In the Zone | vIV i4 | Focusing on the 4 Profit Pillars of Real Estate
In the Zone
Volume IV Issue 4
- What Successful REALTORS(R) Are Saying
- Motivational Quote of the Month
- Prospecting: Generate Business with Advertising Some Would Call Shocking (And the cool thing: you don’t pay a single cent.)
- Negotiating: Mark Twain. Catfish. Body Contortionist. Negotiating Turned Inside Out. Literally.
- Listing: Common Mindset During Hot Markets That Can Seriously Undermine Your Cash Flow
- Selling: Are You Surplus or Scarcity? Make Sure You Know Before Your Next Presentation
Hey,
I want to share with you an advertising technique--suspect in the
uninitiated mind--that could generate 10, 15 even 20 responses in a
single day. And it won't cost you a single cent--not one.
In fact...you do this right...and you're destined to become famous in
your market. Possibly the industry.
Now I know that sounds like a big promise, but here’s the thing: it’s not
only true, it’s been proven to work time and again...ever since the
birth of newspapers, magazines and pamphlets.
In just a minute I’ll explain how you can put this technique to work for
you in our Prospecting article...but first let me introduce you to this
month's three other articles...
What do you get when you cross a famous author, a bottom-dwelling fish
and an exhibitionist? Find out in our Negotiating article. (You should at
least be interested to see how we are going to pull it off, don't you
think?)
Relax. For those tame among us, the last two articles are down-to-earth.
In our Listing article, you'll learn why hot markets can make us do the
craziest things. (I'm talking about things that will injure your lead
count and cash flow...insane things even seasoned agents fall into.)
And finally, like I mentioned in the last issue, successful selling is
made up of thousands of tiny parts. This month's Selling article continues
that thread...we'll focus on that region your prospects never see:
your mind.
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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"The information you provide me tells me what is and what isn't working
so I can make informed decisions on what approach to take for next
month's ads. This is absolutely the best tool an agent can have to
provide leads."
Bill Smith
New York, NY
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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"It is estimated that we have somewhere around 50,000 thoughts a day...
of these how many were pointing in the direction of exploration, joy and
wonder?"
Steve Nobel
Author of "Freeing the Spirit"
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3. PROSPECTING: Generate Business with Advertising Some Would Call
Shocking (And the cool thing: you don’t pay a single cent.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To novices in business and journalism, saying that your business can
generate news may sound shocking.
But the media...especially small newspapers, local radio stations
and specialty trade magazines...cannot always find enough information on
their own.
Newsworthy items help them fill their publications and broadcasts...
while providing a form of FREE advertising for you.
"Free" being the key word here.
Let me explain what I'm talking. There are several simple techniques you
can use to get attention in the local newspaper or on radio shows.
The basic technique? The press release. With a well-written press
release you can offer a...
* Free booklet or report
* Special event, gimmick or timely issue
* Telephone hotline
* New product
* New literature
Except for the time investment, your cost for writing and sending
press releases is small to zero. (Most press releases can be sent via
email now, removing postage costs.)
For press release content basics, 10 essential tips and sample press
releases, visit http://www.press-release-writing.com/.
Next Month: Cheater's Reference for Prospecting: 31 Tips to Generating
More Inquiries
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4. NEGOTIATING: Mark Twain. Catfish. Body Contortionist. Negotiating
Turned Inside Out. Literally.
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Mark Twain is thought to be the first author to use the following phrase
in a book.
The way you clean a catfish is thought to be the origin of the
following phrase...
And so is the way a body contortionists twists his legs behind his head
and his arms behind his back.
These are all examples of the phrase "there is more than one way to skin a
cat."
In a negotiation, the person with the greatest number of options usually
gets the best outcome. A good tactic is to walk into a negotiation with
three to five possibilities for accomplishing your goal...for "skinning
the cat."
This tactic empowers you like this: when your counterpart puts up a
roadblock in one direction...you merely present an alternative route.
Here's an example from the real world of selling...
Imagine you want to hire a star salesperson for your company. Your boss
says, "Sure, fine. But do it for less than $70,000."
"Not a problem," you say.
However, during the interview you discover that the salesperson you
want to hire has an annual salary of $75,000 at her current job. And
she'll not leave for less.
You reopen the negotiations with a different proposal.
You offer the salesperson a base salary of $70,000 but promise to give
a $15,000 bonus if she can reach sales of $500,000. This arrangement is
more acceptable to your boss, and the salesperson thinks she will have
no problem selling $500,000 worth of your product.
And every one wins.
Next Month: Stalling, the Second Coming and Concessions: a Hard-Tactic
Even the Easy Going Can Use
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5. LISTING: Common Mindset During Hot Markets That Can Seriously
Undermine Your Cash Flow
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When real estate markets get hot and listings sell in a matter of days
instead of weeks many agents tend to focus entirely on getting their
listings sold...and forget that the listing is also a marketing vehicle.
It is an easy mistake to make when you're receiving multiple offers in
a short period of time...focusing on representing the seller's best
interest. This is when your systems need to protect you from your own
get-the-house-sold-quickly-as-possible instinct.
Even if that marketing generates inquiries after the sale of the house,
those leads can be captured, handed off to your buyer assistants or
redirected to your other listings.
This acquisition of buyer leads needs to be thoroughly systematic and
absolutely consistent in your business. Why? If your marketing machine
ever stops and rests, it loses it's effectiveness and exposes you to
painful market shifts, robbing you of cash flow.
This is just one of the ways that a Provantage Call Capture Hotline
Response system can help you. Click here to read more:
http://www.realestategrowth.com/how_to_grow.asp.
Next Month: The Power of Never Giving Up: The Science of Succeeding Above
and Beyond Your Goals
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6. SELLING: Are You Surplus or Scarcity? Make Sure You Know Before Your Next Presentation
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We have 50,000 thoughts a day. That's about 2 thoughts a second.
Most of them don't matter, though. They're of the "Message light blinking
on phone," "Air conditioner just started" and "Breeze is cool this
morning" breed.
And because of the randomness of some of our thoughts, some of us don't
focus on any of our thoughts. And that's a problem. Because if we ignore
all thoughts, we could missing out on great ideas when we have them. Like
taking that much-needed vacation or placing an ad in that new homes
magazine.
Worse, however, is when many of us do focus on our thoughts, but only on
the negative ones. This can literally cripple us at the negotiating
table.
My question for you, when approaching a selling situation is this: where
are your thoughts pointing?
Are you thinking scarcity, such as...
"I don't deserve this listing when I'm going up against that agent."
"I bombed my last presentation, I'll probably bomb this one."
"If I don't get this seller, I'm sure to foreclose on my own house."
Or are you thinking surplus...
"I deserve this listing."
"I can't wait to deliver a killer presentation!"
"I love real estate and the thousands of opportunities to make
thousands of dollars!"
As a rule, never believe your negative thinking...especially if it
limits what you think is possible.
If you tend to be a scarcity thinker, stop right now and admit that
your habit of thinking needs to be changed.
You'll need to do this because just being aware of limiting beliefs and
thoughts is a major step in the right direction. And awareness alone can
be curative.
Then begin to work on affirmations like the ones above in the surplus
category.
Also simply doing something different that counters limiting thoughts
can work wonders. For instance, if you typically avoid or neglect
selling situations, hunt them down. And throw yourself at them.
You'll be amazed at the level of confidence you gain from simply doing
something you've always dreaded. Even if your initial results are less
than you expected. Practice makes perfect.
Only when we weed the limiting beliefs from our subconciousness is
it possible to plant the seeds of new beliefs.
And new beliefs are the pathway to prosperity. Abundance. Surplus.
To help you on your new journey, we recommend you pick up two classics:"Awaken the Giant Within" by Anthony Robbins and "Think and Grow Rich"
by Napolean Hill.
Both can be read in a weekend. And both will have you climbing the walls,
hungry to make big money.
Next Month: The Art of Persuasion: 14 Essential Tricks Every Agent Should
Know
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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.
