their careers.  Your journey will be no different. Question: What is the next big move you should be making in your business right now?  If you have an answer to that (and you should) the bigger question becomes: What’s stopping you from doing that right now?

Living a life of frustration is no fun.  Your days become filled with fear, doubt, worry and anxiety.  You aren’t earning what you are worth or enjoying what should be an exciting, rewarding career in real estate sales. 

Perhaps it’s time to finally change all that.  Maybe you are ready to make the moves that will make a difference in your career.  Now is the time.  Not next week, or next year—now.  Make the choice to exit a life of frustration and enter a life of personal and financial freedom.  Isn’t that what you really want?

Doug Smith is a nationally known industry speaker, author and sales trainer.  Through his presentations, workshops and coaching, Doug has shown thousands of real estate agents how to find more buyers, close more deals and make more money.  For more information visit www.DougSmithPresents.com.