today, it's learn to market and make your phone ring.... 

decades ago, it was take uptime and answer the phone...show the property and sell it.... we all represented the seller at that time.....

times have changed and basics have changed....

You could complete a survey of all the students asking questions here and say "Do not do THIS ".

If they are newbies they won't have any clue about "basics". 

Discipline, I do not believe can be taught. Any small business owner needs enormous discipline to be successful. 

I wish you and the new agents all the best!!!!

      Learn how to sell.  Take classes or read books on "the art of selling".  Don't kid yourself that you are an adviser, consultant, or hand-holder.  You are a salesperson.

• Business plan. What do you need to do to succeed? When?
• CRM. Who are you going to contact to sell for/to to give life to your plan? When?
• Knowledge of your product:
• Market familiarity. Where?
• Listing file contents
• Deal file contents.
• Knowledge of same, and enough comprehension to be able to explain to someone who doesn't know (or someone who does, and sound smart!)
• Support staff/team members. Who? Where? When? For what?
• Who rocks the world and you need to watch/know.

There are a lot of basics.

It means having the ability to lose money at the beginning and still pay your bills.

Preview as many houses as possible.  Get a current feel for today's market.  Check out interest rates and Check out vitals of their market (DOM, Actives and Pendings, etc.)

mail outs, working your spere and open houses are the basics a newbie needs to learn

How to write a winning contract is a good start.

Business plan, marketing plan, strategy, knowing forms, scripts, conversion techniques.

Learn how to open a lock box, follow GPS directions, actually read the MLS BEFORE YOU GO TO THE PROPERTY (well, the buyer wants 4 bedrooms and this house only had 3), have a pre-approved buyer and know something about your market.  I could go on, but you get it. 

Starting over with what works....square one in the every day parlance

Getting rid of the frills and just be straight forward.

How to fill out a purchase agreement and how to be the "expert" with this.

Prospecting for new business

Hopefully they will be very successful, thanks for coaching them.

Build a solid foundation before contnuing to add additions. Market yourself and your business to generate appoinments. ( practice listing appointment/presentation first). Don't chase ever bit of new technology that people try to sell. One day it's QR codes, then poof, they're gone. Take your time choosing a domain name and website builder. Avoid too much debt in the beginning. Learn forms and contracts. Just to name a few.

Ginger,

I second Michael Jacobs answer.  A

direct mail

Know the inventory is one basic. Listen to your customers. Be "real", i.e. don't use inane scripts and so on.

This business - any business - is all about leads and lead generation. A business must have customers! Learn to generate leads in whatever way suits you.

Next...turn the leads into clients and learn how to service them properly and professionally.

Getting rid of the bad habits and doing it the way it is supposed to be done as long as it does not require New Math.

I'd just have them shadow me while I work. 

Look professional, ask questions and have lots of mentors, not just one. Watch your spending, eat right, exercise, get your sleep and plan that commission sales mean periods of financial droughts. The best time to get into real estate is when the market is tough. You never ever forget the lessons learned. Have witnessed newbies getting in on the top of the wave and sucked into the undertow because they spend spend spend and believe it will stay the same or only get more lucrative. 

To old days strategies, so called ''before social medias''. 

Basics would begin by creating a 150-person database and begin reaching out the each and every one of them. Keeping in contact (and regularly) by phone, in person and with mailings. Farming large communities, volunteering, networking and doing open houses.

This, of course, to be done in NO FEWER than 40 hours per week. 

Things have changed over the years

Learning how to ask sequential questions to get to the heart of the matter. Practice until you can't get it wrong! Learn the market inventory.

Back to basics to me means getting in front of buyers and sellers, that means do things that get you face to face.

It all starts with communication one on one with clients not always texting people.

How to STAY in the business, and keep the pipeline full.  How to market yourself.

Hard work.

Ginger, so many good and right answers. 

I'd add only to be lucky. Get that buyer or seller and get the deal. 

Market knowledge
Work your sphere
Consistency with marketing

Remember the Basics are not the same as the Foundations of your career !!!

Answering the phone when it rings. 

no shiny objects, just consistent database:

calls

video messages: text/email

notes

pop-bys

client meals

client parties

Doesn't mean much to me... it's been 25 years since I was a new agent and really don't think back to those times at all. I'm sure it's different for new agents today to get started than when I did.

Back to the basics.... in real estate.... let me see.... get off the friggin' computer and go press some flesh and introduce yourself in person?

Getting rid of distractions in my mind. The basic is service. To provide service you send your time attracting new cleints and servicing current ones

Planting then eating turnips.

Get your fingers in the dirt and you will not fall prey to the delusions being sold to agents everyday.

Getting back to basics mean while your fingers are in the dirt, answer the question, "What of value do you bring to a transaction that is worth the excessive compensation received?."  Know your value and you are at the basics.

Next, while fingers are still in the dirt, comes "What are you willing to do?"

From the resulting awareness it becomes worthwhile to construct a transformational business. 

Unfortunately, the industry is focused on separating this newbie for $12,000 of their hard earned dollars. So the 'jump in' and learn to swim is the most offered advise to learning the basics.

 newbies want you do 100% searching. Some after you indentify the property will go with another agent.