In This Issue...

• Words from the President
• Entering the For Sale By Owner World - And Winning!
• There’s Gold in Them Leads - Get to Work Mining!
• Your Real Estate Business – A Big Show or Reality?

Words from the President

Thanks for joining me today on your journey toward success as a Real Estate Agent.

The three areas that we'll focus our time on today are Entering the For Sale By Owner World, There’s Gold in Them Leads, and Your Real Estate Business. Any of these articles could help you change your life in 2007 if you'll read, absorb, and use the information.

Before you get started, I'd like to take a moment and highlight one small change to Coaches Corner™ that we've made. This will likely carry on through out this year. We're increasing our article content by 33% by adding another article to the newsletter.

Why the change?...you might ask.

Well, there's been a lot of buzz in the industry over the last several weeks about Real Estate Teams. One thing you may not be aware of is that we here at Real Estate Champions, Inc have been coaching clients to build Real Estate Teams since 1998.

We've coached them on how to build them (sometimes from scratch), grow them, sell them, and how to use them as a path to retirement. So, we've got more than enough experience in this area to be called an authority on real estate teams.

Also, I've recently contracted with McGraw-Hill to publish a new book, "The Champion Real Estate Team" (due out Fall 2007). I'm actually wrapping it up right now and will be submitting it to the editor shortly.

In an effort to help meet the need for information regarding building a Real Estate Team, I've instructed my team to 1) assemble a pre-release version of a chapter out of my new book as the "The Champion Real Estate Team Guide" and 2) begin releasing article excerpts from the book here in Coaches Corner™. You can get an instant download of the guide here.

I hope that you'll invest a few minutes of your life with me today and that the information you gain from Coaches Corner™ proves to be a blessing to you and your career.

To your achievement of success in life,

"Swanepoel Real Estate
Trends Report"

During the past year, the real estate industry has experienced unprecedented change and significant innovation. You’ve no doubt experienced it first hand.

The key to being successful in real estate, or any other career for that matter, is staying apprised of the trends in your industry. If you can see where things are heading, you can utilize new opportunities before your competition.

• Beating your competition to the next wave of opportunities
• Avoiding fads that could set your business back years
• Gaining valuable insights about revealing strategies you can use right now

Learn More Here

Entering the For Sale By Owner World - And Winning!

Converting FSBO listings involves a process that, in a number of ways, is similar to working with expired listings. However, there are two key differences between the two areas.

The biggest difference has to do with timing. Most expired listings are re-listed and back on the market within a matter of days, while FSBOs convert at a much slower pace. If you contact the owners of a FSBO, usually you can expect them to take at least a few additional weeks to try to sell on their own before they commit the listing to you.

The second big difference has to do with the sales approach. When working to convert an expired listing, you need to take control in order to prevail over a bunch of other unknown agents who are vying for the listing. The owners of the expired listing rarely have an agent preference at this point. Their “first-choice” agent was the one whose sign just came down; from that point, they’re pretty much up for grabs. This isn’t always the case with FSBO owners, who sometimes have an agent “in the wings” who they are considering signing with if they have no success on their own. For this reason, you need to take a lower-key approach and work to build a relationship in order to win over the FSBO listing.

When the marketplace is active and everything in sight seems to be selling, as was the case over the last few years, FSBO listings abound, and FSBO owners achieve a reasonable sales success rate even without the services of an agent. So you may be wondering why an agent would even spend time trying to convert FSBOs to agent-represented listings. Here are just a few good reasons:

• FSBOs are simply too tempting and attractive not to work with. Real estate agents market homes for sale, and FSBOs most certainly fit that category. It doesn’t make sense to ignore this great market segment, though most agents do.

• Owners of FSBOs are qualified, motivated sellers. Clearly, they want to sell, but likely, they don’t realize the long odds of the game they’re playing.

• Owners of FSBOs are viable client targets. Unlike other prospective clients, you don’t have to wonder whether they own their home, whether they’re serious about selling it, and whether or not they have the authority and ability to conduct the deal.

• Owners of FSBOs are easy to find and reach. One of the most difficult steps in the sales process, no matter what you’re selling, is locating prospects in need of your product or service.  With FSBOs, like expireds, you know who your prospects are, and you know how to get in touch with them. Reaching FSBOs is easier than reaching expireds because they want to be found.

• The vast majority of FSBOs fail to sell on their own. Even in a robust market, fewer than 30% of FSBOs sell themselves. This means more than 70% of the owners, if they want to sell, will eventually enlist the services of a real estate agent.

• FSBO sellers often net lower prices than those achieved by agent-represented sellers. Among the 30% of FSBO homes that result in a sale, most are priced right at or below fair market value. In fact, to FSBO sellers, price is the primary marketing ammunition. There is no reason for a buyer to take the additional risk of working with a FSBO except that they are trying to acquire a home for less money than they’d spend on a traditional transaction. The problem is that low price is exactly the opposite of what the homeowner is trying to achieve.

More than nine out of ten serious FSBOs end up as agent listings within a reasonable period of time – usually four to five weeks. Originally, owners set out to sell their own homes for one reason: They want to “save” the agent commission. They view the $10,000 or $15,000 that an agent will earn as too much pay for such an easy job and as money that they could put toward an additional down payment or a get-out-of-debt plan. They ask themselves, “How hard can it be?” as they pound the FSBO sign into their front yard. In the back of their minds many think, “Let’s give it a go. We’ll probably meet a few agents along the way, so we can always change our minds.” And most do.

After a month of the hassle, time, energy, emotion, and stress of trying to sell their own home ­– after running ads, fielding phone calls, holding open houses, and showing parades of people through their home ­­– 90% of homeowners rethink their answer. Fortunately for agents, selling a home isn’t all that easy.

Before you pursue FSBO listings, it’s worth it to know the situation you’re entering.

When a FSBO goes on the market, most often only one of the owners is leading the charge. One half of the couple is fixated on saving the commission and the other relents for a specific period of time. As part of their compromise, they agree to give the FSBO approach a try for 30 to 45 days, after which time they agree to list it with an agent. 

More often than not, the consenting partner gets frustrated with the whole process long before the FSBO test period elapses ­– tired of all the calls from agents and of the buyers who make appointments that end up as no-shows. If they do secure an offer, the owners grow weary when the buyer can’t secure financing. They get tired of people who need “help” to buy a home and who ask the seller to take less, carry a second mortgage, engage in creative financing, or even entertain some form of fraud. And then there are the jokers fresh out of some “no money down” seminar…

If you'd like more help with FSBO Prospecting Techniques, see my new book "The Champion Real Estate Agent™"... check it out here.

Prospecting is Still the Best Answer

May 31^st, 2007

A proven prospecting strategies for peak sales performance!

Prospecting is one of the easiest but most misunderstood concepts in the field of sales.

Every day, sales trainers try to sell their "prospecting-free systems" on worldwide speaking circuits saying, basically, "You will never have to prospect again if you use my system." And because salespeople secretly don't like prospecting, they readily buy into the too-good-to-be-true no-prospecting philosophy.

Join me for an easy-to-integrate-into-anyone's-schedule 60 minute Teleseminar where we'll dispell the myths about Prospecting for Real Estate Sales.

Don't end up chasing false promises and endangering your livelihood like the Agents who are buying into the prospecting-free sales systems.

Date and Time:
	• Thursday - May 31st, 2007 • 10:00am - 11:30am Pacific • 11:00am - 12:30am Mountain • 12:00am - 1:30am Central • 1:00pm - 2:30pm Eastern

How You'll Learn :
	• Dial-in Tele-seminar • Accompanied by a PowerPoint Presentation via Internet • Prospecting is Still the Best Answer Workbook (tools & tactics) • Professionally-recorded audio CD sent ~30 days after seminar

 

I want to learn more about how I can join Dirk to learn his prospecting techniques

There’s Gold in Them Leads - Get to Work Mining!

Creating an effective lead follow-up system can be the backbone to a consistent real estate sales business.  The more effectively you handle the leads you generate, the more production you will achieve.  Too many Agents are spending too much time trying to find the leads they generated.  They know the leads are on their desk somewhere.  You need to be able to put your hands on your leads immediately when needed.

One of the best ways to track leads is with a contact management software program.  These programs are designed to help you keep track of the information that will enable you to sell more efficiently and effectively.  There are many on the market; some of the best are ACT!, Top Producer, and Online Agent.  Select a system you are comfortable with that will grow with you and your business.

If you are unable to afford a computer and software, you can do this manually with 3” x 5” note cards in a shoebox.  I started to track my leads this way when I started real estate sales many years ago.  Sometimes, we can get too fancy and technical for our own good.  We become excited about all the new technology and gadgetry and forget “old fashioned” sales skills.  The key is to meld the technology with quality sales skills. By doing this, you will achieve spectacular results.

One of the critical questions to ask yourself is what is a lead?  What is your definition of a lead?  Each person’s definition will tell a great deal about where he is in the business.  When I first started in the business, my definition of a lead was someone who wanted to buy or sell.  It was a very simple definition.  It was also a very broad definition and excluded very few people.  My definition today is someone who wants to buy or sell in the next 14 days.  My definition has changed dramatically over the years.  How did I get from one very broad definition to one that was quite narrow?  Let’s take a look at the process.

When I first started, like most new Agents, I had very little knowledge of the business.  I was chasing after any and every deal I could find.  Because my definition or philosophy about a lead was so broad, everybody on the face of the earth was qualified as a potential client.  Because everyone qualified as a potential client, I had too many potential clients to work with.  Most of my potential clients, however, would never buy or sell a home – let alone one through me.

I spent a tremendous amount of time trying to persuade people to buy or sell who really never were going to buy or sell.  I learned to tighten down my definition to anyone who would buy or sell within a year.  Then I tightened even more to anyone who would buy or sell within six months.  Then I tightened down to 60 days, 30 days, and finally to 14 days.  If I had tightened my definition from the beginning, I would have saved myself from a lot of mistakes, anguish, and lost income.  Do not wait to clearly define a lead in more specific terms of now business.  Spend the additional time working to find more leads through prospecting.  Having fewer good leads is better than having a bunch of marginal ones.  Quality is the name of the game versus quantity.  If your desire is to sell a home a week, you only need two to three now leads weekly to accomplish your goal.  Think in terms of qualified people who want to do something now!!

All the time I spent working with people who were too far out cost me a lot of money.  We have all spoken with people many times or even put people in our car to show property who did not have the motivation to buy or sell now.  Do not continue that process . . . change today!

There are people who want to buy and sell today; our job is to go find them and help them do it.  My goal was to list or sell a home every day.  My job every morning when I got up was to find that person . . . every working day.  It is truly no more complicated than that.  At the same time I was looking, I would find people who were two weeks away or even ten days away.  If I filled my pipeline with these people, I always had great leads to work with.  I did not have lots of leads, but the ones I had were highly motivated, and someone was going to get a listing or sale in the next week or two.  My goal was to ensure it was me by incorporated sales skills and effective follow-up.  You might call it relentless follow-up.  Do not let go of a good lead.  Have you ever tried to get a bone away from a big dog?  Develop that attitude with good leads.

You must clearly define your definition of a lead.  Here is a little hint for you, it should be someone who wants to buy or sell in 60 days or less.  Any further out and you are not creating closings for the near future.  You are also likely to be investing in someone who will never buy or sell.  You are investing your time, your most precious commodity, into someone who may not buy or sell.  Do not waste your time for anyone or anything.  We are all only given so much time in life.  You and I only have so many days; do not waste them with people you cannot help.  If you have too many future potential clients rather than now clients, you will have a high level of frustration and no control of your business, not to mention the financial loses you will face.  Keep your number of long-term or “project clients” down, so you can invest your time finding people who need help now.  I define a “project client” as someone who is: 

• Looking for the “perfect house”.  I guarantee they will never find it.

• Looking for a “tremendous deal”.  The deal is rarely good enough for them to move today.  If the deal is so tremendous, some other smart Agent has bought it already. 

• Waiting for the right house, so they can put their home on the market.  If they do not become motivated to sell after showing them a few houses that meet their criteria, you need to reevaluate whether they will sell in the near future.

• Still of low motivation even after you have called them back a few times.

We have all spent large amounts of money on mailings to people who are not moving.  We have also spent large amounts of time following up on poor leads.  Stop working with people who are not committed to doing something now.  The old belief of “great salespeople should be able to sell ice to an Eskimo” is false.  Great salespeople have clear definitions of what constitutes a lead.  They clearly follow their narrow definitions.  They prospect enough to keep a constant supply of leads flowing, so they can qualify and define them carefully.  As it says in the Bible, “Jesus separated the wheat from the chaff, gathering his wheat in to the barn and burning up the chaff.”  We must separate the good kernels of wheat from the chaff of unmotivated sellers and buyers.  The kernels of wheat have value; the chaff has no value.  The wheat will feed your body and mind.  The chaff will provide zero nourishment.

When you do not separate effectively, you get so bogged down with future business that never happens that you miss the now clients, or you do not have the time to find them because you are hoping this future business will work out.  You often feel like you have so much invested in future business you cannot just cut your losses now, even though, in your heart, you know it is right.  Always remember the least painful loss you will take is the one today.

Take the time today to reflect and clearly define what a lead is to you.  Re-evaluate and review your definition every quarter to see if it has changed.  Stick to your guns.  Do not compromise because most of the time you will be burned.  There is nothing more painful than to compromise and then not get paid for your effort.  The pain in the pit of your stomach is like no other when you compromise.  Once in a while, you will find that the person you excluded will buy or sell with someone else.  More often than not, you just saved yourself time and frustration.

If you'd like a step by step, hold-you-by-the-hand Lead Management System, take a look at my program "Lead Mastery™"... check it out here.

Your Real Estate Business - A Big Show or Reality

To be a Champion Lead Agent, you have to be focused on the facts and reality.  A Champion Lead Agent is willing to search for the truth of their skills, the marketplace, and their results and evaluate this with a keen eye.

The real estate business can be a big show.  It is often the big show of egos and gross income.  As an agent trying to achieve Champion level performance, other agents who “have made it” can easily sway you.  I want to share a word of caution, so you avoid the mistakes of others.

Rule #1 – If it seems too good to be true, it usually is!

Easy money marketing strategies, easy lead generation, building a large team and heading to the beach to sip a Mai Tai; there are many trainers and agents who profess philosophies contrary to the laws of success in life.  Tread carefully because you might achieve what they have in life, and you might not want it.

It’s easy to project an image larger than life through over spending, not paying your taxes, and borrowing money.  It’s easy to always talk about gross commission income and sales volume and winning awards based on those factors.  The awards and recognition in real estate sales are given to agents based on sales volume and income, not based on quality of the business, service to clients, and net profit after expenses.  I know of an agent team that is in the top five agents in the country for a large national firm, but they discount their commission heavily.  Would all the agents who respect them for their sales volume feel the same way if they really knew how they acquired the business?

Check the claims, look under the hood, and evaluate your options carefully.  Anyone who gives the appearance, makes claims, or develops a system claiming that they have found the “secret to success” where success is achieved easily without work will eventually lead you to destruction.  You will fall far short of the Champion level of success in your business.

Rule #2 – Objects in the mirror may appear closer than they are.

Because of the egos, recognition all agents want, and the rewards of real estate sales, it is easy to assume someone is doing well when often they are not.  We see the agents who dress well, drive fancy cars, and live in large houses giving off the appearance of wealth and success.  It doesn’t mean they are a Champion Agent.  The fact that they have a large team of assistants and large sales numbers doesn’t mean they are a Champion Lead Agent.

The truth is unpaid taxes, poor fiscal management, and living beyond one’s means both in business and personal life can make bankruptcy appear in the mirror, rather than financial independence.

Just because someone is on the superstar agent panel, doesn’t mean they have a profitable business model.  Nor does it mean they understand how they generate their leads; where their transactions, leads, appointments, and commission income come from; what they spend in marketing; what marketing really works and the return on investment for it. 

I recently began working with a lead agent of a team who bought a moving truck to supply to his clients.  I asked him why he did it.  He said proudly because it would bring him business and referrals.  I asked him how he was going to track the cost versus return.  How many transactions did he need to do annually to pay for the payments, gas maintenance, cleaning, and equipment for the moving van?  How much of his time or staff’s time will it take to manage, organize, and oversee the use of the moving van?  The truth is before I asked the questions, I knew that he had no idea how to answer any of those valid business questions . . . which he didn’t.

He finally admitted that he heard about it from a “very successful” agent and thought it was a great idea.  What a great way to get his name out there and promote himself.  He got swayed by a big show that drew him into thinking that, with limited work and some expense, he could generate tons of leads.  What he really got was an extra expense, administrative nightmare, and increased liability with a low return on investment.  He also got his name and face plastered on the side of a panel moving van to feed his ego.

Studies have shown that most people will do almost anything for recognition; that, for most people, being recognized or getting your ego stroked is more important than making income.  This ego can also lead agents to try to build teams.  Many do that because they are falling out of production recognition levels in their company.  They are not getting the top sales awards because others have significantly more staff and assistants.

I have told hundreds of thousands of agents this truth, “You can build your business for income or build it for your ego, but you can’t do both at the same time.”  You must choose which is most important for you.  You must choose which is going to be your driving factor for you to play at the Champion level in your business.

Consciously or unconsciously, we are choosing one of those paths of ego or income every time we invest in marketing, select clients to work with, invest in our business, invest our time, expand our lead generation, and change our sales or presentation process.

If you'd like more information on how you can build your own real estate team, get your free copy of "The Champion Real Estate Team™ Guide"... here.

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Teleseminars
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• Determining a Home's Ideal List Price

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