During a speaking tour a couple of weeks ago, many people approached me to ask how we produce such extraordinary results for our Business Advance Coaching Members. Members, on average, increase their revenue by about 42% in 12 months.

It’s become a common question. I thought I’d share my answer here.

The Biggest Challenge In Real Estate

First let’s look at where the challenge lies for most agents: In real estate, a small percentage of sales professionals controls a large percentage of the market.

I’ve read a number of studies over the last five years that indicate almost 90% of sales are made by 5 to 10% of agents. If we use the conservative number of 10%, that means that 90% of sales professionals are competing for 10% of the market.

That’s a lot of people fighting over a small slice of the pie.

It’s also an indicator that what most people are doing is not working for them.

Sink or Swim Training and The Herd Mentality

The problem lies in two places. First, with how new real estate professionals are trained and licensed, and second, with our psychological wiring.

Most sales professionals, by the time they’re licensed, have learned very little about prospecting, lead follow-up, listing presentations, buyer presentations, showing property, price reductions, negotiating, pre-sale service, post sale service or sales skills.

In other words, they’ve learned almost nothing about what is actually required to be successful.

As I’ve said before: getting a real estate licence is like learning to golf by understanding the rules but never learning how to swing the club. Licensing is not enough.

Once licensed, the second problem kicks in: most agents show up at their office and proceed to do exactly what everyone else is doing. We’re conditioned to follow the herd, and in this case, the herd—the 90% who struggle—is wildly unsuccessful.

Coaching Members: Learn To Swim, Escape the Herd

So how do we assist our coaching members in producing extraordinary results? My coaches and I study and interview the sales professionals who are producing BIGGEST results. They’re the ones outside of the 90%. They are most definitely NOT the herd.

We then get together monthly to analyze and share these best practices which in turn are passed on to our coaching members. Next, we hold them accountable to doing them and literally watch their sales grow!

It’s that simple in concept, but in execution, it requires help. You can escape the herd mentality, but you still need to escape the herd inertia that keeps you from actually getting things done. That’s what the coaches bring to the equation: They help you do what you know.

Here’s what I know: give me any sales professional—new or experienced, low producer or high—and if I teach them what the best are doing and hold them accountable to performing these activities, they will produce better results. The sales professionals that are producing five times better results than you are not five times smarter. They just do different things, and they do them with absolute consistency.

If you want to become rich, study the rich and do what they do. If you want to have a better relationship, study the people that have great relationships and do what they do. If you want to have more energy, study the people that have lots of energy and do what they do.

If you want to double your sales, study the people that are already there and do what they do.

Success leaves clues.

If you want to learn those clues, and understand exactly what the top 10% are doing, join us in Vancouver on July 6 & 7 for Achieve 2011. There is no other real estate event like it!