RECR's Blog: October 2008

The 'Clintonian' definition of INSANITY is this: "Doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting different results." 

Having that in mind, lets move on...

I'd like to share with you all a little piece of advice I recieved from my Economic's professor in college...Dr. Colleen Johnson.  Smart woman...and I dont just mean book smart.  She was sharper than a two-pionted tack.  Anyways...here is what she told me upon graduation...Or, a close summary thereof...

If you always do what youve always done,
You will always see what you have always seen,
You will always know what you have always known,
You will always have what you have always had,
You will always feel what you have always felt,
You will always be what you have always been,
You will always get what you have always got,
BECAUSE you always do what you have always done.

If you do not like the things about yourself that you see, know, have, feel, get, or how you are, CHANGE SOMETHING!!!  ANYTHING!!!  YOU are the one that has the power to affect a change in your life...whether that be your personal life or your business life.  If you change any one of those aspects, you will affect them all.  That is the nature of change.  And it doesnt have to be dramatic...It can be subtle.  It can be as simple as eating an apple instead of a cinnamon roll...Or drinking a glass of water rather than drinking your 5th Mountian Dew for the day....Or, using the stairs rather than the elevator. 

Now, go out there today and CHANGE SOMETHING!  Try something new!  Anything is possible!!! 

If you have any questions about Real Estate Client Referrals www.recr.com and how we can help you make more money, please feel free to contact Clint at 800-977-7058 and I will be happy to assist you...Or, contact me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/recr.

Believe it or not, the human nose can detect and clarify about 10,000 smells.  That's right....10,000!  We know that the power of smell is one of the strongest senses we, as humans, posess.  And recent studies have shown that scent is the strongest of our 5 senses that is tied directly to memory. 

In my parent's house, for example, my mother always made fresh peach pies in the late summer.  To this day, I can smell a peach pie from a mile away and instantly Im transported to my mom's kitchen as a 7yr old boy in my swimsuit pacing around the table hoping to get a shot at sticking my finger into the peach filling while my mom wasn't looking.  (I got caught every time).

Retailers have been using smells to get people to buy their goods with thousands of scents for literally thousands of years.  Scents, as a whole, have a power of their own and, depending on the scent, can even have a profound effect on the very psychology of a person.

It is the same when showing a home!  Strong smells like cat oders (pet orders in general, really.  I just pick on cats because it is the most obvious example of a gross smell that everyone can relate to) or even cooking smells (burnt oil, grease, hard fish smells) can send buyers away faster than any screwed up floor plan or poor staging effort.  In fact, you can stage a home perfectly, and have the perfect floor plan, but if the house smells like 50 cats used it for a latrine, you may as well burn it down where it sits because it will probably never sell.

If you are showing a contemporary condo or loft in a hip, upscale urban setting where young singles and urbanistas are buying, you would want your clients to be highly attentive and excited.  Putting out scents of rosemary, peppermint or grapefruit will help them make decisions more quickly as these scents improve alertness and stimulation.

If you are showing an older home in the suburbs with numerous rooms and a ‘creative' floor plan, you may want them to feel more calm and relaxed.  Lavender is the perfect scent for this.  Mixed with citrus smells, you will have a calm, yet mentally alert client that can make calm, rational decisions.

Aside from those, here is a list of scents and their reactions to human behavior:

Chamomile - Calming and soothing; eases anger and anxiety.
Clary Sage - Relaxing; euphoric; eases anxiety, tension, and stress.
Eucalyptus - Fresh, cooling, and invigorating; promotes alertness.
Jasmine - Alleviates anxiety and depression.
Lavender - Calming.
Lemon - Refreshing and energizing; eases tension, heightens mental clarity.
Mandarin - Relaxing and calming; relieves insomnia.
Orange blossom - Relieves stress, anxiety and insomnia.
Peppermint - Refreshing and stimulating; increases alertness.
Rosemary - Promotes mental clarity and alertness.
Sandalwood - A warm, sensual aroma that creates seductive and euphoric moods.

This is just a small sample, obviously.  But, this sample includes the top scents used by retailers to stimulate buyers.  Since you are also assisting buyers, using similar techniques will help move properties faster and put your buyers in the ‘right frame of mind'.

If you would like information about www.recr.com and how we can get you more buyers, please contact Clint Miller at 800-977-7058.  Or, you can follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/recr.

I had to come in on a Saturday (today) and do a little office work.  Just like any other day, I check my email and was floored by what I found in there.  One of my testimonial agents, Ken Isaacman, wrote to me about my drip email campaigns I use to help my agents. 

Here is what he had to say:

Hey Clint,

I wanted to let you know I got a phone call yesterday from one of the clients you've sent me, asking me to list her home.  I'm telling you this because I didn't even remember who this was.  I had contacted her 6 months ago and you had her on your drip campaign.  She was an initial contact because she was looking to buy a home.  We'd been in touch, but I hadn't heard from her in a while.  So last evening, she called to say she's been getting my emails and she wanted to list! 

It caught me completely off guard but pleasantly so.

We're meeting today at 2pm.  Thanks again and I really like your system!!

Regards,
Ken

Ken Isaacman, ABR
Keller Williams Realty

If you would like to have this type of success, please contact Clint at 800-977-7058.  Check out www.recr.com for more information, or contact me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/recr.

Im not a 'preachy' kind of person.  I don't claim to be an expert because I have a fancy title or years of schooling or experience (although both are true in this case).  I am fairly simple.  If you ask me for my opinion, you will get it.  Honest...straight forward...perhaps even blunt.  So, when I was asked recently to evaluate a group of sales people on thier successes and failures -- and to be honest about my findings -- I didn't pull any punches when reporting.

For the purpose of my evaluations, I decided to do this simply.  No confusing quizes to take; No weird comparisons to Sesame Street characters or Crayola crayons.  (Yes, I took both tests...Im Animal from the Muppets...and my color was red.  What the hell that has to do with anything, I have no idea...lol)  No questions about how you felt when you got your first tricycle or how long it took you to get potty trained.  Just the facts.  What do the successful people do that make them different from those that are not successful???  And, what I found out actually proved what I have believed all along. 

Whether you call it the 'power of positive thinking', or seeing everything as 'the glass is half full' or whatever you want to call it, successful people all have the same mindset and the same core values.  In fact, to those that are successful, success was the easy part.  Maintaining the core values and discipline to get there...now, THAT was the hard part.  With that in mind, read the following list and see where you fit in...and then decide if you need to change in order to be successful.

A winner is always a part of the answer.  A loser is always a part of the problem.

The winner always has the program to get better.  The loser always has an excuse not to...

The winner says,"Let me do it for you."  The loser says,"That is not my job".

The winner sees an answer to every problem.  The Loser sees a problem for every answer.

The winner says,"It may be difficult but its possible".  The Loser says ,"It may be possible but is too difficult."

When a winner makes a mistake he says,"I was Wrong".  When a Loser makes a mistake he says,"It wasn't my fault".

A winner makes commitments.  A loser makes promises.

Winners have dreams.  Losers have schemes.

Winners say,"I must do something".  Losers say,"Something must be done."

Winners are part of the team.  Losers are apart from the team.

Winners see the pain and try to rise above it.  Losers see the pain and are held down by it.

Winners see possibilities.  Losers see problems.

Winners see the potential.  Losers see the past.

Winners choose what they say.  Losers say what they choose.

Winners use hard arguments but soft words.  Losers use soft arguments but hard words.

Winners make it happen.  Losers let it happen.

Winners plan and prepare to win. (The key word is preparation.)  Losers always plan and prepare to copy the winners.

Winners stand firm on values but compromise on petty things.  Losers stand on petty things put compromise on values.

Winners are like thermostats - They set the standard.  Losers are like thermometers - They measure where the standard is set.

Winners believe in winning.  Losers believe for them to win someone has to lose.

If you would like information on how to build success with clients from www.recr.com, please do not hesitate to contact Clint Miller at 800-977-7058 or follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/recr. 

Regardless of how often Brokers or Sales Managers say not to do it, there are certain phrases that continually pop up during the course of a presentation/phone call/appointment that simply take a client's confidence and shake it to the very core.  Sometimes even to the point of losing your listing to another agent...losing that big sale...or even driving away an existing customer.

Having said that, I ran across a blog written by Brad Trnavsky, a sales and management blogger and all around guru on the subject (and if you don't believe me, go to his blog at www.salesmanagement20.com), that listed the top 10 things that sales people should never say.  So, I thought I would take that list...and go through it line by line and show you exactly what the client thinks when they hear it come out of your mouth.

"I was just in the area and thought I would stop by..." 
SERIOUSLY????  You mean to tell me that the ‘professional' I just hired to assist me with (insert issue here) has absolutely nothing in the world better to do than to just cruise by my house and ‘drop by' unannounced??  Why did I hire this idgit in the first place??  Why are they here...and how fast can I get rid of them??

"Have you got a minute?"
NO!  In fact, I don't have a minute...or 10...or the 30 that you may plan on taking.  I'm busy...in fact, I can think of 100 things I would rather do with my minute than sit here and discuss this with you right now.  (I think it would be far better for you to actually engage the customer in some meaningful conversation than to just simply give them a way out.  Yes or no questions are simply a way for them to cut you off and bail...thus, slitting your own wrists.  Skip this question and just start your pitch.  If they are really and truly too busy to talk to you, they will let you know.)

"I'll try."
I don't care if you try to do it or not.  What I want to know is...CAN you do it.  If you can, great...do it.  If you can't...tell me.  Don't zoop my head up with a bunch of hopefulness knowing you may not be able to get this done.  I would much rather hear you tell me that you need time in order to determine if this is possible them to give me a sense of false hope.

"I'm really not sure."
You don't know the answer????  Isn't this your job?  Shouldn't you be prepared enough to be able to answer all of my questions when I ask them?  And, if you are not prepared, why am I not important enough to not be worth preparing for????  (Again, I think this would be far better answered by asking for time to determine the correct answer...If you don't know the answer...be honest about it.  But, do it in a way that makes them feel like they are worth taking the time to get it right.)

"It's not my fault..."
Whether you like it or not, it is your fault.  And, the reason it is your fault is because YOU are my only contact with this company that YOU represent.  Therefore, the entire situation is YOUR fault.  In fact, everything that goes wrong with this deal is YOUR fault.  Even if it isn't directly your fault...its YOUR issue to fix.  Why?  Because YOU are the person I speak with with regards to this deal.  That makes it YOUR problem.  (To deal with this, I recommend a sincere apology and an immediate re-direction in your course of action to remedy this problem for your client right away.  And, tell me what you are going to do to fix it.  That way, I gain trust you again.)

"What do I have to do to get you started today?"
OMG!  SLIMY SALESPERSON!  RUN AWAY!  Any rapport that you have attempted to develop with me at this point has just flown right out the window.  You would have been far better off asking me if I had any other issues or concerns that were stopping me from moving forward.  At least that way, you appear to care about ME rather than the money you will make off of me.  If I have more, address those.  If not, then tell me what the next step is that we need to do to move forward.

"We are the lowest price in town."
Really.  Is this really how you want to try to compete for my business?  Don't you have anything of any merit better than this??  (It doesn't take much effort to come up with a better presentation than price.  So, apply yourself and go another direction.  Aside from that, if your clients does in deed find a cheaper price for your service - and there is always some snake-oil salesperson willing to do something for less money - then you are a liar...and any trust you have built up to this point is shot.)

"Always" and "Never"
There is an exception to every rule.  I surely hope you don't prove this correct for me...because I won't trust you as far as I could throw you afterward.  (Unless you have it in an iron-clad contract that can be upheld in court, avoid using absolute statements like this.  All they are going to do is paint you into a corner if you are caught by the ‘Always-n-Never Snafu'.

"What you need is...."
What I NEED???  Who are you to tell me what I NEED??  What I need is to know what my options (both good and bad ) are and you to back the hell off and let me decide what I want to do...and then help me once I make that choice.  I am the decision maker here.  I will choose my option based on the facts that you presented.  But, by no means are you qualified to tell me what I NEED.  In fact, YOU need to respect that or I will find someone that does.

"Trust me."
The mere fact that you feel the need to say this makes me want to run away screaming.  At this point, I'm starting to wonder why in the world I have listened to you this long in the first place.  I also will probably not trust you in the long run.  And, I'm simply going to assume that anyone that works with you or looks like you is suspect.  (I love what Bob had to say in his blog about this.  "Trust is like love.  It is built over time and the only way one can gain it is to earn it.")

I hope this lists helps those of you that took the time to read it.  I'm certain that you all have things you hear in daily conversations that make your gears grind...and I would love to discuss those with you as well.  So, please feel free to comment on this list...or add to it. 

If you would like to more information about www.recr.com and how we can help you make more money, please contact Clint Miller at 800-977-7058.  Or, follow him on Twitter by going to www.twitter.com/recr.