How Many People Did you Get in Front of Today?

In response to a question I was asked on my post entitled, "When There's No Wind, Row!",I decided rather than respond at the remarks portion of my post, I would share my answer with all of you who care to hear how at least one person knows it works, having tried it, worked it, seen it work, helped others work it, and watched other succeed in it. I do this because maybe it will help someone jump start their career, get it on track, keep it on track, enjoy the fruits of their hard work, and be able to have the personal satisfaction of having succeeded in a wonderful business like ours, by sticking to what works through thick and thin.

The question posed was, "Being very new to the business and having no sphere or family to rely on I am finding that this (making contacts) is a great way to make it all happen. Of course I am learning to deal with rejection but I will overcome that. How many people did you try to get in front of either by phone or in person a day?"

For the people who work with me, they know my answer, they've heard it a thousand times. For those of you who havem't benefited from the experience, here's how it works, and it's not rocket science.

For each 25 calls or contacts you make, you will get decent one lead.

For each 3 decent leads you get, you'll get one appointment.

For each 3 appointments you get, you'll get one listing.

For each 2 listings you get, you'll have at least one closing.

Do the math, and you will find that it takes 450 contacts to get one closing. If your average commission is, say 4500, then you earn $10 for each contact you make, on average, whether they say yes, no, maybe, or tell you things about your parents you never knew. Now, there are some ground rules. First, a contact is a contact. Leaving a message doesn't count, licking an envelope, petting a dog, etc, none of these count. Only human interaction. Voice to voice, face to face, they are good. Everything else is a follow up call you have to make later.

The fact is, your economic driver is appointments, and there are an assortment of things that can skew the numbers. Your talents on the phone or door knocking (its important to always comply with the DNC list and local door knocking ordinances) will get better as you do and learn more, your appointment and conversion ratios will increase, etc, and all these will make your numbers go from leaner to more robust. Keep doing the basics, have a business plan, know your numbers and stick to them.

So, the numbers for the model I described above are simply, if I want to make $100,000 on listings, and my average value of the phone call is $10 (based on the numbers above), I have to make 10,000 contacts for the year. Sound like a lot? Lets drill it down. 10,000 contacts, divided by 50 weeks a year (you're entitled to at least two nice weeks off if you do it right), is 200 contacts per week, divided by 4 days per week (you should also have a day off during the week for yourself, since you need to be available Saturdays to show homes) equals 50 contacts a day. Does that still sound like a lot? Well, truth be told, it is a lot, but it is a do-able a lot. When I started in the business, my average sale (in the late 1970's) was in the mid 30,000 range, and the average agents listing side was about 500 and change. I wanted to make $100 a day back then , which was pretty good in those days, especially for a 19 year old, which is what I was when I first got licensed. I figured out the numbers, and then figured out that to make my $100 at listings, I would need to make app 75 calls a day at a value of $1.40 per call on average. Now that was a lot of calls, I know because I tried to make them every day, and almost did, every day, 4 days a week, 50 weeks a year, until my business took off.

The moral of the story for you, Cody, the (current) new agent who asked the question and who sounds like he's not afraid to work, and for any one else who cares to be consistent and busy, is to figure out how much your average commission is, how many of those you have to do to reach your monetary goal, and then divide them by 450 calls per closed listing, divide by 50 weeks, 5 days, and then get to work.

Good Luck!

Give Your Clients a Free Prize in Every Box

Seth Godin hits it on the head again in his new book when he says to make sure you give a free prize in every box. Think of it, you go to the store, and there on the shelf are two brands of caramel popcorn, which is precisely what you are in the mood for. Box #1 is Joe's Caramel Popcorn, and Box #2 is Cracker Jacks. Which do you buy? I've asked this question 50 times since I read his book, and each time it was the same answer....the Cracker Jacks, of course! Why? Because of the free prize inside!

The same goes for the service you render, and the services your company renders. Each service experience should incude a "Free Prize Inside", that extra value or feature that will stand out in your clients mind when they think of choosing a Realtor. Cracker Jacks has proven it doesn't have to cost a lot, it can even be low cost, but it has to be consistent to be recognized. It could be as small, perhaps, as assuring your client the CO will be submitted on contract (if practiceable) or that you will make sure you ask for a Sellers Disclosure and always provide one when available(I am not in a mandatory state, but I highly recommend its use) or whatever consistent point of Value you can think of that you can commit to doing consistently and properly. It is up to the individual firms to make sure they adhere to all the points of service consistently for the consumer to recognize the Free Prize in Every Box .

Whatever you do, do what you say you are going to do, be consistent in your Service delivery, and always remember to give your clients the Free Prize in Every Box. It will make it much easier to win their business and referrals by standing out from the rest of the caramel covered popcorn in your market.

Good luck!

Where will your Real Estate career be in 2011

You're on the net, researching what to do and looking for ideas to help you succeed in real estate. You're serious about your career. And there's probably hundreds of reasons why you do what you do, or want what you want. But, depending on where your sights are set, you have to like what you do.

Not just a little. To succeed, has to be something that makes you do those things you may not want to do, in order to succeed. You hear some say, "I've always loved houses". Okay, thats great, but is that enough to make you do those things like calling fsbo's, farming, showing endless homes to endless people? Train, apply, read, do?giving up pieces of your life with no guarantee of renumeration?

Its like children playing sports. At age 5, everyones coming out to play pop warner football, there's 60 kids spread out over 3 squads, and every week they have 2 or 3 practices and a game every week. But, 6 years later, you have almost 20 kids still going. Its not that the ones who quit didn't have talent, it's not that they weren't strong. What they lacked was the passion for the game that makes you be willing to work out 5 days a week, play hard on day 6, and get yelled at by your coaches while doing laps or feeling pain. Is it the coach, or the manager, or the market?

Maybe, and maybe not. You'll find out when you think make those choices. But I submit to anyone who "isn't sure when things will get better, or will things flatten, or why won't things come together, or my deal fell apart,or why isn't my listing selling, or should I tell the seller the house is overpriced," etc etc etc that you look deep into the passion of what you do. If you are passionate, nothing will get in the way, you'll figure out the right way around it. You know the answer, its that you have to work. Now, the question is, will you do those things that need be done, over and over, and service a multitude of potential clients and opportunities while looking for more, or will you work the one overpriced listing and one or two buyers you met along the way.

Our futures, our destinies, are guided by our decisions and activities, and activities breed success. You'll decide.

Good luck!!!