One Million More in 2009

Hi and welcome to my blog site - Herding Cats. This blog will attempt to describe the day to day life of a real estate manager in a large Coldwell Banker Sea Coast office in southeastern N.C. With about 140 agents on any given day, I'm never bored.

Agents - my customers. Its my job to make their job easier. In the strictest sense I bring them in, train them, encourage them, and am there for them to consult with. But this description falls short of the complex needs between a good managing broker and an agent who is working hard to succeed. It goes so far beyond the popular term "mentoring" and wanders very close to a "nurturing" relationship. I'm not here just to put out fires - I'm here to help agents change their lives. If they want the help.

Agents come in all shapes and sizes, young and old, and I've stopped thinking of the average agents as a female in her early fifties. These days we have twenty-somethings calling all of their friends to buy their first home, working mothers needing an income, and those that have officially retired who still need or love the art of the sale. We have couples working together on their business (God Bless Them), newlyweds showing property to their friends, and 25 year veteran agents who can sell ice cubes to eskimoes but now need IT training or they may as well get out of the business.

So its a challenge. Its a challenge to think ahead and embrace the next wave of technology, while hanging onto the basic skills and work ethic that is the foundation of a strong real estate business. Its a challenge to guide agents towards what will give them the best bang for their buck, the best way to spend their time, the best way to get over a disappointment, the best way to celebrate a deal thats closed. In sales its all about YOU, in sales management its all about THEM.

But at the end of the day I can honestly say its rewarding.