What makes you so special?

It always make me chuckle. When you ask a successful agent or broker how they do what they do the response is always the same: “I just go to work every day. There’s nothing special about me. If I can do it, anybody can.”

That’s like Peyton Manning saying, “I just lob it up,” or Carrie Underwood saying, “I just string a few notes together.”

If you’re a regular reader or have heard me speak, you know my penchant for affirming the truth, so let’s start 2013 with this one: There IS something special about you and very few people can do what you do. Let me prove it…

What’s the No. 1 killer in our business? White space — on our calendars, that is. If you don’t fill your days calling on prospects, you’re not selling. And if you’re not selling… it’s time for another truth.

So, what leads to white space? Call reluctance. I call him CR. Here’s the thing about CR. He’s real, he’s persistent and he’s never going away. CR is good, too. He disguises himself as the weather or the economy or the politicians, and just about the time you figure him out, he changes his disguise.

Those who fail in our business constantly search for a one-and-done answer to beating CR. They trade “cold calls” for the more self esteem-friendly, “prospecting.” They make their first call within 30 minutes of starting their day to get the “mo” going early in hopes of riding a wave of activity throughout the day. They make their “prospecting” list the night before so they already have a plan when they roll out of bed.

I endorse these ideas, but many poor agents fail to recognize they aren’t permanent. Permanent solutions don’t exist.