In This Issue...
Words of a Champion
Dirk Zeller
CEO
True growth in life happens when we are willing to risk and stretch our abilities; when we are willing to put it on the line for change. It is easy to get comfortable being around the same crowd, doing the same thing we have always done. We can often get attached to a system of activities that will only lead us to the same result we have always gotten.
We have to be willing to risk where we are today to get to where we truly want to be. By venturing out, we develop skills of strength that will build us up and make us stronger. Napoleon Hill said, “The strongest oak tree of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rain and scorching sun.”
The challenges you are facing right now will make you stronger. Move forward and take them head on. Step up to the challenges. Step up to the opportunities that lie just beyond the challenges. You may be in darkness, but the light is right around the bend. When you overcome the obstacles facing you…you will then be able to drink in the sunlight of accomplishment to recharge your battery.
You are truly like that oak tree. The only difference is that you can replant yourself regularly out in the open. If that tree takes root in the forest, it will live its whole existence there. You can continue to move out into the open. If the forest grows out to you and tries to bring you in you can move again. You have a tremendous advantage, are you using it? Resolve to move out into the open today!!
To Your Achievement of Success in Any Marketplace,
Dirk
Zeller, CEO
RealEstateChampions.com
P.S. Are you in a changing or down market? Do you want to learn the same tactics that 84% of my clients used to have their best year ever last year, despite the poor market conditions?
If you'd like to join them in controlling today's changing marketplaces, make sure you check out my brand new program. Click here to check it out!
P.P.S. We are now officially opening up our forum to the general public! It's still in the early building stages, but we hope that you'll help us create a community where Agents can share ideas about what is working in today's marketplaces, and really come together to help each other become Champions. Take a look here (and make sure to sign up!): Click Here to Visit the Forum!
If you’re frustrated & tired of letting changing and down markets control your real estate future, it’s time that you finally take back control and find out…
Dear Champion Agent,
In the past few months, I've been getting absolutely bombarded with emails from both my clients and regular Coaches CornerTM subscribers essentially asking me, "Dirk, my market is the worst it has been in years. What exactly can I do to get out of this slump and drastically raise my income?".
The truth is, whether you're in a market that is moderately down or one that has totally bombed, there is actually a huge opportunity for you to take market share and greatly increase your income. With the proper tactics, you can essentially take advantage of the fact that most Agents simply don't know what to do! Find out how by clicking here...
|
• |
How to play the odds in your favor like a casino - you too can become the house and come out on top in any market |
|
• |
The Top 3 Reasons why prospects
select an Agent, and how to use them to instantly create loyalty with new clients over your competition |
|
• |
How to use the 4 Pillars of Prospecting to avoid the plague of yo-yo production numbers and achieve long-term consistency in your income |
|
• |
Dirk Zeller's personal high-converting and proven scripts that will allow you to easily convert buyers and sellers into clients |
|
• |
How to answer the #1 crucial question that could mean the difference between a prospect selecting you or your competition - Most Agents forget it completely |
|
• |
How to use Champion Sales Techniques to convince unwilling customers in a down market to price their homes competitively so you can get the listings sold |
|
• |
How to easily convert prospects to appointments every time using time-tested and proven scripts (provided to you in full) |
|
• |
...and much more! |
Find out how you can thrive in your market by clicking the link below...
How Top Producers Get Price Reductions
Getting clients to reduce their price is not a mystical happening. It must be done methodically. Top-gun Agents have a set system to get price reductions. It is followed to the letter no matter the price of the property, economic conditions of the marketplace, or the client. There are five steps to setting up a good price reduction system.
Step one: Get it priced right when you list the property. Tell the seller the truth about the price. Be compelling and convincing in your conviction about the price. Make the seller understand that the other Agents want the listing and will beat them up on price later. They merely want their sign in the ground. You want a sale and a satisfied client and you are willing to tell them the truth up front to get that.
Step two: If you decide to take the home overpriced initially, then get a price reduction signed for a future price and date. Get the commitment that if in 30 days the home hasn’t sold, they are dropping the price to a new price. Push to get it signed and done. This commitment will avoid discussion later. If you do discuss this but don’t get a signature, you will have at least laid down the foundation for a discussion regarding reducing the price at a later date.
Step three: Get the seller to agree to meet with you at your office every 45 days to discuss the price of their property and showings. This meeting will give you an opportunity, in your environment, to get the price needed to sell the home. By getting them to your office, you have control and invest less time, which is your most precious resource. When they come to your office the meeting will be shorter and you will save at least 30 minutes in drive time.
Step four: Create a specific price reduction campaign of letters and phone calls. This campaign should start no later than 30 days after the listing is taken. The clients should receive information and guidance about the dangers of over-pricing their home. They need to know the importance of price in the sales process, even if you clearly explained this during the listing appointment. Remember we are judged by the results of getting the home sold. If the price is hindering your success, your client needs to change.
Step five: This is the final step. The clients have not been cooperative with getting the price down. They have met with you and received a few steps of your price reduction campaign. Send them the final letter. The letter should state that you have included a price reduction form with your recommended price and a form to cancel the listing, and ask them to please sign one of the forms and send it back.
When I was an Agent, we used to get about 65% that signed the price reduction. We had about 35% that wanted to cancel their listing. The 65% sold at the reduced price when they would not have sold before. The 35% we saw on the expired list months later. Clearly, our over-priced listings had no value. Yours will only cost you money and, more importantly, time and emotional energy. Don’t allow clients to dictate the conditions and success of your business by their refusal to look at the facts objectively. Reduce your expired listings by reducing the price. Price will always dictate all the other factors in the sale. Control the price today.
To
get FREE, instant access to
YOUR copy of the Video Training & Bonus Tools Dirk
mentioned,
Please type your first name and
e-mail address below.
* PRIVACY POLICY: We respect your privacy and promise to never share your e-mail address.
Managing An Open House - Before The Open House
A successful open house requires a well-chosen and presentable home, a well-organized host, and an impeccable follow-up plan so that no prospect gets lost in the post-event period. This article focuses on the first part of the plan.
Before prospects arrive
Before you swing open the doors to open house guests, be sure the home is clean, bright, and welcoming – and be sure that you’re ready to present not only the home you’re showing but other homes that may better fit the interests of your prospects.
Be ready to present the home you’re featuring
Arrive at the open house with flyers or feature sheets presenting the property you’re showing. Bring enough copies to provide one to each visitor as a way of reminding the prospect of the home and especially, of you. A few tips:
- Keep the feature sheets simple.
- Include a picture of the home and information about bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, and amenities.
- Include your picture and contact information.
Research proves that most guests will not buy the home you’re showing, but they may very well buy into the idea of working with you on their future home sale or purchase. The feature sheet will provide prospects with information on how to contact you.
Be ready to discuss other available properties
Before the open house, arm yourself with information on about half a dozen other homes that are similar in price, amenities, neighborhood, and geography to the one you’re showing. Then, when an open house guest indicates a lack of interest in the home you’re showing you’ll be prepared to quickly and easily shift the discussion to another possibility.
The best research approach is to personally tour each home so that you fully understand and can quickly describe its attributes and how it differs from the home you’re showing. Then, should a prospect express to you that the open house home wouldn’t work because the back yard is too small, for example, you’ll have first-hand knowledge with which to describe the large yard of another home you can recommend.
Shoo the homeowners out the door
Having the seller underfoot during an open house only causes barriers between you and the potential prospects. You must make arrangements for the seller to be away during open house hours and here’s why:
- Without intending to do so, the owner may convey to the prospect a strong desire to move, causing the prospect to believe that the owner is anxious to sell and prompting a lower initial offer.
- The seller may say something that raises a red flag about the condition of the property.
- The seller may describe his or her favorite things about the house. If these features are ones the buyer dislikes and was thinking about changing, the seller’s input may simply shut down interest in the home.
Most sellers want to help you sell their homes and, the truth is, the best help they can provide is to be absent during the open house.
Implementing last-minute open house touches
Right before opening the doors to your open house, take a few moments to enhance the warm, welcoming feeling attendees will feel upon arrival.
- Throw open blinds to expose nice views
- Turn on lights to brighten corners
- Burn candles and plug in air fresheners to scent the air
- Play soft music to fill the air
- Set out simple, but tasteful, refreshments to encourage attendees to linger (For some thoughts regarding refreshments, see the section below titled “Gaining customers without home-baked cookies”)
- Place a guest book or sign-in sheet, along with a pen, in the entryway or at a point where guests will gather
- Keep a stack of business cards and house flyers in a visible location
Gaining customers without home-baked cookies
Certainly, one objective of an open house is to get the prospect to linger in the home.
Obviously, the more time the prospect spends at your event, the more time you have to establish a relationship and communicate the value you can bring to that person’s sale or purchase transaction. And a great way to get customers to stay awhile is to serve refreshments. On that point, nearly all Agents agree.
The debate starts when the discussion turns to which kinds of refreshments are best.
Some Agents insist that the single best approach is to serve warm cookies straight from the open-house oven. The result is a two-for-one: Refreshments plus an aroma-filled home. I know of one husband and wife team that takes the idea even further, filling the house with the scent of a roast dinner, which they cook for their sellers while the open house is underway. As you might imagine, they generate a waiting list of people wanting them to hold open houses in their homes.
I personally believe that all this kitchen activity advances the wrong message to prospects. They aren’t looking for the next Emeril. They are looking for a Sales Professional to represent them in the largest single transaction of their lives.
My advice is to save the time you’d spend baking cookies and invest it instead into development of your sales skills. Learn how to convert an open house guest to a buyer or seller prospect by addressing that person’s interests and needs, and you’ll never need to don an oven mitt.
Hiring - The Telephone Interview
When beginning the interview process (after you have determined what sort of person you feel would be qualified for the position), do all initial interviews over the phone. The phone interview will help reduce the personal interviews by half. It will save your time, as well as the applicant’s time. It will save you time you would have spent interviewing candidates who do not truly meet your definition or qualifications for the position. You can spot the applicants whose financial requirements are much higher than you are willing to pay within a few minutes, rather than taking thirty minutes or an hour in a face-to-face interview.
You may want to call candidates first and have a brief phone interview to determine whether they meet your criteria and if they are still interested in the position after speaking with you. Below is a list of questions to be used for the phone interview.
Phone Interview Questions:
- What kind of experience do you have?
- What aspects of your work do you consider most crucial?
- Of all the work you have done, where have you been most successful?
- What would you say are the broad responsibilities of an executive assistant?
- What would you say are the major qualities this job demands?
- What aspects do you like best?
- What are the most repetitive tasks in your job? And how do you handle them?
- What are you looking for in your next job?
- What bothers you most about your job?
- How much money are you currently making?
- How much money do you want?
- What else should I know about your qualifications for the job?
This is the end of the questioning. If you feel that the candidate is appropriate for the job, then schedule an interview. Explain that you expect punctuality, you will want a list of references, and you will check those references.
Once all the telephone interviews are completed, the next step is to have face-to-face interviews with the remaining candidates. This will give you the chance to further interview them to determine if their skills match the qualifications that you are looking for in an assistant.
After the interviews have been completed, the list of candidates should be narrowed down to the top 3-5. At this time, you may want another member of your team (or someone else) to interview them, to help select the best candidate. It may be helpful to have someone else interview because another person may see different qualities or traits that you missed during the previous interviews. You also want to personally interview them twice. Don’t make the hire after one interview. It’s too little time for such an important decision.
Dirk Zeller
CEO |
Dear Champion Real Estate Broker,
One of the greatest frustrations for an Agent once they’ve elevated themselves to the Broker/Owner/ Manager position is providing consistent & timely Real Estate Training that gives their sales staff the “knowledge to compete and the skills to win!” Celebrating its fourth year, the Champion Performer Series™ has become a Broker’s favorite for providing LIVE Monthly Training Events to their entire offices.
This series of monthly and semi-annual training programs is designed to deliver timely, time-tested & proven, meat-and-potatoes training that you and the Agents in your office can use right away to grow production numbers and overcome obstacles you may be facing in current market conditions... Learn More.
Help Your Friends
If you have friends and colleagues who would enjoy the
Coaches Corner™ lease forward it and invite them to subscribe.
We appreciate your help since your recommendation is how we grow.
Real Estate Champions is committed to partner with you to create
abundance in your business and life.
Learn More Here
