What Self Made Millionaire (Real Estate Agents) Really Think, Know and Do
I don't usually have time to look at Self Help books - a popular section in many bookstores. But “What SELF MADE Millionaires Really Think, Know and Do” caught my eye when I was in Times Bookstore a long time ago. One of the authors, Dr Rick Dobbins PhD who taught me Financial Management 101 at the School of Business, Bradford and his business partner made their first million £ in publishing.
In the 1970s, they paid the token sum of £1 to buy an academic journal in a specialised field of business management. The publisher was happy to sell because there were only 600 subscribers. And just like Air Asia's Tony Fernandez who bought an airline for the bargain price of RM1, they turned around that ailing journal and built a academic publishing empire worth £20m.
The first third of the book recycles the usual stuff about positive thinking, “you can turn the world around if only you really believe you can do it like Steve Jobs”, goal setting, and taking responsibility for your career. The authors make the point that in the world’s richest country- the US, 20% of the population are dead by 65. Of the remaining, 19% receive government handouts., IE social assistance. Only 10% will retire with sufficient savings to fund a comfortable retirement. Just 1% are millionaires.
For Malaysia, the equivalent figures in 2019 are : 23% will be dead by 65. 40% (IE those households classified as bottom 40%) receive government assistance. Just under 4% of Malaysians have assets of at least USD100,000. Only about 17,000 Malaysians have assets of USD1m and above.
The middle section is a veritable mini MBA class of how to do market segmentation using the Boston Consulting Group Matrix, an explanation of how the Pareto Principle (eg 80% of your problems are caused by 20% of your customers) works, basic financial management etc.
But the final third of the book is where things get interesting. When the authors get down to the brass tacks of how successful people make their money and share insights into what aptitudes and skill sets successful people have. Business is all about marketing (selling) a product or service, folks.
The chapter headings say it all: “Sales skills will make your fortune”, “Everything is negotiable” and “How to focus on the 20% that brings in the 80%”.
In other words, Millionaire real estate agents must I think :
Learn how to effectively market both properties and to market themselves (“personal branding”)
Acquire market knowledge so clients can perceive them as trusted experts (eg understand how to use financial toolkits like EdgeProp Analytics)
Acquire negotiation skills and strategies to close deals and
Focus on profitable segments of the property market (BCG Matrix, Pareto Principle)
In earlier posts on this blog, I have already covered topics like:
How to use social media platforms such as LinkedIn to market high end properties and for personal branding
How to set up a website to showcase your professional expertise and product knowledge for less than RM600
How to discover property USPs and how to use Walkability Scores to differentiate yourself from competitors.
Disclaimer & notes
I am a MBA alumni of the School of Management, University of Bradford, voted “Best Business School 2021” by the newspaper, the Times Higher Education.
In a future post, I will provide examples of how several successful RENs that I follow use social media platforms to promote themselves (personal branding) and to market high end properties. I will also provide tutorials on how to create real estate videos using free software that you can upload to YouTube.
Copyright by Capstone Publishing, Wiley. Third edition 2006
