Do
you view yourself as a salesperson? Or do you view yourself as the CEO of your
own business? If you really want to lead the industry, you must view this as
your company. This is true whether you work as a sole-proprietor out of your
car or whether you work for a national company. That also means you must invest
significant amounts of your money, time and energy in your business. And you
must make this investment up front, not some time in the future.
For
example, I can’t tell you how many sales people contact training companies and
say—I know I need this training but I need to close a few transactions first.
Then they go months or years without the training they need. They are running
businesses that are always going to struggle. And most of them will eventually
fail because companies that are under funded do not do well. If you have worked
for such a company, you know what we mean in this regard. Those who are on “pay
as you go” status never seem to reach the top. So here is the basic question:
Are
you investing what you need to in your business?
Imagine
if you were opening a retail store or restaurant. You would invest many thousands
of dollars and hours before you rang up the first sale. This would include
hundreds of hours of research and setting up the location. You would purchase
equipment and inventory. You may pay a multi-thousand dollar franchise fee. And
when it was opened, the hours needed to run the business would increase
substantially. In the end, you would still be in a situation that poses a major
risk because start-up businesses tend to have a high rate of failure in the
first few years. Obviously the research and investment should help mitigate
some of these risks.
Sales
personnel don’t necessarily have to invest as many hours or as many dollars as
one might starting a restaurant. But the concept is much the same. What do you
need to invest in? Marketing, education, technology and more. Perhaps it is a
laptop. Or it is the time to learn how to use a software program you have
purchased for your laptop. Have you ever purchased a software program and not
learned how to use it? In this case you have invested the money but not the
time. You must make an investment of all available resources. Imagine running a
store without the technology you need. Imagine running a doctor’s office
without the knowledge you need!
The
investment needed would vary for each person. For example, an insurance veteran
of eight years moving into the real estate industry would not need to learn
about available insurance coverage. On the other hand, someone moving from
government should spend the time to learn this aspect of the industry. After all,
if you are serving homeowners and prospective homeowners, you will need to
become an expert in all aspects of the real estate process so that you can
deliver maximum value to your clientele.
Some
will need a home office. Others will need a marketing assistant. It is this
needs analysis that is an all-important research step. For example, within the
education category some may need to learn how to better utilize a computer.
Others may need help learning how to communicate verbally or in writing. Still
others may need public speaking training. Note—we have not even touched upon
training specific to your particular industry.
Those
who wait for their employers to give them the resources to be successful will
typically have a long wait—forever. Success comes from within. And the key to
this success is finding the right elements of investment that are needed for
each individual. These elements include time, money and energy. You can’t make
it with just two out of three. Our question is…have you made the investment
that is necessary to sustain and grow your business as the reigning CEO? There
certainly is a big difference between an employee and a CEO!
Mike
Ervin
Mortgage
Banker
NMLS #
282715(650) 735-5261
mike@mikeervin.com
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