Have you ever wondered why some agents seem to do so well in real estate while others seem to struggle continuously? What I have learned over the years of coaching and training agents is that real estate is a profession that allows for individuality and uniqueness. In fact I am a firm believer that there is no such thing as a “one size fits all” program for success. The key to success in anything is to develop “Mastery” in your field. It could be Mastery of lead generation, client care, follow up or even research, but the one thing ALL top producing real estate agents have in common is that they have mastered an area of their business that helps keep business coming in and coming back.

Mastery is defined as “comprehensive knowledge or skill in a subject or accomplishment”. In real estate terms that means you do something better than your competition and your potential clients know it and want to work with you because of it. There are three very important phases of a real estate agents business and they include:

• Getting new business – this is the art of attraction, the science and art of marketing and promoting your business so that potential buyers and sellers want to work with you. Phase one is all about having a system in place to attract potential clients.
• Servicing business – this includes all the things you do for a client once they have agreed to work with you; this is the client care part of the business. This is what happens when you list a home, or begin working with a client. The “attraction” phase is over and now it is time to take exceptional care of your clients. The things you do during this phase are the things that clients like to rave about. This is the phase that is sometimes easy to forget about because while an agent may do what they “have” to do in this phase to close a contract or write one, often they don’t go above and beyond – much needed in today’s competitive marketplace.
• Keeping business – phase three is the “after the transaction has closed” phase, where many clients seem to slowly slip away. This is the phase that is the most neglected because real estate agents get busy with the first two phases. Your past clients can be the single largest new client source of business. Mastering this phase of your business is critical to ongoing success without having to spend large amounts of money on promoting your business.

I also look at the following areas that I have personally seen agents “Master” that have had incredible effects on their business, they include:

• Mastering your brand – this is where the “art of attraction” comes in and agents who have a strong brand and use that brand to get new business seem to do very well. This falls back into phase 1. Utilizing your visual brand is an excellent example of being able to get your message across to potential clients in order to “attract” them into your business. An agent that dominates a particular farm using customized branded materials is a great example of an agent who understands the power of attraction.
• Mastering your systems and processes – the “servicing” side of a transaction is what separates the good from the great agents. When an agent masters this they are sure to generate referrals. This is a great example of a phase 2 activity for Mastery.
• Mastering your follow up – from potential clients to past clients, mastering your follow up campaigns is essential if you want to be in the “top earners” category. This is a phase 3 essential.
• Mastering your tech tools and tech skills – the beauty of this category is that it can cover all three phases. Whether that is “Mastering” technology to use for attraction, servicing, or retention, it is a critical part of running a successful real estate business.
• Mastering your presentation skills – most agents get into the business and do their best to “wow” their clients during a presentation and some do very well while others struggle miserable. Learning how to present to ALL personality types is one of the best ways you can increase your bottom line. This kind of Mastery is essential because it is part of every phase of your business.

The business of real estate is a complex, exciting, rewarding and challenging profession. If you can look at your business as a constant improvement model you can work on “Mastering” all the different areas that will help you to increase your income and increase client care. The “Masters” of any industry or sport have gotten there with good old fashioned hard work and a dedication to become the very best that they can be.