Windsurfing is all about balance and strength, harnessing one force of nature in order to glide upon another. Capturing the wind and riding on the ocean’s waves, once mastered, is indescribable. Gender and age don’t matter when trying to master the sport. Virtually anyone can do it as long as they don’t fear water and have decent swimming capability. Working in real estate is similar. Age and gender don’t matter. As long as a person is willing to learn and doesn’t fear learning and getting her feet wet in cyclical waters, she should be fine. Success in real estate can often mimic windsurfing, requiring the balance of business acumen, personality and negotiating skills.
Here are some things you as a real estate professional can learn from windsurfing:
1 – Don’t white knuckle it! In windsurfing, you don’t want that tension that eases up from your hands up to your arms. In fact, the whole point is to relax! The same holds true for your real estate business. Yes, you want to stay on top of things. But if you get too controlling and too frenzied, it won’t do you, your clients or your fellow real estate agents any good. You want to present yourself as a pro, not a novice who gets freaked out by every little thing. Let go a little and have some fun with your business. You spend enough time with it that it should be something that you enjoy doing. Not something that raises your blood pressure.
2 – Stay on top of your progress. Did you know that there are different levels of windsurfers? A level one is a novice windsurfer, and a level five is a pro. Most real estate agents reside somewhere between that novice and pro position. And in order to see exactly where you are in terms of your real estate business, you need to chart your progress and set goals. Your goals can include annual earnings, numbers of monthly listings and the total number of clients in your database. Any windsurfer wants to know when he’s jumped from level two intermediate to level three advanced. It means he’s doing better and mastering the waves. Doesn’t it make sense for you as a real estate professional to check how you’re advancing amongst your peers and your own goals?
3 – Know the “rules of the road.” It makes sense, doesn’t it? A bunch of windsurfers out there on the water, sharing the wind, sharing space. There’s bound to be some collisions here and there. But there are some guidelines, some rules that windsurfers follow in order to minimize the problems on the water. You learned ethics in real estate classes and you know the code from the National Association of REALTORS(R) and there may also be typical customs in certain geographical real estate markets for how real estate agents communicate, how they treat each other and so on that go beyond the ethics you’ve learned about. It’s important to incorporate these rules of the road into your business. It sets a standard and it minimizes any “collisions” with other agents and clients.
4 – Learn how to survive both the gusts and the lulls. Real estate is a cyclical business. It whips into a frenzy and you might have more business than you know how to handle. And it can die down to a point where you are wondering when you might earn your next commission check.
Windsurfers know they have to work with the wind nature gives them. When the wind blows hard, they know they need to shift their course upwind to slow their speed. But they have to take care to not stall out. Likewise, when you are in the midst of a real estate high cycle you may need to shift course and work with only certain clients or work only certain deals. But you have to make sure you don’t place yourself and your real estate business in a position where it might stall out.
When windsurfing in calm wind, it’s imperative to move the sail slightly in order to pick up some wind. But windsurfers can’t change course too quickly during lulls or they will slow down or stop! The same goes with your real estate business. You can change courses and implement a new marketing plan but be sure to stay true to your business as it has existed. You don’t want to do a 180 degree turn from how you’ve done things in the past. That’s a good way to fully stall out your real estate business.
Volker Weiss – Maui Realtor(R/S) specialist focusing on Palms at Wailea. Make your vacation last forever, check out Wailea Real Estate. For immediate help call VW directly at 888.572.6888
[tags]Real Estate, Real Estate Agent, Maui, Hawaii, Makena, Wailea, South Maui, Investing, Property[/tags]
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