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JUNE 2016

EXECUTIVE

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REAL ESTATE EXECUTIVE

MAGAZINE

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CONTENTS

realestateexecutivemagazine.com

JUNE 2016

2 What’s the Secret Sauce? 10 Top Producing Ingredients

by Shirleen Von Hoffmann

8 P ositive Real Estate Trends

Top Agents Are Getting Back to Enhanced Basics

by Walter Sanford

14 On Top

Establishing A Real Estate Force to Be Reckoned With

20 Why House Ads Don’t Work And What to Do About It

by Craig Proctor

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E H T S ’ T A WH

SECRET SAUCE? 10 TOP-PRODUCING INGREDIENTS by Shirleen Von Hoffmann

There is only a handful of sales professionals who get into the top 10%. In fact, the old saying 10% of the people do 90% of the business still rings true. After all of these years, it never changes. Just look at any President’s Club in any given company and you will find the same people year to year getting the awards, going on the trips, and in the top 10%. You sprinkle in a few newcomers here and there, but for the most part it will always be your same top 10%. This statistic is amazingly accurate, and it always blows my mind. 2 REAL ESTATE EXECUTIVE  •  2016

SALES STRATEGIES

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o I began to ponder the question, What is it that makes someone rise to this top 10%? What’s the Secret Sauce? Are they wired differently? Is it personality, persistence, skills, or just plain luck? It’s my belief that there are definite skillsets and personality traits that when put together make the best of the best. Even though I was a top producer all of my career, I didn’t know the exact answer to this question because it’s not just one thing. It’s a handful of ingredients that make top producers different. So here are 10 ingredients I found in all top-producing mortgage and real estate professionals:

DRIVE Top-producing sales professionals are driven…. I know because I was one. They think about their game from the time they get up until the time they crash at night. Their mind is like a machine that seldom stops thinking—and it’s usually about their business. They get up every day and go after it, so much so that vacation can be a distraction.

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SALES STRATEGIES

FOCUS They have focus like a racehorse; fast and straight, and they don’t look up much, other than to see if anyone is passing them. In addition, they never give up; they lock in and go for it! They have an endless appetite for learning, knowledge, growth, processes, execution, and they get up every day and do it, day in and day out.

BIG PICTURE THINKERS I find when I work with top producer who have the outlook of running their own business, they see the big picture and tend to stay out of the weeds and plan and execute on a high level. I notice they also tend to stay positive and execute expecting a positive outcome. It’s a skillset you find in executive upper level management.

PERSISTENCE Their persistence is a key ingredient. They make their calls, they follow a path, and they don’t give up until they get what they want.

KNOWLEDGE AND PLANNING I was always amazed at fellow President Club members. They knew the products better than the people who created them. They knew every inch of their products and could find the differentiation between their products and the competitor’s products very quickly.

SELF-SUSTAINING Most top producers are great managers of their own business. They are running their own enterprise. They know what they want and how to get it. As a manager, you really need to just support them, but they don’t need the day-to-day hand-holding that some do. I have always found they take up the least time out of a manager’s day.

PLANNING Though I do think luck could have some effect with success, to sustain success you must have a plan and be altering that plan, all of the time. Great sales people have a plan to be great, and they are able to maneuver that plan quickly, when it’s not viable.

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SALES STRATEGIES

“It’s my belief that there are definite skillsets and personality traits that when put together make the best of the best.”

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CHARISMA Great sales people have an energy you just want to be around. They dress for success, know their trade, know who they are and what they represent, and can express themselves in a way that you know they are going to help you with your needs. They ask great questions. They listen and know how to develop trust-filled relationships quickly by using these skillsets. CONFIDENCE They have this confidence that is an energy you can feel. It says, “I know what I’m doing, so step aside and let me do my thing and I’ll take good care of you.” They don’t stutter or stammer; they know who they are, why they are good and can tell you that quickly and with confidence. FIERCE COMPETITORS This may be the one trait that is a key ingredient in the Secret Sauce. Top producers are fierce competitors even if they don’t appear to be on the outside. Whether they learned that at an early age from sports or music activity, a competitive floor with a sibling, or maybe an overbearing parent driving them, it’s definitely a trait you will find in most top-producing sales people. They HATE to lose.

It’s my belief when you put all of these aspects together, you have a very special individual who can achieve the highest level of production, time and time again. Is it only for the chosen few? Can this be learned? I say absolutely YES! For those willing to step up and put forth the effort, anything is possible! Remember a Secret Sauce is nothing more than learning and mixing together the special ingredients! So get yourself a coach, and do what it takes to gain entry into this very special realm where only the few that choose to be great live. See you in the top 10%!  ■

Shirleen Von Hoffmann is a certified sales coach, speaker, author, MIRM, CMP, CSP, and national director of Builder Group, Summit Funding. In her latest book, Secrets of Top Producers, Shirleen teaches techniques on how to become a topproducing sales professional with her no-nonsense sales skills.

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REAL ESTATE STRATEGIES

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REAL ESTATE s d n Tre by Walter Sanford

TOP AGENTS ARE GETTING BACK TO ENHANCED BASICS

Great agents are, as we speak, developing their strategies for lead generation, marketing, human resources, and investing in the coming market. I am involved in many of these strategy meetings from some of the nation’s top agents. I have found that many exciting and wonderful trends are emerging to make the top people in real estate even better.

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Down payments are back! It is time that we get back to working with buyers who can qualify to get a Discover card. The days of a real estate transaction depending upon the creativity of a loose lender are over. Fundamentals are back! Today’s market demands a decent price with a qualified buyer who has money for a down payment. Not only do buyers appreciate the opportunities that American real estate provides, but they also end up being better neighbors and citizens. Their longevity of ownership is not so dependent upon the cyclical rates of appreciation and the cost of money. They are more apt to improve their real estate and their neighborhood. So, qualify harder!

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Top agents are finally getting away from concentrating on generating hundreds of leads. Instead, they are spending more time figuring out how to put those leads into play. Interactive active voice recognition systems, third-party website referrals, and unqualified buyer website leads have gone without followup. The top agent is feeling guilty for spending money on poor quality leads, especially buyer leads. Traditional lead-generation systems are back in vogue, using technology to decrease their cost and increase their efficiency. Additional layers of follow-up have been added, which include live staff follow-up, the “rainmaker’s” personal follow-up, direct mail, and other forms of more personal closing sequences using the phone and personal visits for more expensive expireds. 2016  •  R EAL ESTATE EXECUTIVE    9 

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The pros are back! The top real estate agents are actually pricing their listings for their clients and not fudging by giving them a value range. They have run from the pricing models that turn real estate into commodities, and they have gone back to pricing based upon individual property characteristics, thus minimizing comparable sales and emphasizing being below competing listings. Real estate is being declassified as a commodity by determining the client’s needs first then developing customized marketing plans to achieve those goals.

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Short sales are being utilized as a method to achieve a client’s goals but only if it is profitable to the firm. In many cases, a foreclosure is more expedient and profitable for a seller than a short sale. However, a short sale may mitigate the credit damage to that seller.

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Fewer buyers are being accepted, and more sellers are being obtained. As markets become a little more challenging, the prevailing wisdom has been to increase buyer inventory when exactly the opposite is required. The business has always been about The top buyer-brokerage companies are actu- owning inventory. At a time when buyers become more ally starting to get paid by buyers. It has always anxious, they automatically require more of the agent’s been befuddling to me how an agent represents a buy- time to make a decision. This is the time to increase er yet is paid by the seller. Top agents are showing their your listing inventory by multiples of the increase in buyers “for sale by owner” properties and other off- your MLS inventory. Utilize the listing to attract more market properties. When these sales fail to compensate buyers. Buyers are then put through tighter preapproval the agent by a seller, the agent is looking to the buyer processes, requiring them not only to answer numerous for remuneration. The pros are handling wavering buy- counseling questions but also to indicate their financial ers by having them agree to representation contracts qualifications and prove their sincerity by coming to a without exception. face-to-face meeting. At this meeting, all buyers sign an exclusive representation agreement.

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REAL ESTATE STRATEGIES

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The race to see who has the lowest commis- after day can be energy zapping. Assistants and team sion is over. Sellers who need to have a job done members now pay for themselves through lead-generin a challenging market need a professional. Profession- ation assets that they help produce. als charge full fees or more. My coaching clients are all Top agents, no matter their age, are starting to un“over retail” in their commissions. My coaching clients derstand that real estate requires energy. At some determine a client’s goals, design a customized marketing plan, then implement that plan with strategies to point, age is opposite of energy, and the mantra becomes increase the client’s net. When sellers are properly coun- “I’d like my money to work for me instead of me workseled, they are more interested in what their eventual ing for my money.” Top agents all over the country are developing savings and investment plans, especially as real net is and less interested in the commission amount. estate becomes more affordable. Agents are beginning to Teams and staff are being cut to reduce over- realize what a property looks like when it is at the bottom head. Managing a team and staff can be an ex- of the market and how long-term investment strategies can tremely draining process. Not only is having a staff an be implemented by being their own best client. expensive task but also the staff members grow into Agents are going back to the “enhanced the jobs that are most pleasurable and not necessarily basics” that I have been training top the most profitable. All assistants should be reassigned jobs that have a lead-generation emphasis rather than agents in for years. As much as 30% of their days are a maintenance emphasis. No longer can top agents af- being spent on advanced seller lead generation. Tighter ford to be order takers. Top real estate agents are highly contracts are being written. Fewer buyers make the cut. paid professional sales people who need fresh amounts Real estate investing for agents has gone from speculaof preapproved, qualified, and motivated leads each tion to cash flow investing. The agencies that are going day. A top agent’s staff helps in fulfilling those goals out of business allow the top agents to add another because the rainmaker finds that lead generation day phone number to their bank of office lines.  ■

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REAL ESTATE STRATEGIES

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ON

ESTABLISHING A REAL ESTATE FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH

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rom staging, listing, and showing properties to negotiating, amending, and finalizing contracts—facilitating a real estate transaction has evolved into a more intricate process than ever before. For many brokers and agents, this new, dynamic state of the industry has resulted in a transition from the independent

agent structure of traditional brokerages to more interdependent, team-

based structures. Amy Clark, ERA Real Solutions agent and The Clark Realty Group team leader, recognized this revolution early on—during her first year in the industry back in 2002. She has since dedicated her career to implementing and managing a reliable, unique team structure that encourages wide spread success within her larger company. 2016  •  R EAL ESTATE EXECUTIVE

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THE EPIPHANY In the early 2000s, Amy Clark created an organizational consulting company that was contracted by local Columbus-Central Ohio-based real estate agents to systemize their businesses and optimize their technologies. During the assignment, Clark became an expert at a variety of the tools and services available to these agents. At the same time, she recognized that many of the professionals she was servicing were not as passionate about helping their clients as she expected. “I realized how much more exciting I found the idea of helping people change and better their lives than some of the agents I was coaching,” Clark explains. “I wanted our community to have access to real estate

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professionals who were in the industry for the right reasons—and I quickly realized that was me.” In 2002, Clark closed her organizational consulting company and became licensed as a real estate agent, eventually joining a local Re/Max brokerage. By 2003, Clark realized she needed help and hired the first member of her team, an administrative assistant. STANDING OUT FROM THE CROWD Over the next year, Clark’s passion and enthusiasm for the community and her clients resulted in a rapidly prosperous business. She needed to add yet another team member to her roster by 2004, this time, another agent who specialized in working with buyers. Within six years,

REAL ESTATE STRATEGIES

the group had grown to a team of five, and Clark herself was looking for their next big move. She was having trouble making her team stand out from the crowd of agents available to buyers and sellers in her region and decided a rebrand was her best bet at a fresh start. Clark looked into every national real estate franchise and promptly determined ERA Real Estate offered the best opportunity for success. The brand provided innovative tools and services that Clark hadn’t seen anywhere else, and in 2010 The Clark Realty Group officially joined ERA Real Solutions Realty, an established, central Ohio-based ERA brokerage. Within their first year with Team ERA, Clark’s team doubled their sales volume. THE IDEAL TEAM MEMBER The immediate success of Clark’s team’s affiliation inspired her to continue to expand under the innovative ERA brand. Thanks to her experiences as an organizational professional and building her team at Re/Max, Clark had established herself as an expert at finding and hiring the right people. “I learned from recruiting agents for my own team and helping build other agents’ teams that anyone I hire must have a teachable spirit,” Clark shares. “Real estate has a reputation of being a

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one-man show, but that is not the case on our team. We look to bring on true team players—people who have very collaborative mindsets.” Clark considers why potential team members are in the industry throughout the hiring process as well. According to her, motives and perception of the industry are a direct reflection of a prospect’s character. “I can teach selling and productivity; what I can’t teach is character, work ethic, or integrity,” Clark goes on. “I always look for the intangibles, including the ability to problem solve and think outside of the box.”

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MAINTAINING A BOUTIQUE AGENCY FEEL With a clear idea of what kinds of candidates she wanted to recruit to the team, Clark turned her focus to differentiating her team from the other professionals in her community. Her ERA affiliation provided her with the power of an international company, but Clark wanted to be sure they didn’t lose the feel of a boutique firm through their continued expansion. In 2014, Clark’s husband Brett was brought onto the team to fill the role of team manager and marketing coordinator. Brett was tasked with establishing a strong, consistent Internet presence for the team, improving lead generation and managing the CRM systems, which

REAL ESTATE STRATEGIES

freed Clark to do what she does best—sell real estate. Clark brought on additional specialists as well to ensure that each and every one of The Clark Realty Group at ERA Real Solutions Realty’s clients felt they were being catered to and that they were the most important client for the firm at any given time. She hired a full-time prelisting specialist to handle home staging, photography, and loading listings onto the MLS, and enlisted the help of buyer, seller, and relocation specialists to ensure that no matter what their need, any potential customers would find exactly what they were looking for within her team of ten.

PRESERVING LARGE TEAM PRODUCTIVITY In order to keep her team productive, Clark knew she had to keep them happy. She implemented a unique team format, one that functions more like a minibrokerage than an agent team, to establish a pay structure that encourages self-generated business amongst team members. Instead of the consistent 50/50 commission split many teams abide to across the board, when agents on Clark’s team win their own listings or buyers, the commission split is adjusted to recognize and incentivize self-generated business brought to the team. Because Clark encourages her agents to pursue their own business, and offers the same resources for their customers when they do, agents feel more valued for their efforts. This increase in pay and value results in a much lower turnover rate, as agents want to stay with The Clark Realty Group at ERA Real Solutions Realty for the long term. Many feel a deeper sense of loyalty to Clark because she allows them to be as lucrative as possible and makes constructive decisions that are beneficial for everyone. “I find that the more I show how much I care for my team, the more they show how much they care for their customers,” Clark says. “The trickle-down effect results in us functioning more efficiently, and more passionately, as a company overall.” With such intense dedication to her staff and enthusiasm for the industry, it is safe to say we can expect to see continued success from the team for years to come.  ■

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Why House Ads DON’T WORK AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT by Craig Proctor

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ost agents have used the classified ad section of their local newspaper in the same way for the last century. Their mindset is stuck in the paradigm that says that the classified “Houses for Sale” section is to be used to promote the properties they have listed. So, like most of their fellow agents, they write an ad for each of their clients’ homes with a laundry list of standard features. But if you stop to really think about it, you’ll realize that even though these ads do a good job of pacifying your sellers, they do NOT do a good job of actually selling your properties. Why? Well, let’s think this through. You see, an ad designed to sell a specific property has a very narrow appeal and, thus, is flawed from two key standpoints: 1. Very few people will call you on this ad in the first place. 2. About 90% of the few who do call will eliminate the property as being either too big or too small or in the wrong area or something else is wrong.

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MARKETING STRATEGIES

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his leaves you with few (if any) buyer prospects to work with. So, although it makes your sellers happy to see a picture of their home in the paper, it doesn’t actually move them any closer to their goal (or yours) of selling their home. When you think about it in this way, you’ll see clearly that there’s something dramatically wrong with this approach, and that it’s time to take a giant step back to examine your goals. What are your sellers paying you to do? They’re paying you to find a buyer for their home. How should you go about finding a buyer for their home? Certainly not the way you and most other

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agents have traditionally gone about it. There has to be a better way. So, ask yourself: • How can I open the funnel? • How can I get more prospects to call me? And the obvious answer is that you need to make an offer that has a much broader appeal—an offer that many more prospects will respond to, and one that they can’t disqualify once they’ve made an inquiry. Look at it this way. If you’re going to pay the newspaper anyway for the space to run an ad, would you rather run an ad that gets few or no calls or one that generates droves of qualified prospects? The answer is obvious, but your approach must change.

MARKETING STRATEGIES

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o address this, try running an entirely different kind of ad, which I call a “Service Classified” ad. With Service Classified ads, instead of advertising a specific property listing, try running an ad that offers a list of homes (e.g., luxury homes, distress sales, fixer uppers). These ads offer information that has broad appeal to a wide range of prospects. When prospects respond to these ads, there’s no specific property for them to disqualify. Instead, they raise their hands—and because the offer is broad—you will attract more buyers. From experience, a high percentage of these buyers will go on to become your contractual clients. Not only will you end up with more buyers, but your listings will also sell more quickly because you have a greater pool of buyers looking at them. Here’s an example of one of my Service Classified ads: FIXER UPPER - Bargains, these homes need work, lowest prices. Call for a free computerized list with pictures. www.FixerUpperList. com or Free recorded message 1-800-0000000 ID#1048. Your Company Name.

Anyone of you can do this. This strategy IS NOT based on your listings. You are not saying that you have these listings. You are saying you have access to these properties, which is true because you have access to MLS. As a bonus, because you are not advertising a specific home, you will never have to rewrite these ads the way you have to rewrite your traditional property ads every time you get a new listing. And you never have to discontinue running the ads just because your listing sold. For example, I ran the Fixer Upper ad (and many other similar ads) every day, regardless of whether I had one listed that fit this description, because I knew I could always find a fixer upper even if it was listed with another agent on MLS. (Remember, you’re not saying you have them; you’re saying you know of them.) Service Classified ads were responsible for dozens of client inquiries for me every single week. Because of the higher turnover of readers in the classified section, you’re able to run these ads with very high frequency. In fact, I ran the same ads for several years without changing a word. This is true automatic marketing! These ads will get you by far the biggest bang for your buck.  ■

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Craig Proctor is Founder and CEO of Craig Proctor Coaching, an International Real Estate Success Coaching organization that has shaped the lives of over 30,000 real estate agents across the globe via Proctor’s Quantum Leap Real Estate Success System. For more information, visit www. CraigProctor Productions.com.

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