Setting Sail for Success on Columbus Day

Monday Morning Match is a quick post - maybe a quote, inspirational story or idea - intended to spark some motivation inside each of you so your week gets off to a fantastic start on Monday morning.


In honor of Columbus Day, I felt a quote from the man credited with discovering America would be fitting.

"Riches don't make a man rich, they only make him busier."

- Christopher Columbus

I have yet to meet someone in the real estate industry who told me their primary reason they were in the business was to make large sums of money. Of course, it is a great aspect of this career that you can make a very comfortable income, but usually that is not people's number one motivation for becoming a Realtor.

If you had to sit down today and list the top five reasons why you entered this business or perhaps why you stay in it, what would they be? Where does income rank next to helping people realize the American Dream? If everyone was in it solely for the money there would be a lot more agents focused on business development activities every minute of every day and there would be no such thing as a "discounted fee."

Think of your best year to date. Maybe it was decades ago or maybe it will be this year. As you consider the year you banked the highest income, ask yourself this: "Was I busy that year?" My guess is you'll answer "yes."

It's great to become busier and if the payoff at the end of all the hard work is income (and hopefully profit), that could be very rewarding for those involved. First comes the fiduciary duties, ethical approach and truly remarkable service expected to be delivered. Then and only then can the personal referrals and commission checks be earned. You can't achieve the latter without the former.

Christopher Columbus set sail in three ships - The Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. The three vessels for you to reach your destination are named "Building Relationships," "Solving Problems" and "Having Fun."

Get on board Captain! There's a whole new world out there. Hoist the sails and get ready for a great adventure.

Bon Voyage!

Running for Election? What's Your Platform?

"I Want to Be Your Realtor"

That's your daily campaign slogan, isn't it? Each and every day we're running for the office of "trusted advisor" to our Buyers and Sellers who entrust us to make the best decisions and policies to help them get what they want.


Do You Run a Clean Campaign?

I don't know about you but I am ready for the mid-term elections to get here and be done. The yard signs, billboard and negative "smear" commercials drive me crazy. Last night I was so bombarded with one commercial attack after the other that I posted this as my Facebook status update:

"Hey Politicians planning to run for office in the next major election - Here's an offer for you. Run a campaign where you only talk about YOUR strengths and YOUR platform. Maybe one ad a night, don't call me for surveys, don't knock on my door, don't ask me for money. Just be a more worthy candidate than you opponent and you'll probably get my vote. You might even create a wave of support that enjoys your fresh approach to campaigning. Imagine what might happen if you had an audience who supported you instead of purposefully worked against you."

"I'm Sean Carpenter and I approve this message"

I had numerous people "like" my comment and it created a long chain of comments in agreement with my sentiments.


Why would someone "elect" you as their Realtor?

• Is your track record impressive with many satisfied constituents?
• Do you reach out to a large audience spreading a positive message?
• Do you do the things you say you will do?
• Do you have the three C's that lead to Trust? Confidence, Competence and Consistency?
• Can you tangibly demonstrate how your strengths will benefit a voter?
• Do you effectively rally your party supporters (i.e. "past clients") to campaign for you?

I don't think you need to run out and print campaign buttons with catchy slogans or start kissing neighborhood babies at your next Open House. I just think you need to try hard to be the "Candidate of Choice" for the audience you are hoping to serve.

Good luck on Election Day!

Being "The Source" of the Source

Your clients, friends and family trust you, know you and love you. They look to you for advice about their homes, their communities and anything else that might be on their minds and that is a good thing. Remember, if they are calling you, that means they're not calling who? Right - the competition.


People are always asking me what types of things they could be "the source" of. I respond to them - "anything." Here's a perfect example.


I was reading the March issue of Money Magazine over the weekend. I am not a huge fan of Money because they haven't been card carrying members of the Realtor Fan Club over recent years but they might just be guilty of today's rule of thumb when it comes to selling magazines- "if it bleeds, it leads."


Anyway, the cover story of this issue is "The 20 Best Money Websites...and Ones You Should Avoid." It covers sites in areas of interest such as your portfolio, wallet, home, health, job and purchases as well as listing some great iPhone apps and also shares many tips and links to additional cool sites.


This is exactly the type of thing to send to your data base. You could make a hard copy of the article from the magazine and mail it your your list with a cover letter including a seasonal greeting and quick update on the market...or you could add it to you blog (like this)... or you could go online to Money.com and find the article there and share the link to your sphere via email...or even post it on Facebook or Twitter or any other social networking site. By doing that, you just became "the Source of the source."


You could do this with recipes, television or movie reviews, restaurant recommendations, sports updates or anything else that people might find interesting.


But What If They Hit "Delete"?


So what? That's okay, because they will have seen your name and known that you reached out to them. They may not read it all all, they may save it and read it later or they might read it right away, find value in it and who knows...might hit the "reply" button! How cool is that?


Or they might think it so neat that they share it themselves with people they know and add in their email the following blurb:


"Hey, check out the cool ___________ that my Realtor sent me!"


So what are you waiting on? Start "out sourcing" to your data base, friends and family. Remember, they don't need to be thinking about you every second of every day. You just want them to think about you when they have a need for a great Realtor.

What Do You Expect - Part II

In our last blog post, we focused on the expectations Buyers may have when searching for a house and how to best handle them. Now let's talk about the expectations we might encounter from the Sellers we will work with.

It's been said that most Sellers want the same five things when utilizing the services of a Realtor in the sale of their house - Price, Time, Convenience, Communication & Diligent Effort.

They want the highest price possible...in the shortest amount of time...with the least amount of inconvenience. They also want to have good communication between themselves and the agent they hire and they would like to see a diligent effort by the Realtor.

Would you say that those factors are important and should be addressed with every Seller we work with? I think so, too. I also feel that in exchange for our ability to deliver on those expectations that we should be fairly compensated for it. So if we're hoping to obtain a fell fee for the full services we are asked to provide, let's discuss how we can address these five expectations of most Sellers.

Get Me the Highest Price Possible

Pricing is perhaps the hardest thing we do in our jobs when it comes to Seller representation. If we really knew the exact price the house would sell for in the exact time the Sellers wanted, we would have a long line of clients waiting to work with us.

We must first use a blend of statistical analysis (Competitive Market Analysis) and personal experience to determine the proper price for a home. Remember the old saying that says "a house is only worth what the best offer obtainable from the best Buyer available in the current market is" so we must focus on attracting the "best Buyers available."

Use Logic, Not Emotion

Every sale involves both logic and emotion. When selling a house, what do you think the Seller will have more of? That's right...emotion. So which do you think you, as the professional, should have more of?

Try not to get emotionally sucked in to the Sellers emotions of raising their children in the house, feeling their pain of their financial pressures or riding the "ego train" to be the highest price in the neighborhood. You've got to share the logical information that will best position the house to attract that "best Buyer available" that we mentioned earlier.

What About Building in "Wiggle Room"?

Remind your Sellers that most Buyers don't negotiate to market value, they negotiate from market value. When today's savvy Buyers find a great home at a price that is at or close to "market value," they are less focused on negotiating the Sellers down as they are focused on not losing the house to another market savvy Buyer. If it starts out too high, those same savvy Buyers will keep looking until they perceive some value.

It's a Matter of Timing

If Sellers start the process thinking it's going to take them 9-12 months to get their house sold, do you think they are realistic about their asking price? Have they watched other homes in the neighborhood hit the market at one price only to drop their prices monthly and eventually sell for 85-90% of their original listing price after a year? Yet, they want to start their listing at the same price as their neighbors original asking price because "their house is better!"?

Come prepared to show them how that neighbor ended up costing themselves - in lost opportunity, added mortgage and carrying costs and possibly savings on their next home.

Easy Does It?

Sellers often don't realize how stressful it could be to sell a house. Let's share with them all that it takes to prepare for showings...and that's just a start. The house remaining clean and available to unknown buyers and agents on a daily basis can get old real quick. Making sure the house is ready to show at any given time might be the best chance to avoid missing the next "buyer." Consider using a professional home-stager as well as suggesting the Sellers order a pre-inspection of their home to avoid any unforeseen issues once the property does sell. And now might be a good time to let them know that once it gets "into contract" that the work is just beginning. Getting it to the closing table is a whole separate level of work.

Let's Stay In Touch

If there is one common complaint we hear from most disgruntled Sellers or from those listings that have "expired" with their last listings agent, it's that they "never heard from their agent." Please don't let this happen to you. Establish at the initial meeting how the client prefers to be communicated with. Do they prefer phone calls? E-mails? Text messages? In person?

Once you know how they want to be communicated with, establish the expectations of how often and why you will communicate with them. Then it's up to you to fulfill their expectations.

Here's what I suggest you say or do:

"Mr. & Mrs. Seller. I am very excited to have the opportunity to work with you and help you get your home sold and your family to Atlanta"

"I pride myself on my communication and feel that it will be important for us to have a regularly scheduled time to talk each week so I can keep you informed and up-to date. On those weekly calls, we'll discuss the happenings of the market, specifically our competition - what's sold, who has dropped prices, what has gone pending and any listings that may have expired or been withdrawn."

"We'll also discuss the weekly marketing efforts we will make to attract the best Buyers and keep you informed of Buyer activity in your neighborhood and price range as well as any other factors which may affect your homes perception of value in the market."

"Right now, I make those Seller Update calls on Monday or Wednesday afternoons, between 4 and 6pm. Which time slot will work best for you?"

If you did this on a regular basis, do you think it would eliminate the ability for your Sellers to say they never hear from you? If they had a concern and it was Tuesday evening, do you think they may just wait until you call them on Wednesday during your regularly scheduled call?

You might be surprised that you hardly ever have to discuss "repositioning" their home from a pricing standpoint. After sharing with them news about their competition dropping prices, going into contract or new homes hitting the market, just ask them if their time frame to get to their next destination is still the same. They'll begin to get the idea that they need to be properly priced to attract those "best buyers."

Are Your Trying Your Hardest?

Realtors are not magicians. We can't make houses sell just because we or the Sellers want them to. What we can do is be honest with our clients, provide them with the necessary information to make good decisions and then deliver on the promises we made to our clients to provide truly remarkable service.

Establishing these expectations at the beginning of our relationships with Sellers and then always reminding ourselves of those expectations will help us continue to offer full service efforts. When we under promise and over deliver with today's Sellers, it sure does make it easier to cash those checks for our full fee. When we give the clients what they expect, it seems fair that we get what we expect, doesn't it?


Until next time, keep building relationships...solving problems...and having fun!

Community pride - Part II?

Earlier this year, I wrote about the importance of a Realtor selling the area in order to be seen as a local expert. Having a combination of character and competence, a knowledgeable Realtor will immediately earn the public's trust.

In the viral world of of today, using creativity, local knowledge, a video camera and some editing ability, we now have some "turf wars" starting over in Virginia to "sell the area." Check out these funny videos (embedded below) that are a direct response to the Arlington (VA): The Rap video.

First up is Richmond...



And an answer from the Fairfax, Virginia community



What can you take from these videos, besides a little humor? Ask yourself if you're thinking differently to attract attention in today's market. Are you being creative? Thinking beyond your title? Willing to put yourself out there in the spotlight?

Not every effort will will result in the "viral" spreading of your message like these two videos (70,000+ views for each) but you can get people talking by talking about your community.

Let me know what you have done to be the community resource for your clients and customers.


Until next time, keep building relationships...solving problems...and having fun.