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

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

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The Sequel to Sell with Soul
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Glad you stuck with me through the Monkey Series! You made it all the way to the punch line.

In case you just stumbled onto this series, you should probably read it from the beginning - starting here. Or not. Your call.

It's really easy for Old Fogie types (like me) to confidently proclaim that WE don't accept Monkeys that aren't ours to mess with, and WE (said in a deep, gravely voice) just tell our clients the way it is and if they don't agree; NEXT!

But it's not that easy, especially for newer agents who really aren't sure what their responsibilities are, and are not in the mood to NEXT anyone. So, here are some tips.

•       Don't be an objection-buster (aka Silence is Golden). When a client throws out objections, concerns or stumbling blocks, think before you speak. Often these objections, concerns or stumbling blocks will be HIS Monkeys, not yours. Just smile, nod and make an "I hear ya" noise, and let the client continue. If he wants your input, he'll ask for it directly, but until he does, just listen without offering solutions.

If, after your moment of golden silence, you realize that this IS your Monkey, go ahead and offer a response or solution. If you aren't sure, just write it down or commit it to memory to ponder later. You can always accept a Monkey after the fact, but it's much tougher to return a Monkey after you've accepted it prematurely.

•       Ask "What's Your Plan B?" as if you are not guaranteeing the desired outcome... which you aren't. I use this strategy with sellers who are being a little stubborn about pricing, accessibility or condition. I sweetly ask them what they will do if their home doesn't sell for the price they "need" or, at all. This subtly lets them know that while I'll do my best, I won't take full responsibility for their home selling - that's not a Monkey I'll accept.

•       A la Jackie Leavenworth, the Real Estate Whisperer - if a buyer or seller looks to you to solve a problem that isn't reasonably yours to solve (e.g. you give up some of your commission to put or hold a deal together), you can gently say something like "I've found that when a real estate agent wants to make a deal more than the other parties involved, it's not the right deal to make." (Jackie has a whole audio CD on negotiations that is superb - check it out at: http://www.coachjackie.com/jackiesproducts). If you like my stuff, you'll love hers.

So, what IS the punch line?

If you know what Monkeys are yours to carry... and which are not... and you respect the other party enough to let him keep his own Monkeys, you'll be a much happier, healthier and RESTED real estate agent!

The Epilogue - I have a very timely situation to share with you about two agents on opposite sides of a deal who both accepted Monkeys they shouldn't have. Stay tuned! 

Picking up from yesterday's installment of things you can do TODAY to ensure a Happy Next Year, today's topic is how becoming a Master of Your Market can get you business. As with yesterday's topic (blogging for business), what you're about to read comes from the Pipeline 2010 program that was included in my 2009 Summer of Soul Teleseminar series.

First, what does being a "Master of your Market" mean? To me it means that if someone tells me where they live, I get a mental image of their neighborhood or subdivision or condo building. I don't necessarily know how big their house is or what year it was built, but I can probably guess within a decade or two, and I have a general sense of the overall ambience, what amenities are nearby and even a personal anecdote or two about the area I can toss out.

What being a Master of your Market doesn't mean is that you're a walking encyclopedia of facts, figures and statistics (click here to read my thoughts on the irrelevancy of the DOM statistic). No amount of research sitting behind your desk will give you the level of intimacy and familiarity with your market that you'll need to be a master of it. Again, a good definition of a market master is the ability to visualize a neighborhood when given an address - and there's no way you'll get that from MLS research.

How does being a Market Master help you attract business?

Well, as a real estate agent out there in the world with your antenna up, what do you have to offer the Average Joe who strikes up a conversation with you? Does he care how many listings you have? Does he care how gorgeous your home brochures are? Does he really want to hear about your 32-step marketing plan for selling houses? Probably not. But if he's at all interested in what $300,000 buys you in his neighborhood (and you know), or how much it costs these days to get into South Park Hill (and you know), your ability to make intelligent conversation about the market will get him, if he's gettable.

But if the best you can come up with is something like: "I'm not sure about that, but I'd be happy to find out for you;" well, it doesn't have quite the same effect.

The same thing applies when you're sitting on floor time or at an open house. If the best you can do is hand a visitor a list of other homes in the neighborhood, but can't really make conversation about them, the possibility of watching that stranger walk back out your door just went way up. But if you can chatter about nearby listings or comparable neighborhoods, you just dramatically increased the chances that your visitor will ask for your business card.

When you're on floor time, or take a sign call, again, if you can speak intelligently about the market either surrounding your listing, or that your office specializes in, you'll easily capture those leads.

So, what should you be doing right now to ensure that you're a Market Master by 2010? Well, following the advice of Todd Clark in his featured blog: "How Long of an Article is Too Long?"  I'll answer this tomorrow... but please share YOUR thoughts today!

This topic, as well as nearly a dozen others, is covered extensively in the 2009 Summer of Soul Teleseminar Series, which is a collection of over 800 minutes of downloadable audio recordings on a variety of topics of interest to real estate agents. It's just $49 until September 15; then it's going up to $99. Purchase the series here.

I, like you, am really into immediate gratification. I like to see a payoff for my efforts, like, five minutes from now, or else I get discouraged and don't wanna play anymore. Faxes are too slow. The microwave takes too long. I want it NOW (whatever "it" is that I want... right now).

When it comes to wanting cash... as in, a paycheck, I'm definitely into "sooner rather than later." While I'm aware that I'll have bills to pay in January, February and March, I'm not nearly as concerned about them as I am about the ones due in September, October and November. And, frankly, there are just so many hours in the day, so it's only logical that I should focus on activities that pay off sooner, rather than later, right?

Sure, there's some logic to that and it's how most of us run our businesses, throughout our entire careers. We have a cycle we repeat over and over... prospect hard, then deal with the business our prospecting brings in, then notice our pipeline's about empty, panic, then prospect hard again. And the cycle repeats. Some agents, in trying to break this cycle, implement sophisticated systems that are designed to generate a steady stream of leads that they can tap into when they see a break in their business looming. I've never had much luck with such systems - they just don't fit into my business model, so I can't speak to whether or not they do what they promise to do. Somehow I doubt it. And besides, they cost a lot of money!

But if you've ever experienced the euphoria of having a relatively consistent pipeline, I'll bet you'll agree that it's worth the effort you have to put into it upfront. As in, today. And tomorrow. And next week. For business that may not come to fruition until six months from now or longer. But here's the cool thing. Once your longer-term efforts start paying off, two things will have happened. One - you'll be in the habit of doing these things to the point where they'll seem like a natural part of your day and two - you'll have generated the momentum within your business to keep that ball rolling.

And you know what else? Most of the things you can do today to ensure business in six months don't cost you a thing. They'll just take a little of your time, your creativity and your commitment to showing up every day.

Stay tuned for more thoughts on what you can be doing TODAY to make you feel awfully smart six months from now!

Pipeline 2010: Blogging Today for Business Tomorrow
Pipeline 2010: Attracting Business by Mastering Your Market

PIPELINE 2010! RAH RAH RAH!

Visit most real estate training sites and you'll pretty quickly see references to being a Superstar or a Champion or a Hero or a Top Producer or some other high-falutin' descriptive term for a tippy-top level of real estate production. You'll see testimonials from agents who bought whatever system is being marketed claiming to have tripled their income or hit the half-million mark in commissions or sold 167 houses their first month on the program.

Wow. That's something. I'll admit to being intimidated by such marketing, both as an active real estate agent AND a real estate trainer myself. Gee, I never made $500,000 or sold 300 houses in a year. Neither has anyone I've ever coached or mentored or trained.

Do I believe the claims? Sure I do - no real reason to believe that such levels aren't attainable just because I never did it or know anyone who did.

But I don't believe that the majority of agents are going to see anywhere near those production levels, regardless of what system, program or philosophy they follow. No, not even in a good market.

And that's okay! I have a loyal following of several thousand real estate agents who don't want or need to set the world on fire - they just want to make a consistent, comfortable living, doing business in a manner they're proud of, making more people happy than unhappy. They also want to have time for their families, their hobbies and their naps. They don't want to be Power Prospectors who generate business 14 hours a day and then hand it off to their harem of assistants and specialists on their way out the door to drum up even more.

Hey, there's nothing wrong with wanting to be the Top Dog in your office, neighborhood, city, county or state. But if you don't, that's okay, too. There's plenty of room (and commission checks) here in the middle for those with slightly less-grand aspirations.

So, don't fret if you doubt you'll ever be a Superstar. You're in very good company.

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I have a new soapbox that has fired up my blogging energy... doncha' love it when that happens? Off we go...

I had an interesting meeting last summer with a real estate agent who started in the business the same year I did, in the same company. That year, he was the Rookie of the Year ... and I was runner-up to him. Neither of us recall who was third, of course!

Anyway, we literally hadn't run into each other since that awards ceremony in the mid-90's. Oh, I've seen his name around and he's seen mine, but we've never actually talked. We both went on to have successful careers and to set our individual worlds on fire (in our own minds anyway) and are still alive and kicking, almost 13 years later. Good thing.

So, last summer, we had the opportunity to chat about our respective careers. Since his dad had been a mega-producing broker at the time this guy (let's call him Skip) entered the business, I always assumed that his success had been handed to him. Au Contraire!

Skip explained that his dad wouldn't even let him in the door of his real estate office until he had, get this, worked for a year as a copier salesman. After that, he had to get his appraiser's license. Only then did Dad allow him to hang his new real estate license. But that was only the beginning - the boot camp then begun. Skip had to call all 600 of his dad's past clients, had to knock on 20 FSBO doors and call 20 expired listings per week. He had to hold two open houses every single Saturday. I'm sure there was mass-mailing and advertising tossed in there, too, but he didn't mention it.

And, voila! Skip was Rookie of the Year!

At the same time, I was taking my friends to lunch and attending social events with my future-ex-husband. I did some open houses and returned phone calls in nano-seconds. That was about it for my prospecting efforts.

And voila! I was the Rookie of the Year Runner-up!

Truth be told, Skip blew me away in production. He sold something like 70 houses that first year to my 25. But I was pretty darn happy with my 25 and I was enjoying the heck out of my new real estate career. So, for me, it worked. Had I been forced thru Skip's boot camp, I wouldn't have made it past my first month.

Fast forward to today.

Both Skip and I have had successful careers. We've made a lot of money and have consistently been top producers in our offices. I'm sure he has a lot of plaques on his "me wall," as do I.

But our approaches are still vastly different. He said he has to sell AT LEAST 100 houses a year to be profitable - that is, to support the systems and staff he's put in place. He HAS to cold call, he HAS to door knock, he HAS to prospect, prospect, prospect to stay afloat. He said that if he only has 5 closings in a month, he's in deep financial doo-doo. 

Me? Well, my "best" year was in 2001 when I sold something like 70 houses. But you know what? That year, I brought home less than 40% of my gross commissions (not counting taxes) because the cost of maintaining that level of production was astronomical. A few years later, I sold "only" 35 houses and netted exactly the same amount, working half as hard and taking on only half the risk. Hmmmmmm.

Today, my business is very simple (and cheap) to run. It's just me, myself and I. No assistants, no buyer agents, not even a free-lance transaction coordinator. I don't advertise, farm or SEO. Due to my strong sphere of influence and past client database, I have a steady stream of good business. Will I sell 100 houses this year? Uh, no. But do I work 60 hours a week? Nope. Haven't done that in years.

I imagine Skip's annual income is close to a million, if not more. Mine? Nowhere close to a million! But do I feel as if I'm been blown away by my fellow Rookie? Not really.

I don't ever want to be in the position of having to be a mega-producer in order to survive. I just want to take on the amount of business I can handle all by myself, the amount of business that I can easily attract using the soulful methods and philosophies that have always worked for me.

I must be getting old...

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As the Introverted Real Estate Agent's New Best Friend (I just made that up), I give out a lot of advice on how to make a real estate career work even if you aren't the most outgoing, charismatic social butterfly in town. The other day I was asked about the appropriateness of adding people to your mailing list (either email or snail-mail) without their permission. Spam issues aside (we're talking about people we know, not strangers), many introverts are hesitant to begin any structured communication with a friend or acquaintance for fear of annoying them.

I get that. Oh, how I get that. I agonize over my mailing list every time I send something out, whether it be to my real estate Sphere of Influence or my Sell with Soul readership. I wonder if I'm communicating too much; if I'm wearing out my welcome; or conversely, if I'm not communicating enough and my audience has forgotten who I am. I worry about the appropriateness of including a little promo for my next product or new listing. Conversely, I worry that if I don't, I'm not fulfilling my duty to myself to effectively market my stuff.

It's easy to over-think such things and end up doing nothing. Which is a bad plan. So, if this sounds anything like you, here are a few thoughts to put your mind at ease...

First, ask yourself if what you're getting ready to send out is something you're proud of. If it's something you'd enjoy receiving in your mailbox or inbox. Or, egads, if it's some cheesy newsletter or sales piece that you'd toss without reading if it were sent to you.

If your communication is something you are proud of and would enjoy receiving, then move on down to the next point. If it's not, if you're actually embarrassed by your effort, then you need to honor that gut feeling and return to the drawing board. Because, in my opinion, sending something cheesy or dorky is NOT better than doing nothing at all! But that's a topic for a different day.

If you're pleased with your piece, send it out. To everyone. Here's the thing. A few might be annoyed or feel spammed. That's a fact. But most won't. The vast majority won't. If you're sending out good stuff, most will enjoy it and be impressed by you. Which is good for business.

I'd rather impress 10 people and risk annoying one than take the chance of some other agent getting my SOI's business because I was worried about the one...