Ellis Posner Launches New Website
FREE COACHING TIPS FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS
Everything You Need To Know to Succeed in Real Estate
Ellis Posner: THE REAL ESTATE BROKER - COACH
Greetings. I’m Ellis Posner and thanks for visiting here. I’m a working Real Estate Broker and a Coach / Mentor for agents of all levels who want to up their game.
On this site, I am offering free coaching tips and tricks of the trade. Why? I want to help other agents succeed. I’ve had some great mentors in my sales career and really believe in giving back.
Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of people get Real Estate licenses, which itself is not an easy endeavor, struggle really hard, spend some money and then they are out of the business in 2-3 years if they even make it that long. The failure rate for new agents is something like 80-90 percent. I’ve always felt that we, as an industry, can do better than that.
Now there’s no doubt that some people don’t have the work ethic or skill set or are just not cut out for this line of work. Those aren’t the ones I am talking about. Or those who get a license just to buy or sell their own home and maybe help a few family members or friends. In other words, the part timers.
I’m thinking of the many thousands who really are looking for a career and are willing to put in the work to make it happen. Because let’s face it, this is a lot of work starting with studying for and getting your license. And after that there is the additional knowledge base you have to acquire to even be able to complete a transaction. Not easy and a lot of late nights and hours away from family and other sacrifices.
So I’ve been wrestling with why aren’t more people successful. There’s plenty of business to go around.
Over the years I came to realize that the “industry”, meaning Brokers and Brokerages, coaches, managers, and trainers are all teaching new agents the way to fail because they are teaching the wrong things. Their intentions may be good, but the results just aren’t.
Believe it or not, a lot of agents are still told to door knock and cold call. Really? When most houses have Ring doorbells and no one answers their phone (unless you text them first). Try doing that, or meeting Buyers at Open Houses for a few months and anything else will look like a better opportunity.
Here’s another example - conversion. You are note going to “convert” someone who doesn’t want to work with you to wanting to be your client because you recite some “script” your coach, team leader or manager taught you. And if you are successful doing that once or twice (which I doubt) you won’t be able to do it on a sustained basis for long enough to make a career out of it.
Here’s what I teach to the agents I’ve mentored.
Figure out who YOUR client is and how to find those people. What I’m talking about are the people who are already inclined to work with you.
A lot of times newer agents who work open houses with me are surprised that I don’t try to “convert” everyone who walks in through the door. At this point in my career, I know who my client is and when those people walk in, trust me I’m on. How do I know who my client is? I’ve spoken to thousands of people and sold hundreds of homes so I have a pretty good idea as to which people like what I offer and who is looking for something else. But you don’t have to wait until you’ve done 100 open houses for five years in a row in order to figure that out. I can help you figure that out sooner.
You might ask if I just come up with this out of the blue? Not exactly. What I started to observe over the years is that many agent’s clients have similarities to each other - though not necessarily their agents. Interesting, huh?
Your time and effort is much better spent on finding out who your client is then endlessly chasing after people who will never do business with you.
But what does the industry teach?
Do “drip” campaigns and send endless emails and texts for years in the desperate hope that someone might open the email and actually use you as their agent. Don’t waste your time. You are better off writing personal emails (or sending texts) to five people who you have a chance of doing business with than emailing 500 people for 5 years that gave you their (wrong) email address at an open house. You know what I’m talking about, the email where they want all their spam to go to. Or maybe the phone number for the landline in their Grandmother’s house.
Here’s another example of what not to do: the “circle prospecting script”. Now I’m not saying that circle prospecting isn’t a thing. Just DO NOT use this script or anything like it:
“Hi, this your Joe from your local brokerage. We just listed a home in your neighborhood. Do you know anyone who wants to move close to you? No. Ok, well when are you going to move?”
I do know some very successful agents who use some variations of that script and actually get business. Sometimes a lot of business. But I know far more who have tried it hundreds of times and have never gotten an appointment, listing or even a positive response. Why? Because it just doesn’t work as well as it used to, no matter how well you may do it.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not against circle prospecting done correctly or scripts (although I teach something different). What I am against is doing things that aren’t authentic and likely to lead to results.
Lest you think I’m just against old school real estate, not really. Here’s an example of what not to do using social media.
No one wants to see an agent awkwardly speaking directly into the camera on their phone about “the market”, their “amazing clients”, their newest listing, or worst of all what a great agent they are. Yet my Instagram feed seems to be filled with exactly that some days. Why are agents doing these kinds of videos? A coach or manager told them to. Or they saw another agent doing it.
For the record, I LOVE video. In fact, short form video is one of the most cost effective ways to get in front of lots of potential Buyers and Sellers at no cost. And you will get results if your videos are informational, topical, entertaining and not just you talking into the camera.
Here’s another thing NOT to do that lots of coaches seem to think is worthwhile. Don’t look up every one of your prospects on Facebook, IG, Twitter, and TikTok and like everything they post or make inane comments. If you really know someone or follow them and like their post or have something to say, that’s something different. It’s better for you to focus on creating compelling content to post and let other people like your stuff and comment on your posts.
The next mistake the “industry” teaches is to call FSBOs and expired listings. Yeah, maybe that worked in1980. And, yes, I know some agents who have made a career out of expireds. That’s who you are going up against chasing that limited market. And FSBOs? Do you really want to work with that Seller who started out thinking they could do it themselves? They’ll be second guessing you at every step.
That’s just a few examples of dozens of things you should not be doing. I could give many, many more.
Here’s some, but not all, of the topics I’ll be covering in detail in the coming months and years.
Getting Started in Real Estate
The Accountability Model
The 3 R’s
Business Planning
Online Presence for Realtors
Do You Need a Website?
Effective Agent Videos
Your Real Estate Tech Stack
Real Estate Scripts and Structure
Time Management
Do You Need a CRM
Real Estate Reading List
Gut Punches
Work Life Balance
As I add content and update this site, I’ll link to the above topics. If you don’t see a link, it’s coming.
This blog is dedicated to all the fallen agents who really tried but never had a chance because they weren’t given the right tools. So I’m giving you all the tools, tricks and information you need to be successful on this website for FREE.
But if you need more motivation, someone to hold you accountable, or a deeper dive into what you read here, I am available to coach and mentor you. For a fee, of course. But as you may be figuring out if you are an agent, it takes money to make money.
Here’s to your success.