Debbie Hansen, Ninja Mom Of The Month March 2009

Meet our Ninja Mom of the month for March, Debbie Hansen from Loveland, Colorado!  Debbie is with The Group Inc so a real live groupie.   She has definitely taken the Ninja systems and been able to implement them in a way that works for her and her family and manages to have a wonderfully successful business to boot.

Three amazing insights that Debbie had to share which are keys to her success and I think so true for all of us are:

~ Be where you are at.  Be present in the moment!
~ Show up!   You can’t do the business if you are not even coming in to work.
~ Don’t make things too complicated.  Take what works for you and leave the rest.

Here are some of Debbie’s other secrets that she was kind enough to share:

How long have you been in Real Estate and where does your business come from?

I started in real estate when my children were 2 and 4 and now they are 11 and 13 so I am just about to celebrate my 10 year anniversary!  We live in Loveland so most of my sphere and database is in the surrounding area.  My database is currently about 330 people.  Last year 81% of my business came from past clients and referrals.  The rest came from the odd floor call or walk in and open houses.

What are some of your best practices in Real Estate?

~ Do the Ninja Nine.  It is a wonderfully simple system and works really well to help with staying focused. (If you need a copy of the Ninja Nine, email me at nicole@theninjamoms.com and I will be happy to send you one.)
~ Focus on your hot and warm list daily.  For me that is just a simple list that I print out at the beginning of the year with Buyers an Sellers on it and from then on it becomes my working manual for the year that I update by writing new names on as they come into play and crossing names off as they close transactions or decide not to do real estate for one reason or another.  (I really love Debbie’s low tech approach to this with having it on a piece of paper.  It might not seem like a true system, but it is the example of a perfect one.  Not only does it work for Debbie, buy she actually uses it!  Anything that you will actually DO is much better than something really slick that is too complicated or time consuming and ends up on the back burner never to be used again.)
~ I also track my weekly calls and note cards.  I am more comfortable with writing notes than with picking up the phone to call people, but I definitely make both a priority and track them weekly.
~ Having office hours and coming into the office are also important to help me stay focused.  Again, I think that it is so important to be present wherever you are so being in the office helps me get into my real estate mindset.  When I am with my kids I really try to be focused on being with them and not on the phone to a client.  Showing up is truly the key.  So many agents complain that they don’t have any business and yet they are never in the office.
~ In addition to making calls and writing notes I also send the Insider newsletter that is prepared by The Group as well as a mix of art and science mailings to stay in touch with clients on a consistent basis.
~ Getting involved in things is good both personally and professionally for making friends and building your business, but make sure that you do not over commit and focus on things that really make you happy.  it is easy to end up in lots of meetings that are draining and not overly productive.
~ I really feel lucky to be a part of The Group and have access to Larry Kendall.  He is a tremendous resource and provides lots of great ideas and systems for the agents at The Group to implement.  That being said, I think that it is really important to not feel the need to implement everything.  It is too much.  Take what works for you and be consistent with that.  Implementation and consistency is what makes it work.

How do you take those personal relationships such as getting to know parents at your kids activities and turn those into Real Estate relationships?

Admittedly taking it to the next level takes time.  You just need to focus on building a personal relationship with the people and then the real estate will come.  Don’t try to come on too strong with the real estate in the beginning.  On that note, however, do not discount anyone.  I have found that just because I have not done business with someone personally doesn’t mean that they will not refer me.  An excellent example is a condo listing that I just sold.  The manager for the complex was exceptionally helpful with getting information that we needed during the sale so I sent them a quick note with a Starbucks card letting them know how much I appreciated their help.  They ended up sending me a referral for another seller in the complex!

What types of support systems do you have both personally and professionally?

I have access to and use the pod assistant that they have here at The Group for real estate and then at home I have a house cleaner and I am not afraid to make use of the dry cleaner to help with the laundry.  I also think that it is really important to have help with the kids.  My kids were 2 and 4 when I started and they were in day care.  It is too hard and usually unrealistic to think that you can work and be at home to take care of the kids at the same time.

What do you do to take care of yourself and make time for you and your husband?

I run 3-4 days at week at 5:30 in the morning.  It’s early, but if I don’t do it then it just doesn’t happen.  Keeping fit enables me to have stamina to do all I need to do.  I have a neighbor friend that I run with or my husband.  Fun comes in the form of time with the kids at events and we have a pretty close group of friends that we socialize with regularly.  As for time with my husband, you really think there is time for that?!   Whenever our kids have activities at the same time we try to go out for dinner, or something just to be together.  We also try to do one long weekend away a year without the kids.

Wow!  Thank you so much Debbie for sharing your time and thoughts with all of us.  You are truly are an inspiration.  For any of you that have further questions for Debbie, or better yet, have a referral for her please feel free to contact Debbie at 970-222-9618 or dhansen@thegroupinc.com