In my book, there will always be two distinct groups of real estate agents - doers, and dreamers. Everyone in real estate knows a doer! To them, life isn’t a theory, it’s all about performance. The doers in real estate are easy to spot. They keep their head low, roll up their sleeves, put in long hours and plug away at work.

They don’t brag about their successes, and do not whine about their failures or setbacks. They are grateful when they close one deal and eager to start the next. Many of these agents are fine individuals, and they are an asset to any office. For the most part “Doers” are self starters.

Usually they have a supportive broker and perhaps a good mentor. They are not afraid to ask questions and look for practical solutions. They are very honest and walk away from bad business. Much of their success in real estate is based upon the application of practical gained knowledge and their innate use of good common sense.

This is not to say that these agents have not encountered more than their fair share of rejections, failures, and frustrations. Au contraire! They have had many adversities, learned from them, and learned from them. Their motto is “Next!”

Character traits of doers:

• They are not afraid of work

• They take their job seriously

• They do not procrastinate when work is at hand

• They are not afraid to admit they do not have the answer, but they will find it out

• They’re talented in doing quick research

• They contact the potential lead or prospect ASAP

• They ask questions, even hard questions

• They are afraid of rejection, but move forward in a business sense.

• They are not afraid to do follow up a lead again and again.

• They do not delude themselves – and they initiate contact with potential clients

• Their ego is in check – life is not about them it is about others

• They learn by doing

The other group of agents I classify as dreamers. Sometimes there seems to be more of these in real estate than we would like to admit, but they are here. They are the “Barbies and Kens of Real Estate!” You know the type. They seem to be playing “Dress up real estate agents.”

They attend every real estate conference, convention and pep rally that time will allow. These agents have all the latest gadgets, have mastered the Droid and iPhone and consider themselves experts in social media. They are envied by all except their broker, because the reality is they do not close any deals. They are the eternal students of real estate that are afraid to get up on stage and make use of their knowledge. In many ways it is not just that they are afraid of failure, they are battling something much bigger. They are afraid of the audience. They have real estate stage fright, also known as a performance anxiety in the medical books.

The reason these agents never survive or prosper in real estate is that their image of what it takes to be a success in real estate is a fantasy and not based in reality. Their first mistake in real estate is the obsession with their own image. They are consumed by it. More often than not, a successful real estate image is created on closed sales, experience, and trial and error. It isn’t purchased at a real estate seminar or boot camp.

Most of these agents will find out the hard way that the fancy cars, the expensive clothes, the electronic gadgets, and dining at fancy restaurants and the number of Twitter followers and “Tweets” do not make the person. Closing deals are the better measure of success, and the final stamp of approval in this business will always be repeat business and referrals from past clients and spheres of influence. A satisfied client or customer will come back again and again and pass your name along to their spheres!

Character Traits of Dreamers:

• Attend loads of training seminars but never get in front of clients.

• They’ve never cold called or knocked on doors for listings.

• They have a major fear of rejection and only like to work hot leads.

• Drive a fancy luxury car, dress in fine clothes, and close very few deals.

• They are known to take overpriced listings that never sell.

• They look very successful – only the best will do.

• They are gadget centric and crave the social media attention despite the fact they’ve not closed any deals from it.

• They are always cultivating more prospects but have not had much luck closing the ones they already have.

• Have poor follow up on referral leads and getting back to prospects.

• Their voicemails boxes are always full.

• Work 9-5 and do not work weekends.

• They only like to work deals close to home.

• They will not answer a phone after 5 PM

• They return calls the next day if at all.

• They cannot close a deal, if their life depended on it!

• They’re the eternal “real estate students - emeritus”

• Their anxiety may precede participation in any activity that involves public self presentation.

Published: January 3, 2011

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Jim Crawford, ABR, e-PRO 500 is currently licensed as a Broker Associate with RE/MAX Paramount Properties in Atlanta Georgia, and as a Broker Associate with Prudential PenFed Realty Fairfax Virginia. Jim and his wife Ellen work as a husband and wife team in the northern Atlanta suburbs, and have recently expanded their web business to Northern Virginia and Maryland. As the team's rainmaker, Jim is a self-taught webmaster and designer, and he relies exclusively on the Internet for marketing. He is considered an expert on marketing, nationwide relocation, cutting edge technology, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for real estate, and Internet marketing. Jim's seminars, online contributions, and technology ideas assist real estate agents to maximize their business results, and raise the industry's professional service level skills. His common sense marketing ideas have been published and quoted regularly in trade publications. He has also consulted and advised NAR offices regarding Internet issues, and Internet ethics for Realtors. In between sales, Jim is a popular speaker at national and regional real estate seminars, REBAR Camps, Blogging seminars and retreats. Jim is a major proponent and advocate of online ethics and the development of social media policies. He is also an online real estate coach, with a self-tutorial coaching site for real estate professionals for webs and Blogging. Jim was a featured speaker at the November 2004 National Association of REALTORS® convention in Orlando, and has spoken at the several REALTORS® conventions both in the United States and Canada. Visit his website at RealEstateTechCoach.com, or e-mail him at .