WorkPuzzle

Risk Averse is Life Averse--Part 2

In the last edition, I wrote about my mid-life transition that occurred 12 years ago. Reliving the details of that change reminded me of the tremendous risk I felt as I initiated my new plan.

Despite this risk, I knew that my choices were limited. I could remain burned-out and bored with the confines of a full-time clinical practice, or I could undergo some radical changes to my direction and see what happened.

One choice included no risk while the other included some risk (although it was far from financial ruin) but held the hope of freeing me from the trap I felt I was in.  

After describing the benefits that followed, I promised to tell you more about a new book that confirms the wisdom of taking calculated risks—especially during the productive years of a person’s career.

Karl Pillemer, a renowned gerontologist at Cornell University, wrote a book called "30 lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans."  This book is a gem.  It includes insight that he distilled from interviewing more than 1000 aged Americans. While no book is perfect, it does contain themes of wisdom that are truly engaging and appear to resonate with eternal themes. 

To give you a quick bit of medicine from this book, read the following "refrigerator list" of principles learned:

1. Choose a career for the intrinsic rewards, not the financial ones.

2. Don’t give up on looking for a job that makes you happy.

3. Make the most of a bad job.

4. Emotional intelligence trumps every other kind.

5. Everyone needs autonomy.

After reading this list, spend some time soaking in the value of something this simple and profound. If you think about it, each of these rules is crucial to the recruiting process—both the interview and the follow-up process. It is what’s rumbling underneath the surface in the minds of the candidates.

This is an insightful basis for asking hard-hitting questions: Are you (ie. the candidate) in a career with intrinsic rewards? Are you in search for a job you enjoy? If they doubt their smarts, do you realize how important emotional intelligence is to succeeding? And, lastly, how badly do you want autonomy? 

Don't get me wrong. A real estate career is not for everyone. But the people in your pipeline figuratively raised their hands at some point thinking that it just might be for them. Will they regret it later if they don't try? 

Dr. Pillemer says, “yes.”  At least that’s what most of his research subjects told him:   

"I can only channel to you what the consensus of the 1200 elders in the study was. From the end of life, they definitely have a "take a risk" attitude, when it comes to time versus money.

They don't want you to do something that might bankrupt you, but if there's a choice to be able to live comfortably and have more time to actually live life, they recommend trying to make it happen.

It is a balance between being financially secure and having more time, but they really encourage us to not stay longer in a job we hate than absolutely possible."

This is valuable insight because most people whom you interview will be dissatisfied with their current job.  This is often their motivation for researching new careers. 

If you can help them see the future and overcome their natural aversion to risk, you’ve done them a great service.  You’ll also do yourself some good—you’ll hire agents who are motivated to flourish in your organization. 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

Risk Averse is Life Averse

About 12 years ago, I was burned out in my work-life.  At the time, I found it difficult to maintain almost any degree of excitement towards my daily routine. This was a new feeling for me. Up to this point, I had found it easy to capture enthusiasm towards my work. 

What caused this situation to develop?  There were probably several factors. Part of the issue was related to a transition at home.  I was being freed up from many parenting duties (I had one child in college and two more about to enter), and the nature of my role was changing.  

During that period (that I have since referred to as "Dave's Doldrums"), I was introduced to an exercise that eventually helped free me from those very doldrums. The task was called the "Sage Letter." 

I know it sounds a bit far out, and I usually avoid anything that remotely smells of pop psychology.  But I was desperate, and I thought I'd give it a try.

The exercise involved imagining myself as an 85-year-old man looking back at the events of my life. From that perspective, I wrote a letter of advice to myself at my current age (I was 40 at the time).  I know this sounds simple, but it actually takes some time to write such a letter.  I had to seriously dive headlong into this somewhat bizarre task of "becoming" this 85-year-old man. 

I eventually knew that I had arrived at the "right place" when I truly felt confronted with an actual 85-year-old version of myself.  I started uncovering my hidden blind spots and aversion to risk. The pure wisdom of brutal honesty suddenly poured out on the page.  I started to understand why I was experiencing these doldrums, and I could see how much self-sabotage was going on in my life.

This exercise helped me gain some much-needed clarity. The primary insight I experienced was an awareness of the risk aversion that had crept into my life. It had not been there before, but had slowly and insidiously developed.  But, it didn't stop there. The letter also revealed hidden truths about how to improve my marriage, my friendships and my spiritual life. 

Since that experience, I cut back on my private practice, began a consulting company, taught graduate classes at a local university, started leading a ministry at my Church, and helped start Tidemark and see it grow.  My energy and enthusiasm for life returned.

Why am I disclosing all this?  It's because I recently ran across some research explaining the risk aversion that I had felt during this critical juncture in my life.   It is actually quite common and typically happens during an individual’s child rearing years.  The result is a "freezing" of the ability a person has to thoughtfully make big life decisions and it later leads to a profound sense of regret. 

The research was summarized in a recent book, 30 Lessons for Living: Tried and True Advice from the Wisest Americans, written by Karl Pillemer, a human ecology professor at Cornell University. Dr. Pillemer spent five years interviewing more than 1000 Americans who are over 65 years old. 

In the book, he distills their wisdom into principles on work, life, marriage, parenting, and other topics. He also describes how many of these elderly people regret having been risk averse earlier in their lives. 

In the next edition, I'll share more about this research.  But in the mean time,  I'd like you to think about how this relates to the people you interview, recruit and manage. Who could you advise to use the "Sage Letter" exercise? Or, maybe it is time you give it a try to yourself.   

Question:  Are there any opportunities you missed in your professional life because you were risk adverse?  What did you learn from the experience?

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Dr. David Mashburn. Dave is a Clinical and Consulting Psychologist, a Partner at Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

To Increase Your Recruiting Results--Help Others to Help Yourself

In my previous life (pre-Tidemark), I was a case manager for Big Brothers and Big Sisters in New Hampshire. Before that, I worked as an "at risk" youth counselor for another non-profit organization. 

While the backgrounds of those I served was not pretty, the outcomes of my efforts did make a difference. In my previous positions, I had to set my goals for the long-term.  Short-term results were either nonexistant or difficult to detect.   

Obviously,my experiences are not in the same vein as most real estate owners and managers, but there are some suprising similarities between the roles. In fact, if you're going to meet your retention and recruiting goals, you will be more successful if you approach the problem from a framework of helping those you want to recruit and retain. This is what worked at Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and it can work for you as well.

The starting point of this process is gaining an understanding of what is causing the individual to struggle (ie. what are his/her needs).  The only way to truly get this information is to naturally engage in a relationship building process. 

Once you can identify an area of concern and can help that person navigate through it, you have become an incredible source of value and authenticity--two critical components in retention and recruiting.

Brian Patrick Eha, assistant editor for Entrepreneur.com, recently wrote an article discussing the work of the late Zig Ziglar.  Below is an excerpt, which is very relevant to my point.

“If you want to achieve your goals,help others achieve theirs. Motivational speaker Zig Ziglar did just that, reportedly traveling more than five million miles in his career and touching a quarter of a billion lives. Fortunately for us, he left behind a lot of sound advice.

'You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want,' Ziglar famously said. Put his maxim into practice: Next time you're in a meeting, focus on discerning the other person's needs rather than your own.

Form personal connections with customers.
 Customers often buy from the businesses and sales professionals whom they like on a personal level. Do a little research before meeting with your next client and look for common ground.” 

Try substituting “customer” and “client” with "agents," both existing and those whom you wish to recruit.

Once you get to the point of helping people solve their problems or overcome obstacles impeding their success, you will have taken one giant step towards your recruiting and retention goals.

Take it from a Big Sister…helping others achieve their goals will naturally help you achieve yours.

Question:  What difficulties do your candidates commonly face?  Have you figured out a creative way to help them over these obstacles?  Take a minute to share what you’ve learned…

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Editor's Note: Lee Gray is the Senior Account Manager at Tidemark Inc. Lee is a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. .

When Change Hits, Your Top Talent Leaves First

Editor's Note:  This article was written by  Mark Johnson, a guest contributor to WorkPuzzle. Mark is a coach, speaker, and trainer who works with the Tom Ferry Companies. 

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Naturally, your best agents and staff have the most alternatives in the marketplace. Highly talented people are the most likely to be recruited away and the best equipped to leave on their own initiative.

If you wait until your agents (or staff) go public with their plans to leave --before you re-recruit them--you've obviously waited too long.  The heart leaves before the body.

Forbes recently published an article 10 Reasons Your Top Talent Will Leave You and it triggered me to think about how our broker owners, managers and leaders execute the retention effort across their companies.

Few things in business are as costly and disruptive as unexpected agent or staff departures. And despite what you feel or think, when Forbes interviewed employees here’s what they said:

• More than 30% believe they’ll be working someplace else inside of 12 months.
• More than 40% don’t respect the person they report to.
• More than 50% say they have different values than their employer.
• More than 60% don’t feel their career goals are aligned with the plans their employers have for them.
• More than 70% don’t feel appreciated or valued by their employer.

The facts are that agents and staff who are challenged, engaged, valued, and rewarded (emotionally, intellectually & financially) don't leave. However if you miss any of these critical areas, it’s only a matter of time until they head for the door. 

Forbes went on to identify these 10 reasons your talent will leave you:

1.  You Failed To Unleash Their Passions

2.  You Failed To Challenge Their Intellect

3.  You Failed To Engage Their Creativity

4.  You Failed To Develop Their Skills

5.  You Failed To Give Them A Voice

6.  You Failed To Care

7.  You Failed To Lead

8.  You Failed To Recognize Their Contributions

9.  You Failed To Increase Their Responsibility

10. You Failed To Keep Your Commitments

 

Smart leaders don’t allow these mistakes to happen. Start re-recruiting your key agents and staff today. Take a look at the 10 reasons and create a strategy in your company to address the biggest issues.

Start by spending less time trying to retain people, and more time understanding them, caring for them, investing in them, and leading them. When you do, the retention you desire will naturally happen. 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Mark Johnson.  Mark is a coach, speaker, and trainer who works with high-performing real estate agents, teams, managers and leaders in the highly competitive Southern California marketplace and across the United States. 

 A US Army veteran, Mark has since led multi-million dollar strategic operations initiatives, major sales and recruiting promotions, sales force automation ventures,  and help desk support projects.  He currently works with the Tom Ferry Companies.

 

What Makes Your Business Unique and Different?

Editor's Note:  Here is one of our New Year's Resolutions: WorkPuzzle will now be publishing articles written by guest contributors.  The first guest contributor is Mark Johnson.  Mark is a coach, speaker, and trainer who works with the Tom Ferry Companies.

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I've been thinking about the businesses where I choose to spend my hard earned money and time. And what I've found is these businesses all offer me something unique and different. It's really no different in your retention and recruiting efforts. So...

What makes you different and unique from the others in your market? 

Everyone is honest, hard working and knowledgable... so other than what everyone else has, what's your unique value to your target clients? How will they know you are different or unique? 

Like an airplane, a bus or a rental car any company or most any agent or brokerage... they all can get you there. We compete in a commodity business. 

So why would an agent choose you? 

Why would they stay with you? 

Why would they recommend you to others? 

Here is an excerpt from Gary Vaynerchuk's book the Thank You Economy to consider as you execute your business plans for 2013: 

" Consumers' demand for authenticity, originality, creativity and positive intent have made it necessary for brands to revert to a level of service rarely seen in decades. Which leads me to believe one of your best competitive advantages is superior customer service. Creating an exceptional experience..." 

We've entered a new era in business... one where the biggest return isn't tied to throwing money at advertising campaigns but in proving you care about your customer more than anyone else.  How?

1. Be authentic - online or offline - say what you mean and mean what you say. 

2. Speak your customers language. 

3. Build a sense of community around your brand. 

4. YIKES - use some "shock and awe" to blow your customers minds and get them engaged and talking. 

5.  Don't be afraid of what's new and unfamiliar... 

How can you create an exceptional experience for your agents?

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By joining TMOC, you'll get to see who else is in the group and your comments will only be seen by those whom you trust.   Joining TMOC is quick, easy, and free (no kidding…this takes less than 2 minutes).   To get started, click here.

Already of a member of TMOC?  If so, join the WorkPuzzle Dialog Group by clicking on the WorkPuzzle Group icon on the left side of your TMOC homepage.  Questions?   Email the WorkPuzzle editor (workpuzzle@hiringcenter.net) and we'll walk through the process.

 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Mark Johnson.  Mark is a coach, speaker, and trainer who works with high-performing real estate agents, teams, managers and leaders in the highly competitive Southern California marketplace and across the United States. 

 A US Army veteran, Mark has since led multi-million dollar strategic operations initiatives, major sales and recruiting promotions, sales force automation ventures,  and help desk support projects.  He currently works with the Tom Ferry Companies.

 

Post Interview Engagement-Part 2

In my previous blog, I discussed the importance of engagement with prospective new agent hires after the interview, essentially, treating a potential hire as if they are hired.  It’s not enough to simply interview someone and know you want to hire them.  I have spoken with many of my recruiters and a lot of the good prospects fall off the grid post interview.  

As I oversee our accounts, there are several metrics upon which I keep an eye.

1.  Interviews/ month

2.  Interviews converting to licensing school

3.  Licensing school candidates converting to hires

 I believe adopting this strategy will positively affect the interview/month conversion rate.  

I recently posted a discussion on our private social network on this topic and received a couple of prolific comments from two of my high performing accounts. Rod Eller, Senior Vice President of Sales with Prudential Carolinas commented:

 "I think it is critical to build the relationship of mentor and coach.  While they are working through the licensing process is a great way to start.  Be the tutor and resource for questions that they may have regarding material that they are learning in class.  The bond of sharing in the process of career change is such a foundational part of developing a trust that you care and are there to help them be  all that they can be.  As a parent you wouldn't dream of not being a part of the first day of school.  Maybe, the analogy is too dramatic.  I don't think so.   I can't tell you how many times a recruit has told me how they have always dreamed about selling real estate.  Be a part of that dream!  Lee, love your "human" game approach, I believe that you're on to something! "

 Kathie Hedrick, Director of Career Development with Prudential Manor Homes in NY responded similarly;  

“Lee, we do pretty much what you have recommended.  We described the process as a shadowing program for the new agent.  This program is in place while they are working to obtain their license.  So once a candidate has been chosen to join the firm, we get them involved at once so that they quickly feel that they are a part of the company.  By the time they are licensed, they have a sense of belonging and have some established relationships.  So, the shadowing program starts before being
licensed and the formal training program starts when they earn their state license. “

 What do you think?  Do you see the benefit to this active and engaging form of hiring? For those hiring managers who do use a similar strategy, how do you stay in front of your prospective hires?

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Already of a member of TMOC?  If so, join the WorkPuzzle Dialog Group by clicking on the WorkPuzzle Group icon on the left side of your TMOC homepage.  Questions?   Email the WorkPuzzle editor (workpuzzle@hiringcenter.net) and we'll walk through the process.

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Editor's Note: Lee Gray is the Senior Account Manager at Tidemark Inc. Lee is a guest contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. .

Post-Interview Engagement

As most hiring managers in the real estate industry know, the hiringprocess is unique.  Other than an initial application and interview, the candidate is fundamentally independant in terms of entering the real estate field, and could be on their own for months, before joining a real estate company.

Many of the managers with whom I have consulted have heard me discuss the post interview follow-up that is so critical to their hiring process.

In a nutshell, treat a potential hire as if they are hired. 

I came across this short video in which Indigo Triplett, CEO of Careers in Transition, discusses a concept I have shared with many managers…in her case she refers to a “Work With program” that allows prospective hires to actually work as a hired employee for a short period of time--up to 40 hours. 

The concept allows for a hiring manager to move away from predicting a candidate’s success based on the interview and resume alone.  

Clearly there are some limitations in the real estate world prior to obtaining one’s license, but I submit there is plenty for a potential hire to do and see prior to activating their license.

The more you and the people in your office engage personally with a desired new agent, the more you will know who you are potentially hiring. You will get the benefit of getting other perspectives from those who worked with the prospective hire.

Some ways to engage candidates:

1.  Invite them to sales meetings.

2.  Invite them on office tours.

3.  Match them up with an experienced agent in the office and have them attend an open house.

4.  Invite them to training sessions….the sooner they are trained the sooner they will produce.

We all know how important relationships are in every facet of the real estate industry; hiring is no exception.  The more you engage a candidate in your office, the more they will feel an affinity not only with you, but also with the office culture.  

This is a huge competitive advantage. They will be more motivated to complete the licensing requirements, and less likely to consider your competition.   

Stay tuned for my next installment in which I will share with you what a couple of my high performing accounts are doing, relative to the strategies discussed today.

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Engage in the WorkPuzzle discussion by joining the TMOC private social network.  Commenting on a public blog like WorkPuzzle can be a little intimidating, so why not join the discussion inside the privacy of the TMOC discussion group?  

By joining TMOC, you'll get to see who else is in the group and your comments will only be seen by those whom you trust.   Joining TMOC is quick, easy, and free (no kidding…this takes less than 2 minutes).   To get started, click here.

Already of a member of TMOC?  If so, join the WorkPuzzle Dialog Group by clicking on the WorkPuzzle Group icon on the left side of your TMOC homepage.  Questions?   Email the WorkPuzzle editor (workpuzzle@hiringcenter.net) and we'll walk through the process.

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Editor's Note: Lee Gray is the Senior Account Manager at Tidemark Inc. Lee is a guest contributor to WorkPuzzle. Comments or questions are welcome. .

How Mastering Habits Can Have a Profound Impact on Your Performance in the New Year—Part 4

Hopefully, you’ve spent some time working on your habits as you’ve started the new year.  If you’re just joining the discussion, you may want to catch up by reading  the previous posts on this topic (1,2,3).

We’ll finish up this series by introducing the concept of a “keystone habit.”  From a holistic perspective, this concept has the greatest application to real estate organizations and individual offices.

In his book, Charles Duhigg introduces this concept in a chapter he calls “The Ballad of Paul O’Neill.”  If you’re a political buff, you may remember that Paul O’Neill was Treasury Secretary during President Bush’s first term.  However, he is more famous for his work as CEO of Alcoa during the late ‘80s and ‘90s. 

Here is a quick summary (as written up by Keren Threlfall ) of what happened at Alcoa:

Investors and employees alike were shocked when Paul O’Neill shared this in his speech of acceptance as the new CEO of Alcoa:

“I want to talk to you about worker safety. Every year, numerous Alcoa workers are injured so badly that they miss a day of work. I intend to make Alcoa the safest company in America. I intend to go for zero injuries.”

Some people thought perhaps he had a touch of dementia. Investors called their clients and advised them to sell their stock immediately. (Those who did so would later realize that was some pretty bad advice.)

What O’Neill was doing was introducing a keystone habit.

“O’Neill believed that some habits have the power to start a chain reaction, changing other habits as they move through an organization. Some habits, in other words, matter more than others in remaking businesses and lives. These are “keystone habits,” and they can influence how people work, eat, play, live, spend, and communicate. Keystone habits start a process that, over time, transforms everything.”

As the company focused on safety, employees and investors were amazed at the other areas of change, as well. Alcoa eventually rose to new heights in production, employee satisfaction, and in their portfolios, as well.

By the time O'Neill retired in 2000 to become Treasury Secretary, the company's annual net income was five times larger than before he arrived, and its market capitalization had risen by $27 billion. Someone who invested a million dollars in Alcoa on the day O'Neill was hired would have earned another million dollars in dividends while he headed the company, and the value of their stock would be five times bigger when he left.

There is a lot more to his story—more than I can write here and stay within the reasonable bounds of a WorkPuzzle discussion.  If you want to delve more into the details, read the lengthy article published on keystone habits in the Huffington Post last year. 

There are two principles that I took away from the Ballad of Paul O’Neil:

1.  The organizational habits that matter the most are the ones that, when they start to gain momentum, dislodge and remake other patterns.

2.  Keystone habits encourage change by creating structures that help other organizational habits to flourish.

As a business leader, the challenge is to identify the keystone habit for your organization.  Obviously, it would not be appropriate to select the same one that Paul O’Neil used (safety).  Instead, look for ones that would impact your organization as described above.

Any ideas?  

Here’s what I’ve noticed after working with hundreds of real estate managers and organizations over the last seven years:  the keystone habit for most real estate organizations is recruiting.  

In the years ahead, the keystone habit that will increasingly impact the real estate industry will be new agent recruiting.

Why?  This is the one habit that best fits the two principles outlined in Duhigg’s research for a real estate organization. New agent recruiting has the capacity to dislodge and remake other patterns.  Also, new agent recruiting has the unique ability to encourage change through the creation of new structures.

What are your thoughts?  Do you see new agent recruiting as the keystone habit that can help your organization prosper?

Bonus Materials:  As we wrap our discussion on habits, you may have an interest in referencing this cool infographic on habits (some of you may remember, I really like infographics).  If you're serious about changing habits, this breaks down the process and helps in the diagnosis of each stage.

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By joining TMOC, you'll get to see who else is in the group and your comments will only be seen by those whom you trust.   Joining TMOC is quick, easy, and free (no kidding…this takes less than 2 minutes).   To get started, click here.

Already of a member of TMOC?  If so, join the WorkPuzzle Dialog Group by clicking on the WorkPuzzle Group icon on the left side of your TMOC homepage.  Questions?   Email the WorkPuzzle editor (workpuzzle@hiringcenter.net) and we'll walk through the process.

 

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle. 

How Mastering Habits Can Have a Profound Impact on Your Performance in the New Year —Part 3

I hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas holiday and are looking forward to a prosperous new year. Our crew took a couple of weeks off from our normal writing schedule over the holidays, and we’re excited about kicking off a new season of insight and dialog in 2013. 

As you may remember, I started the discussion on habits in December with the assumption that many of you would be doing some strategic planning around this time of year.  If you need a refresher, you may want to reference the previous (Part 1, Part 2) discussions. 

Common sense tells us that real change will not happen in our lives unless we learn how to dislodge bad habits and cultivate new ones. Using the process that I outlined in my last blog, have you identified one or two bad habits you’d like to address? 

If not, I encourage you to go through the process of sketching out your own cues, routines, and rewards cycle for the habits you’ve identified. Then, start the trial and error of testing your hypothesis.  If you haven’t personally gone through the “habit loop” process at least once, you may have trouble understanding the next part of our discussion.

If habits have a profound impact on our own personal lives, it only makes sense they’ll also have an impact on professional relationships. As a leader, understanding the influence that habits have on others can significantly increase your level of effectiveness.

 For today’s discussion, we’ll consider two areas of professional relationships that are common to most real estate owners and managers:

1.  The habits of those you manage and coach.

2.  The habits of the clients your company serves.

Habits for Coaching

If you’re struggling to understand and manage your own habits, you can bet the people you coach are struggling, as well.  Or worse, they are not struggling because they are completely blind to the influence of habit in their own lives.  Many agents are dragged along by influences of which they are not aware. 

In either case, your role as a coach can take on a new level of effectiveness with an understanding of how habits control behavior.  While it is easy to identify poor outcomes, it is not easy to pinpoint the causes of poor outcomes.  

Try looking at poor outcomes through the framework of the “habit loop.”  What are the cues that
agents are reacting to during the day?  Which of these cues lead to routines that produce poor results?  What false rewards are agents typically pursuing that cause them to continually repeat the cycle of ineffectiveness?  

Like you did for you own habits (part 2 of this discussion), try sketching out a couple of “habit loops” for the agents you coach and then discuss these issues during your next coaching session.

Habits for Clients

Studying the habits of consumers (ie. those that buy your services) is not something that most people have considered.  However, I found this topic the most intriguing part of Charles Duhigg’s book.  Much of what has been discovered in this realm has not been yet been applied to the real estate sales industry.

Here’s the basic premise of habit theory as it applies to customers: Since all human beings are controlled by their habits, understanding typical cues, routines, and rewards can help a company optimize the sales process. In the real estate industry, it would be particularly interesting to know who will be buying or selling a home in the near future.

In his book, Duhigg documents an extensive case study involving Target; the popular nationwide retailer. The case study illustrates how Target has become very good at predicting what products a person will buy.  How? By figuring out what is going on in a unique customer’s personal life. For example, Target can often tell if a female customer is pregnant and how far along (ie. what trimester) she is in her pregnancy after she spends some time in the store.

They find out this information by studying habits.  For example, women often change from using scented lotions to non-scented lotions in the second trimester of a pregnancy.  A cue changes (scents become irritating) and that causes a routine change (buying a different product) that leads to a
reward (healthy skin) women don’t want to give up.  

This piece of information, combined with several more data points, equip Target to guess (with a surprisingly high level of accuracy) when a woman is in the second trimester of a pregnancy.  Once Target has this information, they can focus on specifically marketing to that person for the large number of purchases she’ll make  in the months just before and after the baby arrives.

I’m summarizing a concept that took the author about half of the book to describe, so this concept may still seem cloudy at this point.  If you want to learn more, here are a couple of articles from Forbes and the New York Times Magazine that describe this in more detail.  By the way, Target is not the only company doing this.  Many companies in various industries are starting to apply these principles of human behavior to optimize their sales efforts.

So, what application does this have for the real estate industry?  I think many of the answers to this question are yet to be discovered.  But I do know this: there will be big rewards for those who innovate in this arena. Also, I’ve had several meetings in the past couple years where real estate executives ask very similar questions.  If you don’t figure this out, your competitors probably will.

Spend some time learning about habits—both your agents and your clients will benefit.   In our final chapter of this series we’ll discuss the concept of a “keystone habit” and how these theories will help you improve recruiting.  Stay tuned.

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Editor's Note: This article was written by Ben Hess. Ben is the Founding Partner and Managing Director of Tidemark, Inc. and a regular contributor to WorkPuzzle.