Carla Cross, CRB, MA, International Speaker

Does your listing presentation ‘knock their socks off’? We’re all presenters: Any time we’re in front of two or two thousand, our goal is to persuade the audience to our point of view. However, most of the time, we just get in front of people and say whatever we think of first. That lack of attention to presentation organization leads to some big presentation mistakes, and costs us ‘sales’. Instead of stumbling through a presentation, why not organize it to grab their attention, persuade them to your way of thinking, and motivate them to action?

Grab Their Attention in the Opening

Have you thought about your opening? Or, are you nervously standing at the sellers’ door, worried about what you’re going to say? Are you hiding in your office because you dread doing that sales meeting? When we haven’t organized our presentation, we come up with some really boring, off-putting openings, like:

I won’t take much of your time, but

We have a lot to cover today

We won’t get through the outline

I know you don’t want to listen, but

I’m not really prepared

You just open your presentation book, point to the pretty pages, and say, “here’s a keybox” (I’m not kidding. I’ve seen it….)

Great openings, yes? Yet, we’ve heard them dozens of times. You don’t have to settle for whatever comes ‘naturally’. Instead, make your openings

Provocative

Interesting

Different

Engaging

A Middle that Educates your ‘Audience’ to your Point of View

In the middle of your presentation, add those stories, statistics, and visuals that support your point of view. By the way, as you create that presentation, jot down your point of view. If you’re doing a presentation to sellers, one of the major objectives of your presentation is to persuade them to your listing price point of view.

Why use Visuals?

There are two reasons to use visuals in your presentation:

We believe what we see

We retain the information much longer

As you organize your presentation, ask yourself:

What are the main, and frequently, unspoken objections my ‘audience’ will have? How do I educate them to show them the reasoning behind my point of view?

The Ending: Back to the Beginning

Have you thought about your wrap-up? Or, like many presenters, does your ending sound like this?

Well, that’s all. What do you think?

We’re out of time. Thank you. I hope you’ll list with me

I don’t have time to close.

I couldn’t get to much of the material, but you can read it

In fact, even the most professional presenters frequently have trouble with their endings. One of the main reasons is that they run out of time. Another is that they haven’t thought the ending through.

How to Do a Stunning Ending

Crafting an effecting ending is the second most important part of your presentation. (The first is the opening). To craft a great ending,

Go back to your beginning opening theme

Summarize the benefits of going ahead with you/take action

Motivate your ‘audience’ to take action

A Great Presentation is Crafted like a Pop Song

As a musician, I know that all pop tunes are constructed with this format:

theme—variation—theme

This is known in the music business as the ABA format. Think of your favorite pop tune: Hum the beginning. Think of the end. They’re alike, right? It’s the middle—known as the ‘bridge’—that is the humdinger. It wanders all around. Your persuasive presentation should be crafted like that pop tune:

A A compelling start (think Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, etc.)

B An interesting, developed middle, with stories, statistics

A Back to that theme, with a motivating ending

Now, you’re all set to craft a great listing or buyer presentation, great recruiting meeting or sales meeting, or awesome product/service presentation to any audience.

P. S. Practice!

Many more tips on presentations and presentation skills are in my new resource, Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make your Best Presentation Ever.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is a former master-level CRB instructor, popular international speaker, National Realtor Educator of the Year, and author of 6 books and 20 audio programs. She specializes in ‘people development’—strategies for real estate professionals to enjoy highest production and profits. Join her newsletter community and receive her complimentary eBook, Getting to Yes: Ten Powerful Tools to Bash those Barriers to Purchasing Today. Learn more at www.carlacross.com, or contact Carla at 425-392-6914.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, International Speaker

My dad used to say when my sister and I were behaving badly he thought we needed a ‘whack up the side of the head’. Don’t worry. He didn’t actually do it, but we did pay attention when he said it, because we knew it was time to stop, look, and listen—and change our behavior! It’s time, I think, for brokers to get a few ‘whacks up the side of the head’, too.

Why Listen Up Now?

You have heard many of the ideas here before. Businesses in other industries have embraced these business concepts in the past decade. But, brokers simply have not adopted them. Why should brokers listen and take action now? Because times have changed enough that we can’t afford to keep persevering in old ways and expect to make the profits we deserve for the risks we take and the hard work we do.

Small actions finally create a ‘critical mass’ and a trend.

In his book, Microtrends, Mark Penn identified 75 microtrends sweeping the nation. One of them he calls ‘southpaws unbound’. Since I’m a lefty, I read that trend with interest, because I was one of a few of those children of my generation who learned to write properly with my left hand. When I was about four, my mother, a schoolteacher, taught me to write, and let me use my dominant left hand. When she found out schools were forcing kids to become right-handed, she asked my kindergarten and grade school teachers to allow me to write with my left hand.

Now, though, the trend of making all lefties into writing with the right hand (or at least trying) is reversed. According to Penn, the number of left-handed people has doubled in two generations.  Why? The idea of writing with your ‘natural hand’ has reached critical mass. Parents are encouraging their children to use the naturally dominant hand. Schools are now teaching left or right hand writing. What does that trend mean to business? A wealth of opportunities to create left-handed gadgets. What does that mean to the lefty? No conflict in the brain about natural dominance. No failure in school because we couldn’t translate the right-hand directions. More confidence in our own abilities. This trend may seem very ‘micro’ to you, but, to a lefty, it’s huge!

(My mom, who worried a lot about what people think, would feel very pleased that her bravery in insisting I stayed left-handed in school was vindicated).

A ‘Whack’ for Brokers and Recommendations

As with all adopted practices, several principles and actions come together to create a ‘critical mass’. Below is my observation about one of our very important traditional business practices that has become ineffective, due to consumer dissatisfaction, business expectations, much more education, mass communication, and market conditions.

Whack: Recruiting can no longer be thought of as an ‘on accident’ occurrence.

In a fast market, everybody wanted to sell real estate—and, most of them could sell—a bit. Then, the market turned and it seemed no one was selling real estate! As the market picks up, it’s our opportunity to change the way we recruit and select, so we won’t experience that lack of sales to that degree ever again. To change our businesses for the better—forever—we need to find agents who will actually develop careers. That means brokers must search for capable agents on purpose (just like agents must lead generate on purpose).

In the next blog, I’ll make several suggestions about how to ‘whack yourself on the side of the head to recruit on purpose–and double your profits.

Question: What ‘whacks’ do you see that brokers need to give themselves now? What ‘whacks’ are you giving yourself?

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is president of Carla Cross & Co., a speaking, coaching, and resources provider for the real estate industry. Carla specializes in real estate leadership. She’s the author of 6 internationally published books, including Up and Running in 30 Days. Recently named one of the 50 most influential women in real estate, Carla is a former master level CRB instructor, writer of coaching/training programs for most of the major international franchises, and is a National Realtor Educator of the Year. Contact her at 425-392-6914 or www.carlacross.com.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, International Speaker

In my resource, The On Track to Success in 30 Days System for Experienced Agents, I introduced a concept called the ‘Career Life Cycle’. I learned this concept as a CRB (Certified Real Estate Broker) instructor. Simply, the concept says that real estate agents (and managers, and companies), go through four career phases:

1. Introduction
2. Growth
3. Maturity
4. Decline
   

Each of these phases has its own opportunities and challenges, which I discuss at length in the On Track resource—as well as provide best practices for each phase. In this article, let’s tackle the unique challenges of the ‘mature’ agent.

The Mature Business and Agent

If you have been in the business for over five years, chances are you have enjoyed a ‘mature’ business. When the market was on fire, you were getting most of your business from repeat and referrals (and some happy ‘accidents’). You have built up a strong enough business that you do most of your business based on pre-built trust and confidence. You are admired in your office (and perhaps your whole company) for your leadership and mentorship.

The market changes…..

All of a sudden (at least it seemed sudden), your referral business dried up. You are searching for other means of business. But, you’re relatively unprepared, since your business had been repeat and referral. You didn’t have to prove your professionalism. Now, you do.

Competition raises its ugly head. Because the mature agent gets most of her business from referrals, she may not be prepared to compete against more aggressive agents—or agents trained with the latest presentation methods. This happened with one of my mature agents in my office, Martha. She was referred to George and Betty Smith, who wanted to sell their home. But, George and Betty also were referred to John Schlock, of ABC Realty.

Martha knows John Schlock, and she thinks his last name is appropriate…… Of course, though, she can not say this to George and Betty. Martha’s in kind of a bind here. She relies on word-of-mouth for her business, and she relies on this word-of-mouth building her credibility to the point where she has no need to build it herself. This works fine when she is not competing with another agent, and the sellers already think she is the best thing since sliced bread. It does not work so well when she is competing with another agent—especially one who will tell the client whatever they want to hear!

Martha relies solely on her ‘known’ reputation. Martha has no testimonials in writing, no Professional Portfolio, no visual marketing presentation, and no statistics systematized to teach George and Betty the principles of how real estate works. Why not? Because, Martha did not need these credibility-builders very often, like those newer agents need. And, when she does, it is too late to create them.

This ‘mature business’ attitude and practice results in lost listings or over-priced listings. This makes Martha mad, but, to do anything about it, Martha would have to admit she needs to quit acting like a ‘mature’ agent and push herself back into the growth phase. Just like the Ford Taurus, she needs to ‘re-tool’ herself. You, dear reader, may be like Martha. Congratulations on taking the risk to even look at your business today. Many ‘Marthas’ in real estate are just waiting out the inevitable–their descent into decline.

In my next blog, I’ll give you eight methods to decide if you’re in the ‘mature’ phase of your business—and what to do to push yourself back to ‘growth’ to revitalize your business—and yourself.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is president of Carla Cross Seminars, Inc. and Carla Cross Coaching, specializing in real estate sales productivity and management profitability. One of her most popular presentations and webinars is Seasoned but Stuck. Cross, an international speaker and coach, is the author of 6 internationally published books, 20 productivity programs, including On Track to Success in 30 Days System for Experienced Agents (and its coaching companion for managers) Carla is a winner of the National Association of Realtors’ National Educator of the Year award. Contact her at www.carlacross.com or 425-392-6914.

My exploration into using videoconferencing as a marketing tool for real estate has taken me down many a road. There are lots of products out there including:  TokBox, DimDim and Skype.

I like Skype. Makes me feel very “international!” Some of my clients are located overseas and Skype is their product of choise.

More and more of my students in class tell me they are using Skype to communicate with their clients across the country and across the world.  What is Skype?
According to Wikipedia  . . . Skype (pronounced /ˈskaɪp/) is a software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. Calls to other users of the service and, in some countries, to free-of-charge numbers, are free, while calls to other landlines and mobile phones can be made for a fee. Additional features include instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing.

Speaking to some of my coaching clients, here are some business uses for Skype:
• Return long distance phone calls to clients
• Check your voicemail when traveling
• Make business calls without cell coverage
What makes it better is that is starts free if your client also has a skype account.
Video calls, like Skype-to-Skype calls are free, updating your clients is free, no matter where they are in the world. All you need is a webcam and software. Start by downloading the software:

www.Skype.com/download

If we want to be successful with today’s buyer, we need to remember what is – and always has been – at the heart of the sale: People will only buy something from someone they trust. Only the methods have changed. If you can’t meet them face to face, webcam to webcam will have to do.

• SKYPE to SKYPE (free)
• SKYPE to Local or Long Distance
• SKYPE to International
• SKYPE with IPHONE (mobile)
• SKYPE with video
• Free, Pay as You Go, Monthly

Skype-enabled audio and video are already infiltrating business settings, with users recording their Skype conversations and adding the recordings to their blogs as podcasts.

And the ultimate – the ability to see each others webcam and if necessary to record the call. A great software at Pamela.org  will enable you to do this.

Amy Chorew is a national real estate trainer highly experienced at helping managers and agents maximize the infinite opportunities that technology offers them. Her knowledge of the industry and the latest technologies available along with her unique ability to translate it all into easy to understand language make her a consistently top-rated trainer throughout the country. Her expertise in the area of Social Networking and the tremendous impact it is having on the industry has given agents and brokers the tools to move from traditional marketing to Web 2.0.

You can reach her at amy@amychorew.com,  or (860) 325-0101 or visit her blog at www.amychorew.com. Her technology coaching series is available at www.thetechbyte.com

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

According to NAR and other research we have done independently, 80% of leads generated by you or your company over the internet are lost, marked as dead or simply thrown out? Why is this happening?

An online consumer contacts you by email. They want an immediate response to their question. And As we know the first one to contact the consumer has the better chance of engaging the consumer.  Speed matters, and the speed of the internet has created this consumer need.

The reality is that the online lead many times is not ready to commit right way.
So we give up, or just lose interest, or don’t have systems in place to keep track of them to convert them at a later date.

Todays online consumer does not want to be captured by the real estate agent. They want to stay in control of the process.They feel if they give information the agent will bug them to they buy or die.

The technology needs of a buyer-based marketplace are so different than those of the past five years that many real estate professionals find themselves back at square one.

Here are some of the challenges:
Knowing who today’s consumeris and how they consume information  on the internet
Having all the tools to respond properly

In other words The challenge today is to understand which values are desired; and retool our business around them.

What about the leads that you send information to and then won’t give you enough information for your to qualify them as a lead?
One import fact to remember is that buyers are on line way before they are ready to purchase. Try to eliminate the 45 day mentality we attach to leads. Remember? A buyer walks into your office. You speak to them, read their tells. Wihtin half an hour you know if you have a commission check in your inbox in 45 days. Ahhh . . . memories. Those days are gone forever.

Many buyers enter the real estate search arena up to 4 years before they sit at a closing table. This is the subconscious stage. When something triggers to them to the next phase they actively engage into pre research. This is the thinking about it stage.

Another trigger sends them to active research. They are finally pre-qualified and they actively Search online for homes,  and areas.

The actually buying stage is when they need help on the  Offer, Negotiating and Closing.  Keep in mind the actual buying phase can last as long as 4 months.

What are these triggers? Job change, income change, family change, you name it.
Managing all these leads can be overwhelming,  so look through all the software, programs you own, especially products attached to your website and see if there are any automated email campaigns availble to you.

Please note - I am not an advocate of just pushing unwanted data to these people. AND I NEVER recommend this type of product to your sphere and past customers. Watch for my next post when I review products who pass my 3 Point Marketing test!

Darlene Lyons

As the head of an event management company, I review our annual event production calendar regularly.  When looking at the reports this week it struck me that every one of our clients that has independent contractors has reduced their meetings size.  Especially in real estate.  

Just today I had a tough call with a company’s COO, CEO, President, Marketing Director, and CFO on how to reduce their losses based on losing over 500 attendees at this year’s event.   That is a painful conversation, folks. 

Once we had gone over the realistic numbers I asked them just exactly what was in the event for the attendee.  The company had jam-packed the event with announcements, the same-old speakers (yawn!) and the same functions they have year after year.   “But what really  is in it for the attendee?, I asked.  No one understood my point.  Here is what I shared with them:

People attend ‘live’ events for one or more of five reasons:

1.  Food

2. Fun

3. Fame

4. Community

5.  Education

So, I asked them to review their offerings to be absolutely sure they had touched on all five so they could increase their attendance and the overall success of their event.  They wisely added more recognition functions, more fun exercises like a “jeopardy” session in their main session and changed some of their format to encourage more hands on, confidence building training.  They will inevitably see more attendance and a higher satisfaction rate (and a higher return rate) because they refocused the event on their attendees. 

I encourage you to consider those five motivators when planning your next event.  Here is a video piece explaning a little more about the five reasons.  Here’s to your next successful event!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69_PjcrsWQU]

Most Coaches will tell you the key to success is that it’s all about mastering the basics.  Prospecting, presentation skills, negotiating, etc.  Though social media topics are HOT, core courses are truly useful.  Here are some hot topics and webinars for you to review:

Bernice Ross

Bernice Ross has a new topic  “You Snooze You Lose: Trends to Take Your Business to the Top in 2009″ is a fantastic overview of what trends are coming and how to take advantage of them in your real estate business.   http://brokeragentspeakers.com/Topic_Details.asp?id=71&ID_top=1023

Jacob Swodek

Jacob Swodek is the most highly acclaimed shortsale expert nationally and delivers a cutting edge, powerful program to lead your sales associates to success when dealing with short sales in your market.   His program titled “Shortsales From A to Z” is in demand in over 15 states and is a valuable asset to any training program.

http://brokeragentspeakers.com/Topic_Details.asp?id=108&ID_top=847

Allen Hainge

Allen Hainge has an excellent FREE webinar coming up on February 24 at 7:30 pm EST where he interviews 2 top agents in his CyberStar group regarding Internet lead generation, reducing expenses, building referrals and more. 

The CyberStars(TM) group are 200 top agents from the US, Canada, the Bahamas and Australia, who network and share what they learn.  Two of their best share will share their success and strategies with you during this fast-paced Webinar:

* Leigh Brown, CRS (RE/MAX Signature Properties, Concord, NC, www.LeighBrownAndAssociates.com)

* Dianne Dunn, CRS (Keller Williams Realty, New Bern, NC, www.NewBernHomes.com)

Check it out and register here: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/293242844

 Enjoy!

I am still excited about learning via webinars.  Catch a free preview of Jennifer Cummings, trained economist and brilliant marketing mind as she presents “Seven Steps to a Highly Effective (and Low-Cost!) Marketing Campaign” sponsored by Cyberhomes.   The webinar is on January 27th at 10 am PST.

Here is the link to register
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/781226853

She is a good presenter and has an amazing knack for writing copy that creates a “call to action”.  See you there!

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE learning via webinars.  With my short attention span, limited time, and reduced travel budget, it is an incredible solution.  And I can attend as many as I want and learn about a myriad of topics with little or no fuss.  Whether it’s the tools available to the presenter or the ability to just “tune out” if the presenter is boring, it’s simply a fabulous way to learn.

And the real estate market is just catching on!  Many of the highly skilled speakers we represent are eagerly exploring and learning the new technologies to be able to respond to the sure coming demand for e-learning. 

With the amazing interactive tools available today, skilled instructors can easily keep the audience involved with polls, surveys, chat rooms, video inserts and more.  If your budget is right this year, I suggest you attend as many webinars as you can so you can recommend the best courses to your target group.  You’ll find it a great way to learn as well!