In the Zone | V III i 6 | Discover His Thumbscrew
In the Zone | Focusing on the 4 Profit Pillars of Real Estate
Volume III Issue 6
1. What Successful REALTORS(R) Are Saying
2. Motivational Quote of the Month
3. Prospecting: Four Questions to Rapidly Qualify Hot Sellers
Willing to List Now (a highly coveted technique that will have
astronomical effects on your listing inventory)
4. Negotiating: Discover His Thumbscrew
5. Listing: How Two, Easy-to-Remember Scripts Can Ensure That a
Near-Expired, Deadbeat Home Sells Successfully
6. Selling: How to Jet-Propel Your Referrals and Spread Your
Name Through Your Market at a Geometric Rate
Hey,
Peter is pelted by calls from creditors. Paul slaves to close 7
for the year, and keep $19,000. Mary smashes the phone against the
wall after she learns she lost one more listing.
Nine, eleven, thirteen months into the business, they all throw
in the towel...for good.
If real estate is "the only limit to your success is the depth
of your desire" as some practioners say...
Why do some REALTORS(R) keep blowing it?
I'm about to tell you the answer.
After an early spring spent on the phones selling and consulting
with prospects and clients (and even some former clients), I
discovered something I knew to be true--but never experienced in
such a tangible way.
More agents spend more time on the non-essential, profit-wasting
activities than I had previously thought. For example...
One client spent his days talking his way out of having to pay
bills--and protecting his name.
Another client squandered his days with near-expired homes.
And a third wasted precious family time with deadbeat buyers.
It was painful to watch. I offer a solution in this month's In
the Zone...
Return to a profit-making mission and focus exclusively on the four
pillars.
When prospecting, sift and sort rapidly to uncover the hottest
listing leads with four questions.
When negotiating, pander to the other party's sweet tooth and you
are sure to arrive at a more-than-satisfying place.
When listing, don't be afraid to ask for the price reduction if
the home is threatening to expire--two scripts make it simple and
painless.
When selling, never neglect referrals--treat them right and they
will multiply morning, noon and night. (The secret is in a virtue
often lost in the business world.)
The Four Pillars are the activities that will keep you out of the
poor house. No magic bullet. No might on your part. Just sheer
determination to do the right thing--all the time.
Enjoy and here's to your success,
Gary Elwood
Proquest Technologies
1-800-959-3959
Send prospecting, negotiating, listing or selling ideas,
strategies and tips to inthezone@proquest-tech.com.
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1. What Successful REALTORS(r) Are Saying
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"I have used Proquest now for over two years. The leads pour
in. The hardest part is getting agents to follow up. With the
new, easy to use website, I informed agents if they do not
follow up on calls, their extension will simply be assigned
to another agent! How to keep agents motivated solved! This
system actually allows me to have agents in various parts of
the state and assign listing leads accordingly.
Keep up the great work.
Jeff Kermath
Michigan
If you want to learn more about how Jeff Kermath took the leap
to the next level in his career, then read our 21-page online
report "How to Close More Transactions in a Month Than You
Now Close All Year":
http://www.realestategrowth.com/how_to_grow.asp
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2. Motivational Quote of the Month
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"You'll have time to rest when you're dead."
Robert De Niro
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3. PROSPECTING: Four Questions to Rapidly Qualify Hot Sellers
Willing to List Now (a highly coveted technique that will have
astronomical effects on your listing inventory)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unmotivated sellers can be risky business.
You can work ten, twelve, fifteen hours, and not get paid until
3, 6 or 9 months later--if the house sells at all.
When your own mortgage is due at the end of the month, can
you afford to wait that long?
I didn't think so.
See, sometimes we get so desparate (like when the mortgage
payment is due) that when we have a lead we neglect to qualify it.
The key component to profitably working with sellers is to
qualify rigourously. Remember, we're looking for those who have a
time-frame of at least 60 days or less.
Use these four questions and you can rapidly single out the hottest
sellers willing to list now and go from lightweight real estate
lister to heavyweight champ.
1. How long have you been looking for a home?
2. Do you need to sell your current home before you can buy? As
we all know, most sellers truly can’t buy anything without
selling their current home first.
3. Are you working with another agent? The last thing you need
to do is waste your time on someone else's client.
4. Have you met with a lender yet? This question will start the
process of determining their ability to purchase.
Next Month: Leaving Voicemails: Four Deadly Mistakes That Kill
Appointments...and Why So Many Agents Are Guilty of Commiting
Them
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4. NEGOTIATING: Discover His Thumbscrew
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Whether it's a lending partner, your listing coordinator, a
competing agent or a prospect across the couch from you, people
will occassionally resist you. Constantly butting up against
these people will cost you a lot of energy.
One important thing to realize though is, everyone has a weakness, a
gap in the armor, a soft spot. Usually it's an insecurity, an
uncontrollable need or a closet passion. Once found, however, it
is a thumbscrew you can turn to guide them down the right path.
Here's what to look for:
1. Pay Attention to Gestures and Unconcious Signals.
Everyday conversation supplies the richest mine of weakness, so
train yourself to listen. Start by being interested.
Also, open up to the other person. Share a secret that won't
damage you if you share it.
Finally, train your eye for details--how someone repsonds to their
spouse, what delights a person, the hidden messages in clothes.
Once you find this soft spot, push on it.
2. Look for Contrasts.
An overt trait often conceals its opposite. People who thump their
chests, cowards; prudent minds, lavish souls; the uptight,
screaming for adventure; the shy, dying for attention.
Probe beyond appearances and you will find a person's soft spots.
3. Fill the Void.
Insecurity and unhappiness are the two main emotional voids.
Validate the socially insecure: "This neighborhood may seem out of
your league, but you belong here."
Look for the roots of the unhappy: "Tell me if I'm wrong, but you
don't look like you are enjoying the home-selling process. If this
is true, can you tell me what's bothering you?"
The moral?
You can win against just about anybody--no matter their power,
fame or money. Just find their soft spot.
Next Month: How to Slam Shut a Deal When the Ego of the Other
Party Stands in the Way
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5. LISTING: How Two, Easy-to-Remember Scripts Can Ensure That a
Near-Expired, Deadbeat Home Sells Successfully
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sometimes, as a listing agent, one of the hardest things to do
is to ask for a price reduction.
But if you don't ask for it, what's your alternative?
It's even more painful: letting the contract on the house expire.
Here are two, easy-to-remember scripts that can help you position
a deadbeat, near-expired house to sell successfully.
"Listen, I want to suggest something that you may find hard to
swallow. But I want you to hear me out before you respond. I was
looking at the cost of keeping your home and if we don't sell
soon, we may be looking at many months of additional
payments, taxes, insurance and upkeep. I believe we can avoid
that if we simply reduce the price of your home. What do you
think?"
"If it were my home, there are a few things I'd do to make it
more appealing to buyers. But instead of making these improvements,
why don't we drop the price to compensate for improvements the
buyers may want to make?"
By framing the discussion in terms of additional benefits a lower
price could bring, you are certain to persuade reasonable people
to do the unthinkable but necessary thing.
Next Month: Why So Many Agents Fall Down Before the God of
Commission Cutting
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6. SELLING: How to Jet-Propel Your Referrals and Spread Your
Name Through Your Market at a Geometric Rate
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Generosity has a certain function in power.
It attracts people, softens them up, makes allies out of them.
But use it strategically.
Best-selling author of "The Millionaire Mindset," Gerry Robert,
once spoke of a Canadian painting contractor who required every
paint crew to find one little thing to fix on every job--for free.
The item is repaired and the customer is informed of the freebie.
The company said its customers routinely told their friends who
told their friends who told their friends. Customers occassionally
said "A friend of a friend said I should call you." Their referral
base replicated itself by this small gesture.
It may be small, but find something you can give to your clients
for free on every transaction (and point it out to them).
Eat the cost for an appraisal, home inspection, MLS listing or
homes magazine ad listing. No matter how small the cost, point it
out to your client that it's free.
If you do this one small thing, your name is likely to spread like a
California brush fire in late September.
Next Month: The Key to Unlocking Any Stalled Talks...and the
Profit Tied-Up in Them
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Proquest Technologies, Inc.
inthezone@proquest-tech.com
1-800-959-3959
In the Zone: Focusing on the 4 Profit Pillars of Real Estate
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"In the Zone" is a Proquest Technologies publication.
(C) Copyright 2005, Proquest Technologies.
