George Philbeck, of Keller Williams Advantage II Realty in Orlando Florida, has been in the business now for just over 4 years. His projections for 2007 put him well over 100 transactions for the year. That is 300% growth over last year in a down market! Specializing in residential, single family real estate, his focus is on his clients and putting their needs first. In this PowerTalk interview, George outlines how he has focused on Expired and Withdrawn listings, and how his “45 Day Guarantee or I Pay Your Mortgage Payments” program works. George’s positive vision, attitude and outlook are contagious, so watch out! (cont..)

More about George:

How many years in the business: I just had my four year anniversary June 1. My first day in real estate was the Monday following Memorial Day 2003. Prior to that, I was in the restaurant business for 25 years.

How you got started the business: After spending 25 years working in the restaurant business, and with a six month old boy at home, I decided it was time to look for a different line of work. I had just bought my first home from someone I was later to find out was the top agent in East Orlando, I had just moved to Orlando were I knew no one, and my business partner who was the chef at the restaurant was actually the cousin of that top agent. We started talking about real estate, helping people, and of course the financial benefits. After much deliberation, and a whole lot of fear, I left the restaurant I was a general manager of and took a job know for its 90% failure rate in the first 18 months.

Some personal background information: I have two boys, three and five years old, have been happily married to my wife Nicole for just over seven years now. My favorite pastimes are entertaining, golf, and of course playing with my boys.

My philosophies on running a business: Contrary to how I started, I absolutely believe if you're in this business to make money, quit. You will not be successful. The truly great people I've seen in this business, seek first to help and support their clients above all else. Their own well-being, and financial well-being is absolutely secondary. My business, and more importantly, my entire team's philosophy is centered around the best interest of our clients. Sometimes that means we actually can't list their homes and sell them, and telling the truth is the only way to serve them properly. Honesty, integrity, communication and the highest possible ethical standards are the foundations of a successful life and business.

Your values, goals and objectives: I wrote down my goals for 2007 in January, and one of those goals was to stop global warming. I'm afraid I may fall a little short on that particular one, and I can guarantee you it will be my goal for next year as well. The business goals are less lofty. I said I want to be the number one agent, or team in central Florida. That is actually part of by five-year plan. Right now, I want to continue growing by business, developing my team and pushing them to be the best they possibly can, first and foremost at helping people. I also set a goal to close 150 sides this year. I'm currently on track to fall short of that by about 50 transactions, and I couldn't be happier. The hundred that I will close is a 300% increase over last year.

Professional and educational background: High school in Deerfield Illinois and college at the University of Colorado, Boulder. As for professional real estate training, I am a student of coaching as well as modeling. I'm 100% sure that not one of my ideas was an original one from me. I learned a long time ago to find who is doing what works well, and do the same thing. As for coaching, nothing has been more powerful or had more impact of my success as coaching. Ironically, the times when I wasn't being coached are the times when my business stagnated, or even worse, went backwards. As driven as I am, and as much as I don't like it sometimes, accountability is absolutely crucial in being successful.

Information of value to other members: My business really took off in January of 2007, however it was the direct result of a whole bunch of work that seemingly produced no results at all in the latter half of 2006. Most people expect results immediately when in reality, it's become very apparent to me that results happen no earlier than 90 days, and usually six months, down the road. Develop a plan, research strategies, don't over-think it, and then stick to it. Have faith in your decision and stick to it!

The parts of the business you enjoy: I enjoy the people part of the business. I love helping and developing staff members and other real estate agents and watching them be successful. I find myself more and more leaning towards the coaching and training part of the business because the rewards for being able to positively impact someone’s life are amazing.

What part of your business do you feel you're a master of: I'm 100% sure that I'm a master of none of my business. I'm proficient with numbers, we have become very proficient with systems, and I have become fairly successful at lead generation. The greatest part of this business for me is that I will never be a master of any part of it. There will always be somebody out there I can learn from. There's always room for growth and improvement.