Ep 27 – Advanced Negotiations

Today’s High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents continues their previous podcast on negotiations by exploring advanced negotiation skills for more challenging scenarios. Alexander describes negotiating a higher price with a reluctant buyer, and Josh presents concerns that both buyers and sellers may have around pricing with ways to help clients relax so they can make a better decision.

Next they discuss fee protection and justification if that comes into question followed by deciding whether to recommend taking a good offer or proceeding to auction. Discussion continues around negotiating between joint sellers with differing opinions, and dealing with tenants of sellers so property presentation goes smoothly. Josh sums up with staying focused on doing what’s best for your client in any situation.

Creating a Supporting Environment

You’re about to see your business in a whole new light, because my Coaching Tip this week is going to open your eyes. Before you can tell where you’re going you have to know where you are, and if your surroundings aren’t inspiring you and your team towards achievement then you have to make some changes.

How do you feel when you arrive at your office each day? Is there a kinetic energy about your workspace, or is everyone lolling about? Your organizational culture doesn’t just happen, you create it. And if it’s not what you want it to be, then here are some tips to get things moving.

If your operation is too smooth and predictable then you aren’t really progressing. You only move forward by trying new approaches and working your way through failures. You have to make some mistakes, so stop being afraid of them. Set a vision for what you want to achieve, and create a system for getting there. You also have to make a commitment to your vision or you won’t follow through.

Let’s say you want to increase your numbers. Your most important goal is to book appointments, and you increase your number of appointments through productive call sessions. Set a time early each day for making those calls, and a time to get out of the office to meet with clients because that’s where the money is made. Make sure your environment is built around people and systems you can trust once you jet out the door.

Scheduling daily directions meetings is necessary for seeing where you are, setting expectations and tasks, and keeping everyone on your team accountable. Base your culture on honor, integrity and vision, and everyone will stay on track. Your best people will leave your business in frustration if they’re working in a stale environment, so keep the work exciting.

The culture you create for your business is a direct reflection of who you are. If you don’t like what you see around you, then change. Look at the people you spend time with, read books to improve your mindset, start every day in an environment of success and you will become the person you aspire to be.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Ep 26 – Make Yourself Attractive in the Marketplace

Today’s High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips with tips on packaging, marketing and developing yourself as an agent. Alexander tells how he presents himself everywhere he goes. Josh describes dressing appropriately for your market, and Alexander stresses packaging yourself as clean, approachable and recognizable even when casually dressed on Sundays.

They continue with notes on the car you drive, observations for smokers, how you conduct yourself in your off time, and how personal development and preparation help you demonstrate confidence and expertise. Your team should also be consistent in representing your brand well, and Alexander talks about training with his team to develop their confidence and experience. Josh sums up with ways to make sure you are perceived professionally in the market.

Marketing Shortcuts

Your marketing is only as good as your understanding of your customers. You will never capture their interest if you don’t know who they are and what they need you to tell them. In my Coaching Tip today I will show you some marketing shortcuts for delivering the right message at the right time, year after year.

One of the best ways to get to know your customers is to become one of them. You can do this by entering yourself into each of your database categories as a customer. This allows you to receive all the same marketing information they get from you and evaluate its effectiveness by viewing it as they would, and that will help you see how to design better marketing templates.

Creating templates for each customer category helps you deliver timely information throughout the year and produce it quickly. Each category needs to get messages relevant to those specific customer needs, and only the information they can use. Templates also keep the look and feel of your marketing consistent so that your content visually identifies your brand. Everything from video to photography to email needs to be cohesive and standardised.

The purpose of your marketing campaigns is to inform each customer about current market trends, instil a sense of urgency, and influence them to act on the information you offer them. Statistics are secondary to telling a story that resonates with the viewer, and you tell that story with captivating headlines, bright copy and content, and a powerful closing hook to kick them into action. You also want to acknowledge their objections and solve their problems as part of your marketing strategy. Show them you feel their pain and they will respond with confidence and trust.

Each template you create for every delivery method you use needs to go into a monthly file for the year. Then each following year you can bring up those templates for each month, quickly update the information and send it out instead of building everything from the ground up. Put a new face on the same theme and you will hit your target every time.

Consistent templates maintain consistent marketing and momentum for your business, and that will make you a better, more successful agent.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Talent Bench

What do you do when someone leaves your business? Are you prepared, or do you rehire in a desperate hurry? In this month’s Growth, Leadership and Management Tip my focus is on hiring the best people for your organisation, not just filling a vacancy.

Your success depends on hiring and cultivating the best talent for your business, and you do that by recruiting constantly. No one you hire is going to stay with you forever, but to keep them long-term you must offer excitement, value, and a clear path of progression to base their career upon. Here’s an example:

Sales Team
• Junior salesperson
• Sales manager
• Lead director

Administration
• Receptionist
• Office manager
• CEO

Property Management
• Junior leasing clerk
• Head of portfolio
• Head of property management

Having a career progression in place is crucial for having enough people in the right places to step up when that time comes. But you must also be looking for new people you’d like to have inside your business someday. That is your talent bench.

Building your talent bench requires knowing the kind of people you want to hire and where to find them. One of your best sources consists of all the people you already know because they may be candidates, or they may know someone who meets your criteria. Another source is the real estate industry — including your competition. Building and maintaining sound relationships will help you here.

An often-overlooked resource for talent is in industries outside of real estate. You may hire a recruiter to locate people with the strengths and skills you need, who can be trained in areas of real estate where their abilities will shine. You may also incentivise your existing people who know your organizational culture and requirements to refer fresh talent into the business. Creating an organization that people want to work for will increase your ability to attract your best prospects.

You can’t know who is going to leave and when, so it’s important for you to maintain a talent bench so you always have sound hiring resources in place to draw upon whenever you need them.

We’re launching a new business class for estate agents soon. If you’re in a principal, director, or sales management role and want to learn more we would love to hear from you.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s Growth, Leadership and Management Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next month.

Ep 25 – All About Negotiation

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips trade tips on how to be a great negotiator. Alexander notes reasons why agents avoid examining their negotiation skills, and Josh clarifies the purpose of negotiation. Alexander continues with points of focus and mental preparation for going into a negotiation session, and Josh talks about the concerns a buyer has and how to set up your negotiation process with that in mind.

Alexander then describes compression selling, Josh adds speed to purchase, and they discuss the importance of timing in making the best offer. Josh then details the stages in a buyer’s emotional state whilst considering a property, and Alexander talks about creating a sense of urgency for buyers to drive a better offer, and closes with negotiating with sellers in the setup to sell meeting.

How to Have a Consistent Business

If you’re tired of watching your business go up one month and down the next, then my Coaching Tip today is for you. The key is to have consistent listings, and I’m going to tell you the behaviours you must learn to make that happen.

Prospecting is your number one skill for getting listings, so your focus must be on prospecting productively. You can’t do that if you’re sleeping late, reading emails for two hours and starting your first call session at 11am.

You have to start your day early — do your workout, whip through your emails and be on the phone by 8am to catch clients at their most receptive times. Scheduling for this routine will structure your mornings to be consistent and productive.

Set a daily goal to book 3 appointments for the next day, and don’t stop calling until you get them. Don’t allow fear and doubt to shut you down – build a winner’s mindset by taking action and moving yourself forward.

Systems let you think less and do more, so set up systems to get your work done and follow them. Always have a current call list, know which category you will be working with, and use the appropriate dialogues from our Prospecting School and Master Class trainings so you know exactly what to say and do.

Of all the numbers you track, the one that counts most is your listings. Focus on that number, prospect with diligence and efficiency, do what it takes and your business will consistently grow.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Ep 24 – Growing Your Team for Success

This High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips on growing your team and driving them for success. Josh begins with the importance of a great team, and Alexander talks about how he selects the right team members and motivates his own team. Josh stresses earned incentives and planned progression, and Alexander adds the importance of support, communication and setting a good example.

They continue with helping team members set personal goals and keeping them accountable. Alexander outlines his methods and schedule for one-on-one meetings with team members, and how he keeps himself on track and motivated. They discuss Alexander’s recent phenomenal success rate, how he accomplished it and how he rewarded his team for their part in making it happen. Josh ends with the importance of using the momentum of success to drive further success.

Why Are You Not Reaching Your Goals?

You’ve set goals for your business, but somehow you’re not reaching them. Why? You don’t have a system, and that’s the key. But how do you build a system?

First, let’s define it. A system is a process that reliably achieves a desired outcome. That process can be broken down into 3 stages: cue, action, and result.

A cue is an element that prompts you to take a necessary action towards reaching your goal. Taking that action will get you to the result you want. The purpose of the system is to get the results you need to reach your goal. Your system will likely have several sub-systems that incrementally move you toward your ultimate goal.

Here’s an example: You get to your office and see your call list for the day on your desk. The call list is your cue. Your next step is to pick up the phone and take action — start making those calls. The call session results in bookings. That series of events is a system. It’s the same as waking up and seeing your workout gear laid out for you, which cues you to get dressed and go work out, which results in high energy and confidence for the day ahead. Following these systems guarantees progress toward your goals.

To build your system, first identify your daily tasks and create systems to accomplish them. Your next vital element is to schedule those systems for specific times each day. You will quickly discover that your overall system is integrated and tasks are interdependent. For example, if you want to get up earlier then you have to go to bed earlier the night before.

Systems also require preparation, such as outlining what you’re going to cover in your morning directions meeting so that time will be productive. Everything gets covered and everyone leaves knowing what they are expected to accomplish. Create a meeting agenda and post those tasks to a shared calendar, and everyone can stay on track.

The better your systems are, the more clarity you will have. Clarity is vital to reaching your goals, short term as well as long term. Work on setting up cues and acting on them, and you will get the results you need. It’s that simple.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Ep 23 – Progressing Buyers and Sellers

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Today’s High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips addressing issues with progressing both buyers and sellers. Alexander describes reasons clients may be hesitant, and how he addresses their fears and objections. Josh notes the importance of timing, and Alexander describes his methods for moving clients forward and taking advantage of seasonal market cycles.

They continue with a discussion of market trends and working around holidays. Alexander talks about starting each new year with an updated hit list, and Josh recommends planning ahead so you always have stock to sell. They discuss leveraging clients’ sense of urgency at the first of the year as well as creating that sense of urgency when competition for properties is low. Josh concludes with best use of language to progress clients and help them make good timely decisions.