Once they sign on, my brokerage requires that all new agents enroll in a very popular real estate training program. It’s a fairly hefty charge on your credit card right out of the blocks amongst all the other initial investments a new agent must make embarking upon this career. My course was 14 weeks of sessions where we would talk as a group for about 10-15 minutes, role play a little, and then watch a DVD. I felt that I got the concept of the program within the first couple of weeks, and that if it was mostly watching DVDs, I could have done that on my own time at my own pace.

Please don’t get me wrong, I definitely feel I learned some valuable lessons in the course. I just think I could have learned them several weeks and several dollars sooner.

In the interest of saving every new agent some time and money, I have condensed the course from 100 days down to 100 words. So at the risk of upsetting fans of the program everywhere, I proudly present:

MIKE LEFEBVRE’S 100 WORDS TO GREATNESS

Make a list of everyone you know. Let them know you are now in the real estate business. Call them on a regular basis to see how they’re doing. Keep in touch. Occasionally, visit them in person. Sometimes bring a small gift on your visits. Write them handwritten notes. Gently remind them that you are in the real estate business and make your services available to their friends and family. Consistently send direct mail pieces to your friends with real estate information they may find useful. When you meet new people, add them to your list of people you know.

There it is. My “100 Words to Greatness” Real Estate Training Program. Go ahead and count the words you cynics, I know you want to. I just saved you new agents 99 days and a few hundred some odd bucks. Oh, the other thing is you have to actually DO IT consistently and be accountable. You can spend a bunch of money and ask a roomful of colleagues to hold you accountable once a week OR you can treat this like a real business and actually hold YOURSELF accountable. It’s up to you.

Please understand, I write personal notes. I’m a HUGE fan of handwritten notes. I call people in my sphere of influence (duh). I visit them as well. I don’t usually bring them useless trinkets with corny taglines on them (like sunscreen labeled with “Don’t Get Burned on Your Next Real Estate Deal”), but that’s just me. Sometimes I’ll bring them some print-outs of recent sales in their neighborhood that would potentially effect their homes value.

The ideas work. The techniques are proven. I just wish someone could have provided me with the cliff notes version when I first started.

And I’ve never, ever left a conversation only to turn back in true Baretta style and start my next line with, “Oh, by the way…”

Maybe that’s something you learn to be comfortable saying in weeks 2 through 14.