Albany Real Estate Career and Training Blog with Kevin Clancy

Jack of All Trades, Master of None: Why Not Try Being a Master of One?

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Mon, 4 Jun 2018 10:54:00 -0400

If you feel over-taxed in your real estate career and the results are not where you would like them to be, it might be time for you to refresh yourself with the basics and find one particular area to master.

Looking to improve your real estate career? I'm here to help you make a smart decision when it comes to growing your business, improving your bottom line, and choosing a place to work in real estate sales. If you'd like to learn more about working with Clancy Real Estate, contact me at (518)861-7016 or Kevin@ClancyRealEstate.com.

Today I want to impart some tips and insights that our team has learned over the years that you can use to save time and get to the income level that you deserve in your real estate career. We had some great one-on-one meetings this week, so I would like to share my takeaways with you.

One of my agents told me that he was making lots of calls but was not having any luck converting or reaching people on the phone. I asked him when he was making these calls, and he said he was making calls between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m because of other things in his life.

If you are calling out in the early afternoon, you are wasting your time—you would be better off going to the gym or going out for a bike ride. The best time to call is between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. at night, and between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. in the morning.

I have an agent who time blocked those periods for calls and she was making $10,000 a month. Her connect ratio was so much higher than if she had made the calls in the early afternoon. Success can be manufactured by properly structuring your day, such as reevaluating your time blocks.

Our team often feels like it is being pulled in 18 different directions—we are trying to door knock, work on our scripts, call FSBOs with Vulcan, write handwritten notes, check our emails, get sold leads, and figure out new ways to succeed in real estate without working.

My takeaway from my agents was that we were not focusing on the basics. While trying to juggle all these tasks, we were unable to do any of them exceptionally well. On this, I agree with the genius Gary Keller: You want to focus on one thing at a time.

Years ago in coaching, a friend of mine was struggling on the verge of bankruptcy in his business. I told him that he needed to focus on the fundamentals. He was trying to implement too many things at the same time.

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While trying to juggle all these tasks, we were unable to do any of them exceptionally well.

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Find your one weak area that, with improvement and mastery, will get your business where you want it to be. It could be mastering scripts or market knowledge. You will not master anything if you are trying to do 18 things at once. After meeting with many teams over the years, I’ve seen that top agents all master one area. That doesn’t mean you need to limit yourself, however. You can continue improving other areas after you’ve mastered one.

If you want to know what it’s like to be on a team and have the career and life you deserve, reach out to me. Here is to your continued success in real estate!

What Are the Keys to Success in Real Estate?

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Thu, 17 May 2018 14:29:00 -0400

You can’t find success in real estate on your own. You need to learn from others and apply that to your own career. Here’s how I can help you do that.

I’m back to share some more ideas and insights that I’ve gathered in my 25+ years in the business. I’m heading down to meet with some top agents in the next week which got me thinking about the keys to success.

Why do I travel to so many conferences like this? Because I want to surround myself with greatness. I like being in places where I’m not the smartest guy in the room. You need to surround yourself with successful people too. It will help you start thinking bigger.

You have an obligation to succeed. To yourself, to your family, and to the ones you love. Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” However, it also works in reverse. If you’re in an office with average agents who sell five or six homes per year, you might be feeling really great if you have sold eight homes, but you shouldn’t.

My team sold 300 homes last year, but we stink. You know why? 6,000 homes were sold in the capital region last year. Our market share is so small and there is so much opportunity for us. The abundance of business is amazing.

If you’re not happy where you are in your career, give me a call. I’d be happy to go out for coffee, have a sit-down, and show you the path to true success in this industry. My goal in life is to grow people, and I’d love to do the same with you.

There’s more business out there for everyone, so that’s why I’m offering you this opportunity. If you’re interested in going to Mike Ferry’s superstar retreat for free, give me a call and I’ve got a free ticket for you. Mike is one of the best minds in real estate and this will absolutely change your life.

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If you’re interested in going to Mike Ferry’s superstar retreat for free, give me a call today.

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If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I would love to hear from you.

How Are You Creating Value?

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Fri, 4 May 2018 13:24:00 -0400

If you’re willing to deliver more value to your client than what you’re paid for, your career in real estate will take off.

I’ve been traveling and attending a lot of conferences lately and learning a lot from them. One of those conferences was Mike Ferry’s, and he talked about today’s topic: creating more value than what you’re paid for. I don’t think any business coach will tell you that creating more value than what you’re paid for is a bad business model. However, most companies provide as little service as possible to their clients in order to get paid. In the long run, I believe this can cost you far more in terms of referrals, goodwill, and your reputation. How can you as a Realtor provide massive value to your clients? Go the extra mile. Do more than what other agents do during the transaction. I experienced a couple examples of this outside the real estate world recently. The first was an Uber ride. My driver had the interior of his car decked out with LED lights, he had bottled water available, and he even asked me what kind of music I wanted to listen to. It was exceptional service compared to the average Uber or cab ride. This guy’s attitude was phenomenal. The second was when my car had a flat tire and I had to call AAA. The kid they sent out to me had a positive attitude and didn’t complain, and I ended up tipping him very well even though I didn’t have to. He did such a great job, was such a great guy, and gave me such a positive experience that I felt obligated to tip him.

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Always go the extra mile for your clients.

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Real estate works the same way. All the way from the start of the transaction to the closing gift, it’s important how your client perceives you.

Speaking of closing gifts, if you need an idea for one, our team has started using personalized engraved cutting boards. You can see an example of one in the video above. The point is, it’s the thought that counts. Put some thought into what you give your client. Give them something they can use and something that will remind them of you.

If you’re willing to deliver more value to your client than what you’re paid for, I guarantee your career in real estate will take off.

As always, if you’re not where you want to be in your real estate career, give me a call and I’d be happy to sit down and talk to you about how I generate leads. If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to me as well.

Here’s to your continued success in real estate.

The Importance of Holding Yourself Accountable

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 11:00:00 -0400

If you’re not holding yourself accountable in your business, you need to find someone to do it for you.

Who holds you accountable in your business?

This is a question that was posed to me recently by a real estate coach, and it’s an interesting one because right now is the first time I haven’t had a real estate coach in eight or 10 years.

Us Realtors hire coaches to hold us accountable for tasks we need to complete each week. Otherwise, there’s no accountability in our business—there’s no one telling you to get out of bed, get to the office, and get things done. In real estate, you’re an independent contractor. If you want to sleep in until 10 a.m. every day, you can do so (you probably won’t be in the business very long though).

I was listening to the audiobook version of “The 5 Second Rule” recently, and the book’s premise is that you have five seconds to act on something, and your role is to be a parent to yourself. A parent’s role is to help their children grow and excel, but their role is also to get them to do things they generally won’t do on their own, so being a parent to yourself is what accountability is all about.

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It’s important in this business to stay on track and have an accountability partner.

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This week, think about who holds you accountable. If you’re not holding yourself accountable and you’re not self-motivated, get an accountability partner. On our team, everybody has an accountability partner.

If you need help being accountable, call me and I would be happy to use our systems and processes to hold you accountable and get your career on track. Otherwise, call a real estate coach.

If you have any other questions or you’re interested in joining our team, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you.

What Is the Biggest Thing Holding You Back?

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Fri, 6 Apr 2018 13:12:00 -0400

What is driving your success, and what’s holding you back? These are questions I’ll address today.

This week, I found some inspiration from an unexpected source. I was watching a video featuring Will Smith, and this video actually reminded me of why I am where I’m at today.

Will Smith has always been a hero of mine. When he talks about his career, he often talks about the fear of not knowing where his work will lead him next. Even though he would never have to work another day in his life if he didn’t want to, he genuinely cares about what he does.

I think a lot of successful people have this same concern and this same drive. A lot of successful people work from fear, and this is definitely the case for me.

If I’m not doing deals, I’m not going to produce income. So, the question this brings up is: What drives your success?

All of us have a desire to succeed, but many of us lack discipline. This lack of discipline is what really kills our businesses. You can talk all you want about the things you want, but all that talk will lead you nowhere if you don’t act on it.

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You have to put in the work to get the success you want.

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As real estate professionals, we all want to be great at what we do. But being great is a lot of work. It requires us to train hard, work on scripts, make calls, and be persistent.

During my recent training session with Mike Ferry, he brought an agent up on stage who sold 100 homes and had 150 listings this year. He made 30 contacts a day, which is 150 contacts a week. This is approximately 59,000 contacts a year. This means to get 150 listings, he failed 58,050 times. Still, this guy had a great year—he earned $400,000, all because he was willing to “walk the walk.”

So, are you willing to do so, too? Are you willing to act on the goals you talk about and make them happen? I think the answer for many of us is no, and that is fine. But, realize that you won’t be able to find the success you want if you don’t have the discipline to do what it takes. The biggest thing holding us back from success is our inability to do things that we’d rather not do.

The question to consider is, “How badly do you want success?” Life is a series of actions and reactions. You have to put in the work to get the success you want.

Finally, I’d like to share a video with you that I saw myself for the first time about six or seven years ago. The video is called “The Strangest Secret,” and it talks about many of the same things we’ve gone over today, and I absolutely recommend checking it out. I can almost guarantee it will change your life, because it definitely changed mine. You can find that video here.

If you have any other questions, would like more information, or are curious about joining a team and making six figures, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

What Separates a Mediocre Agent From a Top Producer?

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 13:43:00 -0400

Mindset is what separates mediocre agents from top-producing agents—mediocre agents have static mindsets, while top producers have growth mindsets.

What separates a mediocre agent from a top producer?

I’ve worked with dozens of agents over the years who came to our team making $15,000 or $20,000 a year and worked their way up to making $200,000+ a year, and there are many possible answers to this question. You could say things like knowledge, drive, talent, or motivation, but it’s actually none of those traits.

It’s their mindset—that’s what separates a mediocre agent from a top-producing agent.

I’ve come to the realization that there are two types of mindsets: a static mindset and a growth mindset. An agent with a static mindset is one who isn’t reading books or putting the time in to grow as a person. They want to be told they’re great, they don’t want criticism, and they don’t want to grow. An agent with a growth mindset is the exact opposite. They thrive on learning. They watch videos, read books, and devour information to make them better. They embrace criticism because they know it makes them better.

Let me give you an example of a growth mindset. I got my butt kicked this week on a listing appointment. It was a great listing, and I wanted it badly, but I lost it to another firm. That kind of thing happens—you’re not going to win every listing. Early in my career, I would’ve gotten upset about something like that. In this case, though, I called the seller, congratulated them on picking a great agent, and asked them why they didn’t pick us.

It was kind of funny—they said our firm was too big. I always think of us as a small firm, and at this listing presentation I was explaining how we could compete with some of the bigger national firms. Yet, I wasn’t really in tune with what the seller wanted, which was a smaller firm with a more personalized experience.

Had I not asked the seller why they didn’t choose us and received their feedback, I wouldn’t have been able to improve. Now I know if I’m on my next listing appointment and I sense that someone wants more personalized service, I should stress how we really are a smaller firm with personal service.

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Are you a growth-minded person or a static-minded person?

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A person with a static mindset would never get that far or try to improve or grow. They’d continue to lose listings and never change their listing presentation.

The question now becomes, if you’re having a bad day, how do you change? We all do different things. I’m about to go for a run this afternoon to clear my mind and work on some things I want to work on during that time. I suggest you take some time out of your day to clear your mind and focus on what you want to do.

This week, think about two things—whether you’re a growth-mindset person or a static-mindset person. Are you constantly growing and do you want to be the best agent you can be or is real estate just something you plod along at?

If you want something to help you with your career, I have tens of thousands of dollars worth of books, tapes, and other material that can help you with your career that I’d be happy to share with you.

If you have any more questions about this topic or you want to know what it’s like on our team, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. We’re still looking for one agent who wants to earn six figures a year with all leads provided. Have an awesome week, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Would You Like to Take Your Career to the Next Level?

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Thu, 15 Mar 2018 13:35:00 -0400

I’m on the lookout for a new agent to join my team.

Right now, I’m looking for a highly qualified, full-time real estate agent with a minimum of two years of experience to join my team.

On average, I receive 200 to 300 buyer leads per month, and I need your help to handle the surplus of buyers calling my office daily. I want to help you take your career to the next level and focus on what you do best, which is selling homes.

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If you don’t make $75,000 in your first year, I’ll pay you the difference.

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As one of the top real estate agents in Albany, I can guarantee that you’ll make $75,000 in your first year or I’ll pay you the difference.

Join me, the Capital Region’s No. 1 real estate agent as voted by the readers of The Times Union, and the only agent that real estate mogul and “Shark Tank” star Barbara Corcoran recommends in Albany.

If you’re interested in applying or you have any other questions, give me a call or message me here on our website. I look forward to hearing from you.

An Opportunity to Further Your Career and Help the Community

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Fri, 2 Mar 2018 11:15:00 -0500

Are you interested in serving your community? If so, there are two opportunities I’d like to go over with you today.

Before I get into today’s main topic, I’ve got a huge opportunity for you. My company is always doing everything we can to give back to the community that gives us so much, and right now we’re looking for two agents to join us in doing so. If you want to make six figures and work on a team with a culture that values both hard work and having fun, please give me a call.

I’m offering a $1,000 bonus to you or someone you know who is interested in joining our team. This bonus will become available as soon as you close your first transaction.

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My company is always doing everything we can to give back to the community that gives us so much.

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Now, let’s move onto the main subject. There is an event put on by the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, a private charity and childhood cancer research foundation, coming up March 11 at the Westmere Fire Department. You can see a video message from St. Baldricks at the 2:45 mark in the video above.

This is an event my team and I have been happy to support every year. Also, if you or someone you refer to us join our team, we will personally donate $2,000 to St. Baldrick’s after you close your first transaction.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

How Can You Increase Your Income in Real Estate?

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 17:22:00 -0500

How can you increase the amount of money you make in the real estate industry? I have three key ways you can do just that.

Now that it’s 2018, I hope that you’re looking forward to growing your business and increasing your income. If you are, the question becomes “How can you increase your income?”

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People will want to pay you more if they associate your brand and reputation with the quality of the service that you bring.

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There are major three ways you can increase the amount of money you make in real estate:

You can sell more houses. Everyone likes to brag about how many homes they’ve sold. That’s great, but I’d rather sell fewer homes at a higher price than more homes at a lower price. It’s less stress on my staff, less work in general, and we’re still making the same amount of money. You can focus on selling more homes, but it’s a tremendous amount of work, and it’s probably the hardest of these three options to carry out.

You can sell higher-priced homes. Let’s assume that you’re selling below the average sales price in your area; how can you increase your personal average sales price? I recently spoke with a top-producing KW agent who moved her average price point up to $1 million. She said that doing it was easy; she bought a $1 million house, joined a country club, and started hanging out with people who also lived in a millionaire community.

That’s not achievable for everyone, however. You just have to make a conscious effort to determine what sort of price point you’re willing to work with and what your bottom cutoff level is. Sticking to the lower levels, unfortunately, means that you’re not maximizing your dollar return for the price point you’re working in. We’re creating a separate division for low-end properties with a team dedicated to working with them so that high-end properties won’t reject listing with us, thinking that we’re only for low-end clients.

You can obtain a higher marketing fee. Your marketing fee only becomes an issue in the absence of value. If you’re not creating value for your client, the price you ask for will be contested. It’s like the difference between paying more for a brand name product instead of paying less for an off-brand product. People will want to pay you more if they associate your brand and reputation with the quality of the service that you bring.

Lastly, another way to make more money is to join a better team. I have two spots open on my team, but they’re only for agents who want to make six figures. We have a great team, I’m providing all the leads, and we have a lot of fun with what we do. If you have any questions about what you can do to earn more money in the real estate industry or would like to know about joining the team, feel free to reach out. I’d love to speak with you.

What’s Your 2018 Marketing Budget?

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Mon, 5 Feb 2018 12:58:00 -0500

Why did I spend $400,000 on marketing in 2017? For starters, I got a great return.

2018 is here and we’re off to a great start. Before we get too far into the new year, I wanted to make sure I talked to you about your marketing budget and what your plans are for it this year.

I spent over $400,000 last year on marketing. That might sound crazy, but when you see that my return was 4:1 at around $1.6 million, it doesn’t seem so crazy after all.

I track all of our spending on different marketing avenues. We’re always on the cutting edge and trying to use innovative techniques to get more business. One way we’re doing this is through a partnership with Regal Cinemas. Not only do our ads come up on the screens before movies, they also pop up on people’s phones in the theatre via a geolocation feature. I can then track all my deals from this section of the budget. When I can say that I spend “X” amount and brought in “Y” amount of money because of it, then my marketing makes sense from a profitability standpoint. Then it’s easy when it comes time to decide where to re-invest. I already know the places that have given me the best return, so I can go to them first.

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I track all of our marketing spending.

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If you don’t think you have a marketing budget, think again. Even if you’re just starting out, sending emails and making phone calls and sending thank you notes will barely cost you a thing.

2018 is here and we’re excited for what the year has to bring. If you want to learn more about where we spend our money when it comes to marketing or where you should be spending in order to maximize your return on investment, don’t hesitate to reach out and give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to talk on the phone or meet up for a cup of coffee. I look forward to hearing from you.

Empower Yourself By Finding Your “Why”

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Fri, 19 Jan 2018 17:50:00 -0500

To stay motivated in this business, you need to find out what your purpose is in life beyond the money.

How do you stay motivated? Why do you do what you do?

You can say things like “I want to pay for my kid’s college education,” or “I want a new kitchen,” or “I want a new car,” and that’s fine. The money is great—we all do it for the money. If you’re not making a lot of money, this business really stinks.

You need more than that, though. A couple weeks ago, my team and I had our annual kick-off luncheon, and the point I made there was that we needed a bigger vision as a company. We needed a bigger “why” in our lives than just making money. Our vision has to be about helping people and making a difference in their lives. That’s what we’re about as a company.

Tony Robbins puts this outlook into perspective by laying out a specific hypothetical scenario. Imagine there’s a fortress hiding a room containing $1 million in cash, and around that fortress is a moat filled with alligators, barbed wire, machine guns, etc. Are you going to swim through that alligator-infested moat to get that $1 million? Probably not.

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Once you find out what your purpose in life is, it’s an amazing, empowering thing.

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Now, if you alter that scenario and put something you truly love—perhaps a spouse, a sibling, or a son or daughter—-in that same room inside that fortress that used to hold $1 million, will you risk your life swimming through the alligator-infested moat then? You probably will. That’s because that person means so much more to you than money.

This week, as you gear up to work through the typically slow months of January and February and wait for spring to come, narrow down your “why.” Ask yourself, what is your purpose in life? Why do you get out of bed? Why do you sell real estate? What do you love about it?

Some of my team members and I volunteered at a Ronald McDonald house recently, and it really changed our perspective. We went down there to help those guys, but in the end, they helped us because they taught us so much about the struggles other people go through and how much they need us to help them. We met a family who had a daughter with leukemia, and they have to be in the hospital every single day. When you hear stories like theirs, you realize that the struggles we encounter in real estate are nowhere near the struggles other people go through.

As a company, our “why” is giving back to our community that supports us so much. What about you, though? What is it that will make you make those extra 10 calls per week? That “why” is so important. Once you find it, it’s an amazing and empowering thing.

If you have any questions about finding your “why” or you ever want to know what it’s like to be on a team where all leads are provided and everybody works together to foster a supportive, loving environment, give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to talk to you.

How Can You Achieve Your Goals for 2018?

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Thu, 4 Jan 2018 15:19:00 -0500

If you want to be successful in 2018, write down your goals—what you’re willing to change and what you’re willing to give up to achieve those goals.

The new year has arrived, so I hope you have your business plan in place for 2018. If you don’t, it’s not too late.

January is a time of change, so the question is: What are you going to do differently in 2018 that you didn’t do in 2017 to achieve your goals?

I’m fortunate because my team had a great 2017. We hit Las Vegas for training, we hit Chicago for training, and we hit the Bahamas just for fun. I’m blessed to have some great guys in my life.

If your 2017 wasn’t like ours, what are you going to do differently? I signed a deal today that will change things for us in 2018. It’s a big deal for us—it could make or break us, but we’re changing things. We’re not resting on our laurels—we're changing things going forward.

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If you’re on a team and you’re not happy, call me.

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If you’re on a team and you’re not happy, call me. We have open spots on our team for two new members, and we’re looking for people who want to make six figures. I want two people who want to have fun and look forward to coming to work every day in an environment that’s fun to work in. I look forward to every single work day.

If you want to be successful, write down your goals—what you’re willing to change and what you’re willing to give up to achieve those goals. Do this, and you’ll get there. If you need help, we’re happy to oblige. We’re a goal-oriented culture, and we love helping other Realtors.

If you have any other questions or would like to sit down and chat about real estate over a cup of coffee, call or email me anytime. I look forward to hearing from you.

Why You Should Be Throwing Client Appreciation Events

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 12:12:00 -0500

Client appreciation events help you reconnect with and stay top of mind with your clients.

Client appreciation events are a valuable tool for agents to cultivate better relationships with their clients. If you’re not throwing at least one annual client appreciation event per year, I recommend you start doing so.

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You should be doing some kind of client appreciation event annually.

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My team and I recently hosted a great Thanksgiving pie giveaway. We made several hundred pies and had many clients stop by our office. These kinds of events are a great way to stay top of mind, reconnect with your clients, and re-energize your relationship with them.

Speaking of appreciation, I’m taking most of my team to the Bahamas next week to an all-inclusive resort. If you or your team isn’t going to the Bahamas, give me a call and I’ll explain to you why we’re making the trip. I love my team, and they make me want to be a better person every single day. It’s because of them that I love coming into work.

If you’re not experiencing that kind of work environment, I also invite you to give me a call so I can talk to you about getting you to a six-figure income.

If you have any other questions in the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you, and I hope you have an awesome holiday season.

The Importance of Gratitude: How to Thank Your Past Clients

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Mon, 4 Dec 2017 16:27:00 -0500

There’s a good chance that a large portion of your business comes from the support and referrals of past clients. That being the case, it’s incredibly important that you let them know they’re appreciated.

The end of the year is coming up, which means now is a great time to look back and reflect. Most of all, it’s important to thank your past clients for their support, business, and referrals.

If you look at your top net promoters, you’ll find that these people are sending you a huge portion of your overall business.

On our team, one way we thank our supporters each year is by giving away free pies. This is a great event and only costs us about $5,000 total. We highly recommend hosting an event like this for your past clients, since it’s a great way to reconnect and show your appreciation.

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The important thing is that you let your clients know you care.

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It doesn’t have to be a pie giveaway, either. An alternative option to consider is renting out a theater for a movie night. Something I used to do myself was to rent out a private club to have a cocktail hour for my clients.

However you decide to do it, the important thing is that you let your clients know you care. If you aren’t doing a client appreciation event, you definitely should.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

How to Make Sure You Succeed in 2018

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Mon, 20 Nov 2017 10:45:00 -0500

Everybody gets knocked down in real estate. All that matters is you get back up.

The year is almost over and I hope you are absolutely killing it. If you’re not—maybe your numbers are down and you are a little beat up—I wanted to remind you of something today.

Getting knocked down is part of the business in real estate. Your production isn’t always going to go up. Sometimes you’ll get beat down. However, it’s not about how many times you get beat down. It’s about how many times you get back up.

This reminds me of a post I saw on Facebook recently from Lance Logan. He’s one of the top KW agents in the world, but he was facing foreclosure just five years ago. He was having a rough time. However, Lance persisted and now he is absolutely killing it.

If you’ve had a tough year, stay persistent. That’s the best advice I can give you. Another thing you should do if you’ve had a tough year is get started on your business plan for next year right now. You need to have a strong budget and you’ve also got to come up with ideas to do things better than you did last year so you don’t have another down year.

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If you’ve had a tough year, stay persistent.

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You’re always trying to buy the next greatest thing for your business. However, the key to your success isn’t a thing. It’s a person. If you don’t have an assistant already, I would say that hiring one is the number one thing you can do to take your business to the next level.

I remember when I didn’t have an assistant: I was the assistant. It was horrible. Once I hired someone in that role, they changed my life. I’m here today because I hired the right people on my team.

So stay persistent and keep at it. That’s what my team has done this year, and I’m excited to reward them with a free vacation to the Bahamas coming up in a few weeks. If you have any questions for me about our team and the way we do things, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

How to Make Your Business More Efficient and Scalable

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Mon, 6 Nov 2017 17:06:00 -0500

To increase efficiency and scalability in your business, don’t waste your time on decisions that don’t matter.

I just got back from a week-long trip to Las Vegas where I met with and spoke to Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff. While I was there, we spoke about many things, and one of them was our topic for the day: efficiency and scalability in your business.

In real estate, we do many, many things over and over again. Because of this, you must ask yourself, what systems and processes do you have in place to make your business scalable and more efficient?

You may notice something different about me in the video above—I’m not wearing a white shirt. I’ve shot hundreds of videos, and in each and every one of them, I’ve worn a white shirt. I generally always wear a white shirt. It’s so easy to put a suit and tie on with a white shirt. I wear black shoes, black socks, a black belt, and a tie that’s pre-tied. This all might sound crazy, but it saves me a tremendous amount of time—I pick a suit, I pick a tie, and I’m out the door!

It’s not me—it’s a trick I picked up from the likes of Gary Keller, Tony Robbins, and Steve Jobs. They didn’t spend a tremendous amount of time making decisions that don’t matter. They spent their time on the rainmaking decisions.

So, don’t waste your time on decisions that don’t matter. There are many things you can do to maximize efficiency in your business. I use a stand-up desk every day in my office because it doesn’t allow me to waste time sitting. I’ve found that if you’re standing at your desk, you’re more efficient and you get more things done.

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Don’t waste your time on decisions that don’t matter.

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One of the best classes I ever took in college was a class called “Industrial Marketing.” One day during class, the professor flipped a chair over for us to look at. We saw a bunch of holes drilled into the underside of that chair that didn’t need to be there. They weren’t being used, and it costs money to drill holes, so why were they there?

The point he was trying to emphasize is you need to analyze every part of your business, where you can cut expenses, and where you can save time. For example, if you’re still running around delivering deposit checks, stop doing that and start mailing them. Your time is more important for driving around delivering deposit checks! For just 49 cents, you’ll save yourself a tremendous amount of time.

If you have any questions about increasing your efficiencies or you want to know how we are more efficient and are able to sell 300 to 400 homes a year, give me a call anytime. I would love to go out for coffee and talk with you.

What’s Your Approach to Lead Generation?

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 11:02:00 -0400

Lead generation is an important part of any real estate business. What are the pillars of lead generation in your business?

The real estate market in and around Albany is still hot, as you already know. A lot of you are probably doing some great numbers out there. But what happens when the market slows down?

Today I want to talk about lead generation and, more specifically, the pillars of lead generation. What are your pillars? Where do your leads come from? When the market changes, you’ll be stagnant if you don’t have strong pillars in place.

A pillar could be anything from door knocking and cold calling to social media marketing and advertising. The only thing that matters is that you are a master. Once you’ve mastered one pillar of lead generation, you can start to master another, like lead follow-up. That’s how a successful business is built.

If online marketing isn’t a pillar of lead generation for you already, it should be. You might think the concept of “buying leads” sounds like a waste of money, but you’re going to see returns. Our team has seen a 4 or 5x return on what we’ve spent already. That’s just for Zillow.

Over 40% of our business comes from referrals. This is where you want to end up because when a big portion of your business comes from word of mouth, you will see decreased costs and increased profitability.

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Over 40% of our business comes from referral.

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If you have any questions for me, if you want to know how we generate 40% of our business through referrals, or if you just have a real estate question in general, give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to hear from you.

Are You Getting What You Want Out of Life?

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Mon, 9 Oct 2017 11:12:00 -0400

If you’re not moving forward purposefully in your life, I can help you get on the right track.

Are you moving forward purposefully in your real estate career? Are you getting what you want out of life?

This week, I found a sheet of paper on one of my agent’s desks that was labeled “Action Plan,” which you can see in the video above. On this sheet, he lists a daily schedule of what time to wake up, when to prospect, what to eat, when to go to the gym, what time to go to bed, and who his accountability partners are.

This action plan is a recipe to change your life. This agent of mine will absolutely be a $250,000 earner within 12 months, and that action plan will absolutely change his life if he sticks to that schedule.

Now, the question I have for you is this: Are you taking the time to manage all the aspects of your life that come into play? By this, I mean things like your finances, your faith, your diet, your relationships, and your overall work-life balance.

Are you purposeful in each of these aspects? Go through each and rate them on a scale of one to 10. My agent has done that, and he’s prioritized what it’s going to take for him to change his life and get himself to the income level he wants to be at.

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Are you purposeful in the aspects of your life that really matter?

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Think about the areas in your life that need improvement. How can you improve them? If you’re serious about your career in real estate, how can you improve it and get better?

I’d be happy to sit down with you and talk about your real estate career. I can share with you how I started my own real estate career and what we do now to be one of the top teams in the state of New York.

How Does My Team Sell So Many Homes?

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Wed, 6 Sep 2017 12:00:00 -0400

Today I want to tell you the secret of how my team sells so many homes. A big part of what we do is about our environment.

People frequently ask me how my team is able to sell so many homes. Today, I thought I’d share the answer with all of you.

As you may know, we’ve been ranked as the third top team in all of New York State by The Wall Street Journal. Not only that, but my team members average about 30 sales each.

To illustrate how we’re able to achieve this, I’d like to depart from real estate for a moment. This morning on my run, I noticed that my mile time was 30 seconds faster than it had been earlier in the week.

I was surprised by this and found myself wondering what had happened. Nothing had changed about my routine. But it was then that I realized that something truly had changed—my environment.

Earlier in the week I was running on hot, humid mornings. However, the weather was much nicer on the day I noticed that improvement in my mile time.

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The success of my team is partly due to our environment.

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Environment really does matter. This is true for real estate, as well. The success of my team is in part due to our environment. The team-based environment that we foster with our shared ideas and mutual investment in our goals is a key factor in our success.

When you’re searching for success in your own endeavors, ask yourself what kind of environment you are in.

Next, you need to ask yourself if you’ve made a commitment. Everyone on my team is full-time and they are all constantly striving for self-improvement.

Your skill set is the one thing that will really differentiate you in the business of real estate. Making a commitment to be at your best will pave your path to higher achievement. If you treat something like a hobby, you’ll never see the kind of results you might expect from a career.

Our team is expanding, so if you’d like to know what it’s like to work on a team, I’d love to get together and talk.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

How to Farm for Leads in Your Area

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Mon, 21 Aug 2017 16:21:00 -0400

Today I wanted to talk about how best to farm neighborhoods in your area for leads.

I’m very excited to announce that my real estate team ranked 181 out of the top 1,000 real estate teams in the country, according to The Wall Street Journal. Even more exciting is that we ranked third in the entire state of New York. I couldn’t more proud of the work my team has accomplished this past year.

Today I wanted to talk about farming neighborhoods as the supply of homes is so low. We’ve been doing quite a bit of farming for leads with direct mail using Every Door Direct with the US Postal Service.

You want to pick a neighborhood that has an above-average turnover rate and is in a nearby area that’s easy for you to service. You want to make sure the neighborhood has a price point that’s reasonable, as well. It’s easy to find information online for neighborhoods that are likely to have a high turnover rate.

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You want to pick a neighborhood that has an above-average turnover rate.

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This past 4th of July, we handed out about 2,000 American flags in the neighborhoods we were farming. I had my two teenage daughters help by sticking the flags in the yard and leaving a door hanger on the front door. We didn’t knock on the door since we didn’t want to bother any residents over the holiday, but we’re likely going to see about four contracts from that. It’s still too early to tell, but the results so far look promising.

We try to get creative with our mailings with things like lottery tickets, seed packets, and handwritten thank you notes—and the results speak for themselves.

If you have any questions on what we do to farm for leads or are looking for other farming ideas, please give me a call. I’d be happy to help!

Managing Online Reviews

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 15:01:00 -0400

Today I wanted to talk to you about how to grow your business through online reviews.

Summer is upon us and the actual number of home sales is down, but it’s still very competitive for buyers. I know that you buyer’s agents are working your tails off—putting in multiple offers and working twice as hard just to get one offer accepted—and it can be frustrating. Today I wanted to talk to you about how you develop your business.

The No. 1 thing right now is online reviews. The question is do you have a system to obtain these online reviews and do you manage them? I’ve gotten over 200 reviews on various sites, and we got our first negative review recently. It was a client who had bought a home with us and it was unfortunate that they weren’t satisfied.

So the question is, “How do you manage and respond to reviews?” It’s important not to look at any negative reviews as a bad thing, but an opportunity to improve your systems and processes. In this particular case, we didn’t do anything wrong, but we still responded to the reviewer. You can read how we responded on our Zillow page to get an idea how to respond to negative reviews that you may receive.

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Look at negative reviews as an opportunity for growth.

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If you really want to grow your business, it’s about treating clients well and getting them to tell people how great you are. So I want you to think about how you can get online reviews, manage them, and respond to any negative reviews if you should get any.

No matter what you do or how many clients you have, you’re always going to have someone who might not be satisfied with your service. The key here is to communicate with them and do the best job that you can.

This week, go out and get three new reviews online. It will change your business—I guarantee it.

If you have any questions about this topic, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you.

Do You Have a Set Schedule?

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Thu, 6 Jul 2017 17:12:00 -0400

Do you have a dedicated, set schedule? If you are disciplined with your time, you will be more successful as a real estate agent.

One of the most important things as a real estate agent is your schedule. To be a successful agent, it’s incredibly important that you are disciplined and able to manage your time.

So, if you don’t have any appointments on a Monday morning, what will you do? What is your schedule?

My most successful agents will get up, get dressed, come into the office and start prospecting. They make connections every single day, which is the key to success.

I have guys coming into my office in T-shirts and flip flops. When I ask if they have the day off, they say, “Oh no, I’m working.” I know that some people enjoy that laid-back style, but it’s just mind-boggling to me. If you are a professional, then you need to dress like a professional. I think that is so important in our industry.

Have a disciplined schedule and show up. That is the key to success in our industry. After all, real estate is a contact sport. You need to have a schedule and prospect for two to three hours every single day. If you do that, then you can’t help but make $200,000 to $300,000 a year.

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Control your own schedule and be disciplined with your time.

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If you don’t have appointments, are you showing up to prospect? Are you disciplined enough to control your time, or do your clients control your time? When one of your clients calls you, do you run out for a showing or are you disciplined enough to make sure that your sacred prospecting time does not get interrupted?

When I first started out, my sacred time was 8:30 to 10:30 or 11:00 a.m. I would prospect every single morning.

As time has gone on, that changed. Now, we do a lot more inbound calls or call follow-up. Still, it’s incredibly important to have that set schedule. Set aside family time, time for home showings, and time for prospecting so that you can get what you want out of life. That way, you’re not reacting and running around at the whim of your clients.

So this week, think about drawing out your schedule. Personally, I’m in the office almost every morning to return emails and make follow-up calls. My appointments are in the afternoon. As our company has grown, I no longer have to take weekend or evening appointments, so I’m able to devote that time to my family.

Control your schedule. By being disciplined with your time, you will set yourself up for a successful career.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I would be more than happy to help you!

How Using 2 CRMs Can Grow Your Business

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Fri, 23 Jun 2017 16:22:00 -0400

Today I’m excited to share with you what I know about how to choose a CRM. It’s a question I’ve received time and time again, and one that I’ve asked many times myself. The truth is: you really need two.

Looking to improve your real estate career? I'm here to help you make a smart decision when it comes to growing your business, improving your bottom line, and choosing a place to work in real estate sales. If you'd like to learn more about working with Clancy Real Estate, contact me at (518)861-7016 or Kevin@ClancyRealEstate.com.

Today I wanted to answer a question for you that I’m always receiving: what lead and CRM systems do I use?

Now, I get this question over and over again. I’ve used most of the systems out there but, interestingly enough, I ask that same question to my friends who are incredibly successful in real estate. I’ve learned that the answer is always different.

They tell me they’re using Agent Office, Top Producer, Boom town, Commissions Inc—the list goes on. With all this variety, the truth I got out of all these answers combined was this: use what works for you and, if you have a team, what works for them.

Myself, I’ve been on Top Producer more than ten years, and from personal experience I can tell you that while there may always be a better, more efficient program out there compared to the one you’re using, the real secret is knowing which is the best for you personally.

My good friend Howard, who started Tiger leads, is a CRM expert. With how quickly systems change over the course of time, Howard makes a good point: you really need two CRMs in your business—one for the now business to follow up with your buyers and sellers, and one like Top Producer, which will follow up with your contacts after you sell the home.

Despite all the advertisements I run as a Realtor, 40% of my business is from referrals. This is because we keep in touch with things like our monthly mail-out newsletter, bimonthly emails, and other miscellaneous touches we add for our clients throughout the year.

The fact of the matter is that if you’re looking to grow your business, you need to invest in CRMs.

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The fact of the matter is that if you’re looking to grow your business you’re going to need to make an investment in CRMs.

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I’ve personally spoken with the owners of several programs including Commissions Inc, Boom Town, Tiger Leads, and more, and I know how important it is to get your contacts into a database so you can connect with your clients and grow your business.

If you’re looking for more information about CRMs or have any questions in general that I can help you out with, give me a call or send me an email. You can also feel free to get in touch if you or someone you know would be interested in joining our growing team. I look forward to hearing from you.

How Can Solo Agents Compete With Teams & Top Producers?

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Thu, 8 Jun 2017 14:41:00 -0400

I recently got back from a trip with some fellow top producers, and the prevailing questions I received were about how agents can compete with top-producing teams like mine. The answer comes down to one simple aspect of your business.

I was recently in San Diego for a trip with some fellow top producers, and many of them wanted to know how they could compete with someone like me who has endorsements like Barbara Corcoran and has my name out there like I do. They did a survey asking sellers what was most important when selling, and the No. 1 response was customer service.

Basically, the majority of clients wanted to feel like they were their agent's only client.

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Clients want to feel like they are their agent's only client.

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If you're an individual agent, you can give clients much more attention than a team member can. We know that 40% of business is referral business, and that's because of the client experience.

So how can you compete with a team like mine? It's all about managing the client experience from day one. We've reached the point of making a promise about the level of our service to clients from the very beginning. If we break that promise, there will be major implications for us as a firm.

Think about having the client experience in the forefront of your mind as you meet people and talk to clients knowing how important it is to most people.

If you'd like to talk more about your business or you're interested in joining our team, I'd love to grab a cup of coffee with you. Just give me a call or send me an email soon. Here's to your continued success!

How to Avoid Problems With the Appraisal

kevin@clancyrealestate.com (Kevin Clancy) — Tue, 23 May 2017 13:54:00 -0400

If you want to avoid issues with appraisals coming in low, do as much as you can to make your appraiser’s job easier.

Values are rising in our market, but this is causing problems with appraisals coming in low. How can you get past the appraisal without any problems?

Many people don’t know this, but I spent many years as a full-time real estate appraiser around the capital region and the New England area, and I’m still a state-certified general appraiser in New York state. Name the type of property, and I’ve probably appraised it before.

You have to understand that appraisers are overworked and have to cover many areas they have to become experts in very quickly. Often, we’re seeing appraisers come into areas with which they’re simply not familiar enough. The easier you make an appraiser’s job and the better relationship you have with them, the more likely they’ll give you a favorable result.

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The easier you make an appraiser’s job, the better your results will be.

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Just the other day I had an appraiser call me about one of my vacant listings. The tax records showed that the home was 65 years old, but in reality, it had burned down 15 or 20 years ago and been replaced with a module. It’s possible the appraiser picked up on that, but most likely they didn’t. They were probably going to list the age incorrectly, keep that error in the appraisal, and produce an evaluation that was not favorable to my client. Obviously, I wanted that appraiser to know the truth as well as the comparables I used when I valued the home so we could get a more favorable result.

Appraisers don’t want to kill your deal. They just want to give the bank a valuation that’s on the money. In today’s market, that’s a hard thing to do unless they start taking time adjustments. When an appraiser looks back six months for comparable sales and prices in real time are moving forward, they’re the ones holding value down, and that becomes a difficult situation.

If you have any questions about the appraisal process or you’re interested in joining our team, don’t hesitate to give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you.