A Fresh Approach to Real Estate Rookie-hood with Jennifer Allan

I'm going to steal a page from the Broker Bryant rulebook and dredge up an old post from the distant past. In fact, what follows is one of my very first posts here on Active Rain, but I was inspired to re-post today it by Susan Haughton's excellent post on the same topic... 

Besides I only got 8 comments on it the first go-around (hmpf!), so let's give it another go!

BUYERS ARE NOT LIARS! (first posted January, 2007)

Buyers can be hard to nail down and you'll hear agents talk about the "Buyers Are Liars" phenomenon. It's a phrase usually used in frustration either when an agent loses a buyer or when he's at his wit's end showing homes that the buyer says work for her, but don't inspire her to make an offer. It simply means that buyers don't really know what they want, and often it's true.

Remember, buyers don't shop for houses every day and they probably don't know what they'll respond to until they see it. So you'll need to have a little patience with them.

Find out your buyer's preferred neighborhood. If he is unfamiliar with your city, find out what kind of neighborhood he thinks he'd like - urban, suburban, rural, mountains, coastal? Any particular commuting distance? Does he like charming older homes near the city center or new contemporary homes near the shopping malls? Price range?

Moving on... number of bedrooms, baths, garage? Any special needs? Don't get too specific though. Pushing buyers for too many details is counterproductive, believe it or not. If you keep pushing, he may start making things up to please you. Doesn't everyone want a garage and more than one bath? But he might not really care that much and, if you limit your search to his non-critical parameters, you'll miss a lot of great homes.

The other danger in asking for too many details is that your buyer will start telling you things like, "I really want a window over the kitchen sink" or "I want an open floor plan with lots of light." Depending on your inventory, you may end up with nothing to show her if you rely strictly on her wish list. And if you show her homes that don't meet her "requirements," she may think you weren't listening. You (and she) need to gauge her reactions to different styles of homes in person. Remember, buyers don't shop for homes every day and don't really know what they will respond to until they've seen it.

And you know what else (by the way, this is new material from here on out)? Buyers change their minds about what they want or need. OMG! How dare they? I mean, they TELL us they want to live in this-and-such neighborhood and then, BAM! They find a new favorite neighborhood they'd like to explore. Egads - the nerve of them! (that's sarcasm ;-])

When I was looking for a home in Alabama, I changed my mind at least three times as to whether or not I wanted to live in the City... or the country. Whether or not I could live without a garage. Whether that fourth bedroom was REALLY necessary. My real estate agent hung in there with me, never breathing a hint of annoyance at my incredible insensitivity to wasting her valuable time. Good thing, because if she had, I'd have found someone else more appreciative of the $7,000 paycheck I eventually generated for her, as well as the two other $7k-ish paychecks she got when I bought two rental properties.

My friends, our buyers are not liars. They're just regular human beings who deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. And we are well-paid to do just that. 

Following up on yesterday's blog about making sure your prospecting goals are compatible with your business model (in a nut, don't set goals that will force you to sacrifice your quality of service, if providing quality service is important to you)...

The agent who inspired yesterday's blog is following a popular prospecting program that's making the rounds these days. It encourages agents to spend so many hours every day doing X (basically, some form of cold or warm prospecting), with the goal of reaching Y number of prospects every day, with the ultimate goal of securing as many new clients as possible by the end of the program.

Y'know, your basic Numbers Game strategy. Fair enough.

He's all ramped up about it because he says that another agent who is participating in the program got 41 new listings in 30 days. My agent friend is very impressed.

Initially, so was I. But then my cynical side kicked in and I said "hmmmmmmm."

Let's do some math.

41 new listings in 30 days. Assuming these aren't batch listings (10 building lots from a developer; 15 spec homes from a builder, etc.), I'm wondering how this is possible. Not saying that the agent in question isn't capable of securing 41 listings with her Super Sales Pitch, but in a month?

That means that she did at least 41 listing presentations (probably more as it's unlikely she has a 100% success rate, but let's be generous and say she does). That's 41 CMA's, 41 sets of contracts and disclosures, 41 copies to seller and broker, 41 keys-in-the-lockbox, 41 MLS entries, 41 signs-in-the-yards, 41 whatever-she-does-to-market-her-listings, etc. etc. etc. And none of this includes explaining the process of being on the market to those 41 new sellers, answering the inevitable questions that arise as showings for 41 sellers begin (or don't begin as the case may be), keeping up on the market in all 41 seller's neighborhoods, pursuing and delivering feedback, and managing offers that come in.

Have we mentioned the time that this agent was dedicating to her daily prospecting for these 41 listings, or the time she was devoting to her existing clients or to her family? And let's not forget eating and sleeping. All the while, preparing for, going on and processing these 41+ listing appointments.

I call BS. I don't think it's logistically possible to get 41 new, individual listings in 30 days. Could you list a developer, builder or bank and find yourself with 41 listings? Sure. But 41 individual sellers? I don't buy it.

What's my point? I dunno. Maybe just to demonstrate how smart I think I am to see through the nonsense and call it what it is. Or maybe I just want to assure agents that this sort of production isn't realistic and not be discouraged if they don't experience it themselves.

Probably a little of both.

There's a never-ending debate in our world about which buyers are worth spending time with... and which are not. Some proclaim that the only buyer business we should pursue is that which will likely lead to a closing within the next 60 days or so; others (myself included) don't mind spending time with someone who will probably buy a house someday, even if that someday is 6 months from now or longer.

These debates also usually include passionate discussion into whether or not to require pre-approval or buyer agency before allowing a buyer to "waste" an agent's valuable time. 

To each his or her own. I run my business my way; you are free to run yours your way. It's a beautiful country, ain't it?

Anyway, I recently participated in such a debate over at Agents Online (www.agentsonline.net), a forum where I've been a moderator for the last few years. As is typical, my voice (and Perky's) were on one side of the debate, with pretty much everyone else on the other. Frankly, that's why I hang out there - I kinda like the opportunity to soapbox on my philosophies knowing they'll be argued with. And from a mercenary perspective, I've noticed that whenever the debates get hot and heavy, activity in my bookstore picks way up.

But I digress (again).  Sorry.

There was a comment made by a participant something along the lines of how his time is much more productively spent on prospecting activities rather than working with buyers. Um... okay.  Am I missing something here? Isn't the point of prospecting to bring in buyers (or sellers) to work with?

Okay, to be fair, I think his point was that he'd rather spend time looking for what he considers a "perfect" buyer (one who will buy an expensive property quickly) rather than waste time on someone less motivated and less profitable. That if he spends 3 hours searching for that perfect buyer (or seller) instead of driving around with the imperfect one, it's a better payoff. I get that (I guess, actually, I really don't). But again, it's a choice and I respect that.

Here's my point, though (finally).

Our industry so enthusiastically celebrates the virtues of militarized prospecting that many seem to forget why we're doing all this prospecting. I see this all the time - agents bemoan the fact that they don't have enough business, but in the next breath, complain that the business they do attract with their efforts isn't, basically, good enough. So, they, basically, chase it off. My friend Susan Haughton said it best - "It is astounding how many roadblocks agents put up in front of the prospects they burn up so much shoe leather to obtain."

I have about 5 more blogs on this topic burning a hole on my keyboard, so if you like this one, stand by for more. But for today - the moral of the story is: Unless you are so darn busy with well-qualified, motivated, gotta-have-it-now buyers (or sellers), don't fret if the business you have isn't moving as quickly as your mentors seem to think it should. There ain't nothing wrong with a full pipeline!

RELATED BLOGS
What Do You Do with a June Buyer?
How to Chase Away Your Perfectly Qualified, Perfectly Loyal buyers

In the last week, I've been contacted by three (or was it four?) aspiring real estate agents who began the conversation with some variation of the words "I know you don't approve of selling real estate part-time, but..." and proceeded to tell me why I might consider "approving" of their situation.

Sorry. Ain't gonna happen. Okay, well, let me confess that one of the three (or four) aspiring agents actually had a potentially viable proposition for success as a part-time new agent, but the others (love y'all, but...) did not. Their main argument to my proclamation that part-time ain't gonna work was "I'd really like to go full-time but I can't. What do you think?"

Um, sorry m'love, but I think exactly what I thought five minutes before I got your call or note. Whether or not you "can" go full-time doesn't change the fact that selling real estate is a full-time job. Take it or leave it.

But, don't despair; there IS a solution for you!

Really, Jennifer? Tell me; tell me, what is it?

I dunno.

I don't know what the solution is, but there is one. Wanna know how to find it? Okay, here goes.

Simply acknowledge to yourself that you want to sell real estate for a living, and accept the fact that in order to succeed, selling real estate needs to be your primary career. Then relax and let it go - let your creativity subconsciously work on the problem. Don't rush it, don't fret, and don't force anything. The answer will come, I promise it will.

I don't know what that answer will be, but I'm almost positive it won't be "I'll sell real estate nights and weekends." That's the WRONG answer.

But there is a right answer. One that will seem oh-so-obvious once it smacks you on the head.  

I recently played this game with myself in my personal life. There are two things I want and they appear to be mutually exclusive. I can have this... OR that. Not both. So, I just said out loud what I wanted and waited for inspiration on how to have both... or some other satisfactory solution. And, I think I've found it. Once the solution occurred to me, it seemed so obvious.

Be patient and show your new career the respect it deserves. It may just be the best decision you ever made. And if you come up with a Right Answer to the dilemma - please share!

RELATED BLOGS
Is it Your "Right" to Dabble in Real Estate?
Aspiring Real Estate Agents - Can't Go Full-time?
Revisiting Part-Time versus Full-Time in 2010

p.s. Before you jump on the band-wagon of protesting that I'm anti-part-timer, please read Comment #28!

Whatcha' doing this Wednesday, May 26th in the late afternoon/early evening (depending on your Location Location Location)?

If there's nothing else pressing on your calendar, why don't you join us here in the SWS Studio for the third segment of the Rookie-to-Rookie Show where I'm hosting a panel discussion with 3 newly non-rookies (i.e. agents in their 2nd and 3rd years). They've graciously volunteered to answer my (and your) questions on the Rookie Experience - how they survived, what they did right... and wrong... what they'd do differently... stuff like that.

It's freeeeeeee and open to the public, and probably would be helpful to anyone (not just rookies) selling (not enough?) real estate these days.

My guests are Latonia Parks, Barbara Singleterry and Stephanie Hofman.

Join us? Here's the scoop:

DATE: Wednesday, May 26th
TIME: 4:00 pm Pacific / 5:00 pm Mountain / 6:00 pm Central / 7:00 pm Eastern
DURATION: 60-90 minutes
FANCY EQUIPMENT REQUIRED: Telephone and/or computer (you can call in or log-in)

REGISTRATION: http://www.sellwithsoul.com/rookie-to-rookie

Whether or not one can succeed/survive in this industry doing it part-time is always a good topic for debate. Emotions run high, tempers flare, feelings get hurt. Bummer.

But it really is an important question, especially TO those considering entering the field.

I've been thinking about it a lot, so I'll take one for the team and open up that can of worms yet again.

For the record, I've always been of the seemingly obvious opinion that if you're going to do something, do it 100%. And in an industry where far more practitioners fail than succeed, it only makes sense that the ones who devote themselves wholeheartedly to their career have a better chance of being one of the ones who don't fail... right?

Well, in the last few years, our industry has changed (really, Jennifer, y'think?) and it's not uncommon for a new real estate agent (or any real estate agent, frankly) to go months and months without a paycheck. And that's a tough situation to volunteer for.

So, new real estate agents approach their careers a little more circumspectly. They keep their day job (or night job as the case may be) and only stick their toe in the water... okay, maybe they wade in up their knees or even their waist. But they don't jump in. They don't fully commit. And they tell themselves that they're being practical, logical and responsible.

I get that. I really do. In a business where new practitioners might go a year before seeing their first payday, it's a tough sell to convince them to leave their regular paycheck and benefits behind.

But... practicality and responsibility aside... it still doesn't work. I know a lot of first-year agents and they run the gamut from having zero business to having more business than they can handle... and without exception, it's the part-time agents who are at the zero end... and the full-time agents who are at the more-than-they-can-handle end. (Of course, there are plenty of full-timers who are failing, but I don't know any part-timers who are succeeding).

The thing is - to succeed in a new business, you have to immerse yourself in it. Every day. All day. With all your passion, all your energy, all your resources. Sorry, but that's a fact whether or not you want to or can afford to. New agents who are succeeding are giving this career their full attention... not just sticking their toe in the water.

What's the punch line? If you can't afford to immerse yourself in your new real estate career, maybe now is not the time to begin your new real estate career.

p.s. please note that I am speaking primarily to new agents and pre-licensees here. Experienced agents with established lead generation and administrative systems can often make it working part-time. But rookies?  Sorry...

RELATED BLOGS
Aspiring Agents - Can't Go Full Time? Consider this...
Can a New Agent Make it in Today's Market?

I'm Cheap. You can call me frugal if you want to, but I don't see the need to euphemize. I'm cheap. When I go to DSW Shoe Warehouse, I head straight to the Clearance rack. I can't remember the last time I bought a new appliance (Beckers Used Appliances in Denver ROCKS!). My favorite clothes come from the consignment shop. I have a little jean skirt I paid $1.75 for at the Christian Mission in Daleville, Alabama. And I love it. Ditto a hardback suitcase I got on sale there for $3.00.

If it's not at Wal-Mart, I probably don't need it.

You get my point. I'm cheap.

If you're the same way... and you like the SWS message, you might want to visit the Scratch & Dent section of my bookstore. There are four items in stock there right now - two digital CD products and some roughed-up copies of my two books. I've been traveling a lot lately, and since I always travel with my books, they tend to get a little scuffed in transit. I think there are 5 or 6 of each available. The digital CDs are older versions of my Dorky Announcement Letters - DEDorked and my Seriously Cool Bonus Toolkit. The CDs are $10 each and the books are $12.95 each.

Just thought I'd let my like-minded soulsisters and brothers know...

SWS SCRATCH & DENTS HERE!

Back in 2007, I wrote one of my most popular (and deservedly so, she says modestly) blogs ever. In fact, this one blog has brought more real estate agents to my website than any other, and continues to attract new souls to my midst on an almost daily basis.

I'm referring, of course, to the classic "Let's Do Away with the Dorky Announcement Letter." In this blog, I sternly advise new real estate agents to Think Before They Write to their spheres of influence, BEFORE they announce their venture into real estate as if it's the most exciting news since... oh, I don't know what.

I followed up that blog with the Dorky Series - The Dorky Active Rain Profile, The Dorky Business Card and The Dorky Blog (which NAR brilliantly paraphrased here). I even created a sweet little product called "Dorky Announcement Letters - DEDorked!" where I provide several editable examples of non-dorky letters that can be used to connect or reconnect with one's sphere of influence.

But, alas, the Dorky-ness continues. The other day, I got a nice email from a brand new agent asking if I had a sample of a form letter she could use to announce her new career to her friends and family (no, I don't). Today, I got an inquiry from an agent who apparently found that form letter the other new agent was looking for, sent it out to his SOI and is wondering why no one responded.

I get that a lot. Agents writing to me in frustration that they ARE communicating with their Spheres of Influence ("just like you told me to, Jennifer!") but nothing is happening. No one seems to care about them and their real estate business. But... when I ask for details on what they're sending out to their spheres, they proudly send over their Dorky letters, monthly recipe postcards and boilerplate newsletters.

Sigh.

My friends, I get it. I KNOW that you're busy; I know that it sounds overwhelming to create new material on a regular basis. And since you can easily buy pre-created material, what is wrong with just using that? It's better than nothing, isn't it?

NO. NO. NO.

Sending boring, boilerplate, templated stuff to your sphere of influence won't cut it. I'm really really sorry, but that's the truth. I wish it would - then I could just create my own line of Dorky Letters, Postcards and Newsletters and sell ‘em to you myself! (Hmmmmmm... if you can't beat ‘em join ‘em? Nah).

I'll be discussing this topic at the next freeee SWS Teleseminar entitled "Don't be Dorky, Be YOU!" on April 24th. Join us? Here are the details: www.sellwithsoul.com/dorky.

Hope to see you there!

REGISTER FOR DON'T BE DORKY, BE YOU!
Saturday morning, April 24th
(It's Free)

In January, I posted a blog about a phone call interview I had with REALTOR Magazine about "Cold-Calling in the Age of the Do Not Call list." I thought I had some wise things to say, but truly didn't think any of it would be printed since I'm pretty much clueless about anything to do with cold-calling (except there ain't no way I'm gonna do it).

Well, knock me over with a feather... yesterday I stumbled onto a featured blog by REALTOR Magazine and noticed that the graphic on the blog was the cover of the magazine my interview was meant for... Having nothing more pressing to do at the moment, I clicked on the link and what do I see? I got my own article! Not just a throwaway line in an article about Do-Not-Calling, but a whole headline and everything!

Now, I have to wonder... how come none of y'all mentioned this to me? Don't you read your REALTOR Magazine?

Anyway, here's the link. http://www.realtor.org/rmosales_and_marketing/articles/2010/1004_selling_donotcalllist. I doubt I'll change any die-hard cold-caller's mind about the practice, but maybe those of you who don't wanna cold-call can take comfort that there ARE alternatives!

Happy Friday, my friends!

I'm doing a little one-on-one consulting with a relatively new agent (who's gonna ROCK!) in Denver. We have similar personalities when it comes to our feelings about prospecting and business-building, so our conversations about prospecting always lead to some interesting A-HA moments for both of us.

Anyway, yesterday, my agent friend told me about a conversation he had with a like-minded career coach - one who specializes in matching personality types with business-building strategies. According to this coach (and my friend's score on the MBTI), my friend is capable of cold-calling and door-knocking for business, and he might even be rather good at it, as long as he feels he has something of value to offer.

HOWEVER, the coach cautioned him that even though he might be moderately successful in his cold-prospecting efforts, his personality type is simply not one that tolerates rejection well over the long term. That if he spends too much of his time and energy on prospecting activities that involve a steady dose of rejection, he'll eventually become depressed and discouraged. And probably won't realize why he's so lethargic and unenthusiastic about his career... and his life.

That makes perfect sense to me! I've been preaching for a long time now that there's no reason to spend your days doing something that you aren't comfortable with when there are perfectly acceptable alternatives. And if there AREN'T perfectly acceptable alternatives, maybe you're in the wrong business!

The good news is, of course, there are plenty of real estate prospecting techniques that don't involve much rejection. Oh, sure, rejection is a part of life, but that doesn't mean you have to put yourself in positions of pursuing it in the name of generating business if you don't want to. There's no need to "suck it up" or "just do it" if the sucking-up or just-doing makes you miserable.

Life's way too short for that. Figure out what you enjoy doing that brings in business. Do that. It really is that simple.

RELATED BLOGS: 
Be Yourself... Have More Fun... Sell More Real Estate! 
Stay IN Your Comfort Zone!
When to Venture Out of Your Comfort Zone... and when to stay in

It's Here!!!! 
The Sequel to Sell with Soul
Own one of the first 1,000 copies printed, numbered & autographed.
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