September means Back to Basics here at Inman. As real estate navigates the post-settlement era with new commission rules, real estate professionals from across the country will share what’s working for them, how they’ve evolved their systems and tools, and where they’re investing personally.
Are you aware of the cost of making excuses? In real estate, your clients don’t care about why things went wrong — they care about results. If you want to boost your commissions, have more satisfied clients, and break through the barriers blocking your success, it’s time to stop making excuses and focus on taking action instead.
Recently my husband, Byron Van Arsdale, a master certified coach who has trained over 1,000 business and personal coaches internationally, and I have been discussing how excuses are a major block to achieving higher performance. If you’re on the receiving end of an excuse, you probably recognize it, but do you notice when you are the one who is making the excuse?
How to recognize when you’re making an excuse
In many cases, you may not even realize when you’re making excuses. Excuses can appear as reasons for why something can or cannot be done, explanations, justifications and/or rationalizations.
Listening to others when they make a mistake or find themselves in a difficult situation is an excellent way to start spotting excuses. One of the keywords to listen for is the word “because.”
When you hear someone say, “I didn’t meet the deadline because,” you’ll quickly realize how common excuses are in business and personal situations. As you build your awareness about the excuses others make, use it to begin making changes in your own behavior.
When you do identify that you were making an excuse, justification or rationalization, ask yourself, “Am I making an excuse?” If so, then ask, “Is there something I can do to change this situation?”
Moving from excuse and explanation to performance
When you eliminate excuses, the focus shifts from explaining why something didn’t happen to asking whether you performed or not. This shift not only increases your accountability, it also enhances your ability to achieve real results in your business.
For example, assume you left 10 minutes late for a showing and your buyers are waiting outside the house. Your buyers don’t care what your reasons were for arriving late — all they really care about is they’re they had to wait an extra 10 minutes for you to show up.
When you approach this issue from a performance issue, you can limit the number of times this happens by simply leaving five minutes early for your appointments — no excuses.
If you left on time and there was an accident or something that you could not control, avoid making an excuse or explaining. Instead, say: “My GPS says I should be there at 4:07.”
This way your clients will know when to expect you. You also didn’t have to explain or make an excuse about the accident. The bottom line, however, is you still didn’t arrive on time.
Excuses and the cost to your commissions
According to Clotaire Rapaille, the consultant who charges $200,000 per day to identify what causes a company’s potential customers to purchase, Americans buy based upon three factors: “hope,” “dream” and “fix it.”
Every time you justify why something didn’t happen, whether it’s a missed appointment, a failed deal or an unsent follow-up, you’re potentially losing out on commissions. Clients don’t want to hear why it didn’t work out; they want to know how you’re going to fix it.
Furthermore, Rapaille’s research shows that when there is an issue, American consumers consistently rate people who fix the problems higher than situations where there were no problems. In other words, your ability to rectify mistakes is more important than explaining why something went wrong in the first place.
Take a tip from Costco
Costco has a “no-excuses return policy.” Real estate agents can adopt a similar mindset when something goes wrong. Rather than explaining about what went wrong, shift the conversation to the immediate steps required to fix the issue. This builds trust and loyalty, which in turn leads to more referrals and repeat business.
Breaking through the $100K glass ceiling
Back in the 1990s, Van Arsdale spotted that many real estate agents bump into an income glass ceiling at $100,000.
“What keeps agents from breaking through the $100,000 glass ceiling is not external factors, but internal excuses. This glass ceiling is largely self-imposed,” he said. “By removing excuses, you open the door to breaking through this threshold and opening the door to greater success.”
It’s also been his observation over the years that agents who surpass the $100,000 mark in commissions rarely fall back below that number. As he explained, “Once the excuses are gone, agents can focus on refining their business processes, going back to basics, and increasing their income with relative ease. Eliminating excuses leads to a “quiet place” where you simply perform, or you don’t — there’s no middle ground.”
Excuses don’t fix problems
Whether you’re working with vendors, colleagues or clients, offering excuses doesn’t solve problems. Being results-focused allows you to better manage your business relationships and constantly keep your deals moving forward.
The path to top performance
By focusing on results, what your clients care about most, and holding yourself accountable for your performance, you can boost your commissions, break through the $100,000 income glass ceiling and build lasting success in the industry.
Remember, excuses cost you money; performance earns you loyalty and referrals.
Bernice Ross, president and CEO of BrokerageUP and RealEstateCoach.com, and the founder of RealEstateWealthForWomen.com is a national speaker, author and trainer with over 1,500 published articles.
