In the Zone | vV i1 | Should You Create a Team?
In the Zone
Volume V Issue 1
- What Successful REALTORS(R) Are Saying
- Motivational Quote of the Month
- Prospecting: Should You Create a Team?
- Negotiating: One of the Crucial Elements of Real Estate Negotiation
- Listing: How to Adjust to a Buyer's Market to Keep the Revenue Flowing
- Selling: 4 Classic Cold Calling Mistakes by Ari Galper
So, do you have one? A plan, that is. A business plan for 2007?
Around this time of year a lot of agents invest a considerable amount of thought equity in to their plans and goals for 2007. Some of those plans could include the first steps to building a team. Perhaps you have a plan, too. And perhaps you too want to start a team. If that's the case, read this month's Prospecting article to answer the most important question you need to ask yourself before you build that team.
At the start of every year, I like to revisit basic negotiation principles. This year is no different. It's one of the three crucial elements to negotiations Herb Cohen writes about in his book, You Can Negotiate Anything. This is just a hunch, but it's probably been the cause for most successful negotiations.
Next, read this month's Listing article to discover five simple steps to easily adjust to a buyer's market. Steps that will not only help you adjust, but also help you keep the revenue flowing in.
And finally, sales expert and truth advocate Ari Galper points out the 4 classic cold calling mistakes rookie, veteran and even top producer makes if they cold call following the traditional rules. Eye opening stuff for those of us clinging to the old ways.
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 Proquest Technologies 800 number and it works great. Every one that I call, I get their phone number 100% of the time and always call them back within five minutes when the home is still fresh in their minds. See, you can call them back without checking the do not call registry because they called you first. And the real beauty: it costs around $40.00 a month."
Harold Francis | Fayetteville, NC
If you don't already know, see how Provantage can become a key, indispensable ingredient to your success--like it is for Harold Francis . 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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"Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible."
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3. PROSPECTING: Should you Create a Team?
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So, you've been thinking about starting a team? Before you go a step further, though, you need to examine your reasons for wanting to build a team.
Realty Times columnist David Flethcer, in a July 25, 2006 column, wrote: "I love teams, but only if I am making a contribution. The most exciting team I have been on was as a member of a 23-man crew on a B-36 bomber in the United States Air Force. I was the tail gunner. Not because I said so, but because I was trained to be one. I made a contribution to the team.
"Watching a squadron of B-36 Bombers flying in formation on a beautiful day at 42,000 feet in peacetime is heady stuff for a 19-year-old. It's great to be on a team at times like that.
"Then one day our crew was sent to "survival" school in Reno, Nevada, where we were taught and practiced survival skills in case we were shot down behind enemy lines.
"That's when I learned that there will be times in life when the team cannot help me. Only my skills can. When I was alone in the mountains for five days with three days supply of food it was up to me to set the traps, catch the fish, read my compass, and operate my radio.
"My team couldn't help me. Only my skills could."
Say for instance you are in the car with a hesitant couple and they can't decide which house to buy or whether to buy now or wait, or you are at a kitchen table and the seller is banging away at your commission and you can't defend it. Like Mr. Fletcher points out, your team can't help you. Only your skills can.
Team or no team, you will find that your income depends on you, and you alone at crunch time.
So, focus on developing your skills. Make a list of the three skills you need to develop, and then practice them until you become unconsciously competent. Then develop three more. Then ask your broker for the three skills he or she recommends that you practice first. Rightly implemented selling skills will put more commissions in your pocket and make you a contributing partner or team member. I guarantee it.
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4. NEGOTIATING: One of the Crucial Elements of Real Estate Negotiation
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Ask just about every veteran agent and they'll tell you: understand and master the use of time, and you can buy a home for thousands less. Here is one of the most important aspects of time:
Time is of the essence. It even says as much on most real estate contracts. What does this mean? It means that whoever controls or understands the elements of time has the better negotiating position.
For example, when you buy a piece of property, ask the seller why he is selling. If he says he is moving then ask him when he is moving. Let's pretend the seller says he is moving in a couple of weeks. And let's also pretend he mentioned in passing that he wanted to close the sale before he moved. At this point you know one very important thing about the seller: he's under pressure to meet a deadline.
At this point you could offer him 20% less than he is asking and quite possibly get him to accept.
The reason why is that he gave away too much information. He gave up position. Specifically, he gave away his deadline. One of the most important things to understand in real estate negotiation is deadlines. The two specific things to remember are: 1. Don't give away your deadline(s), and 2. Find the other side's deadline(s).
Find out whatever you can about any relevant deadlines. Sometimes there isn't a clear deadline, or there are several deadlines for different parts of the negotiation. Whatever the case, the more information you can gather about those deadlines, the better.
And how do you use that information once you have it? Find out in the next issue of In The Zone.
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5. LISTING: How to Adjust to a Buyer's Market to Keep the Revenue Flowing
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According to industry experts, the real estate market is cooling. But if we look at change in the recent market—where the last two years have been scorching—a cooling is natural, but the change is really nothing more than from a shift from a seller's market to a buyer's market. Nevertheless, it is a change, and to make money in a cooling market, you must adjust to keep revenue flowing. Here are some tips to do just that.
1. Know your scripts. When change hits real estate, consumers look to the experts for guidance. That's you, so do you homework.
Be prepared to explain in layman's terms what a buyer's market is, how it differs from the seller's market, why the market has shifted to a buyer's market and what to expect in such a market. And don't sugar coat this—tell them exactly like it is and that they can expect picky buyers. They'll thank you later and you'll keep your reputation intact.
2. Know your numbers. What are the listing prices versus the selling prices in your market area? What's the average selling price? Is that up or down from the same period last year? What are the days on the market? What is the current supply of homes on the market? This will lead to a price that fits the current market.
3. Know your "A B Cs." Categorize your leads. "A" leads are ready to buy or sell now. "B" leads plan to buy or sell in the next month or two. And "C" leads might buy or sell in the next three to six months. It's easy to salivate over the "A" leads, especially in a slower market. But stay in touch with the "B"s and "C"s—they're your future business.
4. Strengthen your marketing arsenal with technology. Design a Web site that helps you prospect electronically with a "drip" e-mail system that automatically sends helpful e-mails to prospective buyers and sellers regularly. And consider an Interactive Voice Response system (IVR). This technology captures phone numbers and even tracks how the person learned about you. If you haven't already, read this 21-page report to learn more about IVR systems: http://www.realestategrowth.com/how_to_grow.asp
5. Stage your listing properly. Recommend home improvement projects carefully to your sellers because returns on these improvements are relative. They're less likely to recoup top dollar on a new master suite or third full bathroom if they're the only one on their block doing it. They should improve the home relative to other homes nearby. And also consider using a free product like Showing Feedback to help you get easy price reductions and much needed improvements: http://www.showingfeedback.com/wp/Benefits/SellHomesFaster.aspx
Yes, change can be tough. But if you stay focused, concentrate on the basics and stay informed on the market, you can weather the shift and continue to make money.
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6. SELLING: 4 Classic Cold Calling Mistakes by Ari Galper
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Have you noticed that the old “tried and true” cold calling techniques which were once successful have completely lost their effectiveness over the years? They just don’t work anymore.
But many salespeople are still using them because that’s all they know. They’re working from that old, ineffective cold calling mind set. And they’re making the same mistakes over and over again.
I’d like to talk about 4 classic cold calling mistakes from the old traditional approach that will put you on the wrong path if you’re not careful.
1. Deliver a strong, enthusiastic sales pitch
People almost always feel “pushed” by sales enthusiasm, especially when it’s coming from someone they don’t know.
It’s much better to modestly assume you know very little about your prospect. Invite them to share some of their concerns and difficulties with you. And allow them to guide the conversation, rather than your pre-ordained strategy or pitch.
2. Your goal is to always make the sale
When your target in cold calling is to always make the sale, prospects are aware of your agenda. And almost immediately, they’re on the defensive. After all, you’re primarily focused on yourself and the sale—not on them.
Instead, you can approach cold calling with a different goal. Your focus can be on discovering whether you’re able to solve a problem for the other person. When you become a problem-solver, this feels vastly different to the person you’re talking to. You’re not triggering rejection. You’re calling with 100 percent of your thoughts and energy focused on their needs, rather than on making a sale.
3. Focus on the end of the conversation – that’s when sales are lost
If you believe that you lose sales because you’ve made a mistake at the end of the process, you’re looking in the wrong direction. Most mistakes are made at the beginning of a cold calling conversation.
When you follow a sales script, strategy, or presentation, then you’re not allowing a natural, trusting conversation to evolve. So the “problem” has been put into motion by your very first words. So the place to put all your focus is at the beginning of the cold call, not at the end.
4. Overcome and counter all objections
Most traditional sales programs spend a lot of time focusing on overcoming objections. But these tactics only put more sales pressure on your prospect, which triggers resistance. And you also fail to explore or understand the truth behind what’s being said.
When you hear, “We don't have the budget,” or, “Call me in a few months,” you can uncover the truth by replying, “That's not a problem.” And then using gentle, dignified language, you can invite them to reveal the truth about their situation.
So move away from the old sales mind set and try this new way of approaching your cold calling. You’ll find yourself being more natural, and others will respond to you in a much more positive way.
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.
