In the Zone | vV i7 | Surrender to Sales Pressure

In the Zone

Volume V Issue 7

What Successful REALTORS® Are Saying
Motivational Quote of the Month
Prospecting: Creating a Powerful Plan to Capture the Exploding Baby Boomer Market
Negotiating: There Are a Two, Maybe Three Types of Successful Business People—Then There's the Dolphin
Listing: The Very First Thing You Must Do Once You Get the Listing
Selling: How to "Surrender" to Sales Pressure to Gain Insight into What Your Prospects Really Want

Dear Friend and REALTOR®,

Did you know that the largest psycho-demographic in the United States also has the deepest pockets and WANTS to buy homes? The second half of 2007 could be a banner six months for you. As well as the years 2008, 2009, 2010...learn how in this month's Prospecting article.

I'm not sure why these two guys decided to negotiate with a dolphin. But I'm glad they did. Here's what they learned, in this month's Negotiating article.

It's funny: two years ago you could list a home on the MLS and within minutes get 4 offers. Today, it takes work and you need to have your wits about you to make it work, but it's as simple as leveraging this one source. (And no, it's not the MLS.)

Finally, if you're up to the task of "surrendering" to sales pressure and seriously winning over more clients and commissions, reading the Selling article is the first thing I recommend you do!

Enjoy!

Best wishes for your success,

Gary Elwood
Proquest Technologies
1-800-959-3959

P. S. Be sure to check out our Listing, Buyer, Marketing and Advertising Reports for new articles published weekly. We've published three recently on our Home Buyer Tips pages. Read them today for easy money-making advice.

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® Are Saying

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"I have just started using your 800 system and have enjoyed a 60% increase on ad response. I am beginning to implement some of your information (FSBO) to see what works best with my personality and style. At this time I would like to say thanks for all of the great information you so willingly give and I look forward to continued support and great work relations."

Steve Markley | Realty Executives Premier | Chula Vista, CA

If you don't already know, see how Provantage can become a key, indispensable ingredient to your success—like it is for Mr. Markley, click here for more information.

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2. Motivational Quote of the Month

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"A closer look shows that the greatest gift that extraordinarily successful people have over the average person is their ability to get themselves to take action."

Anthony Robbins

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3. PROSPECTING: Creating a Powerful Plan to Capture the Exploding Baby Boomer Market by Bob Corcoran*

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Here's a statistic that can solidify your job security as a REALTOR® for the next 20 years—every day in the United States 8,000 people turn 60 years-old. Those 8,000 people a day represent the front end of the baby boomer generation—the largest generation in U.S. history—76 million strong between the ages of 42 and 60.

Numbers big enough to launch your business into the stratosphere of success—if you play your marketing cards right.

And playing your cards intelligently means starting with a plan. Do you have one to capture this mouth-watering market? If not, you'll be missing out on a large real estate cash pot.

Start with these three steps to ante up and get in the game:

1. Understand boomers.

To reach boomers in a productive way, you have to know who they are. For example, NAR found that boomers have an almost intoxicating fondness for real estate and that they have a higher rate of home ownership than the national average. Plus, a full 25 percent of all boomers don't like their current homes. Hmm, 25 percent of 76 million...that's 19 million who are considering a move.

But don't think this group is all the same. In fact, they vary greatly in attitudes, what they need and how they behave. Many are empty nesters (promote the exciting retired life amenities) and plenty still have kids in grade school (promote properties as long-term investments or better school districts). The point is, you may want to segment the market and go after the subset that makes the most sense for you.

2. Talk the talk.

Regardless of which section of boomers you target, how you communicate with them is a huge consideration for your marketing plan. You need a listing presentation that's tailored to what you learn from researching who boomers are. For example, know your data, they've been around the block and can sniff out if you're faking your way through. And get to the point fast: they value time, and they typically make up their minds quickly.

Be sure to make your advertising and marketing materials boomer-friendly with larger type sizes (at least 12 point), simple type styles (avoid all the fancy stuff) and clean contrasts - black and white is best.

Incidentally, NAR has developed a designation specifically for agents who want to target boomers called the Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES). It covers a lot of details on how to communicate effectively with them.

3. Hang out in boomer circles.

Simple enough—if you want to reach boomers you have to be where they are.

A good example is a client I have in Wyoming who focuses on working with developers who build retirement communities. She meets with them regularly and they feel very comfortable with her because they know she caters to the same market as they do.

So strike up relationships with developers of all those 55-plus communities going up. And speaking of those communities, start farming them. Most have newsletters where you can target your advertising.

Also, look at local businesses that cater to boomers and develop a co-operative marketing effort with them.

And consider developing a referral base to where boomers are moving—often the warmer climates such as Florida, Arizona and California.

*Bob Corcoran is a nationally recognized speaker who is the founder of Corcoran Consulting, an international consulting & coaching company that specializes in performance coaching, and the implementation of sound real estate business systems.

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4. NEGOTIATING: There Are a Dozen Types of Business People—Then There's the Dolphin

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This may sound strange, but did you know dolphins are kick-ass negotiators? Let me explain.

According to business writers Dudley Lynch and Paul L. KordisIn, dolphins have the ability to successfully adapt to any situation they encounter. If one strategy is unsuccessful, they are quick to learn and respond with a stream of other possibilities. Lynch and Kordisln explain this in their 1989 book Strategy of the Dolphin®: Scoring a Win in a Chaotic World, a book on negotiation.

Lynch and Kordisln explain that the dolphins plan an infinite rather than a finite game. Dolphins know that negotiation does not happen in a vacuum—every action they take in a negotiation will have a reaction. Dolphins realize that because negotiation, like life, is an infinite game, they may have to deal with their counterparts in the future. This realization increases the likelihood that dolphins will foster cooperation and trust to make the relationship more durable. Finally, instead of cutting up and dividing what already exists (a finite focus), dolphins work with their counterparts to create more than what already exists (an infinite focus), an approach that benefits both parties.

Dolphins avoid unnecessary conflict by cooperating as long as the other player does likewise. Dolphins realize that cooperation and trust are critical in any negotiation.

But they also respond promptly to a “mean” move by retaliating properly.

Dolphins recognize the importance of responding quickly and appropriately when provoked. Putting off a response when you have been dealt an unjust blow invites being misunderstood or victimized. Whether the problem is your teenager testing your home curfew policy or a client altering the terms of a contract, delaying a response sends the wrong signal, inviting more shark-like behaviors. Dolphins retaliate promptly, when appropriate, to make their needs known and avoid being misunderstood.

However, while quick to retaliate, they are also quick to forgive. If a counterpart shows any signs of cooperation dolphins quickly switch to a more cooperative strategy.

See, sharks tend to spend the majority of their time trying to control their counterparts, chew them up and expect to conclude the negotiation with a definite winner and loser.

In contrast, dolphins spend the majority of their time building trust and rapport with their counterparts. They do so by discovering their counterparts’ true needs and wants. When the needs and wants of both parties are known and there is an atmosphere of trust and cooperation, the possibility of creating a win-win outcome exists. This is the only outcome that produces a net gain in wealth for everyone involved.

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5. LISTING: The Very First Thing You Must Do Once You Get the Listing

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Everyone knows that in today's market, it's not enough just to get the listing—you need to have an aggressive marketing plan.

While printed flyers, signage and the basics will always have their place, according to the NAR over 70% of home buyers begin their search for a new home online.

Thus, the first step in successful and aggressive listing promotion is to make sure your property is featured where home buyers are looking. More and more real estate agents already have a website and are likely using it to promote their listings. Here are some suggestions to help you get the most out of your website's listings:

Promote listings on your home page—make a featured property listing highlighting a particular property, and make sure there's an easy-to-access slideshow at the ready.

Keep your hot news hot—announce your newest and most-desirable listings.

Update your open house page—drive traffic from the web into your open houses.

Add a summary to your home page—with a dedicated link to your listing page.

Once you've secured the listing and published it to your website, it's time to capture other agents and potential buyers. Here's how to get started:

Email an electronic version of your property flyer to local agents with the latest open house schedule and include a link to the listing's webpage in the body of your email.

Use an email marketing program to create pre-formatted flyers and open house invitation ecards to get the attention of other agents.

Add a virtual tour. Sites with virtual tours have been shown to keep visitors three times longer and listings receive 40% more views than they would otherwise.

Stake out the next frontier: single property websites are becoming the new differentiator. Stand out from other agents during the listing presentation by offering a professional, stand-alone website dedicated specifically to your client's property.

Use a hotline number with your listings. This allows you to capture contact information when they call to listen to an audio tour of the home or updated price information.

These steps will get you to a place where you can offer your visitors the most information-rich experience, and will help them to remember you, and thus to return to your site again and again.

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6. SELLING: How to "Surrender" to Sales Pressure to Gain Insight into What Your Prospects Really Want

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According to sales trainer Ari Galper, one of the biggest causes of sales career casualties is the failure to respond to sales pressure.

There are a handful of successful approaches you could take: like confront it boldly or bend it back on the customer. These are classic responses, typically honed by a gifted cold caller or genetically predisposed car salesman who wouldn't know sales pressure if it stood on their breakfast table.

It's a difficult reality to imagine for the large majority of us who are not thick-skinned and flinch at confrontation.

Now, how about if you just got rid of sales pressure altogether? I mean, how would that make you feel if you didn't have to worry about how you were going to perform or argue or negotiate or whether you were appropriately applying any of the other cute little sales nuances some people preach?

You can get rid of sales pressure if you "surrender" to it. Here are 7 solutions to removing the burden of sales pressure and taking your sales performance to the next level:

First, simply stop carrying the burden of driving the sales process forward. Try to engage potential clients based on the problems they're facing rather than on the solution that you're trying to sell, no matter how much you believe in it.

Watch out for "sales"-type language. Statements like "When shall I follow up?," "Can I come by and show you what I have?" and "Do you still want to move forward?" are all examples of language that inevitably triggers sales pressure. Try to imagine that your potential client is a friend. How would your language change?

Become aware of your inner voice and what it's saying. So many thoughts run through our mind before we pick up the phone to call a potential client.: "I better have all the answers," "I'd better prepare myself for potential rejection," "I really hope I can get an appointment." These thoughts stem from traditional sales conditioning, which taught us that we always have to be prepared for disappointment and frustration. How about changing that inner voice to a more positive one that will not only make it easier for you to engage in conversations but will decrease your stress level as well? See how you feel when you tell yourself instead: "I'm not going to make any assumptions that my product or service is a fit until we both determine that there's a problem to solve." "Not being 'perfect' with a potential client isn't a sign of weakness but an indication that I'm human too." "I don't need to fear rejection because I'll use an approach that won't trigger it."

Don't look at sales as a "game" but as a mission to help those in need. If you shift the way you think about selling, you'll begin to experience the relief that comes with shedding the burden of the negative sales stereotype.

Find new role models. Look around you for successful people who sell but don't exhibit traditional sales behavior and thinking. You can learn from their positive example. Pay attention to how they build trust, dialogue with potential clients the same way they would with friends, and always, always, keep their own agendas in check.

Be open to a new approach. You may even still hit your sales goals if you stick with traditional sales thinking, but what toll will this take on your self-esteem? And you will never know what opportunities you lost along the way because you exerted subtle sales pressure on potential clients.

Finally, find new ways to build trust. You know how to build trust. You do it all the time in your personal life. So why is it so hard in selling? Because traditional sales thinking only shows you how to outsmart your potential clients—and that kind of approach is totally incompatible with building trust.

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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 2007, Proquest Technologies.