Coach Dan Foster | Purpose Driven Broker » Sales

Running a Low Risk – Profitable Business

Dan Foster — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:46:47 +0000

This morning I had the opportunity to interview Lee Dunn, Vice President/Principal Broker and Risk Reduction Manager for Prudential Northwest Properties. The interview was for my monthly webinar series in which I interview leaders and sales professionals in the real estate industry about best practices and success.

Lee is an amazing leader and has a wealth of knowledge and experience in the real estate industry. He has managed branches, owned companies, and served in many leadership positions across the nation on behalf of real estate broker associations.

This month Lee and I discussed how to run a low risk and profitable business in today’s real estate market. Lee provides us with his Top 10 Risk Reduction Tips and answers audience questions.

If your reader does not show you the video, you can click here to watch and listen to my interview with Lee.

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

Running a Low Risk – Profitable Business is a post from: Purpose Driven Broker

8 Tips For A Successful Open House

Dan Foster — Thu, 27 May 2010 04:17:54 +0000

Let’s be honest, holding an open house is more for the benefit of a real estate broker than it is for a home owner. The 2009 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers reports that only 46% of home buyers used open houses as a means of searching for homes. Most articles that I have read tell me that only 1-2% of home buyers actually purchase a home they visited during an open house. I encourage you to share these stats with your seller and be completely honest with them about the probability of an open house leading to a sale of their home. If they still request an open house or allow you to hold one for your own benefit, than consider these eight tips for holding a successful open house.

Walk the neighborhood before the day of the open house inviting other home owners and renters to attend the open house. Make sure you stop by all non-owner occupied homes (rentals) to invite the potential buyers to the event. This is a great opportunity to meet potential future clients.
Send an open house postcard to various move-up neighborhoods. You should consider walking this neighborhood as well. These home owners or renters may be looking to move-up in this type of market and your listing may be the right home for them. Again, it is a great opportunity to meet future clients.
Advertise a give-away in your Open House ad. Make sure you use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to get the word out about your Open House. I recommend giving away a nice bottle of wine, dinner for two, or movie tickets to a lucky visitor. Try to create a “buzz” around your open house and draw as many people in as you can to provide you with feedback.
Arrive early to prepare the house for visitors. Turn on lights and prepare the home to have guests. Make sure the counters are clear, the rooms are tidy, and the house smells good. Many brokers arrive late, scramble to get things setup before someone arrives, and come across flustered to guests that arrive early. Make sure the home is inviting and that its best features are “showcased” to visitors.
Have some type of light food and drink for your guests to enjoy. Place a label with your contact information on a water bottle and tell your guests to take a few for the road.
Bring relevant materials for potential buyers. I encourage you to have comparable homes, including active, pending, and sold homes for buyers to review in comparison to your listing. If you are priced ahead of the market then highlight this as a strong selling point for your listing. Provide market stats on the city you are in and information on the general real estate market. The helps you to demonstrate your knowledge of the area and market.
Be able to articulate your value and offer solutions to prospective buyers. Prepare for your open house by going over common objections and questions from buyers. Review the features, benefits, and data on your listing so you are prepared to answer your visitors’ questions. Be able to demonstrate why not all Realtors are the same and that working with you is in a buyer’s best interest.
Engage your visitors and ask for feedback. While the likelihood of an open house leading to the sale of a home is very small, it is a great opportunity to get feedback on the price and condition of the home from visitors. Ask the guests what they are looking for in a home. If they say your listing is not the right fit, ask them why and give this candid feedback to your seller. Don’t just sit on the couch while people walk-through the home. Remember you are in sales and you have something to offer them no one else does, YOU. Engage them so that you can learn about their needs and wants and potentially deliver a solution for them.

What techniques have you found to be helpful in holding a successful open house?

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

8 Tips For A Successful Open House is a post from: Purpose Driven Broker

Webinar: Handling Client Objections & Questions

Dan Foster — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:21:12 +0000

Do you wish you knew exactly what to say and how to say it when your client asks you to reduce your commission or to hold an open house every weekend? The answers are on the way!

Our next webinar, Thursday May 27th at 10AM, will feature a panel of experts discussing how they handle client objections and questions in today’s market. Join us on Thursday to learn from the best of your peers and walk away with the key talking points and scripts that will help you win more listing and make more sales.

Click here to register for this FREE webinar and training experience.

Webinar: Handling Client Objections & Questions is a post from: Purpose Driven Broker

8 Key Areas That Affect Performance

Dan Foster — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:43:26 +0000

If your performance has been lack luster lately or you feel yourself slipping into a slump, it probably is time for you to reflect on why this is happening. Sometimes working harder is not the best and only answer. Consider the following key areas that affect performance and try to identify the area(s) that you are struggling with the most. I’ve provided some questions for you to consider how each factor may be influencing your performance.

Job Environment: This area includes all the resources, equipment, relationships, and tools you need to perform your job properly. Is your work environment positive and supportive of your efforts to achieve success? Is your team aligned and driving towards a common vision? Do your customers recognize your brand, see you as authoritative, and trust your ability to get the job done? Is your company’s technology and tools keeping up with the pace of the industry and allowing you to serve your clients in new and innovative ways?

Drive: Are you willing to do what it takes to be successful. Drive goes beyond the desire to be successful. Drive goes beyond words and leads to action. It is the feeling or compulsion when your wants meet what you need, and you are willing to do what it takes to be successful.

Knowledge: Do you have the knowledge that you need to make the right decisions, understand the direction of your industry, and articulate how your services will help your client achieve their goals? This area requires you to be an expert in your field, knowing the key measurable and trends in your industry are essential. Are you taking time for personal and professional development through training and education?

Skills: Do you know how to do what it takes to be successful? Do you have the skills to pick up the phone and make calls to clients? Do you know how to develop client presentations? Do you know how to communicate effectively? This has nothing to do with #2 above, and is just focused on your ability to do what needs to be done to achieve success?

Attitude: Your attitude towards your job is going to affect every other item mentioned in this list. How do you feel about your performance, about your work environment, about what you have to do to be successful, and about the types of people you are working with? Are you voicing these feelings to your coworkers, clients, or your key supporters? If so, analyze the words you are using, are they positive or negative, uplifting or degrading, encouraging or complaining? Your attitude is not everything but it is the difference maker in performance.

Talents: Your talents are different than your skills in that your talents are natural, not learned. Do you have the natural capability of behaving in a way that will lead to success in your job? If your job requires you to be a good presenter and to connect with people than you should naturally enjoy this type of work. If you find your job difficult to do, not because you don’t have a desire or the knowledge, but because you just are not good at it, than you probably have talents in in other areas that would match with a different type of job. Explore behavioral and talent tests like DISC and StrengthFinder to see if your job is a match for your talents.

Capacity: This is your ability to learn how to behave and perform in order to achieve success. It has to do with your ability to learn new methods, systems, and processes that are required by your industry and clientele. Is your industry moving so fast in the area of technology that you are unable to stay on top of what is required of you to be successful? Are your clients expecting such new and innovative ways to engage them that you’re feeling unable or unwilling to change to meet their needs?

Balance: One of the most elusive characteristics of true success is having balance between your personal life and professional career. When we are out of balance it will affect our performance at work and our personal relationships. When was the last time you worked out regularly? Are you eating healthy so you have energy and stamina throughout the day? When was the last time you spent time in prayer or thoughtful reflection? Are you spending time with friends and family members? Do you have a list of business books, seminars, and workshops you plan on attending this year to help you grow personally and professionally? Are you able to leave work at work and home at home? Do you have a Life Plan to help you achieve balance?

Where do you go from here? If you identified areas that are negatively influencing your performance and keeping you from reaching your goals, than you are now faced with a choice. You can either continue performing at the level you are and struggle to meet your goals, or you can reflect on these areas of influence and make the necessary changes to improve your performance.

Let’s assume you decide to make the choice for improved performance, your next step is to set action plans in each of the areas that are negatively influencing your performance. These action plans should be SMART short term steps that you can take to improve your performance. I encourage you to take a half or full day off to reflect on these areas of influence and create 90-Day Action Plans to help you get your performance back on track.

Question: Which area listed above is having the greatest negative influence on your performance right now and what are three things you can do to improve in this area?

If I can be of any help please do not hesitate to let me know!

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

8 Key Areas That Affect Performance is a post from: Purpose Driven Broker

6 Steps to Better Decision Making

Dan Foster — Fri, 07 May 2010 19:34:38 +0000

Helping clients make decisions is one of the most important responsibilities of being a real estate broker. Our clients view us as a trusted advisor; someone that can provide them with objective advice throughout their real estate experience. However, even the most seasoned brokers can find themselves caught up in the emotions of a transaction and have difficulty walking their clients through a rational decision making process.

In his book, Decide and Conquer, author Stephen P. Robbins lays out a decision making process that helps people make consistent value-driven choices that lead to the achievement of their goals. Below, I’ve outlined Robbins’ six steps to better decision making and encourage you to use this process the next time your client turns to you for advice when facing a tough decision or problem.

Step 1: Identify and Define the Problem: Problems exist when a gap occurs between what our clients want (their goals) and their current reality. Helping your clients articulate exactly what it is they want to achieve or experience is crucial in this beginning step. You don’t need to criticize or evaluate their response here, rather try to gain some clarity around what it is they are after.

Step 2: Identify Decision Criteria: Next you must help your client discover and write out what is most important to them when making their decision. Have them write out their interests, values, goals, and personal preferences. When they list these criteria you will begin to have a better understanding of what is driving them and what factors play a role in their final decision.

Step 3: Weigh the Criteria: After their criteria is laid out and the client agrees there is NOTHING else that will play into his decision making, have the client rank each of the criteria in order of importance. Remember if everything is ranked the same then nothing really is important and it will be difficult for you to analyze all factors and choose the best next step.

Step 4: Generate Alternatives: After helping your client define the problem and set criteria it is time to generate a list of solutions that will allow the client to achieve their desired end result. The client may not like all of the alternatives that are discussed so try to keep an open objective mind and list out all possible alternatives.

Step 5: Evaluate Each Alternative: After the potential solutions are noted you and your client need to go back to the criteria that was listed in step 3 and analyze, evaluate, and rate each alternative option.

Step 6: Select the Choice that Scores Highest: The process concludes when you have ranked each alternative and the client is able to objectively and rationally choose the alternative that scores the highest. From a rational standpoint this would be the best choice.

From Experience: From experience I know that people often prefer to go with their gut and make a decision based on what feels right at the time. This will occasionally end up being the right decision in the long run but from the standpoint of being someone’s trusted advisor and a professional; I encourage you to use the six steps to rational decision making whenever possible. When helping someone through a major or life changing event, such as buying or selling a home, the rational approach to decision making is your best course of action.

Question: Do you have a system in place that you use to help people make decision based on their values and goals rather than gut feelings or emotions?

Here is a Rational Decision Making Tool to use the next time you need to help a client with a major or life changing decision.

Choose to make it a great day!

Coach Dan

6 Steps to Better Decision Making is a post from: Purpose Driven Broker