Sounds too good to be true-right? However these systems are the backbone of all of my successful agents  who are either individual agents or large top producing teams. Without fail as I coach and mentor agents into implementing “business systems” into their real estate business,  their real estate production increases.

I wrote in my last blog about Stephen R.Coveys’ “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, the 2nd habit is “seeing the end result” (the first habit is being proactive) and having a blueprint of how to get the end result. Think of these 7 systems as being the tools to build your end result of having unparalleled customer service and increased production.

Having specific business systems’ in place which create and generate business, whether you’re there or not, is the difference between generating one unit of work for each unit of time OR generating 100’s units of work for the same unit of time. Systems allow you to be more efficient and effective, let’s face it, your real estate business is no different than the corner Starbucks, who is a coporate leader in effectivly using systems to increase production.

The following are the 7 essential business systems for creating success:

1. Create your “Core Principles” and Mission statement.

2. Develop your Business Plan

3. Implement your Personal Marketing and “Brand Name Recognition” 

4. Utilize a professional Listing Presentation.

5. Develop your Farm

6.Define your SOI and Contact system

7. Build your Lead Generation and Follow Up system.

In coaching with Agents, this process of defining and building all seven of these usually takes about 9 to 12 months depending on the individual. It helps to have well written 30 day goals and someone who will hold you accountable to those goals. It may take a great deal of time and effort but the end result will be worth it. You will have a business that runs efficiently and allows you to be proactive rather than reactive and proactive is always more ZEN.

What’s the difference between profit seeking versus prospecting in real estate?

Although this might sound like just a semantic difference, I believe the underlying value is the Grand Canyon of difference. I guess after 20 years in real estate I shouldn’t be surprised when I hear agents tell me “real estate is hard” and they hate to prospect….hmmm, there just might be a correlation there. I think one of the reasons that agents find this business difficult or hard is that they are not continually building their business and generating new sources of revenue.

It should come as no surprise that just as with every other successful business enterprise, having a real estate business, whether you’re a brokerage of one or many, profit seeking should be your second highest commitment. The first, of course is unparalleled customer service. If, as Stephen Covey suggests in “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, ( Habit #2 “Begin with the end in mind), envision the final result before starting a new endeavor. Deciding on what profit you want to obtain is the first step.

His analogy of building a house was perfect; we don’t just go out and start building, it would be far too costly and full of mistakes. Instead we first envision our new home, then blueprints are drawn, plans are made, etc. So it is with real estate. Your profit seeking activities such as Open Houses, Internet Marketing, Direct Mail, should be seen as just that, activities that will bring you profit rather than prospecting which is not as directly tied to your end result.

My challenge to you is if you do not know what profit you want to have at the end of the next 12 months, take that first step and envision your future.

Real estate agents can be divided into two distinct categories:

                  THOSE WHO MAKE ENOUGH MONEY AND THOSE WHO DON’T

What are some of the common characteristics of agents who make enough money?

There are three traits that they all seem to share and the first one that I see is confidence. Think about someone who you know who is confident, don’t they automatically instill trust?   

The second is enthusiasm, this comes across as enjoying what they do and being fully engaged in the process. Working with them is an enjoyable process because they focus on the positive.

And the third trait is self accountability.  Successful agents are successful because they take responsibility for their own success or failure, rather than placing blame outside of themselves.  An example of explanation that I hear from agents who are making enough money is that they credit their success to hard work and staying on top of the market trends.  

And what about agents who aren’t making enough money?

They also have some common traits that I see, and the first one is Fear. This shows up in many different ways for many different reasons.  Perhaps it’s because they’re new and fearful of the process, or uncertain of their own abilities. Perhaps they fear their financial future.  Can they pay the bills and make a success of this career choice?  This uncertainty comes across to clients as a lack of trust and non-focus.

The second is not being emotionally engaged.  Obviously if there is fear and uncertainty,  how vested can they be in the future? How enthusiastic will they be about prospecting and how well will they be able to think outside the box for new opportunities?

And the last and probably most important trait for agents who aren’t making enough money, is that they blame everything outside of themselves for their lack of success.  An example that I hear from agents who aren’t making enough money is “the market is terrible”,  “there aren’t any qualified buyers”, and “open houses don’t work” to name a few.

When I spoke of these traits at my last sales meeting, an agent came to me and said. “Well I’m not making enough money but I have all of the traits of an agent who is.”   So, I asked her what was she most excited about doing to increase her business and she responded that she didn’t want to do anything different, she really wasn’t excited about real estate anymore after all of the years in the business.  She then smiled and said “that probably means I don’t have all of the traits because I’m not enthusiastic, right?”  We then talked about things that she could do that she could get excited about and she left more confident and engaged in her business.

I would urge agents who aren’t making enough money to look at the above and take an honest accounting of where they are and then the steps they need to take to turn their business around.  And, oh by the way, have some fun doing it!

In meditation the single most important thing is to “be present“, and I think that is true in real estate also.

How to be “present” in real estate I think is being focused every day on whats most important, and what is most important is connecting with people and setting appointments. Tom Ferry  your coach.com recommends 20 appointments a month for success, and I would say that would be a minimum. Particularly if you count the people you meet at an Open House as appointments and if you are an extraordinary agent who does extraordinary open houses twice a week. The key is to optimize your open houses.

                                               Rules to Optimize Your Open House:

1. Pick a foreclosure home close to high traffic street.

2. Use at least 8 signs with the words “foreclosure open house” to guide traffic.

3. Have lender there to pre-qual.

4. Have printout with pictures  of at lest 10 lesser/more priced homes for prospective buyers on display board  

5. Have partner at open house to alternate taking prospective buyers to other properties.

6. Be consistent and make a commitment to two open houses a week!

   I wish I had a nickel for every time that I’m asked “do you think we’ve hit the bottom”. If you have a real estate license then I’m sure you’ve also been asked to look into your crystal ball and predict the future. I’ve learned many years ago that instead of making predictions, it’s always best to relay the most up to date information and let the client decide.

So what’s the latest trend? In managing one of the largest offices with some of the top REO teams, I have a unique advantage of seeing the day to day foreclosure market under a microscope so to speak. What I’m seeing more and more of is multiple offers on REO properties. Add this to the announcement made a few days ago by a VP with Countrywide that they have 17% less product coming on the market this month than the last few months and there are now currently over 4,000 Las Vegas properties in escrow.

What does this tell me? I see this as one of the first signs that investors and buyers are taking advantage of the the tremendous opportunities of value that is out there. In fact I believe this so strongly that not only am I personally making offers on some amazing REO homes but I would suggest that you gather your friends and family together, look at the investment opportunities and see if they’re right for you.

I was having lunch with a friend recently and she was asking me about the current Las Vegas real estate market. I was probably going into way more detail than she cared to hear about, (I doubt she’ll ask that question again) but I was trying to explain that being in real estate for over 20 years I had seen many peaks and valleys. And just like the Zen story of the old man who experiences gifts and setbacks, his response of “We shall see”, works well for our current market.   I think there are advantages and disadvantages in every market, right now there are certainly advantages for buyers, there are many more choices now  and there is greater potential to buy more home for the money than in previous years. However if you bought a home in the last 3 or 4 years, your home may not have any equity at this point.  

The gift is finding the golden opportunity that this market has brought and I believe there is an abundance of opportunities. I’ve seen many of my agents have their best year ever in this last year! I also think this is a great time to buy and I am actively looking for another property to purchase myself. As far as what do I think about what has happened  in the Las Vegas real estate market……we shall see, we shall see…

  It’s the Friday before Thanksgiving and everyone is wishing each other a happy Thanksgiving as they leave the office, looking forward to as far as I can make out a weekend full of planning, shopping, standing in long lines to do a litany of endless tasks that have to be completed before the actual day of thanks. It just strikes me as odd that we would spend a week of complaining about all of the things that we have to get accomplished so that we can spend a few hours of gratitude on Thursday.

So I decided to be grateful starting today, I’m grateful that I have family and friends to be able to give to, and that I have such good health that I can be superwoman for a few day to accomplish what I want. I’m grateful for all of the little simple pleasures that this holiday brings like making cranberry sauce with my daughter,  and I’m truly grateful for all of the abundance that I have in this life and I must admit I now feel more relaxed and happy. Now if I can only remember this beforeI get stressed out next year! Namaste and Happy Holiday.

  I attended an all day mediation training yesterday through the Greater Las Vegas Board of Realtors and thought I would share what I felt to be just one of the tidbits of extraodinary information that we learned.

     Carolyn D’Agosta, the instructor is a nationally reconized mediator as well as being a Broker/Owner.  Her credentials are quite impressive and she facilitated a tough crowd of attorneys, 10+ years experienced mediators, and a few neophytes like myself.

     Although I can’t condense 8 hours of information into a blog, I would like to share some of her top 10 techniques for breaking impasse:  

1. Break the issue down into smaller parts, isolating the most difficult issues and reserving these for later.

2. Go on to other issues, or take a break and ask the parties to think about the various alternatives presented.

3. Review the parties priotities and common interests.

4. Look for possible trade-offs or exchange of services.

5. Encourage the parties to recognize and acknowledge each other’s points of view.

6. Tell the parties you are stuck and ask for their ideas.

7. Ask the parties to indicate what would change or happen if they reached a solution.

8. Test for emotional investment in a given position or demand by asking what it would take to get the parties to surrender it.

9. Compliment the parties on reaching earlier points of agreement and encourage them to reach a complete agreement and put this dispute behind them.

10. Ask more questions about the problem, feelings, priorities, alternative solutions, flexibility, hidden agendas, compromises, anger, etc., or return to agenda setting.

Good mediation skills can be used in all walks of life, family, personal relationships, workplace, and clients. Just remember to maintain neutrality (okay here’s where the Zen part comes in) and an attitude of non-judgment.    

I’m sorry but I just have to say that all of this negative energy about our Las Vegas Real Estate market just makes me smile……it’s the same reaction that I see in my yoga students. There are those who come out of my class perspiring and saying whew, that was a tough class, their muscles ache, complaining that it wasn’t what they expected, etc. (These are my beginning yoga students) and then there are those who come out with a look of bliss and tell me how much they enjoyed the challenge.

Why the difference–same class, same teacher but totally different experiences. I see the same thing in real estate, agents who are taking advantage of the market and making more money than they did last year. Because when the market changed, they changed their marketing! Without exception those agents got out of their comfort zone and started doing something different.

So operating on the honor system here fellow blog reader, I will share with you a creative marketing idea if you will share just one with your fellow bloggers–post it in the comment section and earn a karmic credit!

My marketing tip is find your local business development organization and find out what new companies are moving to town. Then take out an ad in their company newletter for your relocation services.  

Okay, now your turn.