Even top performers go through slumps

If you’re someone who is used to success, a period of sustained losses or sub-par performance can be really difficult to handle.

The truth, however, is that it is bound to happen to everyone sooner or later…even top producers in commercial real estate.  

Whether the issue is prospects not progressing, your win rate declining, or deals just falling apart, it’s important to not panic.

An analysis of your own performance, and the external market, can help you respond appropriately, and get your results back on track sooner.

For some strategies on getting through a rough patch and up-leveling your performance faster, take a listen to episode 84 of CRE Success: The Podcast.

Episode transcript:

If you're going through a dry spell right now, or a rough patch, or you're just feeling like things aren't quite going your way, today's episode of the show is just for you.

Hello, and welcome to episode 84 of CRE Success: The Podcast. My name is Darren Krakowiak. And I work with commercial real estate leaders, so they can develop their people and grow their business.

I do appreciate you joining us and I hope you are subscribed to CRE Success: The Podcast.

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Today I'm talking about how to deal with a dry spell or a rough patch or whatever you decide to call it when things aren't going as well as they have previously been.

And this is, I think something that all of us will deal with at certain points throughout our career.

Some of us more often than others, because some of us are blessed to have more consistent performance.

But even the most consistent performers will go through times when it just feels like things aren't quite falling into place. And momentum is a really important thing in what we do.

And if you allow yourself to be knocked off your trajectory, when things don't always go your way, then that can have an impact on your long-term performance.

So I want to talk to you today about a few things that you can do from a leadership perspective, but also from an individual perspective to deal with a rough patch.

So, if you are a leader, some things that you can do to make sure that you're being the best leader that you can be, but also providing that steady, if you like hand on the tiller that people will need in rough times is first of all, to stay positive.

Because if you seem worried, then the people around you will seem worried.

If you are a leader, you probably have some experience and you know that it is natural and normal for there to be some periods of time when just luck isn't on your side.

And perhaps you're not winning as many as you would expect. That happens from time to time.

And it's important that as a leader, you continue to have positivity, and that you can see the big picture.

And as a leader, I think the second thing that you need to do is remind people about that.

Specifically, share your experience, share your knowledge, let people know that this business is full of ups and downs, and that we're going to go through periods of time when we're not winning as many jobs as we would hope.

With that being said, I would suggest that you also diagnose the situation.

So, this is not about panicking or overreacting. But it's just about having a look at what's going on.

And considering if there is something that you can do to adjust the plan or maybe change course, just a little.

It could be that maybe the market is changing, but we're not changing quickly enough.

It could be that the competitive environment has changed and we're facing some disruption in the market.

And that we can reasonably expect that there is going to be some impact.

But perhaps we hadn't really factored in how much disruption was going on or how disruptive some of our competitors or some of the external factors in the market were.

What's important to understand here is where is this issue occurring? And what is it that we can do about it?

And I think that if we identify that we've still got the same number of leads coming in, then it's not a lead generation issue or a prospecting issue.

Are we still winning a similar number of mandates based on the number of opportunities that we're pitching for? Well, then it's not a conversion issue.

Maybe the issue is in relation to the market and maybe the market softening. And we're just not able to get the deals that we're working on over the line that is we've got the authority but we don't actually get the deals close.

So where is it that there is a little bit of disconnection in the chain that is having an impact on our results?

And then looking at those metrics that matter, as I mentioned on episode 81 of the show, and finding out what's going on and where it is that we should take any remedial action that will allow you to focus your energies on what's matters and what's important and not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

And, you know, replace the tape and go crazy and do all those things and panic, when there isn't really any need to when there's just something specific that's going on that with a little bit of attention and focus can be improved.

So, I guess, if you are a leader, the thing that you need to think about is, well, what is your role to play in terms of making that improvement come about?

So what does the team need from you? What help can you provide? Do they need your guidance? Do they just need you to stay positive? Do they need you to share your diagnosis? Is it something that they can't see on their own?

Maybe it's just some reassurance that you still have their back when things aren't going well. Some people can lose their confidence, and they can become paranoid.

And we want to make sure that people understand that we still are supportive of them, and that we still believe in their capability, even though there has been some negative impact on their short term results.

So, there's some things that you can do as a leader, when you're leading a team that's having a dry spell, or going through a rough patch.

Now, as an individual, I think some of the things that you can do actually similar, but I want to be a little bit more specific from an individual's perspective.

First of all, I want you to review your performance and be honest in terms of how you're going.

Have you taken your foot off the accelerator? Have you been putting as much effort into all parts of the process as you were before? Do you think all the fundamentals are being done to the best of your ability?

Now, if they are, then you should have the confidence to stay the course because you're still on the right track.

But I think it's important just to check and make sure that it's not you, it's something else, because if it is you will, then that's things that you can obviously make improvements to.

But if it's not you, then you don't want to try and fix problems that don't exist.

The second thing I think to remember is, and I've mentioned this a couple of times already is just to remember that this game is not easy.

And sometimes when things are going well, that is the anomaly.

And I was speaking to a client about this recently. And I just said, maybe all of those wins that you've had for such a long period of time is unusual.

And perhaps we should be expecting things to be a little bit harder.

And in fact, that brings me to the next point I want you to consider, which is as you start to grow, and as you start to, if you like look for bigger fish to fry, well, those fish take longer to cook because they're bigger, right?

So, there's an adjustment phase. And as you go through this period of chasing bigger deals, you need to sort of push through this period of adjustment.

And if you don't push through, you'll get pushed around. So, understand that it's going to get more difficult as you take on bigger challenges.

And if it all comes too easy, then perhaps you're not challenging yourself enough.

Because I think when we do face challenges, that shows us that we're playing a bigger game, and that we are actually ultimately improving.

Now, there are some specific things that you can do when you don't win work in commercial real estate.

And I invite you to go back and listen to episode 64 of the show, which was called 'How to respond when you don't win a pitch in commercial real estate'.

Because if you do the analysis and the metrics show that where the weak link in the chain is our win rate is down, then there are some things that you can do to analyze the problems and talk to some of the prospective clients who didn't appoint you.

So go back and listen to episode 64 if that's where you see the problem exists.

But overall, I would say, don't panic. Panic can impact your confidence. And then if your confidence is impacted, you have an even bigger issue, not just the initial problem or situation that you're dealing with.

Also take a step back and just look at things over a longer timeframe.

If you've noticed something that's going on over the last, say, one or two months, well, if you look at things from the last 12 months, you're probably still seeing some pretty good performance.

If we focus on a small enough period of time, then we're going to be looking at a period of time, which isn't perhaps reflective of our overall performance.

Yes, your win rate might be down over a short period of time. But if we look at a longer period of time, hey, you might be doing all right.

So be willing to look at the bigger picture. Don't become too frustrated or self-critical.

Yes, taking responsibility, looking to see if we played a role in what is going on is important, but also remember external factors can play a part.

And we don't want to be blaming ourselves for things that ultimately, while we are responsible that we haven't played a part in, but also recognize that growth pains are a thing.

And you know, some struggle is a sign that you're playing a bigger game.

Now part of this is really around mindset and just keeping your head in the game.

And I did prepare a list of six books for your success, which you can take a look at cresuccess.co/books

If you go to that website page, you'll also see a button to download the free book from CRE Success which is called 'The 5 Ps of Commercial Real Estate Success'.

So, encourage you to go and take a look at those six books by other authors but also one that we've put out there a couple of years ago specifically for people in commercial real estate.

That's our episode for today. Thank you so much for listening and I will speak to you soon.