Do You Need a Real Estate Coach?

'Should I get a real estate coach?'

'I've been an agent since the dawn of time. A real estate coach? Why would I need one?'

'What can a real estate coach do for me?'

If you spend much time talking to real estate agents, or participating in real estate forums and groups, you will hear questions like these posed over and over.

So how do you know when you need a real estate coach?

Why you need a coach

Successful agents who use coaches would tell you, 'You need a coach. Period.' As in, everyone should have a real estate coach—from day one of your career.

What about those long tenure agents that have been licensed for years? You know the type. You ask them a question and they respond with encyclopedic knowledge. It seems like they have seen and experienced everything possible in the often wild and crazy world of real estate sales. They are the consummate real estate professional. Why in the world would they need a real estate coach?

Let's use one of my favorite topics for an analogy: sports.

Sports is probably the first thing you think of when you hear the word 'coach.' The baseball coach walking out to the mound to yank the pitcher from the game. The sharp dressed basketball coach giving the referees a hard time. The football coach showing an intensity second to none as he screams from the sideline.

Professional athletes are really good at what they do. They've been coached all their lives. Many a Hall of Fame inductee has had a former coach give a speech at their induction ceremony. Many athletes credit a past coach for their success.

If a professional athlete—arguably someone at the peak of performance and execution—needs and sees the benefits of a coach, can you see why a real estate professional might benefit from one?

What a coach can do for you

Many real estate coaches, and the agents that use them, will tell you that the most important thing a coach does is hold you accountable.

Accountability is huge, and it's a tough thing for many real estate pros. In most jobs, you report to a manager or supervisor. You set performance goals. You get reviewed periodically. If you do poorly on your review, you might be looking for a new job. Accountability is a core part of most jobs.

Not so much in real estate. Sure, you have a broker, but they don't tend to manage agents with the diligence that a manager in a 9-to-5 position will. When is the last time you got a performance review from your broker? The only person in real estate that holds you accountable is you. Human nature being what it is, staying accountable, staying on task, and setting goals are not easy things to do.

A real estate coach can help hold you accountable. Specifically, they can help you implement, fix or improve many things in your business. Things like:

• Lead generation tactics
• Controlling expenses
• Identifying and building your brand
• Technology woes
• Improving sales volume
• Prospecting
• Client and contact management

If a pro athlete can use a coach, you can too, no matter how good an agent you are. Sometimes, you just need a swift kick in the pants, a spark, or a motivation to keep going. Find a good real estate coach and they can help you build your business. If nothing else, when success comes, you can dump a bucket of Gatorade over your coach's head!