Going Pro

At our recent Prudential Indiana Business Conference, we enjoyed one of the most inspirational and motivating keynote speaker we’d seen in years. Ashton Gustafson, one of Realtor Magazine’s recent “30 Under 30” rising stars in our business, wowed the attendees with his presentation “Making Music in a Noisy World.”  His overall point was that it is too easy for us to get lost in the commotion of an industry constantly inundated with new technologies, new ways to communicate, and new ways to interact, so how can we best shape our mindset for the modern marketplace?

Ashton’s response to this question was his “Ten Truths” for surprising and delighting consumers and clients, and integrating “old school” tactics with the latest digital platforms to leverage the power of those new tools.  Craig West emailed everyone the outline of those Ten Truths yesterday right after the conference, and there will be more from the training and the coaching programs about Ashton’s approach as we look to help agents incorporate more of this young star’s ideas into their business.

His emphasis on the word Truths was important in that he contrasted Truth—with its underlying essence of being rock solid and unchanging—with Trend, those latest and hottest new approaches and fads and techniques we’re bombarded with daily, if not hourly.  He pointed out that, much as we’d love to find one, there are no magic elixirs in our business, no perfect system that one can simply implement, flip the switch, and then ride to a career of ease and riches.  It takes work, and lots of it.  But how can we make that work more efficient and effective, so we can make more money per hour and enjoy the truly important things in our lives?

Toward that end, we were especially struck by one of Ashton’s Truths and its importance in helping agents succeed in their business and at the same time to better control it and their lives.  He called it “Turning Pro is Greater Than Being an Amateur.”   By “turning pro,” Ashton meant what we all inherently understand:  approaching our business solidly as a business, making our full commitment to it, and to establishing solid goals and a disciplined plan and process for reaching those goals, and then tracking our progress along the way.

Ashton illustrated his own “turning pro” commitment in the afternoon session where he spoke about “Time Management and Lead Generation: Systems, Tools, and Disciplines.”  He shocked probably 99.9% of the folks around the room by telling us that from 8:30am to 11:00am each day—yes, EVERY SINGLE DAY—he takes no appointments and he works his daily routine that is his key to generating and cultivating leads—planting seeds, as he called it—so he can harvest the good work he sows each day.  He uses a system of scoring “points” for each activity he performs, and his goal is to rack up 55 points by 11am, so he then has the rest of the day for appointments with clients and the execution of his business.  And yes, Ashton will be sending us his point system so we can share it with everyone!

So, there will be more to come from this inspirational young man who brings excitement and old school, homespun connection, coupled with integration of the latest tools—yes, he uses Evernote—and who is so willing to share his success with others so we can make our music in this noisy world.

Remember, as Ashton shared in his presentation, Oliver Wendel Holmes said it best more than a hundred years ago:

“The greatest tragedy in America is not the destruction of our natural resources, though that tragedy is great.  The truly great tragedy is the destruction of our human resources by our failure to fully utilize our abilities, which means that most men and women go to their graves with their music still in them.”  Oliver Wendell Holmes  

David M. Hassler

Director of Coaching