Over 30,000 Subscribers

2. Watch Out for New Real Estate Technology Services

1. A Tip to Assist You With Your Listing Presentations

When you're making a listing presentation there always comes that moment when it's time to discuss how long your listing agreement will be valid for. What you must know here is that the way you present this subject to the owners often completely sets the tone for how long of a listing they will be willing to give you.

For example, if you initiate this discussion with the owners by saying something like, "How long would you like the listing to run for?" you are completely setting yourself up for a less than desirable result for yourself. Why? Because people like flexibility, shorter commitments, and more options for themselves as a general rule in business. If when answering your question the owners then come back to you with a listing period that is shorter than the one you wanted, now you have to begin stating your case for why they should give you a longer listing period instead. Basically you'll be attempting to get them to move off of the position they've taken simply because you set them up to take this position by the way that you chose to approach the situation.

In all forms of sales there is what is known as the "double bind" question. In real estate this is a question the agent poses to the prospect that gives the prospect the feeling of having a choice. But in effect whichever option the prospect then chooses moves them ahead in the desired direction of consummating a sale. For example, when attempting to schedule an appointment with a prospect you might say something like, "Would Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. be good for you or would Thursday at 3:00 p.m. be even better?" Again, this question gives the prospect a choice but either choice leads you to what you are looking for as an agent...an appointment with the prospect. This is a very subtle form of sales psychology that can work extremely effectively for you in your real estate career.

Now in utilizing this same approach in a listing presentation you might say something like, "Would a six month listing work great for you, or would a five month listing agreement work better?" 

Before you asked this question the owners might have been thinking in terms of a two or three month listing, or perhaps they hadn't even thought about the length of the listing period at all. But when you phrase your question like this, presenting two choices that are both great for you, you maximize the probability that the owners will simply select one of the choices that you've offered them. At the minimum you've completely set the tone for having them agree on a longer listing period with you than what may currently be the norm in your market.

Always remember that the words and questions you utilize with your clients and prospects completely set the tone for the response they will give back to you. Knowing this, always make sure that you choose words, phrases, and questions that move your clients and prospects towards successfully closing transactions with you.

2. Watch Out for New Real Estate Technology Services

Every month I continually receive E-mails from people asking me to take a look at a new service they are offering to real estate agents in hopes that I will want to tell everyone about it. And more than 90% of the time I find that these "new" services are basically nothing worthwhile to you as a real estate agent. Either other companies are already successfully offering the exact same service or the "new" idea that is being proposed really has no merits in the real estate community.

The Internet is now evolving to the point where the average person is beginning to understand it much better. It used to be that you needed to hire a technology guru to get things done for you on the Web but now more people are fully understanding how to do many of these same things for themselves. So because real estate agents are highly driven, make good money, and are relying more on electronic technology these days, some people out there feel if they quickly assemble some Web based service, buy a supposedly "hot" database of 1,000,000 or so agent E-mail addresses, and send E-mail announcements about their new service out to this database that they'll strike it rich in no time.

SO YOU HAVE TO WATCH OUT FOR YOURSELF!!!

Some of these Web sites and services I get asked to take a look at are unbelievably horrible. Some of these Web sites even have numerous misspelled words. And when I talk with the people behind these sites I can often quickly tell that they have very little knowledge of the real estate business and very little knowledge about running a business that revolves around technology, too. 

One person out there who proposes to help agents build their Web sites and integrate technology into them has a Web site for their own business with letters that are so small you really have to strain to read them. Now if someone like this has a Web site that encourages people to quickly want to leave it imagine the wonderful Web site that they'll design for you!

Which brings me to another point:

Technology specialists are not marketing specialists. Remember years ago before the Internet became a normal part of our lives when it was extremely clear to us that computer technology experts were not sales and marketing experts? Well oftentimes this conception is not as clear to us today as it always was back then. Just because someone has more knowledge about technology than you do doesn't mean that they know the best approaches to market your real estate services to your clients and prospects through technology. Always remember this and it will serve you well.

So do your homework. If you need someone to help you with technology approaches in your real estate business talk to other agents who have already found someone who specializes in this arena that they have been very happy with. Also, make sure that the job you are hiring the technology expert to do is a job that they have already done successfully many times for other real estate agents. And check with other real estate agents to make sure that the technology expert performs the job you want done in a way that you know you will be very happy with. 

Your real estate business is extremely valuable to you. Don't put it at risk by working with someone who you hope is a real estate technology expert but who is really a just real estate technology wanna be! 

Your subscription to my real estate E-zine entitles you to receive FREE online training. My training course is designed to take you to the next level in your real estate sales career regardless of where you are currently at in your career right now. To receive my FREE 7-Day Online Real Estate Training Course send a blank e-mail to the following E-mail address:

RealEstate101@RealEstateSalesCoach.com

You will receive your first of seven lessons within minutes after sending your E-mail. You will then receive six additional lessons, one each day, for a total of seven lessons in seven days.

"I was skeptical at first, but after working with Jim I'm now producing much better results in my real estate business. His coaching program definitely produces FAST results."

Bob Hoyer
Delphi Business Properties

If you arrange for me to lead a seminar or training for your real estate company you qualify for FREE coaching! Call me or email me for more information.

Please forward this E-zine to anyone you know who is interested in becoming a better, more productive real estate agent.

To subscribe to Jim Gillespie's 
ADVANCED REAL ESTATE SUPERSALES E-ZINE
 click here
and send a blank E-mail.

To unsubscribe and bring tears to my eyes follow the directions below.