I was watching the ACA Legends twenty20 cricket over the weekend. The fantastic thing about those kind of games is that they put microphones on some of the players and the commentators talk to them through out the game and we get to listen to how they approach things. It was amazing to listen to Shane Warne direct the players around the field and to hear his comments on his plan of attack.
The first thing I noticed was his work rate! I have played club cricket for a few years and there is no where near that kind of work rate going on. He didn't shut up. Constant encouragement to his bowler, constant changes to his field. Always thinking about what was happening next.
He also made some very interesting comments about the short form of the game that is twenty20 cricket. How it is much faster and how you need to be planning 3-4 overs in advance. With such a short game you cant afford to be slow to react to the situation. Compared to the 50 over match or a test match it is extremely challenging for him as a captain.
Another thing that was very clear was for every batsmen that came to the crease he had a plan. He had obviously done his homework and knew their strengths & weaknesses and had come up with what he thought was the best strategy to get them out and implemented it.
I took two things out of the game besides the fact that it was an entertaining game of cricket to watch. The first is that to compete at an elite level you need to have a plan and implement it, Secondly you need to be evaluating how you are against that plan. Shane also needed to decide on the fly if his original plan was right or needed to be changed all together before the game got away. Which can happen very quickly in twenty20 cricket, a couple of quick sixes and the whole balance of the game changes within a matter of balls.
How do you compare to Shane Warne.
What is your plan of attack?
How well are you implementing it?
What is your work load like...are you constantly making sure you are implementing your plan and re evaluating it?
How adaptable are you to getting hit for 6?
What is your talk like to your team mates?
Are you ahead of the game or trying to catch up?
The current real estate market is much like twenty20 cricket. It is a different world now than what it used to be and is constantly changing and it is vital to keep pace with the evolution or you will find your self playing test cricket and everyone else is playing twenty20.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Get the most out of your auctions
I called an auction on the weekend that was a classic example of how an auction campaign is supposed to work. There were 3 offers from 3 different parties prior to auction. The offers gave excellent feedback to the vendors and a reserve was set at the highest offer prior to auction. The real time feedback from the market place had done it's job.
On auction day there were 5 registered bidders. Bidding kicked off quickly at $390,000. Only two of the bidders entered into the equation and without any hesitation it went in $5,000 up to $450,000, well above reserve price before the bidding stalled. The property was called on the market and promptly continued up to $460,000 and sold.
There was strong competitive and confident bidding. A fantastic result and a true credit to the way the agents ran the auction. With only one problem. The only people at the auction were the bidders. There were 5 parties there registered to bid and only 1 other group. No neighbours and considering the cul-de-sac location very surprising. While it was an OK crowd it was nothing like it should have been. The agency missed out on a fantastic opportunity to showcase themselves and their ability to sell properties in the current market.
While it was a textbook auction campaign the agency really did miss an opportunity for some promotion. Auctions as well as creating an opportunity to sell property also are a marketing tool for you and your agency. Why would you not get as many people to an auction so they can see what happens when you sell their home. It is your business on display in the most public way. You put all of the work in to get it right the least you can do is get as many people there as possible to watch it happen.
A large crowd only ads to the excitement and atmosphere of an auction. Regardless of how many registered bidders or what the outcome is likely to be getting a crowd there is a critical part of a successful campaign. If the auction goes off like the one on the weekend or if it is a flop the crowd still makes a better spectacle of the whole event and showcases your agency.
Make your auctions count!!!
On auction day there were 5 registered bidders. Bidding kicked off quickly at $390,000. Only two of the bidders entered into the equation and without any hesitation it went in $5,000 up to $450,000, well above reserve price before the bidding stalled. The property was called on the market and promptly continued up to $460,000 and sold.
There was strong competitive and confident bidding. A fantastic result and a true credit to the way the agents ran the auction. With only one problem. The only people at the auction were the bidders. There were 5 parties there registered to bid and only 1 other group. No neighbours and considering the cul-de-sac location very surprising. While it was an OK crowd it was nothing like it should have been. The agency missed out on a fantastic opportunity to showcase themselves and their ability to sell properties in the current market.
While it was a textbook auction campaign the agency really did miss an opportunity for some promotion. Auctions as well as creating an opportunity to sell property also are a marketing tool for you and your agency. Why would you not get as many people to an auction so they can see what happens when you sell their home. It is your business on display in the most public way. You put all of the work in to get it right the least you can do is get as many people there as possible to watch it happen.
A large crowd only ads to the excitement and atmosphere of an auction. Regardless of how many registered bidders or what the outcome is likely to be getting a crowd there is a critical part of a successful campaign. If the auction goes off like the one on the weekend or if it is a flop the crowd still makes a better spectacle of the whole event and showcases your agency.
Make your auctions count!!!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Moving In Rooms
A question I have been posed recently by an office I am working with. They currently do 1-2 auctions per month scattered throughout the month. They are really keen to get them happening at the same time in rooms once a month. They had two concerns.
1. How do we get all of our auctions happening at the same time?
2. How do we get more auctions to make the in room auctions a better event?
I understand there would be plenty of agencies in the same boat looking to take their auction business to the next level.
1. Set a date. Roughly 6-8 weeks time.
2. They naturally throughout the month list auctions. When they list one they simply say that the auction date has to be X and they explain the benefits of waiting until then.
3. They go through all of their current stock and let them know they have a great event coming up that will give their properties a renewed vigour in the market place. Properties that need a price reduction are perfect for this. Try this "We need to adjust the price but rather than getting you to make a rushed decision now I would like to give you some time to make up your mind. Lets take the price out of the equation altogether and you decide on your new price in 4 weeks"
4. Push the event to all new listings coming on the market.
A simple 4 steps to go from 1-2 auctions to 5-10 and even more.
Hope this helps
1. How do we get all of our auctions happening at the same time?
2. How do we get more auctions to make the in room auctions a better event?
I understand there would be plenty of agencies in the same boat looking to take their auction business to the next level.
1. Set a date. Roughly 6-8 weeks time.
2. They naturally throughout the month list auctions. When they list one they simply say that the auction date has to be X and they explain the benefits of waiting until then.
3. They go through all of their current stock and let them know they have a great event coming up that will give their properties a renewed vigour in the market place. Properties that need a price reduction are perfect for this. Try this "We need to adjust the price but rather than getting you to make a rushed decision now I would like to give you some time to make up your mind. Lets take the price out of the equation altogether and you decide on your new price in 4 weeks"
4. Push the event to all new listings coming on the market.
A simple 4 steps to go from 1-2 auctions to 5-10 and even more.
Hope this helps
What you can learn About Real Estate from Australian Idol
I am a big Australian Idol Fan. I am a big fan because I like the way, week in week out the contestants are constantly being judged and growing in their performances. Just imagine if you were being judged in a similiar way at your listing presentations. Would it make a difference to how you prepared or how you delivered your presentation?
On offer to the winner of Australian Idol is a record deal and potentially millions of dollars in income. A seemingly improbable dream and a once in a lifetime opportunity for those lucky enough to make it that far. The top agents in our industry are making well over a million dollars each year in commission. A seemingly improbable dream is happening every day in real estate.
Idol contestants spend every waking hour during the show analyzing thier performances, perfecting their performances. They need to show up at each performance ready to deliver. Do you go to every listing presentation 100% prepared, 100% ready to deliver. Do you analyze your performance? If your performance isn't up to scratch all you do is miss the listing not booted out of the show but if you miss enough listings you will leave the industry.
It amazes me each and every year how they manage to find so much talent. You would think that after so many years they would be running low on talented singers in Australia. There is an endless pool of talent but it's not necessarily the most talented that wins. The winner is the one who takes on board the criticism and advice and who grows their performance to a whole new level throughout the show. The competitor who at the start of the show excels but doesn't grow gets left behind as others really work hard to improve their performance.
How hard do you work to improve your performance? How much effort goes into your listing presentation? How much time do you spend perfecting it? Do you take other agents with you to get some feedback? Do you practice? Do you prepare? If you spend time perfecting your presentation your chances of success will improve. Why just limit yourself to perfecting your listing presentation? Apply the same principal to your buyer appointments, to your open homes, to every aspect of your real estate business. The rewards are there how much effort will you put in to reap them?
On offer to the winner of Australian Idol is a record deal and potentially millions of dollars in income. A seemingly improbable dream and a once in a lifetime opportunity for those lucky enough to make it that far. The top agents in our industry are making well over a million dollars each year in commission. A seemingly improbable dream is happening every day in real estate.
Idol contestants spend every waking hour during the show analyzing thier performances, perfecting their performances. They need to show up at each performance ready to deliver. Do you go to every listing presentation 100% prepared, 100% ready to deliver. Do you analyze your performance? If your performance isn't up to scratch all you do is miss the listing not booted out of the show but if you miss enough listings you will leave the industry.
It amazes me each and every year how they manage to find so much talent. You would think that after so many years they would be running low on talented singers in Australia. There is an endless pool of talent but it's not necessarily the most talented that wins. The winner is the one who takes on board the criticism and advice and who grows their performance to a whole new level throughout the show. The competitor who at the start of the show excels but doesn't grow gets left behind as others really work hard to improve their performance.
How hard do you work to improve your performance? How much effort goes into your listing presentation? How much time do you spend perfecting it? Do you take other agents with you to get some feedback? Do you practice? Do you prepare? If you spend time perfecting your presentation your chances of success will improve. Why just limit yourself to perfecting your listing presentation? Apply the same principal to your buyer appointments, to your open homes, to every aspect of your real estate business. The rewards are there how much effort will you put in to reap them?
Monday, August 17, 2009
Educating Buyers on Auctions
I have been working with a lot of agents of late who simply say "auctions don't work in our area". When asked why the answer is usually the same. People just don't get them here. When asked what the outcome is for any auctions in the area the answer is always there that was no bidders.
It is an expectation of a lot of real estate agents that by simply setting a date and turning up on auction day that it's enough. That buyers know what is going on and understand how the process works.
How long does it take to convince a seller to auction their home?? Usually a 1-2 hr listing presentation then as a bare minimum weekly face to face meetings, weekly written communication and daily phone/email or sms communication over the next 4 weeks to ensure that the auction runs smoothly on the part of the vendors. In total between 5-8 hrs spent with your vendors over the 4 weeks. How much time do you spend educating your buyers about the process. I would think that if you are spending more than 30 mins with each buyer than you are above the norm.
Your vendors took 2 hrs to convince then 4 weeks of reassurance. You ask you buyer once when they visit the home "Is this what you are looking for?" There needs to be some serious education on the part of the buyers so that they as much as the sellers understand what is happening through out the process.
You have a vendor management plan with your auctions. Sort out the buyers. It doesn't matter how good your communication is with your vendors over the 4 weeks if you have no buyers there your efforts have been wasted.
With first home buyers and investor nights proving popular at the moment would it not make sense to run, specifically for your buyers an information evening on how to buy at auction. Whatever your market place better educated buyers can only be a good thing. Have your finance broker turn up and talk about what needs to be done in order to bid at auction. Have a solicitor talk about the legalities of auction. Have an auctioneer talk about what will happen on the day and the benefits of buying at auction for them.
Better educated buyers mean better auctions. Have a clear buyer education strategy in your office and you will improve your auction success
It is an expectation of a lot of real estate agents that by simply setting a date and turning up on auction day that it's enough. That buyers know what is going on and understand how the process works.
How long does it take to convince a seller to auction their home?? Usually a 1-2 hr listing presentation then as a bare minimum weekly face to face meetings, weekly written communication and daily phone/email or sms communication over the next 4 weeks to ensure that the auction runs smoothly on the part of the vendors. In total between 5-8 hrs spent with your vendors over the 4 weeks. How much time do you spend educating your buyers about the process. I would think that if you are spending more than 30 mins with each buyer than you are above the norm.
Your vendors took 2 hrs to convince then 4 weeks of reassurance. You ask you buyer once when they visit the home "Is this what you are looking for?" There needs to be some serious education on the part of the buyers so that they as much as the sellers understand what is happening through out the process.
You have a vendor management plan with your auctions. Sort out the buyers. It doesn't matter how good your communication is with your vendors over the 4 weeks if you have no buyers there your efforts have been wasted.
With first home buyers and investor nights proving popular at the moment would it not make sense to run, specifically for your buyers an information evening on how to buy at auction. Whatever your market place better educated buyers can only be a good thing. Have your finance broker turn up and talk about what needs to be done in order to bid at auction. Have a solicitor talk about the legalities of auction. Have an auctioneer talk about what will happen on the day and the benefits of buying at auction for them.
Better educated buyers mean better auctions. Have a clear buyer education strategy in your office and you will improve your auction success
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Spring Cleaning Time
Coming into Spring, the time of year that is typically the busiest selling time for Real Estate the signs are positive that this spring will return similar results.
In spite of the doom and gloom and the apocalyptic predictions of some, the sky hasn't fallen. The world continues to turn and amazingly the economy is recovering. Although we have been lucky here in Australia in that we haven't fared as badly as our US counterparts. But believe it or not. The sky hasn't fallen in there either. Life goes on.
Those that have fared best out of this are those that realized that the world would go on and actively made efforts to position themselves. Are you one of those. Are you positively poised in your market place to take advantage of the upcoming spring rush.
Here are my top 10 tips to to get ready for Spring.
1. Be clear about how your business is positioned and have your goals and targets in place. This may seem obvious but you would be amazed at how many agents out there don't do this. I know it is a cliche but fail to plan and you plan to fail. It's a cliche for a reason...it's true
2. Review your listing presentation. Do your recommendations you make in your presentation align with the state of the market.
3. Set in place your prospecting plan from now until the end of the year. I know it seems like a long way away but in reality it's not. The prospecting you do today will come back in the future and as the market improves don't wait until the going is great again to try and pick up the business. Get in those doors now!!
4. Touch base with your entire database, personally. Ring them and discuss the market, see if their circumstances have changed. Changes in the market are a great excuse to build onto the relationships you have with your clients. And they will feel important having heard from you personally. Make 10 calls it will only take a few weeks to get through.
5. Do a review on your closing successes. Look at your last 10 sales. How many inspections did each property have? How many properties had you shown the buyer of the property before that purchased that particular home? How did the negotiation process go? This shouldn't take longer than an hour. Can you make any improvements?
6. Past appraisals. The appraisal you do today will convert into your listings for in the future. Don't forget the appraisal you did last month or 6 months ago.
7. Perfect your open homes. As spring approaches more and more people start looking at open homes. It's show day. Not only are the properties open for inspection but it is a chance for the public to watch you at work. Make an impression. Are your open home signs up to scratch. There is nothing worse than seeing an open for inspection sign with a time scrawled on it in nicko. Wash your flag!!. If you have a flag make sure you wash the grease off it that has come from shoving it in the boot of your car!!
8. Wash your car!! As real estate agents we spend a lot of time in our cars.
9. Do the same with your office. It's not called a spring clean for nothing.
10. Get active. The days are getting longer. Summer is around the corner and most of us have a little winter warmth to get rid of. Try it just one morning. Get up an hour early and go for a walk or run. Some of us are lucky enough to live near the beach. If not it is still nice and fresh early in the morning and a great way to start your day. It will improve your day!!!
Have a great spring!!!!
In spite of the doom and gloom and the apocalyptic predictions of some, the sky hasn't fallen. The world continues to turn and amazingly the economy is recovering. Although we have been lucky here in Australia in that we haven't fared as badly as our US counterparts. But believe it or not. The sky hasn't fallen in there either. Life goes on.
Those that have fared best out of this are those that realized that the world would go on and actively made efforts to position themselves. Are you one of those. Are you positively poised in your market place to take advantage of the upcoming spring rush.
Here are my top 10 tips to to get ready for Spring.
1. Be clear about how your business is positioned and have your goals and targets in place. This may seem obvious but you would be amazed at how many agents out there don't do this. I know it is a cliche but fail to plan and you plan to fail. It's a cliche for a reason...it's true
2. Review your listing presentation. Do your recommendations you make in your presentation align with the state of the market.
3. Set in place your prospecting plan from now until the end of the year. I know it seems like a long way away but in reality it's not. The prospecting you do today will come back in the future and as the market improves don't wait until the going is great again to try and pick up the business. Get in those doors now!!
4. Touch base with your entire database, personally. Ring them and discuss the market, see if their circumstances have changed. Changes in the market are a great excuse to build onto the relationships you have with your clients. And they will feel important having heard from you personally. Make 10 calls it will only take a few weeks to get through.
5. Do a review on your closing successes. Look at your last 10 sales. How many inspections did each property have? How many properties had you shown the buyer of the property before that purchased that particular home? How did the negotiation process go? This shouldn't take longer than an hour. Can you make any improvements?
6. Past appraisals. The appraisal you do today will convert into your listings for in the future. Don't forget the appraisal you did last month or 6 months ago.
7. Perfect your open homes. As spring approaches more and more people start looking at open homes. It's show day. Not only are the properties open for inspection but it is a chance for the public to watch you at work. Make an impression. Are your open home signs up to scratch. There is nothing worse than seeing an open for inspection sign with a time scrawled on it in nicko. Wash your flag!!. If you have a flag make sure you wash the grease off it that has come from shoving it in the boot of your car!!
8. Wash your car!! As real estate agents we spend a lot of time in our cars.
9. Do the same with your office. It's not called a spring clean for nothing.
10. Get active. The days are getting longer. Summer is around the corner and most of us have a little winter warmth to get rid of. Try it just one morning. Get up an hour early and go for a walk or run. Some of us are lucky enough to live near the beach. If not it is still nice and fresh early in the morning and a great way to start your day. It will improve your day!!!
Have a great spring!!!!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Careers In Real Estate
With the current increase in the unemployment rate I'm sure many Real Estate Principals are getting a larger number of inquiries from people considering joining the industry. The question is what to do with this inquiry?? Many principals I am dealing with are taking this opportunity to grow their business. The recent change in the market has thinned out the number of agents to a certain extent and the remaining agents fall into two categories. Those that are cemented as solid performers in the industry and will continue to make money through any market. The others are just barely hanging on and hoping and preying for a change in the market. With no end in sight to the current market conditions these agents will eventually fail.
The current economic crisis has seen many many highly skilled people out of work and with some fantastic redundancy payments in their pockets. These are the kind of people that make fantastic agents. It is important that you have a strategy in your business to recruit these new people into the industry. One strategy I have implemented with several of the agencies I work with is to run Real Estate training seminars. These aren't your typical careers night that many agencies are running. These are a full day training course outlining the ins and outs of the real estate industry. It cost people money to attend and they are marketed under my training company AREA Training. It is marketed as independent advice on a career in Real Estate and gives a comprehensive overview of the industry. Not just the good parts.
Charging for this trainig seminar eliminates those people who may not be serious about a career in Real Estate. A principal I work with after advertising for salespeople received 72 applications in 2 weeks. It is just not possible to interview all of these people. So by sending these people through the training seminar they will self eliminate themselves.
Our first seminar we ran had 48 people attend. Of those people 5 went on to join the company I was running the seminar for. In conjunction with this seminar we are running a two week introduction to Real Estate program called RISE. This introduction includes one on one and group mentoring for the first 12 months of the new agents career.
This recruitment strategy has generated some fantastic results and growth for the businesses who have used it. Regardless of your strategy I strongly believe that you are not doing yourself any favours by not having a recruitment strategy in place to take advantage of the current cituation.
The current economic crisis has seen many many highly skilled people out of work and with some fantastic redundancy payments in their pockets. These are the kind of people that make fantastic agents. It is important that you have a strategy in your business to recruit these new people into the industry. One strategy I have implemented with several of the agencies I work with is to run Real Estate training seminars. These aren't your typical careers night that many agencies are running. These are a full day training course outlining the ins and outs of the real estate industry. It cost people money to attend and they are marketed under my training company AREA Training. It is marketed as independent advice on a career in Real Estate and gives a comprehensive overview of the industry. Not just the good parts.
Charging for this trainig seminar eliminates those people who may not be serious about a career in Real Estate. A principal I work with after advertising for salespeople received 72 applications in 2 weeks. It is just not possible to interview all of these people. So by sending these people through the training seminar they will self eliminate themselves.
Our first seminar we ran had 48 people attend. Of those people 5 went on to join the company I was running the seminar for. In conjunction with this seminar we are running a two week introduction to Real Estate program called RISE. This introduction includes one on one and group mentoring for the first 12 months of the new agents career.
This recruitment strategy has generated some fantastic results and growth for the businesses who have used it. Regardless of your strategy I strongly believe that you are not doing yourself any favours by not having a recruitment strategy in place to take advantage of the current cituation.
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