I\u2019ve had the good fortune of spending business development time with Tony Robbins. Although he\u2019s known as a personal development guru, he\u2019s created some fantastic programs for business owners as well. A couple of years ago, I spent two weeks at his \u201cUniversity\u201d on an island in Fiji dedicating the time to growing myself as a better leader. Needless to say, it was an amazing experience.<\/p>\n
There was one specific \u201caha\u201d moment that I will never forget and I\u2019d like to share with anybody in the real estate brokerage business.<\/p>\n
During one of the morning sessions, Tony asked the question, \u201cWhat business are you in?\u201d<\/p>\n
After thinking for a quick moment, I said, \u201cThe real estate brokerage business.\u201d<\/p>\n
He quickly said, \u201cWrong!\u201d but then continued by saying, \u201cLet me give you an example about what I\u2019m talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n
He went on to tell a story about his friend who owns a chain of car washes. However, these aren\u2019t ordinary car washes. They are amongst the most productive and profitable car washes in the industry. While the competitors operate their business as being in the \u201ccar wash\u201d business, his friend operates as being in the \u201cself-esteem\u201d business. He realized that the customer feels better about themselves (and their car) after getting it freshly cleaned. It really isn\u2019t about washing the car, it\u2019s about giving the car owner a boost of self-esteem.<\/p>\n
With that small distinction, the entire nature of the business changed. Employees were given specific scripts to use when greeting a customer. License plate recognition software was implemented to help track customer orders and frequency. Facility cosmetics were adjusted to tell a different \u201cstory.\u201d When you visit one of these car washes, you leave with more than just a clean car.<\/p>\n
After hearing that example, I had a better understanding to the power of the question, \u201cWhat business are you in?\u201d<\/p>\n
So I spent the next day and a half contemplating the best answer. Then, all of a sudden, it hit me. I went back to Tony and said, \u201cI\u2019m in the state management business.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d he said, \u201cYes, you are.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a brokerage owner, my main job is to put our agents in a state of productivity, instead of a state of procrastination. I need to facilitate a state of confidence, instead of doubt. I must create an environment necessary to elicit the state of excellence over mediocrity.<\/p>\n
Since making that small distinction, we now design training, implement technology and make hiring decisions based on being in the state (or mood) management business. I interact with agents clearly knowing my role and conduct meetings always keeping that strategy in mind.<\/p>\n
You want to know the best part? Your competitors won\u2019t know how you\u2019re doing it! They won\u2019t be able to point to a specific technology or marketing piece and understand it. Even better, they won\u2019t be able to duplicate it.<\/p>\n
So ditch the thinking that you\u2019re in the real estate brokerage business and embrace the suggestion that you\u2019re in the \u201cstate management business.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you\u2019d like to have a conversation or would like to give input about this strategy, post any comments below, or reach out to me anytime! I love meeting peers who embrace a different way of doing what we do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve had the good fortune of spending business development time with Tony Robbins. Although he\u2019s known as a personal development guru, he\u2019s created some fantastic programs for business owners as well. A couple of years ago, I spent two weeks at his \u201cUniversity\u201d on an island in Fiji dedicating the time to growing myself as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":12563,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,101,271],"tags":[4371,13481,27851,33981,41051,43521],"class_list":["post-12559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-planning","category-featured-post","category-thought-leadership-2","tag-bhgre-realty-partners","tag-eric-post","tag-motivation","tag-real-estate","tag-state-management","tag-tony-robbins"],"yoast_head":"\n