I am curious what you mean by this. Are you saying you run a classified ad saying something like the following:

"For a free list of properties you may be interested in, please call XXX-XXX-XXXX"

Or something completely different?

Thank you!

-jeff

Jeff Olsen, broker
Jaeger Real Estate

For Rookie or anyone without a website..get a free website at www.point2agent.com

For By invitation only email me your name, broker name and city at Info@eNOVAHomes.com

-Ritu

Copies of posts from other threads:


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Though the site is only about 90 days old, there is a group of forums at http://realestate.about.com The forums have very light participation so far, but hopefully some on this one will join here and participate.

Content about the business of real estate is being added daily to this site also. I would appreciate any visits and participation.
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I read brokeragentnews.com
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Brokeragentsnews.com
Realtytimes.com
Local Real Estate section in Washington Post
Agentsonline.net
Inman
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This was posted in another forum, and I think that there is a good amount of valuable information that new and old agents can take from it:

Posted By: fiveostang

Message:
If agents were all the same, we'd all have an equal market share. There is an unlimited supply of ways to become a better, more effective agent for your clients. Frankly, if you don't believe that you have a competitive advantage, then you probably shouldn't charge a higher rate.

However, for those with an open mind, here's a brief list of simple/effective things that agents can do to differentiate themselves from their competitors:

1) Use only EXCEPTIONAL pictures in MLS listings. Most agents have VERY poor pictures.

2) Study how language in your MLS remarks affects buyer psychology. Buyers see and form impressions about a property beginning when they see it online.

3) Study and implement sales skills that will help you persuade other agents to work harder to convince THEIR clients, that your offer (or counter) is fair.

4) Build/Advertise your business to attract other agents to WANT to sell YOUR properties. A great way to do this is to CONSISTENTLY offer a higher co-op than others.

5) Study buying psychology so that you can help sellers learn the priorty of how to prepare their home for showings.

6) Use buyer psychology to help you lead your own buyers to a favorable decision.

7) Use only those services that will ACTUALLY help the seller get buyers INTO the home. For example, in my area, less than 1% of homes are bought through an Open House. I can find just as many prospects in an hour as I can through an open house and avoid dissappointing my sellers when no one buys the house that day.

8) Exude positive attitude. It's infectious, and it will increase the chances that others will want to do business with you.

9) Quit focusing on how much the seller has to pay for services. Make the focus on WHAT you WILL do to help them solve their problems. If you minimize the commission issue to just a cost of doing business, it will help them to accept your fee.

10) Quit giving in to ever seller demand. If you stand up for yourself, your business, and your worth, you will command more respect. More respect/trust = bigger paychecks and better referrals.

11) Study how you react to other salespeople. What do they do to cause you to put up a "wall?" What do good salespeople do to make you want to buy? Eliminate the bad ideas. Implement the good ones.

12) Study personality types to help you learn how to work with others in the most productive way. For example, if you're receiving an offer from a dominant personality agent, understand how to treat them in order to get them on good terms with you and less likely to negotiate hard.

13) Make long-term positive contacts so that you can call all kinds of people that might know someone that wants your newest listing.

14) Network with movers and shakers in your community.

15) ALWAYS be pleasant in public.

16) Focus on generating listings. It helps you find more buyers for your sellers.

17) Track your advertising results, so that you can maximize your dollars for generating buyers for your sellers.

18) Believe that you have an advantage. Your sellers will have more confidence in you, thus improving their overall experience.

19) Study the art of sales questions. How you ask for information and business affects how prospects FEEL about you. Make their experience pleasant by being pleasant and professional.

20) Don't judge prospects over trivial matters.

21) Don't "educate" your prospects. They don't want to be told what to do/say. What they want are solutions to their problems. Just show them how to solve them and they'll go right along with it.

22. Don't be rude.

23. Network with other agents like crazy. Encourage them to look at and show your listings.

24. Offer to guarantee your work. Nothing outrageous, just something to build confidence.

25. Do what you say you'll do exactly when you said you'd do it.

26. Underpromise your services, then overdeliver.

27. Never stop learning.

28. Believe that if a prospect chooses to work with someone else, they missed the opportunity to work with the best agent in the area, you!


The list is endless. If all you do is put listings in the MLS and write contracts, you have nothing of value to offer and shouldn't receive a higher commission. There are to many agents that are willing to do all of the LITTLE things that add up to one huge competitive advantage.

People BUY based on their emotions (either to remove pain or to receive pleasure). Price is a logic based topic. If you can sell your services based on the clients emotion, they will find a way to logically validate your fee on their own with statements like, "Well, Ya get what you pay for."

The bottom line is that sellers will buy (your listing services) from you because you can help remove their pain (sell the house) so that they can receive pleasure (get into the new house). Price is secondary to effective solutions. That's is a sales 101 fact.

Become a better salesperson and you will be able to offer a better experience to your clients and THAT is the most competitive advantage you can have.

Just picked up two books today, "The Millionaire Real estate agent" by Gary Keller and "your 1st year in real estate" by Dirk Zeller.

I'm about half way through "your 1st year..." and I only just put it down... about half way through. Excellent book, thanks for the suggestions all. This has been a VERY beneficial thread.

Matt M.

I'm just about to finish successful RE agent for dummies, by Zeller. It's really good. I hear that if you've read this is about the same as your first year. I've read MREA and really liked it and Gary Keller. I also happen to have just signed with Keller Williams.

Such a great thread! I'm a a mortgage broker myself and I admire you guys! Continue doing this great job.

Well, here's something from me to help you get you started:
If you want to sell someone the most expensive asset they will acquire, you need to know your stuff. Being a newbie, means building up your confidence. Read on.

*Learn the market - The first thing you can do for yourself and is learn your market. You need to work hard by learning about every property that is currently for sale, and every property that had sold in the last year in your marketplace. It sounds overwhelming; but break the project down to a manageable size.

*Practice Writing Contracts - During your first month you need to practice writing sales contracts. You should go through your area's or your company's contract and know every word in it. It is so important that you understand the contract and can impart the information in a concise manner to a prospective buyer. You will have many questions, write them down and get the answers from your broker/manager. Practice different scenarios. The buyer who has a 10% down payment, the buyer who has a 20% down payment, the buyer paying all cash, the buyer who wants the seller to carry-back paper, the buyer who wants to use a VA loan; the buyer who wants to purchase using FHA. Practice. Practice. Practice. If you could practice with another person who does not know real estate, such as a spouse or good friend, it would be even better. They will have honest questions and you will know what to expect from your own buyer. After you have written and practiced the contract many, many times you will be confident to write one for a client.

*Have More Information than the Public - You need to know more about the marketplace than the general public. You do this by attending all the office sales meetings, attending education conferences at your association office, reading all the real estate bulletins, attending industry seminars, and reading books or listening to education tapes. You need to constantly keep up with all the changes going on in the industry. The public is aware and has more information than ever before to make a buying or selling decision-so should you!

*Act the Part - Carry yourself with confidence. Stand stall, walk quickly, have a firm handshake, look prospective clients in the eye. You may be quaking inside, but the outside should be unruffled. Wear nice clothes that are clean and pressed. Have a clean, polished car that is running good. Use a nice pen, leather portfolio, and your laptop. When someone sees you for the first time, make sure his/her impression of you is one of professionalism. It helps so much with your confidence.

You will not have all the answers and never will. You will know where to get the answers and you do have a great deal of knowledge on the marketplace now. You're in control. Your prospective clients will enjoy working with someone who is so diligent about learning their craft. Your clients will feel trust from your confidence!

Francoise
Colorado Mortgage Specialist
http://www.colorado-loans.net
http://www.boulderfinancial.com

Team

Here is an even more comprehensive list of real estate designations that I found on http://www.realestatewiki.com/wiki_content/Real_Estate_Designations.htm

Accredited Agricultural Consultant (AAC)
Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR)
Accredited Buyer Representative Manager (ABRM)
Accredited Farm Manager (AFM)
Accredited Home Staging Specialist (AHS)
Accredited Land Consultant (ALC)
Accredited Luxury Home Specialist (ALHS)
Accredited Mortgage Professional (AMP)
Accredited Real Estate Professional (AREP)
Accredited Residential Manager (ARM)
Accredited Rural Appraiser (ARA)
Accredited Seller Representative (ASR)
Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA)
Accredited Staging Professional (ASP)
At Home With Diversity (AHWD)
Certified Apartment Manager (CAM)
Certified Buyer Representative (CBR)
Certified Buyer Specialist (CBS)
Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM)
Certified Exclusive Buyers Agent (CEBA)
Certified Finance Specialist (CFS)
Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS)
Certified Leasing Professional (CLP)
Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist (CLHMS)
Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB)
Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist (CMPS)
Certified Mortgage Servicer (CMS)
Certified Mortgage Technologist (CMT)
Certified Negotiation Expert (CNE)
Certified Neighborhood Specialist (CNS)
Certified New Home Marketing Professional (CMP)
Certified New Home Sales Professional (CSP)
Certified New Home Specialist (CNHS)
Certified Property Manager (SPM)
Certified Real Estate Appraiser (CREA)
Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager (CRB)
Certified Realty Investment Associate (CRIA)
Certified Relocation And Transition Specialist (CRTS)
Certified Relocation Professional (CRP)
Certified Residential Specialist (CRS)
Certified Residential Underwriter (CRU)
Certified Short Sale Professional (CSP)
Certified Staging Specialist (CSS)
Commercial Real Estate Professionals Society (CREP)
Consumer Certified Real Estate Consultant (C-CREC)
Council Of Real Estate Brokerage Managers
Counselor of Real Estate
Counselor Of Real Estate (CRE)
E-PROŽ
Ecobroker Certified
General Accredited Appraiser (GAA)
Generational Housing Specialist (GHS)
Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI)
Home Staging Resource (HSR)
International Real Estate Specialist (IRES)
Internet Marketing Certified (IMC)
Master Farm And Land Appraiser (MFLA)
Master Of Real Estate (MRE)
Master Sales Professional (MSP)
Member Appraisal Institute (MAI)
Member, Institute Of Residential Marketing (MIRM)
Mortgage Real Estate Professional (MREP)
Performance Management Network (PMN)
Property Marketing Expert (PME)
Quality Service Certification (QSC)
Real Estate Cyberspace Specialist (RECS)
Real Estate Professional Assistant (REPA)
Real Estate Webographer (REW)
Real Property Review Appraiser (RPRA)
Registered In Apartment Management (RAM)
Residential Accredited Appraiser (RAA)
Residential Construction Certified (RCC)
Resort & Second-home Markets Certification (RSPS)
Seller Representative Specialist (SRS)
Senior Housing Specialist (SHS)
Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES)
Society Of Industrial And Office Realtors (SIOR)
Transnational Referral Certification (TRC)

I highly suggest you DO NOT use licenseexamtutor.com The answers to some of the questions were wrong for my state and it dosent cover everything you need to know. Of corse it guarentees your money back if you fail, I wonder how much money they actually end up getting back!!

I took the practice exam for my state on my states exam site and got a 67% after getting well inthe 90's on all the license exam tutor tests! I went and picked up some books and found alot of the answers on exam tutor to be wrong! At least the state questions!

Just my 2 cents!

Door knocking is one of the thinks I do. I have some success but a lot of times is time wasting because people are not at home or do not open the door even they are inside.

Great information Thank you to everyone who supplied the links I will be able to do some research now

One of the best sources of business of a real estate agent, is getting referrals from present and past clients. The below link is to a great script for when you should ask your clients for a referral. Also includes links to scripts for: FSBO's, Selling A Home at Market Value, Prequalifying A Listing Appointment, Handling Pricing Objections and a great listing presentation. Hope it's helpful.

Current Client Referral Script

This is a link to a great video of a top producing agent at KW making calls for Power Hour. There are also some very helpful scripts for cold calling. Hope it's helpful and inspiring. Good luck!

KW Power Hour Video Of Top Producing KW Agent Art Fernandez

This is a great resource for people interested in becoming a real estate agent. My contribution would be to suggest that you also check out the Real Estate Licensing Information real estate licensing information section of realestatelicensedirect.com which has a bunch of articles on the process of obtaining a license and so forth.

This is the perfect thread to put answers to this question in... If you had ONE TIP for a new agent, ONE THING they should do from day one, what is it? Please post those on this thread. I've found the answer to this question can often be used by people in the business for years as well. My answer? Contact 5-10 new people EVERY DAY for the rest of your business... that gives you more than 100 prospects within the first month, and more than 1,000 by the end of your first year. Keep adding and keeping in touch, and you will do great in the business! I'm looking forward to reading all the other ideas as well.

Raymond