Six Principals of Hiring a Real Estate Coach
by Roy Argall

Have you ever noticed that some real estate agents always seem to be inundated with clients, whereas others seem to struggle, regardless of the current economic cycle?  What is the key difference between these two types of agents?

If you are unable to create and manage systems, or you are struggling to sustain your focus, you might want to consider a coach.  This can be a difficult process for most – yet just as important as finding a new doctor, an ethical attorney, or any other seasoned professional. Real estate coaching not only holds the power to transform your professional career, but the quality of your very life as well. Below are the six most important factors to consider when hiring a coach to help you reach the next level of your real estate sales potential.

1. Be a Real Estate Expert
In order to effectively achieve that end, your coach must know the real estate, inside and out.  He or she must also be able to coach you into an area of specialty applicable to your personality, skill-set, talents, and vision.   Whether you are interested in residential or commercial sales, building and land development, or historic homes and luxury estates, your coach must share that passion and a much greater degree of skill in your desired niche. Your coach must also be able to point you to information technology professionals, businesses consultants, or toward whatever expertise you may require to take the next step in your career.  Your coach should no advocate one particular “program.”

2. Be Certified…
...either by the International Coaching Federation or by one of its approved training schools.  A worthwhile coach must complete a program in order to become eligible for certification that includes:  1) hands-on coaching, 2) intensive learning, 3) ongoing group work, and 4) one-on-one supervision of actual coaching sessions. These programs are designed to dramatically increase a coach’s ability and provide the structure and support needed to continue to build a successful coaching practice. It is also advantageous if your coach was trained by International Coach Federation Master Certified Coaches (MCC) or Professional Certified Coaches (PCC).

3. Come to Really Know the Agent
Any coach worth his or her salt must make a genuine personal investment in the agents they mentor and teach.  As an agent, you need to know that your coach really hears you, knows what your needs are, and knows how to accurately respond to your concerns and questions.  The better the coach knows his or her customers, the better rapport they can build, and the better they can customize their services to make a profound impact on their clients.

4. Use Current Methods to Facilitate Change
The fields of counseling and consulting both progress from a long history.  Coaching is somewhat newer, but in all three areas, language can be overused. Think about how often we’ve heard teaching terms like “empowerment”, “excellence”, “fulfillment”, and “skills assessment”.  These words and concepts were pure and effective when they were invented, but their current stay may have caused their power to become marginalized and overlooked.   Successful coaches use a proven model that serves as a template for their collaboration with their clients. It might be something like business planning from CreateAPlan or the three competencies and three levels of the QuantumShift! Coaching Model used in the coach training programs offered at Coaching and Training Solution or it might be the “clean sweep” program offered by CoachU. Those are specific models, easily articulated and easily applied for consistent results.

5. Be a Versatile Teacher and Mentor
Coaches who present or deliver their teaching using only one learning or communication style cannot hope to fully mature their agents.  Each of us has a preferred style of learning and communicating, and if the coach is not consciously aware of his or her own style (not to mention the concept that the other valid forms of learning and communicating do also exist) that coach will tend to communicate only in one style.

Examples of various learning styles include: visual, auditory, kinesthetic and auditory-digital, and the neuro-linguistic programming model. If you are a visual communicator, you will speak in terms of visual appearance, or whether you can “see” how something applies.  If you are working with a client who is a kinesthetic learner, that person will not respond to a visual presentation as much as they would to an opportunity to perform the concept in action.

Summary
Coaching is a powerful professional partnership that focuses on the client taking action toward their goals and desires with the wise support and guidance of a certified, experienced coach.  That coach should work with his or her clients in a holistic manner, offering advice in areas including: business, career, finances, health, and relationships. As a result of solid coaching, clients set better goals, take more decisive actions, make better decisions, and more fully use their natural strengths. Next time you are looking for a coach consider reviewing the six principles.

Roy Argall, author of this article and a certified Professional Coactive Coach by the Coaches Training Institute, is President of US Coaching (www.uscoaching.com).