Posts Tagged ‘success’
Turning An Objection Into a Reason to Buy
Saturday, August 28th, 2010
The most powerful form of objection handling I ever learned (thanks to Cavett Roberts) was to take the very reason for objecting and have it as the reason why the prospects are excited to buy. Here is a very clever example of this approach applied to an otherwise difficult to sell listing.
Music Travels Uphill Too
Long time Online Dominance students (and eTEAM members) Marie Sue Parsons and her daughter / partner Stephanie Young had a listing in the very exclusive “Riviera” section of Santa Barbara. The only problem was (and it was a big one), it directly overlooked the famous outdoor Santa Barbara Bowl. This is where some of the biggest musical acts in the entertainment industry come to our fair city and play under the stars. However, as everyone knows, sound travels quite effectively uphill. Anyone looking for a nice quiet neighborhood wouldn’t ever consider this property, despite its breathtaking views.
This is when Marie Sue and Stephanie started thinking out of the box, way out. Understanding that if sound travels well uphill music will too, they decided to host an exclusive invitation-only open house during the evening that the Steve Miller Band and Stevie Nicks were performing. They headlined it as the property that offered a free birds-eye view of every Bowl concert (which typically charges big $$ to attend). Well, the response was incredible and the sellers thought Marie Sue and Stephanie were geniuses for coming up with the idea.
What’s so cool here is that they took the very reason why the average consumer might shun this house and turned it into a unique benefit that a certain segment would kill to have. This is really smart marketing. Kudos to Marie Sue (who I’ve known for over 30 years) and Stephanie! CLICK HERE to see the write up they received in the local Santa Barbara press = great PR…
The Ultimate Listing Website
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
If you think the Web only works for buyers think again. Here’s a Website that is specifically designed to generate listings and doesn’t even use search engines to drive traffic to it.
Focus, Focus, Focus
Mega-producers Noel & Lee Bittinger are members of my ULTRA eTEAM and decided to go after the more affluent listings in the Canton, MI area. Only after months of planning and refinement did they even speak to a Web designer. The extraordinary result is SellingCantonHomes.com. It was the focus of a recent HOT SEAT session we did to evaluate its effectiveness and refine it even further.
The video below is a recording of that Webinar that shows you exactly what they did on the site and why it is such a powerful listing generating machine (be sure to watch it full screen!)
The site shows a lot of clever thinking and the application of rock-solid online business-generating principles. Take some time to study this site, view its “irresistible offers”, read the copy to see how engaging it is and so on. This goes so far beyond the typical “For Sellers” button or menu item on the typical agent Website —something potential sellers recognize instantly.
Websites are not just for buyers. Literally half the market is being ignored online, until now…
How to Drown Your Competition
Saturday, August 21st, 2010
How much can you talk about your real estate specialty? Assuming you have a specialty, do you run out of things to say or contribute after just a few minutes, or can you go on for hours?
How you answer this question is a measure of your professional depth and commitment. Given that Kevin Tomlinson doesn’t even have to look at the Miami MLS to tell you which South Beach condos are for sale, under what terms and what unique features each offers speaks volumes about his depth. One that his competitors can’t hope to match because they are far too busy trying to be everything to everyone.
The same with Linda Jefferson of GoArmyHomes.com who can give you every nuance of working with relocating army families. Like it or not, real estate sales is no longer just about sales. It is also very much a function of how well you serve and stand out from your competition as evidenced by your passion and depth of knowledge. It doesn’t matter if your experience spans hundreds of square miles if it’s only one-inch deep.
This reminds me of something my Dad said something to me when I was in my teens that I’ll never forget…
There are those with years of experience and those with experience in their years.
Max O. Russer (Mr. Internet’s Dad)
Guess which one prospects will be attracted to and to whom clients will refer others. If you call yourself a professional it is incumbent upon you to maintain and grow the depth of specialized experience and knowledge implied by that moniker. Anything less is just posing.
Are You a Tortoise or a Hare?
Monday, August 16th, 2010
Are you a tortoise or a hare? From my point of view as a speaker, trainer and coach for the last 15 years, the true answer for most salespeople is the soft fuzzy one (and darn proud of it!).
Dave Ramsey was the keynote speaker at the recent STAR POWER conference in Murfreesboro, TN. He spoke about the tortoise and the hare. According to him, the tortoise always wins —eventually.
If you look at the behavior and personality of the two it’s not hard to see why. Hares are quite often undiagnosed ADHD, Ritalin-deficient go-getters that are constantly looking for either a) their next adrenalin high, or b) the next bright-shiny object / silver bullet that will promise to deliver it. They confuse the distinction between strategic and tactical, and a well-defined “process” is something that gets in the way of all that sense of urgency they literally thrive on.
The tortoise however focuses on measured steps that will eventually take them to their objectives. Their path is strategically well planned and they are comfortable with the fact they will not get there overnight. “Slow and steady” is their motto as they put blinders on to avoid the glint of all those bright shiny objects that promise quick results.
Tortoises stay focused, calm and resilient. Hares are easily distracted, get tired and often don’t read (RDR)…
It is my contention that Aesop was writing for the tortoise market. Hares have no time to read.
Anita Brookner
Now you may protest that the hare has a lot more fun. Well… that depends upon how you define “fun”. Chaos can seem like fun for awhile, until it isn’t any more. A long-term consistently growing, financially profitable business —now that’s what I call fun :0)
Choose Who YOU Want to Work With
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Do you work with every prospect that comes your way? Even in the best of times most agents do, figuring “Any business is better than no business.” And when times are tough, sales associates tend to look at prospects like someone dying of thirst looks at a glass of cool, clear water.
Yet this very understandable approach to new business could in fact cost you the very thing you want –a steady stream of new business.
The reality is that you will do better by being very selective with whom you choose to work. The reasons are very simple: you will enjoy your job so much more and those that you do serve will appreciate your efforts that much more.
The funny thing about human nature is that the more selective you become, the easier it will be to attract those very people. When I had my Mortgage company in the mid-1980’s, real estate agents told their borrowers they had to call and mention the agent’s name if they wanted a chance to work with me. Needless to say, this created a sense of extreme value in the minds of prospects —they were chasing me, instead of the other way around.
This effect was helped greatly by my very public declaration that I simply did not work with everyone…
It’s not a matter of who can benefit from what you sell. It’s about choosing the customers you’d like to have.
Seth Godin
There is one very important caveat here. This only works well when you also choose to specialize. Trying to be everything to everyone is like taking a megaphone to a crowd of people and screaming that you will take all comers —it kind of defeats the purpose.
Earn More, Work Less & Enjoy Life
Saturday, July 24th, 2010After you have been selling real estate for awhile, chances are you have become reasonably adept at generating and closing leads. Striving to improve these skills will incrementally improve your business for sure. However, here is the one thing you can do that will result in a quantum leap in your bottom line and give you more free time to enjoy it…
Job vs. Business
First of all, you can’t possibly have a massive improvement to your business if you don’t have a business. The vast majority of real estate sales professionals have a “job” they work for rather than a business that serves them. It’s a huge distinction that is lost on even some of the industry’s top producers. It doesn’t matter how much money you make, it is how it’s made that matters.
As the figure below shows, there are only three things to consider for any business (whether it’s real estate sales, manufacturing widgets or building skyscrapers) Lead Generation, Lead Conversion and Business Support. These are known as the three phases of the business cycle, and every successful business follows them.
How you handle each of these phases will determine the extent of your business success. For the sake of this article we are going to assume that your core competencies of Lead Generation and Conversion are well handled. Our focus instead will be the Business Support phase of the cycle. The way most agents handle Business Support literally guarantees they become mired in the job of selling real estate, rather than having the benefit of a business doing the heavy lifting for them.
The Three Most Expensive Ways to Get Things Done
The biggest factor that holds sales associates back from truly having a business that serves them, is how they handle all of the myriad details that need to be done outside of their selling activities. Here are the three most expensive mistakes most agents make when dealing with these issues (listed in order of most expensive on down):
- Not Do It At All – in their well-intentioned attempts to do everything themselves, they become so overwhelmed that the detailed items start falling through the cracks and their lead generation / closing activities suffer.
- Do It Themselves – one of the biggest limiting beliefs in real estate sales is that if you want to have “total control” and have things done right, you have to do it yourself. Just for laughs, tell that to the CEO of any successful company and see their reaction. Remember, any time you do something outside of your core-competency, you end up paying top dollar for amateur results.
- Hire an Onsite Assistant – this may actually work if you are naturally gifted manager and motivator of people (which the most salespeople are not). However, you are still paying way too much for what you need done.
There is a fourth way however, that allows you to focus on what you do best, brings in the most money and costs you the least. It is the way I’ve run my businesses for the last 15 years and have taught 10s of thousands of REALTORS to transform their business…
Virtual Outsourcing – Business Support On Call
Imagine being able to hire talent to accomplish nearly anything you need done, that you don’t have to train, motivate, provide office space, equipment or benefits, and you only pay for what you use. That is the payoff of using virtual assistants and consultants. It is the only way I’ve found that is accessible to every real estate sales person of any experience level that truly addresses the Business Support phase of their business cycle in a practical and profitable way.
Keep in mind however that working with virtual assistants and consultants is not at all like working with a traditional onsite assistant. In fact, if you treat them that way it is almost guaranteed to fail. The process of finding, evaluating, hiring and working profitably with virtual assistants and consultants can be a bit involved. So to avoid the inevitable overwhelm that would result from my attempting to insert all that material here, I’ve created a separate PDF download for you that covers the following topics in great detail:
- On-Site Assistants vs. Virtual Assistants
- Ways Virtual Assistants Can Support Your Success
- How To Find And Hire The Right VA For You
- Five Critical VA Interview Questions
To download this free document, just go to www.Facebook.com/OnlineDominance and click the “Cool Tools” tab at the top of the page. There you will find a number of free resources including the special report “ePRODUCTIVITY – Earn More, Work Less & Enjoy Life!“.
Case Studies
Here are just a few examples of REALTORS who have incorporated Virtual Outsourcing into their business and never looked back:
- Dave Fletcher, The Fletcher Group – uses a virtual transaction coordinator to handle the many 10s of millions of dollar closing each year. Here’s the best part, she only charges Dave if the deal closes!
- Chris Coveny, Royal LePage Performance Realty – found a skilled virtual writer to research and post on his blog for a fraction of what his time is worth.
- Roman Pavlik, Pavlik Luxury Real Estate – found several VAs to keep his listings up to date on his Website on a daily basis.
- Sven Andersen, The Andersen Team – uses a team of VAs to handle every aspect of his listing marketing coordination, which of course frees him up to bring in as many new listings he wants without breaking a sweat.
It is no accident that all of the above (and many, many others) have a business that serves them, instead of being a slave to a job. If you truly want to have a business where you can earn more, work less and enjoy life you need to focus on what you do best and outsource the rest. Virtual Outsourcing (i.e. using virtual assistants and consultants) is the most viable and affordable way to accomplish this available to all REALTORS of any skill and experience level.
NOTE: Mr. Internet®, RUSSER Communications, its staff and officers receive no compensation whatsoever from any third party vendors (unless he/they are directly involved with the creation and/or improvement of a vendor service or product), and make no recommendations as to the suitability of the products or services mentioned in this article. Always thoroughly investigate any product or service before trying or purchasing.
Mr. Internet is the alter-ego of Michael J. Russer, an internationally recognized Internet speaker, trainer, author, and strategic consultant to the real estate industry. He’s dedicated to helping real estate professionals leverage their people skills into profit on the Internet. Send your Internet questions to help@askmrinternet.com or you can visit his Website at http://www.russer.com
This article is reprinted in its entirety from the July 2010 issue of REALTOR® Magazine by permission of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Copyright © 2010. All Rights Reserved other than mentioned above. Mr. Internet® is a registered trademark of RUSSER Communications.
The Nearly Perfect Real Estate Website
Monday, July 12th, 2010
As a speaker and author about doing business online I’m asked all the time for examples of Websites that work. There are plenty to point to but almost all have one or more things that don’t meet what I consider certain standards. Well here’s one that does and scores a 10 out of 10 on just about every measure of an awesome productive site.
Don’t Bother Calling a Web Designer
Roman Pavlik, the owner of this Web marvel is a member of my ULTRA eTEAM Alumni and is frankly one of the most coachable sales associates I’ve ever met. Instead of hiring the best Web developer he could find, he spent the first four months planning and outlining every aspect of his site www.DowntownLivingMiami.com from the perspective of his target market. Once he had his written site plan completed (and fully vetted by me and the rest of the ULTRA eTEAM) then and only then was introduced to the best Web developer I know of. With a written plan in hand (including most of the copy produced by a professional copywriter) it was relatively easy for the designer to manifest Roman’s vision for his site.
Hot Seat Wunderkind
During our Tuesday evening Live Group Coaching sessions we will occasionally have what is affectionately known as a “Hot Seat”. This is where a sales associate volunteers to have their site evaluated by me and the group live during the session. For most it is an extremely useful exercise on how to improve their sites dramatically. The video below is a recording of the recent DownTownLivingMiami.com site’s hot seat session. In this particular case it was a struggle to find any way to improve this site. Check out the video and you will see why (and you will also see which criteria I use to evaluate sites.)
(NOTE: it is strongly suggested that you play this video full screen to see all the details being discussed.)
Nothing is Ever Perfect…
You are probably wondering why this site is referred to as “nearly” perfect. Well, if you watched the whole hot seat session video above all the way through (it’s about 71 minutes long) you will have seen and heard about “constant refinement”. There is no such thing as perfect, only a constant state of refinement to continually improve a Website’s ability to generate business and differentiate you from your competition. By the way, Roman’s is the first of several “nearly perfect” Websites we will be highlighting here and during our future live Hot Seat sessions. These others will also be coming from my ULTRA eTEAM Alumni. You will find that their sites are just as impressive and unique as Roman’s but for different target markets.
The moral of the story here is don’t even THINK about contacting a Web designer before you do your planning and outlining first. To do otherwise you are inviting much frustration, financial pain and ultimately ending up with a business Website that is anything but perfect.
Work to Live, Not Live to Work
Monday, July 5th, 2010
Summer is here (at least for those of us North of the equator) and today is one of the biggest and most important “relaxation” holidays of the year in the U.S. —the 4th of July (okay, it’s actually the 5th, but we are celebrating it today).
So just how relaxed are you feeling? Is it hard to “let go” and not think about work. Or do you feel stressed because you are trying not to think about work and the little voice in your head says you better or something bad will happen?
If so, welcome to the club. Far too many of us (me included) have a hard time relaxing. I suspect the primary reason for this is that age-old culprit, fear. Fear that if we let go of our iron grip everything will fall apart. Actually, quite the opposite is true. If we don’t learn to relax on a regular basis, everything will fall apart, starting with our health and relationships…
When you don’t have time to relax, that’s when relaxation will help you most. Go ahead, and allow yourself to relax.
Stop clinging to what you think you need. Start allowing the beauty of what is.
Ralph Marston
So as you are cooking those hotdogs and burgers enjoy the moment for what it is. You’ve worked hard, you deserve to enjoy life without constant fretting and worry. Remember, you can handle anything that comes your way. It’s just a lot easier when you are fully rested and regained the perspective that you work to live, not live to work…
Facebook vs. Google
Sunday, July 4th, 2010
Last week I posted an article on how powerful Facebook Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising could be for your business. Since then I’ve received responses from people who say it is not all that great shakes. This is clearly a case of discovering a new “hammer” and thinking everything is the same kind of nail. It’s all about using the right tool, for the right purpose at the right time. Here are some tips that will help you choose the right business promotion tool for the job.
Facebook is about Interests
I recently challenged one of my ULTRA eTEAM members, Roman Pavlik to use Facebook to drive traffic to his new highly targeted DownTownLivingMiami.com Website. Since most of his buyers for luxury downtown Miami condos come from New York, Canada and South America he targeted his Facebook ads to people who live in those areas. Let’s just say there are a lot of Facebook members living in those areas. In a very short period of time (literally just a couple of days) he had over 60,000 ad impressions. Unfortunately, not one person clicked on his ads. And to add insult to injury, Facebook stopped showing his ads (after all, they want to make money too!)
So Brad Carroll (our Online Dominance Social Networking Mastermind coach) and I suggested that he further refine his targeting by including interests that would be consistent with anything having to do with Miami. For example, people living in Canada, New York and South America who are interested in Miami sports teams and so on. While this refinement substantially reduced his pool of Facebook members that would see his ad, the click throughs to his site shot up (he had 24 just in a couple of days vs. zero before).
When advertising on Facebook, less is more and you really have to think about which member interests are most likely follow through on your ad’s call to action.
Google is About Wants and Needs
When someone searches on Google, by definition they are looking for something specific (i.e. a want or need). In this case, it makes perfect sense for Roman to complement his Facebook advertising with a Google PPC campaign targeting people who are specifically interested in buying downtown Miami condos. A little closer to home, I am personally involved in syndicating GoArmyHomes.com Websites for every army base on U.S. soil. Part of this process includes driving substantial traffic to each respective base site. At first we considered running Facebook ads because there are well over 300,000 Facebook members who are also in the army. The only problem is that a tiny fraction of those will be interested in going to any particular base at any particular time. Without a doubt if we had pursued that course of action we would not have seen any click throughs and Facebook would have shut our ad campaign down. In this case, our PPC options are clearly better with Google. However, Facebook is the tool to use as we begin to promote our GoArmyHomes Facebook page.
Facebook and Google are two awesome online advertising tools. It’s just a matter of knowing which one is the best option for the task at hand and using it in the manner that produces the best results for the lowest cost. With a little bit of practice and patience, you will get the hang of it :0)
Learn From the Best of the Best
Thursday, July 1st, 2010
It’s not to often that you get the opportunity to see how success is done first hand. You now have that chance and it is one that could cost you big time if you don’t take advantage of it.
STAR POWER 2010
From Sunday July 25 to Wednesday July 28, the 2010 STAR POWER conference in Murfreesboro, TN has jam packed every hour with speakers, business growth strategies, interactive resources, tools, and networking all to help you take your business to the next level. “Mirroring” is one of the most effective and fastest ways to improve your business. See what other highly successful people do in their markets and then replicate those actions in yours. STAR POWER was founded by Howard Brinton on that principle and has been going strong for over 20 years.
The Whole Gang Will Be There…
In addition to the top agents in the business and stellar keynote speakers, yours truly, Mr. Internet will be there speaking and pretty much my entire ULTRA Alumni eTEAM, many of whom will be speaking and sharing their secrets as well. Yes, the market is tough and it may be hard to spend the time and money to attend, but don’t let a false sense of economy cost you tens of thousands in new revenue. Now is the time you look for proven methods that work in this market, and there is no better place than the STAR POWER conference at the end of this month. Be there or be square!
