One of the most important lessons I ever learned came from a 5-minute conversation that I had with the great big wave surfer and arguably one of the greatest athletes of all time, Laird Hamilton. 

I had been invited to attend the premiere of the film “Riding Giants” (which by the way if you have not watched is an a

mazing movie about human beings pushing the limits of life).  I didn’t want to go but my friend who was the head of marketing for a little company called Vans told me that we may get to meet Laird. So, honestly, begrudgingly I attended. 

Sure enough, as we walked into the Hard Rock Restaurant in Fashion Island (which is now long gone), there he was, sitting at the bar with a group of people around him.  My friend said, “Let’s go meet him.”  Me, “No we don’t want to bother him and besides look at the crowd around him.”  Sure enough, as if someone heard what I said, the entire crowd, almost at once, up and left.  She looked at me, smiled and said, “You’re a professional speaker, so get your ass over there” and proceeded to push me in the middle of my back.

As I walked up, totally star struck, I was rehearsing in my head exactly what to say so as not to make an idiot of myself (scripts matter baby).   I leaned up on the bar to ask for a drink, and sure enough he turned and said, “Hey how’s it going?”  I think I stared at him for what felt like a week before I answered, “Uhmmm…. Great” and blurted out, “I just want you to know what a big fan I am of yours; from what you’ve done with windsurfing, tow in surfing, and now paddle boarding…wow!”  

He smiled and said, “What’s your name?”  I answered, “Bill Pipes”.  

“What do you do Bill?”

“I coach and lead seminars for salespeople on how to increase their businesses in real estate,” Doing my best to stay calm while thinking, “Holy Shit, I’m actually having a one-on-one conversation with THE Laird Hamilton.”  

He looked again at me and said, “That sounds exciting.”  I remember thinking, “Dude you ride 80-foot waves…seminars are fun but not like what you do.”

My drink came, I took a sip, and said to him, “Laird, I talk to thousands of people every year about overcoming fear and accomplishing success in their businesses and lives.  If there was one bit of advice I could bring to them from you, what would that be?”

He paused, looked away, turned back, and said, “Most people start a new challenge, and they expect to be excellent at it in 2-3 weeks or a month.  When I start something, I realize that this is a long-term commitment that may take me 2-3 years to get to where I want.   Big Goals simply take more time than anyone expects, and most stop too soon.” 

I let it sink in for a second and asked, “Got it brother…Thank you” and continued, “So, how do you keep yourself going when you want to possibly quit?” 

Then he said something that I will remember for the rest of my life and has become one of the cornerstones for what I teach and how I approach success.  

I saw his state change, he got very intense, looked me right in the eyes and said, “I simply say to myself that success is about Progress not Perfection and if I can get a little bit better every single day then I am succeeding.  Tell the people who come to your seminars that!”

I could barely say anything because it was so profound to me. I shook his hand said, “Thank you” and turned around to return to my friends, letting what he said play over and over again in my head. 

So many times, in our lives we don’t take the time to acknowledge the small wins, the milestones to our goals, the progress that we are actually making.  We beat ourselves up, compare our success to others, and defeat ourselves gradually day by day by having our focus on that we are “not at our goal” instead of being “one step closer to our goal.”  

Think about all the ways you have grown in your business and your life this year; you are not the same, you are better, more improved, more insightful, stronger; and if you aren’t, then you can change that immediately and get on the path and create a plan to progressively improve.  It’s all up to you. 

Remember…It’ all about PROGRESS over PERFECTION.  Do that and you’ll be riding your own 80-foot wave of success my friends

One of the most important lessons I ever learned came from a 5-minute conversation that I had with the great big wave surfer and arguably one of the greatest athletes of all time, Laird Hamilton. 

I had been invited to attend the premiere of the film “Riding Giants” (which by the way if you have not watched is an amazing movie about human beings pushing the limits of life).  I didn’t want to go but my friend who was the head of marketing for a little company called Vans told me that we may get to meet Laird. So, honestly, begrudgingly I attended. 

Sure enough, as we walked into the Hard Rock Restaurant in Fashion Island (which is now long gone), there he was, sitting at the bar with a group of people around him.  My friend said, “Let’s go meet him.”  Me, “No we don’t want to bother him and besides look at the crowd around him.”  Sure enough, as if someone heard what I said, the entire crowd, almost at once, up and left.  She looked at me, smiled and said, “You’re a professional speaker, so get your ass over there” and proceeded to push me in the middle of my back.

As I walked up, totally star struck, I was rehearsing in my head exactly what to say so as not to make an idiot of myself (scripts matter baby).   I leaned up on the bar to ask for a drink, and sure enough he turned and said, “Hey how’s it going?”  I think I stared at him for what felt like a week before I answered, “Uhmmm…. Great” and blurted out, “I just want you to know what a big fan I am of yours; from what you’ve done with windsurfing, tow in surfing, and now paddleboarding…wow!”  

He smiled and said, “What’s your name?”  I answered, “Bill Pipes”.  

“What do you do Bill?”

“I coach and lead seminars for salespeople on how to increase their businesses in real estate,” Doing my best to stay calm while thinking, “Holy Shit, I’m actually having a one-on-one conversation with THE Laird Hamilton.”  

He looked again at me and said, “That sounds exciting.”  I remember thinking, “Dude you ride 80-foot waves…seminars are fun but not like what you do.”

My drink came, I took a sip, and said to him, “Laird, I talk to thousands of people every year about overcoming fear and accomplishing success in their businesses and lives.  If there was one bit of advice I could bring to them from you, what would that be?”

He paused, looked away, turned back, and said, “Most people start a new challenge, and they expect to be excellent at it in 2-3 weeks or a month.  When I start something, I realize that this is a long-term commitment that may take me 2-3 years to get to where I want.   Big Goals simply take more time than anyone expects, and most stop too soon.” 

I let it sink in for a second and asked, “Got it brother…Thank you” and continued, “So, how do you keep yourself going when you want to possibly quit?” 

Then he said something that I will remember for the rest of my life and has become one of the cornerstones for what I teach and how I approach success.  

I saw his state change, he got very intense, looked me right in the eyes and said, “I simply say to myself that success is about Progress not Perfection and if I can get a little bit better every single day then I am succeeding.  Tell the people who come to your seminars that!”

I could barely say anything because it was so profound to me. I shook his hand said, “Thank you” and turned around to return to my friends, letting what he said play over and over again in my head. 

So many times, in our lives we don’t take the time to acknowledge the small wins, the milestones to our goals, the progress that we are actually making.  We beat ourselves up, compare our success to others, and defeat ourselves gradually day by day by having our focus on that we are “not at our goal” instead of being “one step closer to our goal.”  

Think about all the ways you have grown in your business and your life this year; you are not the same, you are better, more improved, more insightful, stronger; and if you aren’t, then you can change that immediately and get on the path and create a plan to progressively improve.  It’s all up to you. 

Remember…It’ all about PROGRESS over PERFECTION.  Do that and you’ll be riding your own 80-foot wave of success my friends

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from my football coach in high school; he said, “If you’re not practicing by yourself, then you’re practicing in the game and that will cost us a win.” This is such great advice for any profession. “If you aren’t practicing by yourself then you are practicing on your clients.”  One only costs you time, while the other costs you more money than you can imagine in the life of your sales career.  If you want massive success, it requires insane amounts of practice.

The definition of practice is “the actual application or use of an idea, belief, or method, as opposed to theories about such application or use.”  In other words, it’s the doing that matters, not the thinking or talking about doing. Too many people want to shortcut the process and go straight to the results. That’s not how it works. You have to put in the time to get good at anything, and that means practicing. A lot.

Want to earn millions; then follow the breadcrumbs left by some of the greatest of the greats in sports.  Serena Williams practiced from 9:00-11:00 and then from 1:00 to 6:00 every day.  Steph Curry takes 500 shots a day during off season and during the season scales it down to 250-300.  Ronaldo (one of the greatest soccer players in the history of the game) devotes 3-4 hours a day, 5 days a week outside of his “team” practice.  The GOAT Michael Jordan took practice so seriously and competitively that he even got into a fight with Steve Kerr (player on his team) because of the intensity. These individuals earn(ed) anywhere from $8-$60 million dollars a year just from their sport (not including endorsement deals).  Want more income?  Follow their Lead.

The Greats are not great because of how they play(ed) the game; they are the Greats because of how they PRACTICED the game.    How do you think they got so good?  Repetition is the mother of skill. The more you do something, the better you get at it. That’s why athletes practice in every sport. They know that to be the best, they have to put in the time to perfect their craft.

The same is true for salespeople. If you want to be great at selling, you must practice your scripts. A lot. You have to know them inside and out so that when you’re on a call, you’re not thinking about what you’re going to say next. You want to be in the moment, reacting to what the prospect is saying and steering the conversation in the direction you want it to go.

The good news is that the more you practice, the easier it becomes. And there are other benefits of practice as well. When you know your material is cold, you come across as more confident and polished. You make fewer mistakes, and you close more deals.

So, you’re new to scripts and sales.  You want to have it feel natural.  What should you do?  Let me share with you a process from Hollywood actors and actresses that you can Rip off and Deploy for yourself.  I call it the “4 Rs to Greatness” and with this process you can have any script memorized and internalized within 14 days:  

•  Recite one dialogue out loud every day 10 times.   Don’t worry about how you sound, you’re just focusing on getting the words down.
• Rite (Yes, I know it’s spelled wrong) it out by hand every day.  When you write anything repetitively you have to read it, process reading it, process writing it and then write with your hands.  Writing massively engages the “memory” muscle.
• Record the dialogue and then listen to it while you are driving, working out, doing activities around your house. Just like any song you hear over and over again, you will soon find yourself “singing the song” of your script. 
• Role-Play with someone else that is committed for 15-20 minutes a day as well.  This is where one person plays the role of the client and the other works through the script.  From Role-Play it becomes natural, you add your personality, it becomes you. 

The key to practice is to make it a part of your daily routine, just like brushing your teeth or taking a shower. Practice isn’t sexy, not always fun, you will want to not do it some days but you have to keep committed daily.  If you can do that, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a top sales performer. And that means more clients served, more fun, and ultimately more money in your pocket. So, what are you waiting for? Get practicing!

Scripts are Not the Devil…They are your Friend

What do you get paid to do as a salesperson?  Now really think about it for a moment before you answer.  What do you REALLY get paid to do? 

I’ve asked the question to tens of thousands of real estate leaders, agents, and loan officers.  I always got answers like, “close the deal”, “provide value”, “solve their problems”, “negotiate powerfully”, and my favorite “make their dreams come true”.  While all of these are accurate there is a fundamental action that all salespeople take every day and the better that they do this one thing the more clients they will serve and the more money they will ultimately make.

What is it? Well, it’s really simple…

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH

That’s right, you get paid to talk.  When you are following up with a lead, what are you doing?  When you are on a presentation, handling an objection, negotiating a contract; you are talking.  My friends, we are in the TALKING business and the better you can communicate the more money you will make.  It’s that simple. 

Now, I know what some of you are thinking; “I don’t like to prospect, or I’m not good at presenting to buyers or seller”, or even “I get nervous when I have to handle and objection”.  Hey, I get it!  All of these can be hard, but the fact is that if you want to be successful in sales you MUST get better at communicating. 

One way to immediately start getting better at communicating is by using scripts.  I know, I know, you’ve been told in the past that scripts make you sound like a robot or a novice and that they take away your personality.  But that’s simply not true.  Let me explain…

When you are first starting out in sales it’s important to have a foundation to build from.  Scripts can provide that foundation.  By having a script to follow you can be certain that you are covering all of the important points in your conversation.  As you become more comfortable with the material you will naturally start to add your own personality and style.  But in the beginning, it’s important to have that foundation.  Just like a great pianist starts with learning scales, the ballerina starts with simple “positions” of their feet, or a great football player starts with simple blocking and tackling.  Scripts are your foundation on which you build your skills as a salesperson and your career. 

Another benefit of using scripts is that they help you to focus on your client.  It’s easy to get caught up in our own story and start talking about ourselves, but when you have a script to follow it forces you to focus on the needs of your client.  And after all, that’s what they are paying you for; to solve THEIR problems not tell them how amazing YOU are.  

Certainty is what every client is wanting from their relationship with their sales professional.  Powerful scripts and dialogues, delivered by someone who has mastered them creates certainty.  Certainty in yourself and more importantly: certainty that the prospect has in you and your abilities. One of the major 4 human needs is Certainty.  Clients will not move forward with someone that sounds unconfident, fearful or like they are “winging it”.

Actually, let’s look at the science.  Communication breaks down (according to the Psychologist Alfred Mehrabian in his decade long study of communication) into three parts:  Words, Tone and Body Language.  Your words represent 7%, tone 38% and body language 55%.  Even though words are the smallest they are in my mind, are the most important.  Why?  Because if you don’t have the words down and know what to say you can not focus on your tone and body and miss out on tone and body language and are 93% ineffective. 

Are you still with me?  I hope you are because this last section is probably the most important.   WHY DO WE RESIST EVEN HATE SCRIPTS AND DIALOGUES SO MUCH? 

Think about it, when I say “Scripts” (in relationship to sales) what is the first thing that comes to your mind?  Corny, canned, not me, “salesy”, unprofessional, for novices, cheesy.  Where did that come from?  Once upon a time, a salesperson used a script on you, you identified that they were, they did a horrible job and you said…

“No way do I EVER want to sound like that!  It’s unprofessional and canned!”  Boom…right then and there the game was over.  No more scripts for you.  However, I want to invite you to have a paradigm shift, to look at this from a different frame.   You made up that story based upon an unprepared, unskilled salesperson using the script.  When a great salesperson uses a script …YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW IT’S A SCRIPT.  It sounds like a normal conversation.  You see the greats in any industry or sport make the Planned seem Impromptu.  So really, it’s not that the script is bad, it’s that the person delivering it didn’t take the time to master the dialogue and presented it ineffectively.  

• A football team can have the best playbook but if they don’t put the time in practicing, they will get run all over the field.
• A ballerina can have the choreography down but if she doesn’t go through hundreds if not thousands of repetitions, she won’t appear like she is elegantly floating across the stage  
• A Formula 1 racer can have the most well-tuned, multimillion-dollar machine to drive but if they don’t take lap after lap on the track before they race…that’s right they won’t capture the checkered flag and could possibly crash.

Just like any athlete or artist, the salesperson must put in the time to master their craft.  And that means hours spent learning, practicing and internalizing scripts and dialogues until they become second nature and sound natural.  

If you are serious about becoming a top performer in sales then I invite you to let go of your resistance, humble yourself a bit and get to work learning and mastering some great scripts.  It will be worth it when you close more business, serve more clients, and in the end make more money!  

So, the next time you are thinking about whether or not to use a script…ask yourself this question; What is more important, my ego or the sale?

I am hearing a collective “holding of our breath” in the Real Estate world right now.  It’s natural to feel a little bit of fear when the real estate market starts to change. After all, your livelihood is at stake! To be honest, we have gotten spoiled as agents in the last 24 months.  Listings selling for insane levels above asking price, buyers so “motivated” that they would do just about anything to get the home.  Homes selling in hours and at most days.  My friends…this simply isn’t reality and the proverbial dance is about to end.  

In every changing market there are leaders, companies and agents that thrive and expand.  In fact, as others are in fear it represents an optimum time to gain market share.  My clients and many of the top agents are celebrating this change and welcoming the adjustment.  Why?  Because they are prepared.   I’ve found there are three simple steps you can begin with to lay the foundation to have certainty versus fear in these new times.

The first step is to educate yourself. You can’t make informed decisions if you don’t know what’s going on in the market. One of my mentors used to say to me, “Knowledge Equals Confidence and Ignorance Equals Fear.”  Start by studying industry publications (Keeping Current Matters is a must), listening to podcasts, and attending webinars.  Dive in weekly to your local MLS numbers to first educate yourself but secondly to be able to talk intelligently to clients about local and national trends. 

The second step is to create a plan. This doesn’t have to be a complicated, 100-page document – but it does need to lay out your goals, strategies, and timeline for taking action. What do you want to achieve in the short-term?  How many people do you need to connect with daily?  How many appointments weekly?  What strategies must you implement?   What skills must you sharpen that you haven’t used that will now be necessary in this market.  Here are some I recommend you start with: 

•  Pricing Property Competitively
• Creating urgency with buyers and sellers
• Getting Price Reductions
• Implementing a weekly “seller follow up plan” 

The third and final step is to take action. This is where the rubber meets the road – it’s time to put your plan into motion and start seeing results. Remember, confident people don’t just sit back and hope for the best – they take charge of their own destiny by taking massive action. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start making things happen!

By following these three steps, you can massive confidence in the changing real estate market – no matter what happens. So don’t be afraid to seize opportunities and take your business to the next level. The sky’s the limit!