Global Success Coach

Set Some New Goals

Coached Eggs Ask successful people what the secret to their success is and they will all answer "I set personal and business goals, know the cost, commitment and time frame I want to achieve them in, and review them regularly" Not everyone has the tools and motivation to do this until now.... "I have designed a program to make my unique coaching and goal setting system available to everyone via a very clever yet incredibly simple online program 'Coached Eggs'. By using the unique 'Coached Eggs' goal setting program, and the motivational information and strategies I share, I know you will heap success upon success until you have gained the balanced and rewarding life you desire and you know you deserve. I list these key reasons why allocating a little of your time and resources to yourself is such a very good idea. Setting personal and business goals is essential to creating a wonderful life - not having life just 'happen' to you. Working in a coaching environment challenges you to play harder. You'll set much higher, larger and more amazing goals! You'll simply aim higher and live larger. You will become more 'dollar productive', more efficient and so be able to earn more and have more time off! You will become more honest about what you really want. Life will become richer and easier. How does Coached Eggs work Coaching Eggs is 100% interactive. To achieve any goal you first need to know what it is, when you want it and how much it will cost in time, money or sacrifice. Coached Eggs helps you to do this by a simple interactive program. Your goals can be set up in just minutes. The actions required for each goal are chosen and you are on your way! It's just so easy - you login and check your progress every day, once a week or once a month, the choice is yours? 'Coached Eggs' offers all the support you need, with all the freedom to grow at your own pace and achieve your own individual level of success. Need inspiration? An essential part of the Coached Eggs program is to offer regular inspirational messages to encourage you to keep on track to achieve your personal and business goals. Coached Eggs will encourage you to find the best in you and show you how to apply your strengths for greater effect and gain. You will improve your performance. The mechanics that make all this happen are simple. As you explore the online programme 'Coached Eggs', you'll discover it doesn't ask for great slabs of your time. Our joint ambition is for you to achieve your goals little by little, until the cumulative achievement sees a dramatic fulfilling change. What do I do now? Changing your circumstances requires one initial decision- to get started! Make a decision right now to trial Coached Eggs for 30days. There's no risk at all, if you unsubscribe at anytime with the first 30 days you will not be charged one cent. If you stay on, it will only be because you have gained so much value from the Coached Eggs program, it's simple worth it! www.coachedeggs.com

Now is the ‘Time to Strike’

Now is the time to strike while all those around you may be giving up – as your competitors spend precious Dollar Productive time preaching the sky is falling and the market is tough?

They are so busy destroying their own reality while becoming convinced it’s just all too hard at the moment. They just can’t see the massive opportunity we are all given right here, right now!

So now is the time to take real advantage of your competitor’s inattention to the huge amount of opportunities that are right there for the taking. The beauty of the current climate is that it filters out the real performers from the people that just cruise through the day soaking up their ‘natural market share’ without really doing the business. When the going gets tough these people just go – right out the back door.

Yes, we will see lots of casualties in the next few months but for the serious people out there that’s not a bad thing. Even if the pie is shrinking, it just gives the rest of us the chance to grab a great big slice of a slightly smaller pie. That in its self can be a big piece of action.

What’s the strategy?

Right now, more than in any moment in time, there is a need to strike a decisive blow to gain a big slice of market share off your competition.

As a winner of that new found market share you will be strengthening up your foundations and scaffolding for even greater momentum when the market returns to ‘normal’. Gaining critical mass now will pay huge dividends in the future.

Now is not the time to falter but to surge ahead and dominate the business segment you are in. In tough times clients will gravitate to positive, enthusiastic people who can provide answers and solve problems. If you supply a product or service you need to become the ‘paramedic’ salesman- it's time to stop selling pretty products and start selling ugly situations. Speaking the truth to your clients about the realities of their situation is a hard task, but your clients expect it and they will certainly respect it.  And if you have the positive solution to cure the illness - you will start to be the one to make all the house calls.

It's time to Zig when everyone else Zags

Don’t follow the herd; in most markets the minority of the business people do the majority of business, so why follow the pack? The greatest profit is made when you supply something, or do something, or solve something no one else can. Being unique is a powerful position not a weakness. And courage is needed to take the other road. 

Charles Darwin said ‘It’s not the most intelligent nor the strongest that survives, but the most adaptive to change’.  What worked before might not now, the system we used before might now be redundant, the advice we received could be a generation out of context. Review your information and make a firm decision about what, where and from whom you will now source your advice.

The Secret Weapon

I was asked the other day how my coaching clients were fairing up in the current client. Without exception they are having record months, gaining market share and increasing their income many times over. That’s because our work together moves them against the natural flow, to gain when others can’t and to join that exclusive club; the minority that earns the majority of business within their chosen field. They choose to tap into a ‘tall poppy’ group of winners and work with a business coach and mentor  to stretch their thinking, their beliefs and their knowledge to attain higher incomes, more time off and a far greater quality of life.

But they won’t want me telling you this; it really is their secret weapon.

Written by Grant Thorpe

Grant Thorpe is an internationally recognized Business Coach, Mentor and Professional Speaker with ‘tall poppy’ clients throughout Australia, New Zealand, Asia the United Kingdom and in the United States. His successful work in this field coupled with his incredible energy and enthusiasm makes him a highly sought after speaker. 

Grant entrepreneurial background was founded in the Real Estate Industry. He is known for being one of the best Real Estate marketers in the world, and has become one of the most awarded and respected top performers in the industry.

He has now developed a unique program for coaching top achievers, which has rapidly expanded beyond Real Estate into a wide variety of industries and marketplaces. www.grantthorpe.com

 

 

 

 

 

Harden up and get tough!

“It's not what’s happening – it's what you do that counts”

Written by Grant Thorpe  

                     

In a tough market like we are currently experiencing it's all the more important to have a clear strategy for success. These are my 5 clever strategies to making a huge gain against your competitors in a tough market.

1.       Get up early and get started. Increase our work rate and your work effectiveness by at least 20% to gain an immediate advantage over your competition. This has a compounding effect over time. If I ran a mile each day and you ate a Pizza, by the end of the year we would be 365 miles apart and 365 pizzas apart. One of us would also have a 10 to 15 year life expectancy over the other - one of us would look far better as well. Start now it's never too late.

2.       Have a Plan. Start the day with a plan to get in front of the money. Prioritise your focus on the Dollar Productive Activity first –leave ‘busy stuff’ to last.

3.       Get Tough- to survive in a tough market you need to get tough! Harden up and make some tough decisions to ensure your survival. If it's a cost you don’t need, then get rid of it now! Avoid emotional attachments – just make the call and act on the decision that is required.

4.       Review everything – what was relevant a year ago, a month ago, or a week ago may not be now. Be prepared to change and despite all your beliefs calling you back into your old comfort zone, be prepared to change direction to one that meets the current climate.

5.       Don’t listen to anybody else! In a tough market there are more doomsayers preaching the sky is falling than positive people looking for the raft of opportunities that are right there in front of them. Work out who you are talking to and stick with the positive group. Divorce the others and no matter what, stick to your new plan and don’t deviate from it, no matter how hard others try to influence you.

‘It's not the strongest or the most intelligent that survive, but the most adaptive to change’

-Charles Darwin

Going for Gold!

Coaching and mentoring is the growth industry of the century. More and more people are recognising the value of having someone to guide them through both the tough times and the good times – to maximise the advantages each situation offers.

 

There are a number of benefits in having a coach or mentor to guide you through the various stages of your career development. Average performance should not be acceptable. Assistance may be required to achieve above average performance.

 

It’s important to be able to have someone to bounce ideas off – especially in a business environment. It is not always possible to be open and honest with a colleague about what you are thinking – the things that you would like to try, but aren’t sure whether they’d work; your reasoning for whether they might be successful or not. To have an ‘independent’ sounding board whom you trust and who will be honest with you, can be the difference between a good idea and an amazing business activity/strategy.

If it’s good enough for athletes to have coaches (even “specialist high performance coaches”), then it should be good enough for people in a real estate business to have a coach or mentor to ensure performance levels are high.

Business coaching is an effective way to surpass current levels of performance and productivity.

The challenges faced by real estate businesses in terms of operating effectively in an increasingly competitive environment means there is an opportunity for some agents to step “up to the next level” and achieve much better results than their competitors.

For the proper growth and development of any organisation, it is necessary to have a management team that is up-to-date with recent trends and who have beliefs, values, attitudes, motivation and thoughts that drive them to excel and, more importantly, enables them to inspire their teams to excel.

Business coaching & mentoring provides the perfect platform for developing personal skills and behaviors that are necessary for implementing organisational changes and initiating the learning process.

If you always do, what you’ve always done – your results should be easy to predict.

Business coaching or mentoring should be available at all levels of any organisation. Sometimes it is an informal process, but it is most effective if it is managed and controlled, monitored and supported by management.

The purpose is to improve the performance of those being coached/mentored. The challenge is achieving this outcome with minimal disruption to the business operations. However, if the result is an increase in the business profitability (through more listings, sales & managements) then it should be seen as a worthwhile use of time to develop the team members to achieve these goals.

Grand finals and championships are not won without time devoted to the training & development of all members of the team.

Real estate agents are not the best at sharing their “secrets of success” with their colleagues. They operate in a competitive marketplace. They have set targets, and sometimes these targets over-ride all other purpose in their lives. The need to achieve those targets is often at the expense of quality time with family & friends, or involvement in sport or leisure activities. Their life balance is “out of whack”, in pursuit of their work related targets and goals.

What is required at all levels of any business operation is an understanding of the organisation’s current position and its future growth patterns. Apart from effecting educational development and experience, coaching also provides objective feedback and acts as a critical tool for successfully engineering organisational change.

In adapting to the rapidly shifting marketplace, businesses often need to modify or change their approach to capture a larger slice of the market in which they operate. However, this is often difficult to implement as people and organisations are naturally resistant to change. Business coaching has become a very effective tool for initiating productive changes in individuals, teams, and systems by enabling leaders, managers, and employees to uncover potential that might otherwise go untapped.

To be able to do this is not an easy thing to do in the beginning. The value of the changes need to be recognised first, and then “buy-in” will occur. This shift in attitude and approach can be quite infectious and profitable for all concerned.

“Steady as she goes” is not a good approach in today’s rapidly moving and technologically advancing business environment.

There is a growing recognition that profits, productivity, and customer satisfaction are the outcomes of performance rather than the cause. Coaching programs can focus on leadership issues, cultural factors and the learning and development practices that drive performance. Performance will drive productivity and customer satisfaction, which then permits repeat business and profitability levels to increase.

Everyone’s a winner!

The goal of coaching is not to be an alternative vehicle of managerial control. It should concentrate on empowering and delegating to create a culture of responsibility and self-generated, commitment-based actions.

Coaching is certainly more than just a technique. It involves viewing the business from a different perspective, working through relationships, dialogue and feedback to harness future potential and growth. It provides businesses with the ability to modify current work practices and communications. Coaching has become an important differentiation mechanism for modifying or creating an effective work environment that is more adaptable to change and growth.

Coaching allows managers to more effectively confront challenges and motivate others to achieve the business and personal goals. It creates awareness among managers that they can transform or create a culture that is more receptive to change and open to new possibilities.

Managers (as coaches/mentors) learn to increase their own self-awareness to

• decide when and how to take action

• find creative solutions
• consider opinions and feedback from fellow employees
• set targets
• make appropriate requests
• decrease hostility
• reduce stress and negative emotions in the workplace

Managers who are involved in the coaching process get a clear idea about their own commitments, as well as those of the organisation. They learn how to generate and maintain effective relationships, which in turn increases the levels of trust and accountability in the organisation.

A coached manager’s understanding of organisational and interpersonal dynamics is increased considerably, which in turn empowers them (and others) to achieve the identified business objectives. They learn how to take calculated risks for producing results aligned with the business vision. They learn to develop the right kind of unity and team spirit that will allow powerful work relationships to develop and that, in turn, will help achieve extraordinary results.

There can be no real justification for a business not wanting to improve the performance of the team members – from receptionist to accounts/admin staff to property & sales teams to principals. The level of training and development that occurs is a reflection of the commitment of that business to being the best they can be – and better than their competition.

Go for Gold in an Olympic year!

Tony Rowe is General Manager of Corum Training, a specialist provider of training to the property sector in NSW. Corum Training has fully qualified trainers with extensive knowledge, expertise & experience in the delivery of assessment & training services in real estate across Australia and New Zealand.

Tony can be contacted on 1300 793 723 or

www.corumtraining.com.au

Internet Marketing Guru Mike Andrew

Mike Andrew on Grant Thorpe Business Coach Teleseminar

Posted October 23, 2008
Filed under: research | Tags: on line research, Traditional Vs On Line
Comments(0)

I must give a big thank you to Grant Thorpe who invited me to be a guest speaker this morning on his international teleseminar. I first met Grant when he and I appeared together in September when we hosted a seminar series along with Ian Grace, and I would like to do more appearances with him and we are planning to do just that hopefully in the next few months, so stay tuned for that announcement. However, the reason for this post today is to provide all of Grants listeners and my readers with some of the updated stats that were discussed this morning. We discussed during the teleseminar the changing nature of the internet consumer and I used the following stats from the Sept 2008 CAR Home Buyers Survey to highlight how this is changing consumer habits.

Most Real Estate Agents view the Internet as a buyers tool and will use traditional advertising to impact the seller, in other words use press to list and internet to sell. Well I would encourage you to rethink that strategy, here are the latest research stats on Vendors vs Buyers:

• 84% of Sellers search for their real estate agent on the Internet vs 78% buyers - What does this mean for you? You need now to really focus on using the Internet as a listing tool and make sure that you have complete and up to date information on your listings. You need to make sure your office and agent profiles on all the major portals are complete and up to date. Give some thought to your on line reputation because now the consumer will!!!! 

• 43% of sellers found their agents in 2008 from a previous transaction with that agent a drop of 10% on 2007, however the Internet as a source of agent selection went from 6% in 2007 to 33% in 2008. The impact of “For Sale Signs” in this decision decreased from 6% in 2007 to 2% in 2008.

The impact of traditional advertising on vendors is decreasing at a rapid rate, hence the drop off in press readership. I refer you to a previous post http://mikeandrewrealestate.wordpress.com/2008/09/01/traditional-vs-on-line-marketing-the-big-disconnect/ about the disconnect in advertising budget spend. 

Also check out http://mikeandrewrealestate.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/car-2008-survey-of-california-home-buyers-released/ for more research stats from the C.A.R’s Sept 2008 survey.

I’ll also be interviewing Grant Thorpe for one of my podcasts over the next week so stand by for that, and you can check his web site out at http://www.grantthorpe.com

If you would like any additional information on this survey then please email me or send me a comment, I’d love to hear from you.

Mantra

I will forget about emails, meetings and clients.
I will escape road rage and peak-hour traffic.
I will wear boardies instead of a suit.
I will find the perfect wave.
I will be here the same time tomorrow.
I will make the most of every holiday moment.

Unleashing The Idea Virus

Seth Godins Book 'Unleashing The Idea Virus'

For your Free Copy download it here.

Godin himself notes that much of the content of his book (and his earlier Permission Marketing) seems obvious. Yet, as he goes on to show convincingly, that which is obvious has rarely been practiced. When you read Godin's thoughts about permission marketing and ideaviruses, they may sound obvious yet almost all marketers continue to throw huge sums of money at old-fashioned interruption marketing. The infamous peak of this was the spurt of expensive Superbowl ads by transient e-tailers.             

Like his previous book, Godin's Unleashing the Ideavirus entertains the reader while successfully setting off bursts of ideas along the way. Rather than marketing at the consumer, Godin's approach seeks to maximize the spread of information from customer to customer. The book provides the expected examples of successful ideavirus marketing, then develops a recipe for concocting your own ideaviruses. In order to show how to make your idea infectious, the book examines what makes a powerful 'sneezer', how 'hives' work, and applies the concepts of critical velocity, vector, medium, smoothness, persistence, and amplifiers. As Godin shows, the now-familiar idea of viral marketing is one very specific form of ideavirus marketing. Most businesses will not be able to engage in true viral marketing, but all can use the ideavirus approach.       

While you may finish Unleashing the Ideavirus thinking that you really did not learn anything drastically new, it is unlikely that you will feel that you've wasted your time. Godin has once again written an enjoyable book that cleverly packages important ideas that have obvious practical use. Any book like this that causes the reader to continually stop and rapidly jot down ideas to implement is well worth the hour or two it takes to read. 

Reviewer:Max More, Ph.D. from Marina del Rey, CA USA

Aaron Paterson - I like it

Have a look at this guy, unsigned and doing his own thing- how good is that?

Visit his myspace site here  http://www.myspace.com/aaronpatersonmusic

Californian Interview

I want to take this opportunity to share with you my Real Estate Teleseminar Audio "Californian Interview' which was recently performed in the United States of America.

In this, in depth, 46 minute discussion I share some of my very clever strategies and secrets to working less and earning a huge amount more in Real Estate - today!

No matter which part of the world you are from, the content is absolutely relevant, especially now as many of you are moving into (or are already) in a tough market.

To download your very own, absolutely free copy, just visit this link:

http://www.grantthorpe.com/california-interview.htm

I know you will take some very cunning ideas away from this teleseminar and if you take the action required, you can be closer to the money right now!

I look forward to your feedback and hearing of your personal success.

Grant Thorpe - Global Success Coach

Would You Benefit From A Business Coach?

I wanted to share this great little article written by Carla Cross, CRB, M.A.
Carla Cross Seminars, Inc./Carla Cross Coaching in the USA as she talks about the need for a personal business coach in the real estate industry (or any other entrepreneurial business for that matter) - enjoy!

The real estate industry is cyclical. You've heard people say that. There are 'buyers' markets, and 'sellers' markets. There's another way the real estate industry is cyclical, too. It's cyclical in its approach to supporting its agents. When I started in real estate, (almost three decades ago!), there was no training.

Then, companies started training programs. When I went into management in the early 1980's, we were also taught to coach agents to higher productivity. But, as money got tight, and real estate companies became less profitable, they dumped their training programs. They asked managers to also sell. Just ask any selling manager today whether they have time to train and coach...you know the answer. It's 'no'.

Coaching is Big in the World of Business Today

However, in the world of business generally, coaching has become a big thing. It's even swept into the realm of real estate again in the form of paid, independent coaching programs. But, you may be one of those who says, "I don't need a coach. I'm a self-starter. I can reach my goals on my own." Having been in real estate for three decades, I've heard that comment a lot. But, my experience has shown me that almost everyone benefits from coaching.

Skills Come from Practice and Coaching Assistance

As a pianist since I was four years old, I know that peak performance comes only with practice-perfect practice. And, therein lies the rub. When you attempt to learn to play the piano by yourself, without a teacher, you can't hear yourself play. You can't make adjustments fast enough alone.

You need a great piano teacher who is helping you assess your performance, make adjustments, and challenges you to stretch to higher goals. The difference between one person's success in any field and another lies, in part, in their comparable skills.

All experienced pianists can put their hands on the keys. They can play the notes. But, most pianists haven't mastered playing the notes. They haven't mastered the interpretation. That takes practice and coaching.

Do You Need A Coach?

Yes, if you are:

• Not optimizing your talents
  
• Not attaining your goals
  
• Spending too much time spinning your wheels
  
• Spending too much money for little return
  
• Hitting ceilings of achievement

What Your Coach Can Do For You:

• Help you focus on our goals so we get there faster
  
• Motivate you to get into meaningful action
  
• Encourage you to keep on keeping on
  
• Offer resources for new ideas so we can take a different look
  
• Appreciate your efforts when no one else seems to!

Real Estate Salespeople and Managers-a Special Breed

Approximately ninety percent of all real estate salespeople and managers have behavioral styles that are highly aggressive and/or promotional. That's not like the normal population! In other words, we like people and we charge ahead (my motto is, when all else fails, read the directions...). Only fifty percent of the normal population exhibits those behavioral styles.

Other styles are more task focused and embrace procedure. Yes, we salespeople-types have special talents-and special challenges. Our biggest challenge is focus. We're great with people. We get into action fast.

Our problem is that people and actions pull us in various directions, and we lose the one thing that drives us toward our goals-focus. The first and biggest benefit a coach can give us is to keep us focused.

Coaches Provide Much-Needed Models and Systems

Models and systems are woefully lacking in our real estate industry. After all, we're the people who've always said, "Fake it until you make it." What if your surgeon said that? Or your accountant? Historically, we real estate professionals have had an aversion to following procedures.

Yet, in the world of business, systems are the basis of all business growth. For us too, systematizing is the best way we can build big, profitable businesses. A competent coach uses proven models and systems and processes that do more than stop our crisis management. They teach us how to think about our business.

A Coach Helps You Move Faster and With More Confidence

Armed with great models and systems, you and your coach have a common language from which to work. You will benefit from gaining focus. You will accomplish more faster, gain greater confidence, and be able to set higher goals as a result of your coaching experience and relationship.