Ep 59 — Six-Star Service

This High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips on how to deliver the highest customer service. Alexander says caring about clients and working hard for them is key. Josh notes that six-star service is about delivering on your promises and being present to ensure your clients have an easier time with the process. Alexander reinforces this with a description of how he runs a Saturday. Josh speaks to the necessity of having an assistant to help take care of customers, and they discuss the importance of preparation in making sure everything runs smoothly.

They talk about about timing, intensity, and seasonal rhythm around knowing when to work hardest, and then go on holiday while the market is slow. They agree on building a great team so you can focus on the work that matters.

Communication With Vendors

You must maintain good communication with vendors if you expect to command their trust and cooperation. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll show you why it’s so important for you to keep your vendors informed around the work you’re doing for them every step of the way, and how to do it.

You might want to blame changing market conditions and stubborn vendors for disappointing results, but it’s more likely that you simply haven’t established rapport with your owners. Everything you do after listing a property will make or break your relationship with your vendors. It all comes to the level of trust they have in you, and that’s your responsibility to establish.

Your clients need to know what’s going on with the process of selling their home. Every time you take a step forward, give them a call and let them know what’s happening. It only takes a few seconds to call them up and tell them what’s been done and what happens next, but it makes a world of difference to their confidence in you to know that you’re actively working for them. Once you’ve built that foundation they will be more likely to accept your advice when it’s time to accept an offer on their home.

It’s also good to make sure your vendors maintain perspective on the marketplace beyond their own property. Give them news on similar properties in their area, days on market, buyers viewing homes, and final sale prices, to help them set reasonable expectations. Along with frequent calls, arrange for a few face-to-face meetings at your office as well to discuss business matters without distractions.

Always bear in mind that your role as an agent is to sell properties for the best possible price in the least amount of time. Your vendor has hired you to perform an expert service for them, and they want to be able to trust your judgment and performance. Your communication with your vendors will establish that trust and demonstrate your ability to uphold your commitment to them.

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

Communicating the Vision

You may have a clear vision for the future of your business, but your people may not have that same vision. If you took your team to climb Everest would you make it to the top?

Vision is made up of 3 components: purpose, mission and values. Purpose is beyond money and profit. It is defined by the outcome of what you do. In real estate purpose is about helping people grow and progress throughout their lives. And purpose is never achieved, it is perpetuated through every new person you encounter.

Mission is measurable and it’s a long-term pursuit. It can be based on numbers for sales, properties, employees, profit, and expansion. You can monitor those numbers in terms of weeks and months, but your vision needs to be projected to where you want those numbers to be after 5 years and beyond.

Your values form the foundation for your business and you maintain that through communication and consistent reinforcement of rules. My own foundational values are these:
1. We perform at our best in everything that we do
2. We believe in people and their dreams
3. We innovate and constantly improve
4. We renew our energy
5. We work free of time and space

These are the values that I make sure my people know and remember from day one. All hiring, firing and performance evaluation is based upon these values.

Like an Everest mission, your business success is based upon your purpose, mission, and values. As a leader you must set the example you want your team to follow. Be clear about your vision and stay the course so your people know where they are now and where they’re going inside of your business, and keep everyone working together as a team toward a common goal.

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 58 — Expired Listings

This High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents features Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips on getting expired listings sold. Alexander covers some reasons why a listing might not sell the first time and notes challenges around getting it sold now. Josh reinforces the importance of knowing what went wrong with the first campaign and gaining the trust of sellers who have been disappointed. They discuss ways to improve marketing by really knowing your marketplace, and presenting the property more effectively than before. Josh stresses the importance of service through regular communication and responsiveness to your clients’ situation.

Alexander describes how to handle client expectations around pricing by focusing on percentage rather than dollar amount. Josh then emphasises the need to reassure client confidence by demonstrating effort, integrity and results.

Ep 57 — Progressing Buyers

In today’s High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips discuss progressing buyers in a for sale situation. Alexander says asking the right questions and meeting regularly face to face are crucial to helping clients make a decision and commit to buy. Josh suggests dialog that helps move a buyer forward, and Alexander tells how to keep them progressing forward once they make the commitment. Josh points out the need to know how the contract process works and stay in control to drive momentum to completion.

They discuss getting inspections and reports done before a contract is made so there are no delays and the process is then easier for clients. Alexander tells why he prefers to sell by auction, and Josh ends on considering all the elements of the sale, not just pricing.

Expanding Your Field of View

You’d better know where you’re going when that light turns green. In my Coaching Tip today I’ll tell you how to expand your prospecting field of view and why that’s so necessary to growing your business into the future.

The best agents are always looking ahead and focusing on clients they want to work with. Their planning is measured in weeks, months – even years. Yet so many agents are only focused on the next new prospect, the next new listing, and when that’s done those clients are forgotten. This is a big mistake that will limit your growth and market credibility. Every person you add to your database is important. Every past client is a potential future customer. And every one of them is sitting at a red light, orange light or green light stage in life. You want to already be in position to help each one move forward in the marketplace when their light turns green.

You expand your field of view through following up and following through. Prospect for new clients, but stay present and relevant with past clients, too. Be in touch, provide value, be the friend in the business. You do this by fully realising that your clients are people with dreams and emotions, and major life upheavals often require relocation. The properties you list and sell become a central part of their lives. This is why you want to extend your vision forward to where each client may be in 5 years or more.

If you want to be a really great agent then strive to keep your field of view expanding. Build a client base of people you’ll work with for many years to come. You may not work with a customer for 2 years, 6 years, even a decade, but when that light turns green for them you want to be the agent they think of first.

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

Ep 56 — Adapting to Change

In today’s High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips focus on adapting to change quickly and scaling your business effectively. Alexander describes how he structures his proposal process and ways other agents fail at this basic task. They stress quick response times, face-to-face interactions, keeping all text and visuals to a brief summary of what you’ve discussed with the client, and always making the best use of your time. Josh stresses keeping everything immediately relevant, simple and scalable.

Alexander describes how he implements exciting new ideas and functions, and Josh tells how he evaluates which new ideas will truly add value to his business.

Going the Distance

Being a great agent is all about going the distance. That means demonstrated tenacity, stability and consistency. In today’s Coaching Tip I’ll be talking about the things you need to focus on to take you where you want to go in your career.

The best way to maintain consistency is to start off where you want to end up. Real success takes years to achieve, but it takes even longer if your path is not direct. You’ll need to develop keen capabilities around generating leads, listing properties and maintaining relationships. How you work with people is so important for getting listings. Learn to ask the right questions to get the information you need to advise your clients and guide their decisions to get the results they desire.

You have to be a great prospector, on the phones every morning without fail. This is how you get face to face with clients every day, build relationships, get listings and generate referrals. You also have to be an effective lister and know how to present to each customer individually. And you must be committed to serving the client’s needs first.

Going the distance is all about being there fully day after day for your client, for your team and for your business. It’s longevity that establishes you as a great agent. One signboard at a time.

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

What Are You Building?

As an agent, everything you do is about building a great business and capitalising on what you’ve already done. But what are you building, really? In my Coaching Tip today I’ll help you see what you’re already doing and where you can go from there.

In my coaching work I see lots of agents who have been in business for years and still don’t see the opportunities they have sitting in their databases. Your database is a repository of relationships, not just names and numbers. Everybody you know, or have ever known, should be in there. And you should be active and current with all of those relationships. It’s important to add new contacts to your database, but even more vital to work with those people you already know.

Too many agents are focused solely on transactions and are missing their best leads, referrals and future business. Learn about your clients: where they live, what their life situations are, and how things are changing in their lives. Not only does this foster great relationships, it also helps you provide the information they need when they’re ready to buy or sell properties. It positions you as their trusted advisor, and it makes you a better agent.

Understand that you’re building momentum by building your database and using it to create productive call lists. Use your filters and categories to target market appraisals, sellers, and especially past clients who are your key referrers. You’re building your numbers and measuring results. Then you’re building in improvements to your prospecting and marketing. And that’s how you build your business.

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

Ep 55 — Prospecting Lead Sources

In this High Performance Podcast for Real Estate Agents Josh Phegan and Alexander Phillips discuss prospecting lead sources and choosing the most beneficial. Alexander lists his best categories of lead sources and describes how he handles them, and Josh describes his philosophy of building on the results of successful transactions and great client relationships. They discuss the importance of open for inspections, and Alexander describes how he would start gathering lead sources as a new agent. Josh then lists opportunities many agents miss and advises how to avoid those mistakes.

Alexander notes turnover of properties is faster now than in the past, and Josh stresses the importance of following through with clients. Both agree that maintaining those relationships is crucial to generating leads.