EXECUTIVE AGENT MAGAZINE-JANUARY 2023

RUDY KUSUMA

Rudy Kusuma

Executive Agent of the Month

Rudy Kusuma’s real estate journey is a story of reinvention, from an immigrant of humble means to a real estate mogul known worldwide for his entrepreneurial success. Rudy came to the U.S. from Indonesia in 1997, and he started his career in sales at 21 years of age.

Attitude & Mindset Are A Choice

In the demanding, stressful, and emotional world of sales the slightest inconvenience or bump in the road can turn your attitude toxic.

Your alarm clock didn’t work, it’s raining, you forgot your umbrella, the line at the drive through was slow, you spilled coffee on your dress, the clients you drove around for three days looking at houses couldn’t get financing, you drove an hour across town to an appointment and your prospect didn’t show, your operations team screwed up the first delivery to your new customer, you had to fight to get your commissions paid correctly - again!

Suddenly you are engulfed in the sea of doom, your cup is half empty, and there is no silver lining to your dark cloud. Disruptive emotions begin to drive your behavior.

Your outlook goes negative and your patience shortens. On the brink of outright hostility, and you find yourself unable to focus on selling. You just want to go home and crawl back into bed.

For a Sales Professional, a bad attitude zone and the disruptive emotions that come with it, if unchecked, can be fatal to your career.

In sales, attitude is the “X Factor”. Attitude plays a powerful role in your success. Because sales is inherently emotional for both you and your buyer and emotions are contagious; your attitude can and will impact your buyer’s desire to buy from you. This is why the salespersons attitude is often the winning edge in hard fought battles for new accounts.

For this reason, you must protect your attitude at all cost. Develop a bounce back routine when things don’t go your way. Become aware of negative self-talk. Let go of anger. Maximize positive input. No matter what hap pens to you or what outside influences are at play, your attitude is your choice. You are absolutely and completely in control of it.

Here are three things you can do now to develop a winning attitude.

1. Invest in Yourself: It is easy to burn out in the sales profession. When you are tired and run down it is difficult to maintain a positive attitude. Train like an athlete. Exercise your mind, body, and spirit. Then, when you do get knocked down, you’ll get up faster and you will win.

2. Tune In: Learn to listen to your inner voice. It is there, talking to you all of the time. Most days we only listen when it says negative things. That’s when our attitude goes south. When you tune in to your inner thoughts you can get ahead of the curve and make repairs to your attitude before it begins to sink your sales career.

3. Filter the Noise: Stay away from negative inputs, negative people, and negative environments. Each morning say the words, “Today, I choose Joy.” This one act will condition your mind, body, and spirit to work together to protect your attitude.

In sales and in life, attitude is the greatest single predictor of how far and fast you will climb. In other words, attitude = altitude. Make the choice today to use your attitude to go straight to the top.

Jeb Blount advises many of the world’s leading organizations and their executives on the impact of emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills on customer experience, strategic account management, sales, and developing high-performing sales teams. He speaks to and delivers training to high-performing sales teams across the globe. He is the author of eight books including the mega bestseller Fanatical Prospecting and his newest release Sales EQ. To learn more call 1-888-360-2249.

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The Platinum Rule™: Relationship Strategies for Connecting with Anyone

Personality

differences: they’re what make life so rich and fascinating and often so frustrating, too. Most of us never figure people out. We just ricochet through life, getting along with some people and dealing as little as possible with others because they’re so different from us. Everyone knows the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.” But this habit can turn off those who have different needs, wants, and hopes than we do. Instead, the real key to making a difference is to apply The Platinum RuleTM. “Do unto others as they would like done unto them!” Once you understand and master The Platinum RuleTM, you’ll be able to build bridges to people of any style in any personal or business situation.

Dr. Tony Alessandra, CSP, CPAE has authored 13 books, recorded over 50 audio and video programs, and delivered over 2,000 keynote speeches since 1976. Copyright© 1999, Tony Alessandra. All rights reserved. This article has been adapted from Dr. Alessandra’s book, Charisma (Warner books, 1998. Dr. Tony Alessandra is recognized by Meetings and Conventions Magazine as... “one of America’s most electrifying speakers.” For information about Tony’s keynote presentations, please call The Frog Pond Group at 800-704-FROG (3764) or email susie@frogpondgroup.com.

Times are tough – but as an old adage reminds us, “when the going gets tough, the tough get going.” In business, a good salesperson knows how to ride economic waves. They know exactly how to take a group of leads and build them into a loyal base of customers and clientele who return time and again for products and services; who bring in referrals; and who increase the potential to close a sale by as much as 500%.

A Positive Mindset Generates Positive Actions

Most salespeople are driven by commissions. So imagine if they viewed every person they encountered as a pro spective client. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines client as “a person who pays a professional person or organization for products and services, a person who engages the professional advice or services of another, and one that is under the protection of another.”

If salespeople viewed every person they met as a client – someone under their care who seeks professional advice and products or services – the potential for sales would increase dramatically. This seemingly simple change in mindset and attitudes makes a world of difference in sales, commissions, and profits.

Creating a mindset that perceives every individual who comes into a business as a client is one of the first steps in driving sales and increasing commissions and profits. However, it is a proven fact that when a client comes into a business and specifically asks for a particular sales person, the closing percentage skyrockets. To achieve this, salespeople must know how to prospect.

Prospecting – Reviving A Lost Art

Prospecting has three primary results: an appointment for an immediate sale; referrals to new prospects actively looking to buy, and creating future prospects. Successful prospectors know that while there are many approaches, the best methods are in-person (personal), telephone, and written communication.

Yet today, most salespeople don’t have the first idea about how to prospect successfully.

This is where managers, as the coaches and leaders, come in. The first step is to focus the team on the overall goal – changing the variables they control, beginning with driving traffic – and then to change their mindset.

Develop a game plan and create opportunities for the team to practice, play and win. It’s like Vince Lombardi says, “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect prac tice makes perfect.”

• The importance of team. Think of a professional football team. They practice for hours at least five days a week to play a single, one-hour game. The team who wins is not always the biggest, fastest, or best, but the one who goes in with a well-rehearsed game plan and then executes it. Practice, Play, and Win.

• Change the mindset. Teach the team to pros pect – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and yes even in your sleep. Take them out into the field and train them. Then be sure the team views each individual who enters the business as a customer with the ability and intent to purchase.

• Assign a dollar value to each customer. Every potential customer who comes to the business has the power to increase your paycheck along with the com pany’s gross.

Salespeople cultivate customers through prospecting and referrals; they convert customers into clients by estab lishing and maintaining a relationship that allows them to build a sense of trust. It’s this trust that allows clients to rely on the salesperson for advice, and allows the salesperson to secure more referrals and sales.

The bottom line is, prospect, prospect, prospect – every single day, not just when the business is bad or down. Prospecting needs to become an automatic reflex, like breathing, an act that happens successfully and continu ously.

With a positive mindset, a view toward the future, and the right training, salespeople will understand the need and will continue to prospect for opportunities and loyal clientele, regardless of how business is doing.

Richard F. Libin is the author of the book, Who Stopped the Sale? and president of APB-Automotive Profit Builders, Inc., a firm with more than 43 years expe rience working with both sales and service on customer satisfaction and maximizing gross profits through per sonnel development and technology. He can be reached at rlibin@apb.cc or 508-626-9200 or www.apb.cc. (www. whostoppedthesale.com)

“Salespeople cultivate customers through prospecting and referrals; they convert customers into clients by establishing and maintaining a relationship that allows them to build a sense of trust.”

Blair Newman #1 AGENT of 202o

The Van Leeuwen Team #1 TEAM of 2020

Ying Ying Zhang

The Brummett Group Tony Lopez Mother & Son Real Estate Sonia Arias

The Sisters Neri Group The Right Team Edmead Team Nancy & Feng Huang EB Group

Mark Henderson The Begley Team

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Lisa Papazian Stolt Ravinder Sood

JoAnna Nassar

The Apples Team

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Micaela Solis Nall & Rojo Real Estate The LeGris Team

Jose Rodriguez

Jane Li Frank Zuniga Ada Simpfenderfer

WHATEVER THE PROJECT IS, START TODAY

Knowledge fueled by emotion equals action. Action is the ingredient that ensures results. Only action can cause reaction—and only positive action can cause positive reaction.

All of that said, there are still so many people who are really sold on affirmations. There is a famous saying that “faith without action serves no useful purpose”—and how true that is! Now, there is nothing bad about affirmations when they are used as a tool to create action. Repeated to reinforce a disciplined plan, affirmations can help create won derful results.

But there is also a very thin line between faith and folly. You see, affirmations without action can be the beginnings of self-delusion. And for your well-being, there is little worse than self-delusion.

The man who dreams of wealth and yet walks daily toward certain financial disaster and the woman who wishes for happiness and yet thinks thoughts and commits acts that lead her toward certain despair are both victims of the false hope—which affirmations without action can manufacture. Why? Because words soothe and, like a narcotic, they lull us into a state of complacency. Remember this: To make progress, you must actually get started!

The key is to take a step today. Whatever the project is, start today. Start clearing out a drawer of your desk… today. Start setting your first goal… today. Start listening to something motivational… today. Start putting money in your new “investment for fortune” account…today. Write a long-overdue letter… today. Anyone can! Even an uninspired person can start reading inspiring books.

Get some momentum going on your new commit ment for the good life. See how many activities you can pile on your new commitment to the better life. Go all out! Break away from the downward pull of gravity. Start your thrusters going. Prove to yourself that the waiting is over and the hoping is past—that faith and action have now taken charge.

It’s a new day, a new beginning for your new life. With discipline you will be amazed at how much progress you’ll be able to make. What have you got to lose except the guilt and fear of the past?

Now, I offer you this challenge: See how many things you can start and continue in this—the first day of your new beginning.

- Jim Rohn

“The greatest source of happiness is the ability to be grateful at all times” — Zig Ziglar

Know of a REALTOR® doing amazing things? NOMINATE them to be our next Executive Agent of the Month

AGENT MAGAZINE EXECUTIVE

RUDY KUSUMA

Written by H. K. Wilson

Rudy Kusuma’s real estate journey is a story of reinvention, from an immigrant of humble means to a real estate mogul known worldwide for his entrepreneurial success. Rudy came to the U.S. from Indonesia in 1997, and he started his career in sales at 21 years of age. “I was struggling,” he says. “My parents never talked about money, and I prayed to God to help me figure it out. I promised that when I did, I would help as many people like me as I could.”

Rudy began selling promotional materials, and one of his clients was a real estate broker. For two years, his client prompted him to get his real estate license. “I finally did it,” Rudy recalls. “I was newly married and looking for a way to make more money to provide for my family. I knew something had to change if I wanted to get different results.”

Today, Rudy is CEO of Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty and number-one best-selling author who has originated more than $1B in real estate transactions. And true to his word, he is helping others fulfill their dreams. His company’s mission is to “help you achieve your heart’s desire,” and he is doing it by making his company the “best place to work, buy and sell real estate!”

For years, Rudy worked alongside his mentor and coach Craig Proctor, whose system has created more millionaire agents than any other coach or trainer. In 2019, Rudy licensed Proctor’s unique selling proposition and launched Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty. “The name itself was a hack for SEO, a way to influence a Google search and be on page one where customers would find us,” he explains.

Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty is among the Inc. 5,000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America for a reason: It is built on a set

of uncompromising core values that support a proven business model. Starting with only 5 agents in Southern California, Rudy began rein venting real estate by putting his tried-and-true tools into agents’ hands. On day one with the company, every team member is presented with a Personal, Professional and Financial Workbook to help them design their life in one-year, three-year, five-year and 10-year increments. “The only thing I ask is that anytime someone hits a milestone, they tell their story,’ Rudy says. “Everyone needs to hear these transformational stories. They are priceless.”

“Helping You Achieve Your Heart’s Desire”

Further, agents are licensed to use the company’s proven systems, which include access to thousands of qualified buyers and sellers. Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty provides daily trainings and one-on-one mentoring to ensure every person’s success and Fortune 500 employee benefits through its partnership with ADP. “A company’s vision has to be big enough so that each individual can grow within it,” Rudy says. “Each real estate agent and member of our staff has their own, different vision, whether it is an extra $10,000 in income or a $10 million legacy. Our purpose is to make sure we have a platform for each individual.”

Rudy says that only the employees can decide if the company is living up to its vision of being the best place to work. Recently, both staff and agents weighed in on the Inc. 5000 survey, voting Your Home Sold Guaranteed Realty one of the best companies to work for.

The company is also fulfilling its mission of being the best place to buy and sell real estate, as evidenced by its thousands of five-star client

reviews. “For sellers, we’re not just passively put ting up a sign and hoping the home sells. We already have a database of over 100,000 buyers looking in the area. We actually do the research and match with the right buyers to generate mul tiple cash offers for your house. It is a no-hassle experience. The people we bring to look at your house are qualified buyers, not random visitors from an open house.”

Rudy continues, “On the buy side, most real estate agents are just door openers. We can show buyers homes that match their search criteria that they will not find online.”

No one could have predicted that just a year after the company opened, a pandemic would sweep the globe. Rudy met the challenge with positivity and purpose, offering agents, buyers and sellers assur ance in troublesome times. “Usually, the consumer is taking a risk when they hire a real estate agent and hope they perform, but we backed it up with a performance guarantee. At a time when consumers were looking for certainty, we were able to provide it. During COVID, we expanded through the state, and now we have over 200 agents.” As the market is shifting once again, Rudy says his company’s ability to reverse risk is creating greater job stability for agents and financial certainty for buyers and sellers.

Has anyone ever taken the time to ask you, “What is your heart’s desire?” Rudy is asking, and

The prestigious gated enclave of Malibu Cove Colony Drive is the perfect setting for this inspired and elegant beachfront architectural residence, which has been featured in Architectural Digest. With wall-towall windows, upper and lower decks, plus 70 feet of beach frontage, enjoy a sweeping panorama of ocean, islands, Queen’s Necklace, and coastline from Point Dume to Palos Verdes, 5 bed | 6 bath. Offered at $14,995,000

A tennis court estate of incomparable proportions. Built by Steve Chase and created by a team of top design professionals. This 8 bedroom, apx. 10,000 sq.ft. home offers an oasis of luxury on 4 lots in the renowned Thunderbird Cove. An entry courtyard of Jerusalem-limestone and 10 foot waterfall creates a gorgeous introduction to the residence. www.12eveningstar.com Offered at $6,595,000

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Mid-Century, Architectural Masterpiece. Imagined by Architect, Harry Gesner. Incredible, unobstructed, 270-degree jetliner views Downtown to Pacific Ocean. Set just above the Sunset Strip, remodeled in 2018, this 3 bed/3.5 bath well-published home has an open floor plan with ultra-high ceilings. Natural light pours into this rare property from the floor-to-ceiling glass doors/windows; allowing indoor-outdoor living. Bedroom suites are separated & private. The oversized, Primary Bedroom takes up the upper level boasting a fireplace, spacious walk-in closet & oversized, sexy bathroom w/2 private balconies. Pool & deck are perfect for entertaining w/incredible, panoramic Los Angeles views as a backdrop. Only a couple of minutes to Sunset Blvd. Quintessential LA Lifestyle.

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THOUGHTS BECOME ACTIONS

The process is that thoughts become actions and actions produce results. So the equation starts with the thoughts. So the key to success is to start with and control the thoughts that we have.

Good thoughts become good actions become good results. If you have read my articles or heard me speak, you know that I always come down to action. We need to act if we are going to be suc cessful! Yet, our success starts long before our actions. In fact, our success begins in our thoughts.

Success Begins in Our Thoughts

The process is that thoughts become actions and actions produce results. So the equation starts with the thoughts. So the key to success is to start with and control the thoughts that we have. Good thoughts become good actions become good results.

But there is this predicament we have as humans. It is this “battle” we have with our thoughts. Thoughts of depression, negative thoughts, thoughts of fear etc constantly creep into our minds and cause us to act in certain ways that are going to produce the antithesis of the kind we want that will produce success.

So what can we do to win the battle with thoughts? Here are a few main points. Apply these immediately and then constantly and you will be on your way to winning the thought battle.

Guard your mind.

Pretend that behind that forehead of yours is a very precious thing – your mind – because it is pre cious. If you had a storehouse of gold in your house, you would hire an armed guard to stand watch and keep all the bad guys out. Yet, many of us let any

old thing come into our minds. We need to keep the bad thoughts, the negative thoughts O-U-T! Now when I say this, I mean both the ones that start in our heads and the ones that come from external sources.

Proactively place good thoughts in your head. Just like a garden, where you weed, or pull the bad stuff out, and plant, put the good stuff in, so we do the same thing with our thoughts. Buy tapes and music that will produce good, happy thoughts in your head! Watch TV programs and videos that put good thoughts in your head!

Avoid the naysayers. They are all around you. You work with them, you live near them – some are even in your family! Whatever you do, do not let them affect you with their negative thoughts. Spend as little time as you can with them (unless it is your spouse or kids –then you need counseling!)

Act on the positive thoughts that you do have. When a positive thought comes into your head, act on it! This will begin to produce a “bridge” between what you think and how you act! This will then make that transition even easier as time goes by! Four key ideas to win the thought battle:

• Guard your mind.

• Proactively place good thoughts in your head.

• Avoid the naysayers.

• Act on the positive thoughts that you do have.

Go forth and Win the Battle!

- by Chris Widener

Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. -John Lennon

Power by Embracing Enthusiasm...

Enthusiasm is rarely a topic that comes to mind when we think of success. And yet, without it life becomes mundane and the spark we wish to ignite in others fizzles away without the desired result.

Embracing enthusiasm is important because it replaces fear and worry. When I was in my early 40s I experience what many call a mid-life crisis. Prior to this dark, short chapter in my lie, I was accustomed to making many and huge decisions. I spiraled downward into a period of depression in which I could not decide on the color of my socks each morning.

The catalyst for my turn-around was the new project I tepidly decided to take on. Early in the process, enthusiasm was a quality I forced on myself. I pretended I had it until it finally showed up. It showed up because (I think), as others became excited about my dream, their excitement spilled over to me and replaced pretending enthu siasm with the real thing.

I grew into a bona fide, honest cheerleader for finding success in very today. That was the end of bad days for me. Now there are good days and, better yet, great days! And an interesting thing happened: my enthusiasm and excitement became contagious. Others reflected my newly refashioned positive mindset. The spark I sought to ignite became a forest fire from which many lives were positively impacted.

Here’s my advice to you if you want to enjoy suc cess and are having a tough time getting excited:

Fake enthusiasm until it becomes real (no, you will not be a phony)

Surround yourself with positive people (don’t listen to negative talk)

Think about how you can help others less for tunate than you (gets the focus off you and on someone else - which is a great thing for your well being)

Learn how to give yourself and some of your money to others (if you refuse to give, then the things you own and the money you possess OWNS you).

Norman Vincent Peale states, “Often enthusiasm is the bridge between poverty and prosperity.” I know, from personal experience, he’s right.

He also wrote: “Enthusiasm releases the drive to carry you over obstacles and adds significance to all you do.”

Now it’s up to you. What will you do with this information? File it away in some dark corner, or get excited about your dreams and go for them? It’s your choice.

Now, go make it an enthusiastically great day

Don Loyd has been involved in real estate in some form for more than 38 years. He has written several books on the subjects of real estate, business, goal setting, and personal development. He writes a weekly column, and has served as a co-host for a financial services radio show. For more information, go to http://www.RealCashFlow.net.

5 Habits That Will Make You a Better Leader

The difference between good leaders and great leaders is the habits they master. Here are some behaviors you can develop to become a better leader:

Habit #1: Manage your time.

The Center for Management and Organization Effectiveness (CMOE) found that leaders spend an average of over five hours a day on email and phone calls alone. Along with daily interruptions, it can be extremely hard to make progress on critical projects. In her book Finding Your Balance, Joan Gurvis recommends that instead of multitasking, you try a technique called “channel changing.” Instead of doing several things at once, give each person or activity your full attention and commit ment; when you have completed that, change to another “channel,” again giving it full attention. Working in focused chunks of time is more effective than allowing today’s to-do list to manage you.

Habit #2: Learn to delegate.

One shortcoming to being a better leader is trying to accomplish everything by yourself. There are plenty of reasons why. Maybe you’re a perfec tionist who feels it’s easier, or maybe you feel your own work is better than that of your employees. A great leader knows that his or her most important task is developing others—teaching people how to think and ask the right questions. It is a skill that is the least developed in most organizations. The bottom line: If leaders don’t delegate, subordinates don’t learn to improve and organizations can’t grow.

Habit #3: Walk around.

Although email and texts are great for communi cating across time and distance, effective leaders realize the value in talking face to face. One of the best ways to find out what’s going on is to set aside time each week to get out of your office and talk to everyone—the receptionist, the supply clerk and team members, not just managers. You will uncover problems and opportunities you may never have learned of otherwise. When you ask people how

they are doing, what’s working well and what could work better, you not only get information but also increase the camaraderie between you and your employees.

Habit #4: Listen deeply.

Richard Branson says leaders should listen more than they talk because that’s how they learn what’s going on. Great leaders learn to listen for context as well as content—what I call deep listening. Deep listening is being fully present in the moment with the person who is speaking, and not trying to judge or control the conversation. We let go of our assump tions to hear not only what is being said, but also the emotions, motives, needs and goals of the person speaking. This kind of listening builds trust and respect, and it encourages the sharing of informa tion you need to make good decisions.

Habit #5: Be open to new ideas.

The most successful organizations are the ones that do things first and do things best. A great leader is always looking for the next big idea—one that improves the efficiency of the current operation or makes a product better. The leader who encour ages new ideas from everyone, who is not afraid to support the team to drive their ideas forward, is the leader whose team members will create noteworthy innovation.

As with everything, some of these habits will be easier to develop than others. The real goal is to improve the way you lead, and with practice and time spent on the right things, you can become the leader you want to be.

It’s

Susan C. Foster is a former executive, 24/7 worka holic who now coaches executives and careerists. She is a Master Coach and writer, and is the author of

Not Rocket Science: Leading, Inspiring, and Motivating Your Team to Be Their Best.

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

WE LIVE TO CURE CANCER.

Science saving lives.

cityofhope.org/bmt