By Michael Kies

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Three ways to implement a turnaround by identifying your limiting skill

A limiting skill is one that stands between a real estate agent and success in real estate.

There are three very simple techniques that can be used to identify a limiting skill. These can implemented quite quickly to instigate a turnaround. In fact, one agent went from 0 sales one month to 6 the next, just by identifying and rectifying her limiting skill.

This is not the traditional “up-skill” mentality that is recommended by many educators. Just asking an agent to “get better” is too broad and overwhelming and often will not create a quick turnaround in results.

I have found that by using my techniques for identifying and fixing our limiting skills, we can be just one skill away from success in real estate

To illustrate my point, I want to share the story of my client Linda.

Linda’s story: rectifying her limiting skill resulted in 6 sales one month after a month of zero sales

Linda had 32 listed properties in Warrnambool, but none of them were selling.

She was prospecting hard. She was great at listing and I knew she was a great negotiator, but she was down and out because the month before she had sold zero properties.

We spent some time on the phone, working on her limiting skill and the next month she was able to sell 6 of those listings.

This took her from the bottom of her office in figures, to the top.

The limiting skill for real estate agents and the 3 tools that help people to identify theirs, fix them and prosper

Even if an agent has an A+ attitude, if they don’t combine it with increasing their limiting skill they make life very difficult for themselves.

• A salesperson may be likeable and trustworthy but unless they have the skill to lead the vendor to make the decision that is best for them, they will not list many properties.
• If a salesperson can list at a ratio of 90%-100% but they don’t prospect, they don’t attend many appointments and success will pass them by.
• If a salesperson can list a lot of properties, but has trouble listing them at the right price, this may result in a lot of withdrawn properties.

There are 4 key selling areas and each is a link in the chain…

1. Prospecting
   Agents who don’t prospect, don’t list as many properties as they could – simple. These guys can’t progress to the next stage often enough to see real success.
2. Listing
   Agents with a low listing appointment to listed property ratio, often have low sales figures. These guys don’t convert enough to see success.
3. Price Reductions
   If an agent can’t reduce (in many markets around Australia) they end up with a lot of listings but also a lot of withdrawn properties. This prevents them from progressing to the next step, which is the sale.
4. Selling
   If you can’t negotiate, you will be pipped at the post and some other agent will walk in, re-list the house and sell it.

If we don’t identify our limiting skill, we can’t progress to the next stage. The only time we get paid, get referrals and get marketing fodder is when we sell a property. Any weakness in the steps along the way will result in reduced sales.

The salesperson who gets this right is making at least one sale per week and feeling really good about their career and life.

They are on their way to financial freedom.

It’s much harder to make low or no sales than it is to make many sales because when we are making low or no sales we feel demotivated.

When we are listing two properties per week and making one sale per week, we feel motivated and the next step is the climb to six sales per month and then onto eight sales per month.

The ones who have mastered their limiting skill are the ones who go to a listing appointment where four other agents have been and list the property.

They are making between 4-8 sales per month, but they prospect and maintain their contacts in the mean time, knowing that they need to keep their pipeline full.

They reduce property prices at will because they know that it will help the vendor get happily moved and on with their life.

Three steps to implementing a turnaround by identifying your limiting skill

1. Step 1: Look for resistance
   As human beings we don’t like to be bad at anything, it’s the natural condition. Look at each area of the sales process, which area creates the most inner resistance for you? Maybe you have some natural fear around prospecting, maybe you don’t want to let your vendors down with a price reduction, maybe past results at listing presentations put you off? When you look through the process, which area causes discomfort inside? Usually that area is your limiting skill.Now yes, that can be uncomfortable, but what is more uncomfortable is spending your entire career, just one skill away from say 6 sales per month, like in Linda’s case.
2. Step 2: Identify
   Your limiting skill could be prospecting, listing, reducing or selling, but we must go deeper to pinpoint what exactly about those areas causes resistance and why. What exactly about prospecting causes resistance? What part of the listing presentation presents a challenge? What inside you objects to price reductions?
3. Step 3: What do you need to do to master that limiting skill?
   What resources do you need? What strategies will help you move forward from here?

Obviously the tools within the sales process play a massive role in growing results.

For this reason, I have recorded a more in depth one hour training session aimed at helping agents to add an extra $100k per year to their personal income. Click here to view the training now…

Feel free to leave a comment below or send me an email at support@michaelkies.com.au.