Words of a Champion

The way to become market-proof is to develop better skills.  The most important skills a sales person can possess are their sales skills.  How are your skills?

I truly believe the sales skills that you possess will separate you from your competition.  Your ability to have an actual sales process will enable you to outperform all other Agents in your marketplace.  Some of you are saying, “What is a sales process?”

A sales process is the step-by-step, walk through process that you follow to covert a buyer or seller.  It is the scripts that you use and the questions that you ask.  It is the process of first impression, qualifying, evaluating needs, conducting a values conversation, accessing solutions, creating recommendations, and presenting the recommendations in a package that is convincing to the client.  It is your ability to handle any resistance to your plan for success for your client and then finally, the closing for agreement and acceptance by your client.

Focus on success today,

Dirk Zeller
CEO
Real Estate Champions, Inc

P.S. We've put up Free Training Video Session #3... Client Referral Letter Strategy™" view it today by going here.

Helping The Buyer Move In

When showing property to buyers, your job is to help clients imagine living in the home. The quicker you can get them to think about what it would be like to move into the house, the more quickly you’ll help move them to their decision.

The way to help the buyer move in is to ask questions like these:

• Susan, would you arrange your furniture this way?
• How would you arrange it differently?
• Which of these bedrooms would be best for Bobby?
• Where would you place the swing set?
• Where would the patio table go?
• How would you change the back yard?
• How would you arrange the kitchen?
• How would your oval nook table fit in this nook area?
• Where would you put your workbench in the garage?
• Where do you think the big screen would go?
• What do you feel is the best location for the piano?

Any question that engages the buyer’s imagination is a good question. If the answer conveys negative feedback, then the home is probably not the right one for the buyer and you can cross if off the list and move on.

If you'd like more help with converting & committing buyers check out my audio series "Convert & Commit the Buyer Everytime!™ - CD Audio Series" & FREE Video Training here.

The Purpose And Hierarchy of Value of Prospecting

The purpose of prospecting is to develop prospective clients for your business. The real estate prospecting process involves two-steps.

1. Identify and create leads by establishing contact with people who have interest in what you are offering and the ability to become clients.

2. Secure a face-to-face appointment for a pre-determined time in the future.

Realtors seek two categories of clients: Sellers, who become listing clients and buyers, who become real estate purchasers. The following sections provide tips on how to prospect for clients in each group.

Listing leads come from past clients, those in your sphere of influence, expired listings, FSBO conversions, open houses, lead cultivation, and door knocking – but they rarely come without some effort, and here’s why. The tendency when people are sending you referrals is to send you prospective buyers.  The public’s perception is that Realtors sell houses; that we put people in our cars and drive them around and find them a home to buy.

To generate listing leads, you have to do some pretty active prospecting work:

• Listing referrals do not come naturally. Specifically ask those within your sphere of influence, your circle of past clients, or your referral groups to share the names of people who need or want to sell real estate.

• To achieve a greater listing inventory and develop a specialty as a listing agent, cultivate listing prospects by working expired and FSBO listings.

• To prioritize your efforts, follow the Prospecting Hierarchy of Value for help assessing which sources of listing leads are the most productive for your business.      

Prospecting for buyers is easier than prospecting for listings, partly because referrals arrive more naturally, and partly because open houses attract prospective buyers and provide you with such a great prospecting platform.

If you are short on buyer prospects, increase the frequency of your open houses. The type of houses you choose to show will determine the kinds of prospects you generate. Obviously, higher priced and more exclusive properties draw more discerning buyer prospects, while lower priced properties attract less affluent prospects. 

To build your business quickly, work to generate leads from more first-time home buyers by planning more open houses in the low range of your marketplace. The benefits of developing first-time buyer prospects include:

• First-time buyers can be sold into homes quickly, as they aren’t burdened with the need to sell homes in order to make purchases possible.

• They lack experience with other Realtors. They do not have current agent affiliations, nor do they approach a new Realtor relationship with baggage that may have been acquired from a less-than-stellar past experience.

• They acquire strong loyalty when good service is rendered, allowing you to establish a long-term relationship that may span 10-15 years and multiple home sales and purchases over that period.

• They provide you with an opportunity to establish relationships with their friends who are also considering first-time purchases.

• To prioritize your efforts, follow the Prospecting Hierarchy of Value for help assessing which sources of buyer leads are the most productive for your business.

The Prospecting Hierarchy of Value

In prospecting, some approaches involve a shorter contact-to-contract cycle than others, therefore delivering a greater return on time investment and higher value to your business. In order, here are the factors that most influence the value of your prospecting approaches:

1. Past Clients. The highest-value form of prospecting is calling past clients and those in your direct sphere of influence. These people have either used your services in the past or know you and your character. Asking them to do business with you again is described as canvassing. Asking them to refer their friends is described as prospecting for referrals.

   These calls are the easiest to make because they reach those with whom you have established relationships. Typically, Realtors experience less resistance when placing calls to this group than to any other. They also make the calls with high expectations that their efforts will generate leads.  How long it takes to acquire leads using this approach varies greatly.  You could secure a lead on your very first call or on your 100th call, so the ratio of leads generated to time invested is difficult to anticipate.

2. Expireds. I could make a case for this being the #1 highest-value prospecting approach, as well, due to the ease of locating expired listings and the relatively quick contact-to-contract cycle. Expired listings come up in the MLS daily, along with all the information you need to make the contact. Many go back on the market with another agent within a week, so the sales cycle is short, which is a key reasons that expireds offer such a high rate of return for the effort.

   Few agents engage in calling expireds, largely because the sellers, who have not experienced success with their last agents, can be hostile toward new agents, as well. Many agents feel “it’s beneath them” to contact these prospects – which further contributes to the opportunity for the ones who do.

3. FSBOs. Converting for sale by owner contracts requires more work than securing expired listings. You have to seek them out through newspaper ads or FSBO subscription services like Landvoice. Once you target a FSBO property, figuring out whom to call takes another round of effort, which is why FSBOs are further down the value hierarchy than past clients, those in your sphere, or expireds.

   The sales cycle for FSBOs is four to five weeks on average. FSBO sellers generally try to sell by themselves for that time frame before engaging the services of a real estate agent.  Over that period, you must be willing to do lead follow-up weekly in order to secure an appointment four to five weeks away.

4. Open Houses and Door Knocking. These face-to-face techniques provide greater time investment than phone contacts, simply because you can’t see as many people face-to-face as you can speak with over the phone. The advantage: It’s harder for people to reject you face-to-face.

5. Cold Calling. This technique, tried and true since the advent of the phone, has lost effectiveness over the years due to the preponderance of two-income, busy families and the onset of No-Call laws.  But there are agents who still make money, and a lot of it, cold calling.  It is not something I recommend highly, since there are so many other techniques that provide higher returns with less effort.  It is, however, better than waiting for the phone to ring

If you'd like more help with developing your prospecting skills, check out my program "The Champion Real Estate Agent™ - Audio Series" here.

Job Responsibilites For Your Team

It is important to determine the job responsibilities for each member of the team.  The Champion Agent’s focus should be on Direct Income Producing Activities.  The administrative functions or Production Supporting Activities should be delegated to the Assistant.  The Champion Agent still needs to coach the administrative process but does not participate in the process daily.

There are only a few daily activities that you can do to earn the amount of money per hour that you desire.  These DIPA activities are the only activities that will pay your true value per hour.

Your staff should take on all the other responsibilities, so that you can focus on those activities that provide the highest return.  The more you are able to delegate efficiently, the more productive your business will be in both the short term and the long term.  Efficient delegation will also provide you more freedom and allow you to spend more time with your family.

Below is a list of suggested job responsibilities for the Listing Coordinator, Closing Coordinator, and Field Coordinator or Runner.  In some offices, there may not be a person for each of these positions.  For example, there may be one Assistant who is responsible for the Receptionist, Listing Coordinator, and Closing Coordinator functions. 

Listing Coordinator

• Prepare listing packets.
• Send “Thank you” letter to listing appointments (same day as appointment).
• Keep an update of expired listings, notifying Agent when expiration date is near.
• Type letter to the seller requesting an extension, and send the MLS addendum with the new expiration date.
• Handle all MLS changes and follow-up to make sure change was completed and accurate.
• Process all listing contracts.  Submit listing for MLS input.
• Set up showing appointments, as necessary.
• Call Agents regarding showings on listings.
• Call sellers once per week with update on showings, inquiries, etc.
• Update the Agent daily on all showings and activities.
• Keep track of listing inventory.  Discuss any important changes with Agent.
• Complete any follow-up paperwork regarding listings; make sure that it is completed correctly and in a timely manner.
• Write and place newspaper and home magazine ads.
• Send clients a letter and copy of the ads ran of their listing.
• Design flyers.
• Install or order “For Sale” signs; and follow-up with Sign Company to make sure sign is installed -- and installed at the proper location.
• Install lock box and make duplicate of key for office in case it is misplaced.
• Install directionals and flyers. Follow-up to make sure that the directionals are up and that the flyer box is full.
• Have a schedule for the lock boxes to be read at vacant listings weekly.  Try to read them the same day every week, so that you have an accurate read of how many showings there were in the past week.
• Schedule Open Houses with sellers.
• Any additional tasks that fall between the generation of the listing lead and the time of a sales agreement.

Closing Coordinator

• Take care of all Title Company communications for closings. Make sure Title Company or Attorney has all necessary paperwork.  Follow-up to see when people are going in to sign, and when it will be recording.
• Process all sales agreements.  Make sure the Admin has all the necessary paperwork to open escrow.
• Follow-up weekly with Agents, Lenders, Attorneys, and Title Company who are involved with the sale.  Make sure that everything is completed in a timely manner and that we will be closing on time.
• Document all conversations with the other Agent, Lender, Attorneys, and Title Company, and keep on file for future reference.
• Coordinate all home inspections and appraisals.
• Review files weekly to make sure that all contingencies are completed, and that any missing paperwork is completed and in the file.
• Keep track of all upcoming sales.  List the close date, Seller/Buyer, address, price, total commission, and commission.
• Finalize sold files of the past closings.  Make sure everything is complete.
• Complete any follow-up paperwork regarding sales, making sure that it is completed correctly and in a timely manner.
• Track and maintain commission status reports.
• Order sign down, remove lock box and directionals once property has closed.
• Update and maintain current mailing lists.  Once a transaction closes, make sure that the addresses and phone numbers are updated.
• Any additional tasks that occur from the time the contract is presented through the close of escrow.

Field Coordinator or Runner

• Deliver packages.
• Set up new listings:  Put up directionals, take photo, make duplicate key for office.
• Keep track of lock boxes and their locations.
• Makes sure the listing is maintained:  Directionals are up, yard sign installed properly, flyer box full, etc.
• Take out garbage weekly.  Separate items for recycling, if necessary.
• Perform miscellaneous office tasks, such as filing and photocopying.
• Put together listing packets.
• Put together marketing packets.
• Notify Assistant when low on sign supplies (stickers, signs, stakes, etc.)
• Once listing is sold or expired:  Remove directionals, lock box, etc.
• Take photos to lab to develop for ads. 
• Assist with any mailings.
• Any additional field activities that could be delegated to the Field Coordinator.

These lists of responsibilities are to be used as a guide and to be adjusted as needed.

If you'd like more help with team building check out my book "The Champion Real Estate Team™" here.