Not many people have been as successful in business and entrepreneurship as Barbara Corcoran. She started her first real estate company at 20 and grew one of the biggest brokerages in New York City (The Corcoran Group) before selling it for a whopping $66 million. Today, Barbara stars on one of television’s hottest shows, ABC’s Shark Tank, where she has invested in more than a dozen business start-ups. She serves as a real estate expert on the Today Show and various other news programs and is also a columnist, book author, wife and mother. The list goes on.
For all these reasons, Barbara was a natural choice to speak at The Key 2013, our annual luxury real estate conference. Barbara spoke on everything from family and love to hiring and firing, and of course, real estate. The personal stories were great. They helped explain why she made certain career decisions. But her words on business and real estate success are what I will take away when planning and working in the year to come.
1. “Perception creates reality. If you want to be successful in real estate you have to look bigger, better, stronger than the competition.” — If you look the best, you probably are the best.
2. “There are two kinds of people: expanders and containers. Expanders are good at recruiting, PR, advertising, having fun. Containers are good at computer systems, hiring people, policies.” — Goal for new hires is to identify these personalities and use them appropriately.
3. “Anything not changing ain’t working. Target things in your business that have not changed in a while. My greatest salespeople wanted to do more and make changes all the time. I was re-inventing the Corcoran Group all the time and doing things like video tours back in the 80s.” — We have recently unveiled new strategies with our videography — telling the stories of our properties and our company. Our videos are high-definition for online consumption…not the VHS that Barbara was forced to work with in the 80s.
4. “Fun is good business.” — The Key 2013 was fun for both the attendees and our staff. As a company, we are never afraid to have a good time. Our clients and coworkers would attest, we work (very) hard, but always make time for play.
5. “There is no such thing as balance. Put a line between home and work. When I am at home, I am 100% at home.” — This is a personal decision. I know that people are more productive at work when they have time to focus on their personal life. However you choose to balance home and work, make a point to have time for both.
6. “I am a great failure. All of my successes come on the heels of failure. Great salespeople are great at empathy and great at failure.” — Note to self…hire salespeople who are great at failure.
7. “Push people to be more confident at thinking on their feet.” — This is perhaps the advice I will take most to heart. As a company, we are growing quickly, and we expect our staff to take ownership of their roles. So, I will be pushing people be proactive, independent, and efficient in their tasks for the coming year.
Photo Credit: Amylynn Hollingsworth on Instagram
See the full video and slides of Barbara Corcoran from the event on our YouTube or Slideshare pages. For more on the auction process click below for 7 Steps in the Real Estate Auction Process.