Dave Robison

By Dave Robison

More than five years ago, I had agents take a test before they worked with me, which tested their sales skills and emotional resilience.  I had a couple agents making over $80,000-$120,000  a year who had tested in the “Find a new career; you shouldn’t be in real estate” category.  Where are they today?  Not in real estate.  What seemed like success years ago, today seems like it was all just a pipe dream. A rough economy weeds out those who shouldn’t be in the business and makes the others stronger.

The test showed that agents that had strong emotional resilience have what it takes and they would stay in the business and make the most money.  So what is emotional resilience and what does it take to have emotional resilience?

An example of weak emotional resilience, an actual story of one of the agents above who tested poorly:

One day, Agent X came into the office and had just found out that their client/buyer ended up writing an offer on a home that Agent X had shown them the day before, however, the client wrote it up with a  different REALTOR®. It literally ruined Agent X’s week.  So Agent X called up the other agent, chewing them out, saying they stole the client when it was Agent X who took them through the home.  The result was just a bunch of bitter feelings toward each other and an unproductive week for Agent X.

An example of strong emotional resilience:

Just this past month, an agent of mine had almost the same thing happen. My agent had been working with a client for a long time but apparently others had too.  An agent from another brokerage called my agent up mad, stating we stole their client when they took the client to and through a home. (There were no agencies on either side.)  My agent responded, “there is plenty of business out there for all of us so let’s do what the client wants.  If the client wants to use me, I’m happy to pay you a referral fee for your work and effort.  If the client uses you, I would expect the same.”  The other agent perked up and agreed.  The two agents communicated during the entire transaction, our agent closed the deal and the other agent got a referral fee.  It was a win-win for all.

So what does it take to build this emotional resilience? The type of emotional resilience where instead of getting upset that you might be losing something, you can create a win-win and keep working productively the rest of the day?  I asked my team what traits and habits does someone have who has strong emotional resilience?  Here are some things they came up with:

a.       Positive and grateful (as opposed to being entitled…’It’s my deal…I deserve it.’)

b.      Problem solvers  (as opposed to being a critic or arguing about who’s right. )

c.       Goal oriented (as opposed to just doing what’s needed to get by.)

d.      Truly enjoy taking care of other people (as opposed to only caring about getting the deal done.)

e.      Abundant mentality  (as opposed to, ‘If I don’t get this deal, I’m screwed.’)

f.        Can do attitude  (as opposed to ‘it can’t be done, the other agent is too hard to work with.’)

g.       Hard workers  (as opposed to the mentality that, ‘I’m in the business for a quick easy deal.’)  Chris Nichols, another YPN blogger, and I were just discussing this past week that this alone is a major secret of success.

h.      Just-a-Bump-in-the-Road  perception  (as opposed to, ‘my day is ruined because this is happening.’)

Want to be in the business long term?  Want to overcome obstacles quicker with little frustration?  Gain strong emotional resilience.  What other traits or habits can you add to this list?

Dave Robison, known as “Utah Dave,” is a broker of Robison & Company Real Estate.