In This Issue...
Words of a Champion
Dirk Zeller
CEO
One of the secrets to success is the ability to hold on a little longer than the next guy; to be willing to take a little more rejection, a little more hardship, and a little more temporary failure over time.
Ultimately, to be successful you have to know how to survive setbacks and failure. In the end, failure is not fatal. Lying there and wallowing in it is fatal, but getting up and accepting it as a temporary setback forges a new beginning. Failure can sometimes feel fatal, but it never is.
In my sales career, I have had far more “no” responses than “yes’”; the “no’s” outnumber the “yes’” twenty or thirty to one. If I focused on the twenty or thirty “no’s” instead of the one “yes”, I would have quit. Too often, we focus on the wrong thing; we fixate on the “no” rather than anticipate the “yes”. We must position ourselves with people to give them every opportunity to say “yes” to us. We have to ask and ask and then ask again, so we gain the “yes” we want. We have to be willing to attend and graduate the “University of Failure” to eventually receive our doctorate in success. No one was ever achieved long lasting success without the “University of Failure” degree. We don’t begin as a success.
Let me give you a few rules of failure. Learning and applying these will better prepare you for your success.
Temporary failures are not bad. If we mentally focus on bad events, that is what we will create more of. In the end, failure is neither good nor bad. When Thomas Edison’s wonderful compound of laboratories and buildings burned to the ground, he did two things. First, he told his sons to get his wife because she would never see another fire like this in her lifetime. Second, he realized that all of his failures had been burned away. He had a clean slate in front of him.
At the end of the day, week, month, or year, it’s what you do with the set back that makes it good or bad. Failure is merely a lesson.
To take advantage of a lesson, you must fully learn it. That means you must review and analyze all the failures and set backs you experience. Most of us want to merely forget them or cover them up. This puts us in a pattern to repeat them again. Treat each failure as a lesson. In school, if you don’t learn your lesson, you don’t graduate. Make sure you learn the lessons that failure is trying to teach you. Treat each failure as a lesson bringing you closer to success. By learning how not to do something, you are exponentially closer to learning how to do it.
In the end, failure is never final. We all fail and fall down. We all come up short of the mark in life. It’s whether you decide to stay there or learn and move forward that makes you a success. Tackle the opportunity that your setbacks and failures bring you everyday. Create a daily mindset of opportunity in each setback. Your choice is to either stay down or get up. Champions get up each and every day.
To Your Achievement of GREATER success,
Dirk Zeller, CEO
RealEstateChampions.com
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Develop the Skill of Qualifying Buyers
The most important skill in sales is qualifying. It is the ability to separate the non-motivated buyers and sellers from the motivated ones who want to do something now. Top-producing Agents know how to do this quickly and efficiently. They have a specific step-by-step series of questions that remove the unmotivated people from their lives. We are going to delve into the skill of qualifying buyers.
We must develop a series of questions that will ferret out motivation. The focus is to find out their time frame and level of passion to move. One question that tests motivation is, “How long have you been looking for a home?” The longer the time the buyer has been looking, the lower the motivation. We have to wonder why a buyer has not been able to find a home in six months. Are they looking for something that doesn’t exist? Are their expectations too high for the marketplace? Do they just enjoy the process of kicking foundations? When someone said to me that they had been looking for more than 90 days, I wanted to know what they were looking for and the reasons why they hadn’t found it yet.
Another question is, “Do you need to sell your current home before you can buy?” The follow-up question is, “Are you currently on the market?” Most people need to sell their home before they can buy. A great percentage of them want to find a house before they put theirs on the market. This approach seems to be backwards. Most sellers truly can’t buy anything since they have to sell first. They often want us to invest a large percentage of our time finding them the perfect home prior to listing theirs.
One of our rules when I was an Agent was that buyers had to list their property now for us to work with them. We did not want to work without the opportunity of getting paid. Since the buyers have to list their home sometime, why not now? Why delay the inevitable if they truly want to sell? If their plans changed, we would withdraw the listing.
Another critical question is to ask, “Are you working with another Agent?” Too often, we rush out to show one of our listings only to find out that they are working with another Agent. We just spent 30 minutes of our time and never got compensated.
In my career, I got some unbelievable responses from prospects on the phone regarding why they hadn’t contacted their Agent about showing them the property. Responses ranged from “My Agent is out of town” to “I did not want to bother him.” They wanted to bother me and then get their Agent to write the sales agreement if they decided to purchase it. Our policy was, if buyers are working with another Agent, he can show them the home. That is what their Agent is getting paid to do.
Another question is, “Have you met with a lender yet?” This question will start the process of determining their ability to purchase. Truly motivated purchasers meet with lenders. If they have not and they have been looking for six months, are they motivated buyers?
Next determine if they have been pre-qualified or pre-approved. There is a world of difference in these terms and the buyers don’t know the difference. The focus needs to be to get them to meet with your lender. If they meet with your loan officer, you will have solidified your position with them.
Once you have determined that they are motivated to buy, and they aren’t working with another Agent, you need to find out their real estate needs. These questions identify the property and area that they are looking for.
- What type of home are you looking for?
- What size of home are you looking for?
- What price range?
- What areas are you considering?
Then the big question is, “If we could find the home in the area that you desire are you prepared to purchase it now?” If you get a favorable response, set an appointment with them to help them find their new home.
Top-producers have a specific set of questions that they ask. Their success is not based on chance; it is based on a well-designed system. Develop your system today.
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Four Rules of Marketing
The marketing aspect for a real estate Agent has become very confusing to Agents who are trying to grow to the next level. We have so many different “magic answer” type marketing companies reaching for our wallets that it is hard to know which one is the most effective. In some cases it is difficult to evaluate the return on the investment. Here are a few rules that I applied when evaluating the many opportunities to “get my name out there”.
Rule #1: The best form of advertising, in my opinion, was always a sold sign in a client’s front yard. To me that showed a job well done. It showed a market presence and had the ability to bring in future income with little expenditure. The more active listings and actual sold properties, the better my exposure. We would always affix a sold sticker right after the repairs were negotiated. I used sold stickers that no one could miss. They were large and bold.
If there could be a rule 1A, that would be to be liberal in your use of directional signs. Any and everywhere you can place one do so. We would often have four or five directionals for every one listing. By using a volume of direction signs, you give the perception that you have half of the town for sale. We always used regular signs and affixed my name and an arrow to them. These signs increased exposure and made it easier for the prospect to find the property. Doing the small directionals has limited impact. Using your signs well, I believe, is the most effective and financially efficient form of advertising.
Rule #2: Develop a strategy and budget for marketing for the whole year, then review it quarterly as to the results. I often see Agents change programs, focus, philosophy, scope and purpose of their marketing plan as often as they change their shirts. First, take the time to create an effective strategy. Evaluate the strategy from all angles before you commit to implementation. Create the strategy for the long haul, not the short run. Start developing your strategy with your end goal in mind, then work backwards to today.
For example, Nike created “Just Do It”. They ran with that strategy on their print and television commercials for over three years. Nike applied it to everything they did during that span. I can assure you that Nike spent considerable resources and time evaluating the campaign before they launched it. Make sure you are long-range planning your business and marketing strategy.
Rule #3: Before you advertise on billboards, television, shopping carts, bus benches and all other forms of institutional advertising, look for opportunities for third-party endorsements. The third-party endorsement has the power of the referral from a past client. There are many opportunities to get a third- party endorsement. To be elevated as an expert in real estate or recognized as a “top gun” Agent by that third-party will do more for your career than any advertising you create for yourself. The consumer reading the article on you or hearing the interview with you or watching you in action will be far more convinced of your ability than he would be by you telling him how great you are via a you generated piece. It is better to invest your advertising in third-party endorsements then to spend your marketing dollars in the institutional realm.
Rule #4: Gage the shelf life before you buy. Many advertising opportunities have a limited shelf life. They are tied to a season or specific event or specified one time occurrence. That is why newspaper advertising has limited pull. It is a one-time purchase for one specific day. Once the Sunday paper is read the effectiveness is gone. The Home and Land type magazines at least have a 30-day shelf life. Your web site allows for repeat impressions. By using your site as a resource you are able to get people to visit your web site again and again. Invest your money where you can get repeat impressions out of one purchase.
None of us has the marketing budget that McDonalds has. We need to use marketing products that have the ability to give repeat performances and can be used over time with the same results.
Start your marketing plan and create a budget today. Apply the four rules of marketing to your marketing plan so you will be the recognized Champion Agent for your marketplace.
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Increasing Sales Production Through Quality of the Message
When you break a Real Estate Agent’s business down, there are only four ways to increase production. There are four proven avenues toward increased gross revenue. The four ways to increase production are:
Number of contacts
Method of contacts
Quality of the prospect
Quality of the presentation
When you begin working on any one of these, you have taken the step to becoming a Champion Agent. Once you have raised your level of the performance in each of these areas, you can call yourself a Champion!
Quality of the message
I feel this is where the Champion Agent really excels over other Agents. The message you present is essential to your success. What you say and how you deliver your message in tonality and body language influences the results you achieve. It’s the edge that your other Sales Agents don’t posses. If they were that skilled at sales, they probably would not be a member of your team. You will need to address this aggressively and promptly when bringing any Sales Agent on your team. I think we have gotten too far removed from the sales aspect of real estate sales. In the end, homes are not bought but sold. Professional representation services are not bought but sold. We have to sell to be at the Champion level. Most Agents have never taken formalized sales training of any kind. They have taken a couple of weeks of introduction to being a Real Estate Salesperson that their Broker provided . . . that’s it.
When sales skills go up, income goes up. There is a direct correlation between sales skills and ability and income. I know there is a large group of skeptics reading this. Let me illustrate my point. To be successful at any profession, no matter what profession you select, you have to achieve mastery of the primary tool of the profession. There are other secondary tools that help, but the primary tool is the cornerstone or capstone to success. Without mastery of it, you will always be brushing up against a ceiling of production; you will never explode through.
My father was a dentist for over thirty years. As a successful dentist, he had one primary tool that he worked for years to master and a lot of secondary tools. As secondary tools, he had explorers, drills, polishers, Novocain, a dental chair, lights, scrapers, probes, amalgam fillings, sealants, gold crowns, different types of adhesives, x-ray machines . . . you get the idea. All of these were secondary tools.
What is the primary tool of a dentist? What is the one tool that must be controlled to let all these other tools work their magic? For a dentist, it’s his hands. A dentist without skillful hands as his primary tool isn’t a good dentist.
As a Real Estate Salesperson, you have laptops, blackberries, Internet sites, lock boxes, lock box keys, marketing pieces, mailings, flyers, customer relation management (CRM) software, computers, tracking forms, your car, your clothes, MLS, and countless other secondary tools. What is the primary tool of a Real Estate Salesperson? For a Real Estate Salesperson, it’s the words that you say and how you deliver them. The message you present and convey either causes the prospect to work with you or repels them away. All the other secondary tools will not make up for a lack of skill in the primary area – the words that you say and how you deliver them.
Most Agents invest far more in their wardrobe than they do in themselves and their skills. I have listened to hundreds of very good Agents’ prospecting, lead follow-up, Buyer consultation, and listing presentation tapes. I have never gotten one initially one that I thought was awesome. The tapes I have listened to have come from some of the best Agents in the world. That’s why I can say confidently that the vast majority of you reading this article, even if you are doing a lot of production, have a message or presentation that is not very good, either. I am not trying to cause you to toss this article aside, never to pick it up again, by making such a bold comment. I am merely trying to get everyone to face the facts of how important our message is and what we need to do to change it to improve our business.
I had a client I worked with for a number of years who was an excellent Agent in Cleveland, Ohio named Sheri Nasca. Sheri was one of the best salespeople I have ever worked with in terms of sales skills. She was forced to move and restart her business all over again in the Chicago area. She did sixty closed sales her first year in Chicago without knowing a soul. She was able to do it because of her superior sales skills. I think sixty units your first year in production without market presence, a sphere of influence, or past clients is outstanding. Sheri did it because she is the consummate professional in her sales skills.
A professional football team will practice for forty to fifty hours a week in preparation for a sixty-minute game. How much time do you invest weekly to practice your craft of selling? Most Agents will spend at least $500 on a good suit, $75 on a quality shirt, $75 on a nice tie, $12 on socks, and $200 on a quality pair of shoes. All tolled, we will invest nearly $850 to walk out the door dressed for success. Yet, we won’t spend a dime on what matters most – our mind and our sales skills to create, convert, and service our customers well. The message you present and its quality are imperative.
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