JANUARY 2018 MALIBU

EXECUTIVEAGENT MAGAZINE

Jay Rubenstein Executive of the Month

Inside Features: Steve Haddad & Scott Engel Finance of America Mortgage

Noelle Longmeyer

Keller Williams Pacific Estates

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WESTLAKE VILLAGE

FAMILY. INTEGRITY. VALUE.

Finance of America Mortgage Westlake Village is Southern California’s premiere mortgage lender. Our goal is to create value for the community while bringing families home.

CONTACT US TODAY

MORTGAGE

• Fannie • Jumbo • Freddie • VA • USDA • Ginnie

COMMERCIAL

Steve Haddad

Branch Manager | Mortgage Advisor NMLS-238275

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• • • •

Fix & Flip Line of Credit Fix & Flip Single Property New Construction Rental Portfolios

REVERSE

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• HECM • HomeSafe

c: (818) 207-4889 f: (855) 495-6882 shaddad@financeofamerica.com SteveHaddad.com

Scott Engel

Branch Manager | Mortgage Advisor NMLS-260965

c: (310) 739-6243 f: (310) 903-4352 sengel@financeofamerica.com FOAmortgage.com/sengel

FOAmortgage.com/WestlakeVillage ©2017 Finance of America Mortgage LLC is licensed nationwide | | NMLS ID # 1071 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org) | 300 Welsh Road, Building 5, Horsham, PA 19044 | (800) 355-5626 | AZ Mortgage Banker License #0910184 | Licensed by the Department of Business Oversight under the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act | Georgia Residential Mortgage Licensee #15499 | Illinois Residential Mortgage Licensee | Kansas Licensed Mortgage Company | Licensed by the N.J. Department of Banking and Insurance | Licensed Mortgage Banker -- NYS Banking Department | Rhode Island Licensed Lender. This is not a commitment to lend. Prices and guidelines are subject to change without notice. Some products may not be available in all states. Subject to review of credit and/or collateral; not all applicants will qualify for financing. It is important to make an informed decision when selecting and using a loan product; make sure to compare loan types when making a financing decision.

1. Product offered through Finance of America Commercial LLC | your advisor for details.

| NMLS ID #1133465 | Product not offered in all states. Product not directly offered by Finance of America Mortgage LLC. See

2. Product available through Finance of America Reverse LLC | | NMLS ID # 2285 | Finance of America Mortgage LLC is affiliated with Finance of America Reverse LLC. This affiliation may provide a financial or other benefit to Finance of America Mortgage LLC. Finance of America Mortgage LLC offers reverse mortgage products as a mortgage broker only. This document is provided by Finance of America Mortgage LLC. Any materials were not provided by HUD or FHA. It has not been approved by FHA or any Government Agency.

EXECUTIVE OF THE MONTH

Jay Rubenstein COMPASS

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INSIDE FEATURES

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9 Steve Haddad & Scott Engel Finance of America Mortgage 4

ExecutiveAgent Magazine

Noelle Longmeyer Keller Williams Pacific Estates

JANUARY, 2018 EDITORIALS 6

How to Reach Your Goals -Ben Angel

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How to Train Cats and Salespeople -John Boe

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Fred Arrias Executive Publisher PO Box 73384 San Clemente, CA 92673 Direct: (949) 297-8323 Cell: (949) 702-9577 Fax: (949) 266-8757 FArrias45@gmail.com www.EAMag.net

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX - MW City of Hope.......................................................34 COMPASS..........................................................23 Finance of America Mortgage.............................2

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iPhotography Studio......................................15 & 36

Stop Wishing for the Life You Want -Jim Rohn

NAHREP...................................................................8 The Termite Guy......................................................3

Photography: iPhotography Studio, Ian Wiant, Rob Paino Graphic Designer: Garon T. Arrias Editorial Manager: Trudy Van Writers: Ben Angel, John Boe, Haley Freeman, Jim Rohn, Walter Sanford, Dirk Zeller, Zig Ziglar

A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss -Walter Sanford

© Copyright 2018 Executive Agent Magazine. All rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Although every precaution is taken to ensure accuracy of published materials, Executive Agent Magazine cannot be held responsible for opinions expressed or facts supplied by its authors.

BUSINESS VISION . . . IS WHERE IT ALL STARTS -Dirk Zeller

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How to Reach Your Goals

hen setting goals, the first question that I always ask myself is, Who must I become to achieve this specific outcome? Who must I become to bring this particular goal to life?

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If you’re not making it yet, you’re yet to become that person who can attain that very specific goal. You simply do not have the mental framework that supports the attainment, the manifestation, of that vision. Yet. I call this the identity gap. There’s a gap between who you and who you need to become to reach your goals.

There will always be a gap, because we always have our sights set on something else that we want—a vision that we want to bring to life, and the person who we want to become. The gap between who you are and who you want to become is that beautiful gray area in which we experience our greatest happiness. Why? In this beautiful gray area, we have a purpose, we have a mission, we have a reason for living in the process of this

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self-evolution. The second we stop evolving is the second we lose meaning.

The more goals that we set for ourselves, the more gaps we create. The more gaps that we create, the more chasms we cross, and the better and more significant we feel, and the more likely we are to succeed in the future.

With each chasm crossed, we better ourselves. We become more focused, and eventually attain mastery of our craft until we’ve become the person who’s achieved their goals.

Ben Angel, best-selling author of CLICK, Sleeping Your Way to The Top in Business and Flee 9-5, is Australia’s leading marketing authority. Followed by 80,000 internationally and founder of benangel.co—a site dedicated to providing entrepreneurs advanced online marketing courses and education—Ben provides easy-to-apply and even easier-to-understand strategies for reaching new customers with ease. Stay up to date with his latest marketing strategies at benangel.co/blog

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Written By Ben Angel ExecutiveAgent Magazine

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02 .26 – 02 .28

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Steve Haddad & Scott Engel Creating the Ultimate Lending Experience

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Written by Haley Freeman - Photography by Ian Wiant

n June, 2017, Scott Engel and Steve Haddad came together at Finance of America Mortgage to form a new dynamic lending team that aims to re-invigorate Southern California’s lending scene. As co-managers of the Westlake Village office, together, they combine decades of comprehensive lending experience and a shared commitment to delivering excellence in service and creating the ultimate lending experience.

As a Blackstone Group portfolio company, Finance of America serves borrowers through trusted brands including Finance of America Mortgage LLC, Finance of America Reverse LLC and Finance of America Commercial LLC. The Finance of America family of companies employs more than 4,000 professionals in more than 350 offices across the country and its operating subsidiaries maintain retail and wholesale channels.

Leveraging on the strength of its parent backing as well as its key acquisitions, Scott and Steve are in prime position to offer their entire client portfolio lending experiences

Steve Haddad

that are forged through human connection, trust and superior technology.

Scott is 7th generation Californian and grew up in the Bay area. After graduating high school, Scott moved to Southern California and earned his degree from Pepperdine University. After completing several overseas internships in Europe and Asia Pacific, Scott returned to his home turf to begin his career in earnest. Under the tutelage of local insurance giant Armin Dolin, Scott learned business and management principles that remain with him to this day. “Armin taught me how to deal with people,” Scott says. “He was always positive and never upset by things that happened around him. He had a way of always giving more than he received from people, and he always showed he was interested in them and wanted to help. I was working as his assistant when he got me my first interview in the mortgage industry. I didn’t know anything about the business, but I found that helping people solve problems and get into a home was something I truly enjoyed.”

Scott Engel

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Determined to succeed in his new profession, Scott sought out the most difficult types of loans and quickly mastered them. From construction and complex jumbo loans for foreign nationals, Scott then became the go-to expert in elite communities from Malibu to Beverly Hills.

Steve is also SoCal born and bred. He played college football at the University of Toledo, and after a shoulder injury, Steve transferred to California State University, Northridge. He was working for one of the world’s largest accounting firms, when he was introduced to the lending industry by a friend who owned a mortgage company. Steve saw an opportunity to make a lasting, positive impact by using his financial expertise to help families achieve home ownership. Only one week after his decision to change his career focus, he had his license and began fulfilling his true calling.

Steve carried that tenacity forward through his career as a broker, correspondent lender and banker. He is one of the region’s preeminent lending professionals, with proficiency in the spectrum of residential lending products.

His broad commercial acumen and diverse leadership experiences in the mortgage sector inspire confidence and

loyalty in the people he serves.

Scott and Steve met as managers at another lending company, and together, they recognized that by integrating their complementary skills and shared work ethic, they could achieve greater things. They further identified Finance of America Mortgage as the ideal climate for cultivating a team of seasoned Loan Consultants who know their trade and want to up their game. As a full-service lender offering a complete suite of government and conforming home loans, jumbo loans, reverse mortgages, commercial loans and broker resources, and with a corporate culture founded on the core values of partnership, service, empowerment and excellence, they knew they would be unstoppable.

Success begins with the right mindset. Scott and Steve are vibrant, positive leaders who inspire others to action. “Everybody here is incentivized,” Steve explains.

“We’re all here for the love of the profession and getting people into homes. But to be the best requires being properly incentivized to work hard and be rewarded for it. Our vision is to take our energy, share it with a group of people who love what they do, and broaden it.”

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“Loan Consultants in today’s environment are getting smarter,” Scott says. “They understand more about the business, where the money is being made and where the resources are. In a big bank environment, they don’t have a say. Here, they have a seat at the table. We’re working on efficiencies to help them grow with integrity. We’re building a great culture with a ‘get it done’ attitude. Everybody on the team is valuable, and there’s no real hierarchy. We’re also adaptable. Internally, if we need to make a change, we can move fast. If we get busy, we can hire right away.”

As producing managers, Scott and Steve understand the real-world challenges their Loan Consultants are facing every day. Their skills and product knowledge are sharp, and they are hands-on about providing the solutions and guidance necessary to move loans to a successful close.

Steve comments, “At a lot of companies, there is no support for Loan Consultants. The best they can hope for is to get a bigger commission split. But Loan Consultants need more today if they are going to continue to build their business while giving their clients great service.

They need to have a business plan and support from a manager who will help them achieve their goals.” Scott adds, “Our vision is to build a plug-and-play platform for seasoned, professional Loan Consultants who need help getting loans done. We want to help them grow their business and contacts, and take a guy who’s doing a million dollars a month and double or triple his business.”

Scott and Steve are also developing young talent while creating the ultimate lending experience for their real estate partners. Steve explains, “Part of what Scott and I are trying to do is bring up a younger generation in the business. The average Loan Consultant is 54, but this is a profession where there should be more young people. We’re building a young marketing group to help us provide support to our Realtors®. When I first got into the profession, all I did was face-to-face meetings. Now, the majority of business is done through text and phone calls. We are creating a marketing team whose job is to go out and meet agents in the field, help them market and push their listings, and sit at their open houses. We’re creating a true partnership.”

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The local expertise Scott and Steve have acquired throughout their careers is invaluable to home buyers and their agents. “Local knowledge is really important in the lending world,” Scott says. “Every area has its quirks, and understanding local properties is a value-add to Realtors®.

We can sometimes help resolve appraisal issues because we know the area and its homes intimately. And because we do a lot of volume, we can negotiate better terms with investors and provide the best rates for the situation.”

Having a team of the best professionals in the region, from support personnel to Loan Consultants, means that every stage of a loan is treated with thoroughness and precision. When this team issues a pre-approval letter, agents and their clients can move forward with the knowledge and confidence that Scott, Steve and the whole Finance of America Mortgage team will stand behind their promise.

possible. Scott explains, “This is a people business, and we’re building a culture that people want to be a part of.

The bottom line is that we treat each other, our clients and our business partners with respect.”

The momentum and positive energy that Scott and Steve are building infuse their lending team with enthusiasm and results in the ultimate lending experience for their clients.

“It all begins with passion,” Steve says. “It’s a tremendous feeling to get a family into a home. To succeed in this business, you have to love helping people and give worldclass service. Every customer needs to feel special. I think what is so special about our group is that we are a bunch of people who love to work together. This is an amazing team.”

In an environment where ideas are welcome, innovation is rewarded and successes are celebrated, everything is

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STEVE HADDAD & SCOTT ENGEL Finance of America Mortgage 5655 Lindero Canyon Road, Suite 120 Westlake Village, CA 91362 - Tel: Scott 310-739-6243 / Steve 818-207-4889 Email: sengel@financeofamerica.com / shaddad@financeofamerica.com Web: www.financeofamerica.com - NMLS: 260965 / 238275 ExecutiveAgent Magazine

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Nomination Form Nominate a fellow REALTORÂŽ to be featured in one of our feature stories; on the cover as Executive Agent of the Month, or as a special feature story. All candidates must be nominated by a real estate professional. The selection process includes a questionnaire, personal interview, reference check and final approval by the Advisory Council. Candidates are evaluated based upon professionalism, length of service and uniqueness of story, as well as industry and community involvement.

I Nominate: Name_______________________________ Company___________________________ Address____________________________ _____________________________________ City, State, Zip_____________________ _____________________________________ Phone______________________________ Email_______________________________ Submitted By: Fax/Email nomination to: Executive Agent Magazine PO Box 73384 San Clemente, CA 92673 Fax: 949.266.8757 Email: Info@eamag.net Tel: 949.297.8323

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Cover Story

Jay Rubenstein Executive of the Month

ExecutiveAgent Magazine

JAY RUBENSTEIN

A Place of Collaboration, Culture and Community Written by Haley Freeman - Photography by Ian Wiant

L

oyalty is a hallmark of Jay Rubenstein’s character.

Married to his Pepperdine University sweetheart, Anne, for 36 years and a licensed real estate professional for 40 years, it is clear that when Jay commits to something, he sees it through.

So it was going to take something extraordinary for Jay to leave Coldwell Banker’s Malibu West office, where he was a top-performing manager for 21-plus years. It was the promise of adventure that lured Jay from the comfort of his well-established success to the newness of the undiscovered. Two years ago, he joined Compass as manager of its Malibu office and charted a new course in his real estate career, one defined by the “three Cs” of collaboration, culture and community. Together, he and his team are on a mission to “help everyone find their place in the world.”

Throughout his real estate journey, Jay has worked with outstanding leaders in California’s residential real estate markets, from his first mentors, Chris Frost and Frank Roop, to Charles Willson, Jim Rapf, Jon Douglas and Betty Graham. But when Jay met Compass Founder & CEO, Robert Reffkin, he knew he had encountered someone remarkable. “It’s like the saying from that movie, ‘He had me at hello,’” Jay recalls. “I hadn’t met anyone like that since Jon Douglas in the early ‘90s. He had this vision, passion and excitement, and everything he said was different from what I’d been hearing in the industry. He talked about building a company from the agent up instead of from the top down, that the agent is our client and we put agents at the forefront of our industry. He told me that culture and community are what is going to set Compass apart. I believed in Robert and what he was going to build, and I was inspired to be a part of it.”

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Compass began as an online rental company in Manhattan called Urban Compass. In 2013, Compass launched with a strategic plan to expand systematically through the nation’s most dynamic markets. Now among the largest owned luxury brokerages in the nation, with 30 offices across nine regions, Compass aims to attain 20 percent marketshare in the top 20 cities in the U.S. by 2020.

With Reffkin’s vision firmly in mind, Jay set out in Malibu with no office and zero agents. “It was scary, but I had this new passion and enthusiasm I hadn’t felt in years. I got a few top producers who came right away from my old company and began attracting others from other companies.”

Now with 20 top agents and a dynamite staff ensconced in a stunning 3,300-square-foot office in Malibu with a view of the ocean in front and the mountains in back, Jay is ready to welcome another dozen agents. But he’s selective about who he brings aboard. “In other places,

there is pressure to hire. But here, people have to be a fit with the culture. When we associate a new agent, they have to be vetted. We call other agents in the office and ask if they know them or have done a deal with them. It’s unique. Compass has turned away or let go of agents who earned high six figures because they weren’t the right culture fit. We want people who like and respect each other. Everybody here is someone I consider a fantastic person.”

Compass has attracted some of the best managers and agents in the business, with the savvy to serve every demographic, from first-time buyers to the most elite clientele. “I think for top agents who come here, this is an incredible place. Last year, I had an agent come here who has been in the business for 10 years and she had her best year ever. Another, who has been in the industry for 15 years, just had his best year ever. We want agents to be the CEO of their own business, and we encourage them to build teams.”

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Jay has the highest praise for Office Administrator, Kerry Sylvester and Agent Operations & Marketing Associate, Kimberly Klein. “We have an incredible staff, who are so helpful and giving and kind. They are proactive and always have a smile. On boarding new associates can be clumsy at some places, but Kerry and Kimberly are here to do everything from ordering cards and signs to teaching the tech tools and helping with CRMs, social media and marketing. Quality staff and agent support are huge deals at Compass and two of the company’s great attributes. We also do a lot of fun team building activities and we include spouses, kids and even pets.”

At all levels of the company, you will see diverse, vibrant professionals. Compass conveys an edgy, modern vibe, bringing people and technology together in new ways. It is being led by a braintrust of ranking professionals from a range of industries, including a full battery of engineers and marketing innovators whose mission is to create a simplified real estate model that is easily acces-

sible to agents and their clients. With a design that is both high tech and high touch, Compass uses the best, groundbreaking technology in the business to create efficiencies that bind agents with the clients they serve.

“We realize that people want to get a lot of their information online, but when it comes down to making a large financial decision, it’s a people business. Our goal is to keep the agent at the center of the transaction. We give them tools to make them more efficient, so they can spend more quality time with clients. The average agents spends about 11 percent of their time with clients and the rest of the time doing activities that aren’t making them money. We’re trying to make that statistic 44 percent for our agents. We have a huge staff of engineers working in New York who are from big tech backgrounds like Google, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft, to name a few. We have marketing people from Pixar, Conde Nast, L’oreal and other big companies.

Bringing talent from outside real estate is part of what makes us so unique and fresh in the industry.”

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Jay says he is not “a very techy guy,” and if you share that particular disposition, it should not discourage you from joining the team. “If you’re willing to stretch yourself and learn new tech tools, there are people here who are willing to teach you. It’s part of the excitement for me - being inventive and building something different.”

Jay is known to be accessible and approachable, and his penchant for loyalty comes out again in his commitment to helping those around him succeed. “I love helping agents set and reach goals so they can get to the next level from wherever they are. Some want to be held accountable, and some don’t. I try to get to know people and figure out what motivates them. My favorite thing to do is to

hand an agent their hard-earned check at close of escrow and tell them, ‘Congratulations, good job.’”

Jay starts every weekday in the gym, and in his spare time he loves traveling with his wife, Anne, daughters Rachel and Julie, and son-in-law, Nate. On the weekends, you may find him playing tennis or engaging in his favorite pastime, body boarding.

From Jay’s vantage point, the next leg of the journey looks like sunny skies all the way. “My passion is back, and I’m looking forward to building the best real estate office in Malibu,” he says. “I want to make this the place to be.”

ExecutiveAgent Magazine

Jay Rubenstein - Branch Manager Compass California, Inc.

24903 Pacific Coast Hwy., Suite 200, Malibu, CA 90265 Tel: 310.230.5740 – 805.377.0033 - Email: JayRubenstein@compass.com Web: https://www.compass.com/agents/la/jay-rubenstein/ - CalBRE # 00669867

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118°49

'

$3B in sales volume with a 170% increase from 2016*

163% increase in units sold**

138% increase in number of agents**

Compass has grown in Southern California.

Have you found your place in the world?

— Call Jay Rubenstein at 310.230.5740 to discover if Compass could be your next home.

compass.com Compass is a licensed real estate broker (01991628) in the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdraw without notice. *Measured Jan 2017 to Nov 2017 compared to Jan 2016 to Nov 2016 for all of Compass Offices in Southern California. **Measured Jan 2017 to Oct 2017 compared to Jan 2016 to Oct 2016 for all of Compass Offices in Southern California.

BUSINESS VISION . . . IS WHERE IT ALL STARTS

B

eing able to establish a business vision for your company separates you from the other agents who are in real estate. When building a team, you must pause and work to define your business vision. Enduring, successful people and successful companies establish their core values and core purpose. They then remain fixed on those core values and purpose throughout their business life. The changing elements are their business strategy and tactics due to the marketplace changes and competition influences.

Successful people and companies know that it is critically important to know who you are and what you stand for. In many cases, knowing who you are, as a team, will be more important than where you are going. We all will change and adapt as our world changes and adapts. This change is inevitable. The only part about change that is in question is whether it will be evolution or revolution.

Evolution is defined by Webster as: A process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage). We want to engage in the small, gradual movement or change over a period of time. This type of change only comes from clarity of values and purpose. More effort, energy, and resources can be used to increase success, sales, and production in an evolutionary mode, rather than a revolutionary mode.

Revolution is defined by Webster as: A drastic and farreaching change in ways of thinking and behaving. The change in revolution is more violent, sudden, and potentially damaging. The vast majority of resources will be used to keep up with the revolution at hand or trying to

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get out of the revolutionary process. The stress level is significantly higher, and the probability of success is much lower in revolution. By having well-defined core values and core purpose, you can avoid the forces of revolution more effectively.

There has been a prevailing thought for sometime on the value of mission statements. The thought is that you have to build a mission statement for your team. When I ask many experts why they have that view, their answers are less than stellar: “Because good companies have them”; “You just do”; “Your people need something to guide them.” There are a host of others that I have heard regularly.

I have personally coached hundreds of the most successful agents in the last fifteen years. I always ask if they have a mission statement. When they say “oh yes”, I ask them what it is. The phone always goes dead silent. Then you have this rustling of papers as they try to find the document that has their mission statement on it. Once they can’t find it, they try to recite from memory some garbled version of it.

I personally feel that mission statements have little value, and we should abolish their use. Most small business owners’ (like real estate agents) mission statements are treated as something you have to have or do, but you don’t know why you have to have it or do it. The most common practice of building a mission statement for small business owners is to scalp what they like from a large company, like Nordstrom if you have a service mentality or Nike if you like competition or Wal-Mart if you want to serve the ordinary or disadvantaged consumer.

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WRITTEN BY DIRK ZELLER

We aren’t building it from within our own views, tenets, and principles of excellence in life and business. For most, we are building the mission statement based on what sounds good, looks good on a brochure or marketing piece, or is made up of the components that another successful company articulates in their mission statement. My best advice is to scrap the whole exercise and start focusing on what you stand for.

What do you stand for?

We can’t look for what we stand for in others. We have to discover it in ourselves. It is not outside in the world around you; it is in your inner world, in your mind and heart. In order for what you stand for to be authentic, you have to search for it. You aren’t asking yourself what you should stand for; you are asking yourself what you passionately stand for.

Let me share with you an example of what I mean. At Real Estate Champions, we stand for hard work and continuous self-improvement. We believe passionately that the quest of self-improvement, both personally and professionally, is one of the noblest callings in life. I personally toil long hours weekly in the quest of self-improvement and building tools, training systems, scripts, materials, strategies, tactics, theories, coaching – the list is endless. I spend additional hours reading, writing, praying, and listening to podcasts to keep my personal development in high gear. I have other people on my team, as well, who contribute to this effort.

There is no one in the real estate field who has produced more quality systems, tools, strategies, skill improvement,

and business master systems in the last fifteen years than we have at Real Estate Champions. You can pick any name, speaker, trainer, or coach, and most are still selling the same material they were ten years ago! We have 15 distinctly different coaching programs, over fifty different training programs and audio CDs, DVD training, internet subscription-based training, and ten books written on sales success. We don’t do it because it’s good business; we create new intellectual property and deliver it in many different ways because it’s what we stand for. It is born out of my personal core values and beliefs.

We passionately believe that we need to engage in our own journey of personal self-improvement to impact the world. Once we take on that challenge, we will be able to impact the world around us.

What do you stand for?

Dirk Zeller is an Agent, an Investor, and the President & CEO of Real Estate Champions. His company trains more than 350,000 Agents worldwide each year through live events, online training, self-study programs, and newsletters. He’s the widely published author of Your First Year in Real Estate, Success as a Real Estate Agent for Dummies®, The Champion Real Estate Agent, Telephone Sales for Dummies®, and over 300 articles in print. You can get more information by visiting www.RealEstateChampions. com. © 2008, Dirk Zeller. All rights reserved. For information contact FrogPond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email susie@FrogPond.com; http://www.FrogPond.com.

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Written by Haley Freeman

Noelle Longmeyer

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rom the beginning of her 16-plus year career in real estate, Noelle Longmeyer has been deliberate about developing herself as a professional so that she can, in turn, provide quality service and education to her clients. Now an award-winning agent at Keller Williams Pacific Estates in Long Beach and team leader of NEST SoCal Group, Noelle is a powerful woman business owner and a dynamic force in Southern California real estate.

Long Beach is the hub for Noelle’s real estate practice, which spans LA and Orange counties. She has deep, personal ties to the Long Beach community, originating

with her days as a student and, later, a human resources manager for California State Long Beach Foundation. “I love Long Beach,” she says. “It is an international, metropolitan city with a vibrant arts scene. Downtown Long Beach has been experiencing a renaissance, and I think it will continue. My husband grew up in Westminster, and we ended up living there near Seal Beach. It’s one of the last remaining quaint beach areas and equidistant to both Long Beach and Huntington. We really have the best of both worlds. There are so many differences between the two counties, and I love introducing people to unique communities they may not know about. I’m a huge cheerleader for the areas I work in.”

ExecutiveAgent Magazine

Noelle’s passion for the communities she sells and the unique lifestyles they offer inspires her superlative client service. A designated Military Relocation Professional (MRP) and Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES), she is constantly adapting her practice to meet the needs of the region’s shifting populations. “I think diversity is a big component of my success. A lot of agents tend to focus on one niche. But I meet so many people on any given day, and I feel like I get to be part of the citizenship of a much larger family.”

Noelle adapted her practice to better serve military families after she represented a client in 2010 who had difficulty getting a VA offer accepted by area listing agents. “I took issue with that, and I felt a responsibility to help educate the community that a VA loan is a treasured opportunity for many military families. There are so many myths around VA loans, and a lot of education still needs to happen. I have a wonderful partnership with a VA lender and have grown from there. I’m honored to work with military families, and I advocate for the military community and educate them about how to use their benefits, as well.”

Helping seniors and/or their children with the many decisions surrounding the liquidation of an estate requires both empathy and special knowledge. Noelle has both, and she helps families navigate these challenging times with compassion and skill. “It’s such a complicated emotional experience, and it really takes a special touch to steer clients through that process successfully. Part of the SRES designation is learning to help someone through the emotional minefield of selling a property they have lived in most of their life. There are also potential tax implications, the legalities of a trust and exemption from certain disclosures that need to be addressed.”

Diversity is a hallmark of Noelle’s team, and she is a champion of women as leaders in business. “Although 58 percent of all licensed agents in California are women, only 24 percent are in leadership. That’s a call to action in my opinion. I just started participating in a student mentorship program through Long Beach City College, partnering with students who are getting their real estate license. It’s very important to me to help bring people up in the profession, especially women.”

bring richness and relatability to her team. “Growing my team through diversity has been beautiful to me. Mania Persekian is from the Armenian community and Michelle Lee is originally from Taiwan. These women have brought me into their worlds and expanded our team’s ability to serve international and luxury markets with greater sensitivity.”

As a mother of three, Noelle is committed to setting the right example for succeeding in business. “I want to make sure my son and two daughters see that they can have integrity and be leaders in whatever they choose to do.”

Doing business thoughtfully and with purpose also makes it sustainable. As Noelle expands her team and serves more families, she says, “My clients’ goals are always at the forefront. I want to see their families succeed, and I want to be part of their story for the rest of their lives.”

Noelle Longmeyer, MRP, SRES Keller Williams Pacific Estates 2883 E. Spring St., Ste. 100 Long Beach, CA 90806 Tel: 714-514-5643 - 562-344-5146 Email: NLongmeyer@gmail.com Web: www.nestsocal.com CalDRE # 01313351

She is also eager to include people who reflect the global cultures represented in Southern California. Noelle currently works with two other remarkable women who ExecutiveAgent Magazine

HOW TO TRAIN CATS AND SALESPEOPLE hich do you think would be harder to train, a cat or a salesperson? Seriously, which one would you pick? While it’s true that cats have a welldeserved reputation for being independent, demanding and virtually impossible to train, the same can be said for many salespeople. Surprisingly, the same training and reward techniques required to get Fluffy to jump through a hoop can also be utilized to motivate your sales team to achieve peak performance!

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One evening while channel surfing I came across a fascinating animal act that grabbed my attention. The act featured a cat trainer with a half dozen cats of varying size, shape and color. Unlike a circus lion tamer who attempts to intimidate with a chair and whip, this man simply used a combination of treats and verbal praise to motivate his cats to perform difficult tricks. Using only soothing voice tones and a pocket full of cat treats, he would calmly command each cat to do its own specific trick. Amazingly, he got one cat to walk on his front paws, one balanced on a ball, while yet another pushed a toy baby stroller across the stage.

After the performance, the cat trainer was interviewed and asked how he was able to get his cats to willingly obey his commands. His response surprised me with its simple wisdom. He said that he didn’t train the cats at all, he simply figured out what each cat liked to do best and then encouraged that behavior! “People need to realize that a cat’s indifference doesn’t mean they can’t learn cool tricks,” says celebrity animal trainer Joel Silverman. “It simply means you haven’t convinced them yet that doing so is in their best interest. A dog naturally wants to please and will work for you, but a cat needs a paycheck to be motivated.”

Five Tips to Help You Train Cats and Salespeople 1. Check for temperament suitability. Temperament testing allows you to identify those who by nature lack the discipline, desire or self-motivation to consistently achieve peak performance. Sales managers who lack the benefit of temperament understanding are inclined to place too much emphasize on their gut-level feeling during the hiring process. If you hire someone that is not suited for the position, you will experience low morale, high turnover and find yourself constantly in the training mode. On the other hand, when you recruit the right person you will find that they are self-motivated and eager to train.

2. Look for “hot buttons”. Traditionally, sales managers have relied primarily on commission to motivate their sales force. Unfortunately, a compensation structure based solely on commission does not address individual motivational 28

factors and therefore, money alone will not motivate your sales force. A successful incentive program is a mixture of awards, recognition and peer pressure. There is tremendous power behind a timely word of praise or a handwritten note acknowledging achievement. While money is certainly an important ingredient in any incentive program, it should by no means be the only tool in a manager’s motivational toolbox. If money by itself were a sufficient motivation, commission-based salespeople would simply sell more without additional enticement.

3. Make the training fun and positive. All cats and most salespeople have pretty short attention spans and low boredom thresholds. Keep lessons short, interesting and always try to end on a positive note.

4. You must be patient when training cats or salespeople.

It’s important to respect individual abilities and preferences. Make allowances for personality, and don’t get frustrated if the training schedule doesn’t go exactly as expected. Remember that people have off days and on days just like cats. “When I’m really pushing and the going gets tough,” says Silverman, “Sometimes the cat just sits down and says, ‘I give up’. Even the brightest cats, if they feel you’re pushing them too hard, will, in effect, say, ‘Screw you, buddy, I’m going to go over there, sit down, and stare into space.”

5. Make sure to take time for rest and relaxation. All work and no play will make the cat, the salesperson and the trainer grumpy. Whether it is playing with a ball of yarn or enjoying a round of golf, taking time out to play is critically important. By successfully balancing play and work, you will return recharged, refreshed and ready to accomplish more By incorporating these five powerful tips into your training program, you will develop an award-winning sales team and achieve unbelievable results!

“I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.”

- Albert Einstein John Boe presents a wide variety of motivational and sales-oriented keynotes and seminar programs for sales meetings and conventions. John is a nationally recognized sales trainer and business motivational speaker with an impeccable track record in the meeting industry. To have John speak at your next event, visit www.johnboe.com or call 937-299-9001. Free Newsletter available on website.

ExecutiveAgent Magazine

Written By John Boe

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Stop Wishing for the Life You Want

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ExecutiveAgent Magazine

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mbition is a minute-by-minute, day-by-day mentality—an eager desire. To many people, ambition is kind of a mystery. The dictionary says it is “an eager desire for distinction, power or fame.” But what does that really mean? Let’s start with the word eager. All by itself, eager is kind of exciting. Kids are eager for birthday parties. They expect to be the center of attention, to get many presents, to eat too much. For that matter, I guess adults are eager for birthdays, too. (Unless, of course, they’re embarrassed that the candles on their cake outnumber their achievements.) We can be eager to see a ball game, eager to see our kids in a dance recital, eager to see an old friend, eager to shop for a new car. Eager sounds like a lot of fun!

money to pay the bills, take a vacation or just take a little pressure out of their lives. But before their lifestyle can change, their wishes need to become desires. If they really desired change, they wouldn’t spend their evenings just watching TV and wishing they were doing something more.

But do you ever hear people say they are “eager to live a better life,” “eager to have a better family,” “eager to make a lot of money”? Probably not. And that’s a problem, because as I see it, living a better life, having a better family and making a lot of money takes an eager desire.

Ambition is a minute-by-minute, day-by-day mentality.

To have the ambition to work toward a better family life, a newer car, a bigger house, a financially secure future… you have to live it every moment.

We have the remarkable ability to get exactly what we must have. But there is a difference between wishes and desires. We’ve all heard people say, “Oh, I wish I could just drop five pounds. I want to be a little lighter.” We’ve probably said it ourselves. Although we might wish we could breathe a little easier in our clothing, we have to have the desire to exercise a little more and eat a little less. The “I wish I could lose weight” has to become “I have the eager desire to lose weight.”

The backbone of an eager desire to change is discipline.

True ambition is disciplined, eager desire. It’s that little part within us that says, “If I want to be ready for that meeting tomorrow, I need to finish preparing for it today.”

“If I want to make sure I can pay for my kid’s college education, I need to start saving today.” “If I want a better life tomorrow, I need to start working on it today.”

Jim Rohn knows the secrets of success - in business and in life. He has devoted his life to a study of the fundamentals of human behavior and personal motivation that affect professional performance. He can awaken the unlimited power of achievement within you! Reproduced with permission from the Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine. Copyright© 2006, Jim Rohn. All right reserved. For information about Jim’s keynote presentations and seminars, contact the FrogPond at 800.704.FROG(3764) or email susie@FrogPond.com http://FrogPond.com.

The backbone of an eager desire to change is discipline.

True ambition is disciplined, eager desire. I’m also sure you’ve hear people talk about wishing they had more

ExecutiveAgent Magazine

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A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss...

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ExecutiveAgent Magazine

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ou are pumping on all eight cylinders, your systems are working, and you’re an expert in time and motion reduction. You can even get your “stone” rolling faster by performing your day-to-day activities with incorporated lead generation. Simple procedures can be added to your listing, marketing, and closing checklists to make certain you are taking advantage of every opportunity to service, “wow,” and replace your clientele.

By converting common activities such as open houses, FSBO lead generation, or the opening/closing procedures into checklists, you reap the following rewards: 1. You don’t have to remember what made you successful last year.

2. You have a platform to subtract unnecessary steps from, thus reducing overhead.

3. You have a foundation to add to after reading this article or attending a seminar.

4. You can show your clients your business manual, made up of checklists, at your buyer/seller presentations.

5. They are easy! When you start a repeatable task, pull out your note taker of choice and write down the steps.

6. It provides the basis for delegation once you have decided to multiply your efforts through an assistant.

7. Uniformity through checklists also gives consistent service and speeds your “rolling rock” because of the organization it brings.

Now, some secret steps to add to your checklists that will ensure that even the boring aspects of real estate generate speed, convenience, happiness, and money.

Add to Your Seller Question Checklist: 1. Ask what their criteria will be for hiring a new agent. The agent who knows the most wins!

2. At the meeting, ask them to provide two keys to the home. Let’s end key-making forever! Have you ever shown up and had two keys on the kitchen table? It sure builds confidence!

3. Ask them if they plan to list any other properties at the same time. This one question alone made me more than $15,000 every year!

Add to Your Marketing Checklist: 1. Put home flyers on your website so the homeowner can print and supply as necessary. What a great way to save on printing, time, delivery, wear and tear, and provide another way to disseminate information on your new listing.

2. Send a new listing letter to all expireds within

a pre-determined radius around your new listing, extolling the virtues of putting their home on the market, and allowing you to do a joint marketing campaign.

3. Add a cover page to your flyers in the brochure box, explaining why you should also represent the buyer.

Yes, I really do love dual-agency.

Add to Your Open House Checklist: • Bring blank thank you cards for handwritten notes to the people whose parkways you utilized for open house signs. It just takes a few minutes, and it is worth a listing a year!

Add to Your Buyer Search Checklist: 1. Contact all expireds who may have homes that meet your buyers’ needs. This is a great way to prospect for listings and increase odds in obtaining dual-agency contact.

2. Contact your sphere of influence that owns homes which match buyers’ needs. See the above.

Add to Your Goal Checklist: 1. Call five past clients a day and ask for repeat or referral business.

2. Obtain the phone numbers of all merged or out-ofbusiness real estate firms. Add their numbers to your bank of lines.

3. Solicit all the clients owned by your broker who were previously serviced by agents in your office who have left, retired, or moved.

By providing this information and your doing a lot of the small things right – you will soon be the agent in your area to contend with. As your “stone” is rolling, there is precious little time to add these “extras,” but by adding these items to your checklists, you are insuring that these profit steps get taken before your “stone” gets finished rolling!

Walter Sanford was one of the top real estate agents in North America for nearly thirty years, and now, he is one of the most requested speakers, trainers, and coaches.

He has authored twelve systems and books on checklists, pro-active lead generation, affiliate lead generation, plus others mentioned in this article. You can hire Walter or buy his products by visiting his website for more details at www.waltersanford.com, by calling 815-929-9258, or emailing Walter at walter@waltersanford.com.

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Our bone marrow transplant reunion is now standing room only.

Each year, City of Hope invites bone marrow transplant recipients and their families to attend the “Celebration of Life” event. It’s a joyous time during which survivors of blood cancers such as lymphoma, leukemia and myeloma embrace their health, their life and each other. It began more than 35 years ago when City of Hope created what is now one of the largest and most successful bone marrow transplant programs in the world. In fact, we’ve completed over 11,000 transplants and, according to national reports, our outcomes are among the best in the nation. The goal of curing cancer isn’t just something we work at. It’s what we live for.

If you have cancer, make us your first call. Or ask your doctor for a referral. We accept most insurance.

800-826-HOPE

COH-0726_BMT_Hem_fp_4c_ExecAgt.indd 1

WE LIVE TO CURE CANCER. Science saving lives. cityofhope.org/bmt

11/25/13 6:02 PM

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