“The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same.” On any given day, we’re walking a tightrope between success and failure, but when we’re in a good market and a time of abundance, we don’t see how thin that line is. Right now, we’re in a time where our bad decisions, bad business practices and bad habits are being exposed. 

 

With what the last year has been in real estate, we haven’t seen this many people hurting in business in a long time. For many of us, this hard time exposed that we haven’t been doing the right things all along. Success in real estate is 3 things: what we say, saying it enough times and who we say it to. These are the variables we have to apply pressure to. Even at a time like this, if we’re not getting the results we want, we need to work on one of those 2 things. 

 

2024 promises to be better - but only for the people who do the hard work in the lead up to the end of the chaos. Today, Ben Kinney talks about what it takes to keep our businesses and our minds solid through a challenging market. 

Quotes 

 

Leadership is a constant conversation of caring. -Ben Kinney

 

We get paid to help humans make good life decisions with their most valuable asset. -Ben Kinney 

 

If we’re struggling in our businesses today, that means you’re not having enough empathetic conversations. -Ben Kinney 

 

Many of us are in the home purchase business. If we want to own the industry, we have to be in the homeownership business. -Ben Kinney

 

The goal should be to have a model for everything. -Ben Kinney

 

The number 1 killer of a business is optimism. -Ben Kinney

 

Key Points  

 

Why we quit 

Quitting is easier than plugging away at something when it gets hard. Whenever you start something new, there’s this unfounded amount of optimism, but ultimately, reality will set in and we sink into the pit of despair. This happens with every new thing. Real happiness comes from digging out of the pit and enjoying the journey. 

 

The undisciplined pursuit of more 

As human beings and business owners, we tend to think that if we’re doing great in one thing, we can take on something else. We think that more will solve our problems so we add a bunch of stuff to our lives. It’s fine when things are going good, but when things start to go pear-shaped, it collapses on us. We have to master boredom if we want success. 

 

Treat leadership like parenting 

Every real estate leader has found themselves frustrated because their agents aren’t calling leads. Instead of putting it on your agents, point your frustration back to yourself because it’s a leadership problem. How many times do you have to tell your kids not to touch something hot? Why do we expect adults to be different? You have to have the conversations over and over, find different ways to say it and even find other people to say it.  

 

Homeownership vs. home sales 

Many agents are struggling right now because they are in the business of home purchases. If we want to own the industry (and stay on our feet during hard times), we have to get into the business of homeownership. The homeownership business happens every single day, it’s hard and it should be our role to make it easier for people. That way, we can get paid in other ways outside of the transaction (something that’s really important right now). 

 

Doing the two 

When the market is tough, it’s important to find ways to bring yourself back to par. If you’re a team leader, do as many deals a month as you need to take care of your personal expenses. Additionally, you’ll need to recruit 2 agents a month, and meet with the key people on your team often. 

 

The variables you need to put pressure on 

• There’s only 3 things that guarantee success in real estate

• Saying the right things (scripts)

• Saying it enough times (activity)

• Enough people to say it to (leads)

If you’re not succeeding, you need to fix one of those 3 things. If you have a team, you need one more thing: enough people saying the right things. 

 

The good news about 2024 (and the huge caveat)

Expect 2024 to be filled with great opportunities for 50-75% of the year, but in the first couple of months, we should be filling our hopper with people that would take action if rates drop 1 or 2%. We have to spend the first 2 months making sure the entire year is kickass instead of feeling bad for ourselves. At the same time, don’t have rose-colored glasses that it will magically happen in 90 days. Optimism can be deadly in our business, so we have to maintain a healthy balance. 

 

The simplest leverage model 

Leverage is simply increasing our hourly rate. We do that by giving away things that we could pay someone less than we believe we should be making. If you’re doing 0-2 transactions a month, you don’t deserve leverage. If you can close 3-4 transactions a month, you can get leverage in the form of light admin or a showing assistant. When we create leverage, we have to remember to create it for our agents too, or else they'll leave. We have to show that we’re a pathway for them to accomplish their own goals. 

 

Guest Info

 

Ben Kinney is an entrepreneur, professional speaker, author, real estate agent, and CEO of Ben Kinney Companies. He owns and operates one of the top 25 producing real estate teams in the nation from all brands. He also owns and operates multiple Keller Williams Realty Franchises that includes 1200+ agents across multiple locations servicing all of Washington State. In 2015 he opened his first international brokerage in London, UK and in 2016 he purchased the KW master franchise for all of the U.K. Those offices sold over 10,000 units equalling over 4 billion in closed sales volume. Ben is also a nationally recognized author, trainer, and speaker. In the last few years, he has personally trained over 100,000 business owners via conferences, classes, and webinars.  Ben Kinney Real Estate Team is ranked by the Wall Street Journal and Real Trends as one of the top 25 real estate teams in the nation. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/BenKinney

 

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