There is a crucial part to marketing effectively that almost ALL agents and brokers have been leaving out of their marketing campaigns.  An effective and successful marketing campaign – meaning one that will truly appeal to your prospects – is all about THEM – not YOU.   It’s all about GIVING – not TAKING.  It’s all about practicing what I call…

Potato Chip Marketing!

And this isn’t just some random concept I created out of thin air.  This Potato Chip Marketing has been VERY successfully used by REALTORS® from around the world – and it’s tried and true…guaranteed.  Especially in these market conditions.

So, let’s break it down a little bit more.  An effective and proven Potato Chip Marketing™ campaign has seven crucial steps.  We discussed the first five steps in my last three blogs.  Here are the last two:

6.  Make It…Layout to Stand Out!

This one is simple.  Legibility refers to the “quality of print that can be

easily read.”  Readability refers to the “quality of language that makes

it easy to understand.”

With your marketing pieces…

use short paragraphs, bullet points, headlines, and sub-headlines to keep the eye engaged.

7.  You MUST, MUST, MUST Have a Call-to-Action

What truly differentiates advertising from marketing is a call-to-action.

Here’s the thing…prospects are begging to be lead – and they want free information (yes, even in the internet-age…prospects still want free information from YOU)! And remember, they want to try before they buy. On the other hand, they don’t want to talk to you right away.

Make it safe for them to contact you by creating a free hotline where they can order a special report or a checklist that will HELP THEM with their sale or purchase. You can also make the same offer online.

Ultimately, service and giving are at the heart of attraction – no matter what business you’re in – no matter the market conditions. We are paid according to the value we give. Get excited about creating value for your clients and being the resource to solve their problems.

When you approach your business with the Potato Chip Marketing, give-to-get mindset…

you’ll never want for business.

© Jennifer Cummings 2010

For the past two decades, Jennifer Cummings has been one of the most sought-after marketing experts in the nation.  Her “out-of-the-box” approach to marketing has won her the respect of advertising agencies and the adulation of entrepreneurs and business owners from all over the world in over a dozen unique markets. 

Using the same strategies she now teaches, Jennifer transformed her life from being a juvenile delinquent at 15 to a millionaire by age 30.  With her practical, no-frills approach to marketing and revenue generation, YOU can now join the thousands of other agents and brokers who have been excited and empowered to get back into the driver’s seats of their businesses!

Jennifer Cummings ~ www.PotatoChipMarketingTools.com ~ 888.208.2309

[***To get a $50 discount off of Jennifer’s Potato Chip Marketing Tools’ plug & play marketing pieces, simply enter the code “basb” when you join at www.PotatoChipMarketingTools.com!***]

The latest tax credit ends today with the exception California (offering its own $10k tax credit far beyond today). 

Many Agents have been inundated with Buyers this week; Buyers who waited until the deadline.  As challenging as that has been (and continues to be) I congratulate those Agents.  Of course none of them will be reading this because they are busy seeing if they can still get one more deal in before the deadline. 

So what now?

It’s very simple.  Get back to what has worked for you all along.  Get back to the systems and habits that have brought you success before this flurry.

One of the problems, maybe the biggest problem with a Real Estate career is the freedom.  It’s a two edged sword.  Freedom is one of the most attractive characteristics and one of the most troublesome for Real Estate Agents.  There is no boss that will notice if you don’t show up at 9 a.m.  There is no supervisor who will catch you sloughing off.  There are no other workers who have to pick up the slack if you don’t carry your weight.  So, you have to be responsible for you own self-discipline. 

If you have had a rally that is or has left you weary, take some time (we’ll talk about how much in a moment).  If you are busy with the approvals, contracts, inspections etc, of the deals made this last week of the tax credit, focus on that, keep those deals intact.  And, as those Buyers and Sellers express gratitude for getting them in before the tax credit expires or as they express their admiration of your work, tell them that it is always a good time to be buying Real Estate.  Then, ask if they would be comfortable referring you to others they know of who they know may be buying or selling in the future.  You will be building your referral base, what I call your Sphere on Steroids (S.o.S.) and you will be reminding yourself that, possibly after a break, you will get back to work.

Then choose some time off; a weekend.  It may be a few weekends out when you don’t have something scheduled.  You may choose to work but to pressure off and lay low for a week or two.  Then pick the date when you will get back to your work habits.

Some of you are thinking, “Work habits?  What work habits?  I wish I had work habits.”  If you are thinking that, then you must check in and listen to just one of my daily webinars.  You can register for a free taste at www.BestCoachingOnEarth.com.  Every day I reinforce your work habits for that day and that week.  They are simple and will make a profound difference in your business, particularly if you have trouble focusing chronically or particularly after something has disturbed your rhythm. 

Many things disturb or disrupt your flow.  It may be the flurry of the tax credit.  It may be an illness, a graduation, or just about anything that interrupts your rhythm.  When it happens you get out of synch.  This can cost you days or weeks of costly distraction.  When you have a simple set of work habits you get back on track more quickly and much more easily.  A simple set of work habits makes it so much easier to pick a day or a date and get back into the flow that ensures you make this your best year ever in your business and maybe your life.  You’ll see.  www.BestCoachingOnEarth.com.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, International Speaker

Are ‘dual career’ agents hurting you and your business? In Stefan Swanepoel’s publication, Trends Report 2010, he calls the real estate licensee with another job the ‘dual career’ agent. That’s what we used to call the ‘part-timer’. Although ‘dual career’ sounds much more important than ‘part-time’, the result is the same:

Less time to devote to the consumer. The conflict that an agent feels when he has another job is causing the consumer to rate our service lower than ever before.

Dual Careerists Are a Growing Trend

More and more real estate agents are getting second jobs to make ends meet. In fact, the 2009 National Association of Realtors’ Member Profile says that 26% of Realtors stated that real estate was not their only occupation. (I’m sure that many more licensees that aren’t Realtors have other major sources of income). In addition, less than half of all Realtors surveyed reported that real estate was their primary source of household income.

Is the Dual Careerist Doing the Industry More Harm than Good?

Having been an agent, manager and owner a long time, I know how difficult it is at times for an agent to ‘hang in there’, put their heads down, and keep working through tough times. It’s a great temptation, and a relief for many to take that other job just to ‘tide them over’. From the broker’s perspective, too, keeping the agent at least licensed with the brokerage to get that one transaction seems to be better than losing that one transaction.

Several problems accrue, when the agent gets another job:

1. The agent’s mind, energy, and dollars drift away from the needs of the consumer because the agent must focus on another job

2. The agent can’t keep up on the technical, legal, and business developments

3. The consumer demands just can’t be met when the agent is unavailable for large blocks of time

4. The broker must carry a much bigger responsibility for the agent’s transactions

What We Need to Do About This Trend

Managers: Set standards so you are living out that vision you took all that time to write in that business planning course! Do you have agents with you who are not dedicated? Do you have agents who don’t practice in the way your company wants? If so, you are ‘shattering your image’ and greatly hurting your chances to recruit. Fix it while you can.

Agents: Go to your manager and ask why the ‘deadwood’ (a horrible term, but, the consumers have told us to get rid of them and we’re not listening…) is still there. What benefit do they provide you? What benefit do they provide the company?

Short-sided: It May Destroy our Industry

Unfortunately, our industry has spent too much time on the immediate, and not enough time on the long-term. One of the easiest ways to see this is to look at the low producers and part-timers we’ve kept as licensees. Why? Because we think they may sell a home or two before they get discouraged.

There Is Leadership Showing the Way

There is a growing trend to upgrade the industry. Take a look at what industry leaders are doing right now. They are putting standards in place, training and coaching to get people to their standards, and are counseling out those who just aren’t meant—or committed—to a career in real estate.

Support on Putting Standards in Place

For the last year, I’ve done lots of work in helping companies put standards in place. Although it’s challenging, it’s absolutely critical if we are to protect our business models as we like them!

Note: See Four Steps to a Stunning Standards-Based Organization, a webinar I did for the National Association of Realtors’ Learning Library.

What Do You Think?

Do you believe managers should keep anyone who wants to be kept? Let me hear your opinion–and, if you have a solution, let’s share it with our industry!

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is a speaker, coach, and resource provider for  real estate leadership. Author of 6 internationally published books, and 20 production programs, Cross specializes in helping leadership create exceptional organizations, and assisting achieving agents to reach their potential. Contact her at 425-392-6914 or www.carlacross.com.

I could end this article right now without even writing it –if you understand what these two words mean, confidence and enthusiasm, you have 90 % of what it takes to be successful!

In speaking with agents who lack one or both of these attributes or personality traits, I find that they look for reasons outside of themselves to place blame on their lack of business or production. In their minds, the reason they aren’t having the success they feel they deserve is because the economy is bad, or their broker isn’t giving them enough support, or their website isn’t generating enough leads…the list of excuses goes on and on. However, none of that is actually true! Those are just excuses to mask what the real issue is. At the heart of this issue is these agents are lacking confidence and enthusiasm.

Confidence comes from knowing that you are the best person for the job, and that you will do everything you can to take care of your clients. Confidence comes from training and experience and from having success. Confidence is very different than being conceited or cocky. Confidence is an air or aura that you give off that lets people know you know your business and you care about them. Think about successful people you know.  Think about how they make you feel when you’re with them. This is the quality you want to emulate!

Confidence is not placed on a business card, or posted on your web site. Confidence comes in body language, and dialog that lets people know they can trust you to do the right thing for them 100% of the time. I love confident people! They never slam their competition, they never compromise values for money, and they deliver results for their clients. They have integrity.

When you lose your confidence you need to get it back, because if you are not confident in yourself, others will not be confident in you. How do you get your confidence back? Here are some ways to gain your confidence:

1. Positive self talk. Start telling yourself how great you are & have positive conversations with yourself everyday.

2. Ask clients why they have used you in the past and what they like about you. These testimonials are so valuable in feeling better about yourself.

3. Celebrate you victories. When you have a win, make a big deal about it with your spouse or children. Celebrations help you build confidence.

The bottom line is you must feel good about yourself to properly serve others.

Next you need enthusiasm! This is one of my favorite words. The level of enthusiasm (or passion) that you live your life with is contagious. People are drawn to you if you are passionate about who you are and what you do. Whatever you do each day, do it with enthusiasm and you will enjoy the process. Prospect with enthusiasm, show homes with enthusiasm, negotiate contracts with enthusiasm, solve problems with enthusiasm. It will not take long before you start seeing the results that come from living your life at this higher level. “I love what I do! I love being alive! I love helping others” are all self talk one liners that will help you live with enthusiasm and confidence.

It may be hard for some people to believe that being confident and enthusiastic can really make a difference in their over-all success levels. But it truly does. I encourage you to practice these simple principles in your life and business and get ready to attract people who cherish those characteristics. And then watch what happens…success will follow!

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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

www.PQPipeline.com or email him at AskVerl@verlworkman.com

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, International Speaker

If we’re doing our best to serve our clients, we may think all agents do as well. Not…

The recent survey by the California Association of Realtors shows some stunning and alarming trends about customer service expectations and delivery. In 2005, Internet consumers rated their overall satisfaction with their agent at almost 90%, while traditional buyers rated their overall satisfaction at 37%. However, in the ensuing years, the ratings have plummeted. In 2009, both Internet and traditional buyers only rated their overall satisfaction with their agent at 4%!  (The ratings of Internet and traditional buyers now are equal). In other words, consumer expectations of what an agent will do for them are just not being met. In fact, value received for what the consumer paid the real estate agent was at only 4% for all buyers.

Trends Collide: Consumer Expectations Rise While Agents’ Abilities to Meet Those Expectations Shrink

While consumer satisfaction levels are going down, the number of ‘dual career agents’ (I call them part-timers) continues up. What’s the result? Low customer satisfaction! I know. You’re going to tell me that you met a part-timer once that did a great job. Of course. But, as you and I know, that’s the exception, not the rule. And, let’s not think ‘inside-out’. The consumer’s satisfaction here is the only one that counts. They pay our commissions. And, commission rates are falling because they don’t feel they’re receiving value from what they are paying.

Time for our Leadership to Set some Standards

What’s your standard for work completed by agents in your office? Are you okay with “just turn in a couple of sales this year”? Or, are you concerned with the consumer experience? If we don’t start thinking about that, we will be replaced by something consumers can count on—those darned computers! (I hope not!). However, if the consumer is paying us, we must decide what he is paying us for (and it isn’t because we use technology……).

Here’s my list of valued services. What’s yours?

1. Dedicated service throughout the transaction

2. Prioritized knowledge not available just on the Internet

3. Immediate communication and continued first-level service

4. Exceptional negotiating skills

5. Loyalty, putting the customer first, rather than another job first

The Internet and Agent Knowledge: Almost Neck in Neck on Consumers’ Minds

By the way, in the CAR survey, 54% of the consumers surveyed thought the information they got on the Internet was less useful than what they got from their agent. Does that sound good to you? To me, it sounds very bad. Almost half of the consumers think the Internet is just as good as your live agent! So, let’s get to cracking and get our agents performing past the standards we set. Why? Because the consumers have already set the standards—and they’re higher than what we’re allowing. Let’s put the industry back on track toward pride in excellent service. Let’s knock the consumer’s socks off with prioritized knowledge, attention to the transaction, and exceptional service. We can do it, and brokers must lead. Now.

Note: Do you use an after-sale survey at every closing? Do you need one? Email me and request the after sale survey.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is an international speaker, coach, and resource provider to the real estate industry. Carla helps agents turn careers into profitable businesses, and specializes in ‘people’ management–recruiting, selecting, coaching, and training. A former National Realtor Educator of the Year, Carla was just named one of the 50 most influential women in real estate. Contact her at www.carlacross.com, or 425-392-6914.

You know the drill. You open your email and find your inbox your jammed-to-the-gills with forwarded jokes and funny cartoons. Or maybe it’s an email saying that Microsoft and AOL are tracking how often you send emails and you’ll be paid for each email you send—and there is a credible source listed in the signature line of someone who has personally received $10,000 for participating. Hey, who doesn’t want instant wealth? Of course you’re going to send this email to everyone you know—not only will you get rich, but all your friends will too, right?

OK, you probably know what to do with those (delete them, please!), but what about emails with a call to action? What if it is a desperate plea from a mother whose daughter is missing and wants everyone to forward the email to all their contacts in the hope that someone has seen her? You know the kind I am talking about. As Realtors, we are action-oriented people who are compassionate and helpful by nature—so of course, you’ll be happy to forward that email to all 500 people in your contact list, right?

So, what do you do? Do you…

1)    Promptly forward the email as requested to everyone you know?
2)     Hit delete (while secretly wondering if you’ve done the right thing)?
3)     Do some research on the validity of the email before forwarding it on?

The correct answer is 3 (sometimes 2, but hardly ever 1!) Spam emails are everywhere and one way to control their wildfire-like spread is to check the accuracy of the tale of woe being circulated. In fact, as a trusted professional with other legitimate messages to send, it’s critical. And, thanks to a couple of scam-busting websites it is even easier than you may think!

The above examples are just a couple of the emails we have all received at one time or another. They are “Urban Legends” with no basis in the truth. Emails of this nature have been circulating on the Internet for years (poor little Ashley is probably a little old lady by now –and was never missing in the first place!) There are many variations of these emails, and many, many more Urban Legends floating out there in cyber space.

Some examples of current Urban Legends are about politics and the slant of the media, a new state of the art prison facility in Illinois (it’s actually in Austria), the pitfalls of calling the 809 area code, cell phone numbers to be given to telemarketers, how #77 on your cell phone will connect you to the highway patrol, big oil scams, drilling in the arctic wilderness, and many more. You’ve probably seen each and every one of these emails multiple times this year alone—and maybe you continue to forward the ones you feel strongly about.

So, what’s the solution?

The first thing to ask yourself is whether they are fear-based, creates urgency or just sounds too fantastic to be true. If so, the email is probably not true and possibly a scam. The smartest thing to do, before clicking “forward” on every email, is go to my favorite scam busting website at www.snopes.com and type in the subject line of the email or the main content (such as Ashley Flores, missing girl) and in a blink of an eye, you’ll be able to confirm whether it is “True” or “False.” Obviously, if it’s false—hit delete and forget it. As a courtesy to whomever sent it to you—you might want to mention that you verified it on Snopes and it is false so they don’t continue to forward it. And just because you get an email that says “Verified on Snopes.com to be true!” doesn’t mean you should believe it–we receive many emails with that header–and all of them that we’ve checked have been false.

With email becoming one of the most prominent forms of communication we all suffer from email overload. Do yourself a favor (and all your contacts, too) and either: 1) delete all forwarded emails (seriously, are the jokes so funny that you need to spend two hours a day reading all of them?) or 2) verify the authenticity of emails that have a “call to action” by checking out www.snopes.com. You (and your contact list) will be glad you did!

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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.
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