What Does your Phone Voice Say about You?

Pretend you didn’t know you. Listen to your phone message. What ‘first impression’ are you making?  Do you sound happy to hear from that caller? Sluggish? Disinterested? Timely?

When I phone an agent today, I have no idea where that agent will answer his or her phone—or from what phone the call is being answered. And, I don’t really care. Technology allows the phone to follow the agent. That’s great. Here’s what’s not so great. Many times the agent’s message is so dull, powerless, or mumbled that it doesn’t sound as though the agent wants to talk to me. Or, the agent’s message is so long, that I’m impatient by the time I get to leave the message.

What Impact Do You Want to Make?

Surveys show that consumers want their agent to be enthusiastic. So why do many of the agents’ phone messages sound as though they are terribly tired or uninterested in the caller? Here’s the principle.

We use our senses to make snap judgments about people.

The less senses involved, the more important it is that we communicate properly. On the phone, there is only once sense involved—that of hearing. You have no ability to communicate your warmth, your interest, etc. visually on the phone. You have only your voice.

Decide What You Want to Communicate

What conclusions do you want your caller to have about you? Write down the five most important judgments you want your caller to make about you and your business approach. Now, listen to your own voice message. Do you believe you are communicating your ‘best self’? Ask five other people to listen, too. Decide what you like and what you want to change.

Research your Competition

Don’t listen only for your own communications. For three days, listen carefully to the tone, intent, and messages you hear on answering machines or voice messages of other agents and brokers. Listen carefully to how agents answer the phone at their offices. What do you think those agents are communicating? Do you believe they are communicating the kind of qualities they want to communicate—and think they are communicating?

Four important tips to remember when recording your own message:

1. Stand up—you’ll sound as though you have much more energy.
2. Write out your script first—and be sure it’s not too long. I don’t really care where you’re going to be all day!
3. Modulate your voice pleasantly. Try to get some resonance.
4. Sound as though you’re looking forward to hearing from me! 

These simple tips will increase your trust rate and your business. Get to ‘hearing’ today! Best news for budgeting: These tips cost you nothing, but reap you great benefits. First impressions count: Create your best phone voice.

The Problem With Being ‘Answer Man’

I know we want the answers to all those objections. But, that’s not the key to handling objections. Here’s the key:

Create a process to follow to assure you

1. Understand the objection
2. Have all the information you need
3. Provide an appropriate answer

What NOT to Do

That means you don’t rush in with that clever answer the minute you hear the objection from your client! Why?

You need a ‘pillow’ between the objection and your answer.

Why a ‘pillow’?

You may know the answer, but, when you blurt it out (sometimes even before the poor client has finished the objection…), you end up creating an adversary out of the client. You don’t want that, do you?

What’s a ‘pillow’?

That’s a certain type of sentence or sentences to probe to find out what’s really going on with the client. It’s a time to clarify his objection, to get more information—to use your probing skills.

Practice your Probing Skills

Probing skills are used after you’ve heard the objection and have acknowledged it. These are queries like,

“Tell me more.”

Help me understand.”

“Please clarify.”

The Best Part about This Approach

While you’re getting more information from the client, you’re constructing the best method to actually answer the objection. Sometimes, the client objection goes away, when he has an opportunity to talk about it.

So, don’t ‘knock ‘em dead’ when you should be interested and curious about the client statement, and you’ll start mastering the ‘handling objections’ process.

The Process, Examples, and Actual Role-Played Dialogue

I’ve created a fun method to learn both the answers to common objections and the method to craft your own objection handling. With flashcards and actual written dialogue, you’ll be able to practice handling objections. And, I’ve included an audio CD where we actually role-play handling common objections. Why not get supremely confident about your ability to handle the most difficult clients and objections?

To see Buyers’ and Sellers’ Objection Busters, click here.

The market is slowly improving. Yet, many agents are not changing how they do business to take advantage of it. Historically, agents have ‘snared’ clients by promising they could get something for them, do better than that other agent, or represent them so client always won–and made the other client lose. (Not always legal is it?). In a market ruled by short sales, foreclosures, and other ‘not-controllable’ outcomes, that sales strategy just comes back to hit the agent in the face!

Stop Over-Promising and Under-Delivering

According to a recent California Association of Realtors’ survey, buyers gave agents an overall satisfaction score of 4–out of 100!

Obviously, this over-promise strategy didn’t work very well with buyers! One of the areas buyers said agents were deficient in were negotiation skills. Although I think that’s true, I believe the anger is caused by something else. Unfortunately, many agents are still using that old-style sales technique of making promises they can’t keep. I think they made promises to buyers, and, when they couldn’t get what they promised, the buyers thought the agent didn’t have negotiation skills. Better negotiation skills isn’t going to make a bank sign something the bank has not intended to sign!

This is not the era of ‘over-promise’ and ‘under-deliver’. It is the era of ‘under-promise and over-deliver’!

For example: The agent is attempting to get the bank to accept an offer on a foreclosure. To get that buyer to work with him, the agent has promised he will ‘get that bank to sign on the dotted line’. NOT! Now, the agent has over-promised to get the client, only to let the client down. The client believes the agent doesn’t have sufficient negotiating skills. Actually, the agent has used deceptive, over-kill sales tactics with the client. It’s a situation the agent can’t hope to win. Agents who are working like this must think clients are really, really dumb.

The Customer Doesn’t Know What He’s Getting–Until He Doesn’t

Have you heard that marketing saying? We all want to believe there’s a tooth fairy. We love to find ‘found money’. We want to believe all those smooth salespeople that say they can get us something for nothing. But, when it doesn’t happen, we turn against the salesperson. That is certainly happening in the real estate industry.

The Answer: Learn to ‘Tell the Truth Attractively’

Instead of using the old sales tactic of over-promising, learn to do a consultative interview with your potential client. Tell him what you can and can’t do. Give him your credentials and testimonials. Promise him you will rely on other experts in areas where you aren’t an expert. Become a ‘partner’ in solving problems. You aren’t a magician, you don’t control sale outcomes, and you aren’t an attorney–or a judge, or a bank.

Be Ready to Lose Once In Awhile

If you want to build a loyal clientele over time, you must be ready to lose to win. Sometimes you will lose a client to that old style manipulative agent. But, that client will come back to you, and be more loyal that ever. Remember, ‘the customer doesn’t know what he’s getting–until he doesn’t. And, when he realizes what has been done to him, he will appreciate your candidness and steadfastness. That’s the way to build loyalty over decades.

What do you do to build loyalty and counter the claims of that old-style ‘over-promising’ agent?

A Resource to Guide You to Today’s Representation of Buyers

Whether you’ve been in the business 3 minutes or 30 years, it is time to polish your buyer presentation skills. I’ve put together all the resources you need: Buyer presentations, with a PowerPoint presentation, and your own guide, where I coach you as a presenter. This is a really comprehensive guide, with over 150 pages and several presentations–plus dozens of checklists and documents.

Take a look at The Complete Buyer’s Agent Toolkit.

Why meeting buyer qualifying criteria is important: Buyers today have many choices of how to find homes. You need to create competitive reasons to help buyers choose you.  It will save you time and money. And, if you’re a newer agent, creating solid reasons to help buyers choose you will increase your self-confidence 200%.

Five Critical Questions Buyers Should Ask Agent ‘Candidates’

Here are five critical questions I believe buyers should ask agents to assure they have a ‘match’ between what they are looking for and what the agent provides. In addition, I’ve added what I believe buyers should look for in the anwers (that means that we agents must be able to qualify on these terms):

1. “Is selling residential real estate your full-time career?”

My advice to buyers: Listen to be sure the agent specializes in residential real estate. You want someone selling homes for a living, not apartment houses. Listen to see if this is the agent’s full-time career. Ask additional questions if the agent’s answers need more clarifying.

2. “How many homes did you sell last year?”

My advice to buyers: You want someone successful; that means, at minimum, the agent sold homes to buyers at least six times in that year.

3. “How long have you specialized in residential real estate in this area?”

My advice to buyers: Be sure the agent has been working in the area where you want to purchase for at least six months, so you know the agent has expertise and interest in that area.

4. “Describe the work you do in our price range and area.”

My advice to buyers: Listen to be sure the agent zeros in on the area and price range you need. If the agent says, “I work anywhere with anybody”, that agent may not be for you, for he may be trying to cover too much ground to know very much about specific areas.

5. “Tell us how you will work with us.”

My advice to buyers: Listen as the agent describes the buying process, as he views it. Does it reflect what you’re looking for?

Agents: Think These Criteria are Too Tough?

Did some of those questions and my advice to buyers make you defensive and argumentative? That’s because we agents tend to look at things ‘inside out’ (from our perspective). Instead, pretend you are a discriminating buyer. You’re going to spend $60,000 on a car. What kind of customer service do you expect? Now, think in terms of the real estate buyer. What kind of service should a real estate buyer expect?

Newer Agents: Panicked Because You Think You Can’t Qualify?

Relax. You don’t need to qualify on all terms. But, you need to have answers and explanations ready so you can provide buyers reasons to work with you.

 Advice: Educate yourself so that you are as well-prepared to help a buyer as an agent who has sold 100+ homes in his/her career.

Sound off! What did I miss? Are some of these questions too tough? What do you think?

Complimentary Sales Webinar with International Speaker

Master Motivator Verl Workman helps you get your year started off right.

This action packed 1 hour webinar is like a private consulting session with one of the industry’s top coaches and mentors.

Verl will take you step by step through how to build your business plan and achieve your financial goals.  Using the 3 Ts:  Technology, Training, and Trade Secrets of the top performers in the world, Verl will show you how to make 2012 your best year ever in real estate.  Invite your friends, partners, teams and entire companies to this event. 

When: Jan. 19

Time: 1:30-2:30 PM, PST

What: a webinar

To register:  https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/289780334

Are You Telling It or Showing It?

We believe what we see, not what we hear. If you’re still talking a mile a minute, telling the sellers how wonderful you are, blah, blah, blah–just stop talking and start showing. Also,

We remember only 10% of what we  hear three days later! With visuals, retention goes to 65%.

5 Points to Include as You Create that Marketing Plan

            1. It’s an action plan—what you will do for the seller

            2. It’s specific—it has dates for what will be done and who does it

            3. It’s not about what the company will do—it’s about what you will do

           4. It is stated either as a checklist, as a calendar of events, and/or in visuals.

           5. It has a section on pricing, but the pricing, or market analysis, is only one part of the plan

Creating specific marketing plans for each individual will put you far ahead of most real estate practioners. Now, the next important action is to dutifully do the actions you promised and report back.

Complimentary Sales Webinar with International Speaker

Master Motivator Verl Workman helps you get your year started off right.

This action packed 1 hour webinar is like a private consulting session with one of the industry’s top coaches and mentors.

Verl will take you step by step through how to build your business plan and achieve your financial goals.  Using the 3 Ts:  Technology, Training, and Trade Secrets of the top performers in the world, Verl will show you how to make 2012 your best year ever in real estate.  Invite your friends, partners, teams and entire companies to this event. 

Whether you’re new or in business for decades, read on. You may be deluding yourself about your path to success.

There are many skills required in this business that people new to it just don’t have. Yet, too often agents believe all they have to do is to start in this business and go to training. They will be successful. Then, when they start failing, they can’t figure out why. In this blog I’ll name 3 qualities and skills you need to develop fast. My question to you is: How are you going to develop or refine them?

Skill # 1: Time management

Most people go into real estate from a field that required them to show up on time, do specific work, and work for at least eight hours. If they didn’t fulfil the minimum requirements of the job, they were fired. Understandably, many people don’t like to work under those strictures. So, they go into real estate where they can name their own hours, work at their own speed, etc. etc. The problem is, with many, that they don’t understand that working at their own speed many be working at a failure speed.

My question: How are you developing your time management skills? Did you bring them from your former business? (Most agents don’t).

Skill # 2; Being accountable to a plan

When I was regional director for a very large international franchise company, I found, as I screened them,  most potential owners and managers had never had anyone hold them accountable. In fact, there was a negative feeling about being held accountable. When you have a ‘boss’, you are accountable to that work plan and to your boss. In real estate, we’re so careful not to step over the boundaries of the independent contractor concept, we rarely hold anyone accountable to anything. The result: Most people never know what the job really is, and whether they are on track to attain their goals.

My question to you is: Who is helping you be accountable for your own success? Who is your coach? (And don’t tell me it is YOU…..)

Skill #3: Implement a plan of action.

It is just amazing to me the kablooey plans of action out there. In another blog, I’ll show you why most of them lead to an agent’s failure. Most of the time, in fact, an agent isn’t provided a plan of action. He/she is just told suggestions or 50 ways to do something. The result: The agent has no idea how to prioritize activities and proceed. He has no idea whether what he is doing every day actually is leading him toward a goal.

My question to you is: Do you have a proven, prioritized plan of action and are you executing it?

So, after I’ve given you 3 skills agents need to succeed, what do you think? Is real estate an ‘independent’ or dependent business? I believe it needs to be a ‘dependent’ business at the beginning. That is, I coach the new agent as he/she starts his/her business. I am the leader. The new agent is the follower (or the struggling agent). There is the dependence. Once the agent ‘has it’, I step back, and become more of a consultant. Have you been a successful follower, so you can learn the business right? If so, why not?

If you haven’t read the great book,  Outliers, get it and read it now. One of the great lessons in the book is that no one succeeds alone. In later blogs, we’ll talk about the ‘community’ it takes to help someone be successful today.

Give me your feedback on the ‘independent’ or ‘dependent’ concept. What do you think?

Getting the guidance you need to succeed: If you’re a new agent (under 1 year), you need Up and Running in 30 Days. If you’re a seasoned agent, you need The On Track to Success in 30 Days System. Why not assure you have a better year in 2012?

 How Long Does your Tenacity Have to Last?

 Staying motivated means staying tenacious—holding onto the goal. On this call, we discussed the quality of ‘tenacity’. In interviewing hundreds (at least) of would-be agents, I never once heard one of them say they weren’t tenacious. In fact, most of them tried to convince me of their abnormal strength of tenacity! However, once they got into the business of selling real estate, that tenacity vanished like smoke into the atmosphere. Why? Because everyone thinks they are tenacious and determined when there are no challenges. Yet, when challenges appear (like handling objections, making sales calls, getting repeated ‘nos’), that tenacity disappears. 

How’s your ‘compass’ set for attaining a sale? In my survey of hundreds of agents under three months in the business, I asked when they expected a sale. The majority said in the first month! But, we know that the majority of new agents don’t get a sale  in month one. Most don’t even get a sale by month three (and Up and Running tells you why someone is successful fast, and why someone isn’t successful, so there is no mystery).

 So, how long do you think it is until the agent is de-motivated? You’re right:  About 32 days.

 The Secret to Staying Motivated

 Who is in charge of motivating you? Many agents will say ‘my manager.’ It is true that managers and coaches can encourage. They can be positive. They can pick out areas to celebrate. But, the real person in charge of your motivation is YOU. Why? Because you are in charge of your own attitude. No one is inside your head and heart except you. If you don’t feel you’re going at managing your attitude, you have a task: Create that skill. In fact, there are many chapters on attitude and motivation and how to do it in Up and Running, because it is truly a skill that can be developed.

 Big idea: Instead of looking to a sale as the only ‘win’, choose small ‘wins’ all along the way. Up and Running has the numbers in black and white. You know what you need to do to keep on that sales path and ultimately sell a home. So, figure out how to reward yourself in small increments. That keeps your motivation high and protects that tenacity you need to ultimately succeed.

Develop the skill of self-motivation and you will ultimately be successful. Remember, you are on no one’s timeline except yours. If you’re doing the Up and Running activities, you will be successful. Believe it. Act like it. Get help. Get coaching. Be honest with yourself about your skills and needs. Then, you will succeed.

Questions: What do you do to stay motivated through all those challenges? Why do you think agents become de-motivated? Share your insights and advice to help other agents succeed. 

About those bonus tele-conferences: As my ‘thank you’ for purchasing Up and Running in 30 Days, and the coaches’ companion resource, I’m providing coaching tele-conferences in October, both for agents and their managers. I will be offering them three times, also, in 2012. So, if you’re thinking about purchasing Up and Running yourself or as a manager for your agents, you’ll be able to take part in these bonus coaching calls, where I personally coach you in using the program most successfully.

We know the name of the game today is keeping the client. Really, not only keeping the client, but keeping the client so happy that the client becomes an ‘evangelist’ for us. However, we’re way behind other industries in tracking our customer satisfaction levels—and exceeding client expectations. We have rather blithely stumbled onward, telling ourselves that we’re doing fine with our clients. Recent studies, though, show otherwise, as we’ll discuss here.

 What The Consumers Said About Their Agents’ Communication Habits

 Here are some disturbing statistics from Leading Research, San Clemente, California. Their recent survey of 100,000 buyers revealed that less than ½ of all home buyers and home sellers are satisfied with the quality and frequency of communication provided by their real estate professional. So, less than ½ would use the same agent again. We work so hard for that sale. It’s a shame not to work just a bit harder to assure that we’re meeting the client’s expectations so we’ll create an evangelist, not just get a check–once!

 Speaking of Getting that Check…………..

 In the Leading Research survey, buyers and sellers said that, about 1/3 of the time, they never heard from the agent after closing. Put yourself in the shoes of the buyer or seller. You’ve just paid them thousands and thousands of dollars in commissions. Then, you don’t hear from them again…………you must think that agent took the money and ran! (Well, that agent did just that!).

 Your Best Customer is the Customer You Just Sold

 That’s what the marketers tell us. Stop thinking about the next new one. Start thinking about the one who was nice enough to work with you and give you all that money.

Remember what Lee Iacocca, who pulled Chrysler from the brink, said, “Never rest on your oars.  If you do, the whole company starts sinking.” This year, make it part of your business plan to create a customer evangelist program. In other words,

treat your customer like an appreciating asset.

They are, and you will have a much more pleasant, cost-effective business—and one that’s saleable, too.

How would you rate your system of client follow-up after the sale? How would you rate other agents’? What have you thought of to keep that client for life?

 A Middle that Educates your ‘Audience’ to your Point of View

 In the middle of your presentation, add those stories, statistics, and visuals that support your point of view.  By the way, as you create that presentation, jot down your point of view. If you’re doing a presentation to sellers, one of the major objectives of your presentation is to persuade them to your listing price point of view.

The Power of the Visual

There are two reasons to use visuals in your presentation:

We believe what we see

We retain the information much longer

As you organize your presentation, ask yourself:

What are the main, and frequently, unspoken objections my ‘audience’ will have? How do I educate them to show them the reasoning behind my point of view?

Retention is Key

Have you ever met with sellers or buyers, given them lots of information—and then had them question you about it a few days later—as if they never heard you—or heard you backwards? That’s because people don’t hear and retain very well. Look at the statistics:

Three days later:

We retain 10% of the information when we hear it

We retain 65% of the information when we hear and see it

So, use visuals to prove your points, not to merely show pretty pictures of houses (or whatever your topic is).

The Ending: Take your Audience Back to the Beginning

Have you thought about your wrap-up? Or, like many presenters, does your ending sound like this?

Well, that’s all. What do you think?

We’re out of time. Thank you. I hope you’ll list with me

I don’t have time to close.

I couldn’t get to much of the material, but you can read it

 In fact, even the most professional presenters frequently have trouble with their endings. One of the main reasons is that they run out of time. Another is that they haven’t thought the ending through.

How to Do a Stunning Ending

Crafting an effecting ending is the second most important part of your presentation. (The first is the opening). To craft a great ending,

            Go back to your beginning opening theme

            Summarize the benefits of going ahead with you/take action

            Motivate your ‘audience’ to take action

 A Great Presentation is Crafted like a Pop Song

As a musician, I know that all pop tunes are constructed with this format:

 theme—variation—theme

This is known in the music business as the ABA format. Think of your favorite pop tune: Hum the beginning. Think of the end. They’re alike, right? It’s the middle—known as the ‘bridge’—that is the humdinger. It wanders all around. Your persuasive presentation should be crafted like that pop tune:

A         A compelling start (think Billy Joel, Neil Diamond, etc.)

B         An interesting, developed middle, with stories, statistics

A         Back to that theme, with a motivating ending

Now, you’re all set to craft a great listing or buyer presentation, great recruiting meeting or sales meeting, or awesome product/service presentation to any audience.

P. S. Practice, practice, practice!

Many more tips on presentations and presentation skills are in my new resource, Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make your Best Presentation Ever.  Whether you’re doing listing and buyer presentations, or sales meetings, or 3-minute ‘get in front of them to sell your services’, you’ll love this resource.

In my new resource, Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make Your Best Presentation Ever, I show a simple three-step format to create your persuasive presentation. No matter why you’re in front of people, we need to be

                                                                   persuasive

Think about it. Real estate salespeople: When you’re doing a listing presentation, what do you want to happen? You want them to sign the listing agreement when you’re done. So, it’s extremely important that you organize your listing presentation using a persuasive format, not just an information-heavy dialogue flow.

In this blog, we’ll discuss great openings–one of the 2 most important parts of any presentation.

 Grab Their Attention in the Opening

 Have you thought about your opening? Or, are you nervously standing at the sellers’ door, worried about what you’re going to say? Are you hiding in your office because you dread doing that sales meeting? When we haven’t organized our presentation, we come up with some really boring, off-putting openings, like:

 I won’t take much of your time, but

We have a lot to cover today (boy, that sounds exciting and motivating, doesn’t it?)

We won’t get through the outline/presentation (then, why do we have that outline?)

I know you don’t want to listen, but

I’m not really prepared (this happens in many presentations in front of 2 or 2000!)

You just open your presentation book, point to the pretty pages, and say, “here’s a keybox”  (I’m not kidding. I’ve seen it….)

Great openings, yes? Yet, we’ve heard them dozens of times. You don’t have to settle for whatever comes ‘naturally’. Instead, make your openings

             Provocative

            Interesting

            Different

            Engaging

  Motivating

The First Two Minutes are Critical

I just attended a Train the Trainer’ session (yes, I still learn great stuff every day!), where the trainer said it was important to engage the audience in a meaningful way in the first two minutes of your presentation. I think that’s a great rule to follow today, because people’s attention spans are the length of a gnat’s eyebrow. So, the next time you attend a presentation, see how much time elapses before the speaker/presenter/trainer gets the audience into meaningful action. I don’t mean to ask a rhetorical question, either!

Want many more presentation tips for your next meeting, listing or buyer presentation, or sales presentation? Check out Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make your Best Presentation Ever.

In the next blog, we’ll talk about the other 2 parts of the presentation, and how to make them sizzle, too.

What mistakes have you seen presenters make in their openings? Let me know. Also–what do you do to grab their attention and interest in the first two minutes?