Mega Agent Camp

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Mega Agent Camp
August 27, 2009
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Whether you prevail or fail, endure or die,
depends more on what you do to yourself than on
what the world does to you. --Jim Collins,
How The Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies
Never Give In
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You cannot control what happens to you, but you
can control your attitude toward what happens to
you, and in that, you will be mastering change
rather than allowing it to master
you. --Brian Tracy
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To be yourself in a world that is constantly
trying to make you something else is the greatest
accomplishment. --Ralph Waldo Emerson
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There are two ways of meeting difficulties. You
alter the difficulties or you alter yourself to
meet them. --Phyllis Bottome
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Energy is the essence of life. Every day you
decide how you are going to use it by knowing
what you want and what it takes to reach that
goal, and by maintaining focus. --Oprah
Winfrey
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We have to stop procrastinating, pretending
that we have forever to do what we want to do and
to be what we long to be. If we think that we
want to become better, we had better start moving
in that direction now. --Lama Surya Das
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In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we
must take control of our consistent actions. Its
not what we do once in a while that shapes our
lives, but what we do consistently. --To
ny Robbins
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There is one quality that one must possess to
win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the
knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire
to possess it. --Napoleon Hill
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Decline, it turns out, is largely
self-inflicted, and the path to recovery lies
largely within our own hands. We are not
imprisoned by our circumstances, our history, or
even our staggering defeats along the way. As
long as we never get entirely knocked out of the
game, hope always remains. The mighty can fall,
but they can often rise again. --Jim Collins,
How The Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies
Never Give In
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And finally, I want to acknowledge that making
changes in your life is never an easy task. The
key, however, is not to get caught up in the
distance you have to go to get where you want to
be. Nor should you despair over the amount of
control you have over your circumstances.
Progress is made in the small, intentional steps,
and chances are, you have more power than you
think. By focusing on little steps you can take
every day, the progress you make will motivate
you to continue your journey, and eventually, you
can go wherever you want to go. The important
thing is simply to begin. --Stephen
Cherniske, MS
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The Foundational Model of the Millionaire Real
Estate Agent
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Think Big Goals and Big Models
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The 4 MREA Models
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1) The Economic Model
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2) The Lead Generation Model

• 34 Hours Time Blocked a Day
• Prospect and Market
• Set up a Database and Prospect and Market to It
• Mets 8 x 8 then 33 Touch
• Havent Mets 12 Direct

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3) The Budget Model

• 30 30 40
• 30 COS
• 30 Expenses
• 40 Net
• Lead with Revenue
• Play Red Light, Green Light

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4) The Organizational Model
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Succeeding in Tough Times
Allan Domb President, Allan Domb Real Estate
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The 6 Core Real Estate Agent Competencies

• Lead generate, capture, and convert to
  appointments
• Present to buyers and sellers and get agreements
• Show buyers and market sellers
• Write and negotiate contracts
• Coordinate the sale to closing
• Manage the money

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The 4 Myths of Lead Generation

• From a distance, lead generation can look really
  difficult, but dont confuse effort with
  enjoyment.
• You may think youll be too busy and wont have
  the time to lead generate. However, focus on
  doing it every day, and youll discover it isnt
  an issue of having time but an issue of making
  time and then protecting it.

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The 4 Myths of Lead Generation (cont.)

• You may believe you cant lead generate because
  you dont know what to do or say and are afraid
  of making mistakes. However, if youll
  consistently get after it, youll find that
  lead generation is nothing more than a set of
  tasks and skills that are well documented. With
  practice and homework, these actions are easily
  understood and learned. On top of being a
  transaction knowledge and service business, our
  industry is a script and dialogue skills-based
  business. You must commit to getting onto the
  path of mastering these. Time on the task over
  time is the simple secret to becoming very good.

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The 4 Myths of Lead Generation (cont.)

• You may have naively bought into the popularly
  quoted myth that it takes money to make money.
  However, once you really experience how buyers
  and sellers find and choose a real estate agent,
  youll grasp two foundational truths. First, that
  lead generation doesnt have to cost money at all
  if you dont want it to and, second, that if and
  when you do spend money, it doesnt have to be as
  risky as you had imagined.

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The Two Ms of Lead Generation
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The Two Ms of Lead Generation
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(No Transcript)
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Taking Open Houses Beyond the Basics
Level 1
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Taking Open Houses Beyond the Basics
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Taking Open Houses Beyond the Basics
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Taking Open Houses Beyond the Basics
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Taking Open Houses Beyond the Basics
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Taking Open Houses Beyond the Basics
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Taking Open Houses Beyond the Basics
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Do You Get It?

• It is the Era of Extra Effort!
• Some agents just stick a sign in the yard and
  call it lead generation.
• Others go six steps beyond this and call it lead
  generation.

The big question is What do YOU call lead
generation?
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Time Blocking

• To ensure your lead generation is always your
  number one priority, you must acquire the
  discipline of time blocking.
• Time blocking is setting aside daily blocks of
  time to execute your most important business
  priorities.

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Time Blocking

• Think of it as making appointments with yourself.
• Once done, you must protect that time against any
  and all distractions.

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Time Blocking for Success
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When Someone Shows Intent, You Must Immediately
Convert It Into an Appointment

• The ultimate success of your lead generating is
  directly dependent on your lead conversion to an
  appointment ability.
• One cant work without the other.
• Many agents spend significant amounts of time and
  money on their lead production proficiency but
  neglect their conversion competence.

Get Appointments!
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Get Appointments!

• Lead conversion is a scripts- and dialogues-based
  skill. To master it, you must practice it.
• Your secret weapon Time on the task over time.
• Truth Talent is overrated!
• Practice with accountability to improve beats
  talent over time!

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Dont Confuse How You Learn

• Education Information
• Training Skill
• Many know, but few can do.

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The Six Connection Questions

• Who are they?
• What do they want or need to do?
• Where do they want or need to do it?
• Why do they want or need to do it?
• When do they want or need to do it?
• How do they plan to do it?

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Ten Classic Closes

• The Hard Close Lets meet!
• The Soft Close Ive really enjoyed visiting
  with you. Would you like to get together to
  discuss this further?
• The Direct Close Can we meet today?
• The Indirect Close Would it be okay if I got
  you some information to look over and then we can
  meet to discuss?

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Ten Classic Closes (cont.)

• The Trial Close Have we gone over enough today
  that meeting would be our next step?
• The Assumptive Close It sounds like we should
  meet. I am available most times this week, so
  what works best for you?
• The Negative-Positive Close Would you be
  offended if I asked if we could meet to go over
  this?

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Ten Classic Closes (cont.)

• The Take-Back Close Ive really enjoyed
  visiting with you. To be honest, Im not sure if
  I can be of help or not, but Id be honored if we
  could meet to find out.
• The Tie-Down Close Wouldnt it make sense for
  us to meet in the next day or so?
• The Alternative-Choice Close What works better
  for you? Meeting today, some time this afternoon,
  or tomorrow morning?

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Cultivating Leads for Future Conversion
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Panel Lead Generation Conversion

• Gene Arant
• Michaelann Byerly
• John Dietz
• Jeff Glover
• Dave Norberg

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Sellers Must Understand a Buyers View in a
Shift Good Buy or Good Bye!
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Two Things Matter Most

• Price
• Condition

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You Must Get Your Sellers to Price Ahead of the
Market and Stage Their Home Competitively.
Right Now!
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Price Ahead of the Market

• Three Truths About Sellers
• Sellers must decide if they really need or want
  to sell.
• Your jobShow them how to make it happen.
• Once theyve seen how the market works, they must
  decide what they want to do.

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Price Ahead of the Market
The Window of Opportunity The first time
someone sees a property is called the window of
opportunity, because it is the single best
chance to create the impression that will sell
the house. Your job is to get them to grasp why
pricing it right must happen right now. Making
the wrong impression will cost a seller time and
money.
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Price Ahead of the Market

• Price RightNow!
• Focus on actives.
• Use visual data.
• Consider neighborhood and product category.
• Focus on the net.
• Use recent seller testimonials.
• Tell the truth.

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Price Ahead of the Market Dont Chase the Market
Down
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Price Ahead of the Market Price on the Trajectory
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The Only Way to View Pricing and Staging
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Price Ahead of the Market

• Pricing Best Practices
• Study the market constantly.
• Focus comps on actives.
• Be a student of property.
• Keep presentation current.
• Prequalify sellers.
• Price ahead of the market.
• Secure price reductions in advance.

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Staging Study
A review of more than 2,800 properties in eight
cities found that staged homes, on average, sold
in half the time that non-staged homes did. The
sellers with staged homes ended up with 6.3
percent more than their asking price, on
average. From an October 2006, USA Today
article which cites a Coldwell Banker
Residential Brokerage report
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Staging StudyHomes Previously on the Market
Marketed vacant homes that were previously
unstaged were not sold after 120 days on
market. Once staged, those homes only took 26
days to sell.
Marketed occupied homes that were previously
unstaged were not sold after 102 days on
market. Once staged, those homes only took 45
days to sell.
Source RESA
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The Buyer Experience Determines Staging
Priorities
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The Buyer Experience Determines Staging
Priorities
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The 3P 2F Formula

• Plantings 1. Fixtures
• Paint 2. Furnishings
• Pictures

• Prioritize these five whenever youre looking for
  quick cosmetic improvements in a listing for sale.

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Panel Traditional Sellers

• Kurt Buehler
• Brandon Green
• Chris Heller
• Brad Korn
• Lesley Thomas

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Panel Short Sales REOs

• Rick Brenkus
• Brian Gubernick
• Knolly Williams
• Jennifer Young

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Panel BOLD

• Gary Budek
• Tim Heyl
• Chad Smith
• Heather Witte

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First-Time Home Buyer Survey
An Inside Look at Todays First-Time Home Buyer
Research Conducted by Keller Williams Realty,
Intl.
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Overview

• This survey was administered to agents who have
  worked with first-time buyers in 2009.
• 2,453 Keller Williams agents responded to the
  survey.
• They were asked to answer questions on the most
  recent first-time buyer they worked with.
• We analyzed the responses of those agents who
  worked with a first-time home buyer in the last
  three months.

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Market Conditions
The majority of first-time buyers in early 2009
purchased their home in a Buyers Market.
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Marital Status
Demographics

• 46 of first-time home buyers were married. The
  proportion of married first-time buyers appear to
  be declining over time¹.
• Surprisingly, the number of single males buying
  homes are competitive to the number of single
  females buying their first home. In the last few
  years, the number of single females buying their
  first home far outnumbered the number of single
  males¹.

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¹ Source NAR Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers
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Household Size
Demographics

• The median household size is two.
• 75 of first-time buyers had two or more people
  of any age living in the home.

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Age
Demographics

• 51 of first-time buyers are in the 25 to 30 age
  group.
• The overall median age is 28, which is
  significantly lower than the median age of 32
  four years ago¹.

¹ Source NAR Profile of Homebuyers and Sellers
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Home Type
What Did They Buy?
81 of first-time buyers bought single family
homes.
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Home Size
What Did They Buy?

• The median size home purchased was 1,600 square
  feet.
• 40 of first-time buyers bought a home between
  1,501- 2,000 square feet.

Median Square Feet 1,600
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What Did They Buy?
Number of Bedrooms and Bathrooms

• The typical home purchased was a 3 bedroom/2 bath
  house.
• Approximately 2 out of 5 homes had half baths.

of Bedrooms
of Full Baths
of Half Baths
Decimals not shown. Percentages will not equal
100.
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Buyer Consultation

• 76 of agents conducted a sit-down buyer
  consultation before showing the buyer the first
  house.
• 49 of first-time buyers signed a buyer
  representation (exclusivity) agreement with their
  agent before the agent started searching for
  homes.

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What Motivated the Average First-Time Home Buyer
to Buy?
Primary Reason for Buying a Home
Respondents had to rank their top criteria
from a list of 28 items.
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What Were the 5 Leading Criteriafor First-Time
Buyers?
Percentage that selected the following reasons
as one of their top 5 criteria
Respondents had to rank their top 5 criteria
from a list of 24 items.
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What was the most important criteria?
Number 1 Criteria
Respondents had to rank their top 5 criteria
from a list of 24 items.
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43 of agents came to an agreement with the
buyer on how they will communicate to the buyer
during the transaction.
Who decided on the primary method of
communication?
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Preferred Communication Method
The typical first-time buyer preferred email as
the primary method of communication.
Respondents had to rank their criteria from a
list of seven items.
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Financing

• 82 of agents recommended mortgage professionals
  to their first-time buyers.
• 2 out of 3 first-time buyers used a recommended
  mortgage professional to finance their home
  purchase.

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Financing

• 95 of first-time home buyers who needed
  financing were prequalified before their agents
  started searching for homes.
• 80 were preapproved.

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Home Tours

• 25 of first-time buyers saw 5 or fewer houses
  before their agent wrote an offer to the seller.
• The average buyer toured 10 houses.

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Decimals not shown. Percentages will not equal
100.
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Home ToursShort Sales and Foreclosures

• 82 of first-time buyers were willing to view
  short sales or foreclosed properties.
• 76 viewed at least one distressed property in
  their home search.
• 2 out of 5 first-time buyers purchased a
  distressed property.

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ConcessionsPrice

• The typical first-time home buyer purchased a
  155K house.
• 2 out of 3 sellers made price concessions.
• The median reduction was 3 of the list price.

Did the seller reduce their price?
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ConcessionsClosing Costs

• 2 out of 3 sellers actually paid for the buyers
  closing costs.
• The standard amount paid was 3 of the final sale
  price.

Did the seller pay for the buyers closing costs?
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Top 10 Seller Concessions/Buyer Incentives
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Down Payment

• The typical down payment by first-time buyers is
  3.5, which is the minimum amount required for
  FHA loans.
• 73 put less than 4 down to get into their first
  home.

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Down Payment Source

• 76 of first-time buyers withdrew from their
  savings for the down payment. 1 in 4 buyers
  received help from their family.

Percentages will not equal 100 as many home
buyers had more than one source of down payment.
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Problems and Issues

• Approximately 1 in 5 first-time buyers
  experienced some issues with financing.
• Credit and insufficient cash reserves were the
  two main issues faced.

Primary Issues Faced
Percentages are based on those who experienced
issues with financing.
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How Buyers Solved Their Financing Issues

• Removed incorrect negative information from
  credit report
• Lowered debt
• Family provided gift funds for down payment
• Parents co-signed the loan
• Used different lending program (VA, FHA, USDA,
  etc.) that required smaller down payment
• Switched to alternative loan products (variable
  rate loan, etc.)
• Worked with lender to iron out issues
• Switched lenders
• Withdrew money from other investments to pay for
  closing costs

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Closing
70 of homes closed on time

• Common Reasons for Delayed Closings

• Short sale approval took longer
• Appraisal issues
• Lender took too long/was backlogged
• Loan underwriting took longer than expected
• Additional documentation needed
• Buyer did not provide documents to lender in a
  timely fashion
• Home repairs needed to be conducted
• Could not close with an active dispute on credit
• Additional requirements by down payment
  assistance program
• HOA application
• Title issues
• Escrow company did not complete all required
  activities in a timely manner

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Urgency Must Return

• Understanding buyer urgencyits root cause and
  how to respond to a lack of itis imperative in a
  shift.
• You must help buyers rediscover a sense of
  URGENCY!

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Buyer Urgency

• Able
• Available Cash
• Creditworthiness
• Ready
• Personal Reasons
• Willing
• Market Expectations

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3 Ways to Energize Buyer Urgency

• Become the Local Economist of Choice
  (Edutizeeducate advertise)
• Help Them Tap Into Their Why
• Address Buyer Reluctance

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4 Strategies to Overcome Buyer Reluctance

• Why Wait?The Hazards of Timing the Market
• Trade UpThe Opportunity of a Down Market
• Less Is MoreNarrowing the Field
• Find a Best BuyIdentify Value

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Buy Now or Wait?
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Scenario 1
Home prices decrease by 5. Interest rates
increase by 0.5.
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Scenario 2
Home prices decrease by 10. Interest rates
increase by 1.0.
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A Buyers Market Is a Trading Up Market!
If home prices dropped by 5, heres what it
could look like if you decided to trade up
The smaller loss at sale will be compensated by
greater savings at purchase, resulting in a
significant net gain.
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Less Is MoreNarrow the Field!
When you help buyers reduce the choices, youll
find they are able to choose.
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Find a Best Buy

• One idea that can help you overcome buyer
  reluctance is a Best Buy List.
• You compile the list of the current best buys in
  the market.
• It will be based on your consistent tracking of
  new listings, price reductions, and
  pre-foreclosure or foreclosed properties.
• It will be one of the most useful outcomes of
  your daily previewing of homes.

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Panel Working with Buyers in a Shift

• Dan Harker
• Shon Kokoszka
• Terry Moerler
• Rebekah Rivers

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Leverage in a Shift

• Leverage is 2 things
• Money
• People
• The goal of leverage is to get the most out of
  both!

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1. Money

• Lower Your Expenses
• You must lower your costs now. Revenuing your
  way out of a shift is iffy at best.
• To generate revenue, you generate leads.
• To make a profit, you manage expenses.
• The profit you seek will always be made in the
  way you manage your money.
• When the market shifts, you must create a budget
  that matches your revenue.
• We call this re-margining your business.

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Name a business that has been ruined by
downsizing. I cant name one. Name a company that
has been ruined by bloat. I can name
dozens. -Charlie Munger Warren Buffett
Speaks
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1. Money

• Invest in Your Business
• Drop your expenses until your inflow exceeds your
  outflow at an acceptable level.
• Play Red Light, Green Light.
• Grow your budget incrementally in line with your
  acceptable profit margin.
• Youre spending by leading with revenue and
  youre growing by the cost-plus business
  investment approach.

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1. Money

• Re-budget
• When the market shifts, your money instantly
  becomes dumb.
• What worked no longer works, so what was spent on
  before doesnt yield the same results.

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2. People

• Only Work with Effective People
• There are two types of people in your business
• Those directly employed by you
• Those indirectly employed by you
• Both groups need to be effective because both are
  equally important to your success.

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2. People

• Face it, when it comes to people, up markets
  conceal and tough markets reveal.
• Directly employed The challenge in a shift is
  that in order to do more with less, you must make
  sure that the less can do more.
• Youre facing the topic of . . .
• TALENT

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2. People

• You only ever have one critical issue with
  people You either have the right ones or the
  wrong ones.
• Its always about quality and never about
  quantity.
• No matter the market, too many rights never make
  up for even one wrong.

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2. People

• Talent
• In your business, talent is someone who is a
  great match for the job you need them to do, who
  is motivated to do it, and can do it really well.

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Talent

• Think assistance first and assistants second.
• Think part-timers, subcontractors, vendors,
  affiliates, or students.
• Review your needs and all your options for
  meeting themcombine positions, cut hours, or
  move to results-focused, bonus-based
  compensation.

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Seven Steps to a Talent Shift

• Step 1
• Sit down with your people and share your vision
  for your business. Tell them the truth about the
  situation, where the business is today and where
  you see it going.

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Seven Steps to a Talent Shift

• Step 2
• Visit with each person to see if theyre with you
  and are willing to do whatever it takes.

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Seven Steps to a Talent Shift

• Step 3
• Realign job descriptions around the six core
  competencies. Consider moving from job
  descriptions to task descriptions. Your key tasks
  can be mixed and matched, cross-trained and
  swapped without changing titles or compensation.
• Seek flexibility and avoid rigidity.

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Seven Steps to a Talent Shift

• Step 4
• Set easy-to-measure goals, standards, and
  activities for each person. Be positive and
  clearly communicate what needs to happen.
• Expect results or resignationsyoull accept
  either.

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Seven Steps to a Talent Shift

• Step 5
• Establish a simple training schedule to make sure
  everyone knows what to do, how to do it, and
  what is expected of them.
• Training not only builds competence, but also
  confidence and positive expectations.

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Seven Steps to a Talent Shift

• Step 6
• Meet weekly with each individual to evaluate
  success and reach agreement on any corrective
  action. Dont make the mistake of believing that
  once changes are made, everyone is on board.
• Inspect what you expect. Touch base regularly to
  check in and see how theyre really doing.

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Seven Steps to a Talent Shift

• Step 7
• Celebrate the small victories as well as the big
  ones. Celebrate the individual wins as well as
  the teams successes.

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People then Systems

• You topgrade people and you upgrade systems.
• Now that you know what you need to do, when you
  need to do it, and who you have doing it, its
  time to tackle your systems and how things are
  done.

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Systems

• Good times usually plant seeds of system
  inefficiencies that during tough times sprout
  into choking weeds of ineffectiveness.
• We tend to add staff rather than improve systems
  and end up putting pressure on our budget instead
  of on our processes.

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The Key to Success

• Ask what exactly needs to be accomplished to hit
  your minimum goals of sales and service quality
  without any extra effort or expense.

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Systems

• Everything must be extremely purposeful.
• Everything must be streamlined.
• The goal less red tape and fewer distractions.
• Break things down to their basics to figure out
  what is the least you have to do right now so you
  can get the most done.

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Panel Succeeding Through Others in a Shift

• Darla Buehler
• Doris Carlin
• Jana Caudill
• Paul Rushforth
• Rae Wayne

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Succeeding Through Culture

• Mo Anderson
• Vice Chairman of the Board

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Thanks for being here!