The Reluctant Prospector

The More People Who Know You, Like You and Trust You, the More Real Estate You Will Sell

Ever heard this sweet little ditty? Sure you have, or some version of it. Perhaps you've heard the version that goes "People buy from those they know, like and trust;" Bob Burg made this statement in Endless Referrals, and my good friend Dennis Giannetti refers to it as the "KLT" Principle.  

Neato Frito. We're probably all in agreement that the KLT Principle is true.

But let's say it again - out loud:

"The more people who know me and like me and trust me, the more real estate I will sell."

Again. "The more people who know me and like me and trust me, the more real estate I will sell."

One more time... "The more people who know me and like me and trust me, the more real estate I will sell."

Okay, let that settle for a minute and I'll get back to it. But allow me to digress first.

The other day I was talking with an agent whose office is going through a corporate-sponsored prospecting boot camp, complete with group cold-calling sessions and referral-begging contests.  She has chosen not to participate because these activities fall way outside her comfort zone; however, she admitted that the agents who are participating are experiencing some success; in fact, much more success than she has experienced in the last few months. Her associates have more listings than she does and appear to be working with more buyers than she is, so, while she's still not willing to participate in all the "fun," she's a little confused and frustrated.

We talked about it for awhile and both of us had the same aha! moment at precisely the same time. The agents who are participating in the boot camp, while using methods neither of us subscribe to, ARE getting their backsides out in the world, talking to people and keeping their activity levels high. Now, whether or not I agree with the tactics they're using (and from what I understand of them, I don't) isn't the point; the point is that her colleagues are DOING something to meet more people, while my agent friend, well, isn't, as she freely admits.

Okay, so back to the KLT Principle.

What are you doing to ensure that "more" people KNOW you? Anything? Or are you (like most of us!) resting on your existing database and quietly wondering why your business seems to stall so often?

Rest assured you DON'T have to do stuff you don't wanna do to meet people; you really don't! People are everywhere, not just sitting on the other end of a phone line waiting for your cold-call or even your warm-call; they aren't just visiting open houses on Sunday or responding to Craigslist ads or signing up for your IDX; they aren't just attending networking events or Chamber of Commerce gatherings. They're everywhere. Even places you'd enjoy being, too.

What can you do, within your comfort zone, to ensure that more of the world's people KNOW you? Without doing things you don't wanna do?

Ideas? Please share!

Next time, we'll chat about how many people LIKE you.

Had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine the other day. I was telling him about my recent Go-Giver Chronicles and interactions with Bob Burg (co-author of The Go-Giver). My friend mentioned that his first real estate agent helped him find a rental house when he moved to the area, free of charge. Just helped him. No compensation, no contracts, no obligation. Just helpful help.

So, my friend continued, when it came time for him to purchase a home in the area, he called up the agent and hired him to be his buyer agent. His point was that because the agent cheerfully gave of his time in the beginning, he ended up with my friend's business when he had business to give.

I was curious who the agent was; if I knew him or had heard of him, so I asked for the guy's name.

My friend pondered the question. Couldn't come up with a name. John, maybe? He said he'd recognize it if he saw it or heard it, but, darnit, just couldn't remember it right now.

<wheels spin in JA's head>

Obviously, my friend hadn't heard from that agent lately. I asked if he'd ever heard from the agent after the sale and he didn't think he had. That's not surprising... "they" say that the vast majority of agents do a lousy job of staying in touch after a closing and I'm certain that's true.

So, I continued questioning interrogating my friend. I asked if he had heard from the agent, say, two or three times a year for the last five years, would he have been able to recall his name?

He pondered again and said, yes, he would be able to recall the agent's name if he'd heard from him two or three times a year since the sale. But, he said: "Even once a year would have done it." 

So, I asked "What if he'd been in touch every month?" My friend groaned... "That would have annoyed me to the point of not wanting to remember him!"

We moved onto a different real estate-related topic that you'll see rambled about here in a few days, but this conversation validated one of my long-held suspicions about our industry... or rather... one of the industries who SELLS to our industry.

I'll continue this soon... but any thoughts on where I'm going with this?

If you hang out here much, you know how I feel about the traditional numbers game of prospecting, specifically cold-calling.

Blech.

A business model based on being rejected far more often than you're welcomed and calling it a game?

Blech.

I don't think anyone who cold-calls imagines that his or her calls are welcomed by the majority of the voices on the other end of those telephone lines. When you commit to a cold-calling business-building strategy, you have to acknowledge that you will annoy a lot of people. But that's okay, they say, because the end justifies the means. It's okay to annoy a lot of people as long as you end up with a little business for yourself when the day is done.

So, I'm thinking.

What if, instead of striving to annoy cold-call 100 people a day, you strive to impress one person a day?

At the end of the year, the cold-caller will have annoyed more than 30,000 people... but you will have impressed more than 300.

Who do you think is a better source of future business for you? Thousands of annoyed people? Or hundreds of impressed people?

RELATED BLOGS
Does the End Justify the Means?
Impressing versus Touching
Real Estate is Not a Numbers Game

Yesterday I promised to follow up on my blog "You Gotta Ask for What You Want, Right? Eh, not always."

I ended the blog with the assignment to read thru some of the more popular Referral-Begging scripts, and then say them out loud. To refresh your memory, here they are:

• "Do you know anyone who needs to buy or sell real estate?"
• "Do you know anyone moving to my area who could use my services?"
• "I build my business by referral; will you please keep me in mind if you hear of anyone buying or selling?"
• "I'm never too busy for your referrals."
• "I'm always looking for referrals, so would you mind taking a few of my business cards?"

When you say these words out loud, what message are you sending to your audience?

Several commenters nailed it. When you beg for business you sound desperate, hungry and unsuccessful. Definitely not emotions you want to inspire in your audience. People don't hire and refer out of pity; they hire and refer out of respect.

But it goes deeper than that.

Did you notice how all these scripts are all about YOU (as in, the person saying the scripts)? All about what YOU need and want?

There's nothing in these scripts that leads your audience to believe you have anything of value for them; you aren't assuring them of your competence, of your expertise, of your work ethic. You aren't telling them with your words or tone or even your body language that you are capable of Taking Great Care of Them and Their Referrals. No, you're simply telling them with your words, your tone and your body language that you Need Their Business and Referrals.

So, how could you let the people you know and the people you meet know that you'll "take great care of their business" as opposed to you just "need their business?"

And, no, the answer probably isn't telling them "I'll take great care of your business, I promise!"

Thoughts?

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I'm doing a little one-on-one consulting with a relatively new agent (who's gonna ROCK!) in Denver. We have similar personalities when it comes to our feelings about prospecting and business-building, so our conversations about prospecting always lead to some interesting A-HA moments for both of us.

Anyway, yesterday, my agent friend told me about a conversation he had with a like-minded career coach - one who specializes in matching personality types with business-building strategies. According to this coach (and my friend's score on the MBTI), my friend is capable of cold-calling and door-knocking for business, and he might even be rather good at it, as long as he feels he has something of value to offer.

HOWEVER, the coach cautioned him that even though he might be moderately successful in his cold-prospecting efforts, his personality type is simply not one that tolerates rejection well over the long term. That if he spends too much of his time and energy on prospecting activities that involve a steady dose of rejection, he'll eventually become depressed and discouraged. And probably won't realize why he's so lethargic and unenthusiastic about his career... and his life.

That makes perfect sense to me! I've been preaching for a long time now that there's no reason to spend your days doing something that you aren't comfortable with when there are perfectly acceptable alternatives. And if there AREN'T perfectly acceptable alternatives, maybe you're in the wrong business!

The good news is, of course, there are plenty of real estate prospecting techniques that don't involve much rejection. Oh, sure, rejection is a part of life, but that doesn't mean you have to put yourself in positions of pursuing it in the name of generating business if you don't want to. There's no need to "suck it up" or "just do it" if the sucking-up or just-doing makes you miserable.

Life's way too short for that. Figure out what you enjoy doing that brings in business. Do that. It really is that simple.

RELATED BLOGS: 
Be Yourself... Have More Fun... Sell More Real Estate! 
Stay IN Your Comfort Zone!
When to Venture Out of Your Comfort Zone... and when to stay in

It's Here!!!! 
The Sequel to Sell with Soul
Own one of the first 1,000 copies printed, numbered & autographed.
www.SWSStore.com

The other day, a nice man from REALTOR Magazine called me up to chat about the Do Not Call list - specifically, what recommendations I, Jennifer Allan, queen of cold-calling (*snort*) might have for agents stymied in their prospecting efforts by that pesky DNC.

We had a great conversation, although it remains to be seen if any of my brilliance will make it into the final article since I really have no experience with the DNC except for being first in line to sign up.

But one of the last questions he asked made me think... and I came up with an answer off the cuff that I'm rather proud of. Thought I'd share it with you.

Question: "Jennifer, I understand that you never cold-called, but I'm sure that someone in your RE/MAX office did. If that agent were to ask you for advice on what to do instead, what would you have advised him?"

JA's Off-the-Cuff Answer: "Hmmmmmm."

No, seriously, I did come up with something...

"What I would probably tell him would be to get out from behind the desk and the telephone and take his naturally charming self out there into the world and make contacts face to face. No, not by knocking on doors or attending power networking events, but rather by striving to make a positive impression on as many people as possible as he goes about his day. By implementing a Quality over Quantity approach to attracting business. Instead of trying to make contact with 100 people a day, who will almost certainly promptly forget about him, try to really connect with two or three, who will be much more likely to remember him tomorrow... and six months from now."

I'm guessing that someone who has experienced success in cold calling has an appealing personality and a confident aura of success, which would be very attractive out in the real world, too! And, frankly, being out in the real world making real friends and real connections sounds a whole lot more fun and rewarding than dialing for dollars three hours a day!

I must confess that while I think my advice is brilliant, I've never been approached by a master cold-caller for my opinion and I don't expect to be in the near future. There are many paths to success and we're all better suited to one path or another.

So, while I don't expect the cold-calling world to suddenly shift their tactics to the JA-Way, I do hope I can inspire those who'd rather not cold-call to try the JA-Way and see if they like it!

Oh, and watch for your April edition of REALTOR Magazine to see if any of this made it in...

Most prospecting training is focused on... FOCUSING. Laser-focused prospecting. Doing "it" for three hours a day, whatever "it" is, no interruptions, no excuses. Do "it" until you reach your goal of so many contacts, so many appointments, whatever. Lather, rinse, repeat. Every day.

And eventually, you might even enjoy "it." You might start to see relationships between how much of "it" you do and how many houses you sell. The more of "it," the more of the other.

Whatever your "it" of choice is - FSBO's, expireds, cold-calling, door-knocking, farming, blogging, advertising, SOI'ing, open-housing, lunch-dating - just remember the Good Old Numbers Game and do "it" more.

Fair enough.

But it occurs to me that my business never worked that way. I, frankly, didn't have any sort of formal system for prospecting and my business came from dozens of different sources.

I got business from my best friends, my good friends, and my acquaintances. I got business from open houses, sign calls and floor time. I got business from my lawn guy, my graphics gal and my insurance agent. I got business from my broker, other agents and lenders. I got business from street fairs, coffee shops and happy hours. I got business from current clients, current prospects and past clients. I got business from my website, from blogging and even one House Values lead.

See where I'm going with this?

Just because you met your last client at the coffee shop - does that mean you should only prospect at the coffee shop from now on? Or just because you listed a FSBO last week, does that mean you should only seek out FSBO's? Of course not - I hope that's obvious.

Real estate business is everywhere; it's all around us. Good prospects cross our paths every day, from a wide variety of sources.  Sometimes they cross our paths in the course of doing business, like when we hit it off with an open house visitor or have a great conversation with a walk-in. Other times, it seems much more serendipitous, like when we meet a new-home builder at a friend's wedding or share an elevator with a man who was just transferred. And even if these particular encounters don't result in immediate business, you never know who THEY know who might need someone just like you.

Keeping your antenna up and a smile on your face as you go about your day really IS a tremendous prospecting strategy!

Happy New Year - Love y'all!

It's Here!!!!
Just Released, like TODAY!
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Own one of the first 1,000 copies printed, numbered & autographed.
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As it happens every year ‘round this time, New Year's resolutions are being made with a vengeance.

In our world of real estate sales, these resolutions tend to focus on revving up one's prospecting efforts in hopes of having a Great New Year. Promises to more fully commit to a cold-calling or door-knocking campaign, to more aggressively pursue expired listings and FSBO's, to formally choose a farm area or finally figure out what SEO really means.

All well and good. I wish you luck with that!

But in addition to all these Numbers Games, I submit the following plan for your consideration...

Rather than attempting to contact 100 people a day in hopes of catching the attention of a few, how about trying to impress just a few every day, in hopes of making a memorable impression on every single one? If you were to impress two people a day, at the end of a year, that's over 700 people on the planet who think you're really cool - instead simply sort of recognizing your name from your mass-marketing efforts.

Instead of pestering your sphere of influence once a quarter with requests for referrals (which I promise you are not welcomed with open arms), try reconnecting with the people you know as a friend or acquaintance first - a friend or acquaintance who happens to sell real estate.

Instead of focusing all your time, energy and budget on hunting down new prospects, spend at least half of that time being a kick-a$$ real estate agent for those clients who have already honored you with their business.

It is possible to run a perfectly respectable real estate business without doing ANY formal prospecting other than what I describe above. If the people in your world think you're a pretty darn cool person AND a terrific real estate agent, they'll take great care of you throughout your career.

No game-playing required.

Join us on January 16th for a FREEEEE Teleseminar on the
Dangers of Referral-Begging (and what to do instead).
Register HERE!

Here's the first installment in a series - Turning Cheese into Soul.

For the record, I have never seriously pursued Expireds or FSBO's myself; however, I have BEEN an expired listing and have appeared to be a FSBO, so I speak from the perspective of a consumer, not a real estate agent or trainer.

And I tell ya - the expired and FSBO campaigns I've personally been the recipient of are pretty darn cheesy. Obviously the agents are taking a shotgun approach to getting business from us poor saps who desperately need their "professional services." The good old Numbers Game - throw enough doo doo against the wall and eventually something will stick. And most of it is, indeed, doo doo.*

Here are some examples of the cheesy marketing I've gotten from agents who want my business...

• Daily postcards addressed to "Property Owner."
• Postcards with a hand-written "Call me! I Have a Buyer for Your Property!" (uh, the house was on the market for the last 9 months).
• Envelopes with my name misspelled (at least that's a step above "Property Owner")
• Letters with promised "enclosures" missing (e.g. "enclosed is a list of homes that have recently sold in your neighborhood!")
• A laughably cheesy series of letters with an insultingly condescending tone.

I've also been cold-called, of course, although not nearly as much as I expected. In almost all cases, the caller was obviously calling from a list and was not in the least bit prepared for a real live human bean to answer the phone. They were usually nervous, probably due to the fact that they were not at all prepared to intelligently discuss the specifics of my listing. I guess they were just shooting for the appointment, and didn't bother to "waste any time" in preparation.

Here's the thing.

The owner of an expired listing or a FSBO probably really WOULD like to hear from you... if you have something to offer aside from a cheesy canned marketing piece and a desperate desire to get a listing agreement signed. These people are not the enemy - they're, yes, real live human beings who have a need they'd love you to fill. But no mass-mailing or cold-calling campaign is going to convince anyone you're the right (wo)man for the job. 

What to do instead?

Quality over Quantity. Instead of simply shoveling out postcards, brochures and missing enclosures to as many targets as possible, take the time to personalize your approach to a few. Drive by the home. Take a close look at the expired MLS listing or the FSBO brochure. Note any marketing challenges you see and think about how you would address them. See if you can identify why the home hasn't sold - it may be price, but it very well may not be. Try to figure out if the property is a short sale; that will affect your approach. Ask yourself - "CAN I SELL THIS HOME?"

That's what your target audience wants to know. Can you sell their home?

If I had received just one personal letter (and I don't just mean a hand-written envelope) from an agent who had taken the time to actually LOOK at my situation and address it specifically, that agent would have had a great shot at my business. If one of the agents who called me actually knew where "Doe Run Estates" is located and why it's special (and challenging), I'd have been impressed. If any of them had indicated they had a clue why my property didn't sell, or even a sincere desire to find out, they might have caught my attention.

But, sigh, no. All attempts to entice me to take the next step were in vain. Hopefully they had more luck with their 99 other targets-du-jour...

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT EPISODE OF TURNING CHEESE INTO SOUL...

*For the record, I like Borino's Expired Plus system. It's not cheesy and it's not simply a series of letters designed to beat down a homeowner's resistance. It's aggressive, but do-able for a soulful sort.