There can be no doubt that the pandemic, now in its second year, has disrupted business and the economy.
The real estate industry has been less affected than, say, tourism and entertainment, but the pandemic has still led to periodic restrictions on how we go about our daily business life.
But is it all bad news? For good business owners and salespeople, the pandemic has also taught us valuable lessons. Let’s look at two of those lessons. Continue reading Two Lessons From the Pandemic
Do you remember the days when salespeople used to list large numbers of properties – eight or more every month? We seldom see numbers like these anymore – salespeople have become used to low numbers.
Many years ago we coined the term, “Take care of the numbers and the dollars will take care of themselves“. This is just as true today. When salespeople focus on gross commission, on the dollars, the numbers always suffer. Salespeople who focus on dollars set lower targets. Continue reading Used to Low Numbers?
Ask any person how important their reputation is to them. Nobody will say their reputation doesn’t matter.
Sure, some say, “I don’t care what other people think of me” – but that’s usually to justify being rude or insensitive. If these people care that little about their reputation, they probably can’t be trusted. Continue reading Reputation Matters
In a sellers’ market, where you sell almost every property you list, the last thing you want to do is run low on listings. List more and you will sell more – we all know that – but many agents are low on stock. If you are one of those salespeople, what are you doing about it?
To get more listings, there are four areas salespeople should focus on. Continue reading List More Sell More
Agents who discount their fees believe they must do so to win the business, but is this true?
Others reducing their fee is not a legitimate reason to discount your fee. This thinking indicates that your business is being driven by your competitors’ actions and not by yours. It’s a defeatist attitude. Continue reading Take Fee Off The Table
We hear a lot about Time Management. I talk about it sometimes, but in reality Time Management is the wrong term. If you think you can manage time, good luck.
The fact is you can’t manage time. An hour is 60 minutes. You can’t manage 60 minutes to become 90 minutes. An hour is an hour no matter how much ‘managing’ you do. And, all of us have the same 1,440 minutes in our day. You will never get more. Give up trying to manage time. Continue reading Give Up Trying To Manage Time
Who would have thought that many real estate businesses would have had bumper sales numbers despite the COVID-19 pandemic? But this was the case for many real estate agencies, and for many real estate salespeople.
It is predicted that 2021 will be even better than 2020. That appears true as we enter the second quarter of 2021. Continue reading Plan, or Struggle: It’s Your Call
Is the thought of an increase in your monthly targets daunting? If your leader told you that it’s time for you to list 8 properties a month, would you resist?
Most salespeople would resist because they look at the entire figure. Eight listings a month sounds a lot.
Funny, but it’s all relative. I remember times when salespeople listed between 10-15 properties a month without fail. As selling fees increased, listing numbers decreased. This tells me that most of the battle is in our heads. We imagine things to be tougher than they are. Continue reading Prospecting In Bite-Sized Chunks
A salesperson in Adelaide was doing it tough. For two years he struggled and could barely make enough to cover his bills.
I admired him for persevering but secretly wondered how long he would last before he pursued another career. Continue reading Make Your Hard Work Pay Off
An essential ingredient to saleable listings
Happy New Year! I hope 2021 is your best year ever, and if you have goals, challenging targets and a plan, you’ve already laid the foundations for this to be a reality. Now all you need do is get to work and follow your plan. Continue reading Feedback
“May you live in interesting times” is purported to be ‘the Chinese curse’, although its origins in China are doubtful. Chinese or not, the year 2020 has seen ‘interesting times’ thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, many agencies have had a good year. Continue reading Up or Down in 2021?
Respect (noun)
To respect someone is to admire qualities in them and to show regard for their feelings, wishes and rights. Respect should be shown to everyone we meet, not just to those who can benefit us. Continue reading Respect
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, many salespeople were saying that they were selling everything they listed. “We’d make more sales if we had more listings” was a common statement.
March 2020 was an uncertain month. Nobody knew what restrictions the government would apply and what effects those restrictions may have on business. This caused many salespeople to ‘mark time’ where actions were concerned. Some cut their hours, most cut their prospecting, and often their offices cut marketing to save money. Continue reading Are You Short of Listings?
I have said on many occasions that clear goals are an essential element in achieving consistent results.
No doubt, many of you began 2020 with clear goals. Then along came COVID-19 and perhaps your goals went out the window. And if you didn’t abandon the idea of achieving goals this year, you may have put your goals on hold. I wouldn’t blame you if you did. Continue reading Goals On Hold
Talking with salespeople at differing skill levels, I notice a subtle, but critical, difference between the pros and the rookies. The difference is that pros have an ‘eye’ for results.
Let me explain.
Talk to a professional salesperson and the conversation quickly moves to results. How many listings they got, how many listings they’re working on. Likewise with sales – sales they’ve made, sales they have ‘cooking’. Continue reading An Eye For Results
When an aircraft takes off, a huge amount of energy is required to get it off the ground.
Aircraft use a lot of fuel and require a lot of thrust to take off. Once clear of the ground, climb power is applied. Once the aircraft reaches the cruise, thrust is set to cruise power. Each power setting is lower than the one before.
In the cruise, the aircraft has momentum – a high cruise speed is achieved with a minimum amount of power, which allows the aircraft to fly high and fast. High speed with a lower fuel burn. Continue reading Momentum
On an agency visit I spent time with a salesperson who had fallen short of target for the previous two quarters. When I asked what her goal was for the coming quarter she replied, “Hang in and keep my job“.
I told her this was the wrong focus. Fear-based thinking is always the wrong focus. It’s a terrible way to work – there’s nothing inspiring about it, nothing to look forward to. Continue reading The Wrong Focus
I was talking with a Diamond member of Pittard’s Winners Circle recently. The topic came around to telling sellers the truth about the likely selling prices of their properties.
This million-dollar producer said, “I tell sellers that in this market their properties will sell for $x. If they aren’t willing to price near that, I won’t take on their listing.” He hastened to add that he explains this to sellers more tactfully than that, but his point is that sellers must be told the truth about the likely selling price by their lister. Continue reading A Matter of Integrity
Agents who inflate the likely selling price with sellers in order to win the listing – who ‘buy the business’ – might get away with it during a boom market, but in a down market this horrible practice no longer works. Many agents paint themselves into a corner.
In our sales program, Winning Ways – A Smarter Sales Career, we teach real estate salespeople that when an agent quotes two figures to buyers by way of a range, the lowest price in that range becomes the de facto list price. Continue reading The Impossible Gap
Do your results fluctuate? Are they persistently low? Have you ever found yourself blaming outside forces, such as the market or difficult clients, for a run of bad luck? The good news is that this can be fixed.
In my book, Why Winners Win, I name four Success Ingredients: Attitude, Knowledge, Skill and Competent Action. Continue reading Self-Management
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