22nd of January 2010

Australia Day is almost upon us, which usually signals the end of the holiday period and back to business!

For those who've been with us for the long haul, you've probably noticed that each year Sales Trainer has a theme - a focus for all the activity, training and resources we provide - aimed at providing a cohesive program throughout the year and 2010 is of course no different.

A couple of years ago it was pretty easy to make a quid in real estate - plenty of stock, plenty of cheap money giving us plenty of buyers and plenty of activity meant that a lot of the good old sales skills simply weren't required.  Of course things are now very different but even some of the skilled sales professionals have lost some of their edge.

So, the focus for Sales Trainer 2010 is Sales Skills.  We want to see a resurgence in real, old school selling skills and arm you with the ammunition to think on your feet and know what to do and say in every situation.  There is no doubt that those who learn (or brush up on) these skills will leave any of the 'pretenders' who came into the industry when it was easy in their wake.

Whether prospecting, listing, marketing, reducing prices, negotiating with buyers, we reckon its time for the good ol' salesperson to return!

Members will have received the STAudio program on Effective Client Communication before Christmas and will this week receive the 21 Keys (put onto CD by popular request) along with a case to keep your 09/10 series in order.  Don't forget when you get your 21 Keys CD that the accompanying workbook is available in Sales Trainer Active to hone your knowledge even further.

Our first STSession for the year will be on creating a Productivity Routine - daily, weekly and monthly tasks and activities that you should be following habitually to maximise your productivity.  Details on this and the rest of the STSession program will be posted on the site next week.

Now is the time to get all your planning and goal setting in order for 2010.  Just before Christmas we posted a great guide to the 6 steps you should be looking at to maximise your productivity this year (if you missed it you can pick it up here). Thanks to our mates at Coronis Realty in Queensland, also available is this terrific Goal Setter for the year.  The team at Coronis are a slick operation who are growing at a rate of knots and this Goal Setter is something that shows why they're going so well - proactive attention to getting the most from every member of the crew.

All the seminars, sessions and interaction we had with agencies all over the country last year pointed out a glaring problem with marketing.  It's a specialist area that's critical to get right, but the time and expertise are lacking. So, the next generation of Property Marketer is in development now, ready for launch in February.  I know we've given a huge amount of theory on marketing over the last few years, but Property Marketer now allows you to put that theory into practice very economically and with no in house expertise or extra resources required.

The first focus is on communication through the Market Roundup and your Listing Presentation. In what I believe is a first (I haven't seen anything like it) Property Marketer subscribers will have access to a Remote Listing Presentation (RLP) tool.  We've all had the email from the out of area or time-poor vendor who just wants you to send through a CMA and your costs and that's where they base their listing decision.  Of course that goes against everything we teach so now you'll be able to enter a few basic details, attach your proposal and the seller will then be able to view your pitch, all in line with the Ultimate Listing Agenda of course, on line, at their leisure.

There's a whole lot more to the NextGen Property Marketer of course with some very innovative and exciting features, but the crux of it is you'll have a complete, state of the art marketing machine your hands at comparatively little cost and no extra resources required.  If you'd like to know more, please drop me a line.

Also coming in March is Real Estate Manager Online, the implementation of the Corporate Manager program some of you will be familiar with.  More on that soon.

Happy Australia Day and a prosperous and productive 2010!

List 'n' Sell
MD

27th of October 2009

Congratulations to our Biggest Lister, Emily Hefferenan from Modus Realty who finished the competition on a massive 42 listings for the quarter, pipping our early leader Eddie Ly from Pestana Realty who finished on 39.  It's a sensational effort that will surely give them both a very merry Christmas when their commissions come in!  

There were some outstanding performances across the board in the competition, but even if you didn't reach the leaderboard, your averages should have increased, in some cases dramatically. While we had a bit of fun with the concept, the basic premise was to prove that the regenerative listing system we advocate works and teach you how to use it.  Well, it does.

Our winners will be receiving a trophy for their efforts.

Still on listings, you will all have received your copy of the Sales Trainer Audio CD - The Ultimate Listing Presentation by now (if you haven't, contact us and we'll get it out to you).  The feedback from both this and the session it backs up has been brilliant.

This from Neil Harper at Colin Chapman First National in Newcastle...

I just want to thank you for teaching me and my team your way of role playing negotiation in a listing presentation. I and one other have become very comfortable role playing negotiation in the listing presentation and I am working with the rest of the team to get them all using your  technique too.

It is something I knew was lacking in our approach to listing presentations but I hadn’t been able to create or find dialogue or a technique that worked until our training sessions with you.

Thanks again for giving us one more powerful way to smash our competitors.

Mark Bushell from LJ Hooker Dee Why told us...

...the audio CD gives us a perfect way to back up the live training and continually hone the techniques.  I know the team have been listening to key sections on their way to listing presentations, and the numbers tell the story.

There's two more ST Audio CD's coming before the end of the year, Effective Client Communication and Goals and Plans for the Year Ahead

Goal Setting and Planning will also be the theme of a special BONUS ST Session that we're scheduling for late November and early December. The lead up to Christmas is the perfect time to think about the coming year and set clear goals for where you'd like to be, and we'd love to help you get there.

We've been keeping busy with the help and advice line and have some great case studies just about ready to post, but don't forget if you're stuck in a tricky situation and need some urgent feedback or just need some less urgent advice, login and ask away!

Finally there's one more Sales Trainer Live scheduled for the year, on the NSW Central Coast on November 9 + 10.  If you're in the area, or would like to spend a couple of days in a beautiful part of the world and pick up a whole lot of skills in the bargain, contact Tanya on 02 8858 1300 and book in.  The spots are filling fast, so be quick!

26th of August 2009

Well folks, here it is ... the new and vastly improved Sales Trainer Active!

Our foundation members have been letting us know what they like and don't like over the past few months and we've listened.

We've looked at and torn apart every single aspect of the site with the aim of making it the best of its kind anywhere.

First up, we hope you find the new site much easier on the eye! 

You'll find the site much easier to get around.  We've put a lot of work into a new navigation system that will let you get to where you need to go quicker and easier.

We've made the site smarter.  A great example is the letter templates.  Now, when you have a look at any of the letters, you have the option to download the pdf or build your letter on line.  Plug in a few variables depending on the letter, we draw some more details from your profile, and bingo - the text of the complete letter is ready to cut and paste into your word processor and print out on your letterhead.

A quick housekeeping word here - little applications like this make it ever more important to keep your profile up to date.  If you haven't, just click on the 'Your Profile' link down below and fill out all the details.

If you're ever stuck on how to work something, there's a 'Walk me through it' link under the new Q and A's icon (the question mark in the folder) which has a handful of little videos that will show you the key aspects of the site.

If all else fails, there's a new contact system.  If you want to offer feedback, positive or negative, get some more information on something or have a technical issue, click on the 'Keep In Touch' icon - the pen and paper.

There's also a lot more interactivity.  We'd love you to chime in on this blog for a start!  Right under each blog is a comments section, simply put your thoughts in the box and click on Chime In and join the conversation. 

We're never finished, and there's bound to be a few bugs which we hope you'll let us know about, but this is a giant leap forward!

A quick word about the technology, we've tested in Internet Explorer 7 on Windows and the latest Safari and Firefox on Mac and Windows.  You'll need Javascript turned on in your preferences and for the dialogue you'll need the Flash player plugin installed.  All pretty standard stuff, but if you're having any issues let us know through the Technical feedback in the contact section and we'll sort you out. 

One of the new features is our fantastic listing competition, The Biggest Lister.  You would have got the call out to have a go, many of you rose to the challenge and it's on in a big way.  For full details, have a look at The Biggest Lister link under the Recognition icon (the podium).  

The leaderboard is packed with some great numbers - Pestana's Eddie Ly is up on top with a massive 20 listings in July and 8 this month, and Emily Heffernan isn't far behind with 21 so far.

Keep an eye on the leaderboard for updates!

Enjoy the new site, we'd love to hear what you think about it.

List n' Sell
Mark

2nd of July 2009

If only we had a dollar for every time we've been asked that, in a professional capacity or even at a party as soon as you tell someone you're in real estate. It's a simple (and sometimes annoying) question but it's one of the the most important questions to have an answer to. It could be phrased another way...

How good are you?

You have to also be aware of the number of times you haven't been asked the question. Your Active Sellers Nightclub is out there, all with the question on their lips, but you haven't asked them to dance.

One of the strongest mechanisms I've found for establishing my credentials over the years is the Market Roundup. It's appears a very simple format that establishes you as the local and precinct expert with great market knowledge, great local knowledge and results on the board month after month.

Like most things that appears simple it can be tricky to get right month after month. It answers the question simply and succinctly for the actives and dormants. Here's the format...

• You start with a couple of hundred well researched and well chosen words on the state of the market. This establishes your grasp of the big picture.
• You have a call to action - if you're selling, you need to talk to us.
• You have pictures and/or quotes from your very satisfied sellers.
• You have a full list of your results broken up by precinct (Apartments, Houses, Prestige, Waterfront, Rural etc). These two establish your mastery of the local market and your skills.
• You have clear contact details
• NO RECIPES!!

This is all on a single side of a well designed A4 page that comes out every month.

How do you use it? The distribution of the Market Roundup is critically important. You could print 100,000 and have them letterbox dropped to your entire region, put 500 in every cafe/car wash/waiting room with some a few thousand sitting in your office(s).

But that would be a complete waste of money.

Coming back to the Active Sellers Nightclub, we know that in a radius of your For Sale signs, there are 5 sellers in gestation and 45 dormant sellers - these are your prime target. They should be getting the Just Listed card before the sign goes up, the OFI Invitation, the Sold Card before the sticker goes on and the Market Roundup in their hand.

That's the starting point. They go in every showbag at your OFI's and they're in your office for walk-ins.

But that's just the hard copies. Vitally important these days is the electronic (or soft) copy. These should be clearly linked on your website and sent to your full email list on release.

And here's another little trick for you; we all have a 'footer' at the bottom of our email - name, contact details, company logo, maybe a picture. This can also include a link to the website to download the Market Roundup. e.g. "Wondering where the market's heading? Click Here to find out!". They click, the browser opens up and the Market Roundup appears.

As part of the next stage of Property Marketer we're piloting a system to do all the work for you. You send us your results and some seller quotes, and we'll send you your Market Roundup in hard and soft copies. If you're interested, drop me a line.

List 'n Sell, 
MD

24th of June 2009

I have to admit, when I first heard about Twitter I was underwhelmed. Dipped the toes in the water and I've changed my mind. Sure, there's lots of garbage out there - I couldn't give a rat's proverbial about the fabulous new pair of shoes you found - but in amongst all the dross there's some really interesting people talking about some really interesting things, as they happen.

You can't ignore the rise of social media, in our business particularly. Times change and we must adapt. When was the last time someone sent you a fax? Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and so on are now a dominant form of communication amongst your first home buyers.  

But here's the difference - Facebook & MySpace are about connecting with existing friends. Twitter is about making new ones. I saw a great quote from Scott Monty who is the head of social media at Ford Motor Company.

We're not interested in advertising on social networks, we're interested in getting in there and interacting with people.

Couple of things worth noting in there; firstly, Ford has a full time team devoted to making the most of this new form of communication. Secondly, they're not stupid, interacting with people is the best advertisement there is. And this allows you to do just that.

The possibilities are huge. Sales Trainer talks about getting the word out on a listing before the sign goes up or a sale before the sold sticker goes on, well imagine getting the message to the world as pen goes to paper on the contract? We emphasise over and over the importance of KIT - Keep In Touch. Twitter makes this so simple once you get your buyers and sellers to follow you. Keep the messages relevant and they will follow you.

It's not the be all and end all, these days communication is so fractured that you have to cover a lot of bases to effectively KIT with all your buyers and sellers, but it's another arrow in your quiver that you can't ignore.

And believe me it's good for your business knowledge as well. I've now got about 400 people following me on Twitter, from all over the world. And it's reciprocal. So while I have the chance to have my two bobs worth, I'm also listening to what agents and industry experts from the US, UK and NZ are seeing and thinking. I've also got a lot of followers around Australia of course which lets me tap into local knowledge all over the country.

Have a look - click here to follow me on Twitter and see what all the fuss is about.

List 'n' Sell
MD