Selling Soulfully with Jennifer Allan

(My opinion will be glaringly apparent in about 10 seconds).

I'm horrified on a daily basis by the emphasis in our industry on PROSPECTING PROSPECTING PROSPECTING! Anyone who reads my blog already knows that, but here I am again with my jaw dropped to the floor at some recent comments on another blogger's post. I won't repeat them here because I have no desire to publicly criticize anyone (must be feeling abnormally sweet today) and besides, it's only my opinion, but JEEZ! To imply, heck to outright state that our most important duty as LICENSED real estate agents is to focus on finding new business as opposed to taking great care of what we already have... literally nauseates me.

My friends, I'm not stupid or naïve. I know that as self-employed people we need to ensure a steady stream of business to our door, but for heaven's sake - show those people who find their way there and HONOR us with their business the respect they DESERVE - and take care of them AS OUR FIRST PRIORITY!  Yes, BEFORE our prospecting activities. I'm serious.

Because you know what? If you approach your business with that attitude - if you get up every morning asking yourself what you can do for your clients to make their lives better (and frankly, impress the hell out of them with your service), they will take care of you the rest of your career. I promise.

Is it that many in our ranks don't really know how to take good care of their clients? That they were never trained in the nuances of buyer or seller representation? Or never cared enough to figure it out themselves? All they learned how to do was prospect, GET that sign in the yard and then waltz away to pursue the next victim prospect? Say it isn't so!

Be assured, I'm not asking anyone to do something that will hurt their business by begging them to spend more of their time on their clients instead of their prospects. The very best prospecting you will ever do (and by far the cheapest) is to prove to your clients that you are a fabulous real estate agent who knows how (and cares enough) to get the job done. Not surprisingly, that's awfully darn rare in our business, and will make an impression on those whose paths you cross.

This, by the way, is the essence of Sell with Soul. Be worthy of the business you attract. And as a result, attract lots more of it.

Rant over. Tomorrow I'll pick back up with the Confident Rookie Series.

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www.SellwithSoul.com

BAH!

Is anyone tired of of hearing this line? Lately it's all about Twittering, Facebooking, Linked-in-ing and whatever other latest technology I'm not familiar with. At a Terry Watson presentation at last year's Colorado Realtor Rally, he proclaimed that an agent's Number One marketing tool was... YouTube!

HUH?

Of course, it's not as if we haven't been hearing this same crap forever. In the old days (and still some today), the Masters proclaimed that if you don't cold-call, door-knock, farm or advertise, you'll be dead in the water. Then you had to bombard your Sphere of Influence with cheesy mailers every month. Then you had to have a fully-functional website. Then you had to SEO and PPC. Oh, and you must have a PDA (the old-timey Daytimers won't cut it). Gotta have a blog, mobile-web and GPS...

OR YOU'LL FAIL!

Nonsense. I guarantee you that if I never Twitter or go near my Facebook page again, it will not affect my success selling real estate. And I'm still enamored with my trusty Franklin Planner (the paper kind), with no plans to upgrade to digital.

Just do what has always worked for you! Upgrade to new technology when YOU'RE in the mood, not when some guru scares you half to death with the consequences if you don't!

"If I don't Twitter, I'll fail..." Sheesh.

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As much as I'd like to claim that I'm always looking out for the other guy, and always put my friends' and clients' needs ahead of my own... well... I just can't say that with a straight face. I can be awfully lazy at times (quite often, actually) and would much rather do exactly what I wanna do and the rest of my world be da*ned!

But... unfortunately, when you're self-employed, that's probably not the best approach to life. Because y'know what? In our industry, every warm body on the planet has the potential to bring you a $10,000 paycheck and there's no way of telling who that next $10k paycheck will come from. Blow someone off ‘cause you're feeling lazy and you might just have blown that week's (or month's) opportunity for The Big One.

So, lately, when I'm asked for a favor, or even to go out socially (as an introvert, I'm not always in the mood) and I'm inclined to decline, I back off and ask myself "What's in this for me?" And y'know what? I can almost always think of something "in it" for me, above and beyond the potential to have fun, eat some good food or drink good wine or even meet my next $10k client. I hesitate to give you any of my recent examples because they are SO DARN SELF-SERVING, I'm almost embarrassed.

But does it really matter what my motivation is, as long as I do the right thing?

So, give it a try. Next time you're tempted to decline an invitation or say NO to a favor asked of you, take a moment to be selfish and ask "what in it for me if I do this?" If you truly can't think of anything, you have my permission to stay home! But I'll bet you'll find that more often than not... there IS something in it for you that makes it worth doing!

My friend Bob Delle Donne in Florida challenged me to find a way to sell 1000 SWS's in March. I rolled my eyes at him, but he insisted. He said to just put it out there into the universe and see what happens. Well, okay. And y'know what? Sales are way up! I got a ginormous order last night from Amazon.com and am getting about four times the orders on my website. Neato! If you'd like to participate in my universal experiment, I'd certainly be honored. Volume discounts available (I know the boss). xoxoxo

BUY A BUNCH OF SWS'S! (or just one)

Last week, Janie Coffey hosted a teleconference for the participants of my Savvy Prospector program about the magic of niche marketing. I was spellbound by the material and it really made me think about how this business works...

Back to Janie in a sec.

We're all looking for a magic bullet, myself included. While I know I'll have a mortgage payment due NEXT October, I'm far more concerned with the one due in 25 days, the one due in 55 days and the one due in 85 days. 

But you know what? Next October will be here before you know it, and THIS October will be a distant memory. Where do you want to be next October? Do you intend to still be selling real estate? Or do you reckon you'll be doing something else by then?

Of course, we all figure we'll still be real estate gods and goddesses and we're all optimistic that things will have turned around by then. Those of us who have stuck it out through these difficult times will be talking for years about how we survived the 2007-2008 real estate season and are now better agents for it.

So, if that's the case - if you really wanna be selling some real estate in a year... in two years... and for many years after that, perhaps now would be a good time to start planning to do just that.

Okay, back to Janie. Janie has created a niche market for herself in South Florida as the Horse Realtor. She began her campaign to be the go-to agent for horsey people about a year and a half ago. Today she's working with five developers across the country (the world actually) who want, heck NEED her expertise in horse properties. They're coming after her!

But that didn't happen overnight - nope, it took a year or so to build her reputation as someone who knows horse properties. A year ago, developers weren't beating down her door, but I'll bet if you ask her, she'll say that these last 12 months have flown by and she's thrilled with the long-term results of her efforts.

There are a gazillion things we can all be doing today to ensure a happy next year. And then be tickled with ourselves when next year rolls around and we're enjoying the fruits of our labor.

Okay, Jennifer, Miss Smarty Pantz, what CAN we do today to ensure a Happy Next Year?

1. Nurture your personal relationships. Especially if you've approached the people you know as a salesperson first and a friend second or third or fourth, you may have some repair work to do. Starting today - drop the sales pitch and start reconnecting with your SOI as a real person... who cares about them... who also happens to sell real estate.
   
   
2. Take a little extra time with not-yet-ready-to-buy-or-sell prospects. Treat them respectfully and stay in touch. Never shuttle a potential future client out the door because they aren't leading you to a paycheck within 60 days. They could very well bring you a paycheck in 180 days.
   
   
3. Become a Master of Your Market. The only way to really know and understand your local market is to be out in it. Take three hours a week to preview homes. Visit open houses two Sundays a month. Go to every Broker Open you're invited to. Read the neighborhood newspapers.
   
   
4. Make your current clients your top priority (yep, ahead of your prospecting efforts). Go above and beyond for your sellers and buyers. Believe me, they'll notice and they'll remember. And will reward you for your efforts for years to come.
   
   
5. Blog. Blogging is a long-term prospecting strategy. If you want to become a specialist in your market or in certain property types or certain client types, get blogging about them TODAY. In a year, you'll be glad you did.

It's possible that NONE of the above activities will result in a sale in 30 days or even 60. But if you're in this for the long haul, I guarantee that in a year, you'll be thrilled with the results.

The Savvy Prospector: Eight Weeks to a Full Pipeline for Life!
          

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