Becoming G.R.E.A.T. and Winning in Our New Economy

Some of you may be wondering... what is the meaning of "New Economy"?

I see our new real estate economy as one full of obstacles. For some of you the word obstacle will sound negative, but I see them only as bumps in the road which make us smarter...stronger...and more secure in knowing we have taken the hits and are still standing.

Henry Ford once said "Obstacles are those frightful things we see when we take our eyes off our goals...a very true statement for some...but some never had a goal to take their eyes off of in the first place! http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/203714.Henry_Ford

I also see the new real estate economy as one where you will no longer be able to be a real estate "hobbyist" …to get paid in our new economy we will be forced to become professionals or get out of the business. Since 2007 the National Association of REALTORS has lost over 400,000 members nationwide. Do you think some… or most… of them may have been “hobbyist”?

Here are five things which will require your focus in this new economy”

G= Goals: Written obtainable goals. Daily focus on these goals will bring them to reality.

R= Referrals: Your business needs to be referral based with 80-90% of your business being derived from your Book of Business (B.o.B.)

E= Expenses: You will have to track your income and expense.. or in shorter terms Track Your Numbers. This will allow you to know where you have been and where you are going.

A= Activities: Activities equal results… every day you must block off time to look for new business. Remember the old adage: prospect when you are busy… or you won’t be! Personal Notes, Items of Value, Calls, and Face to Face visits are your Activities of choice.

T=Transactions:  Give 100% to every client…those unexpected extras you provide them is what will reap future referrals.  http://icu-coaching.blogspot.com/2012/02/is-there-line-out-door-to-your-business.html

Your Focus…  your Energy must be garnered in these five areas to be successful in our new economy…and you must have the skill set to back it all up.

There are three classes of agent for our new economy…

1)   Hobbyist: Associate doing 0-3 transactions per year making $0-10,000

2)   Agent: 3-15 transactions per year making $10,000 - $100,000

3)   Business Owner: 16+ transactions  making over $100,000 per year

To be a #3 you have to be G.R.E.A.T.

Eddie Brown ©2012

Is There A Line Out The Door To Your Business?

What is one thing you see at popular restaurants on a Friday and Saturday Evening… a line out the door right?  

And even though you know it will be a long wait, just to get seated, you still go there anyway? Have you ever thought about why?

The “WHY” is something you can and should carry over to your real estate business.

A restaurant has to be good at a few things all restaurants need to survive…Good Food and a Good Atmosphere. But often times those two are simply not enough to grow the line out the door. There are plenty of places I have thought had great food over the years which are no longer in business…This is where the “WHY” comes into play.

What are your “WHY’s”? Why should someone use you as their REALTOR? If you don’t know why…then how will they?

One of your “WHY’s” should be the unexpected extras you give your clients…Working by Referral is a systemized approach to doing the unexpected extras every day! Sure you still have to have the skill set other REALTORs possess… but you have to go beyond what everyone else does…

Building a Working by Referral system within your Book of Business will help you form relationships which allow you to know details about your clients lives that most others don’t. The more you know about a person… the more likely you are to know what will make them happy…and what will make the feel comfortable using you to buy or sell real estate. The more an individual knows…likes…and trusts you… the more likely they will think your “WHY’s” are better than anyone else’s.

Make a list of your WHY’s and use them when you first meet a prospective client to discuss their goals for buying or selling. These are your unexpected extras. This one technique could help you to create a line out the door of your real estate business!

Visit http://www.icu-coaching.com/ for more info on transforming your list of names into your #1 referral source.

Eddie Brown ©2012

Your Tomorrow Builds Upon Today!

Your Tomorrow Builds Upon Today!

After attending a seminar yesterday featuring Joe Niego, I would like to share a few things which I feel are prevalent to today’s real estate market and to most REALTORs.

What does the statement “Your Tomorrow Builds Upon Today” mean? It’s pretty simple when you think about it…what you do today… no matter how big or how small… in some way will affect your tomorrow…(and “tomorrows”).

Take this scenario for example: What if you were prospecting today and received a personal referral of a district manager of a new company moving into the Triangle…and he/she is here to start this new division and bring in 45-50 employees from across the country…How would what you did today effect your tomorrows? How would it affect your tomorrows if you had chosen not to call the person who referred you the division manager? Is the light bulb coming on?

Lead generation is the heart and soul of your real estate business…85% of your success depends on your ability to generate leads…only 15% is your technical ability to write contracts, negotiate, etc. Listen carefully… I am not suggesting you don’t need to be competent in this industry… (a big fat civil suit will make that crystal clear)! But what I am saying is… I have seen a lot of very technically savvy starving REALTORs in my 24 years in the business.

Your capacity to generate quality leads has a direct connection to your bank account. A REALTOR who has the motivation to focus a few hours every day on calls, hand written notes, and pop-by visits to their Book of Business (B.o.B)© can guarantee themselves a higher than average income. Focus on the leads, (the people), first and everything else will fall into place for you.

A recent NAR study shows that 84% of buyers and sellers would refer their agents if they knew someone wanting to buy or sell…The problem was …most of them could not remember their agents’ name! Use your Current and Past Clients, your Sphere of Influence, your Family and Friends, Social Circles, Business Relationships, and your On-Line Networks to generate leads for your real estate business… Your B.o.B. is the fuel that drives your business!

Remember: The toughest person you will ever manage is yourself… holding yourself accountable for the structure it takes to be a peak performer in real estate will take some effort…and more than a few beads of sweat! Structure is your friend…

Last Words: If you are not willing to invest in the person standing in your shoes…Why Should I?

Your biggest assets are your Time, Talent, and Energy…Are you wasting one or all of them?

www.ICU-Coaching.com
Eddie Brown

Working a Referral Based Economy

In the years from 2000 thru 2007 most REALTORs have to admit they worked in a Transactional Based Economy. Back then the business came pretty easy and most of our leads came from transaction based activities…(such as calls off yard signs and media advertising).

When a Transactional Lead showed up they usually arrived with no prior knowledge of you or how you conduct business… so their trust level was at the bottom of the scale. On the other hand, when you receive a personal referral from a source that already knows…likes…and trusts you, the trust is transferred and the lead arrives with a level of trust which would otherwise take weeks to build from scratch.

Working from a Transactional Based Economy you have inconsistent up and down income, you become disconnected from your past clients, you are always wondering where your next transaction is coming from, and you are always fearful of not finding it.

Good real estate markets create transactional based businesses... This happens when we become so caught up in the transactions we fail to follow-up and focus on the relationships with-in our books of business (BoB). I once heard a saying that even a turkey can soar like an eagle in a hurricane…imagine those turkeys soaring higher than they ever have, their ego’s getting bigger and bigger as they fly faster and faster…they may even start to think they are eagles…until the wind stops blowing… and the lift they received from it disappears… (like it did in 2007 for the Triangle real estate market)

As the turkey is plummeting towards the ground I wonder if he’s thinking…maybe I shouldn’t have bought that big house or the new BMW.  I also once heard… it’s not the fall that kills you…it’s the sudden stop!

Working from a Relationship Based Economy builds long term consistency in your business which remains financially rewarding even when the market goes into a tailspin.

Watch for next week’s BLOG when we'll discuss Winning in a Relationship Based Economy

Eddie Brown ©2012

www.ICU-Coaching.com