In the Zone | vIV i3 | Focusing on the 4 Profit Pillars of Real Estate

In the Zone

Volume IV Issue 3

  1. What Successful REALTORS(R) Are Saying
  2. Motivational Quote of the Month
  3. Prospecting: Make Hay While the Sun Shines: And Other Cheap Little Tricks That Will Ensure Prospects Are in the Optimum Mood to Talk!
  4. Negotiating: The Best Defense Against the "False Alarm" Gambit
    (Yielding to this gambit just once could punish you forever.)
  5. Listing: This One Condition Can Cripple Any Home You Have For Sale (Your best bet: never even list a home with this condition.)
  6. Selling: Word Scare -- Five Words That Will Injure Any Sales Call

Hey,

If you're like most real estate agents, you're looking for an edge. The
BIG idea that will impress those you work for...send your career
skyrocketing...and accelerate your cash flow.

In the 28th Issue of In The Zone, as always, you'll discover four
strategic ideas that will give you that edge.

Our Prospecting article contains 5 painless little tricks that you can
use to ensure prospects enjoy talking to you.

Four counters to use on one of the most over-used, but effective,
negotiating gambits can be found in the Negotiating article.

Our Listing article is anchored by ten tips you can use to sell a home
that is burdened by one of the most crippling conditions out there.

And five words that you MUST avoid under any selling circumstance...
otherwise your chances of succeeding plummet like a 30,000 foot freefall.

Remember, ideas are your most potent competitive weapon. So plug into
the thinking that bridges the gap between theory and practice...

Relevant information that's immediately actionable. Content that delivers
solutions. And nuggets that inspire the BIG ideas that boost your career.

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.

Find past issues of ITZ here.

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1. What Successful REALTORS(r) Are Saying

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"For me [the strongest feature of Provantage 800 Call Capture Hotline] ensures that I get the listing. All I have to do is have them dial my 800 number and when I show them their name, phone number etc. on my phone, I almost always get the listing."

Anita Matys


If you haven't already, learn the secret to closing more listing
presentations by reading our online article, The Ultimate Listing
Presentation:


http://www.realestategrowth.com/listing_pres.asp

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2. Motivational Quote of the Month

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"Always fall towards the summit. It's not if you fall on a difficult
climb that's important, but the knowledge you acquire from the fall
and the way you apply it."

Todd Skinner
World Class Rock Climber

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3. PROSPECTING: Make Hay While the Sun Shines: And Other Cheap Little
Tricks That Will Ensure Prospects Are in the Optimum Mood to Talk!

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  1. Know the property. When a prospect calls on a particular property know every detail. Also, recall comparable properties. (Danielle Kennedy has a good tip for doing this in her book, How to List and Sell Real Estate.) And take notes during the call.
  2. Use a script. Don't shoot from the hip. Aimless dialog will annoy your prospects. Get to the point. And stay there.
  3. Make hay while the sun shines. This means two things. First, make contact with leads quickly. No later than 30 minutes after they called your hotline. Second, when you are in the prospecting groove, stay there as long as you can. Don't let anything interrupt you. You are ten times more productive when you are in the zone.
  4. Avoid trash talking. You can easily turn off prospects when you bad mouth competition. Or anyone else for that matter.
  5. Bow out gracefully. If someone rejects you, don't insult them. Be kind, and move on to your next call. You want to maintain as much positive energy as you can. Allowing rejection and anger to sap your energy will suck cash out of your wallet.

Next Month: Generate Business with Advertising Some Would Call Shocking
and Rather Unethical (And the cool thing: you don’t pay a single cent.)

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4. NEGOTIATING: The Best Defense Against the "False Alarm" Gambit
(Yielding to this gambit just once could punish you forever.)

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Example.

Your client is buying a home. You negotiate with the owner and agree on a price of $490,000. You are convinced you have a deal.

Later that day, the listing agent calls to tell you he has presented
the offer to his client, and his client reminded him that although the
sale price of $490,000 was accurate, he had forgotten that there would be an additional $3,500 in loan charges on the property.

This, my friend, is the "False Alarm" gambit. And if you yield to this
demand without a counter, they'll see what else they can get out of you.

Here are four excellent ways to counter.

  1. Higher Authority: Tell the listing agent that when you shared the price increase with your client, they reminded you that they won't pay higher than $490,000.

  2. These Boots Are Made for Walking: Tell the agent that when you shared the price increase with your clients they pulled the plug on the deal.

  3. Time Limit: Tell the listing agent that the deal you struck with him is only good for 24 hours. Otherwise you have to start negotiations over.

  4. Trade-Off Concession: Tell the listing agent, "Yes, we will pay an additional $3,500 only if you paint and recarpet the home."


Next Month: Mark Twain. Catfish. Body Contortionist. Negotiating Turned
Inside Out. Literally.

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5. LISTING: This One Condition Can Cripple Any Home You Have For Sale
(Your best bet: never even list a home with this condition.)

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Everything eventually sells. Even cramped closet sized condos in big cities. But a place smelling like cigarette smoke? It will take longer. A lot longer.

And some brokers and agents don't recommend their clients buy homes with cigarette smoke. Clean up is to costly. Which means a home could sit forever.

But if you do accept a home of a smoker, here are some tips to mask the smell.

Upon accepting the house... Before a showing... During an inspection... Just so you know: there isn't any requirement in any state that says you have to disclose whether a seller smoked in the house. However, people with sharp noses will ask. And it's best to tell the truth.

Next Month: Common Mindset During Hot Markets That Can Seriously Undermine Your Cash Flow

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6. SELLING: Word Scare--Five Words That Will Injure Any Sales Call

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These are my good friend Tom Hopkin's "Thou shalt not say" words. Words that generate pictures of sleazy car salesmen, images of big city
political hustlers. Words that put prospects on the defensive, out of
the buying mood.

  1. "Cost" or "Price." Picture of money leaving your wallet. Instead, say "total investment," picture of putting your money to work.

  2. "Monthly Payment." Picture of bills. And you already have too many of those. Instead, say "monthly investment." Again, a picture of putting your hard-earned dollars to work.

  3. "Sell" or "Sold." Picture of being pushed or pressured. Instead, say "get involved with" or "helped you acquire." Pictures of participation and benevolence.

  4. "Deal." (Personal pet peeve of Tom's.) Picture of back office, city politics. It's got corruption written all over it. Instead, say "opportunity." Ah. Need I say more?

  5. "Sign." Picture of holding you hostage to an agreement--forever. Instead, say "endorse," "authorize" or "approve the paperwork." Pictures of you in the driver's seat, you with the power.
Remember: a successful sale is made up of dozens--if not hundreds--of smaller parts. The words you use are just some of those parts.

Next Month: Are You Surplus or Scarcity? Make Sure You Know Before Your Next Presentation

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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.