Learning from Failure: Lesson Two.
In the last installment, I compared the restaurant manufacturing operation with real estate. In this installment, we’ll look at a restaurant as a sales organization. While the back of the house (the kitchen) is all about manufacturing, the front of the house (the dining room) is all about sales. Meeting customers, setting expectations and exceeding them, and attention to detail are crucial elements in any sales organization. A restaurant is no exception. Everything is important — from the elegant music, to the dress code of the staff, to the words ... Read More »
Let a Lender Pay Your Ad Bill!
What is the single biggest expense we as REALTORS® have? You guessed it — advertising. In fact, all the so-called “experts” recommend we spend a full 20% of our gross income on bringing in business. That’s nearly three times what other industries spend for advertising (most industries spend 6-7% of gross revenue. So here’s an idea that will help you bring your advertising costs to a more attractive level. Let a lender pay your ad bill. Let me explain. Mortgage companies and real estate agents are typically trying to attract ... Read More »
The Ultimate Website
The New Ultimate Listing Presentation (Part 3)
Houston, we have a problem. In 2004 our company surveyed more than 481,000 REALTORS® with an average of 12.1 years in the business. You know what their number-one need was? To get more customers. Then in 2008 we surveyed nearly a million agents and asked them what their number one concern was, going forward. Again, overwhelmingly, it was finding enough business. Even earlier this year (2010), I ran an unofficial poll on my blog. We have thousands of agent visitors every week. Guess what the number one concern was this ... Read More »
Quick Answer Series: What’s All the Hype about “Short-Sales”?
Lately, it seems you can’t read anything about real estate and not see somebody selling their unique short-sale technique, their book or system on how you can become the “short-sale king” in your area, or their coaching on how to profit from doing short-sales. It’s become so prevalent now that it seems there is even a Certified Short-Sale Professional (CSP) designation! Don’t get me wrong — I’m all in favor of agents handling short sales for their clients when necessary, and doing so is often a great service to your ... Read More »
Oh No! The Sky is Falling!
Ten Steps to Real Estate Success (Step 4)
If there is one thing that agents do that makes me crazy, it’s this: Agents waste more of their money on worthless advertising ideas than on all other expenses combined. No kidding. There just seems to be an assumption in our industry that you just throw it out there, and maybe it works and probably it doesn’t. And for some unknown reason, that’s all right. I’ve seen many a smart agent completely check their brain at the door when it comes to this one simple thing. I’ve seen agents who ... Read More »
I Hate Technology!
The Virtual Office Model (Part 2)
The New Ultimate Listing Presentation (Part 17)
What if you could take a listing over the phone? Yes, you read it right! In fact, I’ve taken roughly 85% of all my listings over the phone! And you can do the same thing using this approach! No kidding! Remember, the seller just wants to get the most money for his home in the least amount of time. The last thing he wants is your PowerPoint presentation on his kitchen table. Okay, so you have the listing appointment and the information you need going in: the value of the ... Read More »