Getting Started

Real estate can be a minefield, particularly when you’re new in the business. With the dawn of a new year and many fresh-faced agents joining the fold, it’s important to start off on the right foot. That’s where the problem lies – knowing where to start, how to build momentum and how to achieve success isn’t always clear and potential pitfalls are easy to stumble into.

But following a few simple, yet highly effective, techniques can help new agents navigate those early treacherous waters. There are three things new agents should focus on to really hit the ground running.

Write a list of every person you know.
Once you’ve made the list, use mapping software, such as batchgeo.com, to gain a tangible understanding of where your contacts live and where your key markets lie. Now it’s time to work those relationships. I’m not talking about a one-off phone call that you leave languishing in the ‘never to be phoned again’ pile, but a true client that you phone every time someone lists or sells a property of a similar type that might affect the value of their home.

Learn your listing presentation. If you can list you will last in real estate.
Listing techniques are relatively easy to learn and really have the ability to turbocharge your prospecting results. One option is to shadow a high-flying agent, preferably from your own brand, and learn what to do and what not to do with them. Learn basic prospecting questions. Everything you do in your business revolves around prospecting and communicating with potential clients. In all of your interactions, your goal is to move your client forward, whether that be to book an appointment or list their property.

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When it comes time to grow your client numbers it’s important to keep this question front of mind: Where do your potential clients hang out before they need you?
Open homes offer a vast resource for finding and establishing new client relationships and I urge the agents I coach to attend at least five inspections each Saturday. Buyers are often also sellers, whether that is the case immediately or in the future. Call people who have been through your open homes during the year and ask them if they are still looking for a property. You can also build your client numbers by calling past clients that were originally serviced by agents who have since left the brand.

These are some of your best prospects and are the perfect place to start your call lists. Mining your personal networks is another great way to find potential sellers. Think the school council, parents of the children in your daughter’s netball team and the owner of your local milk bar. If you know them, put them in your database.

A third client-generating avenue to focus on is success-based marketing of properties you have just listed or sold in the local area. Whether it’s a hard copy, email or video, make sure as many people as possible know your results and your name. While your goal is to fill your database, it’s also vital that you keep it organised. You need to know which buyers are now sellers, which residents are now landlords and who might be on the verge of selling.

Having thousands of contacts is of no use to you if they aren’t organised and therefore useful. Categories I instruct my agent clients to use include: buyers, buyer hit list, potential sellers, market appraisals, seller hit list, current clients, past clients bought, past clients sold, key referrers and landlords. If you do decide to shadow another agent within your company there are three key factors when choosing who to make your mentor.

Look for the person who has the highest number of listings, sales and income production. Focus on an agent who is the person you envisage yourself becoming. Look for someone who has successful systems that can be replicated and taught. One of the many areas your mentor can help you with is the art of prospecting and making successful phone calls.

As an agent, you need to learn to ask the right questions in order to jump the hurdles reluctant customers throw at you. Navigating customer-blocking techniques is a vital skill that will see you booking appointments and be starting new relationships. Finally, smile and invest in your own personal development, you’ll see an incredible return.

This article first appeared on Elite Agent:https://eliteagent.com/starting-out-right-the-road-to-success/

Turning Leads into Listings

Get the lead, then don’t be beaten!

Real estate leads don’t turn into listings and property sales with the wave of a magic wand. Let me off you some tips to ensure agents don’t bury the lead. Solid leads are both the lifeblood and the bane of real estate agents’ existence. When you’re converting leads to listings and sales you feel invincible and suddenly all is right in your property world. Without leads or without converting leads, you have no listings and without listings, you can’t make sales.

The trouble many agents face is avoiding the ebb that follows a flow of listings. Just like a sapling needs water and sunshine to grow into a tree, agents need to nurture leads if they want more potential vendors signing on the dotted line. A recent survey I conducted with my clients revealed 28 percent felt turning leads into listings and listings into sales was the biggest issue in their business. One agent said listings were down 35 percent across the market, another said “no-one is ready to sell yet,” and a third deplored “listings are more difficult than they have ever been and there is very little stock”.

The challenge agents face is overcoming last-minute resistance from potential sellers. Objections are a natural part of the sales process and potential vendors could bemoan putting their property on the market for a range of reasons. I urge my agents to delve deep and discover why their client is selling, where they are going and in what timeframe they are moving.

Clients’ problems could include a birth or a death in the family, a marriage or a divorce, relocation, financial gain or loss and lifestyle issues. Perhaps a seller has lived in the property for 50 years and is struggling emotionally with the thought of selling, maybe they need to find a new home first or they may have blinkers on when it comes to selling their property at any time other than spring. Whatever the objection, savvy agents need to know how to jump the resistance hurdle.

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These are my top 5 tips to beat last-minute resistance and turn a lead into a listing.

1. Tailor marketing to your client
The first step in the process is to identify your client’s needs and then sell the features and benefits that specifically relate to their situation. Remember if the customer can’t see the difference they won’t pay the difference. If a client is shopping around based on agent fees and has been quoted 1 percent by rivals then you need to adapt your pitch to suit. The first thing you need to do is book the appointment, as it gives you a chance to sell why you are different and should be their preferred agent. You can always value-add later.

2. Prospect ahead of the curve
If you want to sell properties now, don’t wait until the last minute to find them. If you know that potential vendors become hesitant when they feel uncertain, allow yourself time to reassure them so they feel confident with the sales procedures. I suggest prospecting two months in advance, so if you want to have a good August, start listing properties in June. If your client wants to sell and reach the settlement before Christmas then the next five weeks is the time to list their home.

3. Spend your first hour every day on marketing
Prospecting is not a sometimes activity, it’s an all the time activity. Every day make sure you are doing at least one and preferably two or even three phone call sessions. You need to measure your calls, how many times you speak with a potential vendor and how many appointments you set up. You should try to book at least one, or preferably three, appointments per day with potential sellers.

4. Progress the customer at every point of contact
Take the client to the next stage of the sales process each time you contact them. Many clients tell me they only follow up a lead with one phone call and if the client says they’re not ready to sell, they’ve hit a dead end. The trick is not to give up. Instead, ask the client what they would like to happen. This lets you know what you need to do to move along in the sales process.

5. Show your customers what needs to happen
There can be a big difference in what customers believe is an important step in the sales process and what actually needs to happen. You need to show them what the next step is as clients have often not sold their home before or it has been a long time since they have done so. One of my clients had a vendor who didn’t realise they needed the contract of sale prepared prior to taking their property to the market.

This article first appeared on Elite Agent:https://eliteagent.com/get-the-lead-then-dont-be-beaten/

Managing More Vendors more Often

Every great relationship is built on trust.

If you want to be a top real estate agent, one that’s ahead of the pack, you need to treat your vendors with the respect and dedication they deserve. They need to trust you and you them, in order to build a great relationship where the end goal is a strong sale. As the property market gears up for its end of year crescendo it’s critically important to focus on managing your owners’ expectations and generating the referrals that come from satisfied clients.

Here are some tips on great vendor management.

List it well, then it sells
The listing presentation is where you set your vendor’s expectations on everything from the sale method to price and marketing. Too often agents rush the property on to the market before it is ready. Buyers purchase with their heart and their gut as much as their head so you need to make sure your vendor’s property stands out. The presentation is critical as people buy the perceived lifestyle on offer rather than the property itself. Consumers will pay more for a property where all the hard work has been done for them and they can just move in and relax. In terms of your pricing strategy, it pays to be accurate. Consider asking some buyers from your hit list to view the property before it goes on the market. These are buyers that have missed out on other homes and are able to offer the best feedback regarding price.

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Communication
Buyers will tell you there’s nothing worse than an agent who never calls them or answers their phone. Remember, you’re most likely selling a vendor’s most important financial asset so you need to treat it as such. Add your vendors to your favourites list on your phone and start calling. Make it a habit to call your vendors every business day. Let them know where negotiations are up to with potential buyers, discuss new properties that have hit the market in their suburb and fill them in on the latest sales. Keeping your clients informed every step of the way lets them know you really are working for them.

Become a trusted advisor
At the beginning of the campaign hold, a ‘set up to sell’ meeting. This is where you explain to your vendor what they should expect throughout the entire selling process. Discuss the level of interest in their home you expect to receive, including the number of enquiries. Decide how inspections, both open home and private viewings, will work as well as details on second appointments, contracts and offers. It’s also the perfect time to finalise the marketing plan. For the duration of the campaign hold a weekly, 15-minute meeting at your office to run through the key information about their property that week and give your recommendations for moving forward. You should also call an extra meeting when anything significant occurs, such as when an offer is received. They key is to become a trusted advisor so you can keep the sale moving forward and work towards the very best result.

Don’t get shaky in negotiations
Too many agents don’t know what to do in the negotiation process, particularly when things get tricky. Make sure you have your vendor’s instructions clear and your plans in place before the property goes to market. That way you’ll know exactly what to do, even in tough conditions such as multiple offers or one-buyer situations. When negotiating an important question to ask is not how long the property has been on the market but how long the buyer has been searching for a home. A buyer who has missed out on other properties is more emotional and emotional buyers tend to lead with their heart, not their head. It can pay well to target emotional buyers. Keep a list of buyers that have shown signs, such as attending more than one open home or bidding at auction, they are ready to purchase. When an offer comes in work to make it as unconditional as possible. That way you’re set up for a smooth sales process.

Beware of becoming the second vendor
The property market changes rapidly and top agents know how to change with it. While vendors may have a fixed price in their head, agents need to be more fluid. Beware of becoming a second vendor and defending the original price sought for a property without listening to the reasoned market commentary. Learn to read the market and help your client understand what’s happening so that you can achieve the best sale price possible.

Feature Interview LSN 2017 – Part 2

This is Part 2 of the special edition of our High-Performance Podcast live from List Sell Negotiate 2017 featuring Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips. Continuing from Part 1 they discuss keeping calls brief and productive, Alex addresses sustainability and adjusting your expectations to your life circumstances, and Josh speaks to the value of continuous learning and the benefits of coaching. Alex talks about the importance of relationships and loyalties, even with competitors. They then note the reasons for keeping celebrations brief and getting back to work.

Alex explains the necessity for progressing vendors, and they recommend keeping goals visible. Alex advises maintaining and leveraging a great database, and Josh ends with a reminder to stay on the phone if you aspire to make millions and achieve your goals.

Feature Interview LSN 2017 – Part 1

This is a special edition of our High-Performance Podcast featuring Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips in a live interview from List Sell Negotiate 2017 in Sydney. They talk about having a marketplace big enough for your aspirations, Alex tells how he handles large numbers of open for inspections, and Josh comments on overcoming the fear of letting go and allowing your team to work for you. They talk about the hunger that drives Alex to grow his business year after year, and he outlines how he and his team do it.

Alex tells how it feels to be close to writing 10 Million in sales, and how he did over 450 appraisals this year through planning, preparation, and the synergy inside of his team. The discussion then continues in Part 2.

Is your marketing about You or the Customer?

There are lots of ways to get your name out there, but too often agent marketing is all about the agent – how successful they are, what just happened in their career, or the SOLD sticker they just put up. In my Coaching Tip this week I’ll show you why you need to ask yourself, is your marketing about you or the customer? Are you working from your ego, or with humility?

One of the problems with social media is that it’s much too easy to amplify ideas about who you are as an agent that represent you badly out there in the marketplace. Be very aware of what you’re doing in your marketing. The focus should never be on you. The focus has to be on the consumer, because that’s how you make that connection with them.

The difference between ego and humility is where you place others in respect to yourself. You may think that positioning yourself above others separates you from the pack, but it also separates you from your customer. You need to let the customer be the hero. Center them in the picture and step yourself to the side. Tell the story about what you do for the customer by showing them a person they can relate to moving smoothly through their buying or selling process and enjoying their results.

This approach holds true whether you’re working with a homeowner or a developer. Your role is that of an information provider and a coach who will guide them through their particular scenarios. Ensure that what you’re doing at a marketing level is timeless so that even when you’re not actively promoting yourself, your market activity will show what it is that you’re doing as an agent.

Remember, the best way to connect with the consumer of the day is by getting on the phone and talking to your customers combined with plenty of face-to-faces. And always ask yourself, is your marketing about you or the customer? Solve the customer’s challenge, be their best source of information and you will become an incredible agent.

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

Setting a Vision

When people come to work for you, most of them are buying into your vision around what you can do for them. In my Growth, Leadership, and Management Tip this month I’ll explain how setting a vision for your business involves not only where your business is going, but what people are doing on the inside of it.

Staying close with your people is the key to retention because you need to be clear about what you’re doing to help them achieve something meaningful, not only in their business life, but also in their personal life. Created progression will give them a real reason to be part of your company.

One of the biggest mistakes small business owners make is failure to build a framework around their ideas. They never create a plan for what they want to accomplish, and they never plan for their people, either. So if you tell a salesperson you’re going to sell them a portion of the business someday, what does that really mean? When will that happen, and how will you prepare them for the added responsibility of being a business owner?

It’s important to have quality conversations with your people about timeframes and expectations. Otherwise your people feel stuck in what I call the “Never Never” where you never set benchmarks and keep stretching out the time before they can take the next step. One day your competitor will come along and give them that career progression plan they desire. Overnight your best salesperson will walk out the door.

You must get close to your people to understand what they want to achieve and give them a path to do that. Know the skills you want them to acquire, then build clear structures to help them progress. Setting a vision for your business is up to you to do. Built into that is the idea that you’re building your business to sell. Ultimately the people who are working inside of your business will become your best buyers.

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

Ep 123 – Pipelines

In this High-Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents, Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips discuss pipelines, beginning with what they are and how to work one. Alex explains his process for understanding and managing his pipelines, and Josh lists questions you need to answer for making the most of your database. Alex advises long-term thinking, and they discuss ways to progress people in your pipelines and get clear on what to do ahead of the curve.

Josh outlines pipeline scheduling for the year and how agents do it wrong, and Alex details how to get it right. Josh observes that if you can’t remember your clients then they won’t remember you, so it’s important to know and understand their needs and desires.

Jobs Done

You set your value – and your fees – by jobs done for the customer. But what are those jobs, and why do they matter? In my Coaching Tip today I’ll show you how to determine which jobs are most important, and which ones you should really focus on.

Most agents will say their most important jobs are to sell the house, maximise the price, and help the client make their best decisions. But in reality, the jobs we actually do may be different. The key is to think like the customer so you can ask the right questions to find out what they need and why they’re unhappy where they are. Then you can help them find the right property for their situation and lifestyle.

Of course, once you find that perfect place for them, then they need to sell the place they’re in. Your next job, then, is to get them their best selling price. One of the best home selling points is a property where everything is already done. Customers are time-poor today and the less they have to do upon moving into a new home, the more they’re willing to pay for that convenience. If your client is willing to invest in getting that property in shape before the buyer moves in they’ll realize a higher profit.

If you can do one job well that other agents don’t, that may well become the reason customers choose to use you.

Sometimes it’s the little things that make the most impact, so it’s important to understand which jobs done are most meaningful to customers. Your most important job as a great real estate agent, then, is to become the customer. Understand which jobs they need to get done, and which of those jobs you can do for them to alleviate their stress and pain. This will set you apart as a great real estate agent.

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

Ep 122 – Principles of Selling in any Market

In this High-Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents, Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips talk about principles of selling regardless of market conditions. Alex identifies the one reason property doesn’t sell, and discusses various elements involved in taking a property to market. Josh notes the importance of vendor paid marketing, and Alex expands on why vendor commitment is so important. They discuss the necessity of getting early offers on a property, and consistent vendor communication including vendor reports and face-to-face meetings.

Josh continues discussion with managed sales process, Alex explains why process matters so much, and Josh reinforces how critical it is to get every one of these principles right all the time, because the one time you don’t is the deal that goes wrong.