6 Types of Questions*:

1.      Minor Point- “Are you on the north or the south side of Main St.?”

2.      Alternative of Choice- “How about 6 pm today or would 2 pm tomorrow be better?”

3.      Sharp Angle- “If I could put more money in your pocket then you could, then could we talk?”

4.      Tie-Down- “don’t you, wouldn’t you, won’t you, shouldn’t you, can’t you, isn’t it, doesn’t it, aren’t you?” at the end of a sentence.

5.      Expanders- “Tell me more…”

6.      Rapport builders- “What do you do?”

*Questions courtesy of Floyd Wickman*

Play the jukebox and pick a song next to the mailboxes at the office! Here are some of your selections so far:

Angie Baker- “Walking on Sunshine”

Dan- “Jump”- Van Halen

Judy O’Leary- “Indiana Jones”

Play the jukebox and pick a song next to the mailboxes at the office! Here are some of your selections so far

Judy O’Leary- “Star Wars Theme”

Rowe Hunt- “We are the champions”- Queen

Bill Albrecht- “Nessun Dorma”- Pavarotti

Karen Ambrose- “Right now”- Van Halen

Dan Iampieri- “Eye of the tiger”- Survivor

YOUR CHANCE TO PICK THE COMPANY “THEME SONG”!!!

Get Your Quarters and Play!

• Please submit your suggestion(s) for a company “theme song” to be used at the beginning of our Sales Meetings, workshops, events, etc.
• Choose a motivational song that most people will recognize such as “Simply the Best” by Tina Turner.
• Your picks will be “previewed” at upcoming Sales Meetings
• You will be able to vote online for the song you like best during the week prior to the company picnic. The winning song will be announced and played at the company picnic  on June 12, 2010.
• Sign-up sheet is on the bulletin board next to the mailboxes!

1.) The prospect wants to know how much the fee is, but you haven’t presented  your marketing presentation and proposal.

Seller: You can save the presentation! We really just want to know how much your fee is?

You: Well, Mr. & Mrs. Buttercup, that’s the best part! If it’s not exactly right for you, there’s no charge because you don’t have to hire me!

2.) The prospect is going to use the real estate agent who charges the lowest fee.

Seller: We don’t care what you’re doing, we’ve already decided to use the agent who charges the lowest commission.

You: Mr. & Mrs. Buttercup, (lower your voice and speak slowly) is their anything in your home that you bought solely because it was the cheapest item available? Look, John and Sue, I know many factors go in to your decision and of course price is one of them. However, price is never the main reason.

I hope you enjoyed these very simple sales techniques. What are some other ice-breakers and sales techniques you use? Be sure to reply to this blog and comment!

1. Start with the main point- Thanks for inviting me back to your lovely home. The enhancements that you have made will really give us a marketing advantage. Tonight I want to talk about how we can market you property in a more customized fashion to take advantage of all of your homes benefits and features.

2. Talk at their level- I have prepared, in coordination with our marketing department, a customized marketing proposal for you tonight called the DOORS presentation.

3. Check for understanding- I’d like to begin by asking you a very basic question. What do you expect from the real estate agent that you’re going to select for the sale and marketing of your home? What else do you expect?

4. Respond to any reaction or resistance- Apparently you have some reason for feeling that way, may I ask what is?

5. Conclude by summarizing- Based on all of the marketing that we have talked about, the Internet strategy and the Open House Program, in your opinion do you feel that I can do an effective job of marketing your property? Great, how soon would you like to see your beautiful home sold to the right buyer?

I hope this helps you deliver a stronger marketing presentation (remember, everybody else gives “listing presentations) and positions you as the top choice for more Sellers!

If things aren’t going  the way you had planned (remember your business plan?) you should ask yourself the following questions:

1.) How many prospects do you talk to each day?

2.) Are you regularly attending our ongoing coaching sessions and sales meetings?

3.) Do you attend market update seminars with prospects?

4.) Are you prospecting on social media websites (like Facebook) by sharing real estate news and information (not listings)?

5.) How many open houses a month do you hold?

Inspiration for the day:

YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN.

1.) Ask for a market update from your agent and a fresh analysis of your local market conditions and then consider making a price improvement. If the market is trending in a particular direction follow it! The key is to remember your home is competing against other homes and your price should reflect that. If the home next door is for sale and your home is nearly identical, price your home more competitively by having  a more attractive asking price. Don’t let emotions get in the way of home pricing.

2.) Review the marketing strategy of your home with your agent. Challenge them! Ask what other marketing strategies they can implement to increase your homes exposure. If your real estate agent isn’t holding your home open, challenge them on why not. Remember, if your agent doesn’t like holding open houses because they don’t like talking to people, think they are a “waste of time” (which is a tip-off that they have a negative attitude) or don’t like selling, you hired the wrong agent. Choose an outgoing, friendly and helpful agent who can deal with the 3/4 of home buyers who still visit open houses!

3.) If your home hasn’t been professionally staged it might be time to bring in a fresh perspective.  Remember, the way you live in your home and the way you sell your home are dramatically different. If the marketing budget is tight, you can always consider picking up the cost or splitting it with the agent. Home stagers can bring in a totally different perspective, without the emotional attachment that sellers usually have. Take their advice!

4.) Open your doors… to more open house guests, more local real estate agents and more BUYERS! Motion creates emotion. Open houses in the spring are a lovely way to showcase your home to neighbors and friends who might know buyers. Ask your agent to have a ‘Brokers Open’ and invite the local real estate community in for lunch and feedback. Also, if you’ve been turning away showings, make your home more available. Be ready on a moments notice for a buyer who wants to see your home!

We begin by taking a pre-marketing and evaluation tour of your property to help determine and identify which features and amenities will give us the greatest marketing edge. We then prepare custom pricing and marketing proposals for you which are more precise and effective than if we just walked in your home for the first time with a recommendation in hand. Since we visit your home twice – we call it the Weichert 2-Step! Do the 2-Step!

Do the 2-Step!

We follow a pretty simple model at Weichert:

Step 1: Information gathering (1st visit)

Our Sales Associate will schedule a consultation with you to get to know you and your home. You can expect at the first meeting that your Weichert salesperson will measure each room, take exterior and interior photos and jot down key features of your home. They will want to find out as much as they can so that they can come back with (1) a pricing recommendation and (2) a custom marketing plan that will help maximize your home’s value.

Step 2: Market Research & Planning

Your Weichert Sales Associate will perform a Comparative Market analysis (CMA) and our industry-exclusive product, The Price Trend Analysis (PTA). We don’t take a cookie-cutter approach to pricing and our PTA goes beyond a traditional market analysis by providing both recent and current market trends and conditions. We will also prepare a custom marketing presentation and proposal for you and your home.

Step 3: Marketing Presentation (2nd Visit)

A few days after our first appointment with you we’ll lay out our entire strategy for helping get your home sold at the highest possible price in the shortest amount of time. We’ll show you the marketing strategy for your home and show you actual marketing pieces we will use in the marketing of your home. We’ll also present our pricing findings and discuss the market trends in your marketplace.

When selling your home with us, expect the 2-Step!

Visit our website http://www.WeichertCaton.com for a complete directory of our Sales Associates.

DAN IAMPIERI is a second generation REALTOR® and the Director of Career Development at WEICHERT, REALTORS® – Caton Properties in Ellicott City, Md. Recognized nationally by RIS Media and former Realtor.com CEO Allan Dalton for “Using Social Media to Generate Business”, Dan has emerged as an outspoken advocate for social media use by REALTORS®. His innovative social media marketing, professional sales training and energetic attitude led Dalton to call Dan “a true champion for homebuyers and sellers in his area”. Dan currently lives in Catonsville, MD.

In 1999 only about 1/3 of home buyers searched on the Internet for homes. Most buyers found an agent and then found homes through the agent. Today buyers find the agent through the home. Yet, still, most agents (roughly 70% according to Realtor.com statistics) continue to utterly ignore the requests of consumers to add multiple photographs and virtual tours to online homes because “it’s cost prohibitive” or because “they want to build suspense for the showing with just a couple photos”. Moreover, these same agents continue to expect the same commissions they got years ago while dangerously using their earnings for things like ridiculous promotional postcards, custom t-shirts and pictures of themselves on billboards and grocery carts. Consumers end up passing on looking at properties with just a few photographs and move on to other homes.

Can you imagine consumers saying the following to one another?

Bobby Buttercup: How will you be selecting the agent you hire to market and sell your home?

Suzie Creamcheese: I’ll probably wait to see who mails me a postcard or I’ll head up to the local grocery store and see if I can find one on a shopping cart.

Or:

Bobby Buttercup: What kind of marketing did your agent commit to do for you?

Suzie Creamcheese: Not much. In fact, Bobby, my agent said they would not have professional photographs, a virtual tour or an enhancement on Realtor.com, but they did say we can expect to see one of those potato chip clips with their logo and number on it really soon. Also, they offered to spend part of the commission on a frisbee with their picture on it and give one to my son!

The point is things got a little ridulous in the 2000′s. During the 1990′s we would spend a thousand dollars a weekend on one newspaper advertisement, but in the 2000′s Sales Associates wouldn’t spend $100 for a good virtual tour. We’ll spend $500 for calendars to mail to clients, but we won’t spend $35 a month to ensure our listings have the maximum number of photographs and our cell phone number on the National Association of Realtor’s official real estate website Realtor.com? Seriously, did marketing and selling die in the 2000′s?