Trick or Treat? Track Your Stats to Find Out!

Trick or Treat?  Track Your Stats to Find Out! – by Dana Sparks

 “If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” This quote by Lord Kelvin is vital to your successful real estate business. When you approach your business as a business and know your personal statistics, then you can have control over your income and make sure that your business is ALL treats and no tricks! My friend Michael “Stats” Wallin works with the Atlanta Falcons and motivates them through the use of each player’s personal statistics to enhance their performance on the field.  Knowing your stats can enhance your effectiveness as well!

What is your primary source of business: Buyers or Sellers?  What is your primary lead source for each of these groups?  When you know this information then you’ll know where to effectively spend your marketing dollars.

What is your sale price to list price ratio – this figure tells you how skilled you are at CMA’s and pricing property.  What are you average days on market? This number will hint at your persuasion skills in getting price reductions if the property is not priced appropriately when listing.  Do you know how many contacts you must make before scheduling an appointment or how many appointments you attend before getting signed contracts?  If this ratio is high, then you know you need to work on your presentation skills.  How many contacts must you make prior to scheduling an appointment – this number let’s you know if you need to work on your skills – scripts & objection handlers – to actually set an appointment.  How many people do you reach out to before having a conversation? This figure let’s you know if you are prospecting an effective lead source or not. What is your average commission earned?  How many hours do you spend generating new business?  What percent of your business is “stranger” business or referral business?

Once you track these figures and truly know your stats, then you can effortlessly know EXACTLY what you need to do, whom you need to contact, how much you earn per hour, how many people you need to contact, how many hours per day and days per year you need to work to earn a specific income.  This type of tracking allows you to have a predictable business.  You will soon learn that you need to spend ____ hours per day to speak to ____ number of prospects to schedule ____ number of appointments to take _____ number of listings to sell ______ number of properties to close in ______ number of days and earn _____ amount of income. No more leaving te balance in your bank account up to chance!

Then you can work those figures backwards: If you want to make an income this year of $___________  then you must spend ____ hours each day generating business and work ____ number of days that year!  This amount of income you make is totally under your control once you spend some time tracking and understanding your numbers!

Below are some forms to help you with this tracking so that you may organize your business and totally relish the treats of real estate and not have any surprises or “tricks” at the end of each year!

Daily Lead Tracking

Weekly Numbers

Monthly Numbers

Active Production – Whiteboard

Inventory Tracker

Appointments at a Glance

Buyer Suspect

Listing Suspect

Listing Production & Closing Production

 

32 Awesome Quotes to Inspire Change

   32 Awesome Quotes to Inspire Change! – published by Inc.com*

 It’s often said that change is the only constant in life. Yet humans are evolutionarily predisposed to resist change because of the risk associated with it. Despite this resistance to change, it is more important than ever. Napoleon once said, “One must change one’s tactics every 10 years if one wishes to maintain one’s superiority.” In today’s society the pace of change is immensely faster, and it will only continue to accelerate. 

 Organizations and people that don’t embrace change are bound to lose ground and stagnate. When you are anxiously anticipating a change–or in the midst of a challenging one–grab one of these quotes to help you or your team plow through it.

1. The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking. -Albert Einstein
2. Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts. -Arnold Bennett
3. Change is inevitable. Change is constant. -Benjamin Disraeli
4. When you’re finished changing, you’re finished. -Benjamin Franklin
5. The price of doing the same old thing is far higher than the price of change. -Bill Clinton
6. The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress. -Charles Kettering
7. If you don’t like change, you will like irrelevance even less. -General Eric Shinseki
8. Change means that what was before wasn’t perfect. People want things to be better. -Esther Dyson
9. Resistance at all cost is the most senseless act there is. -Friedrich Durrenmatt
10. If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we aren’t really living. -Gail Sheehy
11. Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. -George Bernard Shaw
12. When people shake their heads because we are living in a restless age, ask them how they would like to life in a stationary one, and do without change. -George Bernard Shaw
13. I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better. -Georg C. Lichtenberg
14. He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery. -Harold Wilson
15. Change before you have to. -Jack Welch
16. People can cry much easier than they can change. -James Baldwin
17. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. -John F. Kennedy
18. Faced with the choice between changing one’s mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof. -John Kenneth Galbraith
19. Be the change that you wish to see in the world. -Mahatma Gandhi
20. Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead
21. Your success in life isn’t based on your ability to simply change. It is based on your ability to change faster than your competition, customers, and business. -Mark Sanborn
22. If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. -Maya Angelou
23. I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples. -Mother Teresa
24. The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance. -Nathaniel Branden
25. Change your thoughts and you change your world. -Norman Vincent Peale
26. People don’t resist change. They resist being changed. -Peter Senge
27. You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. -R. Buckminster Fuller
28. Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better. -Sydney J. Harris
29. It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory. -W. Edwards Deming
30. There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction. -Winston Churchill
31. To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. -Winston Churchill
32. And just for fun… “Change is inevitable–except from a vending machine.” -Robert C. Gallagher

*Originally Posted: http://www.inc.com/david-van-rooy/33-awesome-quotes-to-inspire-positive-change.html?utm_source=FullContact%2520Weekly%2520Playbook

Think Seller’s Love You? Think Again!

Think Sellers Love You?  Think Again! – published in Inman News 7/18/14*

SAN FRANCISCO – Get a group of home sellers in a room, ask them about their experiences with their agent and the results may be eye-opening.

That’s the premise behind Hear it Direct, which puts together consumer panels of buyers and sellers with varying satisfaction levels and price ranges. At Real Estate Connect, a sellers panel, in particular, had some comments that real estate pros may find sobering:

• At least 5 out of 6 said they had chosen an agent who was either a family friend, a referral from a friend, or someone they had worked with before.
• Most said the agent who they bought the house with in the first place had not kept in touch – which may be why only one used the same agent to sell the same property.
• None had an agent ask them how and how often they wanted to communicate. One 44-year-old seller said he got “a lot of emails,” but as a member of Gen X, he would have preferred phone calls. “If you call me, that tells me you really care about me,” he said.
• When asked which websites were most accurate in terms of estimating the value of their home compared to what the home sold for, the sellers mentioned Zillow, Trulia, Redfin and Yahoo Real Estate (which is powered by Zillow). One mentioned that Zillow’s estimate was low, another said Zillow’s estimate was high, but Zillow was mentioned most often as a resource.
• The sellers mentioned using Zillow, Trulia and Redfin during the process, as did buyers in a previous panel. Not one buyer or seller mentioned realtor.com.
• At least 5 of the 6 sellers said they interviewed multiple agents, usually three or four. One who had interviewed three said that if he had to do it over again, he would have interviewed many more agents. He felt his agent had done the minimum to earn her commission.
• Four out of 6 said they Googled their agent’s name.
• All Googled their own address to see what websites the property was on and what it looked like.
• Only one said an agent they interviewed might have brought an iPad or desktop to the listing appointment.
• Two out of 6 hired an agent that had an assistant or a team.
• Three out of 6 had agents ask them for a price reduction.
• None said their agent had made them feel like they were part of a team in selling their house.
• Half said the number of homes an agent sells was important to them in deciding whom to hire. “That’s what’s most important isn’t it?” one seller said, though he added that that could mean that a highly productive agent might have less time to spend with each client. “The problem is some people need their hand held,” the seller said.
• None said their agent had used a showing feedback tool, but at least half said they would have liked to use such a tool if it were available.
• Three out of 6 had multiple offers on their property.
• Three out of 6 thought they would have gotten a higher price if they had kept their property on the market longer.
• None said they provided an online review for their agent after the process was over. “I never even thought of it,” one seller said.
• Half said they asked the agents they interviewed what they charge at the beginning of the process. All said they asked about commission at some point during the selling process.
• Five of the 6 sellers said they paid a 5 percent commission. The remaining one said she paid close to 6 percent.
• Four out of 6 said that if they hired a different agent they thought they could have gotten more money for their property.
• Half said that if someone had come up to them when they were selling and offered them 10 percent off their asking price in cash immediately, they would have accepted the offer. Sellers may soon be able to do just that viastartup Opendoor.
• All said their agent hadn’t done anything to make their life easier while their house was on the market. One seller said he would have liked if his agent had just told him what was going on and what to expect through the process.
• Two of the 6 said they felt good about the industry after the selling process.

A panel of industry observers later commented that neither the buyers nor the sellers had seemed to have been educated by their agents about the process and what they should expect. One panelist noted that the sellers, in particular, looked defeated.

“The best part of it was not having to do it again,” one seller said.

*Originally Posted: http://www.inman.com/2014/07/18/home-sellers-sound-off-at-real-estate-connect/

Safety First

 

The Georgia Real Estate Commission in conjunction with the Georgia Association of Realtors have published a booklet: Safety Awareness for the Real Estate Professional

 

Maximum One Realty is working with the Smyrna Police Department to schedule a session on lessons in safety.  This session will be held at the Galleria Branch of Maximum One.  Please consult the online Training Calendar & this newsletter for the actual date and time as soon as this important interactive class / workshop is scheduled.

 

Click on the link above or go to the  GREC website to download this pamphlet.  The topics included are as follows:

 

Know Who You Are Dealing With

* Meet in the Office

* Verify his or her identity

* Get the car make and license number

* Photocopy the driver’s license

* Company use of the Client I.D. Form

 

Personal Marketing

* Limit the amount of personal information you provide

* Giving too much of the wrong information can make you a target

* Be careful of the personal information you share verbally as well

* Avoid glamour shots

* Dress for safety

* Dress for the weather

* Internet / Website Advertising

* Advertising

 

Danger is Not Always Easy to Identify

* Don’t ignore the danger signals

* Intuition

* Unexplained fear

* Apprehension

* These are signals that something isn’t right

* Know the property

* Plan your escape route

* Position yourself in escape mode

* Car safety

 

Open House / On-Site Safety

* Arrive early to an open house

* Communication

 

Commercial / Industrial Sales & Property Management

* Communication plays a vital role in showing vacant property

* Ensure cell phone service

* Be aware of time of day

* Screen all prospective clients before showing property

* Have policies regarding rental collection & disposition of a property

 

Office Safety

* Personal Identification Form

* Agent Identification Form

* Agent Itinerary Form

* Procedures for Agents

 

Sample Forms

* Agent Identification Form

* Prospect Identification Form

* Agent Itinerary Form

 

Fight or Flight

Additional Resources

 

Rest in peace, Beverly Carter.