In This Issue...

• Vison of a Champion
• Advice for Partnering with Other Agents in - Negotiations!
• Choose Your Clients - Wisely!
• Six Characteristics of Champion Teams - That Win!

Vison of a Champion

Leadership continues to be a hot button for many of our clients during their coaching sessions.  All true leaders posses similar qualities.  One quality is that leaders set a specific vision and direction for their company.  Most people never set the vision.  They don’t understand the long-term benefits of setting a direction for their company.  A leader understands the importance of investing the time and energy to set the vision for long term success.  Make it an action plan to set your vision for your real estate company.

Once the vision is determined the next step is to explain your vision to your staff and affiliates so that they will accept and commit to it.  It is important for a leader to convince their staff and affiliates of the benefits of committing to the vision.  It will mean the difference between freedom, as the owner of your multimillion-dollar sales company, or you being a glorified employee.  We all want the freedom of ownership. 

Here is the anatomy of a leader I have found useful from one of my readings: 

• A heart that enables you to recognize your own qualities.
• A backbone that is strong and supportive, yet flexible.
• Muscles that provide energy, perseverance, and health.
• Hands to help others and to write out your goals.
• Shoulders that can carry the burden of responsibility.
• A brain that possesses limitless creativity and potential.
• Eyes that can visualize goals and possibilities.
• Ears that listen to your conscience and to new ideas.
• A mouth that vocalizes thoughts and gives compliments.
• Feet that carry you on the road to success.

Remember use your whole body, will, and mind to lead your staff to victory.  Henry David Thoreau once said, “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

To your achievement of success in life,

Dirk Zeller
CEO
Real Estate Champions, Inc

P.S. The three areas that we'll focus our time on today are Advice for Partnering with Other Agents, Choose Your Clients, and Six Characteristics of Champion Teams. Any of these articles could help you change your life in 2007 if you'll read, absorb, and use the information. I challenge you to take a few minutes of your time to read this material. If you don't have time now, print them out and take them with you to read between appointments.

If you're tired of wasting your time with wishy-washy buyers, and would rather have a system that takes you completely through the entire Buyer Conversion Process so that you maximize your effort and time, you've got to check out...

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the Buyer... Every Time!™

With the vast majority of agents in North American doing more transactions on the buyer side than the seller side, we need to now make sure that we are converting on every possibility we have in the marketplace. Every viable lead that is created must be converted to íncome producing closed transactions. This program is conservatively worth an extra $100,000 in gross commission income for you! Don’t miss your chance at mastering control and commitment of your buyer’s prospects.

The 'Convert and Commit the Buyer... Every Time!™' Series will teach you how to:
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You'll receive:
	• 4 Audio CDs • 1 CD-ROM Workbook

I Want to Learn How to
Convert and Commit the Buyer... Every Time!

Advice for Partnering with Other Agents in - Negotiations

You and the other agent in your transaction are obligated to cooperate with each other; that’s why you’re called co-op brokers.  At the same time, you are both obligated to represent the interests of your own clients, which works wonderfully when you both seek a win/win outcome, but which is troublesome when the other agent comes to the deal with a we win/you lose mentality.

Before talking with the other agent at length, I suggest you do some homework. I always made it a point to learn in advance about the agent I’d be dealing with.  Unless I already knew the agent personally, my staff would conduct some research. They’d start at the MLS computer where they’d look at the number of listings and sales the agent had completed over the last few years. This provided an indication of the agent’s experience, which enabled me to understand the role I would play in the negotiation.  I’d figure we would likely share power equally if the other agent was experienced, successful, and skilled. If the other agent was very new to the field, I knew I’d have to take the lead and guide the negotiations along.

When you’re ready to talk with the other agent, cover these points:

• Explain your desire to create a win/win transaction. Say that you will be relying on the other agent to create a win for both the buyers and sellers, and that you intend to do the same. Some agents believe their job is to achieve a win only for their own clients.  This discussion will help you spot these people.

• If you’re the listing agent, let the other agent know that the home is competitively priced; that it’s at fair market value with no padding in the asking price. By having this discussion upfront, if your client counters a low offer at full price or close to it, the response won’t be a surprise to the agent or prospective buyers.

• If you reach a snag, challenge, or impasse with the other agent or with the agent’s clients, test the situation by asking one of these questions:

 “If you were representing my clients, would you counsel them to accept this offer?”

“If you were in my shoes, would you want your clients to accept these terms and conditions?”

If the answer is yes, then ask:  “Why?” or “How would you sell this to my clients if you were in my shoes?”

If the agent can’t give you an answer, the silence will let you know that they know their offer is unreasonable.
 
If they can defend their position with cogent arguments, you know you must convince your client of the validity of the buyers’ offer.

The easiest other agent to work with is you. You know you. You know you want win/win outcomes. You know whether your listing has padding or whether your purchase offer has room for negotiation. You know how you work and that your skills are up to the task. You probably know it’s easier for you to work with you than with any other agent.

Make your real estate sales life easier by selling more of your own listings. Represent both the buyer and the seller and avoid the challenges of working with another agent to complete the transaction.

If you're tired of fighting for every listing and would rather have a system that takes you completely through the entire Listing Process, so that you walk out with the listing contract signed, you've got to check out...

How to Create and Deliver a
Dynamic Listing Presentation™

Get the Listing Every Time with these Step-By-Step Instructions, Forms, Handouts, and Scripts.

The difference between getting the listing and walking out with "We'll think it over and get back to you" is all in your listing presentation. If you walk in with Dirk’s time-tested & proven (by 1000's of Agents) listing presentation, you’ll walk out with the listing.

What would your life be like if you had all the winning scripts and dialogues to help you nail the listing presentation every time? Even better than that, what if you had the right seller handouts and scripts to help you get the listing presentation appointment?

The 'How to Create and Deliver a Dynamic Listing Presentation™' Series will teach you how to:
	• Get Control of the Listing Appointment from the Start • Ask the 9 Critical Questions Every Listing Agent Must Know • Qualify Like a Master Listing Agent (Save Tons of Time) • Use a 5 Step (60 Day) Action Plan for a Perfect Listing Presentation • Use the Master Coach's Top-10 Presentation Evaluation Questions • Discover the Secrets Hidden in Your Prospect's Objections that Will End Your Fear of Objections Forever • Defeat Every Seller Objection in 6 Steps • Use 10 Questions to Isolate the Seller's Objection • Find the REAL Reason Behind a Seller's Objection • Plus much more, including 60 pages of tools, handouts (the same ones Dirk uses), scripts, and dialogues you can use as your own.
You'll receive:
	• 4 Audio CDs • 1 CD-ROM Workbook

I Want to Learn How to Get The Listing on the First Appointment Every Time!

Choose Your Clients - Wisely!

The path to failure is trying to please everyone you come into contact with.  I believe that I was not put on this earth to help everyone buy and sell.  I can’t help everyone, and I don’t want to.  Too many Agents believe that they are forced to work with anyone who shows up.  By excluding people, you will create better and more loyal clients.

Many of the people we meet are unreasonable and should not be clients of anyone.  They don’t deserve the honor of any Agent’s time and attention.  Our job is to recognize their low probability of ever becoming a quality client and to run away quickly. 

The feeling of walking away from someone who would otherwise cause my staff and me great frustration was even better than that of getting a new listing.  The look on that person’s face was always priceless.  Most Agents never experience the thrill of doing business on their own terms.  Most Agents compromise their philosophy and beliefs for dollars.  Below are four different categories of people you will find yourself working with regularly.

Terrific Clients:  Most salespeople are just looking for the sale.  A professional salesperson is always on the lookout for terrific clients. Terrific clients respect people who are highly skilled at their professions.  They listen to advice and guidance that is presented well and that has supporting documentation.  They open up about their goals and desires for real estate and their expectation for service.  You will always know where terrific clients stand; they don’t play “hide the ball.”  You are not the enemy.  You and the terrific clients will be on the same team, working toward a common goal.  They also will be fantastic referral sources for your business.

No-Clue Clients:  No-clue clients live in a dream world.  It is difficult to get them to look at the facts and figures that might upset the fantasy world in which they live.  These clients really don’t want to know the truth . . . that their home is worth 15% less than they think.  Each one believes that he or she will land the one buyer who will pay dramatically above fair market value.  Unless the no-clue client has extremely high motivation – job transfer, divorce, new children -- you will have no sale.  If the bottom line is that they have to move, you may be able to bring them to reality.  In that case, the no-clue client could eventually make progress toward becoming a terrific client.

Information Service Clients:  These people just want information and expertise from you.  They have no intention of creating a relationship of trust; you are only there to provide your knowledge.  The information-only client truly believes that this approach is justified.  He or she also believes that if you are foolish enough to give your knowledge for free, then that’s your problem.  These clients will take your knowledge; they will either use it to buy or sell on their own or will give it to a friend or family member who doesn’t have your skill level and put the business into that person’s hands.

Information-only clients will rarely answer direct questions.  They are evasive.  They will challenge your knowledge, beliefs, advice, fees, and services; these challenges will usually become their justification for not working with you.  Sometimes they get offended at your questions.  Their belief is that the expertise that they can get out of you is useful, but that their way is better.

Distrusts Everyone Clients:  These clients believe that everyone is out to get them.  They believe that everyone is trying to reach into their back pockets.  They believe that every question you ask comes with its own hidden agenda . . . that what you are really looking for is the weak point that will allow you to destroy them.  Even when, with a lot of care and attention, you manage to win these people over and make them your clients, they will be gone if you or your team make one honest error.  They believe that whatever negative experiences happen to them it is all part of the big conspiracy against them.

Six Characteristics of Champion Teams - That Win!

Through the years of research and working with teams and coaching them to the Champion Team level, there is a repeating pattern of what they possess, implement, and do.  They are focused on results and actions unlike lower performing teams.

There is a set of standards of production, performance, and conduct for each position on the team.  These are established by position first at the Champion Performer level, so the employee knows clearly what is expected.  They have a target to shoot for since most will not be there yet.

A second set of standards for staff members needs to establish a pathway to the Champion Performer level.  What do they need to do, learn, and improve on?  What responsibilities must they take over in what time frame?  For production assistants, what sales, prospecting, lead generation, lead conversion, and sales ratios must they attain over time to hit the Champion standard?

This is an established system of accountability through written reports that must be handed in at regular intervals either daily for new or under-performing people or weekly for others who are on track or doing well.

Champion Team Rule – Performance improves faster when performance is measured and reported.

You must measure and report the performance of your team members.  They need to know that you are watching and monitoring their activities.  They must know that you are willing to hold them accountable to their commitments.

Everyone needs to be working toward a common set of goals.  They all need to view the team win as the real win.  They need to see that the individual win in their success or production at the expense of everyone else is a loss.

If there is an antagonist on the team, no matter how much they sell or produce in the administrative area, corrective action must be taken.  If someone lowers the motivation of team members, a change is in order.  If that person lowers your motivation, they need to be gone . . . now!

The best teams really care about each other and their clients.  They cover, encourage, help, and support each other to achieve greater success.  They care about the goals and objectives of the team and each other and work for a win for everyone on the team, the company, and the clients.  They also band together during times of adversity to overcome all obstacles.  You will never hear, “That’s not my job.”

The purpose of a Champion Team is to win.  The members of the team love to compete in the competitive game of real estate.  All team members are competing to bring in more leads, provide greater levels of service to the clients, and position the team as the expert team and the only choice in the marketplace for real estate representation.  Their philosophy is like Al Davis of the Raiders – Just win, baby!

Value is shared

Everyone aligns with the values of the team.  They embrace the business vision, core values, and envisioned future of the team.  They understand, agree, and desire to live the values of the organization, both in their personal lives and business lives.  It’s as if the team is a tug of war team pulling in perfect harmony and unison to win the tug of war.

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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- September 13th

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