ATTENTION DECODED

A major task for you the listing agent is to get the appearance of a home in marketable shape. This can be a challenge if you and the homeowner have different ideas about what "marketable" means... "Neutral and minimal" are two words that bring joy to you when presenting a home to buyers. You know that both attributes are aesthetically pleasing to buyers. So when you take on a listing that has a really red color palate...overflowing with bulky red furniture and clutter... You start to sweat. How can you respectfully say: "we need to change...everything"? Hopefully you don't have to change everything. And realistically, you should advise a homeowner that changes need to occur for nearly every home that it is listed. That way they are not totally blindsided, and you are not stuck representing a homeowner who will not even consider the concept. …But back to the "how to". K...

During a listing appointment interview, the client is thinking from the perspective of a customer at a restaurant. Sometimes you (the agent) feel like you are on the chopping block... Wondering if the customer will like anything on your menu of services. The customer says: "Chef...let me see if I like your menu(your services)... tell me every dish you have " Even though you are a professional Chef(Realtor) everything is an overwhelming word.... The problem with showing the client your whole menu --there are to many choices and options for people to chose from. With that approach, you may never get to the part of the menu that appeals to the customer because as soon as they hear you list options they DO NOT want, they are now thinking to themselves: "they don't have anything I want" Your menu (your services) are extensive ... The customer may love page 4 of your menu but in this scenario we will ne...

    (Verbiage for this scenario is at the end of this post in bold if you want to start with that…feel free : ) Ideally, this is why we as real estate agents should stick to our guns about never listing a home above what we are comfortable with...but it happens. I get it. You agreed to list a clients home because they agreed they would lower the price if offers were coming in to low. The offers are coming in. They are well under the asking price. And traffic has slowed down significantly. It is time to have the conversation that none of us look forward to with out homeowner. " We need to lower the asking price " As real estate agents we know that if a home isn't bringing in any ballpark offers and we are not getting many inquiries… It is the asking price. It is one of those "matter of fact" situations that we are able to see very objectively because we know how the market moves. But a "matter of fact" for u...

A psychological type or temperament is how we categorize the differences in people attitudes. Extroverts are action oriented. Introverts are thought oriented. Both attitude types drawn in energy to sustain them, though the source of that energy is different. The extrovert gets their energy from being around people. The introvert draws their energy from being alone. Extroverted people want to know about a lot of things but are not as concerned with the depth of that knowledge. Introverted people tend to want to gain knowledge on a deeper level to be satisfied with what they know . Not one is necessarily better than the other. True types on either end have risks associated with them. The extrovert risks not listening for key information if they are to busy putting on a show. And the introvert risks missing opportunities outside if they spend too much time inside the office thinking. The salesperson that can expect longevity and lasting success will ...

For a long time salespeople were viewed as " good" at their job if they were able to convince someone to buy something they didn’t want. It was considered a skill… But the nature of the skill had an air of deception encircling it. Some salespeople are still trying to make sales with that skill. They are not professionals. They motivate with ultimatums and fear. They will not last. Not only is it a dead business plan for success, deceptive selling is a foolproof way to race to the bottom. Let them race there. You may see them on your way to the top. Just keep in mind... You can see someone while walking your path, but that does not mean they are going to the same destination. They are not you. You are on the way to the top. The successful Realtor salesperson today is a counselor who identifies the needs of his or her prospects. A person who sets out first to discover prospects ...

We are all the houses that our mothers built. We have been their new construction... And, we have been under construction at times :) Sometimes we have even needed to be completely renovated... I am sure she has even found herself thinking: "I am going to gut this place!" :) And guess who footed the bill? Mom. Mom has certainly paid the "property" tax on us... Taken care of the maintenance... Repaired anything that was broken and made us feel new again. Only a few times has she tried to put the for sale sign up for us... But ultimately...she decides to take us off the market. Keep us a while longer. Until one day we put our own sign up: "for sale by owner" when we get married. When we have our own children. But we never forget who built us. Molded us and designed us. We never forget who loved us first. That is why she is always welcome to ...

The difference between being assertive and arrogant is in the delivery of the message. When we communicate, the experience for our colleagues and clients is impacted more by our tone and body language than our choice of words. Those two components make up for 93 percent of how we are received. Only 7 percent of the experience of dialoguing for our target audience is said to be a result of what we say . Does that mean we can use condescending language with a smile and expect to have a favorable response? No. : ) With a snarky tone and a smile...we are almost always piloting the passive aggressive plane to "destination confrontation". No… Confrontation Island is not where you want to find yourself landing your client passengers. It is not a vacation spot, and there are far more arrivals than connecting departures. In order to avoid the productivity killer Island of Confrontation in a deal, we have to navigate our route carefully. ...