Million Dollar Agent

Million Dollar Agent

Edgar Natolo, founder of Real Estate Agency Natgroup on the Gold Coast, has challenged himself to earn $1 million dollars in commission in 2012. Sold Magazine will be following Edgar’s journey throughout the year as he embarks on this mission.

Firstly, tell us why you have challenged yourself to earn a million dollars in commission this year.

When the economy got a bit tough, I saw salespeople leaving in droves. I heard that song in my head, you know the one, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”. The opportunity to gain market share presented itself, and was just sitting there begging for the challenge. Who am I to resist? And so began the plan to step it up, and go to another level that many others only dare to dream of.  

I was spurred on even more, when I kept hearing from unhappy sellers about how bad the market is, and how nothing is selling at the moment. So I began going to training events and seminars held around the Gold Coast and Brisbane to “spy” on the industry and hear it for myself. I was amazed at the turnouts, agents really do want to improve, and I felt a chill of hope tremble through me. However, I still heard what is now an automatic excuse, “that won’t work here”, “my market is different”, and “that can be done here”. 

But you could have kept your personal goals quiet. Why did you decide to make the challenge so open?

The industry needs to see real people challenging themselves, period. There are plenty of preachers and coaches who talk it but have never done it. Rather than “talk the talk” lets have me, who is one of them, the ordinary agents, on the Gold Coast right in the middle of what the media have dubbed a “terrible market” and brainwashed the local agents to believing its impossible. I am here to “walk the walk”. Even better, lets put it on video. So, I record the daily activities and show the agents, hoping they track and become inspired and join my journey. I want to show people how simple it really is and that its success is just a mindset. Believe it and then create it. 

The industry needs to see real people challenging themselves, period. There are plenty of preachers and coaches who talk it but have never done it.

At the end of the day we just sell houses, sometimes I think it important to throw everything aside and know the numbers. Work out what your list to sell ratio is. From that you can predict that if you hold a certain number of listings, you should achiever “x” number of sales. If you know what your average commission is, you can calculate how many sales are needed to achieve your income goal. 

But it gets simpler, because once you know how many sales you need; you can work out how many listings are needed to get those sales. Then divide that by the number of weeks in a year.

Now for the exciting, golden secret. You just need to achieve that many listings a week. The rest will follow. Just get good at listing properties. Wow. Such a simple idea but one that agents ignore. However ignore at your peril. Time wise 80% of our day should just be prospecting. Feed the funnel, that’s the secret.

When did the challenge officially start?

My challenge is for the calendar year 2012. So one would think it begins 1 January, however John McGrath burnt something into my memory back in 2004 when I first met him. So if your reading this grab a highlighter or piece of paper and stab it onto the wall as the next sentence will change the way you think of your career. What happening today is a result of what you did, or didn’t do, 60 to 90 days ago.

So if your reading this grab a highlighter or piece of paper and stab it onto the wall as the next sentence will change the way you think of your career. What happening today is a result of what you did, or didn’t do, 60 to 90 days ago.

Bam. That’s right, if your not making sales now, it because you didn’t prospect well enough two to three months ago. So,my challenge officially begins on 1 January, but I’ve been working my butt off now preparing. My numbers and plan is set. My daily tasks are set. My prospecting plan is in action. You either fail to plan or plan to succeed.

How are you tracking so far?

The numbers so far are very encouraging. You could imagine my childhood grin when results began to show in the second week. The first week was really a change in mindset. Numbing out the voices of those saying it cant be done. Changing our subconscious belief system to know it can be done and letting myself open up to opportunities. The third week gave us the proof we had quietly wanted but never mentioned. We had 28 listings in 21 days plus the ripple effect.

Our $1million target simply comes down to listing seven properties a week. That’s all we focus on. As I heard Oprah once say, “what we focus on expands” and boy is the momentum building. The buyers that are supposedly non-existent appeared out the woodwork. Imagine the buzz, office phones ringing, mobile are beeping away, email enquiries find their way to my inbox. Buyers then want inspections and as these increased bought with them more offers and sales. We’ve been doing a lot of legwork in preparation, but it’s actually bought the results a month too early. 

What has been your biggest challenges to date?

I would have to say initially belief and mindset. Believing that it can be done, and removing any doubt and negative voices. Creating the plan, which really is just knowing my number gave me clarity, and with clarity comes laser focus and vision.

Redesigning my ideal week was important. Placing all the focus on prospecting and eliminating any time wastage that would hold me back. I am amazed that many agents I talk to simply don’t have an ideal week, but structure is so important if you want to achieve results. I will probably also need to redesign my ideal week several times during this challenge.

What do you think your challenges will be in the next three to six month?

I am lucky enough to have bathed in the knowledge of those that have walked this path before me. I can foresee the challenges but more importantly the ceilings. By this I mean the point where my current knowledge and skillset will reach a point where I must also learn new skills and tweak things slightly to rise up to the next level. Agents out there will know that the things required to earn $50,000 will differ from what you need to know and work to when earning $100,000. 

In 6 months, I would imagine the ideal weeks and tasks for all team members would be adjusted to accommodate the “red” admin work distributing certain tasks to specific people. This would be the things like attending valuations, collecting paperwork, photo-shoots, ad approvals, and vendor management as the listing numbers increase. At this point, I would elevate a team member to also helping by attending the overflow of appraisals and listings appointments. I would expect the prospecting to be a well-oiled machine churning out leads and keeping our momentum which we must never lose focus of.

Getting back to basics. By doing my numbers and realizing “if you list it they will come”, my focus is purely on prospecting. We have developed and trialed our prospecting system. This will be shared early next year in a training package I will be releasing. But a part of it is, just start with 20 prospecting calls per day. That’s what got the ball rolling for me.

Do you ever experience "low days"? How do you manage these?

Low days, well I know real estate agents are resilient but I am human and a realist. I don’t think there is one of us that don’t think about quitting 3 times a week. Energy is everything in the prospecting. It comes though in a call, when you meet people. They feel it too. I manage these by deep breathing, taking a break and if need be go home to re-charge. Do something you enjoy and then I remind myself of the “why” and not let anything or anyone throw me off course.

Other than the commission, have you promised yourself a reward of some sort when you make it?

Rewards, absolutely. I will be rewardingmy family, my team, and myself as we go on the journey. I think it keeps us motivated. I work to provide a lifestyle; my work is not my lifestyle. Our first month’s reward is an office slushy machine to combat the hot days. Really, my reward is freedom – that is what I’m buying. The freedom of financial stress and limitations. Anyone that knows me will tell you I am grounded and not overly materialistic. My other rewards will be in attracting a high caliber of agents who will hopefully wish to join our agency and share the dream and successes. If I can help people make a difference in their life with my actions that is my reward. I am truly here to make this real estate a better place than I have found it, while of course sipping my ice cool slushy! 

To track Edgar’s journey daily on YouTube, visit www.youtube.com/user/SuperCoachED.