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

What to SAY (or not say, as the case may be) to Respectfully Decline the Monkey!

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:43:38 -0500

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!

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A Perfectly Reasonable "Excuse" Not to Cold-Call!

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:07:58 -0600

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.

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

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"I Want to Do Rentals Because Someday the Renters will Buy!"

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:22:49 -0600

I remember when I was a brand-spanking new agent back in 1996, I contacted my previous human resources manager and offered to show relocating employees around Denver if they were looking for a rental. I figured, what the heck? After all, they're renters today; but maybe buyers tomorrow and besides, I could use the practice getting around town.

Good for me.

Just the other day, I talked with a new agent who is considering adding property management to his menu of services. I asked him why and he replied that he thought it would be a good opportunity to make contacts with people who will probably buy a home eventually.

Good for him.

But... here's where I'd like to see that reasoning tweaked just a little.

Yes, renters may eventually become buyers, and later, sellers. But... not because they're renters. They may eventually buy or sell a home because they're human beings.

This is another example of the laser-focused prospecting I cautioned against last week. Agents try to identify specific groups of people to target with their marketing and focus their efforts on that group. Other popular targets include first-time buyers, home-builders, divorcing couples and newlyweds. Some agents watch the obituaries in hopes of scoring a good listing or two.

And there's nothing wrong with identifying a group or groups of people you want to work with and customizing your approach to them! But you know what's cool about our business? Almost EVERYONE who crosses your path "may eventually buy or sell a home" -- whether they're renters, builders, first-timers or newlyweds. Just make it your goal to cross paths with as many warm bodies as possible as you go about your day! And remember to smile...

The SWS Mega-Toolkit
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(You can buy the toolkit and get a copy of my new book freeeee - thru tomorrow)
Here are the details

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What's Fun Got to Do with It?

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:16:50 -0600

It's here, it's here! My new book - it's here! I mean that literally - it's EVERYWHERE in my house. Boxes and boxes of books, everywhere I look. Yeah, it's kinda cool. Strike that. It's so darn freakin' unbelievably cool. I do a little happy dance every time I trip over my boxes and boxes and boxes! (But check back in with me in two weeks as I'm moving all these boxes and boxes to my new place!)

Here's an excerpt from the first chapter of the book... enjoy!

"If You're Not Having Fun Selling Real Estate, You're Not Doing it Right!
by Jennifer Allan

Chapter One
"What's Fun Got to Do with it?"

Selling real estate can be a blast. All day, every day? Uh, no. There will be days you long for the stability and security of a steady paycheck and regular hours. There will be nights you lie awake tossing and turning, unable to forget that scathing criticism you received from your unhappy seller. You'll have weeks - maybe even months - when you have no idea where your next mortgage payment is coming from. That's definitely not fun... and, unfortunately, something a lot of us can relate to in recent times.

But you'll also enjoy the euphoria of successfully negotiating a tough inspection. Of beating out five other agents for that primo listing without budging on your commission. Of picking up the phone to find a $1.5M buyer on the other end who found you as a result of your blog. Of hearing from your new referred client that your mutual friend said you were "the best." Of being too busy to breathe and then, when you finally come up for air, realizing that you just had a $50,000 month.

Making gobs and gobs of money is fun. Getting steady streams of referrals is fun. Being a master negotiator is fun. Solving problems is fun.

Being an exceptional real estate agent is fun.

This book is going to show you how to have more fun selling real estate by being exceptional at what you do and making lots of money doing it. Yes, you can mix business and pleasure... and have a heck of a time doing it.

First, we'll revisit and expand upon the Sphere of Influence (SOI) business philosophy introduced in Sell with Soul, because having lots of friends is fun, even for introverts like me. Getting business and referrals from your friends is even more fun-more fun than cold-calling, door-knocking, mass-mailing and advertising combined! We'll discuss how the traditional Numbers Game is not much fun at all and how you can change the rules and beat ‘em at their own game.

Moving on, we'll jump into the car with your buyers and debunk most of the nonsense that real estate trainers have been pushing at us since time began. The way we've been trained to "manage" and "handle" and "protect ourselves from" our buyers is a bunch of hooey! Relax, enjoy your buyers, trust your buyers, respect your buyers and they'll be a joy to work with.

Next, we'll spend some time discussing some advanced strategies for marketing, selling and closing your listings, with a particular emphasis on pricing. Trust me, being an outrageously effective listing agent - that is, one who knows how to actually sell houses - is buckets of fun. Being good at turning your listings into paychecks gives you an intoxicating sense of power over your business.

We'll also discuss some of the finer points of being an exceptional real estate agent-covering topics such as win/win negotiating, the right use of systems and effective communication skills.

Finally, we'll wrap things up with some fresh ideas on time management, taking your career to the next level (or conversely, down a notch), firing your clients and much more.

.....................

Want one of your very own? You can buy it from me (numbered & autographed - www.swsstore.com) or at Amazon... I think the Kindle version is already available, or will be shortly.

You can also get one for free, sorta, if you participate in the book release party at my website - just go here for details.

Did I mention how darn cool it is to release a book?

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The Rookie-to-Rookie Show - The Unanswered Questions

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:13:54 -0600

Hope you were able to join us last weekend for the second Rookie-to-Rookie show at SellwithSoulLand... it was fun! In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, I held a free Teleseminar on Saturday where three newly-non-rookies (thanks Erin Deric, Kate Huntress and Melissa Brown!) shared their secrets for surviving their rookie years. We talked about things like how they financed the venture, what their biggest challenge was, where they spent money they wish they hadn't, how long it took to see a paycheck - stuff like that.

We covered a lot of information, but as always, there were a few questions from the audience we didn't have time for. I promised during the show that I would post those questions in my blog, and solicit answers from my honored guest speakers, and of course... anyone else who'd like to chime in...

Here we go:

1. Do you have a web site?

2. Do you work primarily from home or from your real estate office?

3. Did you take any sales training courses held by the "guru's" of our industry? If so, any recommendations one way or the other?

4. Any advice on how to choose a broker?

5. If a new agent keeps a full time job in the beginning, any advice on if or how to disclose it to prospective clients?

6. I work in an expensive market where the people in my sphere of influence can't afford to buy yet. Any suggestions on ways to reach other prospects?

7. Any suggestions to generate leads if you're new to town?

Okay, ladies! Have at it!

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Greatness Doesn't Inspire Me Nearly as Much as Mediocrity Does

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:54:20 -0600

We read about Great leaders who have overcome tremendous obstacles to achieve... well... Great things. We hear stories of tippy-top producers who found themselves at some point living in their cars... but today make gazillions of dollars. Closer to (my) home, there are stories like Jack Canfield's where he had to peddle his idea for the Chicken Soup for the Soul book to dozens of publishers before one bit... and it became one of the best-selling books of all time.

Stories like these are supposed to be inspiring. But can I be brutally honest for a moment? I find them more intimidating than inspiring. Call me humble (ha!), but I'm just not sure I have what it takes to reach such Greatness and prosperity. Besides that, I've never lived in my car, which seems to be a pre-requisite for Greatness, although I have run out of gas a few times. Does that count?

I find far more inspiration in mediocrity. When I need to rev myself up to work on a chapter in my next book or prepare for an upcoming speaking gig, I seem to magically stumble upon someone in my industry who does their craft poorly, or at least, without Greatness. Many of whom are quite successful, I might add! Just the other day I was reading a fairly popular book about entrepreneurship (which is the topic of my next book) and was stunned at how superficial and obvious, not to mention poorly edited the material was. I mean, DUH. This stuff comes straight from Old School Self-Promotion 101 -- and the book was touted as revolutionary!

Anyway, after reading about half the book, I couldn't wait to get back to working on mine which I'd backburnered earlier this year. Heck, if this guy's stuff can be considered "revolutionary," to what heights might MY stuff climb?!

This approach could easily apply in a real estate career. Sure, there are a handful of real estate practitioners who are Great but the vast majority is, by definition, average. Many, of course, are less-than-average, but darnit, if they don't do okay!? Frustrating, isn't it?

Well, take that frustration and be inspired by it. Visit open houses on Sundays and observe how poorly many agents handle them - their signage, their (lack of) knowledge of the home and neighborhood, and their often-uncomfortable rapport-building skills. Eavesdrop on the other agents in your office and hear how unprofessional some of them sound while talking to prospects and clients. Preview listings in your area and notice how poorly they are priced and marketed. Read through several MLS listings and see how many fields are incomplete and the descriptions dull. As you work your own deals, note how long it takes for other agents to return your calls, and how unfriendly or unprofessional their outgoing voicemail messages are.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.

If you, like me, are intimidated by the Great, look to the mediocre for inspiration. You can do better, significantly so, and in today's world of increasing mediocrity, you might find yourself among the Great!

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A Real Estate Career is NOT for the Liability-Phobic**

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:04:26 -0600

Been watching a conversation elsewhere on the web about whether or not to put buyers in your car... as opposed to driving separately. While some of the comments are ridiculously snotty ("They can drive themselves!" or "Let THEM use their own gas!"), the most sincere objection seems to be that putting another warm body in your car creates liability for you.

We hear similar objections all the time to doing things that serve our clients. DON'T attend inspections! DON'T recommend mortgage brokers! Don't give any advice that might be construed as legal! Don't put buyers in your car! Blah blah blah.

Basically, in order to CYA to the best of your ability, you should, as one instructor put it - "stand outside and smoke" during most phases of a real estate transaction. To avoid liability, y'know.

Well, shoot, I don't buy it. My buyers and sellers pay me darn good money to be intimately involved with every facet of their real estate transaction. And I show up. Yes, to inspections. I get on the roof and join the party in the crawlspace. If I don't know three good inspectors, I recommend only the one or two I like. I write my own addendums that probably border on practicing law. And yes, I put buyers in my car.*

It's my job. And in my 13 years of doing my job, I can honestly say I've been richly rewarded for doing my job and only threatened legally once. By doing my job, I serve my clients, which not only leads to happy clients, but more paychecks for ME ‘cause my deals close!

I know what I'm doing. And I shall do it. Even if I risk being sued. This is a liability-ridden business. If you cain't take that heat... go find another kitchen to play in.

*Here's my opinion on putting buyers in my car:
In 13 years, I can count on one hand (okay, maybe two) the number of times I've ridden separately from my buyers. I usually drive, but if my buyer has a car-seat issue, I'll ride with them. The only times I've had a buyer follow me is if we're meeting at the house and only looking at a few others - then it just seems to make sense.

The time spent driving between houses is great bonding, rapport-building and information-gathering time. I can't imagine not having that time with my buyers as we're getting to know each other and figuring out what they want in a house. It also gives me the opportunity to demonstrate my expertise in the area and for them to ask questions which, assuming I can answer (!), builds my credibility.

I've shopped for houses in other markets and the agents always drove. I'm trying to imagine them leaving me in my rental car to follow them in an unfamiliar town... and I'm pretty sure I would think they were rude, antisocial, lazy or ashamed of their car. I certainly wouldn't think MORE of them if they made me drive myself.

That said, if I didn't feel safe with someone, I probably wouldn't want them in my car, but neither would I be working with them.

** Nothing written here should be construed as legal advice <grin>

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SOI Gone Bad -- 21 Ways to Blow it with Your Sphere of Influence

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 10:13:40 -0500

I love SOI*. It's my thing... it's my passion. I think every self-employed salesperson oughta include a little SOI in their arsenal. Or a lot. During my real estate days, my business was nearly 100% SOI with a few random floor calls, walk-ins and web leads tossed in as gravy.

But if you're gonna SOI, you better do it right! Not everyone does. In fact, most don't. Not because they're stupid or incompetent or insensitive, not at all! Rather, because most salespeople have never been shown the right way to do it. When done right, an SOI business model actually changes the way the salesperson views his business ... and his world.

Most experienced real estate salespeople claim to embrace an SOI philosophy. They support the idea of generating business and referrals from the people they know. But the reality is that the vast majority of real estate agents fail miserably in their SOI efforts. Even worse, they manage to alienate many of their friends and family members along the way!

And then they proclaim that "SOI is a lousy way to run a business!"

Well, they're wrong. And, they're right. They're wrong that an SOI strategy is a poor business model, but they're right that it was a lousy business model for them. Because they didn't understand how to do it right.

If you're gonna SOI, you better do it right. If you're gonna do it wrong, don't do it at all. The personal relationships in your life are far too important to risk!

21 Ways to Blow it with Your SOI

Ask a friend to lunch and give her your sales pitch (every time)
Call your friends on the first Monday of every month and ask if they have any referrals for you.
If they don't, ask them why not.
Angrily (or tearfully) confront your friends and family if they use another real estate agent
Take on business you aren't qualified to handle
Send your friends weekly emailed newsletters of your listings
Blow off your friend's housewarming party, but expect her to be loyal to you
Attend your friend's housewarming party and sales-pitch everyone to death
Tell everyone you know how lousy the real estate market is
Tell everyone you know how overwhelmed you are
Tell everyone you know how depressed you are about your real estate business
Send out an announcement letter with typo's and misspellings
Send your friends frequent "forward this on for good luck or else" mass emails
Pepper your language with four-letter words
Borrow money or books or tools or whatever and don't return them in a timely manner
Don't return social phone calls or RSVP's
Try to hijack referral fees from your family's pre-existing real estate relationships
Ignore your SOI in favor of mass-advertising projects (then get your feelings hurt when they use someone else)
Contact your friends only when you're looking for business
Offer bribes to your friends for referrals
Sell real estate "on the side"

*An "SOI" (sphere of influence) business strategy means to generate business and referrals from the people who know you.

To Read About "Doing SOI Right", check out these blogs:
The Jake Series
Are You Tired of Pestering Strangers for Business?
What's the Best Way to Ask for Referrals? Don't.
SOI and the Single Gal

www.sellwithsoul.com

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Using Facebook to Sell with Soul - a few dos and don'ts

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:19:31 -0500

Awwwwww... Janie, thanks for the plug! We'll be doing a show on this very topic late in the season of the Winter of Soul...

Via Janie Coffey, GRI - Miami Real Estate (Janie Coffey and Papillon Real Estate, LLC):

Jennifer Allan, the Queen of Selling with Soul, has mentioned more than once that Facebook is just not her thing. If you don't know Jennifer, you should subscribe to her blog, Sell with Soul, first then come back and read this post. Selling with Soul is all about working with your SOI (Sphere of Influence) and really catering to them in a professional, friendly and, as Jennifer says, competent way. It is NOT spamming, cold calling, gimmick driven real estate sales, but basically treating your clients as you would want to be treated yourself. I think Jennifer has gotten a bad taste in her mouth by having possibly too many "friends" on Facebook to be able to have meaningful relationships with as well as become tired and bored of all of the Mafia Wars, Farmville and other inane updates. (for full transparency, I have played all these games and actually enjoyed them, just not allowed them to spam my friends with my game updates).

I have come up with a Dos and Don'ts list of Selling with Soul on Facebook (or how to not piss your friends off) "friends" in this posts means your Facebook Friends,

DO

1. Use the comment or "like" button to let others know you are reading their status updates and agree, share their pain or just enjoyed it. People love to know they are being read.
2. Do follow your friends updates to see what their interests and hobbies are, it is much easier to build a good solid foundation for a relationship with someone when you share a common denominator
3. Do use FB to alert you when it is their birthday (but Don't use FB to wish them a happy birthday, everyone does and it will get lost in the shuffle, give them a call instead)
4. Do post interesting info that you think your friends might find interesting and useful (but don't over-do it, FB is more about the interaction than just posting tons of links) This does NOT mean your listings (see Don'ts)
5. Do be yourself, flaws and all, it allows people to feel comfortable with you and build trust in you as a "real" person, not a marketing version of yourself
6. Use the "chat" feature to say hello to people you haven't spoken to in awhile
7. Create "groups" so that you can filter who you send certain updates to. I.e. if you are having an open house, or there is a sale coming up, you might want to only update your local friends on this. You can create as many groups as you want. Do this early in your FB life, you will be glad you do.

DON'T

1. Use FB as a spam media to post your listings relentlessly. If you have a nice one, you can, of course throw it in, but the quickest way to be unfollowed is to post nothing but real estate stuff over and over again. Seriously. FB is the most personal and relaxed social media and anything perceived as hard selling is taboo.
2. Allow the games like Mafia Wars, Farmville, etc. to post your updates. You can still enjoy these, but honestly, noone else cares what level you reach, who you knocked off or what tree you harvested
3. Stalk people, or anything that could perceived as stalking - use the "if it quacks like a duck" test
4. Tag people in photos without their permission. Not everyone likes to have pictures of them posted that they haven't seen before or like
5. Be upset if someone you send a friend request does not accept. Some people keep their FB very private and some rarely use it so there are lots of reasons (not directed at you) which could explain their reasoning. Let it go.
6. Get so addicted that you stop making personal contact (calls, direct emails) etc. Facebook does not replace more personal contact with your Sphere, only enhances it.

7. Take it personally if someone interacts less than you'd expect or hope, as mentioned above, everyone has their own Facebook protocol

8. And finally, DON'T let irritatig posts and games keep you from FB. If someone bugs you but you don't want to "unfriend" them, hover your mouse over the right side of their post on your wall and the "hide" button comes up and wahlah, they are hidden. You can do the same for irritating games, etc. like Mafia Wars, etc. When a new status from someone comes up, hover to get the "hide" as above, but choose application instead of friend.

Facebook can be as much or as little as you want it to be. If used with care and mindfulness, you can learn more about your friends (both personal and professional) while introducing them to a deeper level of yourself, both of which can build better relationships. This can build trust and deeper connections that can help build your SOI, one friend at a time.

cartoon by Tim Bolton

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"If I Only Have $100 to Spend on Marketing..." and the rest of the Unanswered Questions From the first Rookie-to-Rookie Show

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:05:41 -0500

On Saturday, we kicked off what I hope will be a regular thang over at SWSLand. The first ever Rookie-to-Rookie Show where I invited four newly non-rookies (that is - agents who are just out of their rookie year and survived to tell about it) to share their secrets for, well, living to tell about it!

I thought it was a fabulous show and the post-show feedback seemed to support that opinion. THANK YOU Kathy Jackson, Janice Styles-Hall and Sarah Taylor (and Erin Deric who had to bail last minute, but was there in spirit).

The show was a panel discussion where I posed several questions to my guests about their rookie experience. Questions such as...

How long did it take to get your first real prospect and where did he or she come from?

How long before your first closing, and where did that client come from?

Which do you prefer - buyers or sellers?

What were your most productive prospecting activities?

What would you do differently if you had it to do over again?

What did you spend money on that you wish you hadn't?

How did you finance your venture into real estate?

We then went to the audience and did the best we could to address their questions, but, alas, time flew and we ran out of time. So, as I promised my standing-room-only crowd, we'll hit the rest of your questions here at Active Rain.

I've listed the unanswered questions below. I'll answer them from my experience here in a comment, and ask my guest hosts to do the same. Oh, and DO feel free to post your OWN responses - the more, the merrier!

What can I do if there are no other agents in the office to go to for training or mentoring? I work in a small office where most agents work from home. How important is it to have other agents to learn from or can I just figure this out as I go and as questions come up?

If you really have no money for marketing, meaning you could afford about $100, what would you do?

What did it cost to sign with a broker? Training, books, tapes, leads and so forth.

How important are designations - ePro, GRI, etc?

Have any of you established a niche? If so, why that one? What experience do you have with absentee owners? <--one of two (the other military relocation) that I'm strongly considering... Thanks!

I have heard company provided template web sites don't work. Do you agree or disagree?

How large an area can one person cover?

Has anyone advertised on bus stops?

What are your feelings on new agents joining a team? How do you avoid being taken advantage of on a team as a rookie agent?

Did anyone work a full time 8 - 5 job while starting their real estate career? I find that all the classes, luncheons, meetings, closings etc. take place during the work day.

When you have a listing where the seller wants to "wait ‘til the market improves," instead of lower the price, what do you tell them?

Do the speakers think floor duty and open houses are really worth doing?

How important is the brokerage firm you decide on? Ex: A well known firm such as Keller Williams or Century 21 verses a smaller unknown name? The smaller unknown name has such a better broker/agent split, less fees, etc. Would I be getting more leads from the larger firm or do you find your own clients at both firms?

What is one of the most important things you wish you would have known when first starting in the business?

Stay tuned for the date & time of the next Rookie-to-Rookie show...

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Secrets of First Year Survivors... The Real Estate Rookie-to-Rookie Show

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 06:16:27 -0500

Quick announcement before I head to waters bluer (Bahamas, here I come!)...

On Saturday morning, October 10th, I'm hosting a teleseminar with four newly NON-rookie real estate agents in their 2nd & 3rd years, who obviously did NOT become first-year statistics. They're doing quite well, thank you very much, even though they started their careers at a really lousy time.

The show will be structured as a panel discussion, with each guest honestly answering a series of questions about his or her rookie year (actually, they all happen to be female this round). They'll tell us what prospecting strategies worked... and which didn't. Where they spent money wisely... and where they threw it away. Their biggest success... and their most embarrassing moment.

Stuff like that.

My guests are all readers of Sell with Soul, so their secrets of success probably don't include any cheesy closing tactics or aggressive sales pitches. And this will not be a brag-fest where each guest tries to out-shine the others with outrageous claims or trumped-up production levels. Nope. These are real people, with real challenges, frustrations and fears.

Anyway, if you're in your first year... or just feel as if you are... or if you're in charge of training the newer agents in your world... please join us! It'll be fun!

HERE'S WHERE YOU REGISTER FOR THE ROOKIE-TO-ROOKIE SHOW

Bon Voyage!

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Pipeline 2010 - Becoming a Market Master - Here's how...

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:53:41 -0500

Yesterday I promised to share some ideas to become a Master of Your Market so you can capture more of that business that crosses your path in your day-to-day wanderings!

First, if it's customary to "preview" in your market, do that. A lot. (If previewing IS customary in your market, you might be surprised to hear that it's frowned on or flat out not allowed in some! If that's the case in your market, you might want to move;-])

I advise all new agents to spend some serious quality time previewing in their first few months. By "serious," I mean every other day if they can. The best way to effectively preview is to practice what I call "Opinionated Previewing" or "Previewing with a Purpose." That means to look at somewhat similar homes and compare them to each other or against your "subject" property. You would practice both when you preview in preparation for an open house, or preview for a new buyer. If you don't have a new buyer or an upcoming open house, go preview all the houses in a certain price range or architectural style. Whatever your excuse, being able to compare homes to each other helps you internalize the data you're gathering (so you can spit it out intelligently if the opportunity arises).

A great side benefit of pro-active previewing is that karma always seems to provide you with an audience to share your newly-found expertise with. What I mean is that if you go out and preview all the Bungalows between $250,000 and $350,000, within a week or two, you'll almost certainly meet someone with one of those to sell, or who knows someone who'd like to buy one! It's previewing magic!

Another way to Master Your Market is to always have your antenna up for opportunities to show properties to buyers. Even buyers who probably won't ever lead you to a paycheck. It's one thing for you to go out alone and preview, but quite another to have someone else with you to provide feedback on what you're seeing. And if you make conversation with this person, you'll get to hear their impressions of neighborhoods and styles and features, which will help you better understand what's important to the consumer. So, drive across town for a sign call. Take a buyer out to look at properties even if she says she won't buy til next spring.

If you've chosen to master a particular geographic market, you'll want to learn about the flow and amenities of the area as well as the housing stock. Drive the area using a variety of access points. Visit the grocery stores and the neighborhood parks. If you have friends who live there, ask them what they like and dislike about their neighborhoods. Read local neighborhood newspapers and subscribe to other agents' newsletters who specialize in your new favorite neighborhood.

Do open houses in that neighborhood as often as you can, even if you have to do them for an agent in a different office.

The job of "becoming" a market master is never really done. Markets change (duh) and in order to truly be a master, you have to keep up with the changes. Don't go overboard - you do have other things to do besides preview (I hope!), but try to keep Market Mastery on your to-do list. You'll feel awfully smart the next time you capture a great new client at a party because you knew how much that Victorian down the street sold for!

Next up - Nurturing Relationships TODAY for Business Tomorrow

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Pipeline 2010 - Attracting Real Estate Business by Mastering Your Market

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 06:10:27 -0500

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.

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Pipeline 2010 - What You Can do TODAY to Ensure a Sweeeet Tomorrow

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 07:14:44 -0500

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!

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WHY Don't We Care About Training for Rookie Real Estate Agents? Seriously, I'm asking!

Jennifer Allan, Author of Sell with Soul (Sell with Soul) — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:52:26 -0500

From time to time I post a blog about the abysmal state of rookie real estate training in America.

Here's one - Just What a Rookie Real Estate Agent Needs: CHARM School!
Here's another. "Good for you, Let me know if you need anything"
And another. New Real Estate Agents - Put DOWN that Phone!

Do I have an agenda? Eh, maybe. Yeah, I sell books about real estate training and I even have boot-camp type program specifically for rookies, but that alone doesn't inspire the contempt, yes, contempt I have for the real estate training industry.

I'm disgusted by the "fake it til you make it" attitude. I'm annoyed by the focus on prospecting competence over, well, COMPETENCE competence. I'm frustrated by the stories I hear of promises made during the recruiting process that are broken as soon as the rookie shows up to work. I could go on and on.

But today, I'm asking. WHY? Why is it this way? It occurs to me that if 80-95% of our new agents fail within the first year, then something isn't working and maybe we ought to try something different. Like... training? REAL training, not some fluffed up, time-wasting, sales-pitch-disguised-as-education to promote some product or another?

Here are the reasons I've heard for NOT training our new licensees.

1. Not a good use of resources. Since the majority of new agents will fail, it's a waste of money and time to implement a decent training program.

2. Not a good use of resources, Part II. Since the agents who do not fail will likely leave their first broker in search of a better deal elsewhere, why would Broker 1 spend time and money training the rookie to be his future competition?

3. That's the way it IS. This is a sink or swim business. If you don't have the drive to learn the business yourself, you shouldn't be here at all.

4. That's the way it IS, Part II. "We" didn't have our hands held and we somehow survived.

5. Real estate agents are competitive; therefore, there's no real motivation to help someone who will become your competition.

It's easy for us Old Fogies to brush off the need for training - after all - we don't particularly want any more competition. And besides, "we" didn't get formal training and we came out okay. But then in the next breath, we complain loudly about "the guy (or gal) on the other end of the sale who doesn't know what he's doing and is screwing up my deal."

Maybe it's just that we've forgotten how much there is to learn in your first year and how complex the process really is. I talk to rookies every day, so I'm reminded of their pain and confusion... and their utter frustration with the lack of support they receive from the broker or trainer.

So I'm sincerely asking - WHY do we seem to care so little about quality training in our industry?

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