In This Issue...

• Words From a Champion
• Buyer Interview
• Conveying Your Competitive Advantage In Prospect Presentations
• Do I Hire Generalists or Specialists for My Team?

Words From a Champion

I recently was reviewing this article on time and realized that it is very appropriate for the struggles we all have right now.  Many of us are out of the rhythm of time blocking our way to time mastery.  We are spending way too much time in low payoff activities.

I know some of this article is review for many of you.  There are some new components and action plans included.  Let's resolve to do the action plans in the article over the next 2 weeks.  Time mastery is the biggest obstacle for everyone's success in sales.

Make it happen today...

What You Are Worth

The more we coach and train agents, the more I realize the biggest battle agents have in on the battlefield of time. Maximizing the dollars we earn per hour separates the extremely successful from the frustrated agent. There are many agents across the country that 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 as to 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 a week and the number of weeks you work per year, then divide that into your gross commission.

If we know 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 that 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, typing letters, these 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, 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.

1.  Am I getting paid ____ per hour for each activity?
2.  How can I reduce the time I am spending in each activity that pays less than ____?
3.  Do I really need to do this activity?
4.  Can I get someone else to do this activity?

To your achievement of success in life,

Dirk Zeller
CEO
Real Estate Champions, Inc

P.S. We've left Case Study #160-07 up of Agent "X", so if you haven't viewed it yet go check it out now. ... click here

"What Would Owning a Master Coach's Blueprint Help Your Team Become?"

The Champion Real Estate Team™

Sequels to movies usually stink! Don't you agree?

They hardly ever live up to the original in the series. Book sequels however, are often better than the original. It seems that authors tend to evolve in their ability to convey their strategies, ideas, and concepts such that the reader tends to benefit more from each book in a series.

"This Book Takes You to the
Next Level of Success"

Well, today I'm proud to announce The Champion Real Estate Team™. It's the follow-up sequel to my greatest work to-date, The Champion Real Estate Agent™.

The first in the Champion Book Series™ laid the ground work of the advanced real estate agent tactics that 20+ years of blood, sweat, and tears produced.

"Packed with How-to's, Systems, Strategies...
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The Champion Real Estate Team™ takes you to the next level in Real Estate Success - the one I believe (as well as many other Real Estate Experts) is the key to a successful future if you're in Real Estate Sales... the Real Estate Team!

This book is really a step-by-step blueprint of how to establish a well run team. It is packed with how-to's, systems, strategies, processes, and ideas for implementation that will transform your business. Having personally established one of the first multi-assistant teams in my region, I have seen the evolution of real estate teams for over fifteen years. My experience in applying these strategies in the initial stages of my business, along with the hundreds of other agents' team practices I have coached in the last nearly ten years, has created this book.

Come Join Me for a
Personal Book Tour Here

 

To your achievement of the next level of success in life,

Dirk Zeller
CEO
Real Estate Champions, Inc

P.S. The book is now in stock!!!

Buyer Interview

The buyer interview is the first step in the buyer process.  It should happen before you run to the computer to find them the right home.  If you don’t do this first, you may be competing with two or three other Agents for the same buyer.  Why compete when you don’t have to?  Let the other Agents in the marketplace compete and waste their time with disloyal buyers.  Champion Agents only invest their time with people who are loyal and who will buy through them.

The buyer interview is separated into three sections.  The first section is determining their values and needs.  You want to find out what their needs are in a home:  number of bedrooms and bathrooms, layout of the home, etc.  To be able to best fulfill their needs, you will want to obtain all the information about the property they want to own.

Then you will need to find out the values they are attaching to this new home – the “why?” behind the move, the emotions that they are using to make the buying decision.  We all buy things because it appeals to our emotions.  We then rationalize our emotions through logic.  To create long-term satisfied clients, a great salesperson makes sure the buyers’ emotions are met.

You then must understand the benefits they are looking for you to provide.  There are some specific beliefs people have about REALTORS®.  They want you to provide a certain type of service level.  You need to know their expectations of service.

If I were in a buyer interview with someone who wanted me to be available at all times (including nights and weekends), we would have a problem.  I needed to know if my service model of having my staff and myself available only at certain times was acceptable.  I also needed to know why the buyer felt I should be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for him.  If I could not persuade him that we would be able to provide him with the highest quality of assistance, I would disengage the appointment and refer him to another Agent in the office who was willing to provide the service he felt he needed.

In the second section of the buyer interview, we would present the benefits of service.  At this point, we shared with them services that we provided to the buyer.  We had these services in written form for the buyer.  We could then show him the services and benefits he would receive from working with us.  People make decisions in the buying process based on emotion and the benefits they receive.  If you don’t show them their specific benefits, they will not buy. 
Examples of services and benefits:

“We merge your profile with the MLS.  The benefit to you is that you will be one of the first people to see a new home on the market.  Since the best values sell within days, we feel that it is crucial for you to see the homes first.”

The last service we listed was that the seller actually pays our fee.  The buyer would receive all these services and benefits free of charge.  We would only ask for one thing from him to receive all of these services, which was his commitment to work with us exclusively.

Next comes section three of the buyer interview.  This section I call the client commitment.  You don’t have a client until he has committed to you.  Up until then he is only a prospect.  This section of the buyer interview separates the Champion Agent from the rest.  You must lay it on the line.  He needs to understand that this is your job and how you provide for your family.  You owe it to your spouse and children to work only with people who are 100% committed to working with you.

Since you are providing all these services for no cost to anyone until closing, you have to ensure that a closing will happen.  Draw him in by putting his job in that position.  He wouldn’t work for a month hoping his paycheck wouldn’t bounce at the end of the month.  He would find another job.

You can only provide a high level of service to a few select clients at a time.  You cannot help them all.  Make sure they want to be helped by you.  If they cannot give you a commitment, thank them and refer them to someone else.  Invest your time finding another person who will commit.  It’s all about commitment; either you are or you aren’t.  Champion Agents ask for the commitment, and if they don’t get it, they move onto the next.

If you'd like a complete step-by-step system on how to not only interview buyers, but to "Convert & Commit the Buyer Every Time!" go here.

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#2) The second (and my favorite reason) is that I've teamed up on this program with one of the best minds in real estate. This man (who I'll reveal to you in the program) is truly one of the best real estate agents and business owners in the world!

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Conveying Your Competitive Advantage In Prospect Presentations

Let’s start with the bottom line first: The whole purpose of a prospect presentation is to establish your competitive advantage. In the least time possible you want to communicate what makes you different from the more than 1.2 million other licensed Realtors in the United States. You want your prospects to see exactly why they should hire you, what’s in it for them, and why they should proceed with confidence to sign your listing agreement.

Most agents spend the presentation explaining what they will do for the client rather than focusing on the results the client can expect the agent to deliver.  Newspaper ads, website pages, home magazines, dazzling flyers, and a lineup of other marketing items are tactics that, in truth, nearly all agents use in the normal course of business. They are not competitive advantages. In fact, you must assume before a listing presentation that every agent will promise a near-identical marketing plan.

So why will they hire you over the others? They’ll hire you because they see what’s in it for them. And what’s in it for them is the set of benefits they will receive as a result of your proven competitive position.

To differentiate yourself in the field of real estate sales you need to create, define, and consistently convey a competitive position that positively distinguishes you from your competition.

By knowing and exploiting the difference between your products and services and those of your competitors you will attract more prospects, win more clients, grow your market share, increase your revenue, expand your profits, and, eventually, weaken your competitors.

To pinpoint your unique competitive position, answer these questions:

• Are there key statistics that set you apart from your competitors and provide you with a clear point of difference?

• Do any of your Big Three statistics create a unique competitive position?

1. Average list price to sale price
2. Days on the marke
3. Listings sold versus listings taken

• What benefits or values do consumers receive only when they deal with you?

• Do you have dominant or strong market share in a geographic region?

• Do you specialize in a particular property type, such as small plexes or a certain style of home?

• Is your market share success tied to a particular price point?

• When representing sellers, do you achieve quantifiably higher sale prices?

• When representing buyers, do you achieve quantifiable savings in sales price, down payment, monthly payment, or interest rate?

Proving your excellence: You don’t get paid for second place

A Fortune 500 CEO who doesn’t increase revenue will watch the stock price plummet. A quarterback who throws for lots of yards but doesn’t win games will be benched or traded. A Realtor who doesn’t get listings sold or find and secure the right home for buyers will leave the business.

In the real estate world, results are the name of the game. Anyone can make money in a marketplace where everyone wants to buy and sell, but only the excellent agents will thrive in a competitive marketplace.

If you'd like a complete step-by-step system on close seller in listing presentations, check out "How to Deliver a Dynamic Listing Presentation" go here.

Do I Hire Generalists or Specialists for My Team?

Philosophically speaking, are you a person who wants and believes that people can do a lot of things well or a few things well?  There are huge differences in businesses that follow the philosophy of hiring generalists or specialists.  Your vision for the size of your team a few years down the road will also determine the generalist versus specialist discussion.

In a specialist business, it doesn’t mean that people aren’t doing things that they aren’t so good at.  In a specialist practice, your objective is to minimize the time in your staff’s day that this occurs.  You must segment your business, tasks, and activities at a higher level than you would in a generalist practice.  Obviously, if you are faced with a first hire, that person will have to wear many hats and be a generalist in the activities.  The most glaring mistake I see agents make in this area is lumping administrative functions with sales functions in one person’s job description.  The result is the creation of a hybrid position where the skills and behavioral style of most individuals are incongruent with the position designed.

I have made this mistake, as well, so I speak from experience.  I came back from an agent seminar where I got 1001 new ideas.  One of the speakers said, “Everyone on your team should prospect for at least one hour every day.”  He was a very credible trainer in the industry, so I came back and handed down the new edict to my two administrative assistants, Robin and Julie.  In one day, I had created two generalists out of two specialists.  I had created two hybrid positions in one statement.  The results were disastrous.  Not only did I spend time training two people who really didn’t want to prospect; I wasted my time doing it.  They obviously were not thrilled to be doing something that clearly was against their behavioral style, which I didn’t know at the time.  The results were nil.  I almost lost Julie because she got dissatisfied with her job because of that daily hour of forced pain.  She played a major role in the growth of my real estate practice, and she is still a critical cog in the machine at Real Estate Champions some thirteen years after that poor decision.

We, as lead agents, tend to create these hybrid combinations or get talked into them by our staff.  We combine sales and administration under one job description or position.  We have an administrative person who wants to sell because they see the money in sales.  We create the combo buyer’s agent/administrative assistant.  This is a recipe for failure for the person and especially your business.  If they fail at one, you will lose them.  It will be hard to go back to the old position without losing face, so they quit.  The other likelihood is they start slipping in performance in the area they are skilled at because of the lack of focus, so you have to let them go.

Champion Team Rule – Don’t create hybrid positions with sales and administration.

We have to recognize that more people are doing fewer things; that most people’s skills are in a very narrow range.  Most of us could do about half a dozen things at world-class levels with the proper training, coaching, and encouragement.

When you look at the world of business, especially in the accounting, legal, and medical fields, they have exploded in areas of specialization.  In the medical field, we have specialists for every part of our human anatomy.  We also have specialists for stages of our life and leading to our death.  In the legal field, we have legal experts for contract law, trial law, business, estates, family law, environmental law, personal injury.  I could write pages and pages of specific specialization for both the legal and medical professions.

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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• Prospecting?

• Lead Generation?

• Listing Presentations?

• Scripts & Dialogues?

• Objection Handling?

• Converting?