From RealSource... Glenn's Blog

Are you a salespreson or a project manager?  Or both? 

More importantly, are you a great salesperson or a great project manager?   Or great at both?

I believe that by nature, right brain vs left brain, we tend to be better at one or the other.  Naturally, training and practice can improve the other.  And we all know somebody that is just great at both, whether inherently or through work. 

My observations are that most (but not all) Realtors and lenders that are very successful are great salespeople, but not always great project managers.  Some have assistants, some get help from service providers (closing folks, title insurers, etc) because of their high volume and some just bully through the project management side in a chaotic but forceful way that gets the deal finally closed. 

Occasionally, we'lll see someone that does so many deals, they can't manage their contracts well and unfortunatly are apathetic to the deals they screw up.  Their "cup runneth over" so they care less about the spillage (even if that spillage is a client's loss).

I sometimes surprise people when I ask about the project management side of the job.  I guess since there is so much training on sales and marketing that these areas become the focus. 

And clearly without sales, the management of the deals is irrelevant.  But management of the deals can be what people remember.  

"We got our house sold but what a circus it was getting to closing... no one knew what was going on"

"They made the process so easy... found a buyer, walked us through the steps to closing, arranged everything to make it easy for us."

The other challenge can be which aspect we personally enjoy... the selling or the smooth deal.  Again, human nature can steer us toward the activities we enjoy the most or for which we are most skilled. 

I personally was bad at both sales and project management when I started my professional career.  But I've worked hard to be better at both and to know they are not the same... but success in each can help fuel success in the other.

Do you see yourself as a project manager as well as a salesperson?

While there was a bump up in the real estate market numbers this Spring, that was just that.  A bump.  And many attribute that temporary rise to the number of forclosed properties that hit the market and tended to move faster than they typical house.

More Properties to Hit Market

I have heard from various parties we deal with that it is very likely the banks will try to get properties off their books by the end of year, creating a larger wave of inventory.  Who knows, some banks may anticipate this and begin their push earlier than the 4th quarter.

PMI Company Problems

Making fewer headlines are the BIG problems with the PMI folks.  This mortgage insurance was what allowed so many people to buy homes with small (or zero) down payments.  As these companies experience sky-rocketing claims, their stability is now in question as well. 

Together, these two factors seem to be ignored by those that repeat they think the market is turning the corner and use this Spring's slight rise in sales as their evidence.

Of course, deals will continue.  And one thing that is not slowing down in the growth of our population that, over time, will continue to need more an more housing.  But that is a long-term picture.

Finding Success

We are seeing the more successful realtors and mortgage brokers moving to find ways to be more efficient, so they can move faster with less risk from over-staffing with assistants, office space, etc.   They also seem to be working to position themselves to absorb market share as less successful competitors "call it a day" and go on to some type of work that has a more predictable paycheck (even if smaller).

This makes for an interesting economics lesson for all as the market is actually doing what free markets do... expand and contract.. expand and contract. 

The question that is one of the more interesting to watch will be what the survivors do to remain successful.  In most cases, it won't be what got them here.  But there will be success, even with the challenges still to come.

Referrals... often the hot lead that is ours to not screw up.  We all want them, so what is one of the best ways to get them?

Refer to others.  

Think about it.  It is human nature to reciprocate. 

For example, suppose you need to refer to someone for another service (survey, appraisal, loan, gift basket, whatever...).  You have two people in mind that offer a comparable level of serivce.  Would you refer to the one that sent you two leads last month or the one you just know through softball games at the park? 

I bet it would be the one that is helping you build your business and has shown it through the confidence to lend their name to your business.

And guess what?  It works the other way too.  People you send referrals too, provide you do a great job, will send you business too.  Maybe not today, maybe not next week.  But one day.  And when they do, do a great job so they will do it again!

Naturally, your referrals need to be credible and of value, else you could damage your own name/brand by having given "bad advice" to someone that may later consider doing business with you.

But if you become a person of value to others, you will be valued... and that, my friends, leads to referrals and business!

This is a phrase I use with our team regarding Time Management and Focus.  It comes from the country* saying....

       "It's like teaching the pig to sing... it just wastes your time and annoys the pig."

One of the skill areas I am focusing on for myself is improving time management and prioritization.  This is important to me and will help my clients and our firm.

There are so many wastes of time in every industry... and our lives.  For instance, in real estate my personal belief is that over-priced houses are such a waste of everyone's time.  Are you really selling or not? 

Bad cold calls are another waste...  If you can't get me interested in 30 seconds, then please take some classes.  Not all calls are something I am interested in but you might still be interesting or of value to someone I know.  But come on.... be interesting and interested.

Look around and you can see that many successful people are either inherently skilled or, more likely, have developed their focus skills.   We can all practice and improve our own skills in these areas and it does yield better results!

"la laalaa la lalala la la" :-)

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* In the interest of full disclosure, I grew up in Bear Creek, a town of about 1,000 people (pigs are not counted) in rural Northwest Alabama.

Ever notice how businesses of all types, not just real estate related, sell themselves much like high school kids?  They want to be unique... just like everyone else.

Even when honest, the messages often sent don't mean anything to the potential customer.  It's great you are customer-focused, honest, experienced, seasoned, been in the business lots of years, sold lots of houses, a leader in technology, a leader in your community, married, not married, kids, no kids, progressive, received sales awards, have a few listings, have hundreds of listings, like the beach, like to golf, like to fish, are active in local Realtor or Lender associations, or any of the other hundreds of great things about you!

But what makes that unique in the eyes/ears/memory of the audience... to the point of being remarkable? And by "remarkable", I mean something someone would learn about you and later literally remark to someone else.

It is human nature to see ourselves different than the world sees us.  But that can be a limiting thing in sales (or other aspects of running a business).  We want to be special.  And we all are in our own way.

Look at your own marketing messages, for you as a professional, for your listings, for your loans.  

Changing a few words around does not make for a unique, remarkable message.  A "nice" message perhaps... but those get lost in the crowd of messages we are all bombarded with each day.  

Quick... think of the last three new billboards you saw in the last 24 hours?  A few people can do this but most admit the billboards are unremarkable and unmemorable.  Is your message the same as all the new billboards?  Boring and unnoticeable to anyone but you?

Can you really show how your marketing messages are that different from anyone elses?  Are you doing what everyone else is doing? (note: Boring).

So, how to be unique?  How to get others to remark?  How to get referrals?

Your service, attitude and work ethic IS your marketing.  It is what people will know you by, regardless of what your website, your brochure, your business card or your flyers say.  And I don't mean doing what minimum effort everyone else does.  Unique and remarkable is when your efforts are uniquely and remarkably way ahead of others.

(If there is interest in some examples of unique and remarkable efforts we've seen (or done ourselves), I'll be glad to post some ways to do that.  Let me know.)

Become a person of value to others, and you will be valued.  It takes time but building any good business or career always does.

Alone, pretty words everyone else uses would probably not convince you to buy something expensive.  So keep that in mind as you build the message about yourself the world sees (haaa!  real marketing!!).