About a year ago, a cyber friend of mine unintentionally challenged me. She was a follower of my blog, in which I'd just posted a series of articles about a rookie agent named Jake who discovered the magic of a Sphere of Influence business model works (that is, generating the majority of your business through the personal relationships in your life). My friend innocently commented on my blog with the question: "Was Jake just lucky to have begun his career during a boom time and therefore was able to experience success more easily than today's agent?"

Okay, so my friend probably didn't mean it as a challenge, but I took it that way. Within a few months, after two years away, I decided to return to the wonderful world of real estate sales to prove to ... well... myself if no one else... that my Sphere of Influence business model wasn't a bunch of fluff that will work fine in a strong market... but not-so-fine in a difficult one.

So, in February of last year, I re-activated my license and started selling real estate again. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect and yes, I was a little nervous. What if I failed? What if the methods and philosophies I've been preaching all this time were just a bunch of fluff & hooey in today's market? What if... egads... the only way to succeed selling real estate is to aggressively prospect to strangers and pester your friends to death with your thinly-disguised sales pitches?

Thankfully, I have discovered that the methods I used to build my business back in the booming mid-90's work just fine today. No need to spend a gazillion dollars marketing myself to strangers or to hassle my friends on a regular basis to "PLEASE SEND ME REFERRALS 'CAUSE I LOVE THEM." I have a steady stream of business that comes to me as a result of my Sphere of Influence efforts, and my commitment to Being Out There in the World with My Antenna Up and a bundle of market expertise in my back-pocket.

However, I will admit and acknowledge that, indeed, it IS harder today. Many sales trainers will give you a pep talk and convince you that if you aren't seeing the success of yesteryear, then you just aren't trying hard enough. That may be so, and I certainly won't stop anyone from working longer hours to get thru these lean times, but what I want to say is this:

Whether you're a green bean newbie or an experienced old fogie, if you're feeling discouraged by your YTD production or what's (not) in your pipeline, you are not alone. Even the most pompous, confident, arrogant top producers are feeling those feelings, I promise you. They may not admit it and they may even tell you that they're having their best year ever, but that's probably a bunch of hooey.

The good news is, as you've heard a hundred times, those who survive will likely thrive when this crisis passes. If you're new and have never experienced a strong or even stable market, you have something truly awesome to look forward to. For those of us who've been around awhile, we can look forward to again enjoying that career we fell in love with.

There will be lots of agents who make it through to the next market. Hundreds of thousands of them, even. Is there any reason it won't be you?

Published: January 12, 2009

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Jennifer Allan is the author of Sell with Soul: Creating an Extraordinary Career in Real Estate without Losing Your Friends, Your Principles or Your Self-Respect, as well as a number of eBooks including The Seduction of Your SOI: Generating Business and Referrals from the Very Important People Who Know You, Dorky Announcement Letters - DEDORKED! and For Sale Signs Don't Pay the Bills. Jennifer began her writing career after ten years of selling real estate successfully in Denver, Colorado. She was dismayed at the low level of professionalism she frequently encountered in the real estate industry and, with her "soulful" message, hopes to encourage the real estate community to self-correct the negative stereotypes of the profession. Jennifer's message is that agents should strive to be competent real estate advisors instead of simply competent real estate prospectors. That agents should respect the intelligence of their clients, rather than attempt to insult that intelligence with aggressive closing techniques. She preaches that agents should appreciate the significant commissions paid by their clients, rather than complain that they, themselves, are not appreciated. Her personal mantra is "The clients I have today are far more important to me than the ones I hope to have tomorrow." She is a regular contributor to several real estate newsletters and magazines, a member of the RE/MAX Hall of Fame and one of the industry's most popular bloggers. You can learn more about Jennifer's "soulful" philosophies at SellWithSoul.com.  Subscribe to  The Daily Seduction Tips & Inspirations to Generate Business and Referrals from The Very Important People Who Know You  Your Email Address: Your Name: