Selling Soulfully with Jennifer Allan

Kicked off the Summer of Soul over the weekend with Susan Haughton's interview "Introverts are Salespeople, too!" Good show, great crowd!

Highlights from Saturday's show include:

1.       An introvert is a much better salesperson when approached, rather than when he does the approaching (when he attracts business rather than pursues it)

2.       An introvert needs to know what she's doing before she can project a confident attitude (she can't fake it ‘til she makes it)

3.       Being introverted is not the same as being shy

4.       Introverts can (and should) trust their gut - we have great intuition and a lot of common sense!

5.       Introverts can (and should) stay in their comfort zone when prospecting

#1 - An introvert is a better salesperson when approached, rather than when he approaches. Some might say that this somewhat negates the whole concept of being a salesperson at all - if you're just sitting around waiting for someone to knock on your door, you're an order-taker, not a salesperson. Hmmmmm, I don't think so. In fact, I think that attraction-based marketing is the wave of the future and we introverts might be ahead of the curve! People are tired of being sold, of being pitched, of being pursued. When they need information on a product, they'll go find it. And the trick is to be THERE when they go looking. We introverts are excellent lead-converters when the lead comes to us - DUE to our personality, not despite it!

#2 - An introvert can't fake it ‘til she makes it. When an introvert knows what she's doing, she projects an incredible can-do attitude because, well, she knows she CAN DO. We're organized, we're efficient, we're thoughtful and we're creative and we know we can get the job done. If we know how to do the job! Therefore, it's important that those who lean toward the introverted side of the scale focus on building expertise and knowledge before they prospect. If they're insecure in their abilities, they'll never leave the office.

That's enough for today... I'll pick this up later! Have a wonderful week, my friends!

The Sell with Soul Summer of Soul

Before I write another word, I want to state, for the record, that I have absolutely no experience prospecting to expireds or FSBO's. So take what I say with the proverbial grain of salt.

And, please note... this blog is not meant for outgoing, extroverted, natural salespeople. You guys don't need my help! I'm writing for the Reluctant Salespeople among us - those who hate to take the risk of bothering or pestering anyone ‘cause that's just our nature (and no, we're not weak salespeople or scaredy-cats, we're just different from you).

Okay, enough disclaimers & disclosures.

If you choose to pursue expired listings and/or For Sale by Owners, here's a tip.

Go for quality, not quantity. No, I'm not referring to cherry-picking your listings (although you certainly may!), I mean that you should only attempt to list the homes of people you feel comfortable with. People you have rapport with. If you call up a FSBO and you can tell immediately that you aren't comfortable with him, just say NEXT. Don't fret about losing that particular seller to someone else, just move on. You don't need every listing in town!

I promise you, there are plenty of expireds and FSBO's out there that you will really connect with, and the good news is that these folks probably won't connect real well with the more salesy-types who aggressively pursue them. They'll appreciate your laid-back, non-aggressive style; in fact, you may be just the breath of fresh air they've been waiting for.

However, this said, I'm not letting you off the hook just yet with regard to your prospecting efforts...

When considering implementing a FSBO/expired campaign, ask yourself this question:

"Am I willing to make phone calls and knock on doors to list these sellers?"

If the answer is "No, I'll just bombard them with mailers," or even "No, I'll just mail them a letter and leave a voicemail during the day when I know (or hope) they're at work," then... don't bother. Find another way to build your business. To create the rapport that is necessary to make this campaign work, you have to talk to the people.

This is why I never did FSBOs or expireds. I knew I didn't want to call anyone or knock on any doors - I prefer to stay in my comfort zone, which definitely does not involve picking up the phone to call a stranger or knocking on his door at 8:00 am. And if you decide the same, that's fine!

However, for those of you who are looking for a respectfully aggressive (yes, those two words can co-exist) way to prospect to expired listings, check out http://activerain.com/borino. It's good stuff.

Copyright Jennifer Allan 2007

When I was a full-time real estate agent, I found myself with an unusual niche... Vacant Homes!

I was "Denver's Vacant Home Specialist!"

I LOVED it! I could do (or not do) an open house whenever I felt like it. Show up when it suited me, leave when I wanted, no worrying about small-talking with the homeowner who was trying to get her toddler ready, her dog penned up and her lunch dishes washed at 2:20 (for my 2-4 open house). I could show my listing at any time, without calling ahead. No dealing with seller complaints about agents who showed up early... late... or not at all.

Is marketing vacant homes brain surgery? Nope. But believe it or not, marketing vacant homes IS a valid specialty!

Here are just a few of the problems I offered solutions to:

~ Vacant homes don't photograph well (bring in the home stager!)

~ Light bulbs burn out with astonishing frequency

~ Who's gonna shovel the snow?

~ Mow the lawn?

~ Clean up the dead bugs?

~ Unused toilets get nasty, fast!

If you have a vacant listing, you'll be dismayed by how quickly things deteriorate into chaos. Shower curtains fall down, lockboxes jam, sprinkler systems mis-fire. Strange smells permeate the home from any number of mysterious sources. SOMEONE has to solve these problems... why not YOU?

I fell into my niche because of all the fix-n-flip investors I worked with in the late 1990's. In response to the fix-n-flip craze, I started one of the first full service home staging companies (www.stagingdenver.com) and offered free staging to my investor clients. Ahhhh, the good old days.

But, I digress. If you're an introvert and looking for a niche suitable to your personality, think about the vacant home market. Hook up with a home-stager (who offers furnishing services, not just redecorating), pack a little tool kit (lightbulbs, dusting clothes, trash bags, etc.) for your car and put your antenna up for vacant home sellers.

They're out there... and maybe they're looking for YOU!

www.sellwithsoul.com

copyright Jennifer Allan 2007