The PQ Factor book cover
2017 proved to be a challenging market for many professionals in our industry. Today, the market pendulum has swung to the seller’s advantage, leaving us once again in need of evaluation and new strategies for staying relevant.
In early October, I was provided a copy of real estate coach Bernice Ross’s book, The PQ Factor: Stop Resisting and Start Persisting, for review. Since my initial reading, I have referred to it several times for its insights on self-care for top producing agents — something not to be left by the wayside as we strive for that relevance.
The following is a quick review of Ross’s book, and a look at how its notions can positively influence your real estate business.
What is PQ, anyway? It stands for Persistence Quotient. A Quotient is a result obtained by dividing one quantity by another. This entire book is about how to leverage persistence to help reach your personal goals.
The bulk of my day revolves around helping agents cultivate a strong, meaningful online presence while finding better ways to communicate with consumers. It’s amazing how much you can learn about people by analyzing their digital footprint — and your prospects and clients can learn about you the same way, which is why your online presence should reflect who you are as an agent.
Unfortunately, most agents focus on sales training and neglect the “self-help” part — the part where they develop not just their pipeline, but themselves. The part that serves as the foundation for every agent’s relevance, online presence, human connection and, ultimately, business. Your sales won’t improve if your “self” doesn’t first. And Ross’s book teaches agents how to do just that.
Here are a few highlights from the book I find most helpful for agents:
- How to prime your brain by adopting simple health improving practices
- How to confront illusions that you have about yourself and how they are holding you back
- Taking accountability for your weaknesses and how to manage them
- Addressing procrastination
- Making self-care a priority and understanding that it is not selfish
- Smiling more and giving back to your community
This book is not a light read; it reads like one of my psychology textbooks from college. There are case studies, statistics, hard scientific data, and each chapter requires the reader to “give” something back, to answer questions and to confront some personal issues that they may not be ready to deal with.
This is not your typical sales fluff “Ra Ra — You can do it!” book. Bernice Ross has a doctoral degree, and this book is solid proof that it takes an analytical mind to be successful in our industry.
I also feel that this book has sustainable value. In our industry, there are many “gurus” pushing members of our profession to embrace egocentric, ridiculous social media antics. This book is a refreshing reminder that professionalism and persistence is an evergreen linchpin for lasting success, and junk food antics from agents will only have temporary results.
The bottom line: If you are ready to hold up a mirror to yourself and your business practice, this book can help you define and adopt techniques to improve and excel.
By day, Rachael Hite helps agents develop their business. By night, she’s tweeting for listingdepot.com.
