In This Issue...

• Words from the President
• What You are Worth
• Scheduling for Success

Words from the President

Even Champion Performers get brain cramps at one time or another. Even Champion Performers occasionally rush ahead without assessing the situation and assessing the odds. Unfortunately, they often end up with the same disastrous results as everyday people.

On Father’s Day, I caught the last part of the US Open golf tournament. I was hoping to see Phil Michelson win the US Open Championship that has eluded him a number of times previously. Phil is clearly a Champion and possibly the best player in the game currently . . . sorry to you Tiger Woods fans.

He approached the 18th tee with a one shot lead. Par the last hole, and the championship was his. He did not have his “A” game that day. Yet, he managed to come to the 18th with a lead. This was certainly a testament to his mental resolve, tenacity, and skill. Phil had hit only two total fairways that day out of 13 possible. His success ratio was 15%. The brain cramp engulfed him. He pulled out his driver.

At that moment, he lost the tournament. He didn’t play the odds intelligently. As salespeople trying to achieve the Champion level in life, we must understand and apply the odds of our business, the marketplace, prospect conversion, time invested, energy required, emotional level, and future income potential. There are a number of key evaluations to make. The big question is what are the odds?

Phil, in my view, based on the pressure of the situation, had a 15% chance of winning the tournament right at that moment when he pulled out his driver. That was the odds of him hitting the fairway with the driver based on his day thus far. It was one of the most important moments of his life, and he had less than 1.5 in 10 chance of the outcome that he wanted.

I would venture to say that many agents are playing the same game of real estate sales with about the same odds or possibility of winning that Phil had. Over the course of your career, can you make it with those odds? Phil has won more major championships than anyone else over the last two years because he played the odds better than everyone else and better than he had in previous years. However, he has lost a number of major titles because of his gunslinger mentality.

One of the key differences between Phil and the rest of us is that he gets paid well even if he doesn’t win. He receives $15 to $20 million a year in endorsements whether he wins a golf tournament or not. He also pocketed $501,249 for finishing in a tie for second place. It’s not about the money for him or any person focused on Champion Performance. It’s about playing at the highest level you are capable of playing. Here are the questions you must evaluate about your odds as a real estate agent right now.

1. What are the odds of each of my listings selling in the next 30 days? If you are not at least at 70%, corrective action needs to be taken. The most effective corrective action is a price reduction. Most agents are still not responding to the nationally increased inventory levels with price reductions.
   
   
2. What are the odds of each buyer you are working buying in the next 30 days? At least an 80% is required to continue to invest your time in showing property to them.
   
   
3. What are the odds of that prospect committing to work with you exclusively? At a minimum, that prospect needs to be 51% or greater . . . a probability rather than a possibility. The only exception would be a prospect you know has to list or buy in the next 30 days. The time frame in that instance is so tight it allows you to expand the odds downward. Where agents get in trouble is working low probability prospects for long periods of time. Even if you get the transaction, by the time you do, you have worked so hard convincing them to work with you and providing them service there isn’t any net profit left in the transaction.

We are in an odds-based business. Those odds need constant evaluation in terms of our prospects, customers, clients, listing inventory, and the changing marketplace. The marketplace will move the odds of success in a volatile market monthly and, in most markets, quarterly. If you don’t track the marketplace, you won’t know the odds. You might pull the wrong club at the crucial time. You might be better suited to hit two long iron shots, get it on the green, two putt, and go home as the victor. I am sure that Phil Michelson would tell you the same thing!


To your Success,

Dirk Zeller
CEO
Real Estate Champions

What You are Worth

The more I coach and train Agents, the more I realize the biggest battle Agents have is on the battlefield of time. Maximizing the dollars we earn per hour separates the extremely successful from the frustrated. There are many Agents across the country who are merely trading more time for more money. They are simply spending more and more time with people other than their family. If you are one of those people, make sure you do the steps outlined in this article. This article was written for you!

The first step to time mastery is knowing what you are worth per hour. By knowing what you actually get paid per hour, you will be able to make wise decisions about your activities. To figure out what you make per hour, take your gross commission (that’s before company split) and divide it by the number of hours worked. To find hours worked, take the number of hours you work in a day, multiply by the days you work in a week and the number of weeks you work per year, and then divide that into your gross commission.

If we know our value per hour then we will be able to evaluate what we do on a basis of “Does it really pay me that amount per hour?” Let’s say you make $50 an hour. There are only certain activities in selling real estate that will pay you that $50 per hour. The rule is if you would not pay someone $50 to do it, neither will anyone else - which means that you will not be earning your $50 an hour doing those specific activities. For example, making flyers, inputting listings into magazines, putting together bulk mail, and typing letters are all activities that I think would not pay anyone $50 an hour. We all know these have to be done. The question is do you have to do them? The second question is can I spend less time doing them?

We are all squeezed by time. We all can feel there are not enough hours in the day. We all feel the tug of our family and business and the battle for abundance in both areas. If you truly want to find a few hours daily, do this next action plan.

We call this exercise “Task Analysis”. What you are doing is taking a look at what you clearly do each day. Not guessing what you are doing but knowing what is happening. Take an old day timer page and make a few copies. Then every 15-30 minutes, write down what you are doing. Track this process for 2 weeks. This process will enable you to know with certainty where you are investing your time. You will be amazed as to the allocation of your time. For most Agents who have completed this task, they find 10-20 hours weekly that can be better spent. That’s anywhere from 25%-50% increased efficiency when fully implemented. To know what that really means to you in dollars, multiply your gross commission by 25%. That is what you can earn in addition this year without more expenses and without the latest marketing gimmicks. The best part is that you are in total control of that number. The market, your broker, the buyers and sellers have no effect on your ability to increase your income by the amount you wrote down.

Work diligently on the task analysis process. Really track the activities and the time invested in each. Then, at the end of each week, add up the time spent in each activity. Ask yourself these questions:

Knowing what you are worth per hour and what you are investing your work time in are the first two steps to time-mastery. Once you have started down the road to time-mastery, you are moving toward sales mastery and then life mastery. Make the commitment today to yourself and your family to do these action plans. The truth of life is…it is a vapor. We do not know how long we have to enjoy it. We can make up lost revenue but cannot make up for lost time. Know that your time is the most valuable resource you have. Start the process to reclaim more of it today.

If you're tired of losing the listing to other agents, join us for your personal plan for…

"Getting the Listing on
the First Appointment"

Tele-Seminar -


Thursday, July 20^th
10:00am PT • 11:00am MT • 12:00noon CT • 1:00pm ET

Run Time: 90 min, including LIVE Q&A with Dirk Zeller

Seating is limited to only 250. Reserve your place NOW while we still have room.

“We are already putting into action a number of the ideas we learned from the seminar. In my three years in the upper-end real estate industry, my sales have doubled each year.

Last year, my transactions totaled $13 mil. Utilizing Dirk's system, we anticipate (and are counting on!) an increase of at least 50% this year over last year.

Thank you in advance for your part in our success!”

– Elaine Bierstock, Lyon Real Estate, Sacramento, CA


Get More Information Now!

Scheduling for Success

Real estate Agents seem to work off a floating schedule – if any schedule at all. They work when they want to work and play when they want to play. For most, there is no regular pattern of work time. The trouble with this approach is that it leads to low productivity and low earnings.

The most successful people in any profession are usually highly scheduled. Have you ever met a successful doctor who tells patients to “come on in any old time”? No, doctors have highly scheduled lives. They have blocks of time divided into specific time increments set up for seeing patients. They know how many patients they need to see each day to create the lifestyles they choose to live. Why shouldn’t we run our businesses the same way? It’s certainly more efficient than the way most of us run our businesses now.

To be successful, you must “time-block” your day. This scheduling is one of the first disciplines we work on with our clients. We help our clients understand that they (not their buyers, sellers, and prospects) control their schedules and that certain activities should be blocked into one’s daily schedule. These activities should be done only during those blocks of time. You need to schedule time daily to prospect, to follow up leads, to negotiate contracts, to return phone calls, to make listing presentations, to show property, to plan your business, to meet with staff, and to follow up on escrows. These activities should be clearly blocked in your schedule at specific times. The better you “time-block”, the more effective you will be. How effective you are, in turn, relates directly to your bottom line. The better you adhere to your “time-blocked” schedule, the more success you will have in sales.

You need to remember to allow for a little “flex time” or “play time”. You will need some time to relax and decompress mixed into your schedule. This relaxation time will enable you to stay focused and sharp during the “up time”. Giving yourself 15 minutes of “flex time” every two to three hours should be sufficient to break the tension or to catch up, so you can stay “time-blocked”.

Your focus must be on getting people to move into your schedule. You need to move listing appointments into your specified time blocks; to show property during normal business hours, instead of at all hours of the day and night; to have regular times when you speak with or meet face-to-face with your lender and escrow Agent regarding files in process. How much time is wasted playing telephone tag with people with whom you do business on a regular basis?

I know that a lot of you are saying, “How do you do this? You can’t get people to do this.” I don’t believe that. I had a strict “time-blocked” schedule for years. I required people to meet with me on my terms and in my schedule; it can be done. The first step is to decide that you are going to do it. The next step is to give your prospects and clients the opportunity to meet with you in your schedule. Rather than asking, “When do you want to meet?” or “What’s good for you?” ask them to meet you at specific times within your schedule. Give the client a choice between two times. You will be amazed to see how many people will select one of the times . . . doing business with you on your terms. You have now set a new work standard for you and your clients. You are the one in control, not your prospect or client.

Take back control of your business and your personal life. “Time-block” your way to both personal and professional success. Your family will be glad that you did.


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

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