Always be Learning is a concept that comes up often especially for new real estate agents or those that might be struggling to make sense of new techniques. The business is changing so fast that the way the consumer buys is morphing almost every quarter and you need to keep up with that pace of change. However, learning can be confusing and it’s easy to get lost as you move in many different directions. What you quickly realize is that all your effort and energy is dissipated and you’re not EARNING! That’s the big problem here- are we really earning enough in the real estate business now or ever?

Therefore agents and brokers must beware the pitfalls of only working to learn and ensure from day 1 that their plan includes very clear objectives that focus on earning! The best way to do that is to set an exact amount of money that you would like to earn as an agent. When setting this earnings goal, it’s important to be reasonable. Too many real estate agents, who are barely doing any business, begin planning by saying “I’m going to earn a million dollars” Really? How’s that going to happen? Magic?

Start off with reasonable goals based on your level of experience, for example “I would like to net 50 thousand dollars, after brokerage splits and operating expenses”, “I would like to make 100 thousand dollars working with an administrator”, “I would like to make $500 thousand to a million dollars with a team.” Also understand that all goals are scalable and you will build upon each level of earnings achievement by adding leverage with more and better marketing, technology advances and of course additional team members.

Once you have a clear earnings goal, there are three general categories to consider as you pursue the target.  Primarily, you must learn what to do. This will include an understanding of the local market and how many sides you must complete at what price and commission range-very basic math. Secondly, you must learn how to do it. What marketing methods will you use to attract your ideal client; what technology tools will you need to compete; when will you need to hire people?  Finally, you must ask yourself, did you do it. It’s critical to stick to your simple plan and measure your performance against it. How will you ever know if you’re on track to your earnings goal without constantly measuring the critical metrics. This is the only true path to self-accountability.

In summary, the critical point missed by most real estate agents is to always be learning and earning together. Clearly by starting with both of these goals in mind, successful real estate agents have a tremendous advantage as they continue to refine a bullet proof plan. The key ingredient for success of course is in the doing. When you become a doer, you learn the tiny distinctions that you will add to your plan to continue moving up the earnings ladder. You will find yourself not falling for the illusive magic pill and ultimately understand that you have what it takes to be a real estate sales success and all you need to do is be A.B.L.E.-Always Be Learning & Earning.

You can work in the cloud with your phone! Virtual phone systems give small businesses a chance to compete with the large companies when it comes to their business phone system.

Capabilities include local and 800 phone numbers, auto-receptionist, customized greetings, multi extension structure and voicemail boxes, call routing and forwarding, business answering rules, call transfers, virtual call and faxing and integration with most Smartphones.

You never have to miss a call, have clients get busy signals or take after hours calls again.

Pricing ranges from $9- $200 depending on options and usage.

Ringcentral: http://www.ringcentral.com/plansandpricing-aff.html

Phone.com:  http://www.phone.com/products/virtual-office/pricing-plans/

VirtualPBX: http://www.virtualpbx.com/plans-and-prices/ both flat rate and usage options available.

Virtual Call Systems: http://www.virtualcallsystem.com/pricing.asp?LPID=VCS-Blank

Grasshopper: https://secure.grasshopper.com/ $25 activation fee.

Phone People: http://www.phonepeople.com/toll-free-pricing

Do you know the most misunderstood and incorrectly answered question ever asked of a real estate agent?

“Why should I (your prospects) do business with you rather than another agent?”

If the first thing that comes to your mind is the laundry list of designations and initials behind your name, your eons of experience and impressive sold volume, or a clever tagline-”Everything I touch, turns to Sold” you probably think you have this question in the bag. You would be wrong.

Consumers don’t care about all this talk about YOU!  Whether you are a fan of country music or not, you should understand that every one of your prospects subscribes to Toby Keith’s line of thinking when it comes to buying or selling a home-”Let’s talk about ME!“  They are concerned with their fears, their time, and their money.  Period.

Here are three things you should be doing as an agent to alleviate your prospect’s fears, develop a loyal client base that is eager to do business with you, and continually generate referrals.

1. Offer a Performance Guarantee-An advertisement that reads, “I’ll sell your home in 29 days or I’ll sell it for FREE…100% Guaranteed!” is a lot more compelling than “If you or someone you know is looking to buy, sell, or invest in real estate, I can help.”  This is sure-fire way to get your phone to ring off the hook with sellers who are motivated to sell.  Let’s face it; more leads mean more listings, which in turn means more closings.

Of course, as with any type of guarantee, there will necessarily be some restrictions that the seller must abide by, such as not overpricing the listing.

2. Take Away the Risk-The number of people who balk at signing a binding agreement to work with an agent is staggering.  How can they be sure that you will look out for their best interests, communicate with them, or do what you say you will do?  Make yourself irresistible to your prospects by providing them with the security of knowing that they can cancel the agreement if they aren’t satisfied.

Simply knowing the option exists doesn’t increase the odds that the client will take advantage of it, but it will greatly increase the number of prospects you convert into clients.

3. Provide a Communication Guarantee-The number one complaint consumers report about real estate agents is a lack of communication!  Fortunately, this is actually one of the easiest complaints to fix.  Simply provide your client with a schedule for communication such as, “I will call you every Tuesday to discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly.”  Then make it part of your weekly calendar.  This is a great tool because it provides the accountability to maintain communication regardless of the level of activity on the home and it makes it easier to discuss any issues you may have to address like price changes or staging needs.

Implement these tools into your business and you will be able to answer with confidence why you are the only agent your prospect would ever want to work with.

When you understand what the consumer fears and wants you have the power to offer the precise solution they need and distinguish yourself as not only an expert in your field, but also as an advocate for your client and others like them.    This is what will set you apart in the hearts and minds of the public and will build a strong foundation for your continued growth and success through repeat business and referrals.

The process of shorting an investment property is really no different than shorting a primary residence. There are some implications, however, that could be different depending on your seller’s financial situation. As for submitting the short sale package, you will submit the same package you do for a regular short sale, including a financial worksheet reflecting the financial strain this investment property is having on the owner. As for how the deficit is handled and the tax implication if the debt is forgiven, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 only applies to debt forgiven on a principle residence. So, if the lender forgives the deficit (versus retaining the right to go after the seller for the deficit), the seller would have to pick up the forgiven debt as taxable income, which will be reflected on a 1099-C issued to the seller by the lender for the year of the short sale. Now, there could possibly be a workaround if the seller is insolvent, which simply means that their liabilities exceed their assets at the time the debt is forgiven. This is something your seller will want to discuss with a tax professional and/or consult directly with the IRS, so please encourage them to do so. One other thing I will say about working short sales on investment properties, just know that for most lenders, these short sale files are lower priority for lenders than short sales for primary residences. So, it’s just good to know this going in and educate all parties in the transaction accordingly.

Did you see the Barbara Walters special recently - the one where she interviewed self-made billionaires?

It was a fascinating episode!  Ms. Walters spoke with four individuals, asking them what experiences and lessons they had learned in their lives that had led to financial riches.  All four truly had created their own wealth - none had received money through an inheritance, or through some lucky circumstance such as a lottery.  They were truly “self-made” people.

Two of the individuals interviewed were able to create financial success by bringing unique products to the marketplace.  The other two individuals built wealth through perseverance.

Not only did these four individuals created enormous wealth for themselves, one of the four was formerly homeless!

John Paul DeJoria, the “Paul” in the “Paul Mitchell” hair care line, has a current estimated wealth of $4 billion.

When asked the question, “How did you make this happen?” DeJoria said that he was prepared to do things the average person wouldn’t do to become successful.

Bingo!

Sometimes the road to success requires hacking your own path through the jungle - a jungle filled with giant anacondas, tsetse flies, and large man-eating predators.

That’s a jungle no one wants to plunge into.  And really, who wouldn’t rather drive their Jeep on a nicely paved road?

After years of coaching real estate agents, I know for a fact that very few real estate agents are truly working up to their full potential.  That doesn’t mean agents won’t work hard … but they often don’t work hard at the things which are hardest in their business.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone!  It’s tough to tackle activities, ideas, and actions which put us outside our comfort zone.

Think about lead generation.   This is an area where most agents default to whatever sounds easiest, whatever is right in front of them, or whatever their broker says is the “standard” thing to do.  That might be floor time … or open houses.

What if, instead, you were willing to do things other agents weren’t willing to do? What do you think your business might look like if you set aside your fear and unwillingness … and tried doing the things in this industry that others aren’t doing - or aren’t doing well?  What if you called expired listings?  Did geographical farming? Worked with absentee owners?  Helped investors?  Taught first-time home buyers?  Specialized in relocations?  Mined the MLS for shortages?  Each and every one of these methods of lead generation can yield amazing results … and most of them probably made you groan when you read them!

Back to the Barbara Walters program …

All four of the individuals Barbara interviewed said their “aha” moment was when things were darkest for them personally, or in troubled economic times.  Those are the times at which you can make your mark and truly build success for yourself.  Part of that comes because you may have reached bottom.   Rock bottom is a very tough place to be, and it may take being there to propel you to success.

John Paul DeJoria found himself at the bottom, in a very, very dark place.  Determined to pull himself out, he began selling encyclopedias door to door.  Can you think of anything more challenging?  Granted, this was back in the day before the internet was available, and encyclopedias were actually part of the learning landscape, but really - who wants to knock on 50 doors, and be rejected 50 times?  John Paul was willing to do that!  And yes, he might have knocked on 50 doors and heard “no” 50 times … but on the 51^st time he heard “yes”.  And one “yes” is sometimes all you need to start create momentum and begin building the success you’re seeking.

Don’t discount even your small successes.  First, a success will boost your “mojo”.  Nothing feels as good as a “win”. It elevates your spirits, gives you hope, and recognizes your efforts.

More importantly, even the smallest of success is a roadmap for future success.

When talking to agents it’s clear to me that agents are not learning from their moments of success.  I want you to look back on those moments, however fleeting they may seem to you.   What was it that created the success?  Was it a thought, an action, a mindset … or a combination of all three?

If we spent even a tenth of the time analyzing our successes as we do wallowing in our failures, we would have 100 times the success!  Too often, we’re focused on the negativity of the non-results.

Here are the three things I want you to take away from the self-made billionaire segment.

1. Take action.  Your situation will not improve if you don’t take action to improve it.  We don’t live in the magical world of Harry Potter; you must be willing to work for results.
2. Be willing to do the hard work that others won’t do.
3. Learn more from your successes than you do from your failures. Focus on the positive of what worked; learn from what didn’t.  Adapt!

I am excited about the amount of training available to eveyone in every business online. What other time in history could you take a course on business management and moments later log on to learn about Feng Shui?

I for one, sincerely enjoy the diversity of subject matter and thanks to products and services like GotoWebinar and Youtube, we as the general public have instant access to leading experts from all over the world on subjects that interest us, make our businesses stronger and our lives better.

Broker Agent Speakers Bureau in conjunction with Learning Library are proud to offer some of the best training available. If you like watching  webinars at your own convenience and love our speakers, take a moment to check out our ARCHIVED WEBINAR LIBRARY

It includes the newest winter 2012 Webinar Summit with some of our featured speakers; Amy Chorew, Bill Lublin, Stacey Harmon and others.

Happy Learning!

Real estate agent “Sally” (names have been changed to protect the guilty!) called me.

“Denise”, she said, “my business is good, but not great.  I’ve had a marketing makeover. I’ve redone my listing presentation.  I’ve learned consultative selling.  Things have gotten better, but I’m still not at the level where I want to be.  What am I doing wrong?”

Nine times out of ten when I hear this from an agent, I know exactly what the problem is.

I asked Sally a few questions.  It took me only five minutes to confirm my suspicions. Sally had been doing everything right-with one exception.

One very major exception.
She wasn’t being consistent with her follow-up.

I can’t tell you how many brilliant agents are losing business because of lousy follow-up, inconsistent follow-up, or no follow-up at all.  It perplexes me that an agent would put in all the time and expense to develop a business, only to ignore the one tool that consistently generates new leads.

Follow-up is basic.  Every successful real estate career has been built on it.

Take a good hard look at yours right now.

Are you staying in touch with your database?  Are you contacting your past clients?  Do you have an email campaign pre-written to automatically go out to them?  Do you sendannual reports specifically tailored for their individual neighborhoods?  Do you hold anannual client appreciation event?  Do you call past clients at least once a year?

If your answer to any of these questions is “no”, you certainly cannot expect your past clients to remember you when someone they know needs real estate assistance.

The reason is simple.  People-even the really nice ones-take the path of least resistance when it comes to referrals.  If the path of least resistance is that you’re top of mind, then you get the referral.

If, however, they haven’t seen nor heard from you in three years, the path isn’t so direct anymore.  Perhaps they’ve become friends with another agent since then.  Add the fact that you’ve disappeared from their lives and chances are that they will forget you.

When you forget them, they forget you.

Your follow-up is the one foundational piece of your business that needs your critical attention.  Consistency is key.  Without consistent follow-up, you are destroying your business.

I can just hear you now, “Destroying my business?  Really?  But Denise, I’m out there prospecting every day.  I work very hard to find new clients.  And I’m good at it.  So what’s the problem?”

The problem is that you’re working harder and harder to find those clients.  You may indeed be great at prospecting.  That’s wonderful.  But prospecting is tiring.  It can wear you down.  The last thing you can afford right now is to become burned out.

It is so much easier - and more lucrative - to have an army of salespeople out there bringing new clients to you. These are your past clients.

One agent I know spends 80% of her time just fielding referrals.  How?  Years ago, she realized the value of past clients. Since day one, she has stayed in touch with everyone she has ever done business with.  It has paid off for her so much that her phone rings at least once a week with a new referral.  Wouldn’t you like to be in that position?

(Be careful. I’m not suggesting you don’t prospect.  Don’t forget - this agent has built her list over three decades.  Yes, it takes time.  But look what consistent follow-up did for her business!)

By having a strong follow-up plan targeted at your past client database, you will sustain your business longer with less upfront effort.  This frees you to focus on other tasks or totake time off - which is a mandatory element of being successful.

Follow-up doesn’t need to be consigned to your past clients, either.  Why not follow-up with the people that you come across in your daily travels?

Recently, in my Evolve! group, I asked agents to list every single person who is even remotely on their radar - people who might buy or sell a house in the next year.  Then, I asked them to hypothetically assume they would take action.  I had them calculate how much money that would mean to them.

The numbers were startling.  This hypothetical analysis showed them the possibility that existed with those clients, if only they can keep in touch with them until the clients are ready to move forward.  The sad fact was many of those agents did not have any kind of follow-up system in place … even when they knew that the clients would likely take action soon!

In order to do follow-up well, it’s important to have a system in place.  That system details exactly what to do every month of the year.

Here’s a great example of effective follow up:

• Six times a year, send an article about what’s going on in the real estate market.
• Four times a year, send a quarterly report that compares the previous year’s quarter to this year’s quarter.
• Once a year, send an Annual Client Review.
• Once a year, send a forecast for the coming year.

That’s twelve pieces to keep you in the minds of your clients-one for each month of the year.  Now that is a powerful follow-up program.  And you’ll notice that not one element of the system involves recipe cards, automotive tips, or suggestions for maintaining good health.  Your follow-up system must be focused solely around real estate.

Follow-up is the essential foundation of any real estate agent’s business.  If you’re not doing well with your follow-up, take some time to get it in order.  Ask yourself what you can do to make a connection with your clients RIGHT NOW.

Rich Levin

Here’s why.

First, I know that in many markets listings are not selling very quickly.  The listings have to be priced right, in very good condition and still may not sell.  (Although by definition priced right means they will sell. ) But keep taking listings.

Kyle Killebrew has taken 88 listings so far this year.  That is about 30 more than previous years.  His listing sold percentage is way off from previous years.  He has sold just 68% of them.  Oh, that’s 60 of them isn’t it?  And from the leads generated from all those listings he and his team have sold another 52 houses to Buyers.  Even if less listings sell, having more of the listings means you sell more.

It is tougher to get listings sold in this market.  The Clients’ situations are often negative.  There are job losses, divorces, and involuntary moves.  We are always dealing with these types of situations but in this market and in this economy there are a higher percentage of those negative circumstances.

There are more Sellers who believe their house should sell for a higher price.  A higher percentage of Sellers who sell are disappointed with the price they get.

All of that is true and keep taking new listings, getting price reductions, and re-listing because there are flurries.  A flurry is when, suddenly, for no apparent reason a bunch of properties sell.  The Agents with the listings benefit from the flurries.  These listing Agents benefit in two ways.
First, their listings sell.  Second, they the Buyers contact them.

Kyle said, “Rich, you are right about the flurries.  We sold six properties the first week in September.  School started, right after Labor Day, I wouldn’t have expected that.  But I’m glad to have had the inventory.”
Keep taking listings.

Stacey Harmon

If you are looking to gain traction and increase your engagement on your Facebook business page, one of the foundational tips to keep in mind is to respond to every person who posts on your page.  If a fan of your page takes the time to comment on one of your posts, or create a unique post on your page wall, be sure to respond. Let your audience know that their interaction with you hasn’t gone unnoticed. Sometimes the nature of the post won’t warrant a full comment response. At the minimum, give the comment a “like”.

This is not only a great way to make that individual feel appreciated, but it also helps give you overall “interaction points” in the Facebook proprietary algorithm which determines how often your content displays in the news feed of fans. Depending on the nature of the post or comment by a page fan, consider asking a follow up question to their post to entice further engagement. It is a simple, yet important tip for increasing the visibility and interaction on your page.