In March, we did a little show in the SWS Virtual Studio called "Getting Lucky in Real Estate" where I invited a few successful agents to join me in a discussion about what they've done (and continue to do) to generate business for themselves without really trying.

Well, the registration and attendance were among the best of any show we've ever done, so we figured - hey, let's do it again! So, on April 26th, we're having two more "lucky" SWS'ers join us to tell us all about their "luck" in finding clients to serve, without spending a fortune or even much time doing it.

Here is the description we posted for the first show... so instead of reinventing the wheel, I'll just let you read it again if you like! Or you can just scroll down to register for the show.

***

Last fall, I was talking with an agent about our coaching program here at SWS. She was interested in hiring me to help her work through some of her business-related challenges such as choosing a contact management system, creating and implementing transaction checklists, setting goals; basically just getting better organized and in control of her day-to-day activities.

Sounded good to me - I LOVE that stuff and fancy myself an expert in such matters. But out of curiosity, I asked her why she hadn't mentioned needing help in her business-building (i.e. prospecting) efforts and she said something like: "I suppose I should focus on that more, but I guess I've just been lucky. I seem to have a steady stream of business without really doing anything special."

It reminded me of a quote I made back in 2001 when I was the agent of the year in my RE/MAX office and was being interviewed about my Secrets of Success. I said "The phone rings, I answer it, and I have a great new client." 

IS it luck when business just seems to flow in without undue effort or expense? Of course not! Someone is doing something right, perhaps without even realizing it because what they're doing "right" feels so natural it doesn't seem like they're doing anything at all!

That's what we're going to talk about in the Getting Lucky in Real Estate show. How two successful SWS agents "Get Lucky" on a daily basis when it comes to finding buyers and sellers to serve. And no, it has nothing to do with secret trigger words or free reports or dorky elevator speeches - but everything to do with being REAL, being GOOD and being OUT THERE!

Join us?  

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THE DETAILS
Date: Thursday, April 26th, 2012
Time: 8:00am Pacific / 9:00am Mountain / 10:00am Central / 11:00am Eastern  
Duration: 60 - 90 minutes
Equipment Needed: A computer with a high-speed connection and speakers, or a telephone.
Cost: Free, but you must register, below:

Register Here

As you may know, SWS is now the proud owner of the Accredited Consultant in Real Estate® (ACRE) program and designation! Founded by Mollie Wasserman in 2006, the ACRE baton was handed over to me in late 2011, and in the months since, I've completely updated the program with a new look, a new approach and a new platform.

However, the mission of ACRE remains the same - to both inspire real estate practitioners to approach their real estate careers with a "consultative" mindset rather than a sales one, and to teach them HOW to incorporate consulting into their practice of real estate.

For those already familiar with the SWS way of doing things, the ACRE philosophy of "consulting with" instead of "selling to" is obviously a match made in heaven. But there's much more to ACRE and consulting than a simple shift in mindset. Real estate consulting opens up a whole new world of opportunity for real estate agents; in the clients they can serve, the services they can offer and the manner in which they can be paid.

Consultants can work with homeowners who don't want to sell right now, but need the expertise of a real estate professional. Consultants can help FSBOs navigate their way to the closing table once a buyer has been found. Consultants can work with professional investors who need a knowledgeable expert on their team to help them analyze properties. Consultants can offer their services to landlords who need an objective opinion as to whether to re-rent or sell. And yes, consultants can work with retail buyers and sellers as they always have, and offer them a wider variety of service packages and payment options!

But real estate consulting is definitely not for everyone. Perhaps not even for most. To make consulting a reality in your own practice, you need to come in with an open mind and a willingness to reject the notion of "that's the way it's always been done and it will never change." You also need to bring your creativity, your business savvy and the desire to make your real estate career something special ;-]

So, do you think real estate consulting and ACRE might be right for you?

Let's find out! On April 17th, we're doing a little infoshow about ACRE and consulting in the SWS Virtual Studio. We'll talk about what consulting is (and isn't), what opportunities it offers (and challenges it presents), we'll tell you about the new course and designation, and invite you to join us for the Grand Opening ACRE Mastermind Workshop* that begins on April 23rd.

We promise a low-pitch atmosphere - we have no interest in pressuring anyone to participate in a program that's not right for them! Come to the show to see for yourself if consulting is something you'd like to add to your business model, either now or in the future. We'd love to have you join us!

The DETAILS
Date: Tuesday, April 17th, 2012
Time: 8am Pacific / 9am Mountain / 10am Central / 11am Eastern Duration: 60-75 minutes
Cost: Free, but you must register, below
Format/Equipment: Teleseminar; can access by telephone or on your computer

Register Here

*What, exactly, is the ACRE Mastermind Workshop? The ACRE Mastermind Workshop is a six-week group program where we'll work together in an online group setting to learn the nuts and bolts of real estate consulting. At the end of the Workshop, your final project will be to create a Consulting Business Plan based on the assignments we've completed together, and if you complete the program, you will be ready to Go Forth and Consult!

If you do not already have your ACRE Designation, you will receive it once your business plan has been submitted and approved. We're calling the program a Mastermind because it will be led not only by the leaders of ACRE, but also by ACREs who are actually practicing consulting. We'll have several "break-out" sessions where we'll discuss a wide variety of consulting-related topics, such as marketing yourself as a consultant, working with non-buying or -selling clients, consulting with FSBOs, broker issues and much more. You can read more about the Mastermind Workshop here: http://swsstore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=126.

"You have reached <insert pause> 850-xxx-xxxx. Please leave a message at the sound of the tone."

That's the greeting I received yesterday when I dialed the phone number on the rider perched atop a For Sale sign. I wasn't calling to buy the house, but rather to let the listing agent know that her vacant listing appears to be squatted in - that someone might be living there without the blessing of the owner. 

As I dialed the number on a Sunday morning, I assumed I'd get voice mail since this is the south and a lot of people tend to hang out at church on this day and time of the week. But I laughed out loud when I got the "standard greeting with your telephone number telling callers you are not available" on a real estate agent's direct line! Seriously?! Someone goes to the trouble of printing up custom sign riders with their name and number and then can't even bother to record their NAME on their voicemail greeting, never mind a warm, friendly, inviting personal greeting?

I must confess the snarky side of me was tempted to play dumb and say something like "Oh, um, I thought I was calling a real estate agent, maybe I dialed the number wrong. Well, I'm looking for Judy Smith - it's about the house on Luna Way - if this is the right number, please call me back..." But I managed to restrain my snarky side and left a detailed message with my concern about her listing, included my name and phone number (what a concept!) and invited her to call me back if she'd like. 

I'll give ya three guesses as to whether or not she did. Not that she needed to, but it would have been a nice gesture. Hey, you never know where you'll meet your next biggest client and if someone takes the time to call YOU with information you might appreciate, it's probably a good idea to call them back. What the heck. 

But that's not my point; I'm sure anyone reading this blog would have already made that Thank You call. My point is that maybe, just maybe this agent doesn't realize her voicemail is the "standard greeting telling callers you are unavailable" - after all, how many times do we call our own number? Maybe she USED to have a warm, friendly, inviting personal greeting on there and somehow it was erased? And she'd be stunned to find out some snarky real estate writer was criticizing her on a public blog? It's possible!

So, don't let this happen to you! Take a moment right now and dial your own direct line; lines if you have more than one. Make sure the outgoing greeting you hear IS a greeting and one that would inspire YOU to leave a message if you were in need of real estate assistance! Might be the best investment of 60 seconds of your day today!

RELATED BLOGS

How's Your Phone Voice?

20 Ways to Make $100,000/year... or not!  

Do You Use an Autoresponder? Please be careful with it!

This blog was originally posted in mid-2007, but in honor of my own Scavenger Hunt scheduled for this Friday morning, I thought I'd run it again... 

...read all the way through to learn more about how to enter the 2012 SWSConnect Scavenger Hunt!

___________________________

Announce Your Website with a Scavenger Hunt! (August 2007)

Got your new website all fired up and ready to go? YEAH!

Waiting anxiously for the inquiries, leads and, admit it, the compliments to start pouring in?

Waiting... waiting... waiting...

(Don't worry, this is NOT a blog about SEO, key words or Google rankings.)

It's about how you can generate interest in your cyber-baby among the people you know. 

Have a Cyber Scavenger Hunt!

It's pretty simple, really.

Go through your web site page by page and find interesting little Tidbits and Factoids. (If you can't find any, you might wanna hit the drawing board again!).

Formulate questions around these Tidbits & Factoids.

Send out an email to everyone you know announcing the scavenger hunt. Offer fun prizes, preferably ones that will give them ongoing warm fuzzies about you. Such as... I dunno... Starbuck's gift cards, a local magazine subscription, a year membership at the zoo....? Be creative... you'll come up with something cool.

And send ME an invitation to your Scavenger Hunt so I can join the fun!

_____________________

Sound like something you might want to try? Well, if you'd like to see such a thing might work, you're welcome to join the SWS crowd on Friday for the 2012 SWSConnect Scavenger Hunt. 

Here's the scoop. 

On Friday morning (March 16th), around 8am (Pacific) / 11am (Eastern), I'll send out and post a list of "items" that can be found at the all-new SWSConnect - and you'll need to... duh... FIND them! YOU MUST BE A REGISTERED MEMBER OF SWSCONNECT AND LOGGED IN to participate! So, you might want to do that ahead of time (like, now) and make sure your profile is completely filled out (hint). If you're already a member of SWSConnect, make sure you remember your username and password - once the Hunt begins, I won't be able to address login issues in a timely manner. 

The list of items to find will be provided in three places at the appointed time: 1) via email to the SWS mailing list; 2) on my Active Rain blog (right here); and 3) at the SWS Forum under the "Selling Real Estate with Soul" board. 

The first five finishers (who "find" all items correctly) will win a $300 gift certificate to the SWS Bookstore; the next ten will win a $100 gift certificate and everyone else will receive a $20-thanks-for-playing-but-you-didn't-win gift certificate.  

So... watch this space on Friday morning... make sure you can log all the way into SWSConnect... and let the games begin!

Yesterday I read yet another (ho hum) article about how important it is for real estate agents to remember that their primary obligation (to whom?) is to prospect for new business. Every day. Before they do anything else. 

Blech. 

This attitude literally nauseates me. The article went on to say that (I'm paraphrasing) since the non-income producing activities (specifically client service) we "have" to do are typically the activities that give us the most grief (um... really?) and create the most frustration in our lives, we should spend as little time as possible on them and relegate them to the hours of the day when our energy level is the lowest so as not to "waste" our high-energy hours taking care of those pesky clients who have the nerve to want our attention after they've hired us. 

Wow.

Now, if the author of the article was saying that a natural rainmaker should go out and make rain all day long and bring the results home to a more client-oriented PARTNER (not assistant) to actually care for, I might be less critical. But nope, that wasn't the gist of the article - it was simply to say that because client service activities are not directly income-producing (although I'll argue that one all day long!), they should be the lowest priority on your daily to-do list. 

I've ranted about this before and if you'd like to read more, check out the links below. But for now, I'll just ask this... 

If you were to sit down right now and write up a business plan for the next twelve months where you outlined your business development (i.e. prospecting) and client service goals and commitments, and then created a mission statement based specifically on that business plan... would you be willing to share it with your clients and potential clients? 

If the mission statement you create from your business plan reads anything like: "Taking care of my current clients will NOT be done until I've run out of energy to search for new ones" - would you be proud to post it on your website, your blog and in your listing presentation? 

RELATED RANTS

How do you think your clients feel about your 80/20 plan?  
80/20? Let's turn that around! 
If Real Estate is so easy, how do you justify your fee? 

Last fall, I was talking with an agent about our coaching program here at SWS. She was interested in hiring me to help her work through some of her business-related challenges such as choosing a contact management system, creating and implementing transaction checklists, setting goals; basically just getting better organized and in control of her day-to-day activities.

Sounded good to me - I LOVE that stuff and fancy myself an expert in such matters. But out of curiosity, I asked her why she hadn't mentioned needing help in her business-building (i.e. prospecting) efforts and she said something like: "I suppose I should focus on that more, but I guess I've just been lucky. I seem to have a steady stream of business without really doing anything special."

It reminded me of a quote I made back in 2001 when I was the agent of the year in my RE/MAX office and was being interviewed about my Secrets of Success. I said "The phone rings, I answer it, and I have a great new client."  

IS it luck when business just seems to flow in without undue effort or expense? Of course not! Someone is doing something right, perhaps without even realizing it because what they're doing "right" feels so natural it doesn't seem like they're doing anything at all!

That's what we're going to talk about in the Getting Lucky in Real Estate show on March 8th. How successful SWS agents "Get Lucky" on a daily basis when it comes to finding buyers and sellers to serve. And no, it has nothing to do with secret trigger words or free reports or dorky elevator speeches - but everything to do with being REAL, being GOOD and being OUT THERE!

Join us?   

THE DETAILS

Date: Thursday, March 8th, 2012
Time: 8:00am Pacific / 9:00am Mountain / 10:00am Central / 11:00am Eastern   
Duration: 60 - 90 minutes
Equipment Needed: A computer with a high-speed connection and speakers, or a telephone.
Cost: Free, but you must register, below

REGISTER HERE 

As you may know, back in November, I took over as Commander in Chief of the ACRE (Accredited Consultant in Real Estate) program with the full blessing of ACRE founder, Mollie Wasserman. (You can read more about the baton-passing here.)  

Since November, we've been working feverishly behind the scenes on what we're calling (oh-so-cleverly) ACRE 2.0 which includes a new look and brand, a new website and two new designation programs. We're making great progress and are hoping to have everything ready to launch around the first of April. 

More details will be released soon, but here's a summary of what's coming...

• A fully renovated ACRE Designation course which takes a hands-on, apply-what-you're-learning approach to real estate consulting so that when students finish the course, they are pretty much ready to Go Forth and Consult;
• A new consulting-related designation course that includes a competence component - telling the world that the designee takes this career seriously and is committed to providing competent, even exceptional client service;
• A new, easy-to-navigate website with a public and private forum, member map and locator, resource library, consumer material, searchable blog archive and more (it's looking goooood!).

Love love love this post. I'm dismayed on a pretty regular basis reading blog after blog written by way-too-full-of-themselves (IMO) real estate agents who seem completely oblivious to the fact that without their customers, they'd be out of business.

A few months ago, we did a survey of SWS readers asking for opinions on what makes a real estate agent an Exceptional Agent. One of the items listed was "having a great team of service professionals." Unfortunately, while that item was rated as one of the Most Important factors in making an agent Exceptional, it was also one of the lowest-ranked items when agents rated themselves on how Exceptional they themselves are for each item. In other words, agents know they need to have a great team, but to put it bluntly, they haven't done much about it.

So, let's do something about it.

Putting a team into place may just be one of the most critical projects you can do for yourself to assure your long-term success. Once you have a team, you'll wonder how you ever closed a real estate transaction without it.

So, what is a "team?"

While your team can certainly include some great lenders and inspectors, that's not what we're talking about here. We're referring to service contractors who can help both your buyers and sellers deal with the inevitable issues that arise before, during and after a real estate transaction. Instead of sending your clients to the Yellow Pages to find help, YOU give them names and numbers of people YOU know and trust... people you know will get the job done and make you look gooooood.

During the show, we'll answer questions such as:

•WHY do you need a team?
•WHO do you need on your team?
•WHERE do you find your team?
•HOW do you protect yourself from liability?

If we have time (and we probably will), we'll talk about taking the project to the next level which is creating a referral directory to distribute to your sphere of influence.

Hope to see you at the show!

THE DETAILS
Date: Thursday, February 23rd, 2012
Time: 8:00am Pacific / 9:00am Mountain / 10:00am Central / 11:00am Eastern 
Duration: 60 - 75 minutes
Equipment Needed: A computer with a high-speed connection and speakers, or a telephone.
Cost: Free to attend live, but you must register, below. 

REGISTER HERE

I've been watching and commenting on Leslie Rojohn's fine blog called "Time is Money-- Unless You're a REALTOR" - about charging retainer fees. Maybe you saw it, too, since it was Active Rain's headliner of the day last Thursday or Friday.

As typically happens when any topic of non-contingent compensation is featured, the comments came in fast and furiously, most along the lines of "Sounds great, but it will never happen. If buyers (or sellers) can get it free down the street, why would they be willing to pay for it?"

Indeed. Why would they?

Hmmmmmm?

That's not a rhetorical question - I'm asking it. Assuming you like the idea of getting a retainer or upfront fee, WHY would a buyer or seller be willing to pay one for your real estate service?

Hmmmmmm?

No answer? Well, then there's the problem!

Unless you're some super-duper salesperson who can sell the proverbial snow to an Eskimo, you need to believe that what you're selling is good for your customer. Great, even. AND IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE THAT ABOUT YOUR SERVICE OR YOUR FEES, no one else is going to believe it either!

Of course, this applies to any product or service someone might be pitching, but for our purposes here, we're talking about non-contingent (aka retainer or upfront) fees.

"Sounds great, but it will never happen. If buyers or sellers can get it free down the street, why would they be willing to pay for it?"

Well... in the last few years of my active career, I offered my sellers the choice to pay me $500 upfront... and most took me up on it - happily. Was the guy or gal down the street also charging $500 upfront? Nope. Were my seller clients so filthy stinkin' rich that they had an extra $500 lying around they wanted me to have? Nope. Was I such a super-duper salesperson that I was able to overcome their objections with a masterful script and a mega-watt smile? Oh, heavens NO!

Most of my sellers paid the $500 upfront fee because I made it a good deal for them to do so. And they recognized a good deal when they saw one and cheerfully wrote the check. And because I knew what I was offering was a good deal for them, it was no problem at all for me to "sell" them on the idea.

So... instead of moaning and groaning about how unfair it is that we Work for Free (which we DON'T) and that "no one will ever be willing to pay us non-contingently unless everyone else does it, too," get out of your own way and think about how you could make getting what YOU want also be a good deal for your customers. And you'll be able to sell it All Day Long.