Reddit reviews The Champion Real Estate Agent: Get to the Top of Your Game and Knock Sales Out of the Park

Take your post licensing classes right away. They are going to tell you the stuff you need to know right up front. Don't be that agent who waits until the last weeks, then spends all her breaks screaming into her cell phone because she's trying to juggle clients and at least one escrow headed south (hi!). On the other hand, learn all you can from that crazy lady.

Also take whatever your brokerage offers in the way of success classes right away. Yeah, different set of classes. If you're with Arizona Properties, it's called RE-Start. They will tell you what you need to do to manage your business, get clients, and close transactions.

As for books, I liked Champion Real Estate Agent and 1200 Great Sales Tips.

You must do some sort of lead generation every single day that you work. Doesn't matter if it's making phone calls or knocking doors or shudder putting address labels on a mailer.

Know what's going on in your market. Be able to say things like "Well, Monday we had 4580 available properties, 9330 under contract, and 4320 sold in the last 30 days. Median price on SFR was $143k and median time on market was 32 days."

If you think you might have any interest in new homes, tour all those properties. Put the brochures in a folder in your desk so you can talk about them with clients before you get in the car.

There will be many vendors who want to take your money. Don't give anybody a dime unless they can put in writing what you get before you pay them. They are counting on the fact that most Realtors are idiots.

Make sure you know where your clients come from. If you didn't call them first or they didn't come in on floor time, ask them "So, may I ask how you found me?" This will let you figure out what you are doing right and do more of it. It will also give you an excuse to stop doing (and stop spending money on) things that don't work. It will also give you a chance to thank people for referrals. If Bob sent in Mary, give Bob a call to say thanks or send him a Starbucks gift card. The advantage of calling -- other than being cheap -- is that he might tell you things that will help you and your business relationship with Mary.

Call every person in your circle of influence once a quarter. Your broker or sales coach will have a script. Ask if they need anything from you and ask if they know somebody who needs a Realtor.

Attend office meetings. You'll learn something.

Be prepared for the fact that something will go wrong in the last week of most transactions. Most of the time, it will have something to do with the mortgage. The deal isn't closed until it's recorded and the buyer has the keys in his hand. Don't spend your commission check until you have it.

Good luck!