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Category: 4. The Follow-Up

  • The SECRET to a Break-Out Year in 2024

    The SECRET to a Break-Out Year in 2024

    Beginning in my 2nd year as a REALTOR® and for 12 years in a row, I earned between $590,000-$865,000 GCI, all as an individual agent. So I’ve been asked more than a few times, “What’s your secret, Ted?”

    I’ll reveal my secret within this RAM. But be forewarned; if you’re lazy and think you can skip to the end for the answer, you won’t get it. Please take the time to read this entire post. There’s something here that is my gift to you for 2024.

    Most REALTORS® are in a never-ending quest to find the magic pill, the ONE thing that they think will massively improve their business and life.

    Many think it’s social media. “If only I were better at social media, I’d have all the business I could handle!”

    But the reality is that 99% of agents get a net-negative return on social media compared to the time and energy expended.

    It’s like being a musician or an actor; a thousand incredibly talented people struggle for every one who makes it big.

    I’m not saying you shouldn’t have a presence on social media. Of course, you should! But unless you’re already naturally social-media-savvy, you’re probably beating your head against the wall trying to learn a skill that feels alien. Instead, you should be utilizing your valuable time to improve other more critical aspects of your business, such as:

    Organizational skills – Do you complete tasks and projects promptly, rather than simply reacting to whatever is happening on a day-to-day basis and never truly getting ahead of the game?

    Follow-up skills – Do you have a system to keep track of prospects and naturally convert them into clients, over time, by being a skilled PVI (Provider of Valuable Information)?

    Communication Styles – Do you communicate with everyone in the same way? Or, do you understand how to modify your delivery to appeal to the 75% of people who do NOT think the same way you do?

    Pricing Psychology – Do you know how to price your listings accurately and, more importantly, make this abundantly clear to your sellers?

    Marketing – Do you know how to separate yourself from the crowd by producing the most compelling MLS presentations possible and then leveraging those listings to get more listings?

    Website – Does your website clearly define WHO you are, WHAT you stand for, and WHY people should hire you? If not, please tell me; what’s your website for exactly?

    Listing Presentation – Do you have a repeatable, easily modifiable listing presentation that makes you look like the only true professional in a sea of amateurs?

    Referrals – Do you know how to produce a never-ending stream of referrals from your raving fan base?

    If only there were a simple, logical, step-by-step program to teach all the above skills (and so many more) and immediately incorporate them into your business.

    If only there were a wildly successful agent who took an entire year off at the peak of his career to produce such a program because he saw the need for it and sincerely wanted to help others achieve their full potential.

    Oh, wait. There is.

    The Agent Skills Masters Program

    Click on the link. Scroll down to the “Modules” section and read all about it.

    Another year has passed, It’s time to get serious.

    And this year, for the first time, here’s an offer you can’t possibly refuse (I hope):

    If you complete the course, I’ll immediately e-transfer you $2,100 ($2,000+GST). That means you pay only $495+GST as a one-time fee for lifetime access.

    Here are the simple, straightforward rules to claim your refund:

    1. Send me your completed workbooks (within six months) as proof that you’ve completed the course. 

    2. There’s no #2. Please read #1 again.

    It takes less than eight hours to watch every video (and complete the workbooks at the same time) so you could do this in one day if you wanted to. Think about it this way:

    I’ll pay you $250/hr (8 hours X $250 = $2,000) to take my course! All you have to do is sign up before midnight on December 31st. This offer will NOT be made again for at least another year. So you have three choices:

    1. Do nothing. Hopefully, things just magically get better this year!

    2. Wait another year and hope this offer comes back again.

    3. Sign up now. Go to https://agentskills.com/, scroll down a bit, click the “Try it, risk-free!” button, and enter your info. You’ll get immediate access to the entire course.

    In fairness, if you’ve signed up for the course within the last six months, email or text me, and you’ll get the same deal!

    Why am I doing this? Am I still making money at $495?

    Not really. Honestly, I won’t list all the myriad of costs here but suffice to say that transactional and platform fees whittle away at that $495 PDQ, not to mention my own time. But I know it’s human nature that some people will sign up and never complete the course. So, in a way, they’re paying for you if you choose to take advantage.

    But know this: I’m not counting on that and it’s NOT what I want. I genuinely want everyone to finish the course, and I’ll be thrilled to e-transfer you that $2,100! My motivation is not about money; it’s about improving our industry. And I know that every time an agent completes the course, our industry gets a little bit better.

    Think about it as a late Christmas present from me to you! More SKILLS = More MONEY

    Do it now! You know, as soon as you close this email, it won’t happen. Make an early New Year’s resolution.

    Go here: https://agentskills.com/

    Together, let’s make 2024 the best year yet!

  • The Monday Morning Report

    The Monday Morning Report

    As in any profession, there is a wide variance in competence from one real estate agent to another.

    But even a REALTOR® in the Top 1% of skill, knowledge, and experience can be, and often is, guilty of perpetuating the biggest complaint there is in the business:

    Lack of Communication

    “We met with the REALTOR®, and they seemed extremely skilled and knowledgeable. They had a strong game plan, so we decided to list with them. They walked out the door with our signed listing contract, and that was the last we ever heard from them! That is, until two weeks before the listing expired, when they finally called, demanding that we reduce the price and extend the contract.”

    I hear this all the time or something similar, often about big-name agents, and these sellers have a perfect right to be angry with the treatment they received. 

    Early in my career, I realized this was a massive problem in the industry, and I was determined to be different.

    Over the years, I’ve set up various systems and procedures to ensure I was never one of those agents. For example:

    The Market Watch System

    I set up every listing so my clients automatically receive a notification whenever there is a new competing listing, a sale (firm or pending), a price reduction, etc. After all, it’s one thing for your clients to know what is happening with their own listing (showings, feedback, etc.), but it’s even more important to know where they stand compared to their competitors.

    The Market Watch System is one of several ways I have to keep my listing clients up-to-date with important information. But it’s only been in the past 2-3 years that I’ve added what has proven to be my #1 most important communication tool:

    The Monday Morning Report

    This is a review of everything that happened in the past week, including my personal commentary on the Market Watch System (see above). How might this new listing affect them? Why do I think that listing sold and theirs didn’t? Should they be concerned about this price reduction?

    This report keeps my clients consistently well-informed, but there’s an unexpected bonus to this system that I didn’t expect when I started doing it:

    It keeps me better informed, too!

    I’m 100% committed to sending this report to every client every Monday, so no matter how busy I am, I have to stop whatever I’m doing and closely examine what’s happening with each of my listings at least once per week. I’m usually watching closely anyway, but this is a surefire way to ensure I never forget to take that extra-close look every Monday.

    And it’s NOT a hassle. It’s easy and highly effective when you do it consistently and follow my simple system.

    My clients always clearly understand where they stand in the market, allowing them to make informed, intelligent decisions.

    This creates undying loyalty and endless referrals. That’s what you should be striving for.

    • Coach Ted
  • The Forgotten Art of ‘The Follow-Up’ – How to Keep Prospects Engaged

    The Forgotten Art of ‘The Follow-Up’ – How to Keep Prospects Engaged

    Last RAM, I described the Absurdly Simple System to Keep Track of Prospects.

    Now, let’s discuss how to keep your prospects engaged. 

    By the way, if you haven’t set up the Absurdly Simple System yet, it takes all of 47 seconds, so go ahead and do it now. I’ll wait.

    ____________________

    Welcome back!

    Now that you’ve got a list of prospects, and you know how to sort and prioritize them and record your interactions, what next?

    You’ll want to maintain a regular dialogue with each prospect, without coming across as a salesy slickster. Right? 

    Yes! So first things first. Set up ALL your prospects on a Web Portal or Automatic Notification System.

    You’ve already done this? OK, but you’re probably doing it wrong. Here’s why:

    1. You’re only sending active listings. So, your prospects have no idea about the pending and sold properties. Think about it. Why NOT give them ALL the information? This way, they’ll be better informed and start to get a feel for the market. How can this be a bad thing?

    2. You’re only sending the information to buyer prospects. Why not sellers, too? Yes, I have EVERY one of my sellers (and seller prospects) set up on a Web Portal, so they can see exactly what is happening within their geographical area and price range, including new listings, price adjustments, pending and firm sales, terminations, expiries, everything!

    The above system is the foundation for further communication with your clients. These emails go out automatically, so they’ll hear from “you” regularly. Make sure you get copied on every email, so you can be on the watch for good’uns. 

    If you don’t have all your clients on this system, what a great “excuse” to contact them! Simply explain the parameters and how it works. Nobody EVER says no to receiving this valuable information. 

    Now that you’ve got everyone set up on a search, the search itself can be a catalyst for further engagement with your clients.

    Here are a few examples for buyer clients:

    1. “This new listing seems to check most of your boxes. Please let me know your thoughts and if you’d like to book a showing. Thanks!” – This demonstrates that you’re watching out for them. You’re not just sitting around waiting for them to contact you.

    2. “This one looks good, but it backs directly onto a busy roadway. It seems like the listing agent forgot to mention that!” – There’s absolutely nothing wrong with pointing out negatives on a property. This builds trust by demonstrating that you have their best interests at heart.

    Aside from commenting on potential listings, here are a few other “excuses” for contacting your clients:

    3. “Hey, I want to ensure you’re okay if I add you to my monthly newsletter list. It goes out on the first business day of every month and always includes some interesting content. So please let me know!” – Always ask for a response whenever appropriate. 

    4. “Hey, I’m noticing that the market is getting really tight in your price range, with unusually low inventory and strong demand. This means that there will be strong pressure on prices to rise over the next while. Please call me if you’d like to discuss this further.” – Demonstrates that you are a professional keeping a close eye on the market on their behalf. 

    5. “Hey, I just thought I should check in to ensure we’re still on track. Please let me know if there are any changes you’re considering after our initial discussion. Thanks!” – If they don’t respond to this, it’s probably time to text or call them. 

    In the interest of saving space, I’ll leave it to you to think of more of your own “excuses” for contacting both buyer and seller prospects. You get the idea. Keep them engaged by demonstrating that you’re working and thinking about them.

    It’s a great idea to keep a list of ideas handy, so when you’re reviewing your Prospect List, you can just pick one. 

    By the way, I usually send these messages by email. If you don’t get a response every time, don’t worry about it, so long as they respond sometimes. If not, there’s nothing wrong with sending a text, “Hey, I haven’t heard back, so I just want to ensure you’re receiving my emails(?). Please let me know!”

    Now here’s the most essential part. You must review your Prospect List regularly and keep it up-to-date. If you’re faltering on this, I suggest you re-read the Habit-Stacking RAM from last month.

    By the way, if you’re having any trouble figuring out the parameters of your email notification system, there’s an art to it, and it’s easier for me to explain, so just give me a call (403-973-9730). 

    (See what I did there?)

    Before you leave, please do me a massive fave and forward this RAM to ANY other agent you know who might appreciate this type of down-to-earth, real-world advice, and ask them to sign up below.

  • How to Stop Tossing Business Out the Window in 2021 (and yes, you are)

    How to Stop Tossing Business Out the Window in 2021 (and yes, you are)

    Happy New Year! Are you planning how to get more business in 2021?

    Of course you are. Me too! 

    But what if I told you this?

    If you just did a way better job on The Follow-Up, you could stop chasing after new business, altogether. 

    I’m not just making this stuff up, you know. 

    Being skilled at The Follow-Up is one of the main reasons I earned between $590,000-$865,000 every year, for 12 consecutive years, all as an individual agent.

    Without ever once making a cold-call.

    It’s also why I consider ‘The Follow-Up’ one of the most important modules in the entire Agent Skills Master’s Program.

    For starters, do you even have a proper system to keep track of your leads?

    I’m completely shocked by the number of REALTORS® who have no system whatsoever. I mean beyond sending them an email and hoping they email you back. And if they don’t, you basically forget about them.

    How about starting tomorrow (it’s a New Year after all), you write down every lead you get in a simple spreadsheet? 

    Just write them down, name, contact info, what you talked about on what date. That’s it.

    You know what’s going to happen? At the end of the month, you’re going to look at your spreadsheet and you’re going to be shocked at the number of solid prospects you have!

    What the heck happened? How come you never had this many leads before?

    You did. You’ve been tossing them out the window.

    Relying on your memory is for amateurs.

    You think I had more leads than you did when I was selling over 100 homes a year?

    I doubt that very much.

    I just knew how to convert my prospects into clients.

    I knew how to keep track of them, how often to contact them, which contact method to use (they’re all different), what information to give them, and how to ensure they responded.

    I knew how to nurture my leads. 

    It’s not hard. It’s a simple skill.

    All the skills I teach are ridiculously easy. That’s the point. Complicated systems don’t work.

    Here’s to a fabulous 2021!

    This article was inspired by module #4 – The Follow-Up – part of the Agent Skills Master’s Program. 

    In ‘The Follow-Up’ module, I explain step-by-step how to use a simple, sortable spreadsheet to organize all your prospects, ask the right questions to ensure a continued dialogue, and systematically build relationships by providing the right information at the right time, 

    Here’s another article inspired by the same module: The Follow-Up Conundrum

  • The Follow-Up Conundrum

    The Follow-Up Conundrum

    Can you spare 14 minutes and 24 seconds?

    That’s 1% of the 1,440 minutes you get every day, so don’t say “no.” There is literally NO-ONE who can’t find an extra 14:24 in their day. 

    Most people toss more time into the garbage ️ before breakfast.

    If you’re willing to dedicate 14:24 every day to a specific task, it can change your life. But you’ll need to read this entire article to fully understand why.

    That’ll take 2-3 minutes.

    ——————–

    Most Real Estate agents have the ‘Salesperson’ mindset. They’re better at reacting than they are at planning.

    Why yes! I AM speaking directly to you!

    Don’t feel bad!  Like a bloodhound, you’ve got the instincts to sniff out a deal and pursue it. Your instincts and quick reaction time are good things!

    But, if you depend solely on your instincts, you could spend way too much time chasing your tail.

    Yes, you need to rely on your instincts, AND you need to purposely schedule time to Follow-Up.

    I call these scheduled times “Appointments with Yourself.”

    ——————–

    For example, you’ve got several good prospects in your pipeline. You’ve worked hard to get them, but you often forget to Follow-Up when you know you should.

    So, here’s a strategy to ensure you never neglect The Follow-Up:

    Schedule 1% of your daily time (let’s round it up to 15 minutes) for an Appointment with Yourself to Follow-Up with your prospects and clients, every morning, Monday to Friday.

    ——————–

    Here are the two crucial steps you must incorporate to ensure success:

    1. Commit to honoring every appointment 100% of the time. That means you show up on time every day,  just as you would if you had a daily 15-minute appointment with your #1 Referral Source.

    If you can honor an Appointment with Your #1 Referral Source, you can honor an Appointment with Yourself. Right?

    But Ted! How am I going to follow-up with ALL my prospects in 15 minutes?

    You’re not. But when you do this every day, and you’ve got a good system (keep reading), you’re going to develop a habit of using your limited time wisely. For most agents, 15 minutes every day is enough.

    “Here’s my list. Who needs a follow-up TODAY, and who can wait until another day?”

    Consistency is the key to keeping your prospects and clients top-of-mind, which is the real purpose of this system. 

    ——————–

    2. Book a “buffer time” of 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after every Appointment with Yourself, and for every Appointment with Someone Else for that matter.

    This ensures that you will show up and begin your appointment on time, even if stuff happens, as it always does. 

    If you’re running a bit late on a previous appointment, you can simply use up your “before” buffer to complete that task and still begin your Follow-Up appointment on time.

    Conversely, if your Follow-Up appointment takes a bit longer than 15 minutes, it’s no big deal. Just use up your “after” buffer time.

    But, Ted! Now you’re saying this is a 45-minute appointment?

    No. Your buffer time is neither an extension of your appointment nor is it “sit around and do nothing” time.

    Before and after your appointments, your scheduled buffer time is when you do regular stuff like checking and responding to messages.

    It’s important to honor your appointment start and end time as much as possible to develop a habit. Building in a buffer just makes this easier.

    ——————–

    You still think 15 minutes isn’t enough time?

    If you go for several days in a row without doing any follow-up, you’re right.

    Consistency is the key. Commit to 15 minutes every day, Monday to Friday, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly you become a master at short, concentrated, scheduled Appointments with Yourself.

    Of course, you also need a good system to keep you organized, so check out the Ridiculously Uncomplicated Follow-Up System (RUFUS) to avoid chasing your tail.

    ——————–

    At the beginning of this article, I said that your willingness to dedicate 14:24 of time every day could be life-changing.

    Perhaps you’re rolling your eyes and thinking:

    That’s a massive overstatement, Ted!

    Wrong! 

    When you see for yourself the huge positive difference this simple system has on The Follow-Up, I guarantee you will start incorporating Appointments with Yourself into other areas of neglect in both your business and personal life. 

    You are developing a critically important life skill and HABIT that every business person who wants to be successful needs.

    ——————–

    Take it one step at a time. Making important changes is a process. For now, just commit to 14:24 every day. Use it for The Follow-Up or for a different task that you know you’ve been neglecting.

    Start tomorrow morning. Write an Appointment with Yourself into your schedule and be sure to honor it. Remember: Every journey begins with a single step.

    _____________________

    This article was inspired by Module #4 – The Follow-Up – part of the Agent Skills Master’s Program. If you like these short articles, imagine what you’ll get out of the entire course!

  • The Ridiculously Uncomplicated Follow-Up System (RUFUS)

    The Ridiculously Uncomplicated Follow-Up System (RUFUS)

    You know what’s insane?

    Spending thousands on marketing and not having a reliable Prospect Follow-Up System.

    Or worse, forgetting to follow up with a referral or a hot lead you met at an Open House.

    Oh sure, you talked to them once.  Then two months went by, and you noticed a new listing.

    “Wait a minute. That address seems familiar.”

    Yup. They listed with someone else.

    Has this ever happened to you?

    You get busy, you forget, you write notes on scraps of paper and lose them. You have no follow-up system, whatsoever.

    It’s time to resolve this outrageously expensive problem, once and for all.

    Let’s keep it as basic as possible for now. In fact, let’s use a Ridiculously Uncomplicated Follow-Up system (RUFUS). Here’s why:

    If you can’t follow a simple system, you’ll never train yourself to use a more complicated program, such as Follow-Up Boss (which I’m told is excellent).

    As with any computer software, what comes out is only as good as what goes in, so training yourself to use a “manual” system first, is a good stepping stone towards something more robust.

    That said, even when I was earning in the high $800,000’s in yearly commissions (as an individual agent), the following simple spreadsheet is the only system I ever needed to keep track of ALL my leads.

    Open up a new spreadsheet and label the columns as follows:

    Column A             A, B, or C indicates the importance level.

    Column B             First name(s)

    Column C             Last name(s)

    Column D             Date of the most recent contact attempt – Update this every time you add a new note so you can sort your list newest to oldest or vice-versa

    Column E             Notes. What did you discuss, and what was the result? Just keep adding new notes at the front of the cell (not at the end) preceded by the date. The latest entry will always be visible, and you can review older notes if necessary.

    Column F / G      Email(s) 1 and 2 – List these in the same order as you list their first names in Column B

    Column H / I       Phone number(s) 1 and 2 – Same thing.  Always list information consistently.

    Now, start adding your leads into this spreadsheet and train yourself to review and update it daily. If you haven’t made the plunge and done the Master’s Program yet (including Module #2 – Getting Stuff Done), figure out your own way to force yourself to do this! It’s important!

    When you do this daily, all your prospects will be top-of-mind, and I guarantee you’ll NEVER forget to contact a prospect, ever again.

    HOW and WHEN to contact your prospects is another topic covered in this previous post. Please check it out to learn more.

  • The Follow-Up

    The Follow-Up

    Note from Ted: This is a savagely pared-down portion of ‘The Follow-Up’ module from the upcoming Agent Skills Master’s Program.  It’s REALLY hard for me to take something I’ve worked so hard at perfecting and then shrink it to 10% of the size, kind of like seeing only 10% of a painting!  Not that I think I’m an artist or anything, but I’m pretty darn proud of this thing.  Anyway, hopefully, you get a few tidbits out of this portion.

    Over the last three Memos, we talked about Building Relationships, The FORD Method, and How to Talk Gooder.  Assuming you’ve now got a nice pile of hot and warm prospects, what’s next?

    It’s ‘The Follow-Up’!

    First, purge the negative self-talk that is preventing you from following through.

    “I don’t want to bother people!”

    “I don’t want to come across as too salesy!”

    Stop it! ✋  If you use the method I’m going to show you, you will certainly NOT be bothering people, and you should already know that the last thing I want you to do is to be a Salesy Slickster. Remember this:

    You’re a friendly, professional, knowledgeable provider of valuable information.

    That’s the positive mindset you need to adopt. ☺️

    If you find yourself being hesitant to contact a prospect, it’s because you’re focusing on yourself rather than how you can provide value to your potential client.

    Change your focus, and the fear disappears.

    Here are the basic rules for following up with your leads:

    1. Always have a purpose.

    At first, your purpose is to get your prospect to re-engage with you; nothing more, nothing less. You’ve already had some dialogue with them, so now you want to continue the conversation. If you’re sending an email, always ask a question or ask for a confirmation at the end of every message.

    “What are your thoughts on this listing?”

    “Would you like to view this one?”

    “Please confirm that I’m sending the correct information.”

    Pro Tip: If you’re dealing with a couple, always send messages to both of them. Doing this will double your odds of getting a response from at least one of them, and it keeps them both in the loop. After all, if you want to advance the relationship with a couple, you need to build rapport with them BOTH.  ‍❤️‍

    Once you’ve got a response, then your goal should be to continue the conversation further.

    2. Frequency

    The newer the prospect, the more urgent it is to re-engage with them.

    For example, in the case of a prospect you met at an Open House, send the first results of their search with a cover letter as soon as possible after you’ve met them; within an hour, if possible, but at least before the end of your workday. Do not wait until the next day! ⏰

    “Hey, Sam and Suzy! It was nice to meet you both at my Open House earlier today! Here are all the current listings matching your search criteria, as we discussed.”

    List ALL the criteria, including the geographical area, price range, size and type of home, and whatever other determining factors you discussed with them. Then continue:

    “Please feel free to contact me at any time if you’d like more information on any one of these properties. I’m happy to answer any questions you have! I can also arrange a showing for any property you are interested in, with no obligation whatsoever. Please confirm that you received this message and that the search criteria I’ve listed are all correct. Good luck with your search!”

    Notice that the tone of this message is friendly and helpful. It’s not even slightly salesy! There is no underlying expectation of anything from you. You’re simply offering to provide help if they want it.

    Remember, you’re still at the early stages of nurturing the relationship.  You don’t ask someone to marry you on the first date! Do you?

    ~~~massive deletion of awesome content to save space~~~

    If you feel like this is over-doing it, you’re wrong. On every message you’ve sent so far, all you’ve done is ask for a simple confirmation that the message was received.

    Some people are simply not as responsive as others. But if you give up too soon, you’re probably giving up hundreds of thousands in potential commissions. Let that sink in.

    “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”  – Wayne Gretzky

    3. The Value Rule

    Do not EVER contact a prospect or client unless you are providing or offering to provide something of VALUE.

    For example, you’ve set up a prospect you met at your Open House on a custom search, and they’ve confirmed with you that they’ve received the information. Now what?

    I suggest you wait one day, and then try to find something of value that you can send to them to continue the dialogue. For example:

    “Hi, Sam and Suzy.  I looked through your search results, and I quite like this one because of this and that. What are your thoughts? If you’re interested, I can set up a time for you to see it. I’d like to see this property myself, anyway! Please let me know either way. Thanks!”

    It’s a friendly message, but it also demonstrates to Sam and Suzy that you are actively trying to help them, you’re happy to show them a property, and it’s no problem at all because you want to see it anyway! This removes any pressure or sense of obligation that they might be feeling.

    Your goal here is to get to the next step, which is—of course—to show them one or more properties! That will be a break-through step because once you’ve shown them a single property, it’s relatively easy to complete the conversion from prospect to client.

    ~~~massive deletion of awesome content to save space~~~

    By the way, the main point of all this is not to tell you exactly what to do and say, but rather to emphasize the proper TONE in your communication.

    New prospects are FRAGILE!

    You haven’t established trust with them yet, so you need to be as unthreatening as possible. If you’re worried about appearing too salesy, that’s good! That’s the LAST thing you want to be!

    Another approach for further dialogue could be to suggest a modification to their search, “Hi Sam and Suzy. I noticed you’ve got Pleasantville in your search, but not Happyville, which is a very similar neighborhood. Would you like me to add Happyville so you can see those listings as well?”

    You’re a friendly, professional, knowledgeable provider of valuable information.

    Yes, I know I already said that. It’s important!

    You could also let them know about a negative, “Hey Sam and Suzy! This new listing looks good, but unfortunately, it backs onto a very busy roadway. I would not recommend this one due to poor future resale potential. Please let me know if you agree that this is a significant negative factor. Thanks!”

    Why would you purposely tell them about a negative factor on a listing?

    Because you’re building trust! You want your clients to regard you as a trusted advisor. Don’t you?

    “To be persuasive, we must be believable. To be believable, we must be credible. To be credible, we must be truthful.” – Edward R. Morrow

    The most important rule in Real Estate—in my opinion—is to hold your clients’ best interests above your own, ALWAYS.

    Your reputation is your greatest and most vulnerable asset.  Protect it at all costs.

    ~~~massive deletion of awesome content to save space~~~

    When you practice and develop the skill of Following Up as a friendly, professional, knowledgeable provider of valuable information, you’ll be surprised how easily and naturally people transition from prospect to client, just because you made an honest effort to help them.

    Once you’ve developed this skill, you’ll never worry again about not having enough clients.