Here are a few of my notes from a seminar by Zig Ziglar on Top Performance

• Leadership starts with you
• Trust is where that key is
• Integrity is NOT relative
• Motivation is to “want to” as training is to “how to”
• Lead with positive solutions
• Leaders are always learning
• Colleges are full of professors teaching about a future that no longer exists
• You can have everything you want if you help others get what they want
• Leaders make it personal
• Individuals score points, teams win games
• People stay where they grow and are respected
• Leaders build teams
• What you do off the job determines what you do on the job
• Leaders create healthy environments
• Leaders are in the people business
• What you say to yourself is the most important conversations you have

One of the best ways to save costs and improve your ROI is to shift is from traditional marketing to advocate marketing. So you will need to put as much effort into referrals as you do into marketing efforts. Remember if you had 50 advocates that give 2 referrals a year is 100 great leads a year. Here’s some things to keep in mind -

1. It’s easy to create 50 advocates.
2. Make it easy for people to advocate for you.
3. Appreciate and thank them for their advocacy.
4. Tell them how to be an advocate.
5. Continue to innovate your services so it’s easy to be an advocate for you.
6. Make you service clearly better then anyone in the market.
7. Live your service/values/philosophy don’t just sell’em.
8. Get really good at using 3rd party edification to your advantage.

Do you struggle with leads?  How about key listing or showing appointments?  Conversion rates?  Closing on contracts?

As the market has changed, the sales skills of the pros have become more and more in demand.  Strong negotiating and closing skills are ever important in today’s market climate.  No longer can we simply make our clients feel “warm and fuzzy” about the experience.  Character must be saddled with competence.  As the DNA agent dies (those who did deals solely with those related to them), the pros gain market share.  The foundations of fortunes are made in these markets. 

The single most effecting sales skill to get more business is to be fearless about asking for the order.  What would happen to your business if you got 10 new contacts a day by simply asking if they had an agent they currently are referring business to?  It doesn’t even have to be via door knocking, FSBO contact or working expireds (although all of those are good and viable) but it can be as simple as asking those in line at Starbucks.  How about with your current pipeline?  What would it look like to simply ask each one of them to just take the next logical step in the process?  Are you walking out of appointments without the signed contract?  Did you really ask for the order or did you let the prospect take the lead?

Start with 10 new contacts a day for this week, then translate asking for the order at each of the next steps through the process and watch your business transform before your eyes. 

Do you have a good answer when someone asks what you do? Is it compelling? Is it different?
Does it lead to more conversation?

One of the best marketing weapons you can develop is a great self-introduction. Make it different, make it “sticky” for the memory, make it sound like you, make it short enough to fit on the back of a business card.

For example, if I work trophy homes in Newport Beach, California - instead of saying “I’m Stephen with XYZ Realty” say “I’m Stephen and I assist VIP’s with their trophy homes on the coast” or If I work less than perfect clients say “I’m Stephen and I make round pegs fit square holes in the real estate market.”

Still stuck? Give us a shout and we’ll work on it together!

One of the most common misconceptions I encounter regarding ‘Sound Bites’ that one has from 30 to 45 seconds to make one’s case.  And, frankly, :45 Seconds may be to long; you run the risk of boring your listener to tears. That’s not what you want, is it?

A true ‘Sound Bite’ can be delivered in, well, a small bite.

Sound impossible? It’s not.  We know that most people have very short attention spans, so you can be sure that 45 seconds of talking “at” your prospect is not what a ‘Sound Bite’ is all about.

When dealing with busy people, we just need / want a few seconds to deliver a pitch that would engender enough interest to merit a meeting. That means that we have to say just enough to explain the key benefits of our real estate services to whet the listener’s appetite for more details.

Obviously, the your name, company name, title, or any other information connected with your real estate business that doesn’t scream “GOTTA HAVE IT” is irrelevant to the initial pitch or ‘Sound Bite’. Sound counter-intuitive? I mean, isn’t more information better?

More information really isn’t better in this case, because if one has only three to four seconds (and trust me, that really is all the time you have to grab someone’s attention) one needs to spend that time talking about something that interest’s one’s audience. And frankly, your audience doesn’t care who you are or what your name is until you have convinced them of your value.

Smart writers and producers in Hollywood figured out how to use some sort of shorthand or phrases that made the most of their three to four seconds. For example, how about this eight-word three-second pitch for a movie: “Die Hard on a bus with Keanu Reeves.”

What this tells the listener (the person with the power to get this project made) is that the movie being proposed is an action film with the potential for sequels featuring some sort of law officer in a life-or-death struggle with an evil villain, as well as a love interest with a conflict of some sort, and that it has a bankable star attached.

The benefits presented in the ‘Sound Bite’ above included comparative revenue expectations (“Die Hard” was a blockbuster, meaning that it made more than $100 million in initial release, and three profitable sequels were made) with the added insurance of a big-name star.

The benefits were immediately obvious, and the only decision to make was whether or not the studio exec wanted to make this blockbuster action movie. If the answer was yes, there was a basis for conversation.

Notice that some important information was left out, enticing the interested listener to ask questions, such as: Who do you see as the love interest? Who do you see as the villain?

And even more information was left out that could be disclosed in the ensuing conversation to set the hook, such as the villain twist: Instead of an international drug kingpin or illegal arms dealer, the villain in this picture is…a disgruntled cop!

Good information, yes, but totally unnecessary until the interest was established, as were the names of the rest of the players and the cost of the project.

Did that movie get made? Yes, it did. “Speed” starred Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock and Dennis Hopper. It’s truly forgettable follow up (remember, the “Die Hard” reference promised franchise potential) was “Speed 2,” so of course people aren’t pitching many movies using “Speed” as a reference to indicate sequel potential.

Kind of a no-brainer way to do business, wouldn’t you say?

Want to attract the interest and immediate attention of your ideal clients using this ‘Sound Bite’ technique created in Hollywood? Develop a ‘Sound Bite’ that presents the most intriguing and meaningful information first, so that continuing the conversation with qualified (interested) prospects is a no-brainer.

Once you’ve hooked your audience’s interest, you can start filling in the details, including your name, your title, your company name, and any other information is pertinent to the discussion.

You should focus on shifting from attempting to serve any and all potential customers to identifying and serving your ideal clients better. This upgrading process ultimately helps your viability and is continual, so keep losing the average customers and replacing them with those that are loyal, profitable and enjoyable.

Some key points to keep in mind -

- Remember profitability is dependent on serving your ideal/best customer not every customer. It’s ok to lose customers that are too costly.

- Pay attention to all customers for niche and innovation ideas, but get to know the top 20% of your customers.

• Why they use your service.
• What they want improved about their lives.
• How they feel and talk about you.
• How you can improve your service.

- Define your great clients as the ones that keep using your service and refer others consistently.