Ep 129 – The Three Areas for Growth

This High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips talking about the three areas for growth, which are how you get customers, maintaining operational effectiveness, and delivering great customer experience. Alex begins with what makes an attraction business and the importance of building relationships and having a process you understand and follow. Josh follows with a customer acquisition strategy that moves away from the word “prospecting” and to the word “service.” Alex then explains how economies of scale affect your growth and accountability.

Alex next tells how making every minute count becomes a skillset you develop over time. He advocates changing and evolving constantly to stay ahead of the competition and describes his own business growth. Josh ends with you setting the pace that others will follow.

Disruption

Technology is rapidly changing the way we live and work by creating disruption. As a great real estate agent your task is to put the human in the technology whilst providing that progressively higher level of service. In this week’s Coaching Tip I’ll tell you how to put the nail in the coffin on would-be disruptors by ignoring what they’re doing and focusing on your customer.

First let’s understand that a disruptive technology is one that substantially improves the customer experience by changing the way systems work. The advent of the mobile phone is a great example. As more people adopted mobile technology it fundamentally changed the way we live. In the real estate industry, when someone rebrands they may claim to be a disruptor, but most of these “disruptors” are focused on earning a higher percentage of the fee even though their level of service remains the same.

You set your fee at a certain level in order to have profitability. Substantial profit allows you to provide the best service, deliver the best customer experience, and ensure a smoother and easier sales process. A big part of that success is the ability to give your internal customers – being your sales and property management teams – the resources they need to provide those quality customer services.

A current example of a disruptive technology is the new BP petrol stations. The entire transaction of paying and fueling happens right at the pump. There’s no need to ever enter the convenience store, which means you won’t be buying any other products. That process has been disrupted, creating a new technological opportunity – such as huge convenience machines vending whatever else you might buy at a service station.

If you want to create some real, positive disruption, then be that agent who works from a center of care, empathy, skills and knowledge. It’s ultimately what you do for the customer and how you change what happens in your community that drives industry-wide progress.

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

Social Media and Your Brand

What social media does really well is amplify word-of-mouth marketing. If you do it right it can help you grow your business. In my Growth, Leadership, and Management tip this month I’ll show you how to build your brand through social media and avoid the mistakes others are making.

Your brand is more than just a logo. It’s an ethos you’ve worked hard to create for many years. It’s about what you understand, how you communicate, and your way of doing business. It’s the quality you bring to the actual transactional experience. It’s an exceptional thing and you need to protect it. One of the greatest challenges you face is how to best use social media.

No one has cracked the formula for making social really work. It’s been more of an explosion with no real strategy. The problem is that agents are coming from an individual place and competing for small audiences. Each salesperson has their own account on Facebook, Instagram, and so on. From a customer’s point of view, why would they choose to follow that individual real estate agent’s “dear diary”?

I’ve got a radical approach to social media. I have a single account as a person that’s also concentrated on my brand. We use unique, beautifully created content that’s specifically about the brand. It includes a shout out personally to my salespeople throughout the course of the week so they don’t need all those individual agent accounts. And rather than a following of a few hundred agents, we have several thousand followers from the entire community.

The thing that will make your business and your brand really move is having deep relationships with your existing customers. Post content that relates to the consumer, their situations and challenges – things that are more meaningful to them so they’ll want to follow you. Be a real person, and stay focused on the personal connection and your personal relationships through your brand. That will make social really work for 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 128 – What To Do With Wild Success

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips discuss what to do with wild success. Josh illustrates why it’s important to plan for success before it takes you by surprise, and Alex lists some warning signs, and notes the need to stay humble and avoid becoming a rock star agent. Josh observes how social media has amplified image vs. reality, and advises around better ways to plan for and use your money than to spend it all.

Alex talks about maintaining consistency through rising and falling market cycles, having the hard conversations your clients need to hear, learn from other agents who are more successful. Josh advises to always be eager to learn, as the learning process never ends.

How Do You Charge Higher Fees?

Great real estate agents are worth the fees they charge because they provide greater value to their customers. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll explain how to identify and solve pain points for the client, and answer the question, How do you charge higher fees?

In the new market conditions, we’re entering now, properties aren’t going to simply sell themselves. Get focused now on the mindset that it’s what you do when the marketing stops working that makes the difference in your success. It’s more important than ever that you believe in your own value first. Then you can differentiate yourself from your competition by demonstrating that value to the customer.

Your client has hired you to know what to do if there are no bidders at the auction, to advise on whether or not to take an early offer, and know when to sell based on current market circumstances. You also need to understand how to set pricing based on bargaining strength and timing.

Understanding when to sell and when to hold is one of many important skills that a lot of agents have forgotten. Now more than ever there’s a real separation of agents, and customers will see that. It’s not just about how much you sold above reserve, it’s about whether you actually sold the home and maximized the sale price.

So how do you charge higher fees? The same way the airlines do. They can offer business class and first class fares because consumers will pay for value. It’s the agents who get on the phone and follow up, who do more face-to-face time with buyers, who do more private appointments, and in general, understand how to separate and differentiate themselves that will prove they’re worth more than the competition. The key to being a great agent is all about what you do for the client and the value they see in you.

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

Ep 127 – Maintaining Energy and Momentum

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips talk about maintaining energy and momentum throughout the year. Josh mentions always having something exciting out in front of you, and Alex tells how he keeps going through stages and changes by creating his opportunities. They discuss what motivates them and why that motivation is important. Josh explains the reasoning behind understanding the market so you can plan ahead for time off during slow times of the year, and Alex emphasizes working during work time.

Josh notes how ambition drives achievement, how the value of money changes with greater accomplishments, and the importance of bringing other people up with you. Alex adds that it’s about the team and the brand, and Josh ends on setting your own energy and momentum.

Understanding What the Customer Wants

Being a great agent isn’t just about selling the house. Today my Coaching Tip is all about understanding what the customer wants, because you need to alleviate the challenges the customer is facing and do the job the customer is actually trying to get done.

Let me give you an example from a recent listing presentation. In this case, I knew both the agent and the vendor. This vendor had come up with a different location and was selling the home as executor of a will.

The agent went through the listing presentation and thought he had covered everything, but the vendor hesitated to sign and asked to think about it overnight. They left the listing unresolved. The agent then rang me and said he didn’t think he won the listing.

Next, the vendor called me and offered me feedback on the exchange. He said the agent was exceptional in understanding all the steps and the processes the listing would need to go through, but did not understand the vendor and his needs.

There was no consideration by the agent that, as the executor of a will, the vendor was experiencing an emotional time in selling a loved one’s property. He was also dealing with beneficiaries who didn’t get along. This vendor really needed an agent who would take some of that pressure off, and he felt that need was not being met by this agent.

As an agent, you must shift the conversation. Determine what the customer’s needs are other than just selling their property. You do this by asking the right questions to get the information you need so you can alleviate their pain. Gain an understanding of life cycle marketing so you know which stage your customers are going through right now. Your job is fixing those specific challenges so they can sell their property with the least amount of stress. Deliver on that service and you’ll be their logical choice.

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

Traction Series – Part 4

Part 4 finishes our special Traction Podcast Series featuring Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips. Alex emphasizes the necessity of market knowledge and really knowing your own marketplace completely, and tells where he gets his own market knowledge. He tells how he increases sales regardless of market conditions, and how training, experience and time improve the art of making the sale.

He describes the set up to sell meeting, following up, and maintaining communication with your vendors. Alex then explains why taking a long term view is crucial to your success in real estate.

Alex tells how he maintains a high level of energy and consistency and describes what leaving a good legacy means to him. Alex says he loves real estate and couldn’t think of anything he would find better to do.

Setting Yourself Up For 2018

You will write more fees this year than ever before if you set your intentions right from the start. That’s why I’m talking to you in my Coaching Tip today about the importance of setting yourself up for 2018 with the right mindset and the right routines from the start.

How you navigate new market conditions over the next 12 months will have a massive bearing on your ability to build a bigger business this year than last. The 3 critical numbers you’ll need to think about are the average sale price, the volume of transactions, and average fee. And it’s what you do when the market stops working that will make all the difference.

You’re going to negotiate a much better sale price if you’ve already got a strong relationship and high level of trust with the buyer. They’ll take your advice and negotiations will go smoothly if you’ve established your relevance and consistency with them.

Getting intentions right is also about deciding to make this a year of growth, not only in your personal skills, but in really getting those intentions set. And that means setting routines to start your call sessions early and then head out to get those calls to happen.

I’m not going to talk about “prospecting.” In 2018 we’re going to call it “service” because you’re going to get on the phone and call people with important information they can benefit from, like open for inspections, new listings, and market appraisals.

Remember there are holidays in the first quarter, so get active around open for inspections and lead generation. Think about the volume of listings and sales, and put on new people so you can scale. You can only do five or six open for inspections on a Saturday by yourself. Build that team that can take you to twelve.

Setting yourself up for 2018 is about setting up for success. Set your intentions, set your routines, build your team for growth and you’re going to have a phenomenal year.

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

Traction Series – Part 3

In Part 3 of our Traction Podcast Series Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips continue around asking the right questions to book the appointment. Alex emphasizes understanding why you’re meeting and how to progress the customer. They discuss the build-work-convert concept and Alex explains how to build your database beginning with good buyer management and playing the long game.

He shares what he teaches his team about building a pipeline and making it convert for you. Alex then tells how to pitch to win in the listing presentation by understanding the needs of the customer.

Alex lists some of the reasons customers decide to go with him instead of his competitors, he tells why he takes notes during the listing presentation, and why cases studies are such an important part of that presentation. They continue discussion in Part 4.