Technology TransactionsI Refuse To Participate In A Recession!
I refuse to participate in a recession!
That is what I put up on the overhead at every program I teach since September 11th, a day we all never forget.
It’s the best thing I can think of to offset the media’s negativity, agents’ malaise and the just plain stinkin’ thinkin’ I am encountering day to day.
This is a wonderful time to be an agent. If you are not convinced of that, then do the rest of us a favor and take a long vacation. We love you, but we don’t need you around spreading gloom and doom. It’s just too hard to listen to and counter productive to healing and growing. You’re either part of the solution or you are part of the problem. Which is it going to be?
It’s like this. The market is tough, unemployment is higher than anticipated, the outlook is not terribly favorable, the public is afraid of a myriad of things real and imagined, and the agents who have been in this business for less than 10 years are clueless how to handle a declining market.
Now the great news…rates are awesome! Even in the worst markets (1980 as an example) people made money, and agents who are willing to continue to prospect and work at helping people to make decisions now that they will be grateful they did later on, are going to survive. I predict they’ll make a great living over the next year.
Here are 8 keys for success to use right now.
Agents have to understand that they are responsible to their clients, not for them. We must commit not to participate in the sellers’ desire to base their present situation on what happened when their neighbor sold their home four months ago. It’s night and day from what is going on today. In addition, buyers who want you to drag them around are always a liability, and now it’s like putting a noose around your neck.
Focus on consistency. If ever there was a right time to concentrate your efforts on activities, it’s now. If you do the activities that build your business and let go of the immediate need for results, you will win in the long run. Patience, persistence and prayer are a great combination…
The broker and manager are not going to hand you leads and referrals. Even if you got them in the past, they are dwindling to a precious few and are certainly not enough to earn a respectable living. Get off your bum and beat the bushes. Go back to the days when you had that amazing enthusiasm and told every one you met that you were a real estate agent and asked if they needed your help. What, you never did that? Shame on you…get going…
Call just listed and just sold areas and boast how great it is out there. Look, even if there is an oversupply, the ones that are priced right are still selling. It’s just necessary to price them below where the others are sitting and watch the action.
Understand that there are always going to be people who need to list and ones that need to buy. Granted, in some areas there are fewer now, but the ones that are serious will act quickly. A hint that you are wasting your time would be where they name their next child after you, and they were not even pregnant when you first started working with them.
Know when to walk. To put it plain and simple, price the home to sell and not to test the market. If they are serious and you have documentation that compares the past six months to the previous six months and to this time last year, you will be able to show a snapshot of where we are heading. Be a student of statistics and list-to-sale ratios. You need them now more than ever
Reduce the price on any listing that has been on the market for more than a month. Any new listings you take you’re taking with the understanding that you will be talking about price reductions frequently. The seller certainly would want to know what is happening every minute, wouldn’t you agree?
Have a bunch of objection handling techniques for overcoming the proverbial stall, “I want to wait.” Remember, when people say that at this time of year, they are normally saying it because they think the spring is actually a better market. They also fear the disturbance of having it listed during the holidays. Couple those stalls with their real fear about getting in over their heads in this economy, and you see that real skill is the only friend an agent has to move them forward. If you are not really good at handling objections, you had better practice. Listen to tapes, get a coach, attend seminars, all of the above…That’s not a suggestion; it’s a necessity of survival.