In the Zone | vIV i12 | The 5 W's of Prospecting
In the Zone
Volume IV Issue 12
- What Successful REALTORS(R) Are Saying
- Motivational Quote of the Month
- Prospecting: The 5 W's of Prospecting
- Negotiating: The Oldet Negotiating Trick in the Book
- Listing: The Real Estate Sweet Spot
- Selling: 7 Steps to Tear Down the Wall of Defensiveness by Ari Galper
Hey,
Ever find yourself in a situation where a prospect promises to call you back but doesn't? Don't risk losing this relationship to the old cat and mouse game. In this situation, Ari Galper says to "unlock the sales game" and diffuse the pressure. This allows the relationship to grow naturally, instead of forced. Learn the details to this tip and six more tips to tearing down defensive barriers in this month's Selling article.
This month's Prospecting article shows you how the centuries old job of news reporting can help you make the most out of your prospecting efforts. There's nothing worse than a half-baked lead. Learn how to avoid these and work only with the best.
Another timeless classic is this month's Negotiating tip. It's something Aristotle taught Greek lawyers in 300 BC. And it's something lawyers are still learning today.
And finally, sink your teeth into one of the most lucrative markets to emerge in the last few years. And the beauty: it's predicted to continue to grow in the next ten years or so. Be one of the first to find out about this hidden treasure in this month's Listing tip.
Enjoy!
And here's to your success,
Gary Elwood
Proquest Technologies
1-800-959-3959
Any questions about anything you've read about in this newsletter?
Just call 1-800-959-3959 and ask to speak to Brad or Ann.
Find past issues of ITZ here.
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1. What Successful REALTORS(r) Are Saying
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"I have been using the Provantage System for over a year. I tripled my income, sold my 60's Rancher and bought a brand new town home in the last 60 days. Yes, Provantage works."
Julie Cooke
Coldwell Banker 1st Chattanooga Realty
If you don't already know, see how Provantage can become a key, indispensable ingredient to your success--like it is for Julie Cooke. Click the link below for more information:
http://www.realestategrowth.com/how_to_grow.asp
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2. Motivational Quote of the Month
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"Success doesn't happen. It is organized, preempted, captured, by consecrated common sense."
F. E. Willard, Author
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3. PROSPECTING: The 5 W's of Prospecting
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Prospecting has a lot in common with journalism, better known as news reporting. For instance, journalists are always approaching strangers. They're always asking a lot of questions. And they're interested in learning the truth. And, just like in journalism, a good prospector has to understand the 5W's: Who/What/When/Where/Why (with a little How thrown in there).
Who are your prospects? Your prospects are people from all walks of life. They can be the warm market, or your circle of influence, meaning your friends, family, relatives, co-workers, and everyone you know that you already have a relationship with. Prospects can also be referrals, or personal recommendations from someone else.
What do you want to do with your prospects? Here is where setting clearly defined goals is very helpful. Know what you want out of your prospecting efforts: How many appointments? How many listings? How many referrals?
When is the right time to gather prospects? Anytime! (Okay, maybe 3 a. m. is bad.)
Where do you find prospects? As mentioned above, prospects can be found right in front of you within your circle of influence – the people you already know. You can ask for prospects from both the people you already know, and also from the prospects who end up declining your offer. The people who turn down your business can be a good source of referrals. If they say, “No”, then you simply say something like, “Thank you for your time. Do you know of anyone else who might be interested in buying or selling a home?”
Why are you prospecting? Are you just doing it because your broker told you too? Or are you doing it because your leads have dried up? Ask the opposite to dig deeper: Why aren't I prospecting? Do I have a solid business? Do I not want more?
How do you get prospects? This is probably the most important question of them all. As I said, prospecting is an art that takes practice, so it helps to start by setting goals that are measurable, realistic, and achievable. Know what you want and when you want it and do something every day to work towards getting it. Practicing means knowing what you are going to say to your prospects before it happens by using a script, and then eventually becoming comfortable and confident enough that you don’t need the script anymore.
And it is up to you to walk away from prospects who aren’t ready. We don’t want to beg or plead them to join with us – we want to grab those who are enthusiastic, ready, and willing to be on a winning team.
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4. NEGOTIATING: The Oldest Negotiating Trick in the Book
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This is the oldest one in the book: asking questions to reveal any hidden motives behind a counterpart's rejection of a deal point. That means, to be an effective negotiator, you have to learn to uncover the real reason behind a counterpart’s resistance.
Here's an example:
Jack is refinancing a home. His mortgage broker itemizes all the charges associated with securing a loan. Jack asks if the fee for the appraisal for the house can be waived since he had an appraisal done six months earlier and would like to use that appraisal.
The mortgage broker says that getting an appraisal is standard company policy and her boss would never approve of waiving the appraisal or the fee. To find out if there is another reason the broker does not want to waive the fee, Jack could ask to speak directly to the broker’s boss.
If the explanation the broker has given is not exactly accurate, the broker will probably make a concession. Better yet, if she does let Jack talk to her boss, he may succeed in gaining something he would not have gained if he had not used this tactic.
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5. LISTING: The Real Estate Sweet Spot
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Yes indeed, there is a juicy sweet spot in the real estate market today: the second-home market. Fact is, nearly 40 percent of total home sales last year came from Americans buying second homes. That's a record.
So who are the buyers? The buyers are baby boomers (those between the ages of 42 to 60) who are at the peak of their earning potential. And who can blame these boomers? They've learned that their first home - and all its equity - yielded some serious wealth. So they figure, why not go back to the well?
The obvious question is - How can you claim a piece of that pie? Here are four tips to help you:
1. Know the buyer. Boomers are buying two kinds of properties: vacation homes and investment real estate. NAR reports that vacation-home buyers are 59-years-old, make $120,600 and live a median distance of 220 miles from their vacation homes. Investors are 55, earn nearly $98,600 and live only a median distance of 10 miles from their purchases.
2. Reach the buyer. The Internet is proving effective in reaching boomers. NAR reports that 74 percent of buyers use it as an information source. So make sure your web site speaks directly to these folks and that you are able to respond within 15 minutes to any inquiries.
3. Be first in your class. The second homes market is a highly specialized segment of real estate and it pays to know your stuff, so take advantage of every educational opportunity you can find. Checkout NAR's new Resort & Second-Home Property Specialist (RSPS) certification. Call (312) 329-8393 or visit www.realtor.org/resort. And brush up on 1031 exchanges, they're a huge part of the market.
4. Prefer to refer. Even if you don't live or work in a hot second homes market, you can still load your plate by referring clients to those agents who specialize in second homes. Begin developing a network of agents in the market.
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6. SELLING: 7 Steps to Tear Down the Wall of Defensiveness by Ari Galper
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Have you ever gotten frustrated when you realize that your prospects keep stereotyping you as a "salesperson"? If so, here are 7 key strategies that can help break down that wall.
1. Curb your enthusiasm. This idea always comes as a shock to anyone who's been exposed to the old "sales gurus." Old school sales gurus insist that when you come across as overly enthusiastic, especially when you're on a first call to a new prospect, you immediately trigger sales pressure that tells your prospect, "I'm excited because I just know that you need what I have to offer!"
2. Avoid assuming that you and your prospect are a fit. You may have the "perfect prospect": someone with the exact criteria and profile of your ideal customer. However, if your words or tone of voice say, "I know you'll benefit from our service because you fit the exact profile of our customer base," you'll inadvertently set off alarms that will cause your prospect to associate you with the negative "salesperson" stereotype. Instead, learn to be humble, and avoid making assumptions. Then the two of you can decide, in a natural evolutionary way, whether you're a match or not.
3. Don't think that you have to have all the answers or you'll "lose" the sale. It's okay not to have all the answers. Needing to have all the answers is a control trip, and when you're with a prospect, you're not in control: the two of you are in a relationship. The more you internalize that realization, the more comfortable and less frenzied you'll feel.
4. Don't try to overcome objections. Overcoming objections doesn't build trust. Instead, it only associates you with the negative stereotype of a salesperson who has been trained to move the sales process forward at the prospect's expense. Instead, diffuse it and re-engage the conversation on your prospect's terms.
5. Learn to diffuse sales pressure. Hidden sales pressure is the root of all sales woes. Diffuse it at the beginning of the relationship, and you'll never have to deal with it again.
6. View prospects as potential friends, not as sources of commissions. If you see dollar signs instead of human beings when you're with prospects, they'll sense your attitude and see those dollar signs in your eyes.
7. Acknowledging the sales game diffuses the pressure. If you find yourself in a sales situation that puts your relationship with your prospect at risk—for example, a prospect promises to call you back but doesn't—call your prospect and say simply and gently that you really don't want the relationship to degenerate into the stereotypical cat-and-mouse sales game. Your message should always be, "Our relationship, not my commission, is my priority."
The bottom line of all this is: You can no longer rely on what you are selling to distinguish yourself, because there's just too much competition out there. Instead, you must focus on how you're selling. That's the only thing that will make you different from everyone else.
Want to learn more? Get FREE Access to 10 Audio Mini-Lessons (sent via e-mail) from the Teleseminar that put the old 'sales gurus' back into sales pre-school.
Just visit http://www.UnlockTheGame.com.
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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
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"In the Zone" is a Proquest Technologies publication.
(C) Copyright 2005, Proquest Technologies.
