Your efforts can best be served by having a timeline/checklist with which you can closely monitor the process. The following items should be on the timeline/checklist. These are offered as suggestions; your office may have specific guidelines that you will want to follow.

Get everyone on the same page.

• Make sure everyone involved in the transaction have the completed, initialed and signed contract and addendum.
• You should also make sure that all copies are legible.
• You want to make sure your buyer/seller, the cooperating agent, your office administrator or broker, the title/closing agency, and the buyer’s lender all have complete, legible copies.

Monitor your timelines.

You are the steward of the contact timelines. Maintain a written schedule of dates and obligations related to the transaction and make sure all parties are kept completely aware of approaching deadlines.

• When does the buyer need to make application for their loan?
• Has the payoff been ordered from the seller’s lender?
• Are utilities available and inspectors scheduled so that the inspections can happen within the designated time period?
• Ordering the survey, scheduling an appraisal, all fall upon you to make sure they happen as determined by the contract.

Dot the I’s and cross the T’s.

As you get closer to the closing date you need to pay special attention to the small details.

• Has the buyer purchased home owner’s insurance?
• Has the seller repaired the wood rot on the garage service door?
• When do you need to schedule the final walk-thru?
• Have buyer and seller made arrangements for the transfer of utilities and warranties?
• Has the home warranty been ordered?
• Have the buyer/seller received the HUD statement and have you reviewed it?

As an agent you should create a contract to closing timeline system that lists each aspect of the closing process. This will allow you to oversee or personally complete the tasks involved with the closing process. Having a system in place will reduce delays in closings making it easier to get from contract to payday.

Your initial response to the buyer’s question is probably going to be along the lines of:

My name is Greg Staker. This is a great home you have called about, and may I ask your name.  Or your response might be; let me pull this information and send you an email or give you a call with the information, your contact information is? 

Your goal is to get the buyer’s contact information, find out what they want and then sell them what they want. More often than not you find out quickly that the person calling is not concerned about your goals.

Your goals are not the buyers

You are most likely one of several agents this buyer has called today or this week, asking about a house.  There is an old saying, why buy the cow when the milk is free, and this is played out daily in real estate offices throughout the country.  Inexperienced and less successful agents are more than happy to act as information providers without requiring any commitment from the buyer.  List prices or addresses are offered up freely to anonymous persons on the other end of the line.  In return, the potential buyer is unwilling to offer up the information you have requested and will counter you with any of the following excuses.

I just want to know the price.

I am looking for a friend.

I want to drive by the home.

Sound familiar?

When encountering those excuses, many agents offer the buyer the same service as other agents in hopes of starting a customer relationship with the buyer.  How many times have you said or heard someone say this to a buyer?

I have access to all of the listings for sale in this area; there is no need for you to call anyone else.

 It is better for you to pick an agent and let them do the leg work for you so that you don’t miss out on the latest listings? 

A few agents even give in to magical thinking; somehow, someway this buyer will just call them back.   The only thing of “value” the agent offers is their cell phone number.

I’ll provide you with my cell phone number and if you like the home or see another home you’re interested in, give me a call.

When you offer the buyer the same value as the agent before you, and the agent after you, what reason would the buyer have to commit to you? 

If they commit to you in the small things, the big things will follow.

 The buyer does not know you. There are no reasons for the buyer to feel comfortable enough to commit to anything.  Fear creates trust issues.  Buyer fears are based on their uncertainty, inexperience, bad experiences, or feelings of being rushed into a decision.  Establishing a relationship with the buyer or getting a commitment from them is best handled in small steps. 

The first step in relationship building is in letting them know right from the start that you can provide them with something of real value. Immediately after their initial inquiry about price or location you may want to respond in a manner similar to the following.

You may be happy to learn that my services as an agent are free to you.  Additionally, I am able to provide you with the information you need to purchase the best home for the best price.

You just told them you can provide them with what the 2009 National Association of REALTORS survey indicated that buyers want most from a real estate agent.  Help in finding the right home to purchase.  Initially, you’ve not asked for anything from them, which helps to ease their fears, you have also eased the fear of uncertainty as it relates to what this is going to cost them by your use of the word “free”. 

From your initial offer you will then move to the next step in helping them feel at ease.  When a buyer feels at ease, it helps them to open up to the possibility of their trust and commitment to you.  I suggest holding back from boring housing statistics which could result in you coming across to the buyer as cold and uninvolved and instead replace those stats with a story about the home or neighborhood that a friend might tell over a glass of tea. 

Let me provide you with the specific information you have requested.  By-the-way, my name is Greg Staker.  You are asking about the price of the home at 111 Pick-a-name St.?  I love that area.  I remember walking down that street on my way to school or the community park is a great place for picnic, or my granddaughter took her first ride on a swing close to the house you’re asking about.

If they are residents of your community, you might then add a follow up question, perhaps asking what school they attended or you could ask them a “do you remember when” question about the city or community. If they are new to the area, then your follow up might include an additional highlight about the area; you could tell them they will want to visit the local library or a popular downtown store.

So far, in addition to offering them something of value, you have shown them that you know the area, live in the area and can help them get to know the area.  You spoke to them about growing up in the community and a few of the good features to be found.  This helps to take you from a salesperson in their eyes and turn you into more of a neighbor/person. 

Your next step is to ask one small favor of them.

Ok, I have the information here.  I am sorry, when I introduced myself I did not ask you for your name?

At this point it is reasonable to expect the buyer feels comfortable enough to offer you their name.  Once you know who you are speaking with you can proceed with building a relationship by again offering them something of value.

By the way Mr. Buyer since we are talking about price, did you know that the median sales price of a home in this area is $$$$?  That is right, $$$$.  Half of the homes sold this year have been lower and half have been higher than $$$$!  Is it your goal to purchase a home lower than, higher than or around the median sales price? 

You are hoping to spend lower?  Great, there are 1,000 homes listed right now for sale that are lower than the median sales price.  The particular price of the home you’re inquiring about is $$$.  If you’d be willing to provide me with your email address/phone number, I’d be happy to screen the current list of homes in your price range.  I can also include size and location or other criteria you’re seeking and provide you with the addresses and prices, if that would be convenient for you?

 Earlier I discussed how every agent the buyer speaks to will offer to provide them with information on all houses for sale in their area.  But you are the only agent who will offer to provide them with more.

Not only can I provide you with a list of homes for sale in that area, I can take it one step further. 

• I can provide you a list of homes that are being sold with a home warranty for your added protection against costly repair work after you move in. 
• I can provide you a list of homes that have had new roofs or tiling or carpet or windows, etc installed within the past year. 
• I can provide you a list of homes where the seller is offering to pay a portion of your closing costs. 
• I can provide you a list of homes where the seller has indicated they are motivated to sell, perhaps resulting in a better deal for you. 
• I can provide you a list of homes complete with a comparison chart of what similar homes have sold for so that you are comfortable you are not paying too much.

You can go on and on adding to the list or including features or concessions that the buyer has indicated is important to them, thus providing even more value to a task that everyone says they can do, it is just that you can do the same task, better.

Once the buyer gives you a name and contact information, you are half way there to commitment, to allowing you to assist them with the purchase of their home.  The rest of the way will require that you continue to offer them service and care of real value that other agents do not offer.

Using the steps above will help you get a commitment that allows you to start building a customer service relationship from buyers who call you while on floor or from your advertisements.  – Remember to listen, listen, listen and be sincere with your potential customer, instead of sounding like you’re reading, well, a script. -  From there it is up to you to continue providing the buyer with reasons to trust and have confidence in you in order for you to maintain that commitment with them throughout your sales career.

Our practice is to send every customer a service evaluation survey immediately after their closing. We want to know among other things, what prompted them to contact our company and our associate and what did they think of the service they received.

Each new evaluation received offers insight on what it truly takes to succeed in this business. Without a doubt the answer can be found in providing great customer service. I am confident that providing great customer service will result in more business during your career than good marketing or prospecting.

A majority of the great comments received are the same with each returned evaluation; the agent is very professional, efficient, courteous, and friendly. Their agent was there for them and made sure the customer was provided continuous updates. They were shown the homes they wanted to see, and the process was explained to them in detail. Taking into account all of those great observations and compliments the best thing the customer does just before sending the evaluation back to us is when they circle “yes” next to a question that asks” Would you recommend the agent and our company to a friend?  Answering yes is the result of great customer service and is invaluable. Great customer service builds successful real estate careers.

You should set aside time daily to evaluate the type of customer service you provide. Perhaps your time management has room for improvement so that you never keep a customer waiting for you or your follow up skills and systems could be tweaked so customers are never left in the dark.

Our customers will tell us what we do well and what we need to improve on. They will also tell us what they want and expect from us, we just need to listen.

09.  I’m a little short this week, will you spring for gas?

08.  At least my real estate license is not suspended.

07.  If we get pulled over I will need you to jump over to the driver side.

06.  Sorry I was late meeting you, the shots were flowing freely at lunch today.

05.  I showed these same houses to a buyer last week so I made sure to bring bug spray today.

04.  I need to be done by 4 in order to make it to my restaurant job on time.

03. Yeah the muffler fell off but you get used to the noise after awhile.

02. When we turn right I am going to need you to stick your arm out the window and signal.

And the number 1 thing you should never say while your client is in the car with you…

1. The smeller is the feller.

Are you really working?

If you are not earning an income as a real estate salesperson it may be time to evaluate the work you are doing. Is the work you are doing profitable? Is it the kind of work that successful agents engage in? Here is an example of what might appear to be incoming producing work that often times isn’t.

• Going into the office daily. 

Do not let yourself become confused that simply rolling out of bed, putting on your best business attire and driving into the office with the intentions of staying there all day is working. By the end of the day you may feel like you put in a hard day’s work but at the end of the week you will not have anything to show for it.

The majority of real estate offices and companies that I know of do not pay their agents for the hours they spend in the office. There are no time cards that are punched when an agent arrives and leaves the office. Just showing up at the office will not earn you a living.

Ask yourself the following questions about your day in the office and if you find your answers to be yes, it is time for you to admit that you have not really been working at all and make the necessary changes.

• During the course of the day’s work, do you speak with more agents than customers?

• Do you spend hours online playing internet games?

• Do you start your day without a written plan of action?

• Do you find yourself staring at your phone waiting for it to ring or refreshing your email account looking for a new message?

• Are you always in a preparing, getting ready or thinking about making changes mode?

It is your choice. Continue to work the same way you always have and you will receive the same pay. If there has been no pay, I suspect you’ve really not been working.

That is the good news; the not so good news is in how easy it is to misread or misunderstand the senders tone, attitude or words in an email. When it comes to communicating in an email I believe “measuring twice, cutting once”, is sage advice. Our business can be very stressful. How we communicate through email with sellers, buyers, and lenders, etc. can work to increase or reduce the stress we feel.

If you receive an email where you perceive the sender’s message coming across as them being upset, angry or rude, before responding back make sure you are reading and understanding the sender’s intentions correctly. This may require you to send a follow up email asking for clarification from the sender or you may want to pick up the phone to avoid further problems and confusion.

There will be times where we read more into the email than was actually there or incorrectly interpret, or just plain misunderstand the sender’s message, or feelings, due to busy schedules and our fast paced lifestyle. Taking the time to compose an email that accurately reflects the intent of the message is a must as our transactions become increasingly difficult and stressful.

Suggestions that will prevent your emails from coming across wrong would include;

• Using a polite or friendly salutation and a valediction. The beginning and ending of your email will help set the tone. The use of dear, hello or just using the recipients name at the start of the email and ending with thank you, best regards, all the best or something similar will make it less likely your email will be misinterpreted.
• Be careful when using jokes or satire. If the reader is not following along, jokes and satire could create an unwanted situation between the writer and the person receiving the email.
• Write as though the person was right in front of you having a conversation. It is important to remain politically correct, polite, clear and concise with our message just as we would speak to the person as if they were in the room with us.

Re-read your email before hitting the send button and practice the suggestions mentioned here and you will reduce the number of times your emails are taken wrong.

I have also found another opportunity available to real estate agents just before the start of football season. An opportunity not often thought of is blogging about the upcoming season schedule for the local high school, college or professional team. Real estate blogs that offer more than just housing statistics will attract more readers. You will be surprised to discover how many people in your local community are searching online for the date and time of the next football game. Once they have discovered your blog and see all the great information available to them, it is very likely that they will subscribe or put your blog in their favorite places.

Kick off this football season with a blog post or two about the local season and watch your visitor count grow.

Better time management will help reduce stress and add an additional hour or two to your schedule but in reality the only agents not faced with an endless list of tasks on a daily basis are the non producing agents.

I attended a meeting recently where the CEO of Watson Realty Corp., Mr. William Watson Jr. stated, “If your list of must-do tasks ever dwindle, you are in trouble.” His words rang true. If we are able to spend a lot of time playing online games or catching up on the latest office gossip, this is a clear indication that our “to-do’ list needs restocking.

Start by stocking up on ways to get new business. Make sure a significant portion of your day is used to meet new people. Once you start meeting new people; inspection deadlines, ordering surveys, meeting appraisers, ordering deposits, putting out fires and doing the impossible in order to close, all of these things and more will quickly find their way onto your lists.

Any answer that contains conversation about commission is of course meant to be considered in context to your personal office policy and in no way suggesting that commissions charged are fixed by real estate agents.

1. Meet more people.  Meeting more people is the number one answer to most of the issues or problems a real estate agent may face that centers around their career or income.  If they are not making enough money, they need to meet more people.  If they do not like listing property they need to meet more buyers.  If they do not like working with buyers they need to meet more sellers.  If they are terrible closers then theoretically they would need to meet more people to increase the odds of their bad closing skills working.  Are you following how this is going?  If they come in your office and they say, “I am not sure what I should be doing today, how can I start my business, or what is the secret to success?”  Your response will be, “Meet more people!”
2. What did the buyer/seller say they want to do?  How many times have you had an agent come into your office and lay out a situation going on with a deal?  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 tell you that they have been talking about whatever it is with the listing or co-op agent, and now they wonder what you think is the best way to handle whatever “it” is.  Your first response should be “What did the buyer/seller say they want to do?”  You will be amazed at how many times the agent sitting in your office has not stopped to call the customer.  As long as what the customer wants to do is not illegal, immoral or unethical, do that.
3. Measure twice; cut once.  This is the answer you should give an agent when they are ready to send off an angry email, or make any important decision that falls within their ability to make.  Measure twice; cut once is an old carpenter’s term that means you better measure that board twice before taking a saw to it.  This way you can be confident you are making the right cut, or in the case of your agent, the right decision.
4. Put it in writing.  Here is a no brainer but one of the most forgotten by our agents.  When they are sitting in your office and you start hearing a lot of “he said, she said”.  You need to say, “Get it in writing!”  Writing means more than an email.  It means getting signatures and the information on the proper company-state approved legal form/contract/addendum to legally bind all parties to what “they said”.
5. Go talk to the other agent.  This is the answer you should give to an associate who comes in with a concern or complaint about another agent within your office.  The situation might include confusion over which agent a customer belongs to, or a referral owed or something overheard at the water cooler.  Agents are professional businesses within your business and should be professional enough to deal with each other.  Before you put on your striped shirt and whistle and start acting as a referee, tell them to go talk to the other agent and work it out.
6. Google it.  As a manager you are expected to know everything.  In most cases you probably do have the answer to an agent’s question.  You have the answer, not because you are a walking talking encyclopedia, but most likely because you have done the research in order to find it.  In order for your agents to learn and grow, they need to do the research themselves too.  What does a specific zoning code allow?  Google it.  Where can I get flood insurance? Google it.  What does egress mean?  Google it.  
7. Say no.  This is something we do not learn early enough in our careers.  The buyer wants me to write an offer a zillion dollars below asking price, what should I do?  Say no.  The seller wants me to list the home so high I need a helicopter to see the top, what should I do?  Say no.  Mr. Unethical Agent wants me to participate in something that does not feel right.  Say no.  The seller has asked me to list their home for a penny.  Say no.
8. Never give away money.  There are times when we have to make concessions but those times should be few and far between and the person or persons who got us to give up a dollar should feel like they had to pry it away from our clenched hands.  The last person to give up money to fix a leaky roof, pay for past due HOA fees, offset the cost of a delayed closing, or get the seller to sell by reducing commission is you, the agent.  When an agent asks you about giving up some of their hard earned money, revert to answer 7 and include answer 8 to never give away money.  Tell them to work all other solutions first and then report back to you.
9. Let the facts speak for themselves.  This is the advice you need to give your agents when they are sure that something needs to be sugarcoated or when you start hearing phrases like, “Well I believe the buyer/seller/other agent is dealing in good faith”. The contract answers almost everything that a buyer or seller might question.  Point the buyer or seller to those answers and then zip it.  Let the facts speak for themselves.  They do not need your additional commentary.
10. Quiet the noise.  This could also be called focusing.  Real estate sale is an easy business but is hard to be successful.  The hard part comes in because our minds will often run amok.  I need to send out direct mail. I need to build a website. I do not speak as well as the next person.  My family is not supportive.  I am sure to fail.  The real estate market is bad.  My boss hates me.  I get the bad floor time.  There is too much paperwork.  I am afraid someone will hang up on me.  No one will attend my open house.  The buyer won’t qualify.  The seller will want too much.  I can’t get bank owned property.  I don’t understand the contract.  I will embarrass myself.  All of this noise is paralyzing!  You have got to help your agents quiet the noise and learn how to focus on the task at hand or they will never succeed in this or any other business.