Mistake Ahead! (read dramatically!)

Here's a question I've been thinking about...

A wise friend once told me, “You don't have to make the mistake to learn the lesson.” That has sat in my brain for some time now. Mistakes are inevitable—part of growth, even—but must we touch the hot stove to learn the lesson?

I have often said that real estate sales is really just marketing, systems and processes with an amazing potential paycheck. The fun part is that nobody hands you the manual on how to do it. I have spent—and I am not making this up—probably close to $250,000 on promotional bullshit over my career. Can koozies, stress balls with my face on them, pens (why do Realtors always buy pens?), sticky notes, branded cutting boards—you name it, Nicholas Yale has probably bought it, stamped his face on it and given it away at a pride festival booth in 109-degree heat. Maybe that was the key to building my successful business, or maybe it was a huge waste of money. But my ego loved it, not gonna lie.

But here is the thing about getting older: you actually do get wiser. If I had to start my career over knowing what I know now, would I do all the same things? Of course not. Trust me, the sting of finding a box of 1,000 pens in the back of the closet with my old company logo on it still hurts. Goodbye, $600! I have spoken to countless agents just like me who have spent a mint on branding and, in retrospect, we all ask whether it fed our ego or actually helped our business. Most often, the answer is the ego. So here is the mistake you can learn the lesson from without making it yourself: be careful what you spend your money on in the name of “branding.” The old saying “if you can't sell real estate, sell shit to real estate agents” is 100% true. We will buy anything! So before you do, ask yourself: Do I need this for my ego, or is this actually going to move my brand forward? Here is God's honest truth: your clients will not remember that stupid knife set you bought them. They WILL remember that you were professional, on top of everything and Johnny-on-the-spot about returning emails and phone calls. Please don't make me say it. Okay, fine…if that is the case, then maybe your focus should be more on “systems and processes” and less on temporary tattoos with you holding a sold sign. (Allegedly! Who would actually do that?)

A great lesson I would love to share with you is one I learned over 20 years ago. I was at a conference in Florida with a mix of agents from all over the country. We were having lunch and comparing how our businesses were structured in different markets. And, for the narcs listening in the back, nobody was suggesting what anyone else should charge or agreeing on fees. 😆 What stood out to me was that several East Coast agents used a percentage-based fee plus a separate retainer. The West Coast agents looked at them like they had three heads! Most of us had never encountered that model, while they considered it common practice. My money-grubbing pea brain took to that concept easily, and I came back to Arizona and began offering a fee structure that included a retainer in my listing and buyer employment agreements. I easily sold it to clients simply as, “I charge X% plus X retainer fee,” and then shut up. I was rarely challenged on it, and when I was, my argument was that I am one of the better agents they could hire, and better agents cost more. If an extra couple of hundred bucks was the deciding factor in hiring me, then we may not be a good fit. On my father's grave, I know I have made an extra $250,000 from this one simple adjustment to my system and process. (And TBH, it probably evens out from the stupid mistake of buying dumb shit I pointed out earlier!) Apparently, I spent $250,000 learning one lesson and made $250,000 because I was smart enough to learn another one from somebody else. I'll let you decide which education was cheaper. By the way, Every. Single. Time. I waived that fee, I regretted it. The client ALWAYS ended up being the biggest PITA (pain in the ass) of my month. It became my bellwether: the more someone protested, the faster I walked away. Good client + retainer fee = happy Nicholas.

So here is the lesson you can learn without making the mistake: hang out with true peers. Hear their stories, heed their advice and follow their lead while creating your own path. There are 1,000 ways to make a living in real estate and 1,000 ways to do it wrong. You don't have to reinvent the wheel—somebody already tried a square one, and it was a bumpy ride.

So, to the question I have been thinking about… What lessons are you willing to learn from others?

Nicholas Yale

Designated Broker/Owner | Brokers Hub Realty