MODELS MATTER

As we’ve discussed, models are very important tools to help us achieve our goals. To put it plainly—models matter, and the right models matter most. If you don’t know where you’re going, I guess any model will do. But if you’re trying to become your very best and achieve the most you possibly can, you’ll need Big Models to match your Big Goals. Now that you’ve set aside your myths and learned how to think like a high achiever, it is time to get down to the work of becoming one. In the sales business, everyone, whether they realize it or not, is following a model. The difference between everyone else and top achievers is that top achievers purposefully choose Big Models in the key areas that matter so they can achieve their highest potential. They understand that you must be a “20 percenter” and find models that help focus your efforts on the 20 percent of activities that lead to 80 percent of the results. One of our discoveries in working with and interviewing Millionaire Real Estate Agents is that they all seem to follow four key models: an Economic Model, a Lead-Generation Model, a Budget Model, and an Organizational Model.

It turns out these four models are foundational. They represent the four areas everyone must ultimately tackle on the way to high real estate sales achievement. In a nutshell, here is what they teach:

1. The Economic Model—A formula that shows you how to plug in specific numbers you’ll have to achieve in specific areas to receive a specific net income.
2. The Lead-Generation Model—The specific approach you must take to systematically generate a specific number of leads.
3. The Budget Model—An outline of the specific budget categories you should track and the percentage of your gross revenue you should spend in each of them.
4. The Organizational Model—The specific staff positions you will need to fill and the job responsibilities they will be given as your business grows.

Simply think of the four models as adding up to a formula that says: To achieve the amount of net income you desire, you will need to generate X number of leads, spend X amount of money in specific areas to support those efforts, and hire X number of people to service it all. On the following two pages are two key diagrams. They provide an overview of the four models, but show two distinct perspectives. The first perspective is a high-level look at the key areas in each model and the second drills down to the specific issues and numbers you’ll need to focus on to pursue the path of the Millionaire Real Estate Agent. Please take a few moments to review Figure 3 and Figure 4 on the following pages and get your bearings before we dive into the science of success at the Millionaire Real Estate Agent level. Try not to get too caught up in the numbers shown in Figure 4. They will be explained in detail in the second half of this chapter. For now, we just want you to get a sense of where we are headed.