IT IS CLEAR, THINGS WILL NOT BE GETTING BETTER SOON. It is clear there will be fewer qualified buyers in the market and fewer homes to buy. It is clear that the economy will have a slow recovery even if the politicians were in lock-step working on turning it around as soon as possible. It is clear we are in for a LONG HAUL until consumer's attitudes improve, financing is available in meaningful numbers of well priced homes are on the market and home buyers are out in the marketplace aggressively relieving the huge inventories on the market and still to come into the market.
So how do you survive these treacherous and growing every more difficult times? Nearly all of you are putting in many more hours for much lower income and if the trends are right you will have to put in even more hours for even less income as we move forward into 2012.
Here are things I have learned from colleagues, associates, marketers, business people and social media gurus that may help you.
1. Two heads, four arms and four legs are better than one head, two arms and two legs. Since it takes so much longer to find good leads, since it takes so much longer to convert good leads, since it takes so much longer to find good listings, the thing that many real estate professional have told is helping is that they have teamed up with one other or two other people to be able to cover all the bases more effectively having a much better result than they were having on their own being tossed from here to there and working longer and longer hours. This is sort of like1 agent + 1 agent + 1 agent = 4 times the business they were getting on their own and 4 devided by 3 = 1.33 times the business for each of them or a 33% increase in their business. So team up with colleagues in your office or other offices near by form partnerships and share your efforts giving you the opportunity for better focus and therefore better results and better income.
2. Everything is in attitude, energy, enthusiasm, confidence, and AUTHENTICITY. People want to do business with winners. People want to find real estate agents who have found personal solutions for these difficult times. PEOPLE WANT YOU MORE AND MORE TO MAKE THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE, get their home sold, find them the home they want, get them approved, get the loan, make it all happen in an affordable way. So you must bring this "juice" to the table. Yes times are more challenging than every, but also interest rates are lower than ever. Yes there are many people nervous about the economy but home prices are at levels they haven't been at in decades. If there ever was a time to buy a home it is today. You are enjoying your business very much because you have been so successful in helping people find the homes they want for the money they want. You also have helped so many people MARKET THEIR HOMES. Today, it is so much more than putting a sign on the lawn. "Our firm helps every single home seller with suggestions for improving curb appeal, trimming shrubs, painting trims, sometimes even replacing some bushes. And we go in a create some new environments with maybe some new lighting, thinning out the personal items you might have on display, giving the interior much stronger appeal. We know how to do this so we sit on homes for a very short time because we see to it they look really good and that are priced for the market we are in."
3. TAKE A CLOSE LOOK, your life is filled with BLESSINGS. You have your health, your loved ones I am sure for the most part have their health, you have a decent roof over your head, you drive a decent car, you have people that love you and people you love. YOU ARE BLESSED and should live every day in GRATITUDE. LIVING EACH DAY IN GRATITUDE, APPRECIATING ALL YOUR BLESSINGS AND ALL YOUR GIFTS, MAKES YOU VERY ATTRACTIVE TO OTHER PEOPLE as long as you don't flaunt it but instead your humbly grateful appreciation for all God's gifts. DEMONSTRATE YOUR GRATITUDE IN YOUR ATITUDE. People will want to work with you even more when they can feel that humility and appreciation in you.
4. SHIFT INTO 5TH GEAR! Only the swift will win the race. Whatever your pace in the past, it must be turned up today. You have to send out MORE e-mails MORE frequently. You have to make MORE phone calls MORE often. You have to meet with MORE people, MORE often, you have to get out MORE and touch MORE people, you have to join MORE organizatons, pass out MORE business cards, tweet MORE, blog MORE, visit Facebook MORE.
5. CONSIDER EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW AS A LEAD GENERATOR. Ask everyone for business.............
The people you meet at the gas station
The people you meet at Starbucks or The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf company or Dunken Donuts
The people you meet at the beauty shop or barber shop..........yes ask them for a referral, give out your cards.........
The people you meet in the market, at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Safeway.........
The people you meet at the movies......
The people you meet at Church, The Mosque or the Synagogue.......tell then your story......hand out your bards
The families you are going to meet for Halloween with this year
Your family when you get together for Thanksgiving
Call up your insurance sales person and ask for referrals
Ask your gardner
Ask your plumber
Ask your postman
Ask the people in the restaurants where you eat
Ask where you buy clothes
Ask the people at the registers at Costco
Just infect them with your energy and enthusiasm and tell them your story in 60 seconds why you just are the best when people have a home they want to sell or want to buy a home with low interest rates at the right purchase price............just tell them what makes you so SPECIAL and why they should pass on the card you are giving them or hold on to it for when they are ready to move.
There is more, but you and your new "partners" should come together and talk about all the MORE you should do and will do to EXCEL in this CHALLENGING market --- because you will go that extra mile. And when you are looking for a WORLD-CLASS MORTGAGE RESOURCE that will help you build your business by making everyone of your home buyers or even home sellers achieve their goals faster and financially better, call me. I can really help you make a difference.
Lee
