This One Time in Real Estate...

This episode is all about that one piece of advice that we each feel is absolutely critical to success in life and in business. For Mark, it's consistency. Just by showing up and doing something consistently, you develop a pattern and a psychological incentive to just keep on going. For Sarah, it's get comfortable with being uncomfortable. If you're not growing then you're going ba...

Something all real estate agents face at some point is issues with inclusions and exclusions. Be specific and verify. At the end of the day you're going to do whatever it takes to keep your buyer and seller happy, whether that means buying a last minute humidifyer or Bose speakers. But if you want to avoid that last minute stress and crisis mode, be intentionally specific. If your client is a...

Emotions are high in this fast-paced, extreme Seller's Market. Before you react, put yourself in someone else's shoes. If we come from a place of kindness, curiosity, and a lack of judgment then we can change the course of more difficult situations with other agents and our clients, and ultimately come to a more positive outcome.

It's critical for your business to be curious and FAAFO (f*** around and find out). Innovate and constantly think about what you can start doing or do differently to move the needle in your business. No, it doesn't always work but you're learning along the way and gaining new skills. Fail forward. If you're not moving forward then you're moving backward. Curiosity leads to grea...

Real estate agents don't get paid upfront. Until you can isolate the problem for your client, in this case closing on a home, you're not going to be able to solve it and close the sale. The more effectively you can listen, understand, and be present with your prospective client, the more value you can provide them and the richer their experience will be. If there are commission objects fro...

How you do one thing is how you do everything, good or bad. Showing up every day as the best version of yourself is not a requirement, but it sets you on the path to success. It's all about accountability. Doing your absolute best every day improves your skills and also shows others around you your character and reliability.

Whether you're happy with your success or lack of success in business, take an active inventory. There are 3 major things you need to take a hard look at: skills, action, and schedule. Which one do you need to work on? Even if you're already hitting all of your goals, why not shoot for more? Listen to hear how our team addresses these 3 factors.

In our market, property taxes have increased by up to 25%. That’s an easy indicator of inflation. An easy touch to reconnect with your past clients is to send them their updated property tax assessment and offer to provide a CMA for them to use in disputing the increase. Educate your clients and the general public that fighting your property tax assessment and asking questions is a right that all...

You have to be present with your clients. Acknowledge, ask, acknowledge, ask. Follow the breadcrumbs your clients are leaving in their words and actions, and ask questions to find out more. Maybe you think you're bothering them, but you aren't. You will find out exactly where they're at and what they need AND it shows you're interested in their point of view. There's a lot of s...

Think of those retail stores that you go out of your way to visit instead of ordering on Amazon. What about them makes you put that extra effort in to buy through them? Is it salespeople that specialize by department? Do you feel like the employees genuinely care about you and what you need? Are they providing a product or service that you just can't get anywhere else? Take those insights into...

Not enough people have a sense of urgency. It doesn't mean you're pushy or can't meet people where they're at. It's doing what most people don't want to do in a timely manner. If you host an open house on Sunday and don't reach out to them or enter them in your CRM until Tuesday, then you've already lost that potential client. How you do one thing is how you do ever...

Managing expectations is not only critical to your business but also to your life and relationships with others. If you don't have a proven process that you lay out for your clients up front, then they will hold you to whatever expectations they set for you not the expectations YOU'VE set. In this low inventory market, it's even more critical for agents to set expectations and constant...

Too many salespeople, real estate agents in particular, fall short when it comes to psychographics. Sometimes we lose sight of the important journey and decisions our clients are making and focus too much on checking off events and transactions on our list like showings, writing contracts, and the closing itself. We need to be sensitive to what our clients are feeling and meet them where they'...

If you have put in the work to get to know your buyers' needs and wants, then don't let yourself get in the way of asking those questions that will close the deal. Don't think of yourself as just a salesperson -- you're here to guide and advise them through a process they chose to be a part of. Ask those sometimes uncomfortable closing questions. "It sounds like this home chec...

What is your value proposition and identifying feature? Why are you the right agent for them? When you start a conversation on the phone, you have about 5 seconds to make the person on the other end start to like, know, and trust you. The more clearly you can articulate your value proposition, the more successful you will be. Know who you are, feel comfortable with who you are, and articulate that...

When you do anything, you have to know what your end game is. When you're talking to a potential client: Do you want to set an appointment? Do you need to further understand their goals? Have they talked to a lender? When you have a plan and you work that plan, there is no doubt you will achieve results. When you don't have a plan, it is unpredictable what results you will get.

Good things will happen when you get active. Consistent "bird-dogging" - going out into the field and shaking trees doing activity to find opportunities - always leads to something. If you're not sure how to start, just do something and the pieces will fall in line.

Structure your dialogues around: feel, felt, found. 1) Acknowledge what the client said and that you understand, 2) You or your team have had clients dealing with the same situation, and 3) Share your solution or plan of action. Build relationships with your clients.

Get deep with your clients to understand their motivations and appetite for competing in this market. Only then can you truly advise them. Frame it like this: do they want the mild, the medium, or the hot sauce? 

Time-blocking is incredibly important for your business. It's not about how much time you spend, but how effective you are with your time. When you time-block, you can manage your expectations with others and more easily achieve family-life-work harmony. 

The value of a home is not just informed by the market...it's ultimately worth what someone is willing to pay for it. If a home checks all of your client's boxes, but will require offering over-asking, don't let your own personal judgment inform their decision. It doesn't matter if you would purchase that home at that price. Let them decide what the home is worth because, after all, a home is ulti...

When you have an abundance mentality, you're working from strength. When you have a scarcity mentality, you're desperate. Your clients can feel this. Change your mindset. 

We have to go wide and deep with understanding the market and relaying that information to our clients. When you are confident, your client is confident. 

We have to add compelling value to our client's experience. If we don't start to dig in for our clients, then agent value starts to erode. Being a pop-tart agent in this market can water down the value of agents as a whole. 

At the end of the day if agents can keep it simple and utilize the phone along with scripts and dialogues, the rest is not that difficult. This episode goes into 2 examples of how a little hustle and perseverance secured 2 expired listings.