Becoming a Great Lister

When it comes to becoming a great lister there’s no better formula than to simply care about your customers. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll tell you how to get the information you need by asking the right questions and mastering the art of really listening.

There’s a short list of essential topics you need to cover off on. The best way to get all that information is to follow a sequence of questioning that leads to your desired outcome. Those essentials are:

• What is the client’s situation?
• What are they looking for in an agent?
• What is their preferred method of sale?
• What is their preferred approach to marketing?
• What are their pricing expectations?

Cover each topic in detail to make certain they are making fully informed decisions. Take notes. Once you have that information, summarise it and read it all back to the customer to make sure they’re in agreement with what’s been discussed. Also do a trial close for each point before moving to the next one. This maintains a smooth flow and allows you to really connect with your customer.

Never underestimate the effectiveness of visuals. Nothing communicates quite so completely or engages as deeply as attractive, informative images, videos, charts, brochures and other visual material. Because visuals are so powerful, make sure your support materials are relevant to the property you’re discussing. Beyond that, keep your terminology consistent, present in an orderly manner, and keep your presentation cohesive so everything fits together and makes sense.

Becoming a great lister requires a real interest in other people. If you sincerely care about your customer they will sense that energy and respond to you. You’ll be a winning agent if you make the effort to understand what your clients need and help them get to their best possible outcome.

Ep 65 — What Would You Do Differently?

This High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips on how they might do things differently if they were starting their real estate careers now. Alexander lists new technologies and opportunities available to agents today, while he and Josh agree on the importance of having a great network. Josh emphasises being interested in people and relevant to them, and Alexander notes ways social media can work for you or against you.

Josh highlights the necessity to always be prospecting, and Alexander tells why the way you present yourself is crucial. They agree on the need for coaches, and mentors, and the willingness to learn. Josh ends on delivering high-value service.

How Fit is your Database?

Database categories are an integral part of database fitness. Like your own fitness, it’s a decision you make and follow through on every day so you can perform the way you want to. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll explain why these categories are necessary and how to use them.

Defined categories let you target marketing to groups of customers rather than individuals. Our first category is the general buyer category you’ll send your automated buyer alerts to. Then you have a buyer hit list of active buyers who have made a bid or offer on a property, come to a second appointment, and otherwise demonstrated interest and emotional involvement in doing business with you.

Similarly you have potential sellers you want to get face-to-face with. A market appraisal will tell you if they’re at a red light, orange light or green light position toward selling a property. Your seller hit list, then, will be those green light sellers you’ll place in your lead nurture sequence for listing presentation to receive market reports, videos and other timely, relevant news. Once they are selling with you they become vendors.

The next really important category is past clients. These are all the people who have already bought and sold with you. They would likely do business with you again and are great key referrers if you simply maintain that good relationship with them.

It’s important to define these categories so everyone working with you understands who they are working with and how to progress those customers into their appropriate categories. The key to a clean, fit database is clear, active database categories that allow you to serve the category, not just the person.

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

Ep 64 – Backing It Up Month After Month

In today’s High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips focus on maintaining momentum month after month. Alexander tells how he avoids the roller coaster of good months/bad months by always striving to improve, working ahead of the curve and avoiding burnout. Josh notes the importance of planning ahead, and of setting long- and short-term goals. Alexander adds the danger of missing opportunities by slacking off when you’re doing well, and the necessity to maintain drive and motivation.

Josh outlines a destructive scenario agents tend to fall into before going on holiday and advises on what to do to avoid losing ground while you’re away. Alexander reinforces this advice adding consistency, communication and experience.

Change happens – how to deal with it

Change is a fact of your business life and how you handle it will determine your success or failure. In my Coaching Tip today let’s talk about change and what you can do to make it work for you.

Staying relevant is key, and you do that by keeping current with changes in the marketplace, the industry and the world. Often you can influence change, whilst other things are out of your control. Especially in our current global climate the uncertainty of what will happen next can be daunting, for your clients and your business. What you can control is the way you work and the service you provide.

You create your own vision for what you want to do and where you want to be, but how far ahead are you projecting? What kind of framework have you built to get there, step by step? You should be looking 25 years ahead, which seems like a long time, but here’s how that works: Take your age and add 25 years to it. When you are that age, where do you want to be in your life? Once you envision this fully you can begin to build a framework to take you there. It becomes less about what you want to achieve and more about what’s really important to your life. You’ll make better decisions once you understand the core essence of what it is you really want to do.

Once you establish that vision for your life and take control of your actions going forward, then the chaos and upheaval around you doesn’t matter. Living your life with purpose and direction is what’s most important. Changes become opportunities for growth, progression and success. You can decide how to change the way you prospect, work with customers, and advance your business. And you can decide for yourself whether you’re going to drive change or it’s going to drive you.

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

Ep 63 – Putting On Your First Assistant

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips talk about putting on your first assistant They start with limiting beliefs and how to let go of those tasks you shouldn’t be doing. Alexander stresses good training from the start and hiring the right people for your organization, and Josh advises setting expectations from day one. Josh talks about advancing an assistant’s skills and Alexander describes his timelines for employee career growth.
Josh notes that your agency should reflect your client demographic and that should influence your choice of talent. Alexander adds the value of giving your people more responsibility and opportunities to learn through failure.

Perfecting the List to Launch

There are several ways to sell a property and today I’m going to talk about perfecting the list to launch process. The key is to do what’s best for your client, help them make the tough decisions, and make their experience as stress-free and profitable as possible.

I want you to realize that once you list a property to the major real estate websites you’ve lost your leverage for negotiation, so don’t rush the process. Make the most of the time you have before listing to identify and remove anything that might delay completing a transaction. Start the process early to give you more time to sort things out. This also allows you to handle more listings more thoroughly, and avoid rework or delays.

Consider things you can take care of ahead of time like legal forms and contracts, photos, renovations and presentation. Prepare to go to market, but get some prospective buyers to see the property before you list. Make a “buy here first” list of people who have recently missed out on a property, have recently made offers on other homes, or need to move out of their current home soon. Those emotional buyers are ready to buy. Do some compression selling by letting them see each other so they know they have competition. Now when you list someone is going to make an offer. Then you can decide whether sale or auction is the best way to go. Do what’s best for the owner, and set the property up for success.

Work towards perfecting your list to launch by reducing your overall days on market, building social proof with signboards and sold stickers, and providing exceptional customer service that gets you referrals.

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

Succession Planning

Nobody likes to think about it, but if you’re building a valuable legacy business it’s important to plan for passing the baton to a new leader. In my Growth, Leadership and Management tip today I’m talking about succession planning, what it looks like and when to do it.

It’s always important to bring the best talent possible into your business, knowing from the start that one day they may have top positions in your business. Career progression planning has to be part of your vision, and nurturing your future leadership is necessary from the start. Be thinking 5 years ahead, 10 years ahead, and plan for new people coming in along the way.

Some of your people will be with you awhile and then move on to other agencies, or even start their own office. The people in your business who might one day want to take it over need to be able to plan for that and build the assets to be able to do it. If you want that to happen you need to build a business with an income stream, and you have to make an investment in your people.

Reward is part of the succession plan, but it must be earned. When you pass your business to a new agent that person needs to have earned that ownership. And the business they step into needs a solid property management division and a balanced sales division to ensure that steady stream of income. You have to build value intentionally, and that includes the quality of your team.

Succession planning involves a lot of tough questions about when to bring in new people, how their career progression should proceed, what skills they need to contribute, and how to nurture your upcoming leaders. The Josh Phegan Company is here to help you with all those important choices.

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

Ep 62 – Shifting to a Higher Price Point

This High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips on how to handle the shift upward to handling higher price points. Having confidence in your systems and processes is Alexander’s first point, followed by hunger and motivation. Josh notes that higher-end clients are actually easier to work with, and Alexander elaborates on what they really look for in an agent. They discuss anticipating the client’s needs and being ready to present great ideas before they ask.

Josh notes negotiation points and Alexander adds that thinking of percentage rather than cash is helpful for agents new to dealing in that higher price range. They end on gaining confidence and social proof as you progress upward.

Sell Every Property You Take to Market

The thing that makes an agent great is understanding what it takes to sell every property you take to market. It’s more than photographing homes, working opens and showing up to auctions. In my Coaching Tip today I’m talking about being in control of timing and process, and making the most of your opportunities whilst you have them.

Build and use your buyer hit list. Those buyers who lost out on a property with you before are motivated to win the next one. But you want to get them through the home before it goes live, because once that listing hits the major real estate websites you’ve lost your negotiation power. Present the home beautifully and, more importantly, present the desired lifestyle that home represents.

Use a little compression selling to raise the buyer’s sense of competition and fear of missing out again. If they make that early offer you’re ready to negotiate. Then you need to decide whether to sell prior, go forward into the marketplace, or go to auction to get the best price possible. That decision needs to be made on a case-by-case basis. Your ability to make the right decision consistently and quickly, and sell every property you take to market, will make you a great and in-demand agent.

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