Even Coaches Need Coaches

When I hire a coach, I'm really looking for somebody that has already been there, that can take me there, has the actual items that I can do. It's a clear path, right? So it's making sure that I'm on the correct path, but actually advancing me way quicker. So I make sure that. And just like, what is that ROI on that? And is it going to get me to my goal quicker and achieve more money than I thought that I could? And without the headache and stress of having. Having to recreate the wheel from, you know, ground up? But, yeah, definitely, when she told me that number, I was like, holy shit. And at that point, I was like, okay, I know I want it. I know that if I need to make this payment of whatever it was, how many clients, what does that look like? And I reverse engineer it in what I tell myself and what I told myself. At that point, I said, if I really want to hire her, if this is truly what I want, I have to go out and find three more clients today. Welcome to the Leading Lane podcast for Real Estate Pros by Real Estate Pros with your hosts, Ashley Frederick and Stephen Burch. If you're looking for an honest, authentic, and raw perspective, you found it. Welcome to the LeadingLane Podcast. Today we're going to talk about coaches needing coaches. And, you know, I think the. The reason why I want to bring this up is the fact that I think people sometimes think that, all right, cool. Once we have a coach, we're done, everything's hunky dory, and I no longer need to advance and learn and, you know, get different perspective. But I really think in order to advance and to maximize, when you're working with a coach, you need to make. Make sure that that coach is actually investing into a coach for themselves so that they are advancing. And it's this whole chain reaction of, you know, to pull one up, you have to invest in yourself, and then you have to be able to make sure the person ahead of you is constantly going as well. So with that, Ashley, you have a coach as well, right? So I do. Why does a coach need a coach? Yeah, you know, it's funny, I was actually thinking about that last night just because I'm talking to someone later about hiring me as a coach and in their, like, preliminary questions that asked if they have ever been coached and, you know, said no. And I think that in me telling them, you know, kind of about my story, if you will, it's important to note that, like, I started with a coach, right, like, four years Ago. And I think that. I think we. Maybe we've referenced. Remind me, the book with Michael Jordan. Oh, resentless, relentless, Close. I'm on today. So y. That's good, right? And like, so Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, right? Like, they're the best of the best in the. In their. In their game, but they still had coaches. And so I think for me, it was, you know, I originally hired a coach just because, one, like, something felt off, but two, like, I felt like I could be doing more. But sometimes I was floundering as to, like, what to do or it's, you know, I could do all of this and whatever. So, you know, I hired a coach, had that coach for two years. It was great. You know, helped me break through a lot of things. I think it's, you know, a matter of hiring someone that has a different perspective, but also someone that's willing to challenge you and ask tough questions and then was probably without a coach for about a year, year and a half, and then hired another coach. And it's. I think we talked about, you know, that we were in the pool in Mexico and I decided I was going to. And I think it's, you know, like, we're pouring ourselves into people by coaching, right? But we also need someone to pour into us, right. And I think it's just a matter of even when, though, you're coaching people, like, there's still different ways to do that. You know, there are things you learn along the way. And we're not just coaches, right. Like, we're still practicing, you know, real estate or running other businesses, or maybe we have other goals outside of just coaching. And I think that it's important that you're always striving for the next best thing. And I think that with that, there always comes the cost discussion, you know, And I think people sometimes are maybe like, sticker shocked, if you will, and I don't necessarily look at it like that anymore. It's. Even when I originally hired you, right. Like two years ago, or is an investment to be made and was it a lot of money? Yes. But also I was like, to me, it's always, do I think that that investment will pay for itself? It's always the way that I try to look at it. Right. And so for me, like, I knew I needed to make changes in my business, and I think I told you that within, like, I don't know, two months, the investment we made paid for itself. Right? So I think that's the same thing with coaching. Like, it's. It's not cheap, nor should it be. I mean, you're taking someone's time, they're pouring into. They're giving you their best practices, accountability, etc. But it's really then on you to make those changes. But again, I always tell people, like, you're spending whatever, two or $3,000 maybe, right? You look at that over like six months, it's $15,000. Is what you learned in six months going to change your business worth of $15,000? And like, I look at it as, that was five new transactions that, that you wouldn't have got then. I mean, it more than likely doubled what your investment was. So I think that people get really caught up on like that first big number and then they're like, nope. For me, I don't know. So that's kind of my original thoughts. But what about you? You have a coach as well, right? I do. And I can't lie, I got the sticker shock when she told me her price. Um, and I think for me, what it was is that when, when I hire a coach, I'm, I'm really looking for somebody that has already been there, that can take me there, has the, you know, actual items that I can do. It's a clear path, right? So it's, it's making sure that I'm on the correct path, but actually advancing me way quicker. So I made sure that. And just like you'd like, what is that ROI on that? Um, and is it gonna get me to my goal quicker and achieve more money than I thought that I could and without the, the headache and stress of having to recreate the wheel from, you know, ground up? Um, but yeah, definitely when she told me that number, I was like, holy shit. And at that point I was like, okay, I know I want it. I know that if I need to make this payment of whatever it was, um, how many clients, what does that look like? And I reverse engineer it in what I tell myself and what I told myself at that point. I said, if I really want to hire her, this is truly what I want. I have to go out and find three more clients today. You know what I did? I found four clients, right? Like, so it gave me the motivation of knowing if I work just a little bit harder to offset the cost. Now it's paying for itself because those are four more people I didn't have at the time to make the deal work. So I will also tell you that when I first was working with Laura, she told me we're only going to meet once a Month. And here I'm coming off of a previous coach that I was working with that was weekly or bi weekly type of thing. And I was like, that's all I get. And she made me really realize that if I really need her every week, I'm not doing the work, I'm not critically thinking enough and I'm not putting enough effort into it to chunk this away like I want to, to meet my end goal. So she really put it in perspective and challenged me that was I really maybe leaning on somebody too much and not challenging myself enough to get it quicker and faster and more efficient. And so I think it's that, that coming from a compassionate place. Right. But also she's given me a chin check of realization is from a different perspective of maybe my reality is a little fogged right now. And even on that first call, even before I even made the commitment, she provided me so much value that I knew that it was a no brainer to sign that contract ASAP to get where I wanted to be able to go. Well, I think, you know, the other part of that is if it's not that much of an investment, then do people really put the time and effort into it? You know what I mean? Like if it's a, you know, you're gonna hire a coach for a hundred dollars a month, right? Like that's like for a lot of people, they spend that on coffee or, you know, whatever else in a month. So I think it also does have to be, you know, an important amount that like, this is serious. Like I have to put serious time and effort into this. And I think that, you know, the part of a coach having a coach is none of us know everything, right? And I think we also can, even as a coach, as a realtor, like, you can get stuck in your ways. You can be com. Compliant. Complacent. Complacent, right. And unless someone's going to point those things out to you or really push you as to like, what else is it that you're wanting to do? How can we get there? I mean, again, you have to. I think that then that can trickle down to your clients because someone is asking you those questions, you know, and. Hearing you talk and thinking about this. Like we, when we talk about ROI, really the ROI is not in the coach. And I get it that it is, but really the ROI is actually within yourself, right? Like if you want an ROI and you jive and they, they are exactly, um, you know, the proven method, the rinse and repeat type of thing. If you don't do the work. If you're not and truly taking it seriously, then that ROI is going to tank because of you, not because of them. And I do agree on the price wise of the. If it's too cheap, the people aren't going to come to you. Like, I think that there is a, there's something in sales about having exclusive access and a lot of people don't want the cheapest. And if they want the cheapest, we all know that that's not always the best. So you have to make that investment. It takes. Makes you serious. You're holding yourself accountable. And if you're not holding yourself accountable, your checkbook is holding you accountable. And from a coach perspective, if you're not going to show up, if you're not going to do the calls and you're not going to do the work, that's on you. I can't, I can't, you know, carry that and force you to do anything. So when you coach people, Ashley, like, let's see if you have the same experience, it's really fun. You get to, it's. It's easier to see things in other people's business and other people's goals than it is to look at yourself and do that self reflection. But in reality, when I coach people, I get way more out of it than what I initially thought that I was actually going to get right because I'm thinking like, ooh, I'm going to help them, I'm going to help them. It's all about them. But in reality, as a coach standpoint, it's actually helping me. It's making me walk the walk and talk the talk. And I think that only continues to help elevate me with my clients and then with my coach as well. And that really is multiplying me even further in my career and helping more and more people and impacting their lives. So is that the same for you as far as, like, when you tell somebody to do something, then you're like,. Oh shit, I should probably do that. I need to do that. I need to step up. I, I kind of forgot about that. I think that you're right. I mean, again, it comes back to the compliancy of it, of we get stuck in our ways. And you know, I think, I think Covid, I've been talking about this a lot with people recently. Like, it had its pros for the most part, target pickup and whatnot, but there was a lot of negative that, that came out of COVID as far as, like, how you interact with people how real estate was unchartered territories of you got away from basics because you didn't have time to pee during the day. Right. Like you were doing 20 showings a day. Like, I wasn't worried about sending out a mailer because. Right, right. So I think that now that things are a little bit more the norm, if you will, like when you're encouraging your clients to, you know, reach out to a expired or reach out to a for sale by owner and they don't want to and you know that you don't love it. But I mean, are we looking to generate business or not? Right. So it's kind of like the same question, same thing. Like, right. Then like I did mailers and the things that we know worked, then we stopped doing them. A lot of agents deception in general. But I feel like you can't ask of other people what you're not willing to do yourself. And I think the other point of that, you make a really good point is that it's not just about numbers. It's not just about income for me at least. Like, I've seen the people that I coach change as humans, you know, as far as just their demeanors, I feel like are better. I think other people around them recognize that. I think they go above and beyond. And those are, I guess those are more important to me than just transactional because it's impacting someone's life. I also think that I've maybe seen it from an outsider, but maybe how they're impacting other people in their office to do things or like that to me is like this ripple effect that we're looking for. And I think that's just what maybe people get so caught up on. And like, you know, because there's a lot of people that say a lot of negative things about coaching a lot of people. And I think to each their own. But I think that we're in a world where especially when you're self employed, it's really easy to get lost in the weeds. It's really easy to get lost into, I could be doing this or I could be doing that or I should be doing this, but who's holding you accountable? Right, right. You don't have someone feel like, yeah, so you were supposed to do this, like, why are you not? And then sometimes it comes into like a something I wasn't expecting as a response. Right. Like, I don't think I'm good enough or whatever. And like, didn't think we were going down that path. Right. So it's like peeling back these layers of an onion really for people to see what they're really capable of. And I think sometimes when people aren't challenged, then that's when they just stay stagnant. They don't change their ways, they start to drop in production or they start to become negative at work, at home and it's just a downward spiral. I think if you don't have someone that's pushing you to really be your best. Absolutely. And you know, while you're saying that the you and I were on a call with a another broker owner and we were talking about a certain topic and towards the end of the conversation she goes, you know, sometimes I'm glad and I'm paraphrasing here, I'm really glad that we had this conversation. And I'm not crazy. I sometimes feel that I'm out here on this island all alone. And over and over and more and more I hear that of I'm alone, it's lonely up top. And really you're not alone at all. And I think that when we're dealing with high performers and people that constantly go like you and I do, there's really not a lot of other people on a local level that can think like us or want to think like us, understand really where we're coming from. So I think when you can start getting, you know, around and surrounding yourself with like minded people and people that are challenging and advancing you, and if that starts with an investment into a coach first to get you into the right table so that you don't feel alone when you are in your local market like that right there, it's worth more ROI in my opinion. There's no tangible way to calculate how much that is worth because year over year, if you're continuously doing that, how much is that multiplying your income and your productivity and advancing you versus being Complacent and doing nothing about it. So I think that it's not just the transactional like you're saying, yes, it's the impact on the human itself, but also what is the longevity of this ROI, of how this is truly going to pan out from a, you know, the next 20 year perspective of investment versus just now instant gratification perspective. Yeah, you know, I think it's a good question too when people are interviewing coaches is to ask, you know, like that coach, do you have a coach? You know, because again like we're asking people to make an investment into us, are we making an investment into ourselves? But I will say that that's probably my biggest frustration is people will just say, like, well, I don't have the money or, you know, money's tight. And I completely understand. Like, when I first started coaching too, like, I was a little like that. It's not a comfortable number. But also I was also, I'm not happy where I'm currently at. Like, I need more. And the only way I'm going to do that is again to invest. And I haven't to this day. Like, I haven't as far as coaching, whatever masterminds I have always recouped, like, what I put into it, I have and show very clearly how it's been recouped. And I think that that's. You're right. People need to look at the long term. I know that sometimes my clients don't always understand why I'm asking them to do something or maybe it's not something that they like to do, but you're right, it's not about, like, we're just going to fix something over overnight. Like when you're trying to make these big of steps, there are things you have to put in place to keep it going for the long term. Sure. And, you know, I think it's fun. Fun when, you know, somebody says, oh, I can't afford it enough that I can judge on what they should be spending their money on or not. I'm not their financial advisor, but if I can see that you're going out to the bar every weekend or you have Starbucks, Right. All the time or whatever it is that you do constantly in reality, it's not that it's a financial issue. It's. That is the excuse that you're telling yourself and allowing yourself to say that that's. It's because you're not ready to make yourself a priority. And I think that there's some ick around. Being selfish in investing in myself means I'm selfish. I don't know when selfish actually became such a bad thing. Right. Like, it's being like, it's only you. You have to be selfish. And so I think changing the mindset of is it really I don't have the funds or is it that I'm not ready to face the mirror and I'm not ready to make myself a priority? And I think that is really the true underlying issue versus the actual income or, excuse me, actual expense of the investment? Well, and I think you make a good point. Like when I first hired a coach, I put it on a credit card. Like, I'm telling people to Go, you know, rack up credit cards. But it was just, I think it was originally like a three month commitment, you know, or a six month commitment and, but also like by, by doing that again, like, I think it made me really be like, well, if I'm gonna pay this and if I'm put it on my credit card, like do whatever I can to get my ROI so that I can do that. So I think that that's just where I know there are a lot of people struggling financially or whatnot. But if you just keep on sitting in the same boat, rowing the same way. Yeah, you're likely, you know, upstream, like you're not, you're not going to go anywhere. And really like my question then at that point is tell me how long can you afford not to make this investment? If you, you know, like we have the broker fast track retreat that's coming up and I, I get a lot that, you know, that's a big investment and I understand, you know, like there's travel, there's time, right? There's definitely. Other than just the writing, the physical check out of it. But if you already are struggling and you already are recognizing it and this is the pathway, a blueprint to be able to literally clone into your own business, how long can you afford not to come? Because are you going to be closing your doors in the next year or two because you didn't want to make the investment or you didn't. And that's the other thing too is the time, you know, you can't step away from your business. That's exactly why you need to do things like this, so that you have the ability to be able to step away from your business. You have the freedom and flexibility. You're not tied to your business, you're not in your business, you're working on your business. And I think that goes, you know, I know that we're brokers, but that's from an agent perspective. That doesn't matter if you're in real estate or anything like you, it does not matter what your position is if you're not willing to make that investment. It's very scary of how long are you mentally and physically going to be able to stay in the state of a vicious cycle that you're currently in. I remember you when I hired you originally. I remember like, man, if I would have done this two years ago, like think of how much more trajectory we would have had if we would have started two years earlier. Right. So I think that, you know, my advice to someone is just jump In, I mean like jump in head first. A lot of people don't require a year commitment or anything like that. I always tell people that too. Like I would never hold someone. Like if it's not working, we're not driving. Like I would never waste someone's time. I think the same way. But you have to just try. You have to try it, give it a whirl. If you see your business start to change, then you know that it was well worth the investment. Absolutely. And you know, I want to share this before we, we end on this, is that last week I went up to your office, right. And we were working on, you know, policies and procedures and different onboarding process and whatnot. And the reason why I wanted this topic is this right here, me going up there like as much as I was there to help you and your team and you know, help out wherever I could, it really gave me the energy boost and the looking in the mirror that as I'm going through our packet of policies and procedures and reading some of these things, I was like, that's not right. I haven't update that. That's not okay. How am I here, you know, giving advice and everything's not going to be perfect. I totally get that. But it really gave me the umph of let me refocus on me again as well and our company and revamp some of these things and revise it. So as much as we are pouring into others, really, I think that's when whatever you put out, right, like you're going to receive back and that's what I, you know. So thank you for the opportunity of me going up there. And Ben now has me hooked onto those stupid Starbucks brown sugar oat milk shaken things, whatever they're called, that thing. Yeah, I mean he just appears out of freaking nowhere with a coffee in his hand. Like that's not good for me. I could get too used to that. But my point being is I, you know, it's great to help others and I think that's really when you get to start seeing where you can focus your time so you can continue to, you know, back on yourself so you can continue to help others and can continue to impact lives in different manner. So give as much as you take, right. Or actually give more than you take and help others when they need it, but also be able to just ask for help and know that when you're in that area and you need to change something, there's a pathway, somebody's already done it, you don't have to recreate the wheel. Invest in yourself. Make sure you have aligned yourself with the correct coach, correct mentor, correct consultant, whatever it is, and make sure that you get yourself out of that rut. Yeah. I mean, and I think in the meantime, right, like, just surrounding yourself with the right people, I mean, you and I offer ourselves, you know, to people all the time for phone calls that we're not coaching. I mean, that's the part of it is that, you know, we hope that we can pour into them for a little bit of time and show them the, you know, that. So I think that we all. Because it is like, you talk about, right? Like, being on this island. And I think that that's how it is as broker owners. You can feel like you're on this island and am I doing this the right way? And like, right this week, we had a whole new. Another change in real estate. Right? Like, but it's also, again, like, locally, it's. I can already see where the issues are going to come into. Right? So again, just like almost a year ago, like, we're going to have to lead from the front, and that's exhausting. And to be able to pour into other broker owners and just a simple text or a call to just be like, how are you feeling? Can you help me through this? Make sure that I'm not crazy, even though I'm the only one doing it right. But I think that having those networks of people truly can help move mountains forward. And then really investing in yourself, like you said, it's. We deserve to invest ourselves. Like, what are we on this planet for? Right? Like, we're. I'm here to try to impact other people's lives. And it's not just status quo. And I think that a lot of us want that next big thing. A lot of people just don't know how to get there. But you have to really invest in yourself in order to make a next step. Agreed. Great conversation. And I'm going to leave today with something new. I'm going to give everybody a challenge. My challenge is in the next week. Text five people and just say, hey, how are you checking in 5 people? Simple text people that you don't talk to regularly. People that you may not have the best relationship with. Challenge yourself, push yourself and see what kind of reaction you get from texting those five people. Great challenge. I'm on it. Well, thanks for listening in, as always. If you would like to be a guest on our podcast or have a topic that you'd like us to discuss, please reach out. We would love to hear from you. If you've enjoyed today's episode, please like subscribe and share with others. Stay connected for more genuine insights and strategies to boost your real estate career on Facebook or check out our website. We'll see you next time.