Ep 82 — Marketing in the Modern Age

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips cover marketing and what it looks like in the modern age. They discuss direct mail, how to use it, and where it is still relevant in a campaign. Josh details how additional mediums support your phone calls from awareness to conversion. Alexander tells how most agents stick with a pattern or copy each other rather than thinking about what their customer will benefit from.

They talk about agent marketing vs. property marketing, brand experience, consistent and professional presentation, and preparing marketing campaigns now for 2017. Alexander projects on changes in the market next year, and Josh notes ways to prepare for the first quarter.

The Role of Planning

To be that great real estate agent who is refreshed and energetic in front of the client you need something to look forward to every four to six weeks. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll explain the role of planning in making sure you’ve got your business covered so you can take some time off when the time is right.

You can live out of season inside of your business if you understand what’s important and what’s not. That takes planning and most people don’t do it. You can avoid getting yourself into situations and not knowing what to do to get out by looking ahead up to 180 days from now. For example, there are only seven auction Saturdays in the first quarter of 2017. Then April will be a busy month with three 4-day work weeks. If you plan ahead and set things up right you can actually take a few days off around those holidays without missing any real business opportunities.

It’s all about learning when to take leave and when not to. I’ve found the best times are December 10th through January 5th, two weeks around Easter, and maybe a week between June and August. Once you hit August it’s a big run through to November. The key is to plan for those seasons well ahead of the curve and make sure you hit your targets, because if you don’t finish that business then you can’t take the time you need to refresh and prepare for the next run.

So the role of planning is to help you make better decisions about how you use and regenerate your energy so you can be a great agent and a great person, have a satisfying life, and stay clear about what success looks like for you.

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

The Culture in Your Office

Your role as a great leader is to pull people up, but too often we actually pull them down. In this month’s Growth, Leadership and Management tip I want to talk with you about the culture in your office and how you can ensure that it’s about improvement and progress.

You want to build an organisation of collaboration based on a culture of learning. The key is to teach systems and train on skillsets. Those can be broken down into forms for operations such as booking a market appraisal, qualifying a buyer, or taking hold of bids at an auction. The goal is to put together essential information in the right order so nothing gets missed.

Using checklists supports your system by teaching basic processes such as running an open home. A checklist for that would step an agent or assistant through putting out the board and flag, opening the home, playing the music, having the contract and brochures available, and taking visitors’ details at the front door. The best way to write those checklists is to develop them as you make mistakes to make sure those mistakes won’t happen more than once.

Understand that your systems and checklists only work if you’re using them yourself. If you don’t follow them or take them seriously, neither will your team. It’s your role to set the culture in your office you want others to follow and deliver on your own expectations, because your people will do as you do, not as you say.

This includes learning new skillsets. Just having a new hire follow an established agent isn’t enough. There has to be specific training around those skills and a desire on the part of the trainee to learn them. That desire often comes from a failure that prompts a decision to get better. Your part is to encourage that decision and offer appropriate feedback in a supportive manner.

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

Ep 81 — Building your Pipeline

This High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips on building your pipeline. Building relationships is key and Alexander describes what he talks about with people in his pipeline and how he stays relevant. Josh notes that some agents don’t really know how to stay active with their database, and Alexander suggests ways to keep it functional and stay active with clients. He then tells how he performs database searches.

Josh notes ways agents procrastinate and fail to use the information they have, and Alexander tells how to keep calling criteria broad and call as many people as possible. Josh states the need for clarity, purpose and value to the customer, and both offer tips for accomplishing that.

3 Steps to Building a Great Business

There are 3 steps to building a great business and my Coaching Tip today is all about taking those steps to build, work and convert. It all begins with building your database and getting as many people into it as possible. That’s Step 1.

You can build your database with cold calling, door knocking, or other conventional ways. But the smart way to do it is by working with the people you already know. Your estate agency has lists of property inquiries, visitors to opens, and past clients that other agents aren’t contacting. I’ll also tell you how one of my clients created an opportunity to generate new contacts. The key is to get in front of those people and start building your database from there.

As soon as you have contacts in your database you can start Step 2, which is working it. Most agents don’t have a process for it, but I’m giving you one here: Every time you list a new property, search your database for all the people you know in that area and ring them up to invite them to the open for inspection. But don’t stop there, send them a reminder in the mail with a brochure to get them thinking about the value of their own home. Next, send them an SMS just before the Saturday open for inspection.

At this point you’ve begun Step 3 in building a relationship, so when they show up at the open home make sure you have that first real conversation and then follow through on it. Call them after the home sells to inform them of the price and offer them an appraisal of their own property. Then mail them a summary report of the complete sale campaign results. This process of the 3 steps to building a great business is what it takes to establish that depth of relationship with your client, and to build and work a database that converts.

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

Ep 80 — Helping New Agents Build Solid Careers

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips talk about helping new agents build solid careers. Alexander details how he helps new hires rise in his agency and build a great database. Josh mentions deal support and Alexander tells how he answers those questions. They discuss recognising stages of an agent’s progress and coaching them on the long game, build relationships, and avoid taking shortcuts.

Alexander talks about building listing skills and confidence through practice, role playing, experiencing various scenarios, and going out into the field. Josh advises agents to get clear on skills they need to improve and work on those. They end with emphasis on mentorship throughout your career.

Ep 79 — Delivery of Service – What It Really Takes

This High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips discussing delivery of service and what it really takes. Alexander describes Six Star Service and how it places you above other agents, and Josh notes the importance of the little things you do that make a big difference to the customer. They discuss the need to relate to people and the difference in emailing or calling a client. Josh talks about maintaining control of the conversation and Alexander tells how he achieves that.

They discuss ways to bring value to the table, get the timing right, communicate with confidence, be responsive to your customer, and Josh ends with asking the right questions to find out how you can provide your best possible service.

You Get What You Negotiate

Negotiation is a necessary skill if you want to become a great agent. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll tell you how you get what you negotiate, and take you through the steps to make that agreement between buyer and seller happen.

You need to understand the rules of negotiation beginning with making sure you’ve got all the information you need. This includes the purchaser’s name, solicitor’s identity, settlement timeline, deposit amount, express conditions and purchase price. The next step then is to identify how you’re going to negotiate, and I’ll tell you how to arrange to get an offer set in a way that’s legally binding.

Understand that the majority of negotiation happens in the first round. You want to right away get the buyer up into the price point where they need to be, and I’ll give you some examples of ways to do that. Avoid pivot pricing by getting the buyer to make their best offer from the start. It’s also crucial to get your timing right, and making offers with time limitations is an effective way to do this.

Specific performance is important in all negotiation, and that means getting specific things done quickly, in their proper order, and according to set time limits. You get what you negotiate, so be firm, be clear about expectations, stay in control of timing, and remember you’re negotiating not only around the numbers, but more importantly around the emotions that drive the deal.

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

 

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Ep 78 — Coping with Stress

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips talk about coping with stress that comes with being an agent. Alexander tells how he helps his team members deal with pressure, and describes mechanisms he uses in his life and business to manage sources of stress. Josh suggests using lists to identify what’s putting pressure on so you can find solutions. He also offers perspective on what’s really important and what isn’t. They discuss how your diary can help you stay centered and present on the busiest days.

Josh tells how planning and routine reduces the number of unimportant decisions you have to make, and Alexander describes routines and systems he uses to reduce stress each day. Josh ends with the advice to choose what’s most important to do and only do those things.

Practice Like You Play

The key to confidence is to practice like you play so you can play like you practice. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll show you how to become a better prospector by getting great at listing, and how role-play will help you accomplish that.

Prospecting is your most primary task every day so you need to get that skill set right. Part of the challenge is shifting your mindset from pursuing right-now business to working with people you already know, and being there for them when they are ready to do something.

Your other vital skill set is the listing presentation, and that’s really critical to your prospecting as well. If you’re great at listing you’ll be much better at prospecting. That’s because you’ll know the right questions to ask and the most important information you need to provide the best service possible to your customer. And knowing what you’re doing from prospecting to listing will give you confidence when you get in front of that customer.

But how do you know how good you really are if you’re not getting feedback? It’s not a comfortable thing to hear that you need to do some things better, but it’s necessary. One of the best ways to get that feedback is through role-playing with your peers. Set a practice session with another agent, switch back and forth between playing agent and customer, record the session, and find out what you both need to fix in your listing presentation. Doing this with agents at your same level, in a safe environment and for just a few minutes, will give you the opportunity for an even exchange of helpful feedback that will make you both better agents.

This is how you practice like you play so you can play like you practice. To be a great lister you really only need to learn 15 questions and 5 trial closes. Getting that right changes the way you run your entire business and gives you a whole new level of confidence in your capabilities.

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