Four Ways to Become a Better Competitor

Provided by Realty Times

Tough Strategies for Today's Market

The end of the year is in sight and so are the opportunities to get as much business in before the 'closing bell' on 2012 and set yourself up for success in the new year. That takes a willingness to COMPETE on a HIGHER level than ever before.

That's why I wanted to re-visit four fail-safe strategies for competing stronger this year - and every year:

1. Know what you're up against. If you think about the major sports leagues; baseball, football, hockey, and then think about the most successful teams, you'll find that they have one thing in common. In order to be successful they view and review videos of their games and those of their competitors. They look for strengths and weaknesses so they'll know how to defend and compete effectively. It's the same in the real estate business. You have to know what you're up against in order to outpace the competition. There are a few questions that agents will have to answer in order for them to achieve market-share dominance. For example:

• Who are your top-ten competitors?
• If you lose a listing, to whom do you lose it in most instances?
• How many agents do each of your primary competitors have?
• What is their average experience level?
• What is their annual per person production?
• What is the average number of listings in each office?
• What is their list-to-sell ratio and list-to-sale time-frame?

There are other questions that agents could ask, and it may be a great exercise for you to take some time and write out all the questions that would help you to know precisely what qualities buyers and sellers are looking for and to understand how you stack up against your competition.

2. Have the Weaponry: To "out-gun" your competition, you'll need the tools to do the job. From iPhone to tablet, to contact-management systems and marketing tools you need the essentials, and a few extras to meet the needs of today's informed consumer. Throughout history all of the great armies of the world got to be the best because they had the right weapons needed to do the job better than their opponents. Real estate agents today must have the right tools to battle the highly-skilled competitors they meet much in the same way. These days, those tools also include social media and technology tools such as websites, blogs, social networks and more in an ever-changing world. Be sure you're staying online and up to date so that you always appear top-of-mind when area buyers and sellers are searching for their next agent.

3. Skill: In the more than forty years I've been in this business as an agent, manager and trainer, I've never seen an era where the necessity for high-sales skills was greater. With the accessibility to communication and information as strong as it is, sellers and buyers are savvier than ever before and have more questions and concerns than ever before. We have to overcome more commission objections, "We want to shop around" objections, pricing, length of the listing, etc. The art of persuasion is in demand and critical in the field if you want to compete successfully. The real proof of this is seen in our training classes. We find that the average experience level of the students is almost four years, whereas, not so long ago, it was two years. It seems clear to me that being able to close the transaction is the difference between thriving and merely surviving in the business.

4. Develop a Competitive Attitude: Attitude is everything. It takes a certain mental toughness to be willing to convey to a prospect that you are the best person/company for the job. This mental toughness, added to the facts, tools and skills discussed above, add up to an enthusiastic response to the question, "Why are you the best?" It's like you are saying, "You know Mr. and Mrs. Seller, there are 1,000 agents in our area. However, for what you want, need and are trying to accomplish, you really only have a choice of three: good, better and best. You see, we are all good. After all, you have to at least be licensed. Some are better than others. But for what you're trying to accomplish - that is to get the most amount of money for your home, in the shortest amount of time, with the least amount of inconvenience, it seems to me that there is only one best agent, and what a coincidence that we should be together at this moment."
There are many ways to answer the question, "Why are you the best?" Here are just a few:

• "I'm the best because I am new in real estate and I'm not bogged down like those top producers."
• "I'm the best because my office is right on the corner. Where do you think the buyers are coming TO?"
• "I'm the best because my office is clear over on the other side of town. Where do you think the buyers are coming FROM?

You need the mental toughness to be able to enthusiastically convey to the seller this message.

"Mr. and Mrs. Seller, if you were going to fly coast-to-coast and you had the choice of flying first class or coach, both at the same price, which would you choose?" Seller: "First class, of course." Agent: "I expected as much. May I ask why?" Seller: "Because I get more for my money and a more comfortable journey." Agent: "If you knew you could get more for your money and a more comfortable journey by choosing me over someone who might be considered coach, I'd be the obvious choice, wouldn't you agree?"

My advice to you is to become a competitor. Stay nice-but be a competitor. Put people first - but be a competitor. Care about what they care about - but be a competitor. Never verbally knock the competition-but be a competitor.

Know The Purpose Of Your Presentation

Provided by Realtytimes.com

A quality listing presentation involves considerable advance planning, careful research and analysis, and highly developed presentation and sales skills. This allows you to derive maximum impact from the minimal time you have to present yourself and your recommendations, close the deal, and obtain signatures on a listing agreement.

Your advance planning takes two forms. First you need to qualify your prospects - determining not only their desires and expectations but also their ability to make the buying or selling decision and complete the purchase transaction. The other essential ingredient in a listing presentation is a competitive market analysis (CMA) along with a presentation that displays the full complement of your sales skills and abilities and helps you win your prospect’s confidence and secure their listing.Knowing the purpose of your presentationBe crystal-clear on this point. The objective of a listing presentation is to secure a signed listing agreement before the meeting ends. It’s not to pave the way for a "be-back" listing, where you plan to return at a later date to handle paperwork and secure final prospect approval. Your purpose is to make your case, close the deal, and get ink on the paper right then and there while you’re face-to-face with your prospects. If you don’t, I guarantee the odds of securing the listing start to swing away from you.If you let even a few days or a week slip by, your prospects will have a hard time separating your presentation from other agents who they met in the meantime. And the moment they lose sight of your distinguishing attributes, they’ll revert to a commodity mindset by focusing on price and selecting an agent based on who offered the lowest commission or the highest list price. I’ve personally made over a thousand listing presentations, and I’ve coached and listened to the presentations of hundreds of other agents. I am totally convinced that a quality listing presentation can and must result in a signed contract at the presentation. These are two reasons you need to get the listing signed during the presentation:

1. The moment you leave the appointment, anything can happen. A buyer could appear out of nowhere, knocking on your prospect’s door with a direct offer. An agent who interviewed your prospect a few days ago could be desperate enough to call with an offer to cut their fee by another percent. At Rotary or church or a chamber of commerce meeting, your prospect could meet another agent. Or, after-the-fact, they could begin to confuse you for a different agent whose presentation they didn’t like at all. The list of "coulds" goes on and on. The only thing you know for sure is that if you don’t get the signed listing at the appointment, you leave it up for grabs and vulnerable.
   
2. You need to feel the win. The win in the listing game is when the contract is signed. Don’t underestimate the power of that personal victory. Selling involves the risk of rejection. If it didn’t, it would be called order taking, and you wouldn’t be paid so well because it would be so easy. A listing presentation gives you the chance to go for the win, perfect your close, and attain the victory. Give yourself the satisfaction and adrenaline rush of walking out of the home with a signed contract. Your drive home will be the shortest ever known. If you don’t get it signed, it will be the longest few minutes you’ve ever known.

I have an incredible coaching client who sells homes on Long Island. She is a listing machine in her market area. She takes over 125 listings a year. Yet a while back, when we tracked the numbers she was closing on the night of the appointment, we found her close rate was less than 40%.This finding got her focused on the uncompensated time she was spending on second meetings with listing prospects. It also made her think about how many listings were lost following the first meeting. A month later, her closing figures had changed dramatically. With a new resolve to get the contract closed on the night of the appointment, she skyrocketed her closing rate to over 70%. Again, be crystal-clear. Know your objective of your listing presentation. It is to secure a signed listing agreement before you walk out that door. Don’t leave your business to chance - take control and watch your closing rate skyrocket!

Keller Williams’ Top Five AHAs from Inman News’ Agent Reboot in Austin, Texas

Provided By Blog.KW.com

Last week, the KW Blog Editorial Team attended the very last stop on Inman News’ Agent Reboot tour. With heavy industry hitters such as Chris Smith, chief evangelist of Inman News, Katie Lance, chief strategist of Inman News and Jim Marks, president and Internet anthropologist of Virtual Results, speaking, it was a jam-packed day of back-to-back, socially charged sessions, focused on hitting the high points on how social media, technology and video have changed the way agents interact with their clients and businesses. Here the KW Blog Team shares our top five aha’s from the event:

1: There’s not one person in your database who doesn’t know another real estate agent. So the question is: What are you doing each day to ensure that your sphere stays loyal to you? During his “What Is the True Value of Social Media?” session, Marks  elaborated on the point when he added: “Your sphere didn’t just appear out of thin air! You had to work for it,” he said. “It’s the activities that you do consistently over time that determine the size and strength of a real estate agent’s sphere of influence. And social media is an excellent sphere retention tool – use it!”

2: More information = more business for real estate agents. There’s a rumor still running around that says the more information a consumer has on the buying and selling process, the more likely they will NOT use an agent. But it’s just not true. According to the National Association of REALTORS Buyer and Seller Study, in 2001, 69% of consumers purchased a home through a real estate professional. Fast forward to 2012. Today there’s more information than ever available to consumers, yet 89% of consumers bought a home through a real estate professional. That’s a 20% increase! So what is the strategy for you? Be the trusted expert who is able to answer questions online.

3: Video is here to stay and will be demanded by consumers. “I predict that in the next five years every single listing will have a video,” said Smith. In response to this demand, the number of iPhone and Android apps that allow real estate agents to quickly shoot, edit and post video will rise. One such application that’s hoping to break into the market: Videolicious. Matt Singer, the company’s founder and CEO, took to the stage to walk agents through some very important tips on crafting video that will get more views. Which leads us to our next “aha.”

4: Video etiquette is crucial. We’re sure you’ve heard the stat that every second, one hour of video is uploaded to YouTube. That’s 24 hours every 24 seconds, or a decade every single day! Now, before we throw our hands up and walk away, we have to remember that the real estate industry only makes up a small portion of YouTube, and there’s still room to compete … for now. So what do those numbers have to do with etiquette? With all that video to watch, you have to make sure your video meets the audience’s expectations of a “professional” video. When shooting a listing for instance, Singer suggests taking 10-to -15 second clips of the home’s most admirable features using one complementing these characteristics. He also reminded the audience to be sure and smile before the camera turns on and to remain smiling until the camera stops recording.

5: There’s no app to instant, online success. We particularly liked this one. In real estate, a Website is an important card in your business deck. Yet, so many real estate agents miss its potential power in generating more business. “And even if it isn’t in your business plan to capture leads online, it’s still important to have a presence online to showcase your brand,” said Scott Price of Placester during his session titled “Main Street Has Moved: Invest in Digital.” Price believes that taking the time to think about what a consumer wants to see online, testing a Website’s UI (or user interface) and following key Website analytics to determine how to improve online conversion rates are strategies that real estate agents need to take seriously – or at least invest in someone to do it for them.

Did you attend an Agent Reboot this year? What were your big ahas from the event?

How One Lead Changed One Agent’s Career … and Life

Provided By Blog.KW.com

Not too long ago, $80,000 would have been about four years’ worth of income for Connie Austin. And in her first years in the real estate business, it would have been more like eight years’ income. But since joining Keller Williams, Austin landed that much in just one deal as both the listing and buying agent on a $1,380,000 home.

“I don’t think I felt anything at first; it took a while,” said Austin, who is part of the Keller Williams Realty Experience market center in Murray, Kentucky. “My operating principal and my team leader were initially more excited than I was. Some of them have been in this business way longer than myself, so now it’s really sunk in, and it’s been a huge blessing for us.”

That check, $80,136.35 to be exact, could not have come at a better time for Austin and her family. When her husband became sick and unable to work, the Austins faced dire financial troubles. In no time at all, their savings was drained, and they had to move out of their home. The Austins were living in less than desirable conditions, and the only way Connie could get to appointments was in an old black pick-up truck with tires in such bad shape that she had to carry an air tank to fill them up every time she had to go back into town.

“I struggled for two years, and then Keller Williams came along and things got a little easier,” she said. “Aside from this deal, Keller Williams has allowed me to come home to a home, have a reliable vehicle, pay my bills and put money back in my business. I feel like for the first time that I have a business and that I have control over it. If I get leads and don’t work them, it’s my own fault, so I do the best I can to follow up on everything.”

In the case of the million-dollar listing, Austin relied on Keller Williams Realty’s My ListingsMy Leads – KW.com’s lead-routing system designed to route Internet leads directly to the listing agent – to secure both ends of the transaction. The listing involved a partnership of two sellers, only one of whom Austin knew. Both of the sellers had relocated to California, which complicated the process. Four different buyers made offers on the property, but it was the one who came through Austin that was the right one.

“Oddly enough, the one buyer who was my lead, who had seen my marketing online and how it fed back to me, he had the right mentality. He was out for a win-win deal, which made it easy on my part.”

Ultimately, the deal took only two days, one of which included an eight-hour conference call to close; due in part to the ease and convenience of the Keller Williams myTransaction paperless program, which allowed the buyer and the sellers to reach across time zones and state lines to sign all the necessary documents quickly and painlessly.

“I love the paperless program,” she said. “It’s sped up my business. It’s like instant gratification. I’d say 85 percent of my clients are on the paperless program, and once I got them to try it they never went back.”

Another element of Austin’s success is her commitment to learning. She sets aside at least 30 minutes each week to take part in a class while also taking advantage of audio education while she’s driving or doing dishes.

“Keller Williams is amazing,” she said. “I’ll never go anywhere else. When I was in my past life, I had no idea this was out there. It’s a blessing and a half. Just believing that I got that kind of money all in one deal makes me want to go out and find another one.”

How to Launch a Successful Real Estate Brokerage in Today's Market

Provided By KW Blog

rofitability is a big deal for all real estate offices. But perhaps nowhere is it more critical than in the launch phase. Start-up costs are inevitably high, validity in the marketplace is still largely undetermined and people question whether the business is going to take off. These were all challenges The Fairfax Capital Properties market center faced when  launched in 2011.

From the beginning, the market center fit the bill of underdog. During the pre-launch phase, they underwent ownership changes, lost some of its original agents and saw two different team leaders come and go. Then came a ninth-inning rally in the form of Matthew Sutter, an unlikely savior since he had never been within a thousand miles of Fairfax, Va., prior to interviewing for the team leader job. Once he landed the gig, he left Austin, Texas, and arrived in Virginia just in time to turn things around for the market center.

“My first day in the role was the day we opened our front doors,” Sutter says. “Being the third team leader, our ALC (Associate Leadership Council) was concerned about whether they could trust me to stay. The pre-launch phase had also worn out some of our initial agents and they left, discouraged that we would never actually open.”

From those inauspicious beginnings, Sutter and his team emerged months later as the runner-up for the Keller Williams Realty Home Run Launch Market Center Award, thanks to the market center’s $115,865 in total profits for 2011. In addition to reaching profitability right out of the gate, Fairfax-Capital Properties also saw its team grow from an initial 27 agents to 120 in just 21 months. Sutter credits the success to the market center’s staff, Associate Leadership Council (ALC), original investor Tony Brodie and Operating Principal Bo Menkiti.

So what did it take to launch a real estate office on the heels of a massive real estate downturn? Here is Sutter’s advice:

3 Steps to Launch a Successful Real Estate Office

Step 1: Come From Curiosity

Sutter’s biggest challenges during the launch phase came mostly from being a Texan in Old Dominion’s court.

“Agents from other companies weren’t exactly jumping up and down to sit one-on-one with me. Which was a challenge, because validity in the marketplace is built on relationships with really influential icons.”

A former mega agent with a team, Sutter had a genuine interest in helping other agents reach their potential. So he began sharing the education and training that is characteristic of all Keller Williams market centers. From social events, to core Keller Williams courses and regular meetings to discuss business strategy with top producers, Sutter’s curiosity in other agents’ success drew people to him …. and the market center.

Step 2: Lead with Revenue

Adhering to the Keller Williams launch phase model was the second pillar under Sutter’s launch plan. “Profitability in the beginning stages is about never deviating from the model,” Sutter says. “It’s about leading with revenue and keeping expenses as lean as possible. If there wasn’t a direct indication that an expense was going to lead to immediate revenue, chances are it was getting cut. We also stayed away from trying to be creative. I’ve always loved the idea that you have to ‘earn the right’ to add creativity to the model. No one that is in the launch phase has earned that right.”

Step 3: Make it about others

There’s a quote from John Maxwell, best-selling author on leadership that sums up another key element to the Fairfax, Va. market center’s success: “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

“I was very fortunate to have a highly-engaged ALC who, along with Bo and Tony, committed to the vision of becoming the Home Run Launch market center,” Sutter says. “Their enthusiasm and determination carried over to our staff, our agents and even our core service partners. It became contagious, and everyone embraced a whatever-it-takes attitude.”

Committed to either making the launch a success or burning out in every capacity, Sutter  let go of old habits in favor of new ones. “Being so new, I needed to ensure I was supporting my ALC and staff, because they were the ones that could add the real value to our growth. The idea of ‘success through others’ was far different than how I ran my previous sales team, but it was a concept I loved. The less I made it about me, the better we did, and I quickly learned that leadership isn’t about knowing all the answers or being able to do everything yourself. It’s more about knowing who can provide what resources and then making sure that those individuals are nurtured and provided for. To me, that’s the ultimate win-win.”

Maintaining Visibility On The Web

Provided By Realty Times

In the real estate industry, a firm's online presence - its ability to have superior technology solutions, complemented by a team of experts - is critical. Without that support, and without the resources to maintain a firm's regional or national visibility on the web, success can quickly become its own worst enemy. Meaning: real estate firms with aggressive marketing campaigns must maintain the connectivity and bandwidth necessary for substantial increases in traffic. This assistance is the direct result of working with a colocation provider with the infrastructure to handle these issues, which include running multiple servers and having the expertise of talented professionals available at a moment's notice.  

These principles of access, intelligence and mobility (AIM) are the critical difference - for companies in general and real estate firms in particular - between one colocation provider versus another. In the absence of AIM, real estate firms risk selecting the wrong colocation provider, which can cause a negative impact on brand reputation, new business opportunities and existing relationships with clients.

I write these words not to condemn the competition, nor to sound unnecessarily alarmist, but realtors need to know the facts: that access, a network of offices throughout the United States, which can support a firm's online growth, backed by technical experts who will remedy any unforeseen developments and guarantee 100% uptime -- all of these things are essential for real estate firms that seek to appeal to current and prospective clients nationwide.  

Remember: a firm's website is often the first point of introduction for people interested in working with a broker, or listing a home with a specific branch. If that firm has unreliable connectivity - if it loses valuable, confidential data, or falls victim to poor hosting services - it will damage its respect in the marketplace. Indeed, the sheer force of social media - the disparate number of blogs, Twitter feeds and Facebook pages - will all say the same thing: that this real estate firm has a shoddy web presence, a site easily overrun by even the slightest increase in traffic and thus not worth visiting or retaining.

All of which brings us back to working with the right colocation provider. In fact, the concept of AIM - strengths that apply to any business - is something realtors should replicate in their dealings with clients. Start with the notion of access, that, as a professional, you will be available to accommodate the needs of your clients; that you have the offices to be a credible force within your industry. Secondly, emphasize the technical expertise that defines your commitment to excellence; assemble a team of distinguished leaders, who share your vision for solving complex problems and customizing solutions for each client. And thirdly, have the mobility to go anywhere, at any hour, to maintain the quality of service your clients deserve.  

These rules are our unofficial motto; but they have added importance concerning the union between real estate and technology, because - in the absence of a reputable colocation provider, one with a suite of integrated services and on-call experts - everything is liable to collapse. In that situation, everyone is the victim of false promises and unrealistic expectations. Put another way, behind most successful online companies there is a successful colocation provider. Our advice to real estate firms is, therefore, simple: choose the right colocation company. Period.

Your “Do-Not-Do” List

Provided By KW Blog

“Oh look, shiny thing!” I often hear real estate agents joke about this phenomenon. You know … the one where you are completely focused on one strategy until something new comes along and grabs your attention. Then you focus on that strategy for a while until another shiny thing comes along and grabs your attention.

And on, and on, and on and…

OH! Shiny Thing!

In all seriousness, the number of strategies you can use to build your real estate business is exponential. And they aren’t all bad. In fact, most can be learned, implemented and executed to meet your annual goals.

The problem is that we tend to think if we keep ourselves busy with seemingly important task throughout the day, that we’re on the right track to accomplish our goals. But for all the new, notable and totally worth-your-time tactics, there’s a point at which you reach maximum capacity. When you attempt to learn and do everything you essentially master nothing.

Consider this hypothetical: your Facebook isn’t feeding you leads, your Tweets aren’t getting retweeted, and the people calling you aren’t hearing your voice because you’re too busy Pinning on Pinterest to return their phone calls.

It’s a crazy thought, right? Surely that’s not happening … Right?

Several months ago I attended a real estate event where consumers took the stage as panelists to answer real estate agents’ biggest questions. During the buyer panel, I heard a consumer say that she called two agents after viewing their listings online. After two days, she hadn’t heard back from either agent. So, she moved onto another website and another agent.

What were those agents doing? Where were they when the client called them?

During the seller panel, the moderator asked if the sellers would want to friend their agent on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. Guess what? All four panelists shook their heads in a resounding “No” – they were literally confused!

To be fair, social media gets a bad rap for being a huge deterrent to productivity. In fact, there are agents tapping into these tactics and they are seeing success. But I’d argue that it’s because they’re having conversations on channels where their clients are already talking. I’d also argue that they have mastered prospecting of the fundamental kind: calling and keeping in touch with their database in a consistent and systematic way.

So here are some questions for you to answer: Are you frustrated that your social media isn’t getting you more leads? Do you wonder where the day went and why you haven’t gotten that next listing? Do you end the week with all the BEST real estate tools in your toolbox but no buyers or sellers to use them on? If so, perhaps you are you wasting your time on the next new shiny thing.

So how do you combat it? How do you get back to (or start) doing the things that are going to get you results?

Start a “Do-Not-Do” List

Becoming truly productive is a matter of generating productivity habits – habits that you routinely do every day. And it begins as a deliberate decision. You shape the routines that create your habits – the habits that will lead you to your goals. You make the choice.

Begin by listing out those tasks that would only serve to consume your time. Then don’t do them! Determine what can be handled more effectively with technology and what you can delegate.

Here are some “Do-Not-Do” suggestions.

Don’t worry if you don’t have EVERY single new gadget or real estate app.

Do know which technology tools work best for your business and help make your customer service extraordinary so that you get generate endless referrals.

Don’t get ready to get ready.

DO be prepared, but remember how important it is to just start! For instance, you may feel like you haven’t practiced your scripts enough. Yet, three hours of lead generation with actual clients would give you tons of experience!

Don’t allow others to interrupt your three hour lead generation time block.

DO set expectations with colleagues and clients about when you will be in touch and what might be an appropriate interruption.

Don’t always feel the need to respond immediately.

Do let people know how much care about providing excellent service and that you will get to them at a prescribed time that is appropriate given the need they have. Prioritize!

Don’t put out fires!

Do have the know-how to separate the emergencies that require your attention and the ones that can be handled at a later date or by another team member.

Don’t over-engage in training and education to the point where your production suffers.

Do set annual goals and attend market center training that will help you achieve them.

Don’t invest a lot of money in your marketing before you master prospecting.

Do focus on crafting your marketing look and message and make sure you are doing the activities that result in dollars: converting leads to appointments and converting appointments to listings.

Don’t try to do everything.

Do choose one or two strategies for generating leads (outside of traditional cold calling) and become a master of it for a set period of time. Farming is an excellent example of this “Do” in action. Many top agents have said that it takes 18 months before farming became a solid lead generation strategy – but they had to stick with it.

Mega Camp 2012 – Here We Go!

Provided By KW Blog

Preparation is well underway as Event Staff and Employees from the KW International Support Center set up what is already looking to be the BIGGEST Mega Camp ever! Starting Tuesday, close to 11,000 Keller Williams associates and top agents from around the world will gather to network with the best and hear the latest insights, trends and skills they need to succeed. From interviews with industry experts and speakers, to panels featuring top agents from across North America, to live role plays, this high-energy event is going to be an event like no other!

And keeping tabs on the hottest panels, biggest breakthroughs and stellar success stories, will be the KW Blog Live Event Coverage Team. Come back each day for highlights, videos and hopefully (if we can catch them!) some behind-the-scenes glimpses of our wonderful speakers and panelists.

We’ll also be posting on the Keller Williams Realty Facebook Page and MAPS Coaching Facebook Page, tweeting with the official Mega Camp hashtag –#KWMC – from @kwri and @mapscoaching and pinning to our new Pinterestboards! So follow along, tag us in your Facebook pictures, tweet and retweet your favorite moments and share your MEGA experiences.

We can’t wait to see you!

The KW Blog Live Event Coverage Team

p.s. You can visit the Mega Camp website for more information on the event and to register.

MEGA CAMP!

Are you in the driver's seat of your success???

Call me to learn how you can ACCELERATE your GROWTH!

September 19th – 20th Mega AGENT Camp ($199)

Wednesday, September 19th 8:00am - 12:00pm
Wednesday, September 19th 1:30pm - 5:00pm
Thursday, September 20th 8:00am - 12:00pm

How to Prospect Expired Listings

Provided By Realty Times

Prospecting expired listings can be the core of anyone's business in the real estate field. You can create a system that will give you repeatable results for your effort. Let's look at these three very positive characteristics in prospecting expired listings.

They are easy to find: Expired listings come up everyday, so you will always have a handful that you can work with on a daily basis. They provide a steady stream of new leads to contact for listing appointments. There are also usually a few very heavy days each month. You will need to set your schedule to take advantage of these heavy days. The end of the month is one of the heaviest times for expired listings; up to 25 percent of the expired listings for the month may occur in just one or two days.

They want to sell: Expired listings were on the market at one time, unlike many other types of clients you will contact. The owners had a plan laid out to sell and move. Unfortunately, their plan did not work out, but, in most cases, they wish it had. There will be some expireds that were listed by clients who are now tired of the process, but the majority of them still want to sell.

The bulk of them are looking for an Agent: If the prospect still has the desire to sell, as most do, then they are searching for a new Agent. They are looking for someone who can solve their previous problem. Most do not know why their home did not sell, but they are frustrated with their previous Agent and sometimes all Agents. They will rarely return to their previous Agent.

The successful way to work expired listings is the CAP system: Consistency Attitude Persistence

The first part is consistency: You must consistently work expired listings. For you to achieve a large return on your time invested, you must work diligently for a minimum of four weeks straight. Expired listings cannot be started and stopped without losing momentum. There is a rhythm and a flow to them. They must be a daily discipline that you work on. If you prospect them for two weeks, then take a week off, you are back to zero. I did not prospect weekends, but I did diligently call Monday through Friday.

Your leads must build, and your follow-up must grow. When you get down the road 30 plus days, you will begin to receive calls for listing appointments from your work earlier in the month as well as your appointments from new expireds. You must work to create a pipeline of expired listing clients.

The second part is attitude: Your attitude plays a crucial role in your success working with expired listings. You need to convey to the seller an attitude of compassion and problem solving. They are not just looking for someone to pound a sign in the ground; they are looking for someone to get their home sold; they are looking for someone to solve their problem. They can get even more resentful due to the high volume of Agents that may call them.

Many expireds feel that everyone else is the problem, when it is actually them and their price. When it comes to expired listings, price is the problem 90% of the time. You have to read the people you are meeting with regarding their home. Too many Agents who work with expired listings hit their prospective clients with a ball peen hammer between the eyes when it comes to the price. That will work with some and will fail miserably with others. You must be able to adjust your delivery.

You need to read the prospective clients, and, most importantly, you need to exude an attitude of caring and compassion for their situation, while conveying confidence in your ability to get the job done. Sometimes, the only way to get the price down is to convince them you care, and it pains you that they have to sell for less, but there is no other way. It is like the doctor who tells his patient she has cancer. He does not like it, but he has to do it, so he can cure her.

The last, and at times most critical, is persistence: Your persistence or ability to stick with it can have the most positive results of all. Many expired listings do not set appointments right away with Agents. Sellers will wait a week or two, maybe even a month. The number of calls they receive about their home drops dramatically as the weeks tick by. Do not be one of the Agents who drop off unless the sellers have low motivation or are unreasonable. Be one of the ones left standing at the end of a week or two.

Be persistent in your calling. Call them a few times a week. All you are doing is trying to set an appointment. You are not doing a listing appointment over the phone; just close for an appointment. That is what the call is for. You just want to be one of the three or four they interview. If you keep that as your goal, you will get plenty of salable listings.

Focus on the CAP system daily. Work both today's expired listings, and the ones you gathered in the past. Effectively follow-up with your hot leads daily. Remember consistency, attitude, and persistence are the keys to prospecting expired listings.

Handling The Landmines of Wasted Time

Provided By Realty Times

here are numerous challenges and landmines to the time management equation. Entrepreneurial small businesses face a large number of these challenges. As Real Estate Agents, we are owners of entrepreneurial small businesses. This business type tends to put us in the front lines, with multiple job descriptions at once, trying to drive strategic objectives in sales, marketing, management, leadership, customer service, accounting, administration, and research and development all at the same time. The probability for landmines that can blow up and wreck your day, hour, or even half hour of production is lurking around every phone call e-mail, fax, cell phone call, and meeting. My goal is to give you tools, strategies, and implementation techniques to help you achieve the highest return on investment for your time.

1. Handling the constant stream of interruptions

We are in a profession that we delight in the inbound sales inquiry calls. We all live for the potential Seller or Buyer who calls us to ask about a property or, better yet, about our services. The problem for most Agents is there are never enough of those and a lot more problem calls. We can compound those interruptions through the use of cell phones, pagers, and access to our home phone as well.

I believe that we are the most interrupted profession on the face of the planet. We have the highest probability of distraction, as well, especially when we add e-mail to the distraction list. We must be able to limit the access we provide people by restricting inbound calls significantly. We want those calls, and we need to be able to respond to them quickly. One tactic is to use your cell phone for the lead generation calls or what I call "money" calls. We might have to re-educate our clients whom we have listed, sold, or are securing a home for to call the office line. It would help you reduce the number of cell phone calls. The more we can direct only "money" calls to the cell phone, the more we are able to secure the other calls out for later. Certainly, another technique is to simply turn off your cell phone and only operate through the voice mail for much of the day.

Create a short list. That’s a list of people your Assistant or Receptionist knows to put through to you right away when they call. You want about half a dozen people on your short list. For me, it’s my wife, my attorney, and my father. All other people must leave a message or book an appointment for as soon as I am free. There is rarely anything in real estate sales that can’t wait an hour.

2. Procrastination – the silent killer

Procrastination is caused by thinking that we have more time to complete a task than we really do. It is also a lack of urgency on our part. There is a difference between procrastination and prioritization. Prioritization is the skill of a Champion. A Champion puts off the things that don’t matter as much and uses their time to do high-value activities. Procrastination is putting off everything that is challenging and difficult. The challenging and difficult items are usually the most important and valuable items. Procrastination is caused by lack of clarity in goals and lack of connecting the goals to important activities that link with the goals. The key question: Is what I am doing right now bringing me closer to or further away from the goals I have set?

Procrastination can be caused by having too many workdays available. In your mind, you can think, "I can always do that later". It allows you to do the activities a few days later, even though today would be best. We can really fake ourselves out by not having set workdays. The old adage that work expands into the time allotted is true.

3. Unclear vision, objectives, and priorities

Procrastination can happen because of a lack of clarity in your vision and what you do. Why are you in real estate sales? What are your objectives for the year in gross commission income? What is the mix of your business in listing side versus Buyer controlled side? How many listings do you need to take yearly, quarterly, monthly, and weekly to reach your goals? How many Buyer sales do you need to make in the same time frame? What’s your conversion ratio of leads? How many leads do you need to generate and appointments do you need to make to earn your income goal? Every Agent who wants to achieve the Champion level must have clear objectives and a clear vision of what needs to happen next to accomplish their objectives.

The skill of prioritization is missing for most Agents. How you execute your priorities has a dramatic effect on your income and results. When we evaluate what our objectives and priorities are, too many Agents view them synonymously. Objectives are really the results you are aiming for in your business. Priorities are the individual steps in the right order to accomplish the objective.

Champion Rule: We have too much to do and not enough time.

Most people who are Champion Performers are running at 100% or more all the time, and there is more stuff added to their plate daily. As we get better and more successful, our opportunities and responsibilities increase.

I am blessed with more opportunities and responsibilities today than when I sold real estate. I have more now than when I founded Real Estate Champions over ten years ago, and ten years from now, there will be even more. With greater success comes greater responsibility and greater opportunities. You will also experience greater problems. As you expand your business, the problems and challenges will increase in number and difficulty. The good news is with larger problems comes larger money. We are problem solvers in the real estate business. When markets shift, problems increase, and your value as an Agent increases too. The increased responsibilities and opportunities are the circle of life from the time we were born. Wesley, my son, has more responsibilities and opportunities than his younger sister, Annabelle.

Time management myth: More successful people have fewer distractions. Because of their production and the opportunities they are constantly creating, they experience more interruptions, distractions, and challenges on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. They are, however, better at handling these demands than others. They have the ability to solve the challenges much faster. They let the negative things that happen to all of us affect them mentally for shorter periods of time. If you are a Champion Agent, like many of my clients who earn $500 an hour or more (that means each fifteen minute block of time is worth $125), you can’t let too many of those fifteen-minute blocks slip away during the day. The control of those blocks of fifteen minutes and the attitude control is one of the main reasons they are worth $500 an hour.

Champion Rule: We will never get caught up.

For Champion Agents, there is no hope of ever getting caught up. Why would you want to? It means you are not getting new opportunities, challenges, clients, prospects to sell to, etc. It means your business has stagnated or receded. A Champion Performer will go home each day of their work life with something un-done or not completed. We could stay in the office past midnight each day, and we still would not have everything completed. We must get over the "clean up and get everything done" syndrome. The question isn’t, did we get everything done; it’s did we get the most important things done. The ability to have a system to select and execute the high-value tasks enables us to align our priorities with our objectives.

Keller Williams Realty Ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Home Buyer and Seller Segments" by J.D. Power and Associates

Provided By Keller Williams Realty

According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Home Buyer/Seller Satisfaction Study^SM released yesterday, Keller Williams Realty, Inc. ranks highest in customer satisfaction in both the homebuyer and home seller segments. Keller Williams Realty, Inc. achieved the highest scores in all measured factors across both segments, receiving the highest JDPower.com Power Circle Rating^SM among its competitors overall.

“We are so proud to have our associates be recognized once again for leading the industry with the influence and reputations they have in their local communities. They continually demonstrate not only their level of talent, but their commitment to serving our communities with the utmost integrity and highest level of service," Mark Willis, CEO of Keller Williams Realty, Inc., stated. “Congratulations to all Keller Williams Realty associates. They have certainly earned this prestigious distinction."

The fifth annual J.D. Power and Associates study measures customer satisfaction with the largest national real estate companies within the home buyer and seller segments. Scores are determined by examining three factors of the home-buying experience: agent/salesperson; office; and variety of additional services. For the home-selling segment, agent/salesperson; marketing; office; and variety of additional services are examined.

J.D. Power and Associates stated, “[The uncertain economic times] present a challenge for the real estate companies to really work closely with the customers and really hold their hand through the entire process to make them feel more comfortable in the decisions. Keller Williams has set itself apart by performing high in all the areas that are most important to customers specifically with the agent, the offices, and the services that they provide."

“Our agents go above and beyond to help their clients at one of the most personal times in their lives – when they are buying or selling a home. We are incredibly honored and humbled that our associates have been recognized yet again for their incredible levels of service," says Mary Tennant, President of Keller Williams Realty, Inc.

###

Disclaimer: Keller Williams received the highest numerical score among full service real estate firms for home buyers and home sellers in the proprietary J.D. Power and Associates 2012 Home Buyer/Seller Study^SM. Study based on 2,994 total evaluations measuring five firms and measures opinions of individuals who bought or sold a home between March 2011 and April 2012. Proprietary study results are based on experiences and perceptions of consumers surveyed March-May 2012. Your experiences may vary. Visit jdpower.com

About Keller Williams Realty, Inc.:

Founded in 1983, Keller Williams Realty, Inc. is the second-largest real estate franchise operation in the United States, with 675 offices and almost 77,000 associates across the globe. The company, which began franchising in 1990, has an agent-centric culture that emphasizes access to leading-edge education and promotes an economic model that rewards associates as stakeholders and partners. The company also provides specialized agents in luxury homes and commercial real estate properties. For more information, or to search for homes for sale, visit Keller Williams Realty online at (www.kw.com). Information about Keller Williams Realty’s international expansion can be found at (www.kwworldwide.com).

Real Estate Marketing Strategies: 7 Ways Perfectionism Stops You from Success

Provided By Realty Times

Are you a perfectionist? Do you know someone who is? Have you ever wondered if perfectionism is a help or hindrance on the road to success?

In my 15+ years of coaching real estate agents to be at the top of their game, I have seen that perfectionism does more harm than good. In fact there are at least 7 Ways that perfectionism stops you from success.

1. Perfectionism causes procrastination. Have you ever had a project that you really wanted to get done, but never could quite complete it? If you look carefully at what was going on in your mindset, you probably see that you wanted to project to be completed perfectly.

We live in an imperfect world. The idea that perfection is possible is just an illusion. Your desire for perfection can stop you from taking action that is needed. In fact it can even lead to mental paralysis and stop you from listening to your intuition.

Imperfect action is better than no action.

2. You get caught up in the details. Instead, use your business vision. There is nothing so compelling as a vision for which you have passion. But if you're busy with the details, and trying to get every little thing perfect, you lose sight of the bigger picture.

Delegate out as many details of your business as you can't so you can focus on moving your business forward.

3. Perfectionism doesn't allow you to be yourself. Have you noticed how guarded you feel when you're trying to put up a front of being perfect? You can't be yourself, because someone might see that you really aren't as perfect as you're trying to be.

How did that get started anyway? In the way that most of us were conditioned, we weren't allowed to be ourselves. The more our parents had perfectionistic standards for us and the more we tried to achieve those standards, the more of ourselves we had to give away.

We usually do to ourselves what was done to us when we were growing up. Therefore, if you suffer from perfectionism, it is a good bet that it was part of your programming in your early years. Quite likely you picked up the belief, "I have to be perfect to be okay."

Get to work on discovering your self-limiting beliefs with regard to perfectionism. When you bring those beliefs to the surface, you can release them and replace them with empowering beliefs, such as, "I am perfectly imperfect like everyone else."

4. Perfectionism set you up to need others' approval. Let's face it, when you're being a perfectionist, you're thinking about other people approving of you and your work. You're being "outer directed", i.e. trying to get you approval from the outside rather than giving it to yourself.

The truth is; we don't have to be perfect. All we need to do in any particular moment is to do our best. And our best changes from moment to moment in day-to-day. If you're feeling healthy, your best will be one-way and if you're feeling sickly your best will be another way. In either case you just need to remember that your job is only to do your best.

Forget about needing other people's approval, because what others think of you is really not your business.

5. Perfectionism causes you to be in a constant state of stress, because you're always trying to meet your perfect standards. According to the law of attraction, the states of consciousness that attract prosperity and success are very positive, such as gratitude, appreciation, and love. When you send out those energies, you are becoming more magnetic for your ideal business. However, when you are trying to be perfect, you are sending out signals of stress, anxiety and fear.

Notice the feelings you are sending out and make yourself as magnetic as possible by projecting gratitude and tolerance.

6. Perfectionism stops you from taking a risk. Any seasoned real estate agent knows how important it is to take educated risks to move forward. Staying stuck in the status quo never benefited anyone.

However, when you demand of yourself that you need to be perfect, you'll be very hesitant to take the risk.

When it comes to taking risks - follow your intuition. It knows better what you need then your own beliefs that you need to be perfect. Remember, perfection doesn't exist, it's a trap.

7. Perfectionism stops you from picking up the phone. The consequences of this are HUGE for your business. In today's marketplace the old methods of marketing aren't nearly as effective as you simply picking up the phone and prospecting. Prospective clients are less likely to notice you through a flyer or e-mail. However when they hear the sound of your voice, you're making personal contact.

So many people I've worked with over the years avoid this method of lead generation and their business suffers tremendously.

When I explore with them why they are so avoidant of picking up the phone, it usually comes down to the same thing…. they want to be seen as perfect. This is another way of saying that they are afraid of being seen as "pushy" and afraid of rejection.

When you are marketing yourself to prospective clients, there is no such thing as rejection. It's simply a match or it's not a match. Your job is to prospect, present your services and keep on the lookout for someone who needs what you have to offer. If they don't need it, it simply isn't a match.

Follow these tips listed above and allow yourself to be "perfectly imperfect". Your business will thank you for it.

Building A Champion Business By Pausing

Provided By Realty Times

eing able to build a Champion's Business takes focus, skill, and determination. It takes the desire to move, change, test, adjust, and then change again. One of the ingredients that most Agents fail to execute is the ability to regularly pause. The ability to pause, evaluate, ponder, meditate, and clarify at regular intervals will move you from a good business to a Champion Business. The pause helps you learn and invest what you have learned into your future success account.

Pause at the end of each day to reflect on what went right. If you had to rate the day one to ten, how would it rate? Why did you rate it there? What could have been improved on? What are you most proud of for the day? What are the priorities for tomorrow? I typically spend thirty minutes at the end of the day reviewing the day and learning from the day. Too often, we continue on daily without pausing, pondering, and evaluating, so we make the same or similar mistakes repeatedly over time.... warning!!At the end of the week, take an hour to pause. A week is a pretty good chronicle of time that has gone by. Evaluate the prospecting numbers, leads generated, and appointments booked. What did you learn this week? What would you change? How should next week be approached? What priorities didn't get accomplished that need to be moved to next week? How's your energy level and reserve? How's your attitude at the end of the week? If you have staff, evaluate their performance as well.

Pause at the end of the month for two hours. Invest those two hours in your future wealth, growth, and happiness. Besides the previous questions for the day and the week evaluation, review your leads in your database. Did you miss calling anyone? Is there someone you should call earlier than scheduled? Too often, Agents call someone they have as a lead just after they have made a decision to commit to someone else, or they have bought and sold using someone else. By taking a few minutes to review the leads monthly, you will catch oversight that will cost you thousands. Even today, I review leads in our database quarterly and always catch opportunities about to be lost. My sales manager at Real Estate Champions is required to review calls and leads weekly and monthly.

At the end of the month review your prospecting leads, appointments, and overall numbers for your business. You also want to review the numbers on your market trends report. We must already know where the marketplace is heading in real time, rather than reaction time.

The break at the end of the quarter should be a half day to give you the opportunity to repeat all the steps I have given you thus far on a large, deeper, more focused time frame. When you get to the quarter evaluation, I really believe that it needs to be conducted off site. This time is of paramount importance and needs your full attention without the distractions of being in your office. If you feel you need to be in the office because of the availability of your data to analyze, then come in 4 hours before your normal day would begin, or stay in the evening and evaluate. Again, evaluating the marketplace for the quarter is an integral part of the quarter pause.

The pause at six months should be around a full day. Six months is a significant amount of time. I know Agents who have been way behind initially, but caught up to their goal in the last six months through making the right adjustments. I know others who were way ahead of their goal, but they didn't take the time to review and weren't paying attention. They missed the mark on their one-year objectives.

The pause at the end of the year should be from three days to a week. I personally prefer a week. The final week of the year has developed into my favorite week of the year. It is the time I hit the rewind button for the whole year and replay the tape. I immerse myself in questions and evaluation to guarantee the mistakes remain in the past and the victories flow into the future. I check my business plan, business vision, and values, systems, lead generation source, and conversion. I check my mental state and commitment level to my goals for the next year. This week isn't to build a business plan for the next year. In fact, if you are doing that in this week, you are too late. Your business plan for the new year needs to be constructed no later than the end of October of the preceding year. To decide a week before the new year to build your business plan is too late.

Take the above steps to execute pausing at regular intervals into your business. You will see how this exercise helps you move your business from a good business to a Champion's Business.