Why Coaching Matters

For the past several years, there has been a lot of discussion about the merits of coaching and whether or not you should have a coach. I think the number one question that everybody needs to ask themselves is, “What am I looking for in my coach?” The reason this question is so important is that different companies have different philosophies and coaching styles.

As an example, we’ll use the model of a football team. There are specific coaches for different positions, such as the Quarterback Coach, Linebacker Coach, Wide Receiver, etc. Those titles would be comparable to an agent looking for coaching in a specific area (e.g. cold calling, door knocking, expired, FSBO’s, etc.). Staying with the football analogy, we come to the position of Head Coach, where business decisions are made. When you hire a coaching company to work with Rainmakers, Team Leaders, Franchise Owners, or Broker Owners, you need a Head Coach, not a Wide Receiver coach. What makes the coaching valuable is hiring the right coach for the position.

For a business, the Head Coach of the team is the Board of Directors. As a rule, the Board of Directors oversees operations, sales and marketing, business development, training and operational excellence, recruiting, and most importantly, the gross and net profitability of the company.

Building a better business

There are several amazing coaching companies in the industry that specialize in helping agents that have just started in their real estate career, or an agent stuck at doing 15-30 transactions a year. However, there are very few “Board of Director” coaching companies that can help people build a business, and not only focus on just selling more houses.

For years, I’ve been asked what makes Corcoran Consulting and Coaching so different from everybody else on the field. While I believe that list is longer than I have room to elaborate on here, let me give you a couple of examples of how we function as the Head Coach/Board of Directors for our clients:

• We work holistically with every department in our client’s organization – operations, support staff, sales, recruiting and interviewing, profit and loss statements, business planning, accountability and operational excellence!

As you can see from the statement above, training and coaching are complete opposites.

Since my first entry into business in 1989, I have owned companies as varied as a collection agency to mortgage companies and a real estate company. I took my first coaching/training/speaking position at Pierce College in Tacoma, Washington where I taught the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collections Practices Act) for companies like John Deere, Weyerhaeuser and several other multi-million dollar companies.

It’s interesting when people ask, What qualifies you as a coach? Well, let me do my best to answer that question for you. I am a serial entrepreneur and I have owned, sold, ran, managed and founded several companies in the last two decades. I’ve always made this statement (I know it’s kind of funny) but here’s a quote that I use: “I’ve never failed at anything in my life; however, I know how not to do something 25 different ways.” I’ve been an assistant scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America, I have spoken professionally at more than 400 events. Corcoran has had clients in five different countries and so we must be doing something right. That being said, Corcoran Consulting and Coaching clients have 102 award winners on the Wall Street Journal Real Trends top 250 teams by volume and units published in 2016.

Finding balance through coaching

One of the most common challenges clients bring with them when looking for assistance in their business, is a lack of work-life balance. Now, I do not claim to be a Life Coach, but we all know how easy it is for our personal lives and business to overlap and interfere with one another.

No matter what stage in your career you are in—just starting in the industry or you’ve been in it 1 to 3 maybe 5 years or you’re a veteran—you look for a coach to help you grow your business by working on the business not in the business!

One of the first questions I ask my clients is also one of the most important I will ever ask them: What is your definition of success? Most people’s definition of success isn’t simply about selling more houses. Their ultimate goal isn’t learning how to overcome objections or make more phone calls (though, these may be steps along the path). Instead, the most common responses we hear are achieving financial freedom, spending more time with my family, enjoying vacation without having to open my laptop, or get more involved with my community.

I hope it clears up the difference between what a coach and a trainer is, and I hope that it opens up your eyes to knowing that no matter where you are in your career, there is always a coach that can take you to that next level.

Everyone benefits from coaching… even coaches!

Even I am personally in a coaching program with Andy Andrews, and I am the CEO of a coaching company! I’ve had several coaches and mentors throughout my career, and over the years, I have had the privilege of watching people grow their business or lose their business and learn so much from the results. I think it would be a little hypocritical of me to insist on how great coaching would be for you, but not be willing to accept coaching myself. None of us should ever think we’ve grown beyond learning. It just doesn’t happen. People learn from 2 methods: “Mistakes” or “Mentorship!”

So in summary: I hope that you do seek assistance, there is no need for you to re-create the wheel; however you have to determine what you’re looking for from a coach before you go hire one! There are several amazing coaching companies out there that can help each and every one of you grow your business, we’re just different here at Corcoran consulting and coaching. I’m not saying that we’re better… I’m just saying that we’re different.

If you would like to invest 30 minutes of your day to speak with our company to find out exactly what we can do to help you with your business, help you achieve the success that you’re looking for, and how to make a higher net profit by working no more than 40 hours a week—we’d be happy to talk with you and help you achieve that definition of success. If you’re just looking to do more transactions, then we’re probably not the right coaching company for you. If you’re looking at growing your business as a whole and running it like a business, then you might just want to give us a call. Have an amazing day and God bless!

If you’re interested in gaining a few more yards, hire the linebacker coach. If you’re interested in building a Super Bowl winning team, give Corcoran Consulting & Coaching a call or visit our website.