Top 5 Tips for Hiring a Real Estate Coach

What did that initially look like for you, that decision making? So, yeah, I got licensed in 2007, which seems like an entire lifetime ago, and was pretty much a solo agent. It was kind of like teams or anything really were what we see now and had a little bit of a mentor within the industry who was my friend. But other than that, I was just kind of, you know, individual agent. And I did that for without a coach or anything like that for about, I guess it was six ish years, because my very, very first coach, I didn't hire until 2013. And the irony of it was, I was literally, I wanted to quit.

I wanted to completely leave real estate. And I was, and I was doing really well. I was, I think that year, I want to say I did like right at 20 million just by myself. And that was no TC. Yeah. No TC. Before the days of TC's and all of that stuff. Yeah. We didn't even know what that word meant then. I kind of explained that to people and they're like, what, really? Yes. Yeah. And, you know, it was, when I say I was a solo agent, I really was a solo agent. And so I was making good money in terms of income, but my sanity was completely shot. And I literally hated it. It was, you know, again, the irony of the whole thing was I was receiving the 20 under 40 award.

And the speaker that they brought in at that actual luncheon ended up being the first coach that I hired. And it was at that luncheon receiving this award. I wanted to quit like, and for whatever, and I believe, you know, and all the kooky stuff that everything happens for a reason and exactly when and how it's supposed to. And so I'm sitting there, you know, at this table with my family and friends getting this award, wanting to quit. And this speaker is speaking about coaching and it's just resonating with me. Every single thing he's saying is what I'm experiencing at that time. Burnout, you know, I'm pulling 20 hour days. I'm, you know, killing myself, but I don't have any free time.

I can't spend it with my family. I can't travel. My phone would ring and I would literally be annoyed. And it's someone calling me, you know, to go see a house. And that's what you've dreamed of. And it's happening. It's coming to fruition. And I'm so just tired, physically, mentally exhausted that just the sound of my phone going off was just over the top for me at that point. And so that was, for me, the moment that I hired my first coach and honestly changed the whole path of my career from that point. So you and I won that award the same year. So I was at that luncheon as well. And for me, it was just after I had hired my first coach.

So it kind of like reinforced my decision making. So, you know, I came in right around the same time. I was a year after you from a licensing standpoint. And, you know, we went through some hard times, like a lot of people do first starting. I mean, there was a time after my son was born where, I mean, we were legitimately rolling coins to pay for diapers. Two things were going to happen. And then for me, that pendulum swung so crazy to the other side that in 2012, I did 96 transactions by myself and I had gone to a, you know, it's a Houston thing for the Houston agents. They'll know engage, but it used to be called the big back in the day. Tom Ferry was there and I ended up saying, this is, I need structure in my business.

Like I was doing good, but I was all over the place trying to manage, you know, handwritten to-do lists with spreadsheets, with Outlook. You tried to use that as an organizer and it just wasn't working. And it was affecting my ability to parent well. It was affecting my marriage. It just, it wasn't good. It was good business-wise and it was a hell of a lot better than rolling coins for diapers, but it wasn't good life-wise. Yeah. Right. And so that's why I hired my first coach was really to put structure into my business because there was a whole, I wasn't part of a big brokerage. And so there was a whole hell of a lot of, I don't know what I don't know. Right. I needed a way to tell me, just go do this. And the framework from coaching made sense to me.

Right. So since then, you've now gone through a couple of different programs. I think we've both seen things like ninja selling. We've both seen peak producers and stuff like that from a bunch of different programs. But I thought it would be fun that between the six or seven programs from coaching that you and I have been exposed to over the last 15 years, let's take a look at some of the questions that people have as they either start coaching or are thinking about going into some sort of coaching program, but do it from the agent side and not from a coach side, which we've had a couple of those episodes on this show. So my first question is, when is the right time to start coaching?

I would say now, but whether it's your, yeah. I mean, it's, I'm a big believer in accountability and I think most successful Realtors have very similar mindsets and it's just go, go, go. You're dealing with the biggest fire at the time, whatever it may be. You need some kind of center, whether it's once a week, every other week, once a month, something that you are going to commit to that's going to help you. And it will truly help you. It's going to help your mindset, your business, everything. And the programs vary depending on, you know, what you're looking for from a budget standpoint, from an expectation standpoint, but it's, you know, like everybody knows how to work out.

I can go work out by myself, but your results are going to be that much greater. In my opinion, if you have an expert helping you and it's one of those things too, don't try to reinvent the wheel. You're not learning from someone that has been there, done that, gone through the same thing, knows the pitfalls, knows the systems, the processes, the procedures, whether you're day one or, you know, day a thousand, it really, truly, I believe in it that much that I think every single person should have a coach. Yep. I don't disagree with you. You know, I think that, um, you look at other, I mean, the workout example is a great example, right?

You're having an accountability partner, if nothing, but really when you start to see the gains you want to see is when you go out and hire a trainer, right? You look at people like, I, when I talk about this kind of thing, I talk about Tom Brady, right? So Tom Brady gets up in the morning and he doesn't have to worry about what he's making for breakfast or anything like that, because he's got a nutrition coach that does that. He's probably got a cook in there, but he doesn't have to worry about those things. He goes to practice and he's got coaches that are helping him with his performance. They're analyzing tape. You know, you look at somebody like a Tiger Woods, right? Um, and whatever you think of Tiger Woods as a human being, think of Tiger Woods as a human being, but it doesn't change the fact that at the very top of his game, he reinvented his swing, right?

He broke everything down and started back over with coaches. And this is a guy who wasn't just beating people. I mean, he was demoralizing people. And in that he decides, you know what? I'm just going to redo it all over. Yeah. And so I think that if you look at these super high performers, um, I would be, I would wager to say that there are very few highest level performers in the real estate industry that aren't being coached some way somehow. I agree a hundred percent. Yeah. And so, you know, whatever that looks like in your business, that you can start putting those things into place and having somebody that is saving you so much time because they do have proven tried and true systems. Right.

Um, that's probably saving you money. Yes. Even though you're taking on a new expense at the, in the long run, you're probably going to save money. Right. But more importantly, you're going to save your sanity and your, your quality of life. I think more than anything else by having a coach, you know, I have seen people who have been in the industry for two or three years feel like, okay, now I'm ready. Right. Um, and I've seen people who, because they had the financial ability right out of the gate, hired a coach, regardless of where you are in your career, positive things happen. Exactly. So yeah, too late to start. That's the whole thing. I mean, I was six years in before I hired somebody, but I also knew I was, there was no way I could, unless I raised my price point, which I mean, we would all love to be able to do, but I knew from a transaction count, I was maxed out.

There was no way I could physically do any more. And I needed, I knew I needed help. I just didn't know what it was or what it looked like. So. Yeah. Now you're doing what you were doing in that one year and a quarter. Right. Yeah. Right. But I've also changed the whole, my entire structure of my business. I now have a team and that all I credit a hundred percent to coaching. Even that very first coach, uh, he was, I joke that the first aha moment I had with him was at that award ceremony and I'm not one to go up to anybody after they speak. I'm not one to like, Oh, wait in line and shake their hand. It's just not who I am.

Not anything wrong with it. It's just not who I am. And for some reason I did with him. And he looked at me and he said, would you work for $10 an hour? Cause I didn't want to hire anybody. And that was the whole thing. So it was cheap, you know, and I wanted to keep all my little, you know, my money to myself. Same. And stupidly, this is going to sound so dumb because in 2012, I did 96 transactions. Mm-hmm. I was worried that I wasn't going to have enough work to keep somebody busy. Right. No, I told you. It's so dumb. Yeah. And it's so, but it's that whole, you're slammed, you're dead. You're slammed, you're dead, you know? And he looked at me at that award ceremony and said, would you work for $10 an hour? I'm like, hell no. And he said, why are you?

And it was that moment. And I was like, okay, I'm hiring you, you know, because in it, that moment changed everything. And now I have what, 16 other people's I'm 17. So to go from not wanting to hire one person to now having, you know, 16 is all because of coaching, 100%. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. All right. So that leads us into the question. So we've made the decision that now is the time. Regardless of where you are in your career, now is the time to start thinking about coaching. So the next one becomes, well, which one is right for me? Yeah. All right. And I hate to throw the old CRM answer out there, which is the one you use.

There are a number of different options. I mean, there are a bunch of coaching programs in the industry. Yeah. For me, I think that there's a bit of an evolution in this. And this is something I've actually been kind of playing with and thinking about for a while. And so I think that, you know, if you look at how people come into the industry and they hopefully are going to a brokerage where there's a good training program, right? Right. And that's going to be sort of your first introduction to learning and hopefully, if you went to the right brokerage, some accountability and things like that. Right. And then I think that there's this next level of coaching that helps you get your spheres knocked down really tight.

Yeah. Right. So you look at something like Brian Buffini's peak producer and stuff like that. You look at, I even think, to a significant extent, Ninja is really good at locking down the people that you know and making sure that you're staying in front of them. You're getting referrals. You're doing that. And then from there, I think it becomes a question of, I need to leverage more of me. Yeah. That's where that TC, that's where that assistant, that's where some of that stuff and really getting systems and processes locked in. And then I think once you've done that and you've started to learn how to leverage, maybe you've got a buyer's agent or two, that's when you really start thinking about, I need to figure out how best to turn on the lead generation faucet.

Right. So I don't think that, I'm not 100% convinced that there's a one-size-fits-all-forever type of coaching program. You may, through the course of your career, go through several. Mm-hmm. I have. No, same. And right now, I truthfully have two. I still, my very first coach, because again, I was so cheap, I did virtual coaching, where it was just like this, all the group coaching. It was still once a week, because I also, I mean, we can throw Jerry James some credit. I mean, yeah, Jerry James, I absolutely love. And I still, he's talking to our luncheon and all of that, Jerry James. He's amazing. I go to his events still, I help speak for him, but I still also use him.

I have virtual coaching with him still. I offer it to my team, because it still serves a purpose, and I still learn. And I think the other thing, too, that a lot of people don't realize is you've got built-in referral networks within each of those different coaching ecosystems. So, I get a lot of business from agents within Jared James. Then I also have Tom Ferry as a coach right now, and I get a lot of business through that ecosystem. But then also, the coaching looks very different. But I started with Jared strictly from virtual, because I think it, and it's still probably like $50 a month.

So, that to me, I mean, what, five to 10 Starbucks a month, like, so worth it, so worth it. I think every agent, plus it's a write-off, I'm not a CPA, but, you know, I mean, it's still worth it. If you think you can't afford it, at least start there. Something, in my opinion, is better than nothing. But then it does. Like, I've done Buffini, I've done Ninja Selling, all of them are great, but it also kind of changed as I changed, and as my business changed, and what I felt I needed, and what I felt was working or didn't work, and where I wanted to go within my business. And I still think virtual is a great option, if you're looking strictly from a budget standpoint, but, and Jared also offers one-on-one coaching.

The main reason I ended up one-on-one with Tom Ferry is because they offered weekly coaching, and that, for me, when I was interviewing the different coaches, when I knew, okay, now I'm at the level where I know I want to grow my team, and I want to get more hands-on help with my actual business, and looking at P&Ls, and how do I retire from this, but make this work the smartest way possible. I knew I needed to up my game a little bit with coaching, and I was interviewing, and Tom Ferry just happened to do once a week coaching, and I know I need that accountability. Otherwise, it's out of sight, out of mind for me. So, I think everybody's different in what you need, but at least starting with something, I think there's an option out there for everybody with the different categories that there are.

Yeah, I agree 100%. I think, you know, you interview, right? Interview different coaches. Like, when I picked the coach that I currently have now, which is through Workman Successes, shout out to Cleve Gattis. I interviewed a bunch of people because what I needed at the time was very specific. We were going from a franchise brokerage to an independent brokerage, and you'd help with that transition. Again, there was some, I don't know what I don't know about a few things that were platform-related, and I needed ongoing recruiting and building the business and that kind of stuff. Coaching, and I interviewed probably a dozen different coaching companies, and really narrowed it down to two or three that were better suited for brokers, and ended up with Workman.

And it's been a great fit, but I took the time to do it, and I think that that's important. And then, you know, we can talk about this later, but I also think you and your coach have to have a good job. Yeah. I was fortunate in that I had Mark, when I started coaching, I started with Tom Ferry. And at the time, Tom was doing kind of this, he had hired Mark Johnson to come in and do this broker division, and they were trying to figure out ways to coach brokers. And I was kind of one of their guinea pigs on that, and, you know, Mark is still somebody I reach out to for questions 10 years later, 11 years later, happily. Yeah. He's been on this show before talking about stuff, and he's, you know, he's just, he's great.

Yeah. I think if you really find that you become friends with these coaches, it enhances that. Well, and that was a big question for me, too, when I was interviewing, is how is my coach selected? Are you just, you know, pairing me with the person that's next in line? Am I competing with other agents that are local to my market? That was a big thing for me. I didn't necessarily want 10 agents in the Woodlands for us to all have the same coach, because that, to me, didn't make sense. And I really liked how, like, at least with Tom Ferry, and I know Jerry James as well, they do personality tests. They interview you, and it, I mean, it's almost like a disc assessment, really, where they decide what you need.

And that, for me, was important, because I needed, plus, I wanted someone that had been there and done that. I didn't want someone that did less than me in production. That, to me, didn't make sense. So that was kind of a big question was, and that's ultimately another reason I went with Tom Ferry, was they had coaches that were doing triple what I was doing and had built a team and laid the groundwork. That's right, I think that's important. I think, you know, not only is it a, it's a street cred issue, but it's a, you've walked in my shoes and there's some empathy. Like, I think that's the big thing there is, you know, I should aspire to, to do the things that my coach does or think the way or act the way that my coach does. And so, yeah, I think the key here is the one that's right for you is the one that feels right for what you need in your business right now.

If you aren't worried that much about all huge social media marketing and all this stuff, because what you really do is lock down your sphere and build referrals because you've got tons of peaks and valleys in your income or production. Then going out and getting somebody who focuses solely on big marketing projects and lead generation probably isn't the right thing for you. The thing for you is to go do something like Peak Producers or go do something like Ninja or, you know, one of those that's really going to help you lock down that sphere. You find that, you know, you need help with systems and processes and really organizing your business that you can leverage things because you have those processes in place. You know, somebody like, I don't know that there's a company out there, in my opinion, that does a better job than Workman at that.

I mean, systems is in their name. And then, you know, you look at somebody like Tom Ferry, and I think Tom Ferry is amazing on turning on the Legion. Right. He's just incredible at that. So, all right. Question number three is, what should I expect from my coach? Not the program, but the person. I think you should expect, the biggest thing, I think, is the accountability. I mean, not to, you know, beat a dead horse, but that's really, ultimately, you want them to challenge you. You want them, you know, I have homework every single week. And I think a lot of, you know, Realtors' mindsets, it's a little annoying, you know, because it's like, oh, my God, I've got all this other stuff I need to do. But I have it done every single week, because I know every Wednesday morning, I've got to meet with my coach.

And if my homework's not done the week before, I look like an a-hole, you know? I mean, and plus, how stupid am I that I'm paying all this money, and I'm, you know, not doing my weekly homework or whatever it may be. And, you know, one of my favorite quotes, and I'm, you know, paraphrasing here, but it's, you know, your success, what you measure and track, you know, grows. But what you measure and track and report back accelerates. And that was so evident for me. When I first hired Tom Ferry, it was 2021, no, or 20, I can't even remember now. I don't, my years are messed up.

But within my first 12 months, yeah, within my first 12 months of Tom Ferry, I doubled my business. I doubled. Now, I added team members, I had a, but I also had in my mind what I wanted. And that was part of what I was asking when I was interviewing different coaching programs, because I knew kind of the path I wanted to go. But it really, that accountability for me weekly, because I am reporting back. I mean, I know right now how many transactions I've closed, which agents have closed what, from a production standpoint, unit standpoint, profit and loss, where we're at, where we're at with our goal. And before I had coaching, as dumb as this sounds, I didn't really know, you know, I mean.

Money in the bank, I must be doing all right. Like, it was like, okay, I got top producer, but like, what did I make? How many did I close? What, you know, I mean, I wasn't tracking it, and I, because I wasn't having to report it back to anybody. I have to tell them every week where I'm at. And for me, you know, there's a part of this that I think is also our industry is kind of screwed up in the way that we look at things. We, we look at GCI all the time, right? Gross commission income. And who gives a shit about your income? It doesn't matter. Yeah. What I care about is your net commission. Yes. Yep. How much money are you actually making? Not how much are you reporting in sales? And that was huge for me, because I, I didn't have before Tom Ferry, I had QuickBooks.

I didn't really use it. I paid for it. You know, I had a CPA, but, you know, other than that, I really did not have some grandiose business plan. And now I have bookkeepers. I know what my profit and loss is because it isn't about GCI. It's not what you make. It's, you know, or it's not what you sell. It's what you make at the end of the day. And that's counting your expenses. So that was critical for me too. And what I think most agents should expect when they're looking at coaches is really dialing in to your business and treating it like a business, treating it like you are the CEO of this. You're not just a Realtor. You're a business owner. You own a business.

Amen. If you don't know what your bottom line is, like that is just, and I'm guilty of it. I was that agent. So I get it. But you can all, you know, you can start now where you literally change the path of your business. Yep. Agreed. So, you know, I look at it, like you said, I think the number one thing is the accountability, because I think that's the thing we all struggle with the most. Yeah. Some of the other things that I look for, especially if we're talking about like a national coaching program, is some idea sharing. Yes. There are other people doing in other markets that's working. We tend to be, and I don't want to A, jinx anything, or B, you know, knock on wood here.

We tend to not experience the wild swings of the East and West Coast here in the middle of the country. Right. So if they're seeing a softening market before we're seeing a softening market, who's doing what that wins early? Right. And how can we share these ideas and best practices inside of that coaching network? And they should. I mean, most coaches, they all have events that they put on yearly. You know, even workmen and, you know, even Jared James, Tom Ferry, go to the events. I definitely, if I'm looking at coaches, I, because I agree, I think that's so important to, whether it's, you know, mastermind sessions on Zoom, which most of them should offer, my opinion. But also that face-to-face interaction where you are able to connect and network and make, build those relationships as well, but learn from them.

Because the smartest person in the room is the room. And you, I still learn something every week. We have two mastermind calls with agents around the country every week. So in addition to my one-on-one, I'm getting three total calls a week. And it's probably three times more than most agents, honestly. Oh, for sure. All right, cool. So next one up, and I think that there's a lot to dig into. I think we could probably do a whole episode of this next question is, what results should I expect when I get into a coaching program? Like, what are the things that we should be expecting? So, I mean, it's, it kind of sucks in the beginning, if I'm being completely honest, because you, like, I would expect that, first of all, that it's, there's going to be growing pains in the sense of, you're going to realize, oh, I don't have a bookkeeper.

I don't have QuickBooks. I don't know what my P&L is. I don't know what P&L is, you know, like. I think there's an element of, it's like somebody coming in and calling your baby ugly. It is. And they are calling you on your shit, too. I mean, it is like, what are you doing? What are they, let me get defensive for a second. That's totally natural. I also think that there's something of a wall. Yes. What I've seen with a lot of people is they hit about the eight or nine months to a year. Yeah. And they are just like, this isn't working, I'm out. Mm-hmm. And it's because they're trying to, you know, there's a great book called The Gap and the Gain. They're trying to measure about where they're supposed to go versus where they were a year ago. Right. And look at the progress that they've actually made.

Mm-hmm. And I really think that if they were better about that, they would look at this with a longer term commitment. And I think it's one of the things that you should expect from a coach is setting your mindset on a longer horizon. Yes. And I've got bills to pay next week. Right. And I'm big on exactly that. Like, what I always say is consistency is key. Whatever it is, whether it's working your sphere, you know, networking, this, that. But coaching, too, is the same thing. If I go and, you know, using, you know, working out again, as an example, if I work out for a month, and then I stop, well, I'm not going to have the same results as someone who works out every month for 12 months. It's just, it's impossible. Right.

And I think you have to go into it knowing, okay, I'm going to give it 12 months. I think that's the minimum time that you should expect to invest. And I do look at it as an investment. It's not an expense. It's an investment. And I'm going to commit to this. I'm going to give it everything that I've got. And then you can start looking at it. And most agents really don't see a huge change until usually years like two to three, give or take. Ish. You know, I. When I hired my first, when I first hired Tom, you know, early in my career, because my business was so jacked up. I saw very immediate results. Same. Right. Like really, really within.

I thought my wife was going to kill me when I came home and told her that I committed to $500 a month. Yeah. Which, you know, was compared to what they charge now is cheap. But I thought she was going to kill me when I, when I said that. And within probably 90 days, it had paid for itself for the year. Well, that's the whole thing. It's like one transaction for me now is the way that I look at it. That's it. I sell one house a year from it. And, and you do, I mean, you're going to do that in a month usually. And it's paid for itself. But no, Richard was the same way. I mean, Richard is so cheap. And he was like, are you freaking kidding me? Like, this is stupid. And to the point now we've upped our coaching because he sees the return on investment from it.

So, yeah, but you've got to be consistent. You can't do it for a month and then think, okay, well, nothing's happened. Or I don't like this, or I don't like being accountable. You're literally, that's what you're paying them to do. And it does. It sucks in the beginning, you know, but. Hard. It's a lot of work that you don't see immediate results from. Yes. You know, me getting my file checklist, my client experience checklist or whatever put together. Yeah. I'm not going to see a result from that. Right. Like right out of the gate. Right. Where me going and putting something on social media seems a lot sexier. Right. But you got, you know, I always jokingly call it, we're bringing not very sexy back. Yeah. And that's kind of what the business side of the, it's not the sexy stuff.

It's the boring stuff, but you do it over time. Yes. You're going to be successful. You keep that routine down too. Like you, you know, the other biggest thing I think they should expect is you're going to be happier. And that ultimately is so freeing. And it sounds so corny and cliche, but it's the truth. It's like I, for the most part, and I don't admit this to most people, but I try not to work Friday through Sunday. Like I work four days a week for the most part, and it's taken a while to get there, but, and obviously there's, you know, an exception to every rule, but that was also part of my end goal. And it is so freeing to actually enjoy what it is that you do and be able to spend time with your family and nurture those relationships that really, at least for me, kind of got put to the side, unfortunately for a while because of this business.

And because you're able to do that, when you do come back to work on Monday, you're better at what you do. Yes. Right. That year in 2012, when I did 1986 transactions, I talk about this with people like, I don't remember that year. Right. I look back at photos from that year and the rest of the world was in color and I was in black and white because my coloring literally was gray. Yeah. How unhealthy it was. You're there, you're, you know, you're physically at the baseball game or whatever it may be, but, you know, we're this constantly on the phone. It's not in my head somewhere else or whatever. It's putting those systems in places, you know, like Jocko Willink says, discipline equals freedom. Yes. It is kind of cliche, but cliches exist for a reason.

Exactly. Yeah. Let's address just real quick before we get into the last question, because we're still the expect from a coach. When you want to quit. So I think that for me was also crucial because I've seen, I've been in this business now long enough where I've seen Realtors come and go. I've seen them have amazing careers and then just basically quit and retire and that's it. But I felt like it wasn't necessarily the smartest way to go about it. I felt like our business has evolved. The industry has evolved since I started in what, 2007 or six. And meaning I've spent now 16 years, 20 years, whatever it is, by the time I, you know, retire.

What a shame to just let all of that time and hard work and blood, sweat, tears, everything just kind of go to the wayside. And so for me, when I was interviewing this last round of coaches, that was really important to me because I knew I'm not going to work forever. That's not realistic, but I want to exit in a way that is the most profitable and makes sense. And I've got, it's still a business working and making money and generating revenue. And so that is my plan. My plan when I retire is not, Bridget Moore Group will still be there, but I'm not going to be involved in the day to day. And I'm setting my business up to have it run itself and have basically a sales manager, essentially, and another team lead and grooming the agents in the process to get to that point to where the company still exists, still makes a profit.

But I'm not the one that's even leading the reins anymore. I'll still probably always be involved to some extent, but not on the day to day. And how many agents can say that? Right. And that's the whole thing. Like I have, it's been too hard for too long to just walk away. And, you know, I didn't think that was the smartest option possible. And so my coach now he's done that. And that for me was really important with who I ultimately ended up getting paired with, was someone who had done that. And, you know, he's put honestly a four-year timeframe on me. He wants me out in four years on that level.

I'm only 42. So I'm like, shoot, I'll only be 46. I don't know if that's realistically where I want to be. But for him, he's like, you don't need to be doing, you know, all of the day to day four years from now. And so, you know, that's the path he's got me on right now. But I mean, probably realistically, by the time I'm 50, so what, eight years? That's my personal kind of goal in the sense of being out of that day-to-day aspect of it. And that's awesome, right? I mean, you can't beat that. Right. Let's talk about, to wrap up here, let's play a little game of what if. Yeah. Right.

So the first what if is, well, what if I don't like my coach? Which is a valid question and concern. It's one that I had, especially when you start talking about the thousands of dollars you're spending every month. So it was a big question that I had. And what I learned from all of the, well, I would say if you're starting with virtual, look at the coaches online. Look at their social media. See if you can watch their YouTube. See if you connect with them, if you vibe with them from a personality standpoint, what have you. There's a ton of them. I mean, you can just Google real estate coaches and, you know, find a slew of them. When you start getting into the one-on-one is where the dynamic does change, in my opinion.

And so when you are interviewing the different coaching programs, that to me is a really important question. And they do, for the most part, in my opinion, have it down to a science where it's pretty remarkable. Like my coach is, I mean, I feel like he's handpicked for me. It really, from the assessment, yeah, they interviewed me multiple times. So I would ask, what is your process for choosing a coach? If they don't have one, that might be a little bit of a red flag. But, you know, are you interviewing me? Are you, I had to send like almost, I felt like it was like a hundred page questionnaire kind of thing on what I wanted, where I was, where I wanted to go.

The disc profile, all of the things, but then also ask them, okay, if I, in the rare event that I am partnered with someone or paired with a coach that, for whatever reason, I'm just not clicking with, what then is, what do we do? And most of them, I've never heard of anyone. And it does happen. It does happen. There are people who just get paired with the wrong person right out of the gate. Yes. For me, the question is, why don't you like your coach? Right. Is it because they're on your feet? They're on your feet, they're on your feet. Or is it them? Right. And so as often as not, it's, I don't like what's happening and I'm having to face some harsh realities.

And that's the part that I'm not being coddled or I'm not being, you know, having my ego stroked enough. And you've got to just approach that from a different mindset, a mindset of humility. And like, you came here for a reason, right? But like, there are times when it's just the wrong person, like that happens. And so, yeah, there has to be a mechanism in place for that. But yeah, I agree with you. I think most of these coaching companies have done a good job of really getting it down to a science on picking. And they want you to be happy, too. So ultimately, because I know two agents specifically who didn't like their original coach and different programs. And they were so helpful with getting, you know, readjusting, kind of, you know, just having that open, honest conversation.

And then ultimately pairing them with someone else who they love. So. So the next one is, is what if it doesn't work? What if I'm doing all this stuff and it doesn't work? Well, most do offer some kind of guarantee. I will say that. That was another question that I asked. I think that is a little relative. If I'm being, you know, completely honest on, you know, what does the guarantee entail? That kind of thing. But if you're doing everything that they're doing, a lot of them do offer, you know, something. But they're going to require you to do it 12 months. They're going to do all of these things. That was something that for me was important. Going to Tom Ferry, because the expense was that much greater that I was like, all right, if it doesn't work, what happens?

And they're like, we'll give you your money back. If you do it for 12 months and there's all these disclaimers. But it's basically you do up, you know, you show up every week. You do your homework. You do it for 12 months. If you don't at least get back what you invested in terms of GCI, we will give you your money back. Now, I don't know if they still offer that or, you know, what the terms are. But for me, that was a nice little, okay, so they stand behind what they're saying. And like I said, we doubled our business. So it will work if you give it what, you know, it's that whole you get what you give mentality. Yeah, I think, you know, when we, there tends to be, well, that won't work in my market. Well, that won't do it.

Right. It's kind of a mentality. And you've got to get rid of that mentality and understand that, like, these are tried and true systems that have worked for agents all over the country. And markets just like you're somewhere else, or even you are, and just, I hate to say, almost kind of blindly follow. Right. You almost kind of have to blindly follow for that. And I'll say Jared James did call me out on that because he wanted me to do this, some marketing campaign when I first started. And I literally said, that's not going to work here. You're in Connecticut. I'm in Houston. It's not going to work. And he was like, shut up already. Like, just do it, you know? And sure as shit if it didn't work. So it was like, all right, I'm going to shut up now and just do what you say. I think the last on the what if questions is, what if I'm ready to move on to the next one?

Like, how do you make an exit from a coaching program? I think when you feel either that your business is shifting or that maybe you're not, you've outgrown them in a sense, or you need to be pushed a little bit further, it's kind of, again, you know, using working out as an analogy. If you're using 10-pound weights and it's super easy and you're just repping them out, you need to go up a weight. You know, it's that, you know, if you're already asking yourself, do I need to change? You probably need to change. And it's not a good, you know, because you should love your coach. You should really, you know, value them as a person. And it's not always the easiest conversation to have with them or even internally because you feel guilty.

You feel like you're cheating on them. I've personally gone through that. Even with Jared, when I went to one-on-one with Tom Ferry, I was almost in tears telling Jared, you know, and he's like, dude, you got to do what you got to do. And I get that. And I think that any good coach is going to understand that and want that for you. And that's the thing, because I knew I wanted to go into a growth team mode and that I needed the weekly accountability. And that's what that's just for me was what I needed in the change. And, you know, even now where I offer coaching for my agents on my team. And so that looks different. So I'm constantly changing and that's OK.

And they understand that. But I think knowing when you're already asking the question, it's OK to change. It is. And like you said, if you're thinking that it's time to make a change, it's probably six months past time to make a change. Yeah, agreed. It's kind of, you know, say the same thing. Like, when does somebody need an assistant? Six months before they think they need an assistant. Yes. When they needed one. Yeah, when I when I made the first change in coaching programs, for me, it felt like. Our coaching calls were just this routine of going through the motions. Yeah. And I and, you know, truth be told, I felt it six months before I actually made the break.

But at that point, I felt like maybe every other one was just kind of just like, OK, we're just going through the motions here. Right. Thanks for the 45 minutes or whatever. Yeah. But then it got to the point where I really looked back over a quarter and I didn't feel like I had gotten that much. Like, I was still moving forward because I was using the systems and process. So the value was there. Right. But I didn't feel like it was stretching me. I didn't feel like it was pushing me to do something new or different in my business and that we had kind of hit a plateau. So, yeah, it's not challenging you and almost that uncomfortable pushing you out of your comfort zone. If you're in your comfort zone. You need to, in my opinion, start looking at a change because now you're complacent and, you know, it's you're no longer being pushed to that next level.

Right. So any other what if questions that we should be throwing out there that I didn't think of when we were planning this? I think. I'm just trying to think of anything else because, you know, I want to make sure we give people the value of their time. Yeah, right. I feel like this was pretty darn good. I feel like we hit a lot of points. I think so, yeah. I mean, it's, we've been through most programs. And I've done this. They're all good. Yeah, you know, in the words of Earl Workman, everything works and nothing doesn't. And so they're all good. Yes. Just finding the one that's right for you at the moment. Right. Exactly. So, well, awesome. Bridget, thank you for taking time. I know you're busy. I always appreciate your insight on these things. And this was fun. I don't think we ever look at it from the perspective of the agent being coached.

We always just look at it from top level. I thought it would be a fun take and it lived up to it. So I appreciate you. Thank you for those of y'all watching and listening. We'll be back next week with another episode of Top 5. Have a great day. Thank you.