Jim Field has been with CENTURY 21 Award since 2004, and he has been a top producing agent in San Diego for over 20 years. In 2008, Field was the #1 ranked agent in CENTURY 21 Award’s Golden Triangle office.RORE: How have you adapted to a changed market?
FIELD: You have to get control of the market. That means you have to recognize it for what it is and then take the actions that will get the right results. For me, it’s meant going back to the basics. It means prospecting, lead follow up, and providing more value in my service. It’s about listening more intently and adding value.
RORE: What does your prospecting routine look like?
FIELD: My goal is eight to ten hours on the phone starting early each morning, five days per week. You have to commit to the disciplines that generate results. In the “old market”, agents would sometimes get a listing, list it high, and eventually the market would catch up with the pricing and the property would sell. Now it’s different. You have to really communicate with your sellers and bring more value than ever before. Sometimes you have to say “no” to a listing. Sometimes you really have to work to get a seller to understand how much competition they have to contend with and that it is in their interest to price it attractively.
RORE: How do you keep yourself motivated?
FIELD: That’s a great question. I believe that mindset is a very powerful thing, and I work hard to feed my mind the right diet of inspiration and affirmation. I read for an hour every morning, and I pick up literature that helps me stay positive. I think staying positive is a challenge for every person, but for me starting the day with powerful affirmations and inspiring literature sets the tone for the whole day.
RORE: What’s the best piece of advice you could give to a newer agent?
FIELD: First, get in front of as many potential customers as possible every day. This speeds up the learning curve faster than anything. Second, make every situation feel like a “win-win”. I am committed to being a calming influence in every transaction I am involved with. If the other party gets emotional, it can derail everything. You just have to take the emotion out of it and find solutions that are going to work for everyone. Sometimes that means being “pleasant but firm”; sometimes that means looking at alternatives you hadn’t considered and finding another way to reach your goal.
RORE: How are you achieving success with short sales?
FIELD: It depends a great deal on the lender. I’ve been able to get them done, but it takes persistence and consistent follow up every single week. I did short sales in the 90s, but it was different then. The banks are a little better at working with sellers now than they were a year ago, but you have to be persistent. Ultimately, almost any success you’re going to have in this market is based on persistence. You have to be disciplined in doing those things that generate business, over and over again, with more persistence than ever before. If you do that, and work hard daily at staying positive, your success will grow.
