Ep035: How Do You Stack Up Against The Best Real Estate Agents Among Us?

Chris McAllister: Hi all, Chris McAllister here with the Connect Practice Track and Grow podcast, where it’s my job to make your real estate business better and your life easier. I’m here today with my podcast partner Laci LeBlanc, and this is the 10th episode of our 12 part series called Protecting the Goose that Lays the Golden Eggs.

And just a reminder, You are the goose. The episode today is called, How do you stack up against the best among us? So what I want to discuss today is, are the eight common mindsets and attitudes the very best real estate professionals among us share. But even better than that, we’re going to talk about What I think is a super cool tool I’ve developed that will allow you to score yourself against these eight mindsets.

And, and these are the mindsets that I’ve actively, actively been observing and cultivating and collecting over the past 24 years of, of working with real estate. agents. So the cool thing is this, uh, scorecard, the way it’s set up, you can actually score yourself self based on where you are today. And then you can run through it again and score yourself against where you want to be in the future or where you see yourself in the future.

Good morning, Laci. Did that make any sense? 

Laci LeBlanc: Yeah, absolutely. Good morning, Chris. I love a scorecard. You know, we love a scorecard over here, so I can’t wait to, to walk through it. I think as a, um, a lover of all things like journals, notebooks, guides, workbooks, I loved a workbook assignment, even as a kid, a scorecard is just a very visual and like tactile representation of, like you said, where you are and, and where you want to be.

And the best part of it is, is that you can tell us not only. Where you are now and where you wanna be in the future, but how to get there. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah. Yeah. We’re gonna talk a lot about that today. So I think this is gonna be a, an interesting conversation. So we, we will have a PDF in the show notes, so you can download the PDF of the scorecard, just one page, and you can follow along if you’d like while you’re listening.

And I call this framework, it really is a framework and I call it a scorecard, but it’s also, you can think of it as a self-assessment tool or even a mirror. reflects where you are on your real estate journey and sort of gives you a magic glimpse of, of, of, uh, where you might want to end up. Now, each of these mindsets has four stages, right?

So there, if you look at the PDF. There’s, there’s four columns from left to right, but these aren’t necessarily linear, right? It’s, it’s not always a straight line from one stage to the next. And oftentimes, you know, people will skip stages and, and, you know, a lot of times we move, I know I do move back and forth throughout the stages, you know, at different points in, in, in our careers.

So it’s, it’s a, it’s, it’s organic, I guess, for lack of a better term. Um, but it’s not something that you, you know, accomplish everything in stage one, and then magically you, you find yourself promoted to stage two. It just really doesn’t work that way.

So there’s eight mindsets. I’m going to run through the, the eight, um, eight mindsets really quickly. And then we’re going to dive into, to each one. So the first mindset we’re going to talk about today is practice with joyful purpose. The second mindset is. Cultivate transformational relationships. The third is exceed expectations.

The fourth mindset is leverage what makes you special. The fifth is succeed together. The sixth is make invisible opportunities visible. Number seven is the best, keep getting better. And number eight is celebrate professionalism. So that’s a lot to get through here in the next hour or so, but Why don’t we, uh, dive in with practice with joyful purpose.

So in the first column under practice with joyful purpose, you’ll see on the scorecard that, that this, this stage is characterized by, you are always on the lookout for shortcuts to success that will put money in your pocket right now. Real estate is your job. It’s not your calling. But it is your means of of support.

So that usually in that situation, new agents may find themselves there. I know I did when I got my license because you know, I was like being shot out of a cannon. I had a real job prior to getting my real estate license. I got a paycheck every week or so. And I needed to do whatever I could do to bring money in to get food on the table.

So for me, transactions was yeah. Um, 

Laci LeBlanc: I think it’s worth noting that, um, you know, this is the perfect example of where some of these things you might not can change just with some some mindset work. If it’s not your passion or your calling, it might not ever be your passion or your calling. But I also wanted to mention that when we do these scorecards, um, typically the four columns we talk about are, we label them, um, and then the left and the You know, let me explain it before we get all outraged about it.

But in the left left most column, we call it failing the failing column and then, uh, frustrating and then succeeding and then, um, transforming. Right? So those are kind of the way that we traditionally look at these columns scorecards. But it’s all about context. Um, so as we walk through these different columns, I think that would be helpful.

helpful. Like if your goal is to get joy and be, be one of the new real estate professionals who gets joy out of their, their career and makes a living out of it and has a life outside of it, then that’s one way you can kind of frame those, those columns. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah, I think that’s fair. I, I would hesitate to label the first column as failing.

I, I, I do label the first column. In fact, I’ve labeled these with if you download the PDF, if for people who find themselves predominantly scoring themselves in the first column, they, they, I call those folks the deal makers. And we have deal makers that have been in business forever that are insanely successful and they’re all about column one.

They always have been and they always will be. So it’s hard to say they’re failing when they’re successful. And then the second column, when people find themselves scoring themselves in the second column of either one or several of these mindsets, I call those folks the disillusioned. So these are people that have, uh, you know, maybe they’re newer in real estate.

Maybe they’re only in for a couple of years. It doesn’t, it’s not whether they were promised. It’s not what they would hope for. It’s not what they expected. Um, or, or maybe they’re just on a bad path that they don’t have the mentor or coaching or support that they need to succeed. And then the 3rd, uh, column for folks that find themselves predominantly in the 3rd stage or the 3rd column of the spread of the scorecard, I call these folks the diehard and the folks in the diehards are generally very successful.

They’ve been in the business quite a while and they, they, they know everything. These are the people that Um, you know, have, uh, they’re, they’re professionals. They’ve been at it for a long, long time. Um, you know, the, they, they can teach. They’re not necessarily all that open to learn because they’ve got a way of doing things and they, and they tend not to deviate from that.

And that’s part of their success. And then in the fourth column, this is a, it is an aspirational column, but I think that when we, we start to go through this and you start thinking about, uh, other agents that you work with in yourself and how they, How they might match up and in each of these mindsets in the fourth column, we call the new real estate professional.

And that’s characterized by people who are never content, not not content, but people who are never satisfied with the status quo, people that are always looking for new ways to add value, people who always want to get personally better. So whereas the diehards may I don’t mean this to sound mean, but they may be set in their ways, and they absolutely have every right to be, and they should be, and we need to celebrate that.

The news real estate professional just isn’t going to allow themselves to, um, Be overly settled or stuck in their success anymore. They’re going to allow themselves to be stuck in a fallow period or a downtime or a bad part of their career. So I guess that that’s the true big introduction to this whole discussion, isn’t it?

Laci LeBlanc: Yeah, that’s the context, right? So like these, um, maybe the failing frustrated is not applicable, but failing frustrated, succeeding and transforming is, is the context for the new real estate professional, right? And there’s, there might be some columns where you don’t want to be in the new real estate professional column, right?

There might be one column where you’re, you’re happy phoning it in. Yeah. And it doesn’t mean that you’re not successful. That’s exactly what I was trying to say. It doesn’t mean you’re not a successful real estate agent. It just means you’re not the new professional. Anymore than it doesn’t 

Chris McAllister: mean that if your focus is on transactions versus relationships that you don’t have the opportunity to be successful or you’re doing it wrong because you’re not.

We, of course, choose to work by, you know, focus on relationships and working by referral, whereas there’s other people who. Are very very good at hammering out transaction after transaction and they are very successful and and and they lead happy lives my favorite label though that you point out is Finding yourself in the fourth column the new real estate professional.

I do believe that is absolutely transformational. So I think that’s a great label So as we go left to right with practice with joyful purpose, you’re always on the lookout for shortcuts to success that will put money in your pocket right now. Real estate is your job, not your calling. You may find yourself there or you may find yourself in column two.

You got into real estate because you are an entrepreneur at heart and you want more out of life than a W 2 job allows. Sadly, the reality of getting into the real estate business, passing your test, and aligning with the brokerage just hasn’t lived up to its promise. So you’re not finding a lot of joy if you find yourself in stage or column two and column three, you’ve paid your dues and you’ve worked like crazy to get where you are today.

You’re good at what you do. In fact, you’re great at what you do. And you look forward to the day when you’re going to have enough money set aside that you can retire and, and, uh, move on to, uh, spend your days watching the sitting on the beach and watching the waves go by. If you find yourself in column four, column four is you find great joy.

and satisfaction in helping people you care about and who care about you achieve their home ownership goals. So I think that clearly is the best definition of practice with joyful purpose, but that doesn’t mean that people aren’t getting a hell of a lot of satisfaction out of, you know, being in a first stage or a third stage person.

I think it’s safe to say regardless of your orientation towards the business. The people who find themselves in stage two, while they’re not failing, they’re generally not feeling a lot of joy. 

Laci LeBlanc: Yeah. And, and, you know, making enough money to survive and, and hopefully thrive is not missing for many of these columns, right?

Like that’s part of it too. Um, but yeah, I think that the, the joyful purpose is. What sets column four apart. 

Chris McAllister: And while there’s no right or wrong way to practice real estate or orientate yourself within the business, if you compare stage one versus stage four, right? Stage one is looking for a quick commission versus stage four, which is, you know, feeling genuine joy and helping others achieve.

Um, ownership, you know, that joy that you feel that you cultivate for yourself in stage four, that’s sustainable, you know, for a long term career. Whereas, you know, honestly, I don’t care who you are, you know, finding yourself in stage one, looking for that quick, uh, commission that does as more of a short term mindset.

It’s a hustle and it often leads to burnout. It’s a heck of a lot easier to. Be in this business for the long term and by long term, I’m talking decades when you’re practicing with joyful purpose and you’re focused on relationships and other people and what’s in it for them, um, that, that, that, that is clearly, I think, for almost everybody and certainly for the people who find themselves in column four, that’s sustainable for the long term.

So I would encourage anybody listening to reflect on the moments where they felt most fulfilled in this business, and did those moments revolve around closing another deal, or did those moments involve seeing the client’s joy when they found their perfect home and actually got to the closing table?

So our second mindset is cultivate transformational relationships. So in column one, you’re not interested in making friends. You’re interested in getting deals done. That’s what you get paid for. That’s a, that’s a very business like profit oriented mindset. Can’t fault that in column two or stage two, people who score themselves here, find themselves sick and tired of working with people that they don’t like.

To impress people that they don’t care about, they get a lot of times these folks get sucked into, you know, things that go on at the, at the local board office, or they spend too much time watching what other agents are doing or what other agents have or how other agents are succeeding, you could say that they really get locked into a bad case of FOMO, right?

Fear of missing out. So the folks that find themselves in here that are just sick of the people they’re working with. They don’t like their clients. They, they, they, they don’t really care for the other realtors in town. It’s just a bad situation all around there in column two. And they know though the bright spot column two, you know, that there’s got to be a better way.

And I’ll give you a sneak, uh, peek. I’ll spoil the ending, but yeah, there, there, there is a better way. In column three, and again, these are the folks that we affectionately refer to as the diehards, you’re fortunate to not have to worry about looking for business anymore. Customers come to you and you have all the work you need.

And I think that’s exactly what we all want to have happen, right? I mean, you, you want to get to the point where you’re not. You know, door knocking, I guess, or, you know, walking around the target store, passing out your business cards or whatever things that a million coaches tell you to do to drum up business, you’re past that you’re known in your community, you have a book of business, you have a following, uh, and, and the business comes to you.

So column three is a beautiful thing because they’re not spending every waking hour on, on connecting anymore. Now you get to. Column four, the new real estate profession and the transformational column is, you know, you know, in your heart that relationships are infinitely more valuable than any series of transactions.

You know, that relationship is the currency that fuels your business. And if you contrast that with in stage one, you know, who sees relationships purely as a means to an end in stage four, that transformational Agent recognizes relationships themselves as invaluable capital. And that’s where you get into the whole idea of what is your return on relationship.

If you find yourself in column 4 versus what is your return on relationship. If you find yourself in column 1, and I think it’s safe to say that, uh. There’s not a lot of return on relationship in column one, but there’s an infinite possibility for return on relationship in column four. The other thing to kind of think about on this is, you know, long term success isn’t just about being nice and it’s easy to take a look at.

The stage one, you know, where we’re saying you’re not interested in making friends. But I want to take that to the next step for a professional in column four. It’s not just about being nice, right? You know, you deeper relationships do lead to repeat business referrals and personal satisfaction. But being nice, you’re courteous, you’re kind, etcetera, to everybody you meet.

But you have a choice as to who you’re going to, uh, forge a deeper relationship with. So let’s not confuse being nice with, uh, not being interested in, in, in making friends. And, and always bear in mind that these are professional relationships that we’re talking about. 

Laci LeBlanc: Yeah, I think Priscilla is a great example of that and how in years that maybe a lot of agents don’t do as well, uh, Priscilla has some of her best years ever.

Uh, I have a friend down in New Orleans who, um, is, you know, not new to the business, but she’s, she’s young and she puts all of her emphasis on building relationships and just killed it last year. Yeah, you show me 

Chris McAllister: it. You show me somebody who scores themselves for the most part in column four on this, on this scorecard or self assessment, and I will show you somebody who had the very best year they ever had in 2024.

Yeah, because 

Laci LeBlanc: it’s not, it doesn’t matter, you know, in an economic down, if it’s a true relation, if you have a true relationship with somebody, if you trust that person, you know, if they’ve done, if you’ve worked with them before and, and, I mean, Lindsay, my friend in New Orleans, she sends out little, I mean, it’s, it’s easy stuff, you know, she’s, she sends out little, um, hand drawn images of people’s houses on little, um, ornaments every year.

Um, every client gets a kind of special Drone video of them standing in front of their house and waving and and it’s not just those like gifts or you know Extra steps that she takes she’s just a genuinely helpful person and genuinely enjoys, you know She practices with joy, but it’s not gonna matter what if you know The economy is down or like once you have that person You’re going to use that person, no matter what, you’re going to refer that person.

You’re going to tell everybody, you know, how great they are. And those are the, the small differences that separate column three for column four, right? Um, column three, you know, if something comes along the next shiny thing or something that’s less expensive for a buyer or seller, then it’s going to be hard for them even, you know, to, to not choose that next thing, to not get drawn in unless you have that truly.

You know, since you’re an authentic relationship with them, 

Chris McAllister: I think the folks in column three who, you know, are maximizing their income at this point, and they’re thinking about, you know, leaving the business at some point and retiring, you know, they may not be as, uh, open to, um, investing in, in relationships at this point in career, whereas the transformational folks, they’re all about it.

And we’re not saying, you know, that you got to spend a ton of money and then and all that that you don’t have, but what I am saying is, you know, small, it’s just just a practical tip, you know, small things, send a handwritten thank you note to somebody that you’ve recently connected with or somebody who sent you your referral.

Of course, you should be thanking them in writing. Um, you meet somebody, whatever, you know, remember, whatever. Uh, client’s birthdays, you know, you know, we have on your calendar, the, the date that you, you know, they’re closing, you know, is it, is it, is it the anniversary of when they, you sold them their, their last house, you know, look for things that.

You can, you can use as a reason to make contact and connect with somebody. And yeah, kind of, um, uh, client appreciation events are great. You know, but then you start getting into a little bit more investment, which is, which is fine, but you don’t have to start with a giant pie of that. Like Priscilla does every year.

Right. Or you don’t have to start with a, you know, a giant cookout or cocktail party, or run out to local movie theater, just make. personal connections one on one, make the phone call, write the note, put it in the mail, even a text message. But I’m here to tell you a thoughtful handwritten note goes miles if you’re interested in cultivating that, but will ultimately be a profitable and transformational relationship.

Laci LeBlanc: Yeah, we’ve got an agent here who’s helped several of our, our friends, people who have connection with on like social media, and when she puts a new house up for sale in their neighborhood, she texts them and says, Hey, I’ve got a new house that I’m showing. We’re going to find you some great neighbors.

And it’s just a quick text. Um, but inevitably what happens is my friend who worked with them before we’ll go and find that information for that property on them. Yeah. Facebook or wherever it is and share it and say, Oh, there’s a new house for sale in our neighborhood. Come be our neighbors, right?

Because their agent went that extra mile to text them and say, just in your neighborhood, because I’m, you know, going to sell another house or whatever the case may be. Um. Or I’ve got buyers that you’re going to love them. They’re going to be great neighbors. And so there are practical, you know, things you can measure, um, that happen when you invest in these relationships.

And that is literally just a quick text while you’re sitting in the driveway in the neighborhood. 

Chris McAllister: I think a lot of it is, uh, you know, letting, letting the public, your clients and future clients. See your enthusiasm, you know, let them, let them get to know you, let them know that you’re excited because believe me, anybody who’s going to sell their house, they want to, they want to hire the agent that’s excited about selling the house, that’s excited about their business and their profession versus somebody who’s, you know, shows up to, you know, do a job.

So, but then that brings us to, uh, the third mindset called exceed expectations. So in column one, these folks, you do your job, you do it. Well, making your numbers is all that matters and you always make your numbers. So that’s column one, column two, you believe there’s more to this business than simply being a million dollar producer in the next awards banquet.

And this is something I saw early on in my career. So many people in the office and people I met at the board, their whole mission in life was to hit that sales level where. You know, they get to call themselves a million dollar producer and it’s a huge ego boost. And the reality is that people that call themselves a million dollar producer, we’re barely making 30 grand a year when it was all said and done.

And I, as I’ve said before, this podcast, this business is, is a way too hard. To do it for 30, 000 a year, the people who do this business. Well, it’s just like I want all of our agents at our company. The minimum I expect them to be making every year is at least 100, 000 gross commissions. This is there’s there’s too much.

You have to invest in this business to do it. Well, you’re a professional. You deserve to get. So column two people become disillusions early on or throughout their career that, you know, it feels like the expectation is you got to get that thing next to your name that you’re a million dollar producers.

So we can put it on Facebook. You gotta, you know, stand up and get your picture taken at the next award banquet and the people who focus on those things. You know, they’re, they’re focusing on their own personal ego, ego gratification, and they’re not thinking about what’s in it for them. And by them, I mean, the client exceed expectations.

Column three, you’ve been trading on your reputation as a hard worker for years. You, you know, your business better than anybody else. You are the, you know, this business inside and out, and you feel your clock, your clients are lucky to have you. And you know what? I have to agree with you. And, and that’s, that’s what years in the business can do for somebody who has consistently done the work for years after years.

So congratulations. If you find yourself in column three and column four from a, from a exceed expectation standpoint. If you find yourself in column four, you’re consistently looking for ways to differentiate yourself in the market by adding greater value to your client relationships year after year after year.

And you know, if you’re excited about the business, right, if you’re practicing with joyful purpose, you’re open to new ideas, you’re open to, um, you know, things that are working for other successful realtors, you’re Your, uh, you attract new ideas and successful people when you’re, you know, focused on trading on or leveraging your past reputation, and you’re not focused on a bigger future, it’s much, much harder to get excited about what you might do differently, or, or the, uh, something that your clients may.

Appreciate that you just quite frankly, haven’t learned how to offer yet. So if you have the mindset that year after year, after year, you want to be able to add more value to the business relationship, any given transaction, an investor’s portfolio, whatever the people in column four, the transformational folks, they’re always looking for ways to set themselves apart in the market.

And they’re always looking for ways to add greater value. So stage one is fixated on the numbers. Make your numbers and you got to make your numbers, no question about it. You got to track that stuff. You got to know where your business comes from. Whereas in stage four, the focus is on continuous improvement.

and exceeding expectations year after year. And if you focus on continuous improvement and exceeding expectations, yes, you got to track your business, right? That’s what Connect, Track, Practice, Track, and Grow is all about. But I guarantee you, if your focus is on continuous improvement and exceeding expectations year after year, your numbers are going to take care of themselves.

As far as differentiation goes, in a crowded market, your ability to constantly surprise and delight your clients is what’s going to set you apart. So, I, I, here’s a, here’s a challenge for you. Try one new, think of one new wow thing that you can do for a client. Right? Maybe it’s going to be as simple as a pot buy.

Maybe it’s going to be, uh, Uh, let me see. Like you just said, it’s a, it’s a, it’s a drone video waving at the house or whatever, but figure out what, what is your wow factor going to be with your very next client? What can you do above and beyond the usual that, that you’ve been doing for up until this point in your career?

What could you do and hopefully do it consistently that would set you apart in the market? Yeah, it could be a personalized gift and maybe it’s always the same gift, you know, that you’re known for it. Or, you know, maybe it’s an educational thing, a resource guide or something. I’ll tell you one thing that, um, is kind of cool.

We, we, we have a, um, a neighborhood in Springfield called Ridgewood. And it’s a subdivision that, um, started to go up. Um, actually, I think it, it, it’s, it was first plotted. The first sections were plotted before World War II. And then it was built out after world war two. And it’s a very well known subdivision in our little town.

And a few years ago, somebody went to the trouble to create this. Gorgeous coffee table book called Ridgewood in the Country Club District, and it’s in and out of print. I was able to find like a half a dozen new copies on Amazon a few weeks ago that I purchased. And anytime I see those, you know, I always try to pick up a few and I hold on to them so that anytime we represent a buyer or seller who’s selling a house or buying a house in Ridgewood, We make sure that they get a copy of the Ridgewood in the Country Club district coffee table book.

And I think that’s a, that’s a wow thing that absolutely speaks to the event in their life and speaks to the fact that you’ve, you’ve bought into a historic neighborhood. So there’s one example of a, a wow thing that you could do for your clients or something like that. 

Laci LeBlanc: This is an area where Your broker can really make a difference, too.

I know I’m, you know, as we’re sitting here talking about these, most of these, uh, you know, are central, most of these ideas that we’re going through and all of these. Mindsets and and activities are central to the agent themselves, right? But this is an area where the broker can that you’re working with can really help out So I know Bruce for example has so many kind of built in perks and benefits for an agent that kind of automatically happen before their their list of You know contacts follow ups Um, events that you guys host that, you know, you invite all of your clients to, um, so working with a broker who aligns with the ideas of the new real estate professional in this case can take a lot of pressure off because I’m listening to these things and I’m like, oh, that’s just more things to add to a to do list.

So especially for folks who might be super busy, um, and who aren’t a naturally drawn to this or who maybe are a little disillusioned and overwhelmed, uh, you know, working with a broker who has these ideas that they’ll share with you, but also has things that they automatically implement on your behalf can really help out with this kind of wow factor and exceeding expectations.

Chris McAllister: Absolutely. So that takes us to our fourth mindset that we’re going to talk about this morning and that’s leverage what makes you special. So in column one, the dealmaker column, if you, if you score yourself here, you’re saying that you are outstanding at negotiating transactions and getting customers to the closing table after, after that it’s onto the next deal.

So again, very successful getting the job done, hitting their numbers. Getting onto the next, do the next, uh, transaction in number two, here in the disillusioned column, these folks tend to sense that invested. This is a great example. You sense that you’re fighting the same losing battle as everyone else.

Everybody’s playing the same game and you want a new game. And I think there’s a lot of people who find themselves in column two right now, especially after the last year or so in real estate with inflation and the interest rates going up and so forth. And it’s, it’s, it’s, uh, It’s not a great place to be, but hopefully as we go through this, you’ll, you’ll find some footholds to start to pull yourself out of that.

So, everybody’s playing the same game. You want a new game in column two. In column three, the diehards, the successful that have been at this for years and years, They believe, or you believe, that Realtors are basically all the same. And when you think about it, we do all help people buy and sell houses.

But you believe that Realtors are all the same. And the only way to stand out, the only way to differentiate yourself is to work harder. So your, your modus operandi, right, is to outwork and help hustle the competition. That’s how you got to column three, and that’s how you stay in column three. But if you get to column four, the new real estate professional, those folks know that their personal unique mix of skill, talent, experience, ambition, motivation, capability is special.

And it’s what makes them unique. And they leverage that without apology. They’re not embarrassed by it. They they don’t flaunt it, right? But they, they’re, they’re good with it. They’re one with it. And they, and they use it. One of the things that, um, you know, I always tell our agents, everybody has something that they’re into and that they care about, right?

You know, maybe it’s, uh, you know, Josh or, uh, you know, in our office who, you know, he has young kids, they’re all in sports, they’re all successful and he sponsors the teams and he’s constantly on Facebook. You know, talking about the teams and how well his kids did and all that stuff. And I can tell you, Josh gets a heck of a lot of business from the other parents on the sports teams, right?

It’s his thing. He cultivates those relationships and it’s just a natural for him. I was talking to, uh, Taylor Cole. She’s a, uh, an agent Columbus, and she was on the podcast. Uh, um, I guess it’s over a year ago now and her two year old daughter, I think Jeannie actually turns two on Monday. Um, uh, she, Taylor has a, um, Facebook page and it’s called June’s Mom Eats.

So, Taylor, um, loves food. She, she loves unique food. She’s, she, she’s a foodie, right? And, and she, she posts on, on that blog all kinds of interesting things and it’s titled June’s Mom Eats. So, you immediately You know, get a feeling that, wow, this is a pretty cool person, right? She’s got a hobby. She’s interested in something and she’s got a family and, you know, everybody’s beautiful and all that.

And then you look at her Facebook page. Oh, and she’s also a Columbus realtor. How cool is that? So I think that’s a great example of. You know, leveraging what makes you special, you know, it always leads into finding your own niche. You know, I think of Deidre up in Urbana. She owns a horse farm. She’s got horses.

She’s got hounds, you know, and she works with a lot of people who have farms and, you know, horses and hounds. You gotta, gotta leverage what makes you special and you’ve got to embrace it and you’ve got to do you. So what I want you to do is fight the, all the realtors are the same myth, you know, stage three relies on.

Working harder and, and, and hustle to stand out. And I don’t know about you, Laci, but I don’t think I can work any harder, so I gotta find a better way in stage four. That’s, so 

Laci LeBlanc: I’m looking there. . 

Chris McAllister: Yeah. In stage four, you find yourself there, you’re acknowledging the facts that, that the fact that each person’s unique mix of skills, passions, and talents is, is special.

It’s, it’s what, uh, allows you to stand out. You want to embrace that and you want to leverage it. And I think it also comes down to, you know, the whole idea of a authentic personal brand. Your personal brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room. So you always want to be focused on authenticity and leverage your distinct strengths.

Laci LeBlanc: Yeah, and the abundance mindset I think comes into play here too. There’s more than enough to go around, um, and finding your Um, so yeah, when you when you’re just a real estate agent, right, then it can seem like everybody out there is the same. But once you start to incorporate these. You know, and you’re all fighting for the same business, but once you start to incorporate these little differences, um, and like you said, they have to be on authentic and sincere, then it’s really easy to find your people and, and to realize that in your niche, there’s plenty of business and there always will be.

And there’s more than enough to, to share. Um, so when you find another agent that has similar interests to you, it’s not a threat. It’s a, uh, An opportunity to collaborate and to, to share tools and, and to, you know, make even more money and have even more fun. 

Chris McAllister: Great. And that sort of leads us right into mindset number five, succeed together.

So in column one, the dealmakers, you became an independent contractor for the independents. You love going it alone and you’ve little tolerance for other people who just seem to slow you down. You know, we’ve all met those people. I’ve been that person. I think we know that person, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

It’s just how it is. And again, the folks in column one, many, many, many of them are absolutely financially successful for sure. So you got into this business, you became an entrepreneur, an independent contractor, a 1099, a tax person, and you did it because you wanted to be on your own, you wanted to be self reliant, you wanted to rely, you wanted to be independent.

In column two, the disillusioned, you know, these folks tend to still love being in business for themselves, right? You love being in business for yourself, you love having control over your destiny. It’s just this whole idea of being in business. By yourself, that brings you down and there is a big difference between being in business for yourself and being in business by yourself in column three, the diehards, you know, you’ve been successful on your own your entire career, and frankly, you’re happier with happier when people just stay out of your way.

So similar to the successful folks in column one who find other people just slow them down. And it’s, uh, it’s very similar in column three. And I think the folks in column three, they look at it from they just don’t have the. Bandwidth anymore to, to bring other people along with them, right? What they’ve got left is to take care of themselves, take care of their clients.

And it is just easier when, um, they can just take care of things on their own and, and get it right. The first time succeed together, stage four, you make your own rules and you set your own standards for success. You actively surround yourself with people who support, that you support, and who support you in return.

And when you think about succeeding together, Laci, I don’t know about you, but that, that, that seems to be the promised land right there. 

Laci LeBlanc: Yeah, I’m all of these people, all day, every day, somehow. Um, I know all of these columns, I don’t know which one I would pick, but my saving grace is that I have been able to surround myself with, The right people, um, who push me, who, you know, give me tools that I didn’t know existed, who educate me, and who give me these opportunities.

And I bring what I bring to the table, too. That’s why, you know, these people want to be around me. Um, but I think you can be all of these things. I think there are some really practical, um, you know, benefits to collaboration that make that. That makes you more successful if you embrace it. Right. So I think about the, the column one, um, folks in the column three folks and how if you don’t have anyone to collaborate with, yeah, there’s nobody to slow you down.

And I feel that in the depths of my soul. But you also don’t have anyone to bring you up to speed in the areas. Nobody’s there. perfect at everything, right? A lot of us are kind of jacks of all trades. Um, but we’re not masters of all of them. So whether it’s technology, uh, especially I think about the diehards and how long they’ve been doing this and where they might be missing some, some really cool technological tools that in.

Enhance the client experience and make their lives easier. I think about those people in column one who just wanted the transactional folks. You know, there are tools out there that that make that easier, too, that can really improve the volume that you’re doing. So I think collaboration, it’s not just a touchy feely.

It is great for touchy feely purposes. I do miss being in an office, but only because I miss. Um, but it’s not just touchy feely, there’s some very practical, um, positive consequences to collaborating and keeping your business the best it can be. 

Chris McAllister: Yeah, and this is about collaboration versus independence, and they both have their place, but stage one, folks in stage one, they crave independence almost to a fault, whereas in stage four, these folks find themselves in stage four.

More often than not, they thrive on supportive networks, and I think you need a little bit of both, honestly, to be successful, and it is situational. The more actively you help others succeed, clients, colleagues, partners, partners. You know, the stronger your your position as a transformational leader, quite frankly, becomes so practical tip, you know, maybe find yourself an accountability partner or find a coaching group or a mastermind group of people that you can safely collaborate with, you know, collaborating with peers accelerates learning.

It keeps you motivated. But again, don’t just do it for the sake of doing it. You want to take the time to do it. Really think through who you’re going to align yourself with, who you’re going to spend time with, and are these people that are going to, they’re going to bring you up, not bring you down.

They’re going to motivate you to greater success, greater achievement. That’s not going to turn into a, uh, a warped FOMO situation, right? You’re looking for people who want to practice with joyful purpose that are in the transformational relationships that want to exceed everybody’s expectations and so forth.

So be careful who you choose to spend your time with. Number six is make invisible opportunities visible. So people who start to consider this mindset, they start in column one and what they read is you can’t fight the market. When times get tough, the best thing you can do is hunker down and fight for your share.

It’s just business. And there is a lot of that going on in the last couple of years in our business. And there’s a lot of people who just get tougher and tougher, and they hunker down, and they do what they’ve got to do to survive. And you know what? It’s just business. So, that’s how I’m going to do it. In column two, the disillusioned, you know, they may, they, they, maybe you love the business, right?

And maybe you’re starting to get some traction. So you love the business, but you also don’t like the way it’s starting to consume your life. And you know, you need to set some boundaries, but you’re afraid to turn down anything that may turn into a sale. And I think this gets back to feeling like you have to work with anybody that raises their hands.

And God knows I’ve been down that road and I still do it as well. But again, You have to be discerning about who you surround yourself with, who you, you know, open up to, spend your time with, decide to serve, and if you are consistently, you know, going to work for people who don’t appreciate you or what you have to offer, it’s going to wear you down, and it’s going to feel like the business itself is consuming your life, so you need to watch that.

Making visible opportunity, invisible opportunities visible. If you’re in the third column, you know, you make a good living, you enjoy a comfortable life, and you’ve had all the opportunity you’re ever going to need, and you’re going to ride that wave until it’s time to retire. So you’re focused on holding on to what you’ve got.

The new real estate professionals, the very best among us, the transformational folks, they don’t wait for opportunity to be handed to them. And they don’t have to hunker down and fight for it either. They’re always actively open. Looking for embracing new opportunities and everything they do. But so much of that is just being open to what’s going on around them and what other people are are saying and trying to communicate.

And these folks are grateful for every advantage that they have, but they always have one eye on their bigger future. So make invisible opportunities visible. If you’re not open to new opportunities, you’re never going to see it right. You’re never going to make it visible. If you’re focused on what got you here in the first place.

That’s all you’re ever going to see. Right. I always like to say the skills that got you out of Egypt aren’t necessarily going to get you to the promised land. And quite frankly, they won’t. So that’s the that’s the warning for those folks in column three. Scarcity versus abundance, right? You know, it’s stage one, agents are hunkering down during tough times, but by stage four, they spot hidden opportunities, even in challenging markets.

And I think you can see that when, you know, that we have, there’s a significant percentage, not a large percentage, but a percentage of realtors that had the best year they ever had last year. When most of us were struggling. So it’s, as you said, Laci, it’s scarcity versus abundance. And as much as I hate the phrase, the glass is half full there, there there’s a lot of truth to that gratitude and vision, you know, maintaining an eye on the future at a heart of gratitude for what you already have sparks, creative solutions, and it helps you adapt to market shifts.

You know, I, I worry that a lot of times the folks in, in column three, you know, I think they, they have a heart of gratitude for what they have. The problem is they’re focused on protecting what they have at all costs and that blinds them to future opportunities or creative solutions. So in a market downturn, challenge yourself to find one traditional avenue for business like forging relationships with local businesses for referral opportunities.

I told this story probably more than once, but when I was actively practicing full time, I, my niche was attorneys, local attorneys. And whether it’s because I’m analytical or I like the law or what have you, I really related to lawyers. So I liked working with, um, you know, their estate clients. I, I would be, uh.

Uh, you know, a special witness sometimes in the work, divorce cases, when it came to value and property, I would do anything I could to make myself indispensable to, to these four or five attorneys in town so that when they had an opportunity to, when they had a client that needed to get a house sold, they always picked up the phone and, and called me.

So I’m sure other people have done that in their careers, but with the people that I worked with in my market area. That was a unique thing to do. So what, what, what possibilities do you have with the people that you’re working with, the people that you know, the people you associated with? 

Laci LeBlanc: Yeah. Dean Jackson always talks about what’s not going to change.

Right. The economy is constantly fluctuating, but, but what’s not going to change. So when you think about non traditional ways to do business or non traditional areas to focus or finding a niche, and you think about what’s not going to change while babies are going to be born, right, people are going to need an extra room and they’re going to have to get, get a new place.

Right. I think I slept in the closet for the first few months of my life, but that’s not. Common practice now, um, uh, people are gonna die, right? They’re gonna need their estate settled. They’re gonna have homes that they own, that they’re gonna have to, to sell. Um, you know, it, there are just some things that stay constant and when you can start thinking about those things and then find new ways to approach them, um, I think that that’s, that’s exactly what you did with the attorneys.

You know, that’s business. That’s always going to be happening regardless of what’s going on around us. Um, and you really made that, that pay off. But how you did that was by building that relationship and building that trust. They knew they could just call you and what they needed to get done would get done.

Chris McAllister: And it was interesting because that’s just kind of how my mind works. So it was easy to relate to those folks. And, and, um, it was, it was just, yeah, that wouldn’t 

Laci LeBlanc: be my, my exactly. 

Chris McAllister: That’s my point. You know, I’m out there with like the 

Laci LeBlanc: artist or the creative type. Yeah. When we talked about, 

Chris McAllister: uh, when we did the episode of this series about an introvert extrovert, you know, I am not the guy that walks into a room and lights it up.

Right. I’ve got, I’ve got to work at it. So, all right. Mindset number seven, the best keep getting better. You could also call this winners have to win. So in stage one, the best keep getting better. You stay current on all of your required continuing education. You know, everything there is to know about contracts dot loop and the internet.

You know what? You’ve got all the training you need to succeed in stage two. You long for an opportunity to grow and expand your capabilities. You’re burned out and you’re tired of running in place. You’re not getting better. You’re, you’re, you’re just in a bad, bad spot. In column three with the diehards, you’ve put in your time and you enjoy great status and respect in the community.

You are the man or the woman, as the case may be. And you’re doing fine. Just fine. Thank you very much. I think that’s a really prevalent attitude in column three. In column four, the new real estate professional, I think what we all aspire to, the best keep getting better, your continued ability to achieve more and more over time is accelerated by coaching and education.

You’re always curious and you never stop learning. And I think the key phrase there is over time because the folks in column four know that nothing happens overnight. It takes intentional effort. It takes intentional awareness, and you have to surround yourself with people that are going to help you get to the next level, whether it’s a Vifinia company coach or a mentor who’s been in the business or a broker that absolutely is supportive of the business that you want to That you practice and that you want to cultivate, you know, you, you, you know, that to keep getting better, you have to open yourself up to new ideas, new people, new opportunities.

You have to stay curious and you can never stop learning. So it’s almost complacency versus curiosity, right? It’s, you know, stage three might be, I’ve arrived stage one might be, I know how to do this, but stage four keeps learning, stays curious. They invest in themselves and they invest in their career. I think the whole idea of the best getting better, if you, if you don’t have that mindset, I just don’t think you’re going to, you’re going to have the longevity, um, that I think most of us aspire to in this business.

So continuous learning is not just about adding those little letters after your name on your business card, you know, ABR. credited, uh, um, I forget what it is when you work with old people or whatever, you know, all those different designations that you can get. It doesn’t really, nobody cares, right? It’s about what’s in it for them.

So it’s not about adding letters after your name on your business card. It’s about staying relevant and about staying fully equipped to serve your clients. So maybe you want to challenge yourself to figure out, you know, decide on one new skill or one new niche in the market or one new person or group of people that you want to cultivate a relationship with, right?

Pick one thing that you want to learn, master, to expand what you have to offer the market. You know, maybe it’s learning about short term rentals, or maybe it is acquiring a new certification, right? I mean, I don’t mean to belittle. You know, by our representation, education or any education and the National Association of Realtors and the, um, state and local chapters have some fantastic.

Um, learning, but if you’re doing it just to add another group of letters to your business card, you’re, you’re missing the point. It’s got to be something that you want to invest in because you’re excited about learning it and passing it along. I once took a, and I, and I wish I would do more and maybe I will.

I once took a week long, 40 hour CCI CCIM class because I wanted to better understand, you know, the investors that we work with, I wanted to better understand how to value the properties that I own. And it was something that I was excited about. It was appropriately challenging and it stuck with me for years and years.

So, you know, you don’t have to just take the continuing ed that they offer on the, uh, uh, whatever, uh, uh, internet provider for continuing ed offers. Take some time, go out, look for something that actually might get you excited. And, and, uh, embrace that and, and try something new. Maybe it’s an annual thing that you pick one thing every year that you’re going to learn that you, that, that you’ve always wanted to, but never had time for.

All right. I think 

Laci LeBlanc: Nana is definitely a diehard. We talk about Nana, um, my grandmother who has been in real estate her whole adult life and she’s definitely in the diehard column, but she loves to learn new things. She loves to keep up with, um, technology as much as possible. Um, that said, you know, her, she definitely fell into the category of, you know, when it was no longer necessary to support her family.

She still does real estate, but she didn’t stay as that she does the required trainings, but she didn’t stay as up to date with the technology and stuff like that. And now that she’s trying to. Continue to just manage her existing assets, especially when it comes to the property she owns. Um, she, you know, she runs into some trouble sometimes with, with, you know, now people want things on the internet and luckily her granddaughter is very helpful and knows how the internet works.

But, you know, she wants to put, to put things on online. And so it’s a real learning curve for her because she doesn’t, she didn’t stay up to date necessarily with that stuff. So again, you know, it’s definitely a matter of. Working with joy and confidence and, and being able to accomplish these things, um, without kind of, um, pushing yourself over your limits, but it’s also practical, you know, staying, staying curious and finding things that interest you, um, you know, can help you find your niche, um, and, and can help you grow your business, but also it’s just required in certain cases, um, to kind of be ahead of the curve.

Chris McAllister: That’s right. So mindset number eight, as we close out this podcast today is called celebrate professionalism and calling one column one, the deal makers. If you find yourself here, your clients trust the internet and HGTV more than they trust you. Buyers are liars and sellers are worse. Sums up the business for you.

It’s easy to get jaded over time when your focus is on the simply and solely on the next transaction under celebrate professionalism for the disillusioned and column two. You know, you’re always willing to go the extra mile, but you’re not really sure what buyers and sellers expect today. You don’t know what the extra mile is, right?

The only thing you know for sure is you can’t work any harder than you already are. So that’s what the disillusioned tend to feel when it comes to the Full mindset of celebrating professionalism. In column three with the diehards, professional means being available 24 7. Professionalism means getting to jump on a new lead before anybody else.

You know, that means working holidays, working weekends, whatever it takes. That whole out hustle the competition, as we talked earlier, is the secret to your success. And you know what? Your family understands that. They know your business comes first. You’re only doing it for them. In column four though, celebrate professionalism.

You stay the course when others panic and falter. Tactics and market conditions may change. But your commitment to your clients and your profession never waivers. You know, you mentioned Priscilla earlier and, um, you know, she’s incredibly successful. She’s been at this for, you know, 30 years at this point.

But she had sent me a text the other day that, you know, my gosh, things have really, really been slow the past three or four months. And, you know, it happens to all of us and we all get nervous. We all get scared. We all get anxious. But, you know, you, you still stay the course, right? So, you know, it’s the first of the year, it’s tax time.

You know, one thing she’s going to do is she always does, regardless of what’s happening in the business, she’s going to make copies of all the closing statements that she had. And she’s going to get those out to their sellers in the mail, you know, right now. So they have it for tax time in case they didn’t keep it right.

She’s planning her next client appreciation event. You know, she’s going to have Valentine’s Day pot buys that she’s going to be doing. Right. She’s, she’s going to focus on her business building activities regardless of whether or not the market is currently slow or not. And that’s what it means to stay the course when, when others panic or falter.

If you’ve got a personal business standard that you’re going to, you know, write X personal notes, you’re going to make X phone calls, you’re going to do X number of pop buys, and you’re going to add, you know, two, three, four or five people to your database every week. That doesn’t change with market conditions.

You do those things and you create market conditions. So as we sum up, uh, celebrate professionalism, sitting, shifting perception, stage one is jaded, you know, buyers are liars. Cynicism stage four remains calm, professional under pressure. They’re not blaming anything or anybody. They understand that it’s their expertise and their, their knowledge and their.

Genuine support of their clients that that matters most and they are what their clients and current and future clients need the most. And also this whole thing about, you know, working 24 7, everything gets us into setting boundaries and having a balanced life. I think episode 2 of this series was all about boundaries.

Obviously that attitude in stage 3 often leads to burnout. I would say it always leads to burnout. True professionalism. If you’re going to celebrate professionalism, that means That you have to protect the goose that lays the golden eggs, right? So true professionalism includes healthy, healthy boundaries.

That let your client that let you serve your clients better for the long term. So that wraps up our discussion of the, uh, eight mindsets and, and where you may currently fall on the, on the scorecard itself assessment and, and where you, uh, may want to follow in the future. So as we sort of tie it up again, stage four is always aspirational.

Stage four in each category isn’t just about being the best, it’s a mindset of continually seeking excellence. You don’t arrive, right, at stage four as a new real estate professional and magically stay there. You keep evolving. And protecting the gold, the goose that lays the golden eggs means safeguarding the pillars of your business, your unique skills, your relationships, your personal wellbeing, and your long term vision.

This is how you ensure that your real estate career remains profitable and dare I say joyful and purpose driven for years to come.

So what could you do next? Well, I would urge you to download the scorecard. You know, it’s free. It doesn’t cost anything. Print it out. Take a look at it, score yourself now, score yourself in the future, set it aside for three or four months, pull it back out and do it again. Identify which stage you currently occupy and where you aspire to be.

Maybe you want to pick one mindset. Pick a single focus for the quarter and commit to small, consistent actions to raise your game. You know, it’s overwhelming if you think you’re going to do something that’s going to be transformational for every single mindset. Pick the one that resonates with you first.

And we’d love to hear about your journey. We want you to share your insights so you can reach out to us. Um, you can always email me chris at ROOSTRealEstateCo.Com or through the website and we’d love to hear about your progress and maybe you’d even like to be a guest on the podcast. Laci, anything else?

Laci LeBlanc: What an amazing opportunity, I think, to do this. You know, I told you earlier, I love a workbook. I love it, but I also love a group project. I love it like a book club. What a great opportunity to maybe do this with, um, a friend in the business, uh, even if you don’t work alongside each other every day, necessarily.

Um, you know, what a great, great way to, to have kind of accountability partner. But I did want to say, you said, choose one mindset, and I think that is the best advice. No matter which one you choose, we have tools for all of them, right? So, um, you can go back and look at the resource hub on the roost website.

Um, you can go back and look at some of the masterclasses you can email us and let us kind of give you some resources. You can go back and listen through the podcast, but for each of these areas, you know, we have tools that can help. And, you know, I’m reading a book right now that my. kids pediatrician recommended.

It’s about, you know, healthy eating in an unhealthy world and all this stuff. But the, the key to this book, all the information she shares is It’s common knowledge for anybody, any parent who’s concerned about, you know, feeding their kid well, but what’s really valuable about it is she breaks it down into tiny steps that you can take.

So in our house, the, the big thing this, these past couple of weeks has been, yes, you can have any snack you want to have after school. You just eat a fruit or a vegetable first, like just have a, you know, a cup of oranges or an apple with some peanut butter. And then you can have pretzels or chips or whatever magically.

My kids are not as hungry as they once were, but when they are, they commonly will eat that fruit or vegetable and then that will be enough and they won’t go for the chips or the granola bar or the crackers or whatever. So I think there is great power in breaking it down. And like I said, we’ve got, um, we’ve got steps you can take and ideas and resources and tools for each and every one of these areas.

So, um, we’ll link to some of those in the show notes as well. 

Chris McAllister: Absolutely. All right. If you found this episode helpful, please consider sharing it with a friend or colleague or leaving us a review. I appreciate you listening. Stay tuned for episode 11 as we continue diving into strategies and mindsets to make your real estate business better and your life easier.

Thank you very much, Laci. 

Laci LeBlanc: See you next time. 

Chris McAllister: Okay. Bye.