STAR POWER® SYSTEMS

BOULDER, CO

Background

For how many years have you been in the real estate business?

I started in the real estate business in 1968.

What is your personal background and how did you get into real estate? How did you get into coaching?

I began selling life insurance immediately after graduating from college. After five years, the fellow we bought our first home from convinced me that real estate was more viable. He had started a land development company when we were in Salt Lake City. I began selling dirt that turned into cities and communities. That took me to Colorado to open a new project.

In 1974, I was President of my Board of Realtors. One of my competitors asked if I wanted to come teach a GRI course in Colorado. I had fun and enjoyed teaching it. I had never been shy about being in front of people. After that course, I was asked to teach the course alone. That led to teaching courses around the State of Colorado. In 1978, I was asked to nationally audition for the Council of Residential Specialists (CRS). I was accepted. Slowly, I was meeting people through teaching nationally. It led to more and more people asking me to speak privately.  I was teaching about 50% of the time, and the other 50% I was doing real estate.

My future wife gave me What Color is Your Parachute? After completing most of the exercises in the book, I opened up my speaking/coaching business in 1984. Ever since, I have devoted my full efforts to helping others achieve success.

What do you enjoy most about the business?

I get great joy out of people’s success and knowing that we’ve made a difference in their lives. Our mission is “to have a profound impact on improving the quality of peoples business and personal lives.” And, it’s most satisfying when we accomplish that mission.

Mentors

Who was the most influential person or mentor in your early career?

Sark Arslanian: My college football coach, and at 84, he still inspires me today. Because of him, my first career interest was to become a football coach.

Hugh Pinnock: He sold me on sales and using my personality to my financial benefit.

Ken Reyhons: He taught me that there’s so much more to education than making people laugh. He showed me that joy and integrity could be partners in the learning process.

Basic Numbers

About how many real estate agents do you work with on different levels in your organization? What is the structure and levels?

We work with 15,000 active agents, in our database, who are plugged into things we are doing, our Conferences, Summits, and University programs. I’ll speak to over 4,000 annually, and on a one-on-one I still coach a select few.

How many people do you think, in the country, have sold over $1 billion in their career?

I estimate there are maybe 100 people who have achieved this level. About 18 years ago, when I was looking for agents who had sold more than 100 transactions, I only found about 16.

Marketing

If you were advising our target agent at $100,000 who wants to get to $200,000 or $500,000, what would be your top marketing advice?

Develop a marketing plan; and budget every year — and follow it. Agents in a growth mode will invest as much as 25% in marketing; while 10% percent is a normal budget level.

Have a message with your “Brand” going out to your marketplace at least twice a month. More, if you want to grow and dominate an area. Your message can vary each month; however, consistency is critical.

Next, put lead generation systems in place (FSBO and Expired programs, Orphan programs, Referral programs, Post Sale programs, WEB lead generation and incubation programs) that will require little time or management.

Lastly, and the most productively, get on the phone with people you know on a regular basis, and stay in contact with them. Handle their real estate needs and the needs of those they know. Tracking the source of business becomes a larger part of an agent’s evolution at this stage, particularly if profit is a desired byproduct. Lead generation is the key, with systems in place to handle the extra business.

For a top agent who has been in the business for 10 years, what percentage of their business should be client repeat/referral? What is the range you see in reality?

I was told years ago that after 4 years, 40% of your business could be referral. That never occurs if you don’t work it with a plan and a system. I’ve interviewed agents with as high as 80% coming from referrals, and yes — they have a strong follow-up and referral program. I know some agents who are successful, at 10% or less coming from referrals, because they gear their lead generation to cold calling and spending less than 1% on marketing. It works well for them.

Growth of Business

What does the average real estate agent fail to do which are among the reasons why they are average? Name as many things as you can.

They fail to get out of their own way (allowing their own fears and biases to dictate their actions).

They fail to take action on items that work.

They fail to realize the importance of continual education.

They fail to work “on” their business daily instead of working “in” their business.

They fail to see themselves in abundance and earning more than they can visualize.

As you see agents grow from $100,000 to $500,000, what are the biggest challenges you see?

The challenges range from redefining their role (from sales to leadership), surrounding oneself with good people (team building, hiring, policy manuals, job descriptions), to building a business of systems (getting them implemented).

Another difficult challenge is the ability to “let go” of the outcome, when building a team to take you to higher revenue levels. Then, you can start looking at a more global picture of your business. The more systems people have in place, the better the chance the consumer will receive the same level of service. It makes the workload of the team automatic and makes sure things are getting done.

When should an agent get their first part-time assistant?.

I think they should hire an assistant from the very first day they start their business. Until you hire an assistant, you are one. Are you worth $20/ hour or $100/hour?

Many things happen when you hire someone. It is like getting married. You start to do things because you have another mouth to feed.