Are you receiving Inman’s Agent Edge? Make sure you’re subscribed here.
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, a book by John Maxwell, outlines the laws that lead to the development of a successful leader. After studying top producers, I can say that there are similarities in the laws of leadership and building a lasting business.
If you’re looking for explosive business growth, you have to work hard, build a team around you and cultivate raving fans.
Here are 11 irrefutable laws of success. If you follow them, explosive growth is just around the corner.
1. The law of the lid
The law of the lid says your ability to grow your real estate business will not exceed the level of competency you have as a real estate agent.
In other words, your amount of competency will act like a lid to the level of success you will achieve in this business.
If you want to take your business to the next level, make sure you are developing into the real estate sales professional who operates at your desired level. Ask yourself what skills you need to thrive at that next level and start taking action on attaining those skills.
2. The law of process
The law of process says your business grows through consistent activities, not with one-time events. We’ve all heard the saying, trust the process, but what does that truly mean? It means that if you have a process that leads to results, then the outcome is inevitable if you will consistently follow the correct processes.
If you know that 50 real estate-related conversations lead to a transaction for you, and you want 50 transactions in the next year, and you plan to work 50 weeks, then you simply need to make sure you have at least 50 conversations each of the 50 weeks you work to achieve your goal.
Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a day and underestimate what they can achieve in a year. Develop your process for success and develop the habits of consistently doing the things you need to do to reach your goals.
3. The law of adding value
The law of adding value says the more value you add to the marketplace, the more your business will grow. How much value do you provide to your past clients? How much value do you provide to the neighborhoods you farm? How much value and insight on current market conditions do you provide the clients you are actively working with right now?
If you are wondering how to grow your business, simply add more value in the marketplace. Record and distribute more video content about your local area or the buying and selling process. Send more direct mail pieces to neighborhoods with information about recent sales that affect the neighborhood homes’ values.
Start a weekly podcast on real estate in your area. Develop deeper relationships with your past clients by keeping in touch with them.
The best way to ensure your business will grow is to find ways to give more to the community you serve.
4. The law of magnetism
The law of magnetism says that your vibe attracts your tribe. In other words, your business naturally draws people who are like you. The beauty of this law is that if you are not currently attracting the clientele, you would like to attract, you can change that with a few adjustments.
If, for example, you want to attract more investors, become a more active investor. If you desire a more sophisticated buyer or seller, then become a more sophisticated agent. If you want to attract more referrals, become the person who gives more referrals to other business providers.
You are magnetic, and drawing your ideal clients is as simple as becoming the person who attracts those ideal clients.
5. The law of the inner circle
The law of the inner circle says the capacity for your future growth is determined by those closest to you. Are the people you spend the most time with inspiring you to be better in every area of your life, or are they draining you emotionally and physically?
Often leveling your business up can be achieved by leveling up the people you spend the most time with daily.
6. The law of momentum
The law of momentum says building momentum is the most powerful, unseen force in business growth. Momentum has the ability to turn a couple of successful transactions into a dozen successful transactions. Momentum breeds confidence, and confidence breeds trust. Trust breeds transactions.
I remember the first home I sold with a sales price over $1 million. The seller I sold the home for was a joy to work with, and we were able to generate a contract in less than a month.
The closing process went very smoothly, and the seller was very complimentary of how I handled the entire process. His confidence in me helped my business gain even more momentum when he referred a friend to me with an $800,000 home that I listed.
Through the process of selling that home, I gained confidence in my abilities. That success gave me the momentum and confidence to call all the owners in the neighborhood where I sold that first million-dollar home. During those calls, I shared the story of selling the home and how it affected their home’s value. That confidence and momentum led to another listing in that neighborhood with a list price of over $1 million.
Momentum is real. Build on it through each transaction and relationship built.
7. The law of reproduction
The law of reproduction adds to the law of momentum. It says you can reproduce past successes again and again in your business. What is it that you’ve done successfully in your business that you could replicate?
Do a deep dive into all your transactions from the past 12 months. Break down where the client came from. How did you communicate with them? Were they referred to you, or did they come from your marketing? Ask yourself what you can do to reproduce that initial conversation with the client who led to that sale.
Even if you’ve only sold one house in the past 12 months, you have the roadmap to more success. Evaluate, replicate, and reproduce. This is the pathway to business growth.
8. The law of priority
The law of priority says what we focus on expands. What are your priorities? Are you reacting to your business daily, or are you being proactive in your priorities? Making lead generation activities a daily priority will generate more leads. When you practice your scripts or sales skills, your conversion rates will go up.
What are the high-yielding activities in your business? The moment you prioritize those activities and focus on them consistently, you will significantly enhance your success trajectory.
9. The law of sacrifice
The law of sacrifice says you have to give up to move up. I wish I could tell you that if you want it badly enough, you could avoid sacrifices. The truth is, to reach new levels, sacrifices will need to be made. Sometimes this involves your leisure time, and other times, it involves sacrificing your comfort or routine.
What would sacrificing an hour of sleep in the morning to wake up early, work out, and study the businesses of top producers mean for your mental and physical preparedness for the rest of your day? What would one extra hour each evening spent at the office calling past clients mean for your business? How would learning a new skill for your business via a book or video in the evening instead of Netflix affect your business’ growth?
The question is: What are you willing to sacrifice in the short-term that will have long-term benefits?
10. The law of timing
The law of timing says patience and intuition on when to take action are critical for growth. Change always comes in our business, and being prepared for opportunities is a large part of the law of timing.
Now would be a great time to study the shifts in previous market cycles:
- What did successful agents do when the real estate market shifted in the past?
- What did agents do when interest rates rose in the past?
- How did listing agents market their listings when they didn’t generate multiple offers and where we discussed days on market instead of hours on market?
We may not know what the future holds, but we can be confident that there will be change. The more prepared you are for whatever happens, the more you will be able to take advantage of the law of timing.
11. The law of explosive growth
The law of explosive growth says growth comes through the systematic, consistent execution of your business. There are specific critical components needed for growth to occur.
Below are the three elements I’ve recognized being in place right before top agents experience explosive growth:
- They work hard and smart: I’ve never seen any real estate businesses that saw explosive growth that didn’t work hard and smart. The quote “work smarter not harder” is true, but if you want to grow your business fast, work harder and work smarter.
- They develop a group of raving fans: The best advertising is word-of-mouth marketing. Referrals are nice, but if you are going to experience explosive growth, you will need a group of raving fans: People who were so pleased with your service or who care about you so much that they will shout your praises from the rooftop. A devoted group of raving fans leads to consistent referrals and business growth.
- They build a team around them: For your business to grow, you will need a network of support. You need a lender you can trust, as well as an inspector, landscaper, home stager, photographer and closing agent you can depend on to do their job professionally. As your business grows, you need an administrator, transaction coordinator and marketing assistant. The better the team is around you, the quicker your growth.
Evaluate your business, and identify which of these laws you can improve. Resolve to implement the action steps and systems you need for growth. Once you start taking action, the results will soon follow.
Jimmy Burgess is the Chief Growth Officer for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Beach Properties of Florida in Northwest Florida. Connect with him on Facebook or Instagram.
