In This Issue...
Words of a Champion
Dirk Zeller
CEO
Knowing what to do to become a Champion Agent is only half the battle. Acting on what we know we should do is the most important part of our daily lives.
"Achievement seems to be connected with action. Successful men and women keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit.”
~ Conrad Hilton (Founder Hilton Hotels)
Successful people take action on their thoughts. Throughout the day, thoughts will come that you must take captive. You never know where the next idea might come from that will launch you to the next level in your marketplace.
Conrad Hilton had it right, and, without saying so, he eluded to the fact that just taking action towards your goals will bring YOU success. We do have to gauge our progress toward our goals and make course corrections along the way, but the most important aspect that Conrad had a fix on was movement or action. To succeed in becoming a Champion Agent, you can never stop that forward motion.
There is a law in physics that describes Inertia that I think is relevant for today's article. Inertia is described as a resistance to change. It's also described as the tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest or of a body in straight-line motion to stay in straight-line motion unless acted on by an outside force.
This is good news. Not only does Inertia have a way of keeping you from making a change, it also helps you continue changing once you've taken action toward your goals.
Perhaps you'll let us be the "outside force" that can help you take steps toward your success. Just opening this e-mail took your action...one step closer to success. We've put together some valuable content, so you'll know what to do. After you've completed the article, it's up to you to take action on what you know.
To Your Achievement of Greater Success in 2009,
Dirk Zeller, CEO
RealEstateChampions.com
P.S. If the top producing Agent in your marketplace offered to let you use his/her listing presentation as your own, what would that be worth to you? Well, I'm going to give you a peek at the Listing and Pre-Listing Presentation Package and tactics that I used to sell 150+ homes a year and an average Agent used to achieve... (full case study on the next page). This is by far the most requested and anticipated program I've ever produced here at REC, so make sure to take a look further today...
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P.P.S. To help you resolve to stay in touch with leads, clients, and referrals you will want to check out our free webinar on the SendOutCards system. This FREE webinar will cover exactly how you can build long-lasting relationships with your clients and cultivate solid referrals with the powerful SOC system. You’ll never forget a birthday, anniversary, or holiday again, and you’ll have the ability to follow up with your clients for 4+ years with just a few clicks! Make sure to reserve your FREE spot today by clicking here.
"Finally Revealed: The Exact Listing and Pre-listing Presentation Package (Ready-to-Print) and Tactics That Dirk Zeller Developed and Used to Sell 150+
Homes a Year, and an Average
Agent Used to Achieve..."
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Went From Selling Only 60% of His Listings to Now Selling 9 Out of 10 Listings He Takes, Even in a Tough Market |
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Reduced the Time of Listings Taken to Listings Sold by 30+ Days |
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Beat Out His Competition for the Listing Over 87% of the Time, EVEN if Another Agent Had Been Referred In |
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Increased His Yearly Income by $120,000 (Went From Selling 42 Homes to 60) Just By Using This Specific Listing Presentation and Strategies... |
Dear Champion Agent,
Just a few days ago I received an email from one of my personal clients essentially asking me, "Dirk, would it be possible if you could send me the actual Listing Presentation you used when you sold 150 homes a year?"
Needless to say, this wasn't the first time I'd been asked that question! In fact, I couldn't even begin to tell you how many times my clients and subscribers have inquired about getting ahold of my actual listing presentation to help them improve the listing side of their business.
I mean, who wouldn't want a complete Listing Presentation Package that had been perfected from years and years in the field and proven to achieve such tremendous results? If the top producing Agent in your marketplace offered to let you use his/her listing presentation as your own, what would that be worth to you?
So John and I combined forces to create a turnkey, 100% customizable
(enter your Information, logos, etc. and print) Listing
and Pre-listing Presentation Package that has produced the results you saw above.
Needless to say, the response has been absolutely overwhelming!
This is by far the most requested and anticipated program I've ever produced here at REC, and at this rate, it's looking like we might run out and have to produce more. So if you haven't already grabbed your copy, I'd highly suggest taking a look further by clicking the link below...
Click Here to Take a Peek at the 100% Customizable Listing and Pre-Listing Package That You Can Start Implementing In Your Business Right Away...
Developing Your Pricing Philosophy
Ask a dozen Agents to explain their home pricing philosophy, and you’ll hear a dozen different approaches. And if the talk reveals frank responses, you’ll also learn that the most common pricing strategy is no strategy at all.
Here’s my advice: Break out of the ranks by establishing and following a specific strategy for arriving at the ideal selling price for each home.
Adopt the philosophy that, in real estate sales, price is king. Price trumps all other factors – including marketing approaches, home condition, market competitiveness, and sales approach. I believe that, in the end, marketing and condition of the property are controlled by the price.
The alternative, advocated by many Agents, most sellers, and even some sales trainers, is to emphasize marketing over pricing. Rather than working to set the ideal price, they believe success will come from optimizing the home’s condition and presentation and then marketing it with skill and savvy.
I take the opposite belief, based on years of experience working with sellers who wanted unrealistic prices for their homes and who experienced first-time sales failures as a result.
Over my sales career, I resurrected and re-listed more than 600 expired listings – nearly 75 a year. Among all those transactions, I never met an owner with an expired listing who thought that an unreasonable price had anything to do with the home’s failure to sell. They all blamed the previous Agent and that person’s approach to marketing. Each sought some magic marketing strategy to change the reality of the law of supply and demand. There is a magic strategy: Price the home correctly.
Price is the only factor that can overcome sales obstacles, compensate for a home’s deficiencies, and motivate a purchaser even if the condition of the property and your marketing approach is less than perfect.
Getting the listing at any cost
Does this scenario sound familiar? An Agent (usually a newer Agent) is short on business or maybe even desperate for the chance to stake a sign in someone’s yard. The Agent wants a listing at any price – even if the chance to seal a deal erodes the likelihood of selling the property. To gain a seller’s nod of approval, the Agent makes a flatteringly high pricing recommendation, throwing out a number the client wants to hear and then hoping something good will result from the bad situation.
I can think of few examples, if any, where this philosophy works. Hope isn’t a successful pricing strategy. Worse, the please-the-client mindset is a hard one to abandon. Agents who achieve listings with unrealistic prices find it hard to later counsel their clients honestly.
The pitfalls of a “please the buyer” approach are many and significant. By overpricing, you can practically count on a reduction in your productivity, profitability, and salability, and here’s why:
- It’s impossible to keep your productivity high when your time is spent in conversations with an unsuccessful seller who lacks motivation to take corrective action. The seller’s negativity, concerns, and phone calls will only increase with each week or month the house remains on the market. As time goes on, you’ll devote more and more time unsuccessfully trying to create a sale not only for your seller but also for yourself. This will pull you away from activities that are more likely to deliver income. The ensuing frustration will de-motivate you and stunt your ability to secure better appointments that create other income opportunities.
- An unsold, overpriced listing negatively impacts your profitability because it costs you time and money to service while it delivers no revenue to your business. And the situation only gets worse the longer the listing languishes on the market. You’ll end up deducting the expenses of this in-limbo listing from the proceeds generated by any revenue-producing deals you manage to close in the meantime, reducing your net profit and business success.
- Unsold homes that linger on the market seriously diminish your salability, which is the term that describes your sales success track. Your salability is based on such key statistics as your average ratio of listing price compared to sale price and the average number of days your listings are on the market. Obviously, these statistics, which prospects rely on when choosing one Agent over another, can be crushed by a “get the listings at any cost” philosophy. They’re also harmed by the “start high and reduce later” tactic.
If you take and price a good listing competitively, it will sell. You can’t keep a good price a secret!
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Four Easy Steps to Handling Presentation Objections
Sales objections are part of selling. For most people in sales, they present an immovable object in the road to your success. Real estate Agents often freeze when presented with a sales objection. They don’t know what to do or say in the face of this perceived danger.
Let me share with you a radical concept. Sales objections are actually good. Now that I’ve blown your circuits, let me explain. There is no selling of anything significant without sales objections. Sales objections indicate an elevated level of interest, desire, or motivation to buy what you are offering. These are merely a request for more information.
The prospect is saying, “I need more information. If I like the information you give me, I will do business with you.” What could be better than that?
One of the best ways to delay objections is to refer back to your approved agenda, saying:
“Mr. and Mrs. Seller, would it be all right if I answered your question when we get to Item Number 5 on our agenda? That’s where we discuss _____.”
Better than 40% of the time, they won’t bring the sales objection up again. You handled the sales objection by delaying its arrival.
Using your agenda to delay objections is particularly important when the concern deals with the home price or the cost of your service. Don’t ever respond to pricing concerns until you have determined the sellers’ wants, needs, and expectations and established the value for your service.
Objections are inevitable, so be ready to deal with them by following this four-step system.
The Power of the Pause
When an objection arises, hear the client out completely and then pause. Pause to collect your thoughts and, for many salespeople, to lower what might feel like rising blood pressure. Pause to ensure that you heard the objection completely. Don’t try to cut the person off. I’ve watched salespeople interrupt, as if they are hoping to stuff the words back into the client’s mouth before they’re even out. This is the biggest mistake you can make. It demonstrates rudeness and insensitivity.
Acknowledging Concerns
After hearing the objection and pausing to consider it, acknowledge the concern. This confirms that you understand what the client said, and it also gives you a few moments to consider and prepare your response.
Notice, nothing in the previous paragraph advises you to agree with the client. You can acknowledge the concern and thank the client for bringing it up without saying that it is right.
You can acknowledge by using any of these phrases:
- “I understand your concern in this area.”
- “That’s a really terrific question. I’m glad you asked it.”
- “I can see where that might cause you concern.”
One of my favorite techniques is to follow acknowledgement of a concern with a question or comment that probes for more information. The following responses give you an opportunity to learn more while also buying a few moments to develop a response:
- “I understand your concern in this area. Why do you feel that way?”
- “I can see where that might cause you concern. Tell me more.”
Isolating concerns
By now you might be ready to pounce on the objection with your best answers. Hold off, if you can, while you isolate the concern. Isolation at its fundamental level, asks: “If it weren’t for this concern, we would be working together, right?”
By isolating, you cause the prospects to lay all their concerns on the table. Through this one step, you learn everything that is standing between you and a signed listing contract.
Use any of these isolation scripts as you help sellers get their concerns out into the open:
- “Is that the only concern that holds you back from moving forward with me?”
- “Suppose we could find a satisfactory solution to this important concern of yours. Would you give me the go-ahead?”
- “If this problem did not exist, would you be ready to proceed right now?”
By isolating the concern, you learn exactly what you’re up against. You might surface another objection in the process – which is why many Agents shrink away from this step – but you would have heard it later anyway.
Responding with confidence
By now you’ve heard the objection, paused, acknowledged, and isolated. Now is the time to respond.
The most commonly stated objections center around Agent commission, price of the home, length of the listing term, and the need for extra time to make the listing decision. More than 80% of the objections you’ll hear over the course of your career stem from these key concerns, so prepare yourself by outlining and mastering your responses that convince the sellers you are able to handle the concern more effectively than other Agents.
Ask your Broker for scripts the company recommends to handle sales objections. If they don’t have them, then make an investment in your career and buy them from an expert.
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Making Your Presentation Useful
Most Agent presentations put sellers to sleep, mainly because most presentations lack interest, usefulness, and structure.
To increase the interest in your presentation, follow this advice:
- Share market knowledge. Become a student of the local marketplace and share meaningful statistics. Also track trends in the national marketplace, both to enlighten your prospects and also to distinguish yourself as a well-read, well-connected, and well-informed Agent.
- Ask questions. Listen in on typical listing presentations, and you’ll hear the Agent talking 80% of the time, with the prospect hardly getting a word in edgewise. I guarantee you that the seller finds that monologue uninteresting.
- Watch the clock. Don’t let your presentation run too long and don’t save the information the seller most wants to receive until the very end. If you put your price recommendation at the very end of a 90-minute presentation during which you did 80% of the talking, you can pretty well predict that your seller will be tuned out.
- What the prospect has to say is more important than what you have to say. Great salespeople do less than 25% of the talking. You already know all that you need to know about what you’re thinking. You need to learn what your prospects think and know and desire, so you can match your service to their wants and needs.
Keep it short and sweet. Let’s get right to the point . . . a 90-minute presentation is neither short nor sweet. What in the world an Agent finds to talk about for 90 minutes I have no idea, but I do know, for sure, that sellers don’t want to sit through a 90-minute appointment, and they most certainly don’t want to listen to an Agent for that long.
Within the first few minutes of the appointment, inform your sellers that your listing presentation will take no more than 45 minutes. Based on my own experience, I can tell you that more than half of the sellers will thank you when you tell them that your presentation will be brief. Many times, I’ve had clients thank me again when I was walking out the door with the signed contract, sharing their appreciation that I wasn’t there all night!
A good, brief presentation results from a proper structure, a clear presentation plan, and knowing what to say and how to convey it.
Many Agents translate the terms structure and plan to mean “canned presentation.” They say, “I don’t want to sound mechanical and scripted.” People sound mechanical and scripted for lack of practice, not because they have a pattern or process to follow. In fact, most people require professional service providers to follow plans. For example, when I board a plane, you can bet that I want the pilot to follow a “canned” preflight checklist, landing checklist, flight plan, etc. I want the attorney who defends me to have well-constructed or planned legal briefs, questions, and arguments.
I am not working to “can” anyone, but the necessity to plan your presentation is essential. You need to have a framework that you are comfortable with, that allows you to deliver key facts, findings, and segments, using key phrases and dialogues, every time you present. I would rather an Agent err on the side of “canned” than just “wing it.”
Other advice:
- Know your prospects. If you aren’t completely clear on your prospects’ interests and needs, you haven’t qualified them well. Acquiring prospect knowledge is truly the key to a good presentation. You absolutely have to secure the right information before going into the appointment.
- Set a goal to keep your presentation to 45 minutes or less. Look at every piece of sales material you present. Does it demonstrate clear benefits to the seller? Does it need to be used? Does the seller understand it? Does it create differentiation between you and the other Agents? As the saying goes, “when in doubt, leave it out.”
- Limit the volume of PowerPoint slides or color presentation binder pages that eat up your presentation time and your chance to dialogue with the sellers. Typically, each page in your presentation – whether it’s on a computer screen or on paper – represents two minutes of presentation time by the time you turn to the page, talk about it, emphasize key points, and ask for questions to confirm your prospect’s understanding. Do the math: 30 pages eat up an hour, putting you well over your time limit before you even get to the contract!
By following this advice, you are on your way to making your presentation one that is useful, structured, and interesting – that all sellers appreciate –, and it will set you apart from the rest.
Dirk Zeller
CEO |
Dear Champion Real Estate Broker,
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