In This Issue...

• Courage of a Champion
• Prospecting Databases - For Results!
• 7 Steps to Successful Selling - In Any Market!
• Using the Four Probabilities of Success to Lead Your Team - To Victory!

Courage of a Champion

One of the most important traits to have as a human being is courage.  Courage will allow you to get through the many obstacles that life puts in your way.  It is the fundamental building block of doing what is right over doing what is easy.  We all need greater courage to make the necessary changes in our business and personal life.

In our business, we need the courage to do our daily disciplines every day versus just three or four days per week.  The courage to push through and do the discipline of generating new business every day not just when we feel like it.  It takes courage to change.  Those changes will give your business greater gain in the future.  By delaying self-gratification now, you can reap a greater reward tomorrow.

So many people settle for what they have rather than venture into new areas.   We tend to stay in the areas that are familiar to us.  We often chose the familiar over change even if it truly is not better.  We were not created by God to settle.  We should not settle for less than we have the ability to achieve.  Why settle for a mediocre relationship with your spouse and children when you can have a vibrant, loving, nurturing relationship.  Through changing and developing the relationship you can have an abundant relationship that is always growing.  You can possess the relationship that you always dreamed of.  It just takes courage to take the risk.  To do the daily disciplines to create wealth in the family accounts of life.

I think the results that one receives through our coaching programs are based on their courage to change their business and personal life.  It is based upon the courage that they have to embrace change.  It is the courage they have inside themselves to take an honest look at themselves, their business, and their personal relationships.  And make the little changes in life that will bring them vast rewards.

Every one of you has incredible gifts.  You all have the gifts that you need to achieve massive success.  It takes courage to invest time, train, and use those gifts to their fullest potential.

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 Prospecting Databases, 7 Steps to Successful Selling, and Using the Four Probabilities of Success to Lead Your Team.

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.

10 Keys to Building Your Own Marketplace Dominating Team™

I've been getting quite a bit of exposure through our Real Estate Team Articles here in Coaches Corner™... so much so that I've received several requests to conduct a Teleseminar on the subject with a questions & answers forum. As it turns out, quite a few people are either in the process of building or overhauling their team and would like some help.

As a matter of fact, Kathy C. (Sr. Vice President of a prominent Real Estate Company in Indianapolis, IN) emailed me recently asking if I'd conduct a Real Estate Team Building Tele-seminar for all of her company's 700+ Agents.


Seminar Format = 75 Minutes plus 30 Minutes of Live Questions & Answers

Rather than conduct a Tele-seminar for only her 700+ Agents, I've decided to make it available to the rest of Real Estate Champions' friends & family. That's where you come in.

Here's the deal:

We're going to charge our standard $97 for it, but (and here's why you should take note of this) I've decided to throw it in for FREE to anyone who orders a pre-release copy of my new book, The Champion Real Estate Team™.

So, for a small investment of less than $25, you'll get: a) Free admittance to the Champion Real Estate Team Tele-seminar [$97 Value]; b) Instant access to our interactive online training presentation, Becoming a Champion in a Changing Marketplace [$167 Value]; c) The Champion Real Estate Team book [$24.95] (shipped mid to late October); and d) a FREE companion CD for the first 300 customers of the Tele-seminar [$47]

Bottom line: You'll turn a $24.95 investment into $335.95 worth of training 

> > > Instantly Turn $24.95 into
$335.95 Worth of Training Now < < <

The '10 Keys to Building Your Own Marketplace Dominating Team™' Tele-Seminar will teach you how to:
	• How to establish What a Champion Real Estate Team is and isn’t before you start • How to Evaluate Yourself as the Lead Agent • Proper Team Target Development • How to Organize and Structure a Team Properly • Seven Stages of Champion Team Development • How to Establish the Proper Team Vision, Mission, Purpose and Core Values • How to establish the proper goals for you and your team that create explosive clarity • How to create explosive business growth by establishing personal performance metrics that trickle down to your team • How to build a marketplace dominating team by filling the most important positions of your team in the proper order • How to build the strongest organizational structure for your team for the start • How to build your team by properly assessing your risks vs. rewards • How to build your team around the Rule of 30 and watch your team flourish
You'll receive:
	• Free admittance to the Champion Real Estate Team Tele-seminar [$97 Value] • Instant access to our interactive online training presentation, Becoming a Champion in a Changing Marketplace [$167 Value] • The Champion Real Estate Team book [$24.95] (shipped mid to late October) • Instant access to our interactive online training presentation, Becoming a Champion in a Changing Marketplace [$167 Value] • FREE companion CD for the first 300 customers of the Tele-seminar

Grab My FREE Seat to the
Champion Team Tele-Seminar Now

Prospecting Databases - For Results!

Your past clients can be an absolute gold mine of future business if worked properly.  You don’t need to reward them with elaborate gifts for their support of you and what you do.  A few simple well thought-out systems will enable you to hit the mother load of referrals.

The first step to developing a bulletproof past client follow-up system is to computerize.  There are still many top Agents who do not effectively use a contact management software program.  There is a tremendous selection available to Agents.  You can get real estate specific programs like Top Producer, Prep, or Online Agent or general contact management software like ACT! Or Goldmine.  All these programs work well if you know how to use them.

There are two key ingredients that one should look for beyond the bells and whistles features.  They are components that many people would not even consider when selecting a software package.

Does the software come with solid training or can someone local provide it for you for a fee?  Most of us are not going to read and study the voluminous manuals that come with software.  If you cannot learn to use it quickly and efficiently, do not buy it.  Most of us will not carve out the time in our schedule necessary to really become proficient with our software.

Make sure the software networks now.  Do not buy on the promise it will network shortly.  I made this mistake with my software and waited 24 months while the promises kept coming from the manufacturer.  In the meantime, we had to spend the time to backup all the computers daily and share information.  I finally gave up on this real estate software company.  Every time I spoke with them the upgrade to the network would be ready “next month”.  That is why I say make sure it networks now.

Your database is your lifeblood.  The more information you have on your clients, the more transactions they will help you generate.  Harvey McKay, “Mr. Networker”, who wrote Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten, has the McKay 66 questions that all his sales people work to find out about all their prospects and clients.  His salespeople have a tremendous advantage over their competition because they get to know their clients.  How many times have you driven by one of your past clients or sphere of influence and seen someone else’s sign parked in the front yard?  It is because you did not get enough information on the client and did not follow up.

The basic bare minimum should be: children’s names, ages, client and spouse birthdays, anniversary, move-in date, hobbies, interests, business address, phone number and title.  With the advent of e-mail, the e-mail address is crucial, efficient, and inexpensive correspondence.  Load the gun in your favor, so you have the ammo to hit the mark.  Do not leave to chance whether they will do business with you again.

Separate your past clients and sphere of influence into two categories of people: the regular group of people who will probably refer your business and the group that are advocates of you and your service.  You will get 80% of your referrals from your advocate group.  Since they will do more for you, you should treat them differently.
Create a system to keep in touch with both groups.  The advocates you are going to keep in tighter contact with and should hear from you more often.  Look for opportunities to touch base with your database at least three to four times a year.  This should be the minimum standard.  There truly are excellent ideas on how to do this effectively.

This is just a short list of options.

If you really want your phone to ring with referrals, you need to build your database fast.  I am amazed at how many Agents mail without a phone follow up.  If you truly desire tremendous results in the referral area, call your past clients!

Here are the numbers that show why you should consider making these calls.  When you send out direct mail, you will receive at best a 1% to 2% return.  If you phone follow-up behind it, you will receive at least an 8% to 10% return.  Take a look at what you mail regularly.  Multiply the income you would receive if you made a few easy calls.  The increase in income is enormous.  Every client of ours has had these results over time.  They have also found out their clients love them, and they have fun doing it.  Truthfully, they have had fun prospecting their database.

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!

7 Steps to Successful Selling - In Any Market!

1. Customers will judge your service performance with every transaction:  In today’s world of sales no one gets a free pass.  You always have to be prepared to perform at the highest level.  We are not given a second chance in today’s world without a significant reason.  The only opportunity we will have to “play it again” will be based on a substantial benefit to the customer the second time around.  This usually equates into a substantially lower fee for goods and services or an unbelievable benefit to the client.  Loyalty is not as much of a factor in today’s marketplace.  One mistake can erase years of loyalty.

2. You must have a real compelling reason for the customer to choose you over your competition:  There are more choices and competition in today’s new economy than ever before.  We must aggressively pursue sales situations where we have a clear and compelling advantage over the competition.

We then need to be prepared with a strong presentation and the facts of why we should be selected over our competition.

3. Your competition should not be able to duplicate your compelling reason:  Your compelling reason should be a factor, or combination of factors, that your competition fails to produce.  This could be your success matrix numbers, or savings your client will receive from using your product or service.  Any compelling reason that is truly a benefit to your prospect or client.

The benefit or compelling reason must be important to that individual you are working with.  To ensure it has importance to the individual customer, you have to ask that customer enough questions to understand what they need.  We have to properly diagnosis the problem before we can move into prescription.

4. Target your prospects well: Success in sales is contained in selecting the right customers that are the right “fit” for your product and/or service.  We are not able to service all consumer and customer requests.  We must be selective when evaluating the highest probability of success in making the sale, but also in servicing the client long-term.  We need to evaluate the needs of the customer to know whether to pass on this opportunity or go for it with intensity, focus, and the expectation of winning.

5. Turn down the prospects that don’t fit: Most salespeople are not prepared to turn anyone down.  They spend their time trying to make lemonade out of lemon clients.  These types of prospects create trouble for you in the end.  Since in many cases they don’t view the service you provide as any different than anyone else.  They have limited loyalty and even more limited tolerance for error by you.

One of the best feelings in sales, even greater than getting the sale, is turning the sale down.  Being able to say, “I am sorry I can’t help you.” Or, “I am sorry that doesn’t work for me” is powerful.  If you are really working the right group of people you will get to do that often and do more business when you do.

6. Embrace the 80/20 rule: To be a high-powered salesperson we need to apply the 80/20 rule daily.  Most sales people readily evaluate the value of a particular client.  They are just working hard to make the sale.

Some prospects and customers are just worth more money.  They have the capacity to generate more revenue in less time.  For salespeople 80% of your revenue will come from 20% of your prospects.  Your objective is to spend the most time investing in those 20% rather than the 80%.  We need to clearly focus on working that 20% first and the remainder of the time investing in the 80%.

We have to increase the number of easy sales that we can do and reduce the number of difficult sales we do.  Sales is a margin game not a volume game.  It’s the margin between the revenue that you make and the investment you put into it.

7. We need to shift the ratio of supply and demand for our products and service:  Our objective should be to raise the demand of our product and services to a level where demand outweighs the supply.  Where we have more prospects knocking at our door than we can handle effectively or want to handle.

   The most successful way to shift this is to increase our prospecting for new opportunities.  Most salespeople prospect like their supply exceeds the demand.  Because of limited prospecting there is no pent up demand, only over abundance of supply.  There is restriction of growth in that model. 

   Our goal should be to have twice as many leads as you can take to a sale.  This is the reward for prospecting.  You then qualify the leads based on motivation, your time investment and your revenue generated.  Selecting only the best and referring the rest.

Using the Four Probabilities of Success to Lead Your Team - To Victory!

The four probabilities of success include knowledge, skill, attitude, and activities.  When you work to improve or increase any of these, you increase the odds of becoming more successful and wealthy, improving your relationships, and improving your health.  These four areas govern everything in life.

Because everything in life is also governed by priorities, one of these four is always more important than the other three.  There is an order of importance in which to attack and improve these four probabilities of success.  Before you read on, I want you to rank or prioritize the probabilities.  Write a 1, 2, 3 or 4 next to each of these.

_____Knowledge
_____Skill
_____Attitude
_____Activities

Don’t proceed until you complete the exercise.  I have completed this exercise with hundreds of audiences over my speaking and training career; the break down never changes much.  About 5% of people believe knowledge, skill, or activities are the first priority.  About 85% of people say attitude is the number one influencer of increased success.

I think one could make a valid case for attitude being the highest priority; that without a good attitude, your growth is stunted, as well as your earnings and quality of life.  Like many others, I believe that is a logical argument.

My research through working with thousands of successful people has led me to another conclusion.  Most successful people have a good enough attitude to be producing at a much higher level than they currently do.  The barrier to climb to the Champion Agent level or Champion Team level isn’t attitude, but activities.  It’s engaging in success producing activities with focus and consistency and allowing your attitude, skills, and knowledge to produce the results you desire.

Too many people want their attitude to get better before they start to engage in a challenging task.  One of the fundamental questions a person who is trying to rise to the Champion level in life must ask themselves is, “Does my attitude influence my activities more than my activities influence my attitude?”  Please read that statement again!

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
• 10 Keys to Building a Marketplace-Dominating Real Estate Team

- September 13th

Get Dirk Zeller’s Award Winning Books and Download Real Estate Champions PDF Ebooks!

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by Dirk Zeller

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Here First!

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Your 1st Year in Real Estate: Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional

by Dirk Zeller

• Prospecting?

• Lead Generation?

• Listing Presentations?

• Scripts & Dialogues?

• Objection Handling?

• Converting?