In This Issue...
Words of a Champion
Dirk Zeller
CEO
One of the essential elements to success in any business environment is to develop business maturity. Business maturity is defined as a keen realization of what needs to be done daily and weekly in your business and the execution of those things. It also encompasses the clear understanding of where you want to take your business and how you are going to achieve it. You clearly know the steps that must be taken to achieve growth.
I truly believe that most Agents strain to achieve business maturity. They exert effort in a good “college try” way but fall short. Their daily and weekly actions are easily altered by their listing inventory, their pending inventory and their personal circumstances. Often when an Agent has lots of pendings and salable listings, their daily activities of prospecting and lead follow up goes away. They step into a level of comfort and they chose not to do the uncomfortable. They can often confuse the process of managing their transactions with developing their business.
One of the biggest errors in judgment that most Salespeople make is the inconsistency of daily and weekly actions that lead to the desired result. I always tell Agents that the question is not, will they prospect and do the lead follow up that is essential when they have no listings and no pendings? In that situation you either prospect or you go broke. It’s will they do it when they have deals in pending and a reasonable listing inventory? That is the mark of business maturity.
My question is, how do you rate with regard to business maturity? On a scale of one to ten where do you fall?
- Do you know what you want and how you are going to achieve it?
- Do you have a set of written plans to achieve your goals and dreams in life?
- Do you have the discipline in yourself to do what you know you must do daily, even in times of prosperity?
All these questions are directed at your business maturity. If you cannot answer a resounding “yes” to each of these questions, change is needed in your life and business for you to have your best year ever this year. You will have to deal head on with your business maturity.
If you need help in this area call our office right now at 541-383-8833. We will help you build the business maturity that will enable you to guarantee your outcome of success!
To Your Success,
Dirk Zeller, CEO
RealEstateChampions.com
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.
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Setting The Stage For Expectations
I truly believe the secret to a significant part of a REALTOR®’s value to clients is setting the stage for expectations. Most Sellers think that an Agent’s real work involves finding the right Buyer, and most Buyers think that the Agent’s real work involves finding the right house to buy. In fact, the real work involves bringing the deal to a successful close.
The public doesn’t see the gyrations that go into reaching contract agreement and closing the deal, but if that step goes awry, no other step in the real estate sales process matters.
The process of negotiating a deal involves fiduciary responsibility, market knowledge, client relations, and enormous skill and tact. Sometimes success means your client is the one selected over other interested parties to buy a particular home. Sometimes it results in a negotiated reduction in a home’s sales price. Always it reflects the realities of the market and the best terms and conditions the Buyer and Seller can achieve.
There are rules of negotiating, starting with knowing all there is about the market environment, so you can convince your client to accept terms and conditions you believe are the best to be had at the present time, based on current market conditions. Often, that persuasion needs to be administered to a less-than-enthusiastic client who was hoping for a better outcome. The following helps you prepare for the task.
At the listing presentation or the Buyer Interview Consultation, after you have gained commitment from the client through a signature on the contract, take a few minutes to outline the next steps. Cover the following two points:
- Briefly describe how you will work to represent your clients’ interests when it comes to negotiating and closing their transaction. I always used this final discussion to explain that my typical approach was to handle negotiations during an appointment in my office. I explained that, as an alternative, I would fax copies to each party prior to a phone meeting during which we would review the documents. I found these two approaches to be most convenient for my clients and most time-efficient for me and for them. By explaining my process in advance my clients knew exactly what to expect.
- Advise your clients to expect that most initial offers will come in below the asking price. I always told my clients that they should expect a below-list price offer; that I rarely saw a transaction that didn’t require a counteroffer. This adjusted expectations and averted disappointment.
Your objective is to set the stage for the negotiations that lie ahead. Preparing your client for what’s in store is an imperative final step that will save you time, emotion, and energy in the future.
Great Real Estate Agents set an optimistic tone and create an expectation that all parties will work together to achieve a negotiated win/win outcome for all involved. This means that the Seller and the Buyer both need to feel as if they won in the final transaction. The Agents for both parties need to feel they won, as well, not just in terms of commissions earned but also in terms of feeling that they earned the satisfaction of their clients.
When a marketplace becomes unbalanced, it’s harder for all parties to feel they won. A few years back most of North America experienced an unbalanced real estate environment. The inflated Seller’s marketplace left Buyers feeling that they were at a disadvantage in sales transactions. They had to act quickly, pay more than the asking price, and assume more risks, such as released earnest money, no inspections on the home, and no contingent sale offers. Unfortunately, we exited that arena to the other extreme where most Sellers are upside down and the Buyers have control over the marketplace. Eventually we will enter back into an environment where win/win outcomes are more possible and probable.
One of your jobs throughout the transaction is to serve as a calming influence. When emotions run high – as they are sure to do – be the one to remain focused on the outcome and to settle the Buyer, the Seller, and all involved Agents back down.
Take the approach followed by the best emergency room doctors. They serve as a calming influence by displaying confidence and skill while reassuring their patients and other medical staff that everything is under good control. If the emergency room doctor flew into a frenzy, the entire clinical setting would likely spin out of control on the tide of the unchecked emotion. The same is true in the final throes of a real estate transaction. Commit to yourself that you will serve as the calming influence throughout the deal.
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The Four Pillars of Prospecting
For long-term prospecting success, apply the four disciplines that are common to Agents who consistently achieve their revenue and quality of life goals.
#1 – Set a daily time and place for prospecting
You can’t work your prospecting around your day; you have to work your day around your prospecting. You have to establish the habit and engage in the discipline of prospecting on a daily basis and from a controlled environment where your prospecting tools are available and readily accessible. To paraphrase from the sixties hit Batman, prospecting success is all about “same bat time, same bat channel.”
In my private office, I set up a prospecting station that included a stand-up area, a computer, and telephone with a headset. Tacked on one wall were scripts for use when contacting expired listing and FSBO prospects, past clients, those in my sphere of influence, and prospects I reached via cold calls. On another wall I posted all of my objection-handling scripts, including a few options for each objection. This kept me prepared for any dialog or direction the conversation took and allowed me to avoid fumbles.
Knowing that body language comprises 55% of the power of communication, even when communicating by phone, I kept my intensity and focus high by standing up. The headset – which I consider an absolutely essential prospecting tool – enabled me to keep my hands free, so I could gesture or accentuate points as if I was speaking directly to my prospect in person.
When making an investment in a head set don’t get the cheapest one you can find. Spend a few hundred dollars to get one of high quality. Otherwise, you’ll end up with such poor sound quality that your prospect won’t be able to hear you clearly – hardly a formula for prospecting success.
#2 – Fight off distractions
The truth is most Agents welcome distractions that take them away from prospecting obligations. An inbound phone call, a problem transaction, a home inspection question, an incoming e-mail, an Agent who wants to talk, a broken nail, anything will do. It’s called creative avoidance, and Agents generally excel at the art.
Whether you’re just starting out or you’re a top Agent in your market, distractions never just go away. In fact, the best Agents have even more potential for distraction because of the volume of business, the number of staff people, the number of clients, and the scope of responsibilities they juggle. The difference between prospecting avoidance and prospecting success comes down to the question, what do you do when the distractions hit? Do you postpone prospecting while you put out a fire? Do you decide to make just a few calls to settle the pending issue? Do you justify not starting your prospecting at the appointed time? If you said yes to any of those questions, you are practicing creative avoidance.
To fight off distractions, you have to bar their access:
- Turn off your e-mail, so the “you’ve got mail” icon doesn’t tempt you.
- Ask the receptionist to take messages for inbound calls during your prospecting session.
- Turn off your cell phone and pager.
- Put a sign on the door that basically says, “Don’t bother me; I’m prospecting.”
- Tell anyone who asks for a meeting during your prospecting period that you already have an appointment, because you do – working to find a potential prospect.
#3 – Follow the plan
Success boils down to taking the right steps in the proper order. To get your prospecting steps and order correct, you must have and follow a prospecting plan. You must know who you are going to call and for what reason. The best approach is to set up each day’s prospecting plan a day in advance.
If you wait to put your prospecting plan together at the beginning of your prospecting session, chances are too high that you will talk yourself out of more calls than you make. Your mental process will get in the way of action, causing you to think things like “This person will think I’m calling back too soon…” or “This person won’t buy or sell right now…”
If you establish a plan in advance, you’ll be ready for action, rather than for double guessing. Follow these steps:
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Do your research, establish your plan, and set up for the next day’s prospecting a day in advance. Before you leave your office for the day, determine the prospecting calls you are going to make on the next day. Assemble everything you will need for the calls and put the information on your desk, so it is ready for your attention as soon as you walk in the door.
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In the morning, quickly review your calls and your daily goals. A word of caution: Don’t take too long! You could be setting yourself up for creative avoidance.
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Spend 20 minutes before you make the call practicing scripts, dialogues, and objection-handling techniques. Establish a pre-call routine and create a pattern or plan that you repeat over and over again before each prospecting session or call.
As an analogy, think of how professionals warm up before performances. Whether you’re watching musicians, actors, or athletes, you expect them to be fully prepared and ready to go when their concerts, plays, or games begin. Follow the same rule. Warm up in advance, so that by the time you pick up the phone, practice is over, and you’re ready for the real thing.
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Review a few affirmations like:
- “I am a great prospector.”
- “When I prospect, people love to talk with me and set appointments with me.”
- “I will generate leads and appointments before I am through today.”
You are now ready to pick up the phone with focus, intensity, and an expectation of success.
#4 – Be faithful to yourself and finish what you start
Stay faithful to your daily objectives by completing all of your prospecting contacts down to the very last one.
When you are running a race, you have to run the whole way. No one remembers who was ahead at the 80-meter mark of the men’s 100-meter race at the Olympics. The winner has to complete the full circuit before he can claim his medal.
Don’t drop out early; finish what you start.
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Time Managment Is Crucial
How you use your time determines the quality of your life. It determines how successful you are in business and how effective you are in your business and personal life. It is linked with your level of happiness in life. Time management is the most challenging skill in life to master. Most people don’t control time . . . time controls them. We spend our whole lives trying to acquire the skill to utilize our time to create the greatest return.
Time management is really self-management. It’s the management of our self to invest our time in the highest reward activities – the activities and pursuits of life that create the greatest reward in satisfaction, relationship, connection, and equity return. Peter Drucker, the famous management expert, said, “You can’t manage time; you can only manage yourself.”
Time is truly our most valuable asset. We do not know how much of it we posses. Each day, we possess and invest 86,400 seconds. The time of tomorrow is not guaranteed. If we are younger, the probability is higher that we will have a tomorrow, but it is not guaranteed.
“Unlike other resources, time cannot be bought or sold, borrowed or stolen, stocked up or saved, manufactured, reproduced, or modified. All we can do is make use of it, and whether we use it or not, it, nevertheless, slips away.”
~Jean-Louis Seran-Selseiben
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