In nine out of ten discussions among real estate agents about how they level up their business, someone somewhere mentions a coach. The coaching phenomenon has exploded in real estate in recent years, and it seems to be taken as a given that real estate agents who are at the top of their game are also the agents who have coaches. If you don't have a coach yet, it can be hard to know what a real estate coach can do for you, or whether you need one at all. Ask yourself if you could use some assistance with any of these parts of your real estate business planning -- if the answer is an honest "yes," then there's a strong possibility that you could benefit, or even thrive, from a relationship with a coach. **Setting your goals** How many transaction sides are you hoping to close this year? If you can name that number off the top of your head and you also know how close you are to achieving your goal, then well done -- you're way ahead of a lot of agents. But if you're just kind of aiming for a vague "do the best I can," then you're not actually doing yourself any favors. A coach can help you figure out those basic numbers by helping you do some math to assess where you are, target where you want to be, and take appropriate steps to close the gap. **Planning how to meet them** One big challenge of working as a real estate agent is that you are your own boss. It's also a huge advantage and what draws a lot of people to the business, but the problem manifests when you can't adequately motivate yourself to get moving toward your goals. **Staying on track** You'll often see real estate agents compare themselves to elite athletes when they're talking about why they have a coach. A coach not only helps you set a goal and figure out how to get there; they also track your performance along the way and can encourage you to step it up if you're at risk of missing your goal. **Identifying gaps in your business ...** One reason why real estate teams have become such a popular phenomenon in recent years is that it's an efficient way to solve one big problem in the industry: How to be an expert at a bunch of different (and disparate) skillsets as an agent. **... And solving for them** It's one thing to know that you aren't working on a certain area of your business, but it's quite another thing to know exactly what you should be doing. **Specific strategy questions** Sometimes you might not need or want a coach to help with every last thing in your business, but you know that you can use some help in one very specific area. **Hiring help** Many agents think they're ready to expand their business and establish a partnership with another agent, collaborate with a junior agent, or bring on an assistant -- when really, they should be focusing on their core business practices instead. **Minimizing your weaknesses** Working with a coach can help you really pinpoint all of your weaknesses if you're not sure where they are, as well as help you make a plan to tackle them. **Playing up your strengths** Ideally, your coach will know who you are, what you enjoy, what motivates you, and how to use all of those different things to help you meet your goals. **Building your confidence** Having confidence in your ideas can be one solution to this issue (as can a coach's perspective). Confidence is important in real estate because it can be a really tough business! **Evaluating your performance** One of the most valuable services that a real estate coach can provide for agents is ongoing and consistent feedback and evaluation.
