What Kind of Seeds Are You Planting?

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

We have all heard that saying before.

But think about what it actually means.

If you want to grow an apple tree, you need to start with an apple seed.

You can have the best soil. You can water it every day. You can give it all the sunlight in the world.

But what you plant matters.

I think the same thing happens in sales.

We all talk about the clients we want.

We want serious buyers.

We want sellers who listen.

We want people who respect our time.

We want clients who value what we do and don't question every dollar we make.

We want higher-end clients.

But here's a question.

What kind of client are you?

Seriously.

When you are the customer, what are you like?

Are you always looking for the cheapest option?

Do you immediately ask for a discount?

Do you want more for less?

Do you question everything?

Do you hire someone for their expertise and then not listen to them?

Are you difficult to work with?

Because I believe there is something to this.

If you constantly attract cheap clients who want everything for nothing, take a look at how you behave when you're buying something.

If you constantly attract difficult clients, take a look at how you treat people when you're the customer.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

And the opposite is true too.

If you want to work with successful people, higher-end clients, sophisticated buyers and sellers, you have to understand how those people think.

You have to understand value.

There is a big difference between someone who asks:

"How cheap can I get this?"

and someone who asks:

"Who is the best person for this?"

Completely different mindset.

And I'm not saying you need to go out and start buying expensive things.

That's not the point.

The point is how you think.

How do you treat people?

Do you respect someone's expertise?

Do you value someone's time?

Do you pay for quality when quality matters?

Do you understand the difference between something being expensive and something actually being valuable?

Because then take that same thinking and apply it to your real estate business.

There are thousands of people with a real estate license.

We don't manufacture the house.

We don't control the interest rate.

We don't control the market.

So at the end of the day, a big part of what the client is choosing is you.

How you communicate.

How you present yourself.

How much you know.

How you handle problems.

How responsive you are.

How you make people feel.

Whether they trust you.

So if you keep saying you want better clients, maybe the first place to look isn't your leads.

Maybe it's you.

And this goes way beyond clients.

Maybe you want to go from $50,000 to $100,000.

Maybe you're already making $100,000 and you want to make $250,000.

Maybe you're doing $500,000 and you're trying to figure out how to get to $1 million.

It doesn't matter where you are.

The person who got you here probably isn't the same person who is going to get you there.

Something has to change.

Your habits may have to change.

Your schedule may have to change.

The people you're around may have to change.

How you spend money may have to change.

How you spend your time may have to change.

How you think may have to change.

And that's where I think most people get stuck.

We want different results.

We just don't want to change.

We want the business to change.

We want the market to change.

We want better leads.

We want better clients.

We want our broker to give us something different.

We want the people around us to change.

But sometimes the thing that needs to change is us.

So here's my challenge for you this week.

Look at the business you say you want.

Then look at the person you are today.

What needs to change?

Don't make a list of 20 things.

Find one.

Maybe you need to become more disciplined.

Maybe you need to stop being cheap and start investing in your business.

Maybe you need to get better at communicating.

Maybe you need to follow up when you say you're going to follow up.

Maybe you need to stop making excuses.

Maybe you need to become a better version of the person you already are.

Whatever it is, be honest with yourself.

Because at the end of the day, it really comes down to one question:

Are you willing to change or not?

Because if you want different results in your business, no matter where you are today, you will need to change.

You can't plant the same seeds and keep expecting a different tree.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.