That One Key Number

Knowing your numbers is vital to measuring your success, but there is one key number you need to focus on to maintain consistency in sales and income. That number is different for each agent.

Depending on your level of business, you will want to focus on one of these:
• Open for inspections
• Appointments
• Listings
• Size of your database

Most agents need to set a number of open for inspections per week because that drives your lead generation cycle. The more openings you do, the more neighbours, potential sellers and potential market appraisals you meet, and therefore the more prospecting you can do each day.

If you are just starting out in your business you might want to set a goal for the number of appointments you make. It doesn’t matter how many hundreds of calls you make per week if those calls don’t result in face-to-face appointments. Appointments get you listing presentations, and some of those result in listings, so focus on booking those appointments.

You may be at a point in your business where you can focus more completely on the number of listings you need each month to be profitable. Your best goal may be to reach a key number of market appraisals.

The primary growth matrix for any real estate business is the size and quality of your database. A well maintained and categorized database helps you see the level of success you have reached. It also allows you to follow up on all your customers regularly. Working with people you know more than people you don’t generates referrals and keeps you relevant.

Determine the key number that best suits your needs, set that goal and work towards it. This will get you the results you need to be consistent.

As you progress in your business, make sure you look into our Josh Phegan Membership and training events.

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

Is the Vision Big Enough?

If you’re going to build a thriving business, you have to have a vision for it that inspires you. If your goals are too small there’s nothing rewarding to work towards. And if your thinking is too limited you won’t be ready for growth when it happens. Growth without planning will bury you.

Start by deciding what you really want to achieve, and then plan for it in detail. Don’t limit yourself to what I call “version one thinking” which is basically one office and minimal fees. Is that really all you want out of your business? It’s much more exciting to stretch yourself to a higher expectation for the future. Instead of 2 salespeople, how about 200? Do you want to manage 60 properties or 6000? Think beyond your current marketplace – what kinds of opportunities could you realize from a much larger market?

Not only does thinking small keep you from gaining more satisfaction from your business, it also prevents you from managing your infrastructure for growth. You will be playing catch-up instead of staying ahead of the curve, and that will destroy you. All of your income will be tied up in expansion you did not expect, and you will have no real profits. However, if you set a five-year plan for larger office spaces, multiple offices, more agents, better marketing, and other essentials, then you can budget for all that ahead of time. Knowing the numbers you need to reach in five years will help you set goals for the current numbers you need to see each month, and make the right decisions right now.

You can’t rely upon passively accepting random opportunities. You have to decide to go after a higher level of success. Actively seek and create opportunities for your business according to a structure that you build and control. Define the steps you must take, and get a business coach to show you how to build momentum and maintain it. Most of all, you must base your actions on a greater vision that you feel passionate about.

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

Why your marketing isn’t working

Seth Godin is the author of a series of sharp, relevant marketing books. One of his philosophies is, “What are you shipping?” His point is that you may know the mechanics of marketing inside out. But what are you effectively doing with your resources and capabilities? Specifically, what are you sending out to all of the people inside of your database?

You know the importance of being consistent with your daily prospecting calls, but the quality of those calls determines whether your prospecting is actually productive. The best agents don’t just randomly call people – they target their contacts to people who own properties in those areas where there are new listings and sales with specific information that is relevant to them. Not only do they contact potential buyers, but also potential sellers, market appraisals, and past clients who own similar properties in that postcode area. Current listings and sales is information clients can use because local property sales affect the value of their own properties, so they are more likely to meet with you for an appraisal than prospects you call randomly.

In the same context, the best agencies regularly send out targeted information to everyone in their database using a variety of mediums, including emails, video and mailings that contain open for inspection schedules, images of homes, listings and sales, graphs and monthly reports. Be mindful that everything you send out represents your brand, so this is not an area where you want to spare expense. Your marketing budget needs to support high-quality material that people want to look at, so hire professional graphic designers and videographers, and know what you want to communicate to each of your database categories.

Consistency in marketing is vitally important as this is also a reflection on how you do business. Present an attractive overview of the current market that people want to interact with. Make your information relevant and visually interesting to the people who receive it and they will look at it. Always be marketing and do it well.

Reliably shipping high quality product is what makes great businesses, and real estate is no exception. Presenting current, relevant marketing that your customers want to see, with a regularity that they come to expect, will put you far ahead of your competition by establishing your brand as active and on point.

As you progress in your business, make sure you look into our Josh Phegan Membership and live training events coming to your area.

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

Just Starting- What To Do

Every real estate agent has been a beginner. This Coaching Tip is especially for you if you are just starting out in the business, and it’s a great review for seasoned agents as well. Following are ten tips to get you going in the right direction and build a foundation for doing business that will take you to the top.

Tip #1: Know Where To Start

Make a list of 100 people you know who own property and live in your area. Now, if you don’t know 100 people yet then you may need to start as an assistant rather than an agent. This decision could mean the difference between success and failure in your career.

Tip #2: Build Social Proof

Social proof is vital to being successful. You need a visible track record of sales and auctions, and that means lots of sales stickers on sign boards in your marketplace.

Tip #3: Create Opportunities

Do a great job for each individual you work with, because that person will become a referral for you. Each listing that results in a satisfied client is an opportunity for you to gain multiple new customers.

Tip #4: Know Your Lead Sources

Your two primary lead sources are open for inspections and the Internet, but if you are working inside of a business you also have a database full of potential clients that your principal and the top sales rep have already met, and who need to be contacted again.

Tip #5: Do One Thing Well

There are a lot of ways to do real estate, but the best agents focus on prospecting and appointments. Set a discipline now to make phone calls in the morning and meet appointments in the afternoon every day. Remember, there is no business if you’re not meeting people and listing properties.

Tip #6: Track Your Numbers

You must understand your numbers to know if you are doing well. Listings, sales and income determine your level of success, so make sure you outline a schedule and set target goals, then use the numbers to help you improve your performance.

Tip #7: Find A Mentor

Set up a challenge log and use it to note areas where you need improvement. Then use these notes to get guidance from a more experienced agent with a proven track record who is willing to help you build your skillset.

Tip #8: Learn How To List

The way to be good at prospecting is to be great at listing, because you have to know the right questions to ask when you are calling clients. The better your questions, the better your leverage.

Tip #9: Accept Rejection

In this business you are going to hear “No” often, so learn how to handle rejection. Every time you lose a listing or a sale you have to deal with it and keep going to the next opportunity, so prepare yourself now for that reality.

Tip #10: Remember Why You Are Here

When you first decided to become a real estate agent, chances are you wanted to enjoy the benefits this career can offer you in your life without your life becoming all about the business. Make sure you schedule time off, put systems in place to maintain the business while you are gone, and then take that time to really relax. Having a good life above all else is the definition of true success.

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

Fee Defence

Setting your fee is one of your most basic decisions for your business, and is often the hardest. This task is complicated further when your competition includes fee discounters. Clients will often ask you why you charge more than another agent they have spoken with. You need to be clear about why you charge the fee you do, and what your services are truly worth.

You justify a higher fee than other agents by providing a level of service that is demonstrably better. If the customer can’t see a difference between you and your competition then they won’t be willing to pay you more. But if you can prove you deliver the higher value then you can command a higher fee. First you have to know what you are worth and believe in your own worth at that price.

Many agents set their fees according to an evaluation process they learned when they started out. The degree of success your principal maintained informs your own expectations now. For example, if the principal you learned from was a successful agent you probably learned to set your fee according to what you are worth and stand by it. However, if the agent you learned from was a poor performer you may have learned to charge less or lose business. Your own success rate also sets your ongoing fee standard.

There are two mindsets that drive your expectations. Scarcity mode is defined by insecurity arising from insufficient backup funds as well as diminished confidence from failed transactions, lack of sales and minimal listings. When you are in scarcity mode you feel desperate so you lower your fee hoping to secure business. What you don’t realize is that your lowered fee actually devalues you in the eyes of your customer, and you are even less likely to gain their business.

Abundance mode is assured by a sense of security based upon financial worth as well as a demonstrated ability to complete transactions, negotiate sales and list high numbers of properties consistently. In abundance mode your self confidence is high, and the idea of lowering your fee doesn’t make sense because you know you deliver a level of service that warrants the fee you have set.

When Australia put the D Regulation in place and lifted fee limitations, many agencies began to compete primarily on price. However, competing on price alone instead of quality of service effectively lowers standards of performance and results for everyone. You simply cannot realize higher earnings by lowering your fees.

The way to command a higher fee percentage is to provide value to customers. It may seem that service levels in real estate service are too intangible to define, but it actually is not difficult to prove your worth to your customers. Using a tactical approach in your listing presentations, you can readily produce visuals and case studies that quantify your services and success rate in relation to your competition.

You must mentally put yourself in abundance mode in order to effectively negotiate fees. Set realistic expectations for your clients using the fee approximation close. Start by defining the average range of fees in the current marketplace, show your position within that range of fees and put a dollar amount on your proposal relative to their estimated sales price. Next, bring up any objections they might have before they do. Explain how a discounted fee actually lowers their sale price and document the success rate your agency has proven in realizing the best possible prices in property sales. You thus defend your fee by demonstrating the overall value of the service you offer in relation to other agencies.

Your goal is to learn how to become an effective negotiator by delivering your listing presentation from a place of absolute certainty of success. Achieve this and you will consistently command and receive the fee that you’re worth.

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

Momentum with Open for Inspections

You might be thinking that January and February can be slower months for your business because of the holidays and business will pick up after that, but this is actually the best time to set the pace for the rest of the year. If you look at what is actually happening in the marketplace, January, February and March are the months you should be writing higher numbers.

Australia Day is the 26th of January and most agents will be waiting to start working in earnest around mid-February, but if you want to have an exceptional year you need to start building momentum before they do. You should have your OFI campaigns set and ready for February openings on the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th. If you don’t start early you will have an average year, because what you do now sets the pace for your business going forward. Remember that we have Easter holidays from the 27th of March until the 20th of April in NSW and VIC, and then Anzac Day, which falls on a Saturday meaning you might not be able to do OFIs that day. You will need to have established momentum before you hit those holidays.

Remember the importance of social proof, and that comes from meeting people and establishing relationships. OFIs are vital for making yourself that friend in the business for all your clients from the start. Every person who walks into an open home should be treated as a four-dimensional customer – any one of them could be a buyer, a landlord, a seller and a potential tenant. Make sure you are fully servicing each of those potential clients by doing significant numbers of OFIs beginning in January and continuing through February onward.

You might think the market really isn’t active yet, but when you look at the numbers from November and December you’ll find that a significant number of properties went to auction during those months. Many of the people who sold those properties would have been looking to buy as well in December and January. Traditionally there are not many listings at that time, but you could be selling properties to those people right through January. This is why you want to always be building your buyers hit list and meeting private appointments. You can also have properties pre-listed for February before that month’s campaigns begin. This way you can meet people, generate buyer activity, and drive momentum in the market early.

The best agents take their holiday time earlier in December and return to work earlier as well, and are already campaigning at the start of January with the mindset that January and February are the true beginning of the business season.

As you begin your year, make sure you look into our Josh Phegan Membership, training events and coaching opportunities.

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

Freak Talent

Every agency wants to have freak talent on board – those sales “artists” who just have a feel for the business and can write phenomenal numbers all the time. The question is, do you have to go out and find them, or can you grow them yourself?

Finding agents with that talent and getting them into your agency is going to be rare and difficult. Plus, they may not have enough investment in your brand to stay with you, and if they leave they will take that part of your business with them. What you should know is that talent can be produced and replicated within your company if you have the right system in place and the dedication to help your people grow to their full potential.

Think in terms of scaling: If you are scaling to find and employ freak talent then you are scaling from outside of your business inward, and that is the wrong direction. However, if you are set up to employ good people and make them great by using sound infrastructure and a proven system, then you are scaling from the inside outward. Consider that each sales representative has an assistant that they share their soundboard and transactions with. That assistant can eventually become a sales rep. Basically every 2 to 3 years you will have new sales reps that have grown within your agency. These people will have a real investment with you and a core understanding of how you run your business.

Of course, growing your own talent takes planning, commitment and consistency. What usually happens in most agencies is that someone leaves and they are left desperately needing to hire a replacement. Then when they bring someone new in, they may not have clarity on exactly how to assimilate them quickly and fully. You want to have a system in place so that each sales rep has a categorised database to work from, a set number of people they need to contact each day, protocols for how to conduct prospecting successfully, a schedule for newsletters and marketing campaigns, and clear expectations around what you need them to do.

In order to grow great talent inside of your business you need to be a great leader. Know your business and be in control. Have a set system for how you expect your business to run and what you want to accomplish. If you simply hire the best agents you can find and let them do everything their own way with no plan or oversight, then it’s not really your business and they won’t be representing your brand. Know how you want your business to scale and grow the talent you need to carry your vision forward.

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

Momentum Through Call Sessions

There’s no question that call sessions are the most significant technique for building momentum and driving your business to success. So why do so many agents avoid prospecting by phone? The truth is, whether you make those calls enthusiastically or hardly make them at all begins with how you think about the process, and that mindset is completely within your control.

The first thing to understand and accept is that prospecting by phone is absolutely necessary. Motivate yourself with the knowledge that in January and February most of your competition is still in holiday mode and they aren’t making those calls yet, so this is an exceptionally opportune time for you to be prospecting. Also take advantage of the New Year as a time when people are thinking about making changes and initiating progress in their lives, so they are more open to discussing the possible sale of a home or other property. This is a great time to contact all the people in your database and maintain those vital relationships.

Keeping your call sessions to 45 minutes at a time will help you stay energized and prevent burnout. It’s also easier to track your numbers and limit your time per call if you are working within a shorter time frame per session. The Josh Phegan Membership has a 45 minute timer you can use to structure your call sessions and track your results. You can even make a game of prospecting using this app to see how many calls you can make and appointments you can book within each session. It’s a great way to evaluate and increase your performance.

Set a goal of 16 to 24 calls per session with an ideal connect rate of 50%. Your numbers will improve with the relationships you establish because those people will want to take your calls and will be more willing to meet with you. Of course, nothing happens in business until the sale is made, so making and meeting appointments is crucial. The more you do this the easier it gets as your communication skills increase with practice. Eventually your call sessions will evolve into simply being on the phone all the time as part of doing business every day. By the time you are writing $400,000 to $700,000 in fees you will have established momentum and will be the successful agent you now aspire to become.

Now, you might be thinking that you simply don’t want to do call sessions and there must be another way to succeed in your real estate business. The fact is, that kind of thinking will bury you. The phone is your most basic tool as an agent and you will never succeed if you don’t use it. Right now your focus has to be on making those prospecting calls, tracking your numbers, following your scripts and building that momentum one phone call at a time. This is simply what it takes to be a great agent.

Remember to keep those calls short, too — no more than 2 or 3 minutes, just enough time to book an appointment. Once you are face to face with the client, then you can discuss things with them in more detail. And making that connection is crucial – you need to get away from what you want and approach your clients from their viewpoint. What you give to them individually will establish the relationships that maintain your business, produce conversions and generate referrals. Keep in mind that people will buy your services only when they are ready, but it’s your approach to them that gets them there.

To be a great agent you must do the work that matters every day, and that is all about doing prospecting call sessions in the morning and meeting appointments the rest of the day. It’s that simple, and it works.

And while you are planning your year, make sure you look into our Josh Phegan Company membership, training events and coaching opportunities.

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

Resetting for a New Year

Before you can take your business to the next level you have to know exactly where you are now and what needs to happen next. You gain this knowledge by tracking your numbers and then using them to project on the future. But you have to start where you are and learn about your current marketplace before you can visualize where you want to go and whether your expectations are reasonable.

There are three basic metrics for you to focus on:

• Average sale price
• Normal cap volume
• Fee percentage

Your current average sale price determines what your next step up should be. If your average sale now is $600,000 then your goal should be to sell at an average of $900,000 – representing a 50% increase in your fee. Knowing this number will help you determine how to reach it.

Volume is the measure of your yearly growth. If you are completing 20 transactions a year, then you should set a goal for 30. Beyond that you will need an assistant and a fresh plan to help you reach 60 transactions. From there you add another assistant to reach 90 a year. However, in order to continue your growth your marketplace has to be capable of providing enough properties for you to sell – and remember you have competition. So if your marketplace is not big enough to allow you to grow, then you have to expand into other markets that will.

Next, you want to be able to increase your fee, and that depends on how you are performing in the first two metrics. This is why you have to know and understand your numbers at all times. These numbers are interconnected, so what you do with one will affect all three as growth – or stagnation.

To realize growth you must know your marketplace well enough to project for the future. Tracking your numbers over time, and understanding what they mean, will give you a valuable intuition for trends and opportunities inside of your marketplace. That intuition is vital for you to be able to plan realistically for success in your upcoming year.

In viewing your marketplace trends, you will see that there is actually a primary and secondary marketplace. The primary marketplace is your foundation for stability as it is based upon your average sale price and should represent the bulk of your transactions. Then you have a secondary marketplace, which is less predictable, but offers the opportunity for commanding higher prices. The secondary marketplace is too volatile to build your business on, but doing some of your transactions there can help you step up to higher operating levels over time.

Negotiating your best possible fees requires critical knowledge of your marketplace and your numbers, and a real understanding of what exactly you are able to work with. You have to know how your competition is charging, and whether matching their fee percentage is truly helpful. Generally you should maintain your higher fee percentage by making sure your performance offers the greater value and can be proven to your clients statistically. Here is another place where knowing your numbers and being able to use them is vital.

Right now is a good time for you to review your numbers from 2014 and understand what happened in your business and in your marketplace over the past year. Use those numbers and that understanding to project on what you want to see happen in 2015, and determine what you can do to boost your growth this year.

And while you are planning your year, make sure you look into our Josh Phegan Membership, training events and coaching opportunities.

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

What Would It Be Like To Be Your Customer?

Today let’s get a new perspective on the way you do business by thinking about what it’s like to be your customer. You already know how you go about your daily routine and what that’s like for you. How does your average client experience your brand?

Your marketing approach represents you, and determines how your customers perceive your brand. This is usually the first impression a new customer will have of you. Will you be connecting with your clients in a personal, emotional way? Or will your message be just another advertising mailer in their letterbox? Make sure you are delivering dynamic, quality marketing that lets you stand out from your competition.

One of the ways you make and keep connections within your marketplace is to be consistent with your communications. Establish a schedule of regular messaging and follow through without fail. This can be email or print, text or video, but it has to be personalized and it has to be delivered consistently. You must also be available for questions, consultations and appraisals. And make sure your marketing reflects the kind of business you want to build as if you were already at that level.

Some examples of effective marketing campaigns include a monthly video sent to potential sellers, market appraisals and past clients. Tactical mailers sent out at pivotal times of the year can help you establish relationships, too. Timing your communications for events like Easter, the financial year end, Christmas and the beginning of the school year puts you in position for the times people tend to make changes in their lives that involve turning over properties. Once you establish your marketing strategy and determine what works, you can simply update your messages each year instead of creating a whole new campaign.

As you develop your marketing approach it is helpful to have a particular customer in mind that you want to connect with. We call this idealized customer an avatar, and we use this avatar to build targeted marketing that communicates effectively. Imagine where this person lives, what level of income they make, what kind of car they drive, whether they have kids and if so, where do they go to school and what are their ages? Most importantly, what do they want to achieve with a sale or purchase of property? What might be holding them back? Using an avatar this way makes your marketing approach far more relevant and personal to the people in your marketplace.

The main thing you want to avoid is doing the same things in the same ways that the rest of the industry is doing. Avoid using the same tools and tactics as your competitors. You want to set yourself apart and above the rest. Think beyond what you see other agencies doing and find new ways to connect with customers. Create different kinds of promotions. Work more with video and mobile technologies. Be the first to meet and welcome new businesses to the area and establish relationships with them. And the greatest skill you can develop is to be able to design your marketing from the customer’s point of view.

Of course, your foundation for success is still maintained by making those phone calls, meeting appointments every day, and keeping relationships fresh with past clients and other people you already know. Dynamic marketing and consistency in doing business is the way you grow.

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