In the Zone | vIV i8 | The Only Time That Being Narrow-Minded Works
In the Zone
Volume IV Issue 8
- What Successful REALTORS(R) Are Saying
- Motivational Quote of the Month
- Prospecting: How Could a Sour-Looking, 127 Year Old Man Help You Turn More Prospects into Clients?
- Negotiating: Harness Your Counterpart's Desire to Negotiate
- Listing: The Only Time That Being Narrow-Minded Works
- Selling: 9 Sales Tips Jay Leno Uses to Generate Billions
Hey,
Want to learn what a 127-year old man has to say about hauling in
prospects by the truckload? All it takes is three steps. Read this
month's Prospecting article.
Want to discover a cunning negotiating gambit that takes advantage of
greedy negotiators' desire to wheel and deal? Simply read this the
Negotiating article below.
Want to turn common wisdom on its noggin, go against the grain, ignore
your mother's advice--and profit nicely from it? Just read the Listing
article.
Want to see the nine core laws that a once-struggling comedian and
former auto salesman used to create a personal fortune worth billions?
Yep, just take a look at this month's Selling article.
It's all here. Four tips to help you sharpen the four pillars that
make you real money in real estate.
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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"Thank you! I LOVE getting these helpful hints.it reminds me there IS
more I can be doing and how to do it! Seriously, Thank you.
"I LOVE your service and have done good biz off of it...and haven't even
begun to tap all sources! Looking forward to more business."
Jan Marie McCoy
Associate Broker
Main Lewiston, ID
If you don't already know, see how Provantage can help you generate more
business in less time and half the work like it did Jan Marie McCoy.
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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Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.
Jonathan Swift
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3. PROSPECTING: How Could a Sour-Looking, 127 year Old Man
Help You Turn More Prospects into Clients?
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In the book "My Life in Advertising", Claude Hopkins tells a great
story about a gloomy copywriter named Powers (who, if he were still
alive, would be 127 years old)-—a story with implications of
everything you’re working right now, today...
“A clothing concern was on the verge of bankruptcy,” says Hopkins.
“They called in Powers, and he immediately measured up the
situation. He said: ‘There is only one way out. Tell the truth.
Tell the people that you are bankrupt and that your only way to
salvation lies through large and immediate sales.
“The clothing dealers argued that such an announcement would
bring every creditor to their doors. But Powers said: ‘No matter.
Either tell the truth or I quit.’"
The book continues: “Their next day’s ad read something like this:
"'We are bankrupt.
"'We owe $125,000 more than we can pay. This announcement will bring
our creditors down on our necks. But if you come and buy tomorrow
we shall have the money to meet them. If not, we go to the wall.
These are the prices we are quoting to meet the situation.’
“Truth was then such a rarity in advertising that this announcement
created a sensation. People flocked by the thousands to buy,
and the store was saved,” wrote Hopkins.
THE MORAL OF THE STORY
Powers’ breakthrough is as effective today as it was over a hundred years
ago-–and suggests three ultra-powerful sales techniques with the
potential to ramp up your response and revenues right now...
1) News sells. Power’s innovation–-presenting your ad as if it
was a front-page news story...and then telling “the news of
the store” in an objective, straight-forward, no-nonsense way is
still a powerful way to get attention and establish credibility. But
it’s only the tip of this iceberg.
Topicality–-tying your headline and opening copy to an event that’s
at the top of the news is one of the nuclear weapons
of the marketing world. In test after test, the timely, newsy
test headlines focusing on a major on-going news story always left
straight benefit-laden headlines in the dust.
Why? Because if it’s in the news, your prospect is thinking about
it. If he’s thinking about it, he has feelings about it. Connect
with those feelings, and you’ll make your copy nearly irresistible.
Next time you choose a theme or write a headline or lead, ask
yourself, “What important, long-running news story could I hitch a
ride on?” Interest rates? Hurricanes? Immigration?
2) Always have a reason. Always, always, ALWAYS. Explain why
you’re writing this ad or why you're calling this person...why you’ve
decided to offer a free market evaluation...why you’ve decided to
“bribe” a FSBO with a home selling package...and why why you
need the prospect to make a decision in the next 24 hours.
Have a solid, believable, even self-revealing answer for these
questions, and your credibility will soar-–along with your response.
3) Tell the truth. When everyone else in your market is writing
unbelievable “blind-‘em-with-BS” headlines and ads, the simple
objective, unvarnished truth in a headline lifts you head and
shoulders above the din. Just like it did for the copywriter Powers.
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4. NEGOTIATING: Harness Your Counterpart's Desire to Negotiate
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Picture this: you are negotiating for a parcel of land on behalf of
your clients who do not want to pay any more than $180,000.
The seller, you discover, does not want to come down any further than
$200,000.
Since you are $20,000 apart, either of you could offer to split the
difference and do the deal for $190,000.
However, the rule of thumb in this situation is to let your counterpart
offer to split the difference. Here's why...
If your clients decide to make the offer, you have lost your advantage.
Your counterpart now knows you are willing to pay the higher price.
A good solution is to state, “We are only $20,000 dollars apart. What
should we do?”
If the sellers' rep says they are willing to negotiate and split the
difference, you know they are willing to accept $190,000. With this
new information, you and your clients could counter, “You have just
stated that you are willing to take $190,000 for the parcel of land.
We are willing to give you $180,000. That makes us only $10,000 apart.
Why don’t we split the difference and do the deal for $185,000?”
And now you have made major headway and gotten closer to your objective.
The other party, however, could counter by withdrawing the offer to
think about what they want to do or simply walk away. In that case,
you better be prepared to walk away, too.
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5. LISTING: The Only Time That Being Narrow-Minded Works
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According to Paul Eastwood, founder of Single Property Sites, Inc.,
"There is a relationship between a tightly-focused niche and
increased sales."
That's not surprising.
Competing in a crowded market makes it difficult to earn a living. That
means not only are there fewer people per agent to go around, but
commissions and profits drop, too.
So what do you do?
Conventional wisdom states that we should be open-minded. Conventional
business wisdom, however, states that you make yourself unique. You
stand out, go against the grain. You narrow your focus to a smaller,
denser segment of the market, which might sound
bizarre. Why would anyone in their right mind decide to "narrow" their
market and work with fewer people? Good question.
The more successful you become with your small segment, the more
exposure you gain, the more business you earn and the more money you
make. You've made this small segment so happy that they gush about
you like a five-year-old after drinking a can of Coke.
One of the ways you could "narrow" your focus is with technology. Let me
explain.
Let's be simple for a moment and split the world in two: on one side
we have those who hate technology; on the other side we have those who
love technology. Do you see how I've just "narrowed" your playing field?
You can continue to do that.
Let's say we split the technology camp into two: those who like to use
technology and those who like other people to use technology.
Let's split those who like other people who use technology: now we have
those selling homes in the city versus the country.
Now those selling in the country might love technology. They might
have a fit of joy if you walked into their house and said "I'm going
to sell your house for more money in less time because of the powerful
electronic tools I use." That's because you stand apart.
You can do the same if you narrow your market to working with the exact
opposite group: people who were "relationship-oriented selling in the
city and hated technology."
Do you see what I mean?
And the cool thing is, once you narrow your focus down three or four
levels, you can write it out and use it a lot like a mission statement.
Do this and you'll find yourself energetic, excited and potentially
more successful--both in money and life.
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6. SELLING: 9 Sales Techniques Jay Leno Uses to Generate Billions
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"Show business is not hard. It's all just basic Dale Carnegie stuff,"
Jay Leno once said in a Selling Power magazine interview.
The following techniques are taken from interviews Leno has done with
Fortune, the Los Angeles Times and Selling Power.
1. Try to make a good impression that lasts. That Leno's everyday
personality is nearly identical to his nice-guy image on television
doesn't detract from his success. It adds to it.
2. Get guts. Don't be afraid to tackle more than you think you are
capable of handling. Unless you try to do something beyond what
you have already mastered, you'll never grow.
3. Take the high road. If during a conversation with a client or prospect
someone insults you, avoid the temptation to retaliate. One up them,
in fact, by responding in praise and affection. "Gee, I'm hurt that
that was said about me, especially since I admire <so and so> so much
for his family values, etc...."
4. Ignore failure. Failure will come. That's a given. What you need to
do is bounce back as quickly as possible and keep truckin' as if
nothing even happened.
5. Love what you do. When you love what you do, everything else just
seems to fall in place. It's easy to get out of bed, it's easy to
do the hard things.
6. Fake it before you make it. Even if the ink is still wet on your
real estate license, give people the impression that you are the best
person at what you do.
7. Treat everyone as a potential customer. This is particularly true
for real estate: everyone buys or sells houses, and your market
is probably made up of the people you run into everyday.
8. Treat your team as if they are stars. Whether it's your lender,
listing coordinator or buyer's agent, make the people you work for,
and who work for you, feel like your world would collapse without them.
9. Give back to the community. Volunteering your time to worthy causes
proves that you are committed to the area you live and work in,
which, by the way, provides a good way to meet potential customers.
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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.
