Secrets of a Champion

A lot of our coaching calls center around daily disciplines.  We need to stay the course for doing the daily generation of new business and new leads.  You can live off the current prospects and clients for now, but in 90 days the results of only focusing on your current prospects and clients will be the reduction in your income.  We often take the new deal and stop focusing on generating new business.  Understand that the daily generation of business is the key to long-term repeatable income.  If you generate and look for new business daily you will always be successful.  Here are two approaches to use:

First, only work with the best clients and prospects.  When the activity increases you will have more than you can handle.  So qualify harder, handle your leads with more intensity, and begin to shrink the size of your business box.  Tighten up the time parameters and motivation level for prospects that you desire to work with.  If they don’t fit into your time parameters refer them to other Agents.  Pick the cream of the crop.

By picking the best prospects, you will have smoother deals and better long-term referrals from past clients.  You will be working with better quality prospects and clients who require you to invest less time with them.  This will allow you to do more transactions in less time.  Qualifying is the name of the game.

Second, focus on the value of your time.  Don’t let anyone take your time without paying you for it.  With an abundance of opportunities it is crucial to get rid of the clients and prospects quickly and efficiently that waste a lot of your time.  You can dramatically raise the value you earn per hour if you disqualify the ones with low motivation or unrealistic expectations.  You can set a new benchmark of your value per hour.  Don’t lose sight on your value per hour.

Focus on success today,

Dirk Zeller
CEO
Real Estate Champions, Inc

Six Key Rules

At one time I read about Jack Welch’s six key rules in Forbes magazine.  Jack Welch was the CEO of General Electric for 20 years.  He was instrumental in leading General Electric into a higher level of dominance in the marketplace.  Let me share with you the real estate application to these six rules.

1. Face reality as it is, not as it was or as you wish it to be.  This rule has a few key components for REALTORS®. 

   1. Today is the only reality you have.  What are you going to do today to generate new business and provide higher levels of service to your customers?  Last week, last month, last year is in the past.  If you plan to be a successful person you must focus on the future and take one more step today.

   2. Too often you don’t look your financial reality in the face.  Financial reality is line 36 on your tax return.  It doesn’t matter what you gross in commission or how many millions of dollars of sales have you made.  Your business is contained on line 36 of the 1040 form.  Don’t get sucked in to the gross income show.

   3. Reality is some of the numbers in your business.  You need to review these numbers monthly.

      • Gross income
      • Numbers of listings and sales
      • What you make per hour (Gross income ¸ hours worked)
      • Cost per transaction (Expenses ¸ units sold)
      • Number of listings that expire
      • Percentage of buyer sides versus seller sides
      • Where the business is coming from (i.e. referral, open house, sign call, and ad calls)

   You have to know the reality of your business at all times to make sound decisions.

2. Be candid with everyone.  Tell the truth to all people you work with.  Tell the sellers they are over priced.  Be truthful with the buyers if they expect too much.  Tell them if the property they are searching for will be bought before they even hear about it.  Don’t hope the news will get better with time.  Deal with the problem or issue now.

3. Don’t manage…lead.  Leadership is a lost art.  Anyone can manage…few people lead.  Managers are a dime a dozen.  Leaders are a priceless commodity.  Work to develop your leadership ability.  You have to be able to lead prospects, clients, staff, and other Agents.  Work on your leadership skills today.

4. Change before you have to.  We are living in an economic time where change is a constant.  Our only choice is to change or get out.  There has been much change in real estate in the last 24 months.  Here’s the question: is change going to slow down or speed up?  Your answer to that question and application of your answer will cause you either to be in real estate or out of it in the next 24 months.

5. If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.  Many Agents and companies in the new millennium will have little competitive advantage.  When they realize this fact, they will be forced to compete via price.  Work to develop your competitive advantage.  Increase your level of service to your prospects and clients.  Don’t assume because you may have a competitive advantage now that you will enjoy one in the future.  People and companies have to work constantly to maintain their competitive advantage.

   We have the competitive advantage over all other real estate coaching companies.  I can assure you we are not sitting on our laurels.  We are constantly creating new services and tools that help our Agents increase their revenue, profits, and quality of life.

6. Control your own destiny or someone else will.  You can’t rely on your company, broker, or staff to shape your success.  They are all looking to you to create your own success.  The most successful Agents realize that their success or failure is contained in their attitude, daily disciplines, plan for the future, and their implementation.  The market has little control over your success.  You can make money in any kind of market conditions.

   If you place your destiny in other hands, you will receive what they have planned for you.  Most of them have very little planned for you.  They are never going to be focused on your success like you should be.  There will be mentors and coaches who will help you tremendously during your life, but you are the one who needs to implement your plan for success.

If you'd like more help with generating new business in today's tougher markets check out my latest program "Tough Market Domination™ - CD Audio Series" here.

Ways To Make A Great First Impression When Showing A Home

Selecting a home is not a logical undertaking for most buyers. Most buyers are very swayed by the initial emotions they feel when they first walk through the door of a potential new home. Almost instantly, the home either feels right or feels wrong.

Rarely do people warm up to a home. They receive a first impression and in short order they believe a home is “it” – or it’s not. That first impression can be the beginning of a sales success, or it can be a prohibitive factor that you’ll find hard to overcome.

I remember hearing my mother tell the story of helping my grandmother find a home to buy. They had looked at a number of homes before they walked into one that my grandmother liked. In fact, within two minutes she was dancing around the house saying, “This is the one I am going to buy. I want to buy this house now.”  All logic went out the window the moment she found the comfort, warmth, and space for her large dining room furniture.

It didn’t matter that the home was next door to a car wash with loud air blowers (fortunately, my grandmother was hard or hearing).  It didn’t matter that it was about 100 feet from a major street with extensive traffic.  It felt right to her, and she bought it that day.

Good first impressions, feelings, and emotions control the sale, and logic takes a distant second place in the decision process.

A home has ten seconds to make a first impression. All the senses are in play, and either a home passes or fails the initial test.

Use this advice to positively engage all the senses in the first moments of the buying experience:

• Scent. Fill the home with smells that invoke feelings of comfort, warmth and calmness. Suggest that the sellers bake cookies or bread or with something that fills the home with a warm honey-like aroma prior to presentations. If your clients aren’t quite Martha Stewart types, suggest that they put a few drops of vanilla on some aluminum foil in a warm oven. Or, create a positive aroma with potpourri or incense. 

• Sound. Play soft, soothing music that is considered pretty-much universally acceptable, such as classical pieces with limited instruments or even just piano music. Gangster rap would be unadvisable. If the home has sound wired throughout each room, your music selections also give you an opportunity to demonstrate a feature of the home. 

• Ambiance. Ask the sellers to create a visually inviting environment. Suggest that they prepare a nicely set dining room table. Suggest that they place flower arrangements in various rooms. Even recommend that they build a fire in the fireplace.

• Brightness. Open all the blinds and draperies to let in natural light and make the home appear larger. Also turn on lights in corner areas to pull the eye to the perimeter of the room and provide a sense of expanded space.

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

Telephone Etiquette For Your Team

When answering the phone, anyone on your team should be professional and pleasant.  It reflects poorly on the Champion Agent if their support staff is rude and abrupt with potential clients or with other Agents who are calling the office.

Below are suggested scripts for answering the phone and taking messages.  It is always more pleasant for the person on the other end if the Assistant remains upbeat and pleasant.

Answering the Phone:

“Hi, (Agent’s Name) office.  This is (Insert Your Name).  How may I help you?”

“Good morning (or afternoon), (Agent’s Name) office.  This is (Insert Your Name).  How may I help you?”

Taking a Message:

“I am sorry; (Agent’s Name) is currently not available (on an appointment, meeting, phone, etc).  May I take a message and have him return your call this morning (or afternoon)?  Can I get a number where you can be reached this morning (or afternoon)?  I will have him give you a call back then.  May I tell him what this is regarding?”  (This is where the Assistant needs to probe, so they can handle the question now.)

“I am sorry; (Agent’s Name) is currently not available (on an appointment, meeting, phone, etc).  May I take a message and have him return your call?  He will be returning calls at (insert specific time).  Can I get a number where you can be reached at (insert specific time)?  I will have him give you a call back.  May I tell him what this is regarding?  I would like him to be well prepared to serve you.”

When taking a message, your Assistant should be sure to get the following information:

Name of the caller:  Make sure they get the caller’s first and last name.

Phone number where the caller can be reached:  It may be helpful to get two numbers and find out when the caller will be available at a particular number. They should then repeat the number back to the caller to ensure accuracy.

Message:  Your Assistant should ask the caller what the call is regarding. It is helpful for the Agent to understand, when returning the call, why the caller called. Knowing what the call was regarding may also help the Assistant to prepare information the caller needs prior to returning the phone call.  They also might be able to handle the return call themselves

There are phrases that must be avoided when answering the phones. These phrases cause callers to question the Assistant’s knowledge and interest in answering their questions or solving their problems.

Below are a few examples of phrases to avoid.  Included are examples of what would be more appropriate to say instead.

When people answer in a positive manner, the caller will be more receptive of the response, even if it is not the answer they wanted.  Your Assistant should try to help the caller as much as possible.  This will leave the caller with a positive impression of you, your Assistant, and your business.

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