Posts Tagged ‘seller leads’

Thanks for visiting! Welcome back!
Real Estate Client Referrals recommends you sign in with Facebook
and become a fan of our Page

Have you trained your brain to shoot yourself in the foot???

Let’s start with a little story……..

As a young boy, Tan had always heard of stories handed down by his father and his father’s father of a magical rock that, when held by someone, would grant them any wish. It was called a ‘touch stone‘. (A person would know they found the touch stone because the stone would be smooth and round…like a ball…and warm to the touch.) And, as luck would have it, it was said to be along the shore of a small lake near the village that Tan grew up in…

After hearing these stories for his entire life, Tan decided he was going to make it his mission to find this magical ‘touch stone’. So, he started walking around the lake. Every stone he saw, he would pick up, feel it for warmth and visually inspect it for shape. If the stone didn’t adhere to the physical attributes that Tan wanted, he would pitch the stone into the lake so he didn’t have to worry about having to check it again. Over time, Tan had convinced himself that he knew instantly if a stone he had grabbed was the mythical touch stone or not and would immediately hurl the stone into the lake.

Days; Weeks; Months went by and Tan had cleared thousands of stones from the shore of the lake….picking up each one and then pitching it into the lake.

Finally, one one cold morning, Tan grabbed a stone that was warm to the touch. And the stone was round like a ball. And, at that moment……Tan pitched it into the lake.

(Pause for reflection)

The moral of the story???  Treat every stone like it is a ‘touch’ stone.

Let me explain…

If Tan had gone about his quest with the idea that every stone that came across his hands was the touch stone, he would have known immediately that he had found the stone when he came across it. Instead, Tan had trained himself into thinking that every stone he found was not the one he wanted…and by pure instinct and practice, threw them all away...including the one he really wanted.

According to NAR, only 7% of ALL clients that indicate they want to buy a home actually are interested in buying right now….a “HOT” lead, in other words. (In case your math skills are lacking…that means that 93% of ALL clients are going to be buying or selling outside of 30 days!!) And, that is also true for internet leads. NAR also states that less than half of all internet leads are actually contacted by an agent.

Agents have to re-learn. Agents have to re-group. Agents have to retrain themselves.

Instead of viewing every internet lead like a rock…treat it like gold. Treat it like a touch stone. Treat every lead like it is the best lead you have ever had. Follow up with the client diligently, timely, and with respect. Give them the information they require when they require it and work hard to make yourself THE resource that the lead thinks of when they need something. Do this every time. Without fail. Every time.

Why would you do this, you ask? Why would you spend so much time working on something that might take months to get to a closing rather than looking for something that will close in a shorter amount of time??

Well…aside from just being good business, the main reason is to train yourself…to train your mental and physical reactions so that, when you do grab that ball-shaped stone that is warm to the touch, you don’t automatically toss it into the lake because that is all you know to do with it…because that is all you have practiced. It is all you know.

Make sense yet???

If you would like more information on how RECR can help you find that touch stone, please contact Clint at 800-977-7058. Or, fan us on Facebook. And, if you are on Twitter, you can connect with Clint there also.

Every once in a while, we here at Real Estate Client Referrals gets an email from a member agent that just makes us smile.  And, lucky for us, it happened twice at the end of this last week.

RECR does not solicit testimonials. We feel that the best way for us to get a testimonial from anyone that uses our services is to provide a superior product and superior service and support. If we do our jobs right, we will get people commenting on it and receive testimonials.  And, so far, this theory remains true.

Suchita Kahlon in British Columbia writes:

“I have been with Real Estate Client Referrals since March 2009. I have already closed a number of deals from the leads that I have received!! RECR is an amazing and reliable referral system and, even when the market was slow, was consistent in sending me solid leads. It’s worth every single penny that I have invested!!  RECR is the best investment that Realtors could do for themselves. ”

Beverly Hicks in Colorado wrote us and says:

“I have been with Real Estate Client Referrals for the better part of 4 years now…and I think they are fantastic!!  I had two closings last month (August, 2009) from RECR and I have two more this month (Septemeber, 2009)!!  One of my leads generated 4 closings, 1 listing, and two more potential buyers!!  In this market, where it is so hard to get deals to the table, it is great to have a company like Real Estate Client Referrals as a lead generating tool.  They screen the clients so you don’t get bogus people and the referrals are receptive to you.  I have never had any person get upset with me for calling.  For the record, I am a REAL real estate agent …you can look me up.  This company is so great!! I really believe in the referral system and in RECR!  I won’t use any other referral company!!  Their program is fantastic!! It is the best marketing investment that you can make!!”

If you would like more information about Real Estate Client Referrals and how we can help you have the same success, please contact Clint at 800-977-7058. Or, if you prefer, email to clintmiller@recr.com. Or, follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/recr or www.twitter.com/TheRealClint.

Many of you know that I recently bought a home.

And, for those of you that don’t know that I recently bought a home…I recently bought a home.  Here’s proof.

Although we are very happy with our home we did purchase, during this process, I happened to notice that as we viewed house after house, I kept seeing the same things happen over and over.  And….not good things.  Bad things.  Bad things that were blatantly obvious to me.  Bad things that literally turned me off.  Bad things that were keeping this otherwise fine house I was standing in from selling faster.

So, as we went through the homes, I started keeping track of things that I saw that made the average buyer – ME – want to run away screaming.  Here is my “Top 10 Seller Sins”:

1. Addition Addiction – Ok…exactly what were these people thinking when they added this addtion to their home??  It isnt level.  The door frame isnt square.  And, that simulated wood-grain indoor/outdoor burber carpeting is HIDEOUS!!  Wasn’t this were the garage should be anyway?? I guess that explains the severely sun-faded paint job on the Sport Family Truckster in the driveway and the Christmas decorations piled floor-to-ceiling in the closet in the spare bedroom.  I don’t care what anyone says…Bigger is NOT always better.

2. The “Pet-Owner Moaner” – The over-all assumption that since the seller loves their pets more than chocolate, so does everyone else.  Here are a couple of quotes I heard directly from the sellers mouths: “Awwww, my cat must really like you to nestle into your neck like that.”; “I know he looks big, but he is really just a teddy bear.”; “We were able to clean up everything in the house except the cat room.”; “I cant remember if my son put away the ferrets or not, but feel free to look around downstairs.”
a.  Ok…first and foremost, Im allergic to cats.  I don’t mean that cats make me sneeze.  I mean that I quit breathing and require adrenallin shots to keep from dieing.  That thing is lucky I didn’t toss it out the open window that was next to me.
b. The “teddy bear” they were referring to…Yeah, that was a 158lb Rotweiller with a googlie eye and a broken tooth on the right side.  His chain was tied to a cinder block that he happily drug around and tossed into the air during “playtime”.
c. The “cat room”??? Oh Lord in heaven!!!
d. If you cant figure out if your son left out a pack of rodents in the dark rooms down the creaky stairs without a safety rail and a working light switch, you can be damn sure Im not going to find out for you.

3. Auditory Unawareness – If you cant hear that your refridgerator is making a clicking noise that can be heard from the front yard, Im fairly sure you cant hear the floorboards creaking, the doors squeaking, or the apparent family of raccoons living in the attic.  You also only hear what you want to hear.  Instead of “Your house is priced too high”, you hear “Your house is of a high value”.  Its not the same.  Pay attention!

4. Color Blind – Holy Lord!!  Who decorated this place?? Its like Andy Worhol threw his color pallet into a Cuisinart and hit ‘liquify’.  The fuscia flower print wallpaper needs to go.  And, I don’t carew what you say, it doesn’t do any justice to that wall with the fake woodgrain panelling it joins up to by the sunshine yellow couch.  Worse yet…the white cabinets, white-washed walls, white countertops, and white tile is just a bit much.

5. “Take it or leave it” – Yup.  Heard that come right out of a seller’s own mouth.  We were discussing the possiblity of him making a necessary repair to a sliding glass door that lead out to a deck.  Between the glass panes was about half an inch of standing water.  Obviously, the seals on the window were compromised.  When asked if he would spend the money to get the glass replaced and the seales re-done…or just replace the entire door…that was the response I got.  Guess what…I left it.

6. Price-itis – The fear that your home wont sell for the price you are asking for it.  I put in an offer on a home that was only $5,000 under what was being asked.  The counter came back with a reduction of $1,000, but a clause to pay $4,000 in closing costs.  Now, I may be bad at math…but, isnt that the same damn thing????

7. Fried Food Funk – You know what Im talking about here.  If you can smell it, you won’t sell it. Bottom line here is that fried food smells, kitty litter, a back yard filled with dog crap, a nursery reaking of dirty diapers, etc…all add up to one thing – a very short showing.  (Well, it also leads to gagging, shortness of breath, tears streaming down your face, and everyone skrunching up their nose and making that internationally known face that says, “Do you SMELL that???”)

8. Photog Fog – Everyone should take pride in their family photographs.  I do.  But, Im not trying to sell my house!  I went into one home where, I kid you not, the entire living walls…every square inch…was covered in frame pics of family.  There must have been 100 pictures in that room.  Frames mounted together like a patchwork quilt of memories and bad matting jobs.  Love the sentiment…love the family pride.  But, I was COMPLETELY distracted from seeing the actual house.

9. “I collect them” – No kidding, really??? Nothing would have made me realize you collect dolls were it not for the fact that Im now suddenly very aware of the fact that 226 eyes are now following me through your house like Chucky with an ax to grind.  Yeah, I couldn’t tell that you collect Vegas casino ash trays since they are on every flat surface in your entire house including 4 separate 6-ft tall bookshelves, your coffee table, the top of your TV, the end-tables,  and the extra two shelves that you put up encircling the entire living room.  But, worse than that, you have them on your toilet tank, your dresser…and in an amazing twist, you have drilled holes in them and replaced half of the doorknobs in your house with them.  In case your agent hasn’t told you this….PACK THIS CRAP UP!

10. Livin in the past – I don’t care what you think, the pea soup green shag carpeting is not coming back in style.  And, regardless of how many memories are associated with it, the nine-foot long, hunter orange, faux-leather couch on the wooden legs with the sleigh-style arms on the each end is FREAKING UGLY!! Regardless of whether or not they still work, the matching avocado green stove, fridge, and counter tops are ugly…and they are ugly 24/7/365.  If you want to move this house…replace this ferocious eyesore.  Better yet…HIRE A HOME STAGER!

Yeah, selling a house is hard.  Selling a house in the market is harder.  Selling one of THESE houses with a seller that sins like this…nearly impossible.  Sellers, if you are reading this…listen to your agents.  Agents, if you are reading this…make sure your sellers understand that buyers – like me – will look at these like neither of you know what you are doing and act accordingly.  Probably by running away quick.

If you would like more information about Real Estate Client Referrals and how we can send you more clients to work with, please contact Clint Miller at 800-977-7058.  Or, follow me on twitter www.twitter.com/TheRealClint.

I decided I needed to get a new pair of shoes.  The ones that I have are a couple years old and, quite frankly, a bit worn out.  So, I decided to head to the local ShoeEmporiumMart and get myself some shoes.  I knew exactly what I wanted…and in what section of the store to find it.  As I entered the store, I saw a couple customers browsing and 3 sales attendants by the cash register. 

As I stroll past them, one of them says, “Hi. I will be right with you.”  Assuming she was discussing something important and required time to finish her discussion, I went on my own. 

Fine with me…I know what I want anyway.  I head over to the shoes I want and the specific shoe I am after is not on the shelf.  So, I hunt around for a couple minutes only to figure out that there is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to how these shoes are shelved…and decide I would “hunt down” that kind lady that said she would help me. 

After a minute or two of looking, I find her at the counter again chatting with the other two sales reps about her obviously too intense weekend of drunken debauchery.  I ask her if she knew where I could find my New Balance 820s in a 4E…and without even skipping a beat, she says to me and I quote….”I said I would be with you in a minute”. 

I don’t think I have to tell you what happened next.  Suffice it to say that I got my shoes from FootLocker instead. 

You see…like this example, some aspects of your sales ability are painfully obvious to your customers.  But, some of them are much more subtle than this example…Subtle enough that you probably don’t even know that you are doing them.  But, your clients know.  Believe me! 

So, here are some ‘subtle’ and some not-so-subtle ways that you literally destroy your relationship with your clients.

Be inaccessible.  One the primary complaints I receive from the clients I refer to agents is that the agent is hard to reach.  Heck, one of the major complaints I hear from other agents is that some agents are hard to reach.  Don’t answer your phone.  And, when someone takes the time to leave a message, don’t worry about calling back.  After all, if they want to reach you so bad, they will just call back, right? 

Talk more/listen less.  Youre the important one here.  Youre the expert.  What they have to say is not important at all because you have all the answers.

Be dishonest.  Nothing will turn off a client more than being dishonest.  The phrase ‘a web of lies’ implies that it takes a lie to cover up a lie.  And another one to cover up that one and so on. 

Ignore simple manners.  Whether you like it or not, your manners matter to your clients.  Go ahead…keep your clients on hold.  Talk on your cell phone about nothing that relates to your clients that are standing right in front of you.  Use profanity and disrespectful language around your clients.  Say something negative about another client in the presence of one of your clients.  Go ahead…it’s the truth, right?

Take “No” for an answer.  That’s right…just give up.  Automatically assume that the client will never work out because you heard the word ‘No’ the first time you contacted them.  After all, only the “serious” customers that are ready to go right now are worth your time.

Don’t get to know your customers.  Ignore the important things in their lives.  Don’t worry about birthdays or anniversaries.  Forget that they have 4 dogs they treat like children.  Ignore the fact that the ugly vase on the mantle is actually Great Grandpa George.  Don’t get to know them on a personal level…its not required anyway.  After all, they are just walking dollar signs, right?

I would bet that 98% of the people that read this will already know why you shouldn’t do these things and come up with the next logical step in this conversation: Well, what should I do instead?

Simple. 

BE ACCESSABLE!  Answer your phone whenever possible.  Reply to all messages and email within a maximum of 6 hours.  Make sure that your clients understand that you are there for them and that you appreciate the fact that they trusted you enough to want to contact you.

LISTEN!  You were given two ears and only one mouth.  That means you should listen twice as much as you talk.  Take the time to listen to your clients.  What they have to say is important to them.  Therefore, it MUST be important to you.  Ignore your rehearsed responses to standard objections and tailor them to fit the specific needs of your client’s concerns.  Make them feel important…because they are!

BE HONEST!  Be honest to a fault, if need be.  In this market, clients need an advocate that is out for THEM not THEMSELVES.  Say what you mean.  Don’t beat around the bush about facts that need to be said.  Even if what is needed is a smackdown…it would be better for you to do it and be honest about it than to be deceitful and then get caught in the lie later on.  You have one shot to build trust…don’t blow it.

USE YOUR MANNERS!  For sales people that want to reach the top rung of the ladder, there is no substitute for patience, civility, and good old fashioned manners.  Say ‘please’.  Say ‘thank you’.  Make eye contact with people when they are speaking to you.  Open doors for people.  It sounds silly, but these things are not just marketing gimmicks designed to make a client happy.  They are the tried and true marks of good character.

FOLLOW UP!  Whether you want to believe it or not, sometimes “no” means “not right now”.  I see this every day with my company.  Agents simply give up after the initial contact with a potential customer because they were told “no”.  It has been proven time and again that it takes seven points of contact for a consumer to remember who you are and why you are trying to contact them.  So, it is up to you to ensure that happens.  Call your prospects.  Email your prospects.  Work your leads.  Don’t just give up initially because you didn’t get the answer you wanted on the initial request.  Sales isn’t a McDonald’s drive-thru.  You might have to ask more than once…or twice…or eight times.  I work with an agent currently that just landed an exclusive agency agreement on 35 properties because she followed up on a referral from my company that screamed at her on her initial phone call.  (If you want to hear the whole story, contact me…be happy to share.)

KNOW YOUR PEOPLE!  Notice I didn’t use the word ‘client’.  I have said time and time again that this is a people business.  You deal with people.  And, they should be treated as such.  Get to know them on a personal level.  Use that to your advantage.  Remember their kids’ names; their dog’s name.  Ask about the things in their life that are important to them and make them important to you as well.  By the same token, allow them to get to know you.  Developing a rapport and trust is mutual.  It has always been true, you must be able to give before you are proven worthy to receive.  That rule holds true here also.

It is a hard and fast rule of business that it costs six times more money or time to cultivate a new client as it does to retain a current one.  And, in this market, I would bet it costs even more.  Extraordinary customer service skills will only lead to successful retention of your clientele.  And that will ensure that your sales career will never die.

If you would like more information on Real Estate Client Referrals www.recr.com, please contact Clint at 800-977-7058 or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/recr.