On the first day of training our new agents  will learn about “The Watson Way” and our core values.  Representatives of Watson Mortgage, Watson Relocation, Watson Title, Watson Property Management and our Regional Director are on had to introduce their products and services.

The second day is centered on building a business and marketing plan.  We provide guidance on setting income goals and then help our agents drill down to determine just how many homes must be listed and sold in order to reach the income goals set. 

On the third day it is all about marketing and branding.  The goal is to help our agents define their brand.  We take a look at the tools and techniques that will give the newer agent more bang for their dollar. 

The last couple of days are an in-depth look at the listing process and the selling process.  Taking the customer from hello to sold!  Agents learn about preparing listing presentations, and constructing a purchase agreement.  Agents are shown online tools that they have at their disposal including Forms Simplicity and Toolkit CMA.

The training does not stop there.  Once you have finished the initial training, I have more to offer at my office.  I am going to make sure you understand how to use all of the tools that we offer to increase your business. 

If you are new to real estate in the Kissimmee or Orlando area or are simply thinking of exploring your options, contact me and I will be happy to go into more detail about our training and support systems.

I imagine the conversation starting something like this….

“Hi Mary, this is Sue. How have you been?

(At this point you will probably have a lengthy conversation about life, family, remember when stories, etc)

After 30 minute to an hour of chit-chatting and just before hanging up…you might say something along the lines of…..

“Oh before I forget, the owner of my Company has personally asked me to see if my friends or family know of anyone moving anywhere outside of my market area. Do you know of anyone moving within the next few months?”

BOOM!

There you have it.

A great conversation may end up with a pay check down the road, and your friend or family member helped, which would be another good reason to call them back again!

What are you waiting for? Make those calls!

“Always, always, always, try to get the name, phone number/numbers and email address for the customer whether buyer or seller and make sure you have offered to be of help even though they may be initially unreceptive. 

Try to keep them talking.  Even unreceptive customers can frequently be persuaded to open up by friendly helpful conversation.  And don’t forget to give them your details.

Ask a few sensible pre qualifying questions but, contrary to all you have probably been told, do NOT insist on seeing a pre qualification letter or proof of cash to close before you show a home. 

Use that first viewing as a chance to build rapport and then at that point seek further financing/cash confirmation which is always easier to obtain face to face. 

If you are not prepared to risk a little of your time to gain a commission, you are most likely going to miss out on a good few strong buyers and are probably in the wrong profession!”

“The only way to predict the future is to create it.”

I do not recall who said this but that is exactly what your using a contact management system will help you do with your business. By keeping in regular contact with everyone you know or have come in contact with, you will be creating future business!

My company has provided an easy to use system that is designed to help our agents succeed. We ask that our agents take advantage of it! For those who have not been using the system nor are not sure how to start, we have a tech trainer that provides individual assistance to get them started.

I have ask all floor agents to set up their contact management accounts as soon as possible in order to qualify for floor duty. I feel that strongly about the power of this tool. At our last sales meeting I heard from 3 of our top agents about the power of using the system!

Real estate agents need to have and use a contact management system if they are determined to outlast and outsell the competition.

Perhaps the appraisal came in low, or the inspection report revealed a problem or the closing is going to be delayed for any number of reasons.  The agent may say that they have been talking about whatever “it” is with the listing or co-op agent, and now they wonder what is the best way to handle whatever “it” is.

The first response should always be “What did the buyer/seller say they want to do?”  It is amazing how many times the agent have not first called and ask the customer how they would like the situation handled.

As long as what the customer wants to do is not illegal, immoral or unethical, do that.

I felt there were several good points made and one or two that might help you close more transactions. I have encouraged my agents to give it a listen and be sure to participate in the question and answer section between videos for better retention.

I liked several parts of this including the part where he encourages agents to not burn bridges with her Realtors when engaged in negotiating a transaction. It will only make it harder to do transactions with them in the future. His comments seem right on in today’s market where so many agents think the only way to deal with another agent when working on offers and transactions is to deal with the other real estate agent without common courtesy and rudely. I also liked his comment about listening 70% of the time. That is a hard one for sales people to do sometimes.

These types of online courses are a huge benefit to busy real estate agents, for some it will be new material and others can use them as a way to be reminded of points that will help increase their success rate.

We have an upcoming training session scheduled for our office in Kissimmee. This training session will be held by Watson Realty Mortgage and will take a look at overall financing options including; VA, Conventional, FHA, USDA and Florida Bond.

The training will be held at 1950 E. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway on Tuesday April 3rd, starting at 1 p.m. There is no cost to attend.

If you would like to attend please call 407-343-5752 and I will reserve you a spot!

Company provided

1. Floor time

2. E-Business

3. Relocation

4. Company website

5. Realtor.com

Face to Face

1. Open houses

2. Door knocking

3. Seminars

4. Area Events

5. Church

6. Lunch

7. Shopping

8. Social Groups

9. Farming

Phone

1. Call FSBO

2. Call expired

3. Call COI

4. Call past customers

5. Cold calling

6. Warm calling

7. Call asset managers

Mail

1. Just listed cards

2. Just sold cards

3. CMA offers

4. Investor letters

5. Congratulation cards

6. Thank you cards/letters

7. Market reports

8. Absentee owners

9. Overseas owners

Internet

1. Personal website

2. Blogging

3. Watson Connect

4. Trulia

5. Zillow

6. Craigslist

7. Misc. listing portals

8. Facebook

9. Twitter

Print

1. Local paper

2. International publications

3. Real estate magazines

4. American Lifestyle Magazine

I would imagine most of us have a family member or friends that live outside of the State of Florida or outside whatever State you do business in. Those people would be our center of influence to help us pick up at least 1 referral for all of 2012. Additionally your sellers may be moving out of our area, which should be one of the first questions asked when taking the listing, where are you moving to?

A qualified referral equals great service to your friend or family member since you can make sure they are connected to a top producing agent located in the area your friend or family members are interested and you will get paid!

Please join with me in helping us reach our goal, which by the way will help us reach our individual goals of making more money this year.

Since you are reading this blog it is clear that you are researching and looking for educational materials that will help you grow your business. I would like to invite you to meet with me in order to examine whether the tools we offer here at Watson Realty could enhance your business plan and increase your success.

Of course the meeting would be confidential. My main goal is to explain our marketing and prospecting systems which include; enhanced Realtor.com, Sharper Agent, our e-business department, and agent websites. I would also take the time to show you our online educational programs including; Our World and Institute 2.0, where you can receive free online training.

Please give me a call or send me an email or text if you are interested in meeting with me within the next few weeks. I would love to hear from you.