Once every other month or so a 4^th quartile producer in my office will tell me about a contact they made through some form of print media they are using.  Their update will almost always include them telling me the new contact proves that print advertising still works.

 But will it lead to success?

 The 2010 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers completed by NAR reports that only 2% of buyers use print media when starting their home search.  2%.  The same amount of buyers who utilize the very productive “home buyer seminar”. (Insert sarcasm)

 It is important to identify and learn how to use the right tools if you wish to succeed in the real estate sales business.  With the majority of home buyers starting their home search online, an obvious tool you should be using is the internet.  You do not have to be an internet celebrity to enjoy success through your efforts.  You just need to know where buyers and sellers are and then be there.  That sounds similar to the way this business has always been done successfully, even prior to computers.

One of my newer agents suggested, Rhinoceros Success. This book, written by Scott Alexander in 1980, 122 pages long, to me has the same message or content being repeated throughout the chapters. This book was a pretty simple read.

The premise of the book as I understood it, is that business success favors those with tough skin and a can do mentality. The can do mentality comes from having the rhinoceros trait of charging head first into any endeavor you take on. Charging like a rhinoceros towards every opportunity available instead of being passive and unsure (the writer calls non-rhinoceros type persons, cows) will result in success, according to the author.

The book also discusses the common denominators for success; believing in yourself, clearly defining your goals, taking care of yourself, learning and surrounding yourself with positive people. The writer says that by, “going rhino”, 6 areas of your life will improve.

1. Financial
2. Work
3. Family
4. Physical
5. Social
6. Spiritual

Perhaps because of when the book was written in 1980, I did not read anything that I had not read or heard before. The rhinoceros comparisons, especially when compared to unsuccessful people or cows, were humorous. The book contained a few too many biblical references for my taste.

Going rhino is not the only path to success. Some of the most successful agents I have met during my career are soft spoken, non-rhino-esque and yet are still very effective because they have other qualities other than hard charging. I would think this book would appeal to the already aggressive personalities seeking assurance that charging full speed ahead is a recipe for success.

Photo credit by bob_rayner

What can you do to not have this happen to you? Reintroduce yourself.

Reintroduce yourself to your family and friends

One of the first tasks I assign a new agent in my office, which may seem odd to them, is to mail out a handwritten card to their circle of friends and family. This is such an important step at my company that we provide cards to the new agents. This simple note is great way to say hello and to introduce your friends and family to their new real estate professional. Notice I said, “…their new real estate professional”? They already know and hopefully like you. People like dealing with people they know and trust so as long as you do your part and regularly remind them that you are a real estate agent, they will view you as theirs when they need one.

The note should be hand written. It should be short and sweet and include a business card. You might want to write a note similar to this:

Hi Uncle Jim,

If you have not already heard let me be the first to tell you I am now working as a full time real estate agent! The good news is I am working with a company that provides great training and education plus I can help anyone sell or buy a home anywhere in the world!

I am really excited about the future and would like it if you keep me in mind should you hear of anyone wanting to buy or sell a house.

I’ll call you in a few days to say hi.

All the best,

Mary NewAgent

It can be that simple. This note is going to people who already know you so there is really no need to cram many details into that first “professional “contact. You can share all of the exciting things you are learning about the services you provide in the follow up phone call and subsequent letters and emails.

Reintroducing yourself to your family and friends and maintaining contact with them on a professional level is a must if you want them to think of you as “their real estate agent”, otherwise you may find out, well after the fact that they never knew or forgot you were a real estate salesperson.

Photo credit by saiberiac

As agents we should pay particular attention to our spending habits and why we choose the companies and services that we use daily. They can provide insight into the mind of a potential customer, because we are also potential customers and as such we think like a customer thinks.  So what is there to be learned from where we purchase our gas?

I can count on one hand the number of times I have actually walked into the gas station’s building over the past year. I am sure that inside the station there will be a smiling sales person behind the cash register offering a warm greeting, maybe even a manager watching over the comings and goings, making sure shelves are stocked. I am usually in a hurry and have no need for a huge soda pop in a cup or a pack of gum. I’ll buy the station’s gas even without the warm and fuzzy greeting or any direct selling of their product. Why?

There are 3 reasons that I can think of for buying gas at a particular station without ever going in to speak with a sales associate.

1. I have a need.
2. They are are able to handle my need.
3. Convenience.

I have a need

I have a need for gas, so a purchase is going to follow. From the customer viewpoint, the need comes first and starts the purchase process rolling. Buyers and sellers of real estate have a need as well.

• Seller needs to relocate.
• Buyer needs to stop renting and buy a home.
• Seller needs to short sell their home.
• Buyer needs to use FHA or VA financing.
• Seller needs to purchase another home after selling theirs.
• Buyer needs to purchase a home in a specific area.

They are able to handle my need

I know that the gas station can fill my need. How do I know? I can see that they have gas pumps. I see other people buying gas ahead of me. They have a big sign advertising that they are a gas station and have a variety of grades of gas to sell.

Do customers know that you can fill their real estate needs? Do you make sure your marketing and prospecting efforts carefully outline what you offer that fills the needs of others?

• Do you promote yourself as a relocation specialist?
• What have you done this year that clearly identifies you as an agent that can assist first time homebuyers?
• Do you make sure your market knows that you have the education and qualifications to assist sellers with the short sale process?
• Who knows that you can help a buyer obtain a FHA or VA loan?
• Buying a home while selling one is more complex; does your customer base know you to be a knowledgeable real estate professional?
• Are you the area/city/town expert?

If we are to learn from the gas station, the customer would need to know all about us even without or before meeting us.  How is that possible?

Word of mouth, marketing and prospecting that accentuates your services.

Your current and previous customers are walking billboards. Your family and friends are your radio and TV spots, reaching into hundreds if not thousands of households with a message about you. Word of mouth will let people know that you can fill their needs before they ever meet you.

Does your marketing and prospecting accentuate what the customer is really concerned about, their needs? Is your message clear, for instance, that you are a relocation specialist and do you offer examples of how that benefits them. Do they know you understand the fears and concerns with buying a home for the first time and are able to guide new home buyers successfully through the process? Remember your goal is to introduce your skills to the customer and let them know what you can do for them before getting face to face.

Convenience

I pass by several gas stations on my way to the one I most commonly use because of the convenience of using this station. I know where to find the station, they are easy to find, easy to use, and are able to provide me what I need when I need it. If not, I search for the next “known” gas station I need.

Can potential customers say the same thing about you? Do you have enough for-sale signs out in the neighborhood that make it easy for a new customer to find you? There is a phrase, “you list to last” and the reason I find this to be true is because listings result in new customers calling the phone number(s) on the for-sale signs. Are you online? Do you take advantage of social media sites leaving online directional signs to you? Can the potential buyer or seller conveniently locate you anytime of the day or night from their home or office? Do you answer the phone? This is a biggie. Are you always letting calls go to voicemail putting all of the work on the caller to either leave a message or move on to a more convenient agent? If we are to pattern ourselves after a service such as a gas station, we need to be around every corner, open for business and ready to serve the needs of our customers.

We can learn from our everyday purchases

There is a lot for us to learn from our own buying and spending habits. Analyzing why we purchase from one store or vendor over another will help us reach more of the customers we seek. Start making mental or written notes as to why you shop a certain store or read one direct mail piece over another and then incorporate what motivates you into your own real estate business.

Photo Credit by the Italian voice

If you are going to work with buyers you should follow these steps:

Find them, find out what they want, give them what they want, if they do not buy, find out what they want.

Finding buyers

How you find buyers is up to you. The best way to find a buyer is to hang out where they hang out. Historically buyers have been know to hang out at open houses, they have been seen calling or stopping in an office during floor time, buyers have also been spotted associating with people you already know and an increasing number of buyers hang out around the internet.

Find out what they want

This is the qualification period in your relationship with the buyer. Qualifying a buyer goes beyond their financing. Finding out what a buyer wants involves understanding what type of home – style, pricing, location, enhancements – will motivate them to make a serious offer in an appropriate time frame.

Give them what they want

An agent who thoroughly knows the market will be able to easily identify all of the homes that match the buyer’s criteria. These are the homes you will want to present to the buyer and show them over the next few days.

Uh oh, the buyer is not buying you better find out what they want

So you have found the buyer, listened to them and thought you found out what they want but now they are not buying. It is time to re-qualify them in order to avoid having your very own career buyer.

Agent: Mr. Buyer when we first met we discussed in great detail the type of home you were interested in. You told me how many bedrooms you needed, the area you desired and you provided me with a price range that you would be willing to spend for the right home. You also indicated that you wanted to be in your new home within the next 60 days. Have your criteria or time frame changed?

The buyer’s answers to your questions will let you know whether you should modify your search criteria, hand them off to another agent in your office as a referral or stop showing them homes until they are really ready to buy.

Qualifying and then continuing to qualify your buyers during the buying process will result in you closing more transactions.

There will always be those agents who are successful selling real estate and there will be those who are not. What is the difference? Why will one agent who has access to the same tools, training and education succeed and the other fail?

One can never get enough training.

Surprisingly the one who can never get enough training is often the agent who is not successful. These are the agents who, when asked why they did not succeed, will often blame it on their company or broker for not providing enough training. If they had it their way they would always be sitting in a classroom or educational seminar daily, learning but never trying out what they have learned. They get a false sense of confidence that they are in the real estate business when in fact they never get into the business of selling real estate. To them it is always; “get ready, get set, get ready, get set”, the “GO” never comes.

One will develop a business plan; the other will execute a business plan.

Both agents take an important step to success, by developing a plan. The difference is the non-producing agent never executes the plan. They can show you how they plan on being successful but they never get around to executing the plan. Planning on its own will never result in success, success comes from doing.

One will work on their speaking skills while the other improves their listening skills.

If you can’t hear the customer you will find yourself with no one to talk to eventually. The successful sales formula includes being able to give people what they want, and to find out what they want you need to listen. The customer who meets an unsuccessful agent unfortunately spends more time listening to the agent instead of the agent taking the time to listen to their concerns, wants, needs and expectations.

If you find that you are guilty of any of the above you are going to need to make an effort to change your ways or you will continue down the same wrong path and one day out of the business. Two real estate agents walk into a bar… why you are there is up to you.

Who should receive a thank you card?

Once you get into the habit of regularly sending out thank you cards you will find that it takes very little of your time but will produce results that are immeasurable.  You should consider sending thank you cards and notes to:

• Homeowners immediately after a listing appointment
• Buyers who visited your open house
• Buyers who called or who you met during floor opportunity
• Sellers immediately after listing their home
• Agents who showed one of your listings
• The title agent who closed your last transaction
• The mortgage rep who pre-qualified your buyer
• The inspection company that inspected your listing or inspected a home for your buyer
• The home builder who met with your client
• The family member or friend who sent you a referral
• The lender’s short sale negotiator after receiving lender approval

This is a sample of those who help us during our business who would appreciate that we took the time and effort to formally thank them by sending them a handwritten note or card to their home or business.  The card and message can be simple and short.  Here are a few examples of what your thank you card might include:

 Homeowners after a listing appointment

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to visit with you.  I appreciate the opportunity to discuss with you the home selling process.  I am happy to answer any additional questions you may have about the process and look forward to assisting you in the near future.

Buyers who visited your open house

Thank you for visiting the open house I held at 111 Main St. last Sunday.  I enjoyed meeting you and your family.  Please feel free to call me if you have questions about the home or about the home buying process in general.

Agents who showed one of your listings

Thank you for bringing one of your buyers to view my listing at 111 Main St.  I am always excited when I see top agents in the area visiting my listings!  Let me know if your buyer has any questions or concerns about the home that I can help answer.

Start sending cards today

If you have not been sending out thank you notes I would encourage you to start doing so immediately.  You will find that the person receiving the note will appreciate it plus it is a simple and effective way to add to your marketing and prospecting efforts.

Buyers

If you are not working with enough buyers then you should plan on holding several open houses over the next few months. Pick homes that are on busy streets or sought after communities. Agents who have success with open houses walk the neighborhood prior to the open house and personally invite the neighbors to attend.

During the open house successful agents do not act as wallflowers instead they warmly greet each person who walks through the door, engaging them in conversation about the home, or the neighborhood or the real estate market in general. If you are listening you should be able to quickly determine the reason your guest is there and what steps you will need to take to build an agent-customer relationship that will result in future business.

Continue to put yourself in the path of buyers and your business will increase.

Sellers

Having a large, well-managed listing inventory has always translated into success. Expired listings continue to be a leading source of listings.

Listings of your competition that have expired may have never been provided any more information about the current market except that it has “slowed down.” The sellers who really want to sell will appreciate you being truthful. With the competition so fierce, homes need to be priced competitively in order to sale. The best valued home at the best price and in the best condition will result in offers and a sale.

These are just 2 of the steps that an agent who wants to increase their business should take. These steps work for those agents who work them continually.

How about you? Do you still love your career?

• If open houses don’t work and are a waste of time…
• If floor duty is not for you and only the lucky agents receive the good calls…
• If you never call expired listings because it is obvious they want too much money for their home…
• If you never stop to visit a FSBO because you are sure hundreds of other REALTORS have already been there before you and besides the homeowner must hate real estate agents…
• If short sales require way too much work and banks are impossible to deal with…
• If you believe it is impossible to list REO property so there is no sense in trying…
• If the Internet is just a waste of time…
• If you believe cold calling is an intrusion into the lives of others…
• If no one in your family or circle of friends is interested in buying or selling a home, ever…
• If you think farming should be left to farmers…
• If you are a home body and hate to be around people…

You have chosen the wrong profession.