Valerie Fitzgerald
Whenever I am asked the key to my success, my answer is always the same – HARD WORK. I plan my day the day before, so I can prepare for what it is going to be like. Coach Ken reinforced the idea of planning for tomorrow, and now if I don’t plan my day, I don’t get anything done. I answer 200 – 300 emails a day, meet deadlines on reports for developers, follow-up with clients, mentor new agents and still manage to put an end to my day according to schedule.
I think the most important thing I do every day is scheduling an end to my day, so I know when I will be done. I separate working hours, money hours and private hours. I want a life – and work is not my life.
It is not always easy, but coaching has focused me on prioritizing. Most people are fine when I ask if I can call them back tomorrow, and I DO call them back the next day to follow up. If people know you follow-through, you build stronger relationships with your clients.
I went through a phase when I was struggling to build a cohesive team. Coaching was instrumental in helping me build the awesome team I have today. I used to hire people who were like me, Coach Ken pointed out that you almost have to hire someone exactly opposite to you, and that I was not hiring someone to be my friend, I was hiring someone to do a job. Changing my focus from personality to skill set was the answer, and has worked out fantastically for my business.
Coaching has also shown me the importance of branding. Brand is repetition. It is important to be consistent, and maintain your overall look and colours. We must imprint into peoples mind our brand. I once tried to drop my traditional marketing like postcards and newspaper. It did save me $6 or $7K, but I became lost and was being beaten by the competition. It is important for people to think of you.
Coach Ken always stresses the importance of lead generation, it is the backbone of our business. Lead generating in a multi-million dollar housing market has its challenges. When I started in the business everyone had a farm. I currently send out about 15,000 postcards a month to generate leads. An e-blast is sent out regularly to the past clients in my database which total about 7000, informing them of new listings, the TV show and pocket listings. I find a mix of old and new strategies is the best solution for generating business, and thank my coaching program for making lead generating techniques a priority.
Coaching with Coach Ken keeps me focused and gets me out of my own head. I talk about things that concern me and/or my team. It is invaluable to have another person empathize when the deal falls through, and give you a completely different prospective. Staying positive on a daily basis is not always easy, there are some mornings, I’m just not feeling it, but Coach Ken’s humour and infectious positivity can turn the day around. I have been a coaching client for 12 years and plan to continue with Coach Ken for many more, I truly believe it has been an important component in my success.
Valerie Fitzgerald
TheValerie Fitzgerald Group
Los Angeles, Beverly Hills
ValerieFitzgerald.com