Honesty is often interesting.  One of my Coaching Clients, an Agent, Herb (name changed to protect the guilty) is having a mediocre year.  I thought I knew the problem so I asked him this, “Herb, what percentage of your leads do you simply not follow up on or call once and not follow through on.” 
He was honest.  He said, “Sixty.”
“Sixty percent that you do follow through on or sixty percent that you don’t?” I asked.
“Sixty percent that I don’t.” he said. 
Herb would double his production simply by following through on the leads that are already coming to him.  Honesty is interesting. 
Another Client, Agent Laurie (name changed…) who hit a very slow period in the middle of the year answered this way.  “Well, I started out strong and then I got pretty sloppy but now I am following up on nearly everything again.” 
Considering that the period in which she “got pretty sloppy” following through on her leads was the spring and summer she would have doubled her production as well, simply by following through on the leads already coming to her.. 
There are a many Agents like Herb and Laurie, who have the skills and the knowledge but they lack the motivation, focus, and commitment to follow up and follow through.  
To what extent does this describe you?  What percentage of the leads that came to you this year didn’t get followed up or followed through?
It is October.  It is the perfect time of year to recognize this, and correct it with a four step process that I call “Breakdown Leads to Breakthrough.”

Breakdown Leads to Breakthrough
Step One: Acknowledge the error.  Simply admit it, honestly to yourself. 
Step Two: Forgive yourself.  This can be quite easy.  Just say to yourself.  I forgive myself.  Can it be that easy?  Absolutely, as long as you do Step One honestly.
Step Three: Recommit.  Decide if you want to recommit to follow through on your leads more conscientiously for the rest of the year and through next year.
Step Four: Get into action immediately on your renewed commitment.  This is the critical step. 

Honesty is interesting.  Self-honesty is even more interesting because it leads you; it is the key to your personal and professional breakthrough.

Becoming one of the best agents in your market requires hard work, time, and dedication.   One of the most important things you can bring to the table is your real life market knowledge and expertise.  As you increase your market knowledge IQ, your confidence will grow and you’ll win the trust of your clients. 

To do that, you need to know more about your market than the average consumer.  That’s more of a challenge than it used to be since consumers can easily find market statistics online, quickly and easily preview listings on the web, and access public records without many barriers. 

Clearly, becoming an expert requires effort, more now than ever before.  Here are a few things you can do to establish yourself as an expert in your area.

• Select the area you want to become an expert in
• Preview all the homes that come on the market in that area.  By attending all the open houses and tracking price reductions on properties in your area, you’ll know the nuances that pictures cannot convey…but be careful with your time.
• Track closings and sold prices in your target area so you become familiar with list-to-sell ratios
• Become familiar with vacant land in your target area
• Get active in the community by doing things like attending county meetings where changes in zoning and housing are to be voted on, and offer your input
• Write articles and offer your expertise to newspapers and radio stations on trends and happenings in your area
• Start a community blog where you post information and articles that affect those homeowners
• Gather e-mail addresses of people interested in what is going on in the area, and begin a monthly Podcast where you discuss trends and market information.
• Read local and national real estate magazines, articles and blogs to stay caught up with what is happening nationwide so you can compare your market to other similar markets around the country.

Technology is a valuable asset for consumers and agents alike, so find ways to put it to work for you.  By establishing yourself as the expert and sharing your unique knowledge through public sources like blogs, print media, emails, and unique approaches like Podcasts, and public videos, your customers will increasingly look to you as the definitive source.  Data is everywhere, so think in terms of how to educate your customers and make them experts so they don’t have to do all the legwork.  By doing so you’ll win their respect and loyalty.

Bottom line: Get fully committed to becoming an expert in your chosen career and you’ll reap the rewards. 

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Verl Workman is a leading national speaker, coach and consultant.  Despite his busy speaking schedule, and role as co-founder of Pinnacle Quest Consulting Group, he still sells real estate so that he can test and stay abreast of the latest tools and techniques that maximize results.  He uses that knowledge to assist individuals and companies in building effective business strategies, implementing powerful technology solutions, and establishing strategic competitive advantages through coaching, seminars and private consultations.  To contact Verl visit www.verlworkman.com or  www.PQPipeline.com or email him at AskVerl@verlworkman.com.

Follow Verl on Twitter: http://twitter.com/verlworkman

http://www.facebook.com/VerlWorkman 

Yesterday was an unbelievable opportunity for anyone to get a full day of expert advice for absolutely free! Kudos to NAR who launched their Webinar Summit 2009 with 6 fantastic topics:

1. 2010 Economic Forecast and How YOU Can Prosper in the New Market place with John Tuccillo.
2. 20 Powerful Real Estate Blogging Tools to Generate Business with Randy Eagar.
3. How to Successfully Close Your Short Sales with Michael and Stacey Spickes
4. How Top Agents are Using Video on the Web to Generate Business NOW with Amy Chorew
5. Top 10 Money Making Tools in Real Estate with Verl Workman and
6. 14 Proven Systems to Keep Your Transactions Intact Until They Close with Rich Levin

What a day and what great information! Over 12,000 people signed up for these sessions and gained much knowledge. Many of your questions were answered and can still be answered at this blog site for future reference. In addition, count on NAR to do a repeat of the Webinar Summit with new speakers and new topics. If you missed out on the first go around, you can still purchase the recorded versions of these fantasic videos with downloadable handouts.

If you missed your handout, you can get them at:

www.learninglibrary.com/handouts

When it came to marketing, subject matter, instructors and delivery method, NAR has truly “pulled out all the stops”.

Randy Eagar, CRS

Randy Eagar, CRS
President, WebsTarget SEO
www.WebsTarget.com
Randy@WebsTarget.com

In today’s webinar:

A good example on how to use video comes from an agent who had the following in her email signature:

“View my listings on YouTube. Click here”

On her YouTube account, she had loaded videos of all of her listings. This alone was quite impressive. In addition, she also had videos of her company, of the communities where she works, and testimonials from past clients. She engages the consumer by letting them know who she is through her video.

If you do this, track your results. Tracking provides insight into your prospects. It also helps you develop better content as you go.

Videos can enhance your search engine optimization. One of the best places to post your video is on YouTube.

Why YouTube? YouTube will give your video the most exposure. This is sometimes called “eyeballs.” In addition to YouTube, here are some other sites to consider:

• Blip.tv
• Viddler.com
• AOLvideo
• Wellcomemat.com
• Zipvo.com
• Vimeo.com

Would you like to upload your videos to all of these sites? You can, with a free service like that from TubeMogul.com. Simply upload your video to the TubeMogul site and select the other sites where you would like to send your video. TubeMogul then sends it to the sites you have selected.

CAVEAT: Avoid violating the TOS (Terms of service). If you add music, make sure it is royalty free. Sites such as Vimeo allow only non-commercial videos. If they deem that any of your videos are commercial, they will delete your account.

When you upload your video to these sites, make sure you give the video a title, a description, and tags (these are metatags). Set the privacy levels and indicate whether you are willing to accept comments. I recommend you turn comments off on your videos.

You can also Geotag the video. “Geotagging” is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to various media such as photographs and video. Simply put, this means putting the address on the video. This allows search engines to include your video when people do an online search for your geographical region. This is becoming increasingly more important as Google finds additional ways to deliver relevant content.

Use Tracking Features to Analyze Results

Can you track your video results? Depending on the host you can. TubeMogul has wonderful analytics. YouTube has a feature called “Insight” that includes the demographic information for everyone who looks at your video.

Final advice

Don’t be afraid of the camera.  Get out and do it. While nobody really likes the way they look and sound on camera, get over it!  Be human, be real, and let your personality show!

First,  THANKS!!! to all of you who were on todays NAR webinar.  That was fun to know that there were so many people hanging out with me.  It is possible to have a business in which you lose fewer deals, in which there is less stress, more referrals and more satisfaction.  And… that business is available to EVERYONE.  It does take work.  Just like getting your health in shape, your body in shape; your business takes consistent effort.  Today’s webinars gave you the structure to make that occur in your business.  I’d love to hear your feedback.  If you were not on today’s webinar.  Watch for the next one and everyone, send your comments and questions on through to me or through the blog is best so we can create this conversation.  Make a great day!

At first blush, it may seem as though there isn’t much to write about, or you constantly come up with “blogger’s block”, but you’ll soon see that there are a huge variety of topics and types of posts that you can choose that are interesting and fun to write.

Randy Eagar, CRS

Here’s what we’ve learned today . . .

• In addition to the 20 types of dynamic blogging posts, along the way, you learned some valuable secrets to blog posting. Let’s take a look at three of them:

• In the posts that we looked at, you learned reasons why good posts work for you. Good posting skills can draw buyers and clients to you like a magnet.

• One of the best things that you learned was how these posts can get people to link to you. You saw that some types of posts are a natural communications link to people. Others can draw in people who will want to subscribe to your posts.

• You also saw how a good blog site can make your website more effective. Said simply, linking your blog site that is indexed continually by the search engines to your website gets it re-indexed far more frequently as well.

Please feel free to comment here and/or ask any questions that you might have and remember to ask for your FREE 7-page Google Score report.

Randy Eagar, CRS
President WebsTarget SEO
www.WebsTarget.com
Randy@WebsTarget.com

Have you heard???? It’s one heck of a kick-off!

We’ve got over 12,000 agents registered for the Realtor University Webinar series starting tomorrow at 11:00 EST and WOW do we have a lineup!

I’m lucky to be the host for each of the six calls tomorrow starting with the most requested seminar seat in the series featuring former chief economist, John Tuccillo on the 2010 Economic Forecast & how you can prosper!
This is an amazing series featuring industry leaders:

Randy Eagar – Everyone wants to know how to build an Internet Marketing Presence through Blogging!  Expert Randy Eagar’s insightful presentation will tell you!  He offers the 20 Types of Dynamic Blogging Posts!  You won’t want to miss this incredible program and begin blogging like a pro!

The Dynamic Duo of Michael and Stacy Spickes have the full low down on “How you can successfully close short sales!” – They’ve got what you need to know to get a good solid understanding of what a short sale is and what you need step by step to get a short sale to close!

Amy Chorew is our Tech goddess and she’s on the webinar sharing “How Top Agents are Using VIDEO on the Web to Generate Business Now!” To harness this powerful web tool…be sure to check out what Amy has to say

Verl Workman, master sales expert offers the Top Ten Money Making Tools you can use in Real Estate. As a master coach, following his 10 steps is guaranteed to increase your sales.

And our final presenter is Rich Levin sharing 14 Proven Systems to keep your Transactions intact….and who doesn’t need that to keep those contracts from sold to close!

I can’t WAIT to be hosting each of these dynamic presentations! So be sure to visit: www.LearningLibrary.com/RU/Webinars and get registered for these FREE events! And be sure to get your $5.00 discount coupon for the upcoming seminars scheduled in October and November.

Terri Murphy, Author of 5 books, her latest with Donald Trump. She is a Speaker & Consultant and can be reached by email: Terri@TerriMurphy.com or for more information visit www.MurphyOnRealEstate.com

Above is poll we recently conducted a poll on Broker Agent Social and asked this question.
Are sites like Twitter and Face book providing a good source of leads in your Real Estate Business?

The results may indicate more people not using the Social Media sites that those not generating business from it.  So, we went further.  We corresponded with many Agents who are using the sites to get feedback.  We wanted to separate fact from rumor. 
We found no one… yet that is generating a steady flow from these types of sites.  A number of people told us of someone they knew who was generating a flow.  But when we actually spoke to the Agent the fact was that there we occasional leads not a flow.  If you are one who is generating a flow we’d love to hear from you. 
There are a growing number of Agents like Frank.

In the past week, I have received two leads on Facebook from people I’ve been out of touch with for over 30 years. It’s wonderful to get back in touch with friends from the past and even better to receive business from this free way to promote yourself. 10 minutes a day is all it takes (5 minutes in the morning to post and 5 minutes in the evening)! Just do not get involved in all the games. Post your Real Estate success stories on a daily basis and watch the leads come in. If you don’t have 10 minutes a day for free advertising, there is something wrong

Frank Schmidt

I loved that comment.  Others getting leads said they told interesting Client anecdotes.  Market information offered in a casual manner that clearly reflects the Agents insight and expertise.  If you have additional successful experiences I’d love to hear them.
There was a lot of this kind of comment.

Social Networking is not for “generating” leads. It’s for maintaining and cultivating leads. It is for developing the relationship so the buyer becomes your “friend”. A website generates leads. But like dealing with Google’s daily position changes, it may be a necessary evil.  It may also go way of the hula hoop.       
                                                                                                       Ray Snow

I saw a contradiction here.  If it is good for developing relationship and if there is an awareness that you sell Real Estate, possibly by weaving in Frank’s ‘Real Estate success stories’ from above then it is going to generate leads.  Although, Ray is right, it is not going to generate immediate leads like a pay-per-click campaign.

Newer agents: Are you ‘stumbling’ or ‘up and running’? It’s estimated that over 50% of new agents fail their first year in the business. From talking with thousands of them throughout my coaching, managing and speaking career, I know why: They can’t answer the questions below.

Note: From my survey in my book Become Tomorrow’s Mega-Agent Today, I discovered that the majority of new agents expect a sale their first month!  No wonder they get so discouraged so fast.

I’ve compiled 10 questions that will tell you why you’re either ‘stumbling’ or running—and what to do if you are stumbling. Here are the first five. I’ll give you the next five in my next post.

Carla Cross, International Speaker

Ask yourself:

1.       Do I have a ‘start-up’ plan—a plan that tells me what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and why to do it? (Or, do I just come to the office and ‘go with the flow’)

Key point: This isn’t an ‘on accident business’ anymore!

2.      Am I waiting for someone to tell me what to do each day, or do I have focus and purpose with my plan? (it doesn’t work to ask your manager what to do each day, and, as a newer agent just told me, your manager answers, “Mail some postcards.” You wouldn’t expect a Starbucks franchise to ‘guide’ the new franchisee that way, and you’re not going to get a business start with that kind of piecemeal ‘advice’!)

3.      Do I have a daily schedule that is prioritized with the business actions most important to me to assure I make money? (If you’re just relying on your office for its floor time and meeting schedule, or, worse yet, those awesome (ha!) Internet leads, you aren’t in the business!)

Key point: You should be scheduling at least 75% of your time. (the other 25% may be scheduled by your office—meetings, etc.)

4.      Do I know the best methods of lead generation—and how to implement them? (You can’t wait for ‘training’ that starts in 3 months to start your business!)

5.      Do I know the numbers? (how many contacts does it take to get a lead, how many leads to get an appointment, how many appointments to get a listing, showing, how many showings to get a sale, how many marketable listings will sell) (If you don’t, you are destined to be an ‘on accident’ agent—only selling someone something when the stars are aligned).

Key point: Knowing your conversion numbers puts you in the driver’s seat and allows you to really be independent—your own manager.

If you can’t answer the questions above with authority and confidence, you need much more business direction than you’re getting now. It’s time for you to get serious about real estate as a business, and grasp a start-up plan and the support you need to assure your success. Quit stumbling and get ‘up and running’!

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is president of Carla Cross Seminars, Inc., and Carla Cross Coaching. She is an international speaker in real estate productivity. Carla is the author of 6 internationally published books and several productivity-producing programs for real estate agents and leadership, including the new 3^rd edition of Up and Running in 30 Days. See her programs at www.carlacross.com, or contact Carla at 425-392-6914.

When I first got into real estate I was blown away at the lack of  sales training that was provided in pre- licensing. As a matter of fact there  were ZERO classes on sales. I figured that once I got with a company the sales training would begin. Wrong!  Still no sales training. I looked at the classes offered by the association, and again, found that there were no classes offered on sales. I was blown away!

Coming from a strong sales background, I quickly realized that a good sales person in real estate would do very well and an excellent sales person would be a superstar.

While marketing homes for a large builder in my area, I had just sold a young couple a home and they were so excited to be anticipating their first home together.

However, right after the construction deposit had been paid, they came into the sales office to cancel their contract. The reason was that they needed to do a VA loan. However the VA loan was not the actual problem.The problem was that in order to use both of their incomes they had to be married, and they were not. This seemed like a legitimate problem. They had done research and found they could not qualify for another kind of loan and the VA was their only hope.

This was an objection I had never heard before. But I was willing to explore possibilities to resolve this problem! Using principles I learned in the trenches of selling hot tubs and satellite dishes, I followed a few steps that helped me overcome that objection. Using the FFF method or “Feel ,Felt, Found” I simply said “I completely understand how you feel. It must feel frustrating to be in a situation where you were getting your dream home one day and then nothing the next.” I then said, “You know, there have been others that have felt the same way, but what we found is that with some careful strategy and creativity they were able to not only get a loan, but move into their own home.” You see, this “Feel, Felt, Found” dialog is classic sales. It makes the client feel like they’re not alone and there might be a solution.

Here are the questions I then asked the couple:

Verl - “How long have you been living together?”

Couple -  “4 years.”

Verl -“You are planning to buy a home together, so I assume you are planning on staying together going forward, is that right?”

Couple – “Well yes, we are planning on getting married in 2 years.”

Verl – “Oh I see. If you are planning on getting married in 2 years, wouldn’t it make sense to just get married now, and take advantage of the great deal on this home?”

Couple – “I wish we could, but we couldn’t possibly plan and do a wedding in the time needed to get into the home. You see, our parents are very traditional.”

Verl – “Hummm. Well there is another option,” I said,smiling. “What if we all went to Vegas and you got married so you could get the home, but did not tell anyone, then when you are ready to have the big wedding, everyone would be happy. “

Couple(Laugh, laugh, laugh!) “That’s funny! We could never do that!” Then the woman got up with a smile and went out to the sales office.

The man and I sat in my office and I said seriously: “What if we all went to Vegas? I’ll pay for the hotel and my wife and I will be your witnesses. Do you love her?”

Man - “Oh yes, we are going to get married.”

Verl – “Well, why don’t you go out there and officially ask her and see what she says?”

He then got up from his chair and went out into the sales floor where she was looking at colors. He put his arm around her and asked her to go to Vegas and get married. I waited until they both came back into my office and told me they loved the idea, but first I had to swear I would never tell a soul before their real wedding.

Two weeks later we were in Vegas at the Chapel of the Bells. It was a nice “Vegas Style” wedding, and my wife and I were their witnesses!

Two years later we were invited to their real wedding and we enjoyed the proceedings as the only people there who knew they were already married. Oh, and yes they did get the house! I have since listed, sold and referred them out of state. By finding a solution to their problem, these clients would never use another realtor!

Being in sales means looking for ways to get deals done. It means not taking no for an answer and completely understanding the real objections, resolving concerns and then moving clients to a close.

Simple dialog like FFF is just one of many ways to overcome objections. Try it on your next difficult situation and you’ll find this tried and tested dialog is still as effective as ever.

————————————————————————————————————–

Verl Workman is a leading national speaker, coach and consultant. Despite his busy speaking schedule, and role as co-founder of Pinnacle Quest Consulting Group, he still sells real estate so that he can test and stay abreast of the latest tools and techniques that maximize results. He uses that knowledge to assist individuals and companies in building effective business strategies, implementing powerful technology solutions, and establishing strategic competitive advantages through coaching, seminars and private consultations.To contact Verl visit  www.verlworkman.com or www.pqpipeline.com or email him at AskVerl@VerlWorkman.com.

Follow Verl on Twitter http://twitter.com/VerlWorkman

http://www.facebook.com/VerlWorkman

www.linkedin.com/in/VerlWorkman