What Separates a Mediocre Agent From a Top Producer?

Mindset is what separates mediocre agents from top-producing agents—mediocre agents have static mindsets, while top producers have growth mindsets.

Looking to improve your real estate career? I'm here to help you make a smart decision when it comes to growing your business, improving your bottom line, and choosing a place to work in real estate sales. If you'd like to learn more about working with Clancy Real Estate, contact me at (518)861-7016 or Kevin@ClancyRealEstate.com.

What separates a mediocre agent from a top producer? 

I’ve worked with dozens of agents over the years who came to our team making $15,000 or $20,000 a year and worked their way up to making $200,000+ a year, and there are many possible answers to this question. You could say things like knowledge, drive, talent, or motivation, but it’s actually none of those traits.

It’s their mindset—that’s what separates a mediocre agent from a top-producing agent. 

I’ve come to the realization that there are two types of mindsets: a static mindset and a growth mindset. An agent with a static mindset is one who isn’t reading books or putting the time in to grow as a person. They want to be told they’re great, they don’t want criticism, and they don’t want to grow. An agent with a growth mindset is the exact opposite. They thrive on learning. They watch videos, read books, and devour information to make them better. They embrace criticism because they know it makes them better. 

Let me give you an example of a growth mindset. I got my butt kicked this week on a listing appointment. It was a great listing, and I wanted it badly, but I lost it to another firm. That kind of thing happens—you’re not going to win every listing. Early in my career, I would’ve gotten upset about something like that. In this case, though, I called the seller, congratulated them on picking a great agent, and asked them why they didn’t pick us. 

It was kind of funny—they said our firm was too big. I always think of us as a small firm, and at this listing presentation I was explaining how we could compete with some of the bigger national firms. Yet, I wasn’t really in tune with what the seller wanted, which was a smaller firm with a more personalized experience. 

Had I not asked the seller why they didn’t choose us and received their feedback, I wouldn’t have been able to improve. Now I know if I’m on my next listing appointment and I sense that someone wants more personalized service, I should stress how we really are a smaller firm with personal service. 

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Are you a growth-minded person or a static-minded person?

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A person with a static mindset would never get that far or try to improve or grow. They’d continue to lose listings and never change their listing presentation. 

The question now becomes, if you’re having a bad day, how do you change? We all do different things. I’m about to go for a run this afternoon to clear my mind and work on some things I want to work on during that time. I suggest you take some time out of your day to clear your mind and focus on what you want to do.

This week, think about two things—whether you’re a growth-mindset person or a static-mindset person. Are you constantly growing and do you want to be the best agent you can be or is real estate just something you plod along at? 

If you want something to help you with your career, I have tens of thousands of dollars worth of books, tapes, and other material that can help you with your career that I’d be happy to share with you. 

If you have any more questions about this topic or you want to know what it’s like on our team, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. We’re still looking for one agent who wants to earn six figures a year with all leads provided. Have an awesome week, and I look forward to hearing from you.

How Can You Increase Your Income in Real Estate?

How can you increase the amount of money you make in the real estate industry? I have three key ways you can do just that.

Looking to improve your real estate career? I'm here to help you make a smart decision when it comes to growing your business, improving your bottom line, and choosing a place to work in real estate sales. If you'd like to learn more about working with Clancy Real Estate, contact me at (518)861-7016 or Kevin@ClancyRealEstate.com.

Now that it’s 2018, I hope that you’re looking forward to growing your business and increasing your income. If you are, the question becomes “How can you increase your income?”

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People will want to pay you more if they associate your brand and reputation with the quality of the service that you bring.

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There are major three ways you can increase the amount of money you make in real estate:

1. You can sell more houses. Everyone likes to brag about how many homes they’ve sold. That’s great, but I’d rather sell fewer homes at a higher price than more homes at a lower price. It’s less stress on my staff, less work in general, and we’re still making the same amount of money. You can focus on selling more homes, but it’s a tremendous amount of work, and it’s probably the hardest of these three options to carry out. 


2. You can sell higher-priced homes. Let’s assume that you’re selling below the average sales price in your area; how can you increase your personal average sales price? I recently spoke with a top-producing KW agent who moved her average price point up to $1 million. She said that doing it was easy; she bought a $1 million house, joined a country club, and started hanging out with people who also lived in a millionaire community. 

That’s not achievable for everyone, however. You just have to make a conscious effort to determine what sort of price point you’re willing to work with and what your bottom cutoff level is. Sticking to the lower levels, unfortunately, means that you’re not maximizing your dollar return for the price point you’re working in. We’re creating a separate division for low-end properties with a team dedicated to working with them so that high-end properties won’t reject listing with us, thinking that we’re only for low-end clients.


3. You can obtain a higher marketing fee. Your marketing fee only becomes an issue in the absence of value. If you’re not creating value for your client, the price you ask for will be contested. It’s like the difference between paying more for a brand name product instead of paying less for an off-brand product. People will want to pay you more if they associate your brand and reputation with the quality of the service that you bring.

Lastly, another way to make more money is to join a better team. I have two spots open on my team, but they’re only for agents who want to make six figures. We have a great team, I’m providing all the leads, and we have a lot of fun with what we do. If you have any questions about what you can do to earn more money in the real estate industry or would like to know about joining the team, feel free to reach out. I’d love to speak with you.

How Can You Achieve Your Goals for 2018?

If you want to be successful in 2018, write down your goals—what you’re willing to change and what you’re willing to give up to achieve those goals.

Looking to improve your real estate career? I'm here to help you make a smart decision when it comes to growing your business, improving your bottom line, and choosing a place to work in real estate sales. If you'd like to learn more about working with Clancy Real Estate, contact me at (518)861-7016 or Kevin@ClancyRealEstate.com.

The new year has arrived, so I hope you have your business plan in place for 2018. If you don’t, it’s not too late. 

January is a time of change, so the question is: What are you going to do differently in 2018 that you didn’t do in 2017 to achieve your goals?

I’m fortunate because my team had a great 2017. We hit Las Vegas for training, we hit Chicago for training, and we hit the Bahamas just for fun. I’m blessed to have some great guys in my life. 

If your 2017 wasn’t like ours, what are you going to do differently? I signed a deal today that will change things for us in 2018. It’s a big deal for us—it could make or break us, but we’re changing things. We’re not resting on our laurels—we're changing things going forward. 

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If you’re on a team and you’re not happy, call me.

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If you’re on a team and you’re not happy, call me. We have open spots on our team for two new members, and we’re looking for people who want to make six figures. I want two people who want to have fun and look forward to coming to work every day in an environment that’s fun to work in. I look forward to every single work day. 

If you want to be successful, write down your goals—what you’re willing to change and what you’re willing to give up to achieve those goals. Do this, and you’ll get there. If you need help, we’re happy to oblige. We’re a goal-oriented culture, and we love helping other Realtors. 

If you have any other questions or would like to sit down and chat about real estate over a cup of coffee, call or email me anytime. I look forward to hearing from you.

Why You Should Be Throwing Client Appreciation Events

Client appreciation events help you reconnect with and stay top of mind with your clients.

Looking to improve your real estate career? I'm here to help you make a smart decision when it comes to growing your business, improving your bottom line, and choosing a place to work in real estate sales. If you'd like to learn more about working with Clancy Real Estate, contact me at (518)861-7016 or Kevin@ClancyRealEstate.com.

Client appreciation events are a valuable tool for agents to cultivate better relationships with their clients. If you’re not throwing at least one annual client appreciation event per year, I recommend you start doing so. 

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You should be doing some kind of client appreciation event annually.

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My team and I recently hosted a great Thanksgiving pie giveaway. We made several hundred pies and had many clients stop by our office. These kinds of events are a great way to stay top of mind, reconnect with your clients, and re-energize your relationship with them. 

Speaking of appreciation, I’m taking most of my team to the Bahamas next week to an all-inclusive resort. If you or your team isn’t going to the Bahamas, give me a call and I’ll explain to you why we’re making the trip. I love my team, and they make me want to be a better person every single day. It’s because of them that I love coming into work. 

If you’re not experiencing that kind of work environment, I also invite you to give me a call so I can talk to you about getting you to a six-figure income. 

If you have any other questions in the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you, and I hope you have an awesome holiday season.

How to Make Your Business More Efficient and Scalable

To increase efficiency and scalability in your business, don’t waste your time on decisions that don’t matter.

Looking to improve your real estate career? I'm here to help you make a smart decision when it comes to growing your business, improving your bottom line, and choosing a place to work in real estate sales. If you'd like to learn more about working with Clancy Real Estate, contact me at (518)861-7016 or Kevin@ClancyRealEstate.com.

I just got back from a week-long trip to Las Vegas where I met with and spoke to Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff. While I was there, we spoke about many things, and one of them was our topic for the day: efficiency and scalability in your business. 

In real estate, we do many, many things over and over again. Because of this, you must ask yourself, what systems and processes do you have in place to make your business scalable and more efficient?

You may notice something different about me in the video above—I’m not wearing a white shirt. I’ve shot hundreds of videos, and in each and every one of them, I’ve worn a white shirt. I  generally always wear a white shirt. It’s so easy to put a suit and tie on with a white shirt. I wear black shoes, black socks, a black belt, and a tie that’s pre-tied. This all might sound crazy, but it saves me a tremendous amount of time—I pick a suit, I pick a tie, and I’m out the door!

It’s not me—it’s a trick I picked up from the likes of Gary Keller, Tony Robbins, and Steve Jobs. They didn’t spend a tremendous amount of time making decisions that don’t matter. They spent their time on the rainmaking decisions. 

So, don’t waste your time on decisions that don’t matter. There are many things you can do to maximize efficiency in your business. I use a stand-up desk every day in my office because it doesn’t allow me to waste time sitting. I’ve found that if you’re standing at your desk, you’re more efficient and you get more things done. 

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Don’t waste your time on decisions that don’t matter.

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One of the best classes I ever took in college was a class called “Industrial Marketing.” One day during class, the professor flipped a chair over for us to look at. We saw a bunch of holes drilled into the underside of that chair that didn’t need to be there. They weren’t being used, and it costs money to drill holes, so why were they there? 

The point he was trying to emphasize is you need to analyze every part of your business, where you can cut expenses, and where you can save time. For example, if you’re still running around delivering deposit checks, stop doing that and start mailing them. Your time is more important for driving around delivering deposit checks! For just 49 cents, you’ll save yourself a tremendous amount of time. 

If you have any questions about increasing your efficiencies or you want to know how we are more efficient and are able to sell 300 to 400 homes a year, give me a call anytime. I would love to go out for coffee and talk with you.

What’s Your Approach to Lead Generation?

Lead generation is an important part of any real estate business. What are the pillars of lead generation in your business?

Looking to improve your real estate career? I'm here to help you make a smart decision when it comes to growing your business, improving your bottom line, and choosing a place to work in real estate sales. If you'd like to learn more about working with Clancy Real Estate, contact me at (518)861-7016 or Kevin@ClancyRealEstate.com.

The real estate market in and around Albany is still hot, as you already know. A lot of you are probably doing some great numbers out there. But what happens when the market slows down?

Today I want to talk about lead generation and, more specifically, the pillars of lead generation. What are your pillars? Where do your leads come from? When the market changes, you’ll be stagnant if you don’t have strong pillars in place. 

A pillar could be anything from door knocking and cold calling to social media marketing and advertising. The only thing that matters is that you are a master. Once you’ve mastered one pillar of lead generation, you can start to master another, like lead follow-up. That’s how a successful business is built.

If online marketing isn’t a pillar of lead generation for you already, it should be. You might think the concept of “buying leads” sounds like a waste of money, but you’re going to see returns. Our team has seen a 4 or 5x return on what we’ve spent already. That’s just for Zillow.

Over 40% of our business comes from referrals. This is where you want to end up because when a big portion of your business comes from word of mouth, you will see decreased costs and increased profitability.

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Over 40% of our business comes from referral.

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If you have any questions for me, if you want to know how we generate 40% of our business through referrals, or if you just have a real estate question in general, give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to hear from you.