KellerINK’s Five Takeaways From Mega Agent Camp 2023
The Moody Theater is usually a stage for rock stars. But, last week, hundreds of agents crammed into a standing-room-only crowd to learn how to take their business to the next level from a different kind of maestro…
Yes, we’re talking about Gary Keller. Gary, along with Jay Papasan, kicked off this year’s Mega Agent Camp (MAC) with a CEO Summit that was full of inspirational keynote speakers and central players in the real estate game. It was the perfect start to the week’s events that also featured panels of rockstar real estate agents and powerful insights from Keller Williams’s top minds. For those of you who got to experience it, you know there were too many takeaways to count. For those of you who didn’t make it, here’s a glimpse of the goods. Here are five of the KellerINK team’s favorite Aha’s from CEO Summit and the Main Stage:
- Consistency Is Key
- In Order To Grow, We Have To Fail
- Hiring Right Means Always Looking For Talent
- Your Strengths Drive Your Business
- Happiness Precedes Hustle
1. Consistency Is Key
This year’s CEO Summit had a clear message: becoming a winner takes consistency. MAPS coach Tony DiCello, who coached agents for decades (and who knows MREA and SHIFT like the back of his hand), says, “The ones that have the highest success in the industry make peace with the boredom and consistency.”
Tony went on to say that consistency doesn’t mean the job needs to be boring! But when it comes to hitting the numbers you need in order reach your goals, being committed to consistency will get you there. And if you truly are bored, Tony says, you probably aren’t setting big enough goals.
2. In Order To Grow, We Have To Fail
No one wins their way to the top. Instead, they try, fail, adjust, and grow their way to success. You may notice this isn’t a new idea for us. And it was reiterated by Ryan Holiday’s keynote at CEO Summit this year. Ryan spoke about the practice of Stoicism and how we can’t always control a situation, but we can control how we respond to it.
Without scary or difficult things happening in our lives, we would never be able to practice courage. If there was never any disruption, we couldn’t practice discipline. The same goes for success. Without experiencing failure, we couldn’t continue to grow and reach success along the way. “We have to always be learning,” Ryan says. We learn through our experiences and the experiences of others. So, the next time you fail, don’t think of it as reaching a dead end. Think of it as an experience and an opportunity for growth.
3. Hiring Right Means Always Looking For Talent
Gary and Jay say there are three ways of hiring people: accidentally, part-time, or full-time. Hiring accidentally or in a part-time fashion puts businesses at risk. We should always be looking to top grade our talent, no matter the circumstance, full-time. Agents might wonder how to be a full-time recruiter when they are already running a business full-time. By thinking about recruiting new talent as one form of lead generation and building it into your business plan, top grading your talent can become a priority. Even if you feel satisfied with your leverage and team, would you turn away the best potential employee in the world just because you are fully staffed? No! When you’re always looking for top talent, you’ll never miss an opportunity to grow your business and your success.
We are only as good as the people we surround ourselves with. If you have an employee or partner who is doing the bare minimum, don’t wait until things completely fall apart to start looking for real talent.
4. Your Strengths Drive Your Business
For many agents, real estate is a second (or even third) career. That means when agents enter the industry, they come with a set of ready-to-deploy skills they can then use to build their real estate businesses. Former teachers may find they are naturals at putting on seminars and educating clients and peers. Someone who used to work in marketing might gravitate toward making YouTube videos and putting branding front and center.
The point is you shouldn’t think of yourself as a real estate agent who also dabbles in something. Lean into your expertise. Rashauna Scott, an agent from Chicago, said from the Main Stage that she is a content creator first and an agent second. She posts authentically on social media, and opportunities for deals and contracts naturally come as a consequence. She knows what her unique skills are and uses them—do you?
Be that amazing teacher who sells real estate. Be a world-class videographer who can also get someone their dream home. Showcase your skills front and center. Don’t hide what you’re best at—make it an integral part of your branding and value proposition.
5. Happiness Precedes Hustle
Real estate agents work hard building big businesses and helping others. Between implementing new systems and driving potential buyers across town to check out their next home, it can feel like hustling is all there is. Because some agents are always hustling, they tend to put personal happiness on the backburner. They believe that once we hustle hard enough and reach our goals, then we will be happy. This isn’t the case.
Gary pointed out from the Main Stage that this is a common misconception. We should not look at happiness as something that can be achieved if we complete A, B, or C. While some people spend their time working hard to build and expand their businesses, happiness can’t be an expected result. Instead, we can and should choose happiness right now.
Happiness shouldn’t come as a side effect of hustle. It should come before it. The good news is that by choosing things that create happiness in our lives we are better suited to do our best. Think about the things that really matter to you. Base your life and your decisions around those things. As Gary says, at the end of our lives we won’t be wishing we had one more listing or one more dollar in the bank—but we may wish we spent more time with those we care about, doing things that we love.
These are just a few of our favorite nuggets from MAC and CEO Summit 2023. Keep reading our blog and tell your friends to subscribe to our newsletter for more exciting takeaways and ideas from our expert leaders and guest speakers. And let us know your favorite moments from MAC on our KellerINK Facebook page.