I have to say, 2013 was a change year in my career as a real estate broker.

I’ve been coaching/training agents for about 10 of my last 13 years in real estate. It’s always fun to have new agents  in the office. They bring an energy and a different perspective to our world. Let’s face it, we all tend to get complacent in our activities after we become successful. This year, everyone in my office got the benefit (fun) of several new agents at once.

Personally, I’ve learned a lot from our newbies. I always tell agents that in order to be successful, one needs to wake up early with a plan for each day. Block time for marketing, coaching, learning and selling. However, most of the time I’ve found the need to push them to do so and continually energize them, with some of them leaving before they’ve ever seen any success from it. Then…in comes our new crop of agents with an entrepreneur mindset I’ve rarely had the pleasure of witnessing.

Let’s take, for instance, Patrick McDowell and Gina Galloway. These two steadily work on and in their business throughout the week….like they’re running a business. Just over and at a year in real estate, respectively, these two put together a very successful client appreciation party. What?! This is an afterthought for some seasoned agents, but these two took the idea and ran with it.

Not only that, these two business-minded agents hold me accountable to holding them accountable to their goals. Sort of a, Joanna—please hold our feet to the fire, weekly pow-wow that I’ve started looking forward to.  Their customers enjoy their expert knowledge of the Northland and Liberty and their fun, energetic approach to marketing and service.

Then there’s husband and wife team, Don and Joy Engle. These two have

shown our company that it’s possible to blow past sales goals, even as a newbie. Once again, that entrepreneur spirit shows through and is apparent in their customer service standards as well as their drive to succeed.

I’m so grateful to all the agents in my office this year for embracing every single one of our recruits and creating an unmatched synergy throughout. We saw great numbers this year with many goals met and surpassed. No longer is it acceptable to get a real estate license and just ‘see where it takes you’. You’ve got to take it, brand it, market it, mold it and build it into your successful business. From here on out, I will be looking for what I’ve seen in these new agents in every interview.

Congratulations to all of you for your 2013 successes and I’m certainly looking forward to 2014. Thank you for enhancing our office and showing me the only limit is the one we set on ourselves.