Going To The Next Level Is Easier Than You Think!
BATTLECALL GUEST EXPERT: Walter Sanford, National Real Estate Trainer
I have loved real estate for over thirty years. A few of those years were as a "peak and valley" investor. Believe me, some of those valleys were awfully deep! I worked most years as one of the top real estate agents in North America. Now, I work as a real estate trainer watching some of my ideas being implemented. Real estate is easy to love if you just do a few items better than your competitors. You can see business advancements at 20% this year by just concentrating on some of the most profitable areas of your practice.
The classifications that I used to plan my new year were lead generation systems. They were 98% effective listing presentations, inexpensive customer service that created raving fans, checklists that allowed my business to go on automatic pilot when I was too busy, and net-profit destinations that allowed me to save for the days when I didn't have the energy.
It's been said that technology is going to change the face of real estate, which I believe is true! Technology speeds the delivery process and lowers the cost of your sales message. Before you can implement technology with your systems, you have to have a system. I propose a simple, five-step plan that will form the foundation of your real estate production. Once the foundation is built, one of the most challenging aspects of real estate is how to deliver your plan faster and cheaper.
This five-step foundation will form the basis of your business plan.
1. Implement interview telephone question lists for buyers and sellers prior to appointments determines their highest needs. Then strive to deliver the solutions to their needs. Once these highest needs are discovered, form partnerships with other affiliate industry "team members" to provide a perception of value, unsurpassed by your competition. Third party endorsement letters, one-stop shopping, and team approaches to clients' service are more favorites.
2. Develop checklists for every repeatable action that happens in real estate, i.e. taking a listing, making a buyer presentation, showing properties, doing an open house, completing prospecting techniques, or just opening the office in the morning. This will allow you to have a basis from which to add new ideas from seminars, eliminate things in order to increase net profit, and make your business more effective because you just don't have to remember what you did last year that made you a success. Start today by writing all the steps to your most profitable departments of your business!
3. Make sure that everyone who is making a living off your business, i.e. your favorite loan representative, home inspection, home warranty, insurance person, title, local attorney, and closing officer has a stake in your business. You need to ask them the question, "What can you do for me this year that will increase my clients satisfaction with the transaction and increase net profit? How can we work together to create more leads?" My favorites are FSBO programs headed up by my lender and inspections being done at the listing with no invoice to my seller until expiration or close.
4. Have a constant flow of ready, willing and able buyers and sellers through the use of all delivery methods including telephone, personal visits, direct mail, email, and internet to the hottest demographic buyers and sellers. This may sound overwhelming but it is very easy to pick a demographic group that is proven to have a higher incidence of buyers and sellers. One of my favorites is non-owner occupieds. These are people who own real estate but don't live in your town have a higher need for information and assistance than local owners do. These people can be easily contacted with lists of services that they need to manage their investments. Since people normally hold these properties for investment, their turnover ratio may be higher and emotions are more based upon business decisions than lifestyle decisions. This group like all others is prospected through direct mail, email, advertising, internet, and telephone.
5. Make sure that your work will have an end date and that you can see a progression in your life every year. One of the greatest causes of burnout is the fact that you can work every year in real estate and stay in the same place in your life. It can be an awfully hard job when you didn't see consistent progressions in your net worth! Therefore, a savings plan, investment plan, and an exit plan are absolutely necessary. You must see progressions every year so that you can dig deep and find the energy to compete with today's real estate agents. Prepare your checklists, database, and systems with the thought that someone else may be doing your job some day.
I hope that these points for success will trigger some thought as you plan your business for the New Year.
Walter Sanford was one of the top real estate agents in North America for nearly thirty years, and now, he is one of the most requested speakers, trainers, and coaches. He has authored twelve systems and books on checklists, pro-active lead generation, affiliate lead generation, plus others mentioned in this article. You can hire Walter or buy his products by visiting his website for more details at waltersanford.com.
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