Fall is here and for many of us, that means less activity in the market – so what can we do to keep the leads and sales flowing? Focusing on what works with all of the noise that bombards our senses on a daily basis becomes more difficult when leads slow down. How we handle ourselves right now plays a role in our business next year as well as the remainder of this one.

The keys to finishing the year strong with momentum to start the new year, in my opinion, are to focus and to get back to basics. Start by setting aside a few minutes early each day to lay out what you need to do and what you need to accomplish. Focus on those items. Setting aside this time each day helps to slow everything down and makes each task more manageable. This will give you the ability to handle your goals easier. Next, and most important, is going back to basics. You know – what is proven to work.

When the market slows, we tend to be reactionary rather than purposeful. This leads us to try new ways to drum up business, but it often wastes are time and leads us down a path that isn’t as successful as some things that we already know work and it takes away the precious time we needed to use on what we know works.

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I remember a lesson I learned, a long time ago, when I first learned how to ride motocross in the Southern California foothills to keep the cycle pointed straight ahead at all times. My natural reaction was to find the seemingly easiest path through the trail, bobbing and weaving to avoid any large boulders; however surprisingly this was not the correct course of action. Instead, I was advised to keep heading straight, even if a huge boulder lay dead ahead in my path. The bike and its shock absorbers would handle even the largest rocks. A terrific sense of enlightenment and freedom came over me that I remember to this day.

Occasionally, I catch myself in an avoidance mode and suspect there are many others in these tough economic times with the same strategy. Then I get back into the saddle and begin to forge straight ahead despite what the depressing news says, no matter what the source. I tell myself, “These are the days we have to dig our heels in deeper.” They say when the going gets tough, the tough get going. It’s up to us to decide our personally appropriate strategy of fight or flight.

Over the course of the past year, I found myself expanding my view of my team’s market area. This was not only by a geographic territory, but also by niche or specialty. A strategy such as this requires a non-traditional approach to staffing our team. I decided I was no longer after an agent who could simply service an area, now I was after a hybrid. Such a person may be fit to service an area but they must also have special talents. Such talents may include advanced knowledge of luxury home sales, equestrian properties, international sales, new construction, golf properties, commercial, etc, or anything else that makes them stand out from the crowd.

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The largest mistake I see in lead conversion is the lack of phone call follow up to Internet leads. Most of the Agents and Brokers I train have very little understanding of what to do with an Internet lead. The most common response I see is an email saying, “Thank you for using my site, if there is anything I can do to help, please let me know.” That’s pretty much their entire lead conversion program. Most Agents are afraid to pick up the phone and are losing out on thousands and thousands of dollars in commissions. It’s not rocket science!

I’ve never really understood the fear in making calls. What is the worst case scenario that can happen? Someone might tell you they are not interested. Someone else might hang up the phone on you. Does it really matter? For those who follow my lead conversion systems, each call is a warm call. After all, they registered on your site and gave you a good phone number. That’s usually a good indication that they would like a call. Still, most agents will not call their leads. The problem is, if you are not calling, then another Agent most likely is calling. Look at it this way. If you just send listings and never talk to the customer, how do you expect to build a relationship. Most Agents think of a lead buying months from now as very far away and having no value. True lead conversion people like myself look at a lead buying in a year and realize this will give us a great 12 month opportunity to build a relationship. That must be the mindset in building your Internet program and phone call follow up program.

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The “Diamond-Water Paradox” is a basic, fundamental economic theory: Water is essential to life; diamonds aren’t, but because there is so much water available, consumers place much greater value on a diamond to a drop of water.

The same paradox can be applied to selling a home.

When potential home buyers view homes these days they’re looking for that diamond (or, a “diamond in the ruff” to be exact).  And, just like diamonds with their detailed system of clarity (FL, VSI, SI, I, etc.), a home’s marketability may be characterized by three important details: Price (P)/Condition (C)/Location (L).

• Above average landscaping & curb appeal (+C)
• Kitchens and bathrooms that have been remodeled with the latest and greatest (+C)
• Freshly painted rooms in neutral tones (+C)
• A home that is clean and spotless (+C)
• A home situated right next to a factory (-L)
• Orange shag carpeting (-C)
• A home’s price that is at the top-end of the market for similar homes in a given area (–P)
• A home that has easy access to major highway and is also located in a community with very little noise & traffic (+L)
• A home that’s priced at or slightly below market conditions (+P)
• A home located in an area of superior job growth and stability (+L), etc, etc… Continue reading this post

As a consumer, have you ever walked in to a store, let’s say an electronics store, seeking the advice of one of the helpful salespeople and found that their lack of knowledge throttled their confidence level to the point that they were really of no use to you and as they try to muster an answer to a question about which TV to buy, you lose confidence in them?

There are pros and cons for each TV and you as the consumer need answers to make the right choice but you can’t get them because your salesperson does not have any confidence that they know the answer. As a consumer, we unconsciously pick up on subtleties of people like this salesperson and we lose confidence in them very quickly! We naturally gravitate towards those who we automatically recognize as confident about their work.

So it goes with real estate agents working with home buyers or sellers.

I encourage that you spend some time every week working on aspects of your business that can help you increase your confidence. It doesn’t matter if you are new or have been in the business a while. If you know what you are doing it will show through loud and clear to your clients in that ever important first impression. That’s confidence. Continue reading this post

I’ve seen many business plans in my day. Although I’m a great advocate for planning and setting goals, I believe there is something even more important. In fact, I believe that without this critical ingredient, no great game plan or strategic goals will get you where you want to go.

It’s adaptability.

This past year is a great case in point. Our team duly met prior to the year’s beginning to lay down the tracks for the coming year’s business. Since we’ve historically focused on home listings, listings were at the heart of our discussions. We fine tuned our listing presentations and geared up to handle all the details that would come from an increase in listings.

Who knew that normal listings would go into the toilet because home sellers were afraid to compete with REOs and Short Sales?

Had we stuck with our game plan, we would have ignored the long queue of home buyers lining up at our door to cash in on record low prices, rock bottom interest rates and the first-time buyer tax credit. Our business would have slammed to a halt.

Bottom line: We quickly switched our focus and game plan. By reacting to the market and adapting, we ended up doing 2 ½ times the total business we’ve ever done in any previous year.

A great example is a football running back. The play is called in the huddle, the ball is snapped and the running back swings into motion. What if the planned hole in the line doesn’t materialize? Continue reading this post