As Markets go Up and Down keep expanding your scope, constantly looking for people you can help.
As a valuable resource you must understand current market trends. As a successful Real Estate agent you need to adapt to the market. The best opportunities for growth is during down markets when your competitors are demoralized and waiting for better times. Consider being an agent specializing in short sales or REOs. What is going to happen to your business when the market shifts?
It will and is already happening. If your business is built on one niche then you are going to be starting all over again real soon. Each agent must have at least 5 Niches (or spinning plates as I like to call them)
Think About things like:
Do I want to Work with Bank or Reo properties as ONE spinning plate? (We have a GREAT resource for learning how at http://www.aspirin4realestate.com) Is that business growing or diminishing?
Do I want to work a 55+ Gated community?
Would I like to add a nice city neighborhood?
What Sphere of influence Niches would I like to target?
To be safe, never have your business get below 5 spinning plates!
Equally as important is principle number two, which basically deals with the fact that
clients must be given a reason to contact you. This then begs the question: What do
clients want? In addressing this challenge you must ask yourself the following questions:
1. What are my client’s motivations?
2. What is most important to my client?
3. What does my client want to buy or sell?
The Key To Finding Out What Clients Want: ASK THEM, then Listen Hard!
Finding out what your clients want is easier then you think; just simply ask them. Do
this when you have them on the phone when you prescreen them.
So many people don’t just ask, and it’s so simple to do. Not understanding what your clients’ needs
are, is definitely the biggest mistake that most business people make, especially in
Real Estate.
For example, we just assume that everyone wants to sell maybe
because they want to move up, or maybe are in pre foreclosure.
People have many different reasons to need the services of a Professional Real Estate Agent based on their personal situation. Based on this you’ll need to speak to each prospective
client differently, addressing his or her specific questions, concerns and needs.
The key here is make sure that you go deep enough into their thinking to understand their TRUE motivation. If they want to downsize from a home to a condo that’s great, but it’s not enough. Ask…what got you thinking about doing that? Question each answer until you get to answer 5, 6 or 7. That’s when you really start to understand their motivation.
CLIENTS DON´T WANT TO BE SOLD :
The harder you pursue in your attempts to be a salesperson, the faster your potential clients will run from you.
A Great Real Estate Agent will Establish Value, Build Loyalty And LIFETIME Clients
Consider that most Real Estate Agents think of themselves as salespeople instead of educators, counselors or service providers. They’re marketers, too. As you’ll see in our Attraction Real Estate videos as soon as your client feels you’re a salesperson, he/she will instantly view you as easily replaceable and loose interest in dealing with you. This is the fastest way to lose your value to any client; especially someone you’re trying to help or someone you’re working with.
Do Something Different …Market “Outside The Box”
Most agents try to advertise homes with classified ads that say the some old thing: 3/2 Colonial in desirable part of town –or- Move in Charmer! You know what? Do something different.
Do an Ad that says something like:
“Tired of Real Estate Agents hounding you? Search the MLS like a pro and learn the home buying process” Change it up. It’s absolute madness if you have the same marketing as everyone else. So you must think outside the box.
Utilize different marketing.
Separate yourself from all the Stereotypical Agents, and bring business in the door. It all comes from the whole basic thing; if your ad looks, feels and smells like advertising, the best chance is that your best potential clients will never see it. The reason is the average person is exposed to thousands of ads and messages every single week. Between flyers, TV, radio, newspapers, etc. You see all that stuff everywhere you go. You must stand out.
All this crazy marketing that’s going on has made people immune to advertising. This is the reason why big, flashy adverting is done by most marketers. They all claim the same old tired promises of service, quality and integrity. The thing is, many of them do their advertising haphazardly, and don’t track their leads. At times it’s obvious they
just don’t quite know exactly what to get
Prospects Do Not Want To Be Sold; They Want To Seek Council With A Credible, Trusted Professional
So, remember this: prospects do not want to be sold, especially in the Real Estate
business where you’re coming across as a knowledgeable, credible professional
helping people out. They don’t want a smooth talking salesman; and you
shouldn’t be.
Instead, do your best to truly be out there trying to help people, because helping clients out of situations is actually your duty. (I certainly believe it’s my duty to
help people, for that matter, my greatest source of inspiration to get started each day was the feeling that if I didn’t get there to help, the customer would work with someone else and as a result get lesser quality service. I will always remember some of the bad decisions I made over the years. I’m very glad that I had a Mentor early on. And I’m glad that I’m here in that capacity today, and it gives me great satisfaction to share my experience and knowledge with you.
Don’t Become A “Stereotype” :
Establishing The Right Frame Of Mind
You’ve been trained to conduct yourself like every other salesperson and that is act like a
Typical sales agent. People do not want to work with someone so easily replaceable. They want to work with a professional, a local guru who truly understands the business and cares about helping them fulfill their dreams. You need to become such a person. To do this you must clear all misconceptions and open up your mind. Lift the lid off the box and get rid of your pre-conceptions; you need to let them go, and as you do you’ll be able to learn how to make success possible.
Last video, we talked about how 80% of the prospects you talk to will never buy or sell through you. Face it, if you don’t fully understand this concept you’re doomed to a lot of frustration.
Some people will stay in their homes forever, others will spend their entire life renting from someone else. How can you have these contacts contribute to your business?
Let me tell you a story. Back when I was new in the real estate business I met Ivan and Sharon. They were a great couple. Ivan was a detective and Sharon worked at the High School. They had a comfortable home in the city on a nice street.
The best part of the equation? They talked to me. They always returned my calls, were always pleasant. They were nice people.
The thing about Sharon and Ivan is they had VERY specific criteria for the home they wanted. It had to be brick, in a very special area of town, needed an attached garage (very unusual in that area) and a large formal dining room, and the price range? It would be a miracle.
You know what? I found it! Honest, it took two years, more calls than you could imagine…IT HAD EVERYTHING! I got so excited I called Sharon and told her I was coming to get her. I found her dream home.
I ran over and picked her up, took her through the house and you know what? SHE LOVED IT! We got to the end of the tour and there was nothing she could find fault with.
YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE?
THEY DIDN’T BUY!!
Do you know why? Because the discomfort of the move, the pain of taking on a mortgage was greater than the pleasure they’d experience living in their dream home. And you know what else? That’s okay!
Now, I could have dumped them, argued, told them how they wasted my time. But you know what? Over the next two years they directly or indirectly sent me 5 buyers to sell starter homes. You see, I asked them for referral business and kept them involved with my newsletters, my follow up calls and birthday cards.
Because of the relationship I built with Sharon and Ivan. Because I proved to them that I was of value, not my office, not my company, ME I was of value to them. That’s what caused them to refer me to their children, nieces and nephews. They wanted their family to work with me because of the value I brought to the table.
Better yet, Sharon and Ivan taught me a valuable lesson. You see, I didn’t have to spend hours each day, or even every week working for them. I needed to treat them appropriately.
Think about how easily and effectively you could add HUNDREDS of Ivans and Sharons to your business today. With the internet, informational videos like these. With your personal newsletter and cards on their birthday! Being a friend on Facebook.
Do you have a plan to accomplish that in your business? Are you executing that plan? If not, Why not…we’ve got a training program available to teach you how to do all of these things.
So, in my last post we talked about what to market. We want to get prospects to sell themselves on using YOU as the tool by which they can accomplish their goals.
The best way to do that, is to market and promote information they need to reach their goal, faster, easier and cheaper.
You become their business partner first!
If they’re in the business of Selling their Home, you share marketing information.
You don’t market your services directly. That’s what a sales person does.
You market and promote useful information, that’s what a consultant does.
Put yourself in your prospects shoes for a minute and pretend that you’re researching your needs online.
You type in the area you’re interested in into Google and hundreds of websites belonging to other Real Estate Agents come up pitching themselves.
Are you just going to call up one of those people randomly and ask for help, or are you going to seek out a leader who’s offering real expertise and value?
You’re going to look for the leader of course.
Whether he knows it or not he’s practicing Magnetic Real Estate.
With a few specific tweaks to his marketing pieces, he’s basically separated himself from every other Agent in his company, and found a way to get invited into his prospects world. Whether you’re looking for home buyers or sellers the drill is the same. They need your help
Today, about 50% of Real Estate activity is in the Foreclosure and Bank Owned property (REO).
Banks are scrambling to find qualified agents to help them with this mess…but you’ve got to prepare yourself.
Real Estate Agents Are Taking back their Power With Broker Price Opinions!
Now that the foreclosure landslide is underway and banks are expecting
$600 Billion worth of new foreclosures coming they need real estate
agents to help list and sell short sales and bank REO foreclosures not
to mention completing Broker Price Opinons or also known as a BPO!
Right Now Agents across the country are making $80,000 per year
completing Broker Price Opinions for the Banks and BPO Companies.
But banks aren’t using just any agent to complete broker price opinions
they are using agents that have implemented tactics used in REO Courses
like: The www.REOkit.com REO Courses like the www.REOkit.com teach
standards expected from the banks that Licensed Real Estate Agents Need
To Know!
www.REOkit.com also teaches you the know how you need to get The Bank
REO Listings and Broker Price Opinions.
The real moral of the story here is this, in today’s market you need to be willing to think outside the box to grow your business. Have a great week!
This morning, I listened to a GREAT presentation from my friend Richard Flint. Many of you in the industry know Richard…here are some of the thoughts he shared that I found particularly applicable to our situation right now.
Today, we live in some trying times. Markets, especially in Real Estate have gone from exploding with speculators looking to make a fast buck, to a market where people are SCARED, FRUSRTATED and NOT SURE WHAT TO DO!
If you find yourself feeling that way, know you’re not alone.
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF FEAR IS CONTROLLING YOU?
F you find excuses not to face issues
E you expect the other shoe to drop any minute
A your always looking over your shoulder
R you resist stepping outside of your comfort zone.
WHAT ARE THE SIX NEGATIVE FEARS THAT HOLD PEOPLE IN PLACE?
1. THE FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN
If I do what I know I should, terrible things are going to happen to my life. I want things to be perfect in my life.
2. THE FEAR OF ABANDONMENT
If I do what what I know I should, I might be left alone. I couldn’t stand being by myself.
3. THE FEAR OF REJECTION
If I do what I know I should, others may not like me. I need to be liked
4. THE FEAR OF FAILURE
If I do what I know I should, it might expose the fact I really don’t believe I can do it. I can’t stand having people see me as weak.
5. THE FEAR OF LOSS
If I do what I know I should, it might cost me more than I am willing to pay. I want to live with guarantees.
6. THE FEAR OF SUCCESS
If I do what I know I should, I may get rewards I don’t think I deserve. I don’t believe I deserve good in my life.
This is key: Only if a person believes I understand their fears, is there a value to my presence in their life
Today, more than ever our sense of empathy MUST be tuned into the people we work with, but remember that’s empathy NOT sympathy.
Let’s get excited and get recharged going into 2011! To start, realize this: If what you say you want is contradicted by what you do, you’re lying to yourself. Do some self examination and see if YOU HAVE been lying to you.
What Have You Done To Grow Your Business Today? Strive For Success; Failure Is Not An Option!
A very important aspect to succeeding in your Real Estate Sales business is to focus on achieving success and not worry about the possibility of failure.
You must constantly strive for success at every level. Every single day you should be asking yourself: “What did I do to grow my business? What did I do to make money today?”
Another good thing to do is to look at your PayPal account, look at your bank account, and see how much money is in there, again, every single day. If you look at them every day, and as you do you ask yourself how you can grow this number, it’ll keep you constantly in focus. Lets’ say you have $500.00. What can you do today to double that $500.00? Because I
can tell you that making $500.00 in a day is pretty darn easy; especially as a Real Estate sales person, and particularly as you properly implement the tools, systems and best practices we’ve touched upon. Read the rest of this entry
Make Sure To Have Systems In Place That Handle The Redundancy Of
Processes So As To Not Risk Dropping The Ball
Let’s address how systems can give you the same high quality results every time in
your Attraction Real Estate process, and thus ensure you’re creating a consistent, reliable and
predictable outcome for every client. You need to look at your Real Estate business as a franchise. In other words, as you put it together and begin growing it, view it with an eye towards building a franchise prototype. Implement business systems with standardized, systematic processes and ways of doing business that can be duplicated and “stamped out” in large quantities. Read the rest of this entry
