In This Issue...

• Words from the President
• Three Truths that Rule Every Real Estate Market
• Seven Steps of Effective Prospecting

Words from the President

One of the battles that agents struggle with constantly is maintaining focus. Focus is a skill or muscle to be trained and worked for increased strength. We all lose focus at times. Having coached hundreds of agents across North America, I have come to realize that the number of times people lose focus is fairly constant. It’s the duration of the loss that makes the difference.

I had a call with a client a while ago. He had been out of focus because of something a client of his and another agent did. He lost focus because of lost revenue. Have you ever been there? I asked him how many days he had been off track. He told me 3 days, and I knew it was at least that many. Here is a top agent making well over 6 figures allowing his focus to slip for 3 days. Here is what it cost him:

He earns:    $78.00 an hour
He works:    8 hours per day
He lost:       3 days of work
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$78.00/hr x 8 hrs x 3 days = $1,872.00

How many times monthly or yearly does this happen to us? If it happens just once per month, it could cost us $22,464. For most people, it happens more frequently than that. The key is reducing the span of time from when you get out of focus till you get back on track. Some people take 3 days to get back on track and some take as little as 3 minutes. How much time does it take you to get back on track? Focus comes before success. Work to reduce the time you are out of focus.


To your Success,

Dirk Zeller
CEO
Real Estate Champions

Three Truths that Rule Every Real Estate Market

Here’s a fact: Most real estate Agents know too little about the markets in which they operate. That is one of the reasons why consumers think they know more – or at least as much as – their Agents do and why they don’t hold their Agents in higher regard.

Now, here’s a tip: You can give yourself an edge over other Agents and establish yourself as a regional real estate expert simply by doing your homework, researching your market area, and gaining a good understanding of the realities and trends that affect the real estate decisions of your buyers and sellers.

A new or newer Agent faces a steep learning curve to acquire market knowledge. It takes time to develop a sixth sense, which is what most Agents use to understand the marketplace. However, rather than waiting to acquire the instincts to make good guesses, you can begin today to acquire data and knowledge that translates almost immediately to power and influence.

Whether you’re in a major metro market or a small town; regardless of the country, the economy, or even the day and age you’re doing business, when you’re in the field of real estate, three core rules apply to your business:

1. Real estate is governed by the law of supply and demand. This rule is absolute and without exception. The appreciation of a market, the expectations of buyers and sellers, and the velocity of market sales are all dictated by the supply of – and the demand for – real estate for sale.
   
   As a recent example, we saw rapid appreciation and a frenzied response by buyers in the U.S. real estate market in the years 2002 through 2005. This response was caused by the fact that demand for real estate was at an all-time high while the supply was limited. This caused rapid appreciation, with home sellers receiving multiple offers within days or even hours. At one time during that period, homes in southern California were selling, on average, at 18% above the listed price – the result of a market condition where demand outstripped supply.



2. Real estate is governed by the law of cause and effect. Put differently, positive situations cause positive outcomes, and vice versa. For example, a vibrant economic growth leads to a vibrant real estate market and strong appreciation of homes, while loss of jobs and a languishing economy produce exactly the opposite effect.
   
   As a specific example, as the baby boom generation matured, it fueled an explosion in second home purchases so strong that more than 21% of 2004 U.S. home sales were second home purchases – most acquired by aging baby boomers. This created desire for additional housing that affected the construction and home values in second home markets nationwide.



3. History will repeat itself. In any marketplace, there are cycles. Periods of rapid real estate appreciation are followed by stagnant periods where values stabilize or even decrease. By acquiring marketplace knowledge, you can foresee trends both for your own benefit and for the benefit of your clients.
   
   For example, in a number of key U.S. market areas more than 40% of new home loans are being written as low money down, interest only mortgages. These limited-equity position purchases are being made on the assumption – the gamble – that the recent rapid-appreciation cycle will continue and that housing prices will climb ever higher. When the growth trend stops, as it has many times before, home values will decline, mortgage balances will exceed resale prices, and a large group of home buyers will be forced to walk away from their homes as banks foreclose on a significant number of loans. This will further lower values and stagnate growth, as it has many times before.

By knowing your market and watching regional statistics, you will be prepared and proactive to give yourself an edge and establish yourself as a regional real estate expert. Simply do your homework, research your market area, and gain a good understanding of the realities and trends that affect the real estate decisions of your buyers and sellers.

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Seven Steps of Effective Prospecting

There are strategic steps to being great at prospecting. I have capsulated these in what is called the Seven F-words of Prospecting.

The 1st step is to Find: We have to find a place to do the prospecting. Finding a place is one of the biggest challenges in prospecting. This place has to be quiet with minimum distractions. We need to have an environment that is controlled for the prospecting to happen.

We also must find a time to prospect. Most Agents try to fit their prospecting around their day, rather than fit their day around their prospecting. Those who have no set time for prospecting do not do it. Going to the same place at the same time helps to form the habit. Prospecting is about discipline and habit. The habit and discipline make up for the lack of skill.

The 2nd Step is to Forget: We need to forget all the previous failures we’ve experienced. We have all had days when the results were not what we had hoped. We have all stared at the phone for an hour trying to make the first call. We have had times when we did not feel like prospecting. Forget about your previous failures. Start fresh today. Make the effort now to pick up the phone and call a past client or someone in your sphere. Take the action that needs to be taken.

The 3rd Step is to Fight: We must fight all the hindrances and distractions. Your mind and other people will create more disruptions than you can imagine: “I can’t make calls until I call these three people back about our deals in closing,” or “I have to get these flyers made for these listings,” or even “I have a hang nail, and it will be hard to dial the phone, and it might get infected.” The reality is, any distraction or hindrance will do. You have to fight them off with a passion. The people who are effective at prospecting have just as many distractions as you do, maybe even more. They are just more effective at fighting them off.

The 4th Step is Focus: The ability to focus comes before one acquires success. If you examine the most successful people, they have the ability to achieve intense focus. They have developed the skill to be in the moment, to focus completely on the task at hand. By applying the discipline of daily activity, you can build the muscle of focus. By finding a spot and finding the time, you give your mind the opportunity to focus on your prospecting much easier. One technique I used to intensify focus before prospecting was to rehearse my scripts and dialogues. This rehearsal helped me to work and warm up before making the first call. The practice session put me in a more focused mindset.

Step #5 is to Follow: Follow a plan of action to create a plan for your day that places prospecting in its proper place. This means doing the prospecting when you have the most energy and intensity. Many of us fail to plan our day for success. We let the day unfold. Never start a day before you plan it out on paper. We must create a plan to follow. Often our time is tossed like a small ship on a huge ocean with no means of steering, going wherever the winds and surf will take us. We react to the problems and crises all day and, in the end, wonder where all of our time went. Control the day; control the time.

The 6th Step is that we must be Faithful: We must be faithful to ourselves and our commitments: faithful to do the prospecting daily, to diligently commit to prospecting daily for a specific time frame or specific number of contacts. When you are faithful to your objectives, you will win every time. When you are faithful to prospecting, the results are astounding. The law of accumulation kicks in on your behalf. This law states that everything accumulates; that all your positive actions accumulate to build momentum and exponential rewards. It’s amazing how a few contacts every day repeated over time can bring forth staggering results.

Let me share two examples of the power of the law of accumulation. The first has to do with wealth. Wealth is what most people desire. I only know of few people who don’t want to acquire great wealth. One of the benchmarks of wealth is becoming a millionaire. To possess a million dollars is relatively easy. If, at the age of 20, you put $2.78 away each and every day into an investment account that achieved reasonable interest, you would be a millionaire by the age of 65. Now, who in today’s society couldn’t save $2.78 a day? Even someone flipping burgers at McDonald’s could find $2.78 a day to invest. In other terms, it’s forgoing a Starbuck’s latte a day. The law of accumulation is clear and easy to apply.

We have a coaching client who took this challenge of the law of accumulation very seriously. He committed to calling his sphere and past clients and making ten contacts a day. After eight months, he had almost tripled his income from the previous year. He more than doubled the number of units sold over the previous year. His edge was that, in those eight months, he could count on one hand the number of days that he failed to hit his ten contacts per day goal. We must be faithful.

The Last F is Finish: Finish what you start. You have to run the whole race all the way to the finish line. No one remembers who was ahead at the 90-meter mark of a 100-meter race. The winner at 90 meters has to win in the last 10 meters, or he’ll lose the reward. Finish strong, finish focused, be faithful to yourself, and finish! Don’t accept anything less than going all out at the finish of the race. If you make a goal of five contacts a day, don’t do four. Do five! Don’t accept anything less than the goal you have set. Accept nothing less than your best.

We can all learn to prospect more effectively. Make sure that you find the place and the time. Don’t dwell on past failures; forget them. Be determined to fight for your time and fight for your focus. Create and follow a great plan of action. Be faithful to yourself and to your clients and family, and finish what you start. You will find success knocking at your door in a short period of time.


For related articles, go to:
http://www.realestatechampions.com/realestatetraining_articles/

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