In his book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, author John C. Maxwell writes about the Law of the Picture. This law is as important for sales professionals as it is for leaders. Listed below are three elements to this timeless law that, if understood and made a part of your lead generation system, will produce more referrals and leads, resulting in a higher probability of overall success in your business.

People do what people see: When people see you successfully helping others achieve their buying and selling goals they naturally want to be a part of what you are doing. When they see and hear of your clients having a great experience they too want the same experience. When they hear of success they want success. Whether they are friends, family, or random stranger,s people are watching what you do and what your clients do based on their experience with you. Your job, as a professional, is to paint a picture that draws them to you and creates within them a desire to want to engage you as their trusted advisor and build a long lasting relationship.

People follow if they trust: Becoming a trusted advisor takes time and a great deal of effort. Trust is not built overnight so you need to have a system in place to earn people’s trust. This can happen as you go through a transaction with them. It can also happen as you communicate regularly with them about their needs and concerns surrounding their buying or selling decision. You earn trust by listening more than talking, connecting more than communicating, and demonstrating more than presenting.

People return what they’ve received: If you provide consistent – reliable customer service and deliver a great experience to your clients they will want to help you grow your business and return the favor. If you help them achieve their goals they will help you achieve yours. However, you must let them know how they can return what they’ve received. It is important that you take the time to share how you grow your business, why loyalty is important to your long-term success, and why you love to get referrals from people you’ve worked with in the past.

Let’s look at some practical examples of how you can implement each element of the Law of the Picture in your business:

Implementing people do what people see: Share with your past clients and leads on a regular basis your success in helping others achieve their goals. Have your past clients write testimonials where they share their experience with you. Using a one page flyer or newsletter, list out your satisfied buyers and sellers from each quarter, along with a testimonial. Openly thank this group of people for trusting you and allowing you to serve them. I call this a sign of success campaign.

Implementing people follow if they trust: If you are going to listen more than talk, you must become great at asking questions that get you to the essence of peoples’ needs and concerns. Develop a list of qualifying questions and a needs assessment questionnaire for your first face to face meeting with a client. If you are going to connect more than communicate, you must understand the vision and goals of your client. The only way you will be able to connect with them is if they perceive that you have listened to their needs and are capable of providing solutions that make sense and address those needs. The opposite is when you communicate a list of services and value ads that are generic to all potential clients regardless of their particular situation. Presenting solutions that match your client’s needs is only the beginning, you have to take action and demonstrate that you are able to navigate through a challenging market, work with all the different players in a transaction, and provide tangible-measurable results along the way.

Implementing people return what they’ve received: The most effective way to implement this element of the law is to be transparent with your leads and clients. In your first sit-down with a client, share your vision and strategy for achieving long-term success. Explain that your goal is to have them have such a great experience they will immediately want to tell all their friends and family how they achieved their goals with your help. Finally, be loyal, honest, and tenacious about helping your client achieve their goals. If they see this in you they will return the favor.

Question: How is your customer service and actions helping you grow your business and achieve your goals?

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

Sales and the Law of the Picture is a post from: Coach Dan Foster

This past week I had the honor of interviewing Kim Dittler of Prudential Northwest Properties. Kim was recently honored by the National Association of Realtors as being one of 30 rising stars under the age of 30 in the entire nation. Kim is a true professional and all around great person. After spending time with her there is no doubt that she is one of the best real estate brokers out there right now. Kim and I spoke on many different topics and in this post I’ve listed ten questions that I asked her along with her responses.

Q: Now that you have been in the real estate business for a few years, what do you love most about it?

A: I’ve been selling real estate for about five years and got started right out of college.  I love owning my own business and working with people and building relationships. I’ve become good friends with most of my clients. I love that this career pushes me out of my comfort zone and every day challenges me. I love the marketing and negotiating aspects of the business and working towards my clients’ goals.

Q. What keeps you motivated each day and your attitude positive?

A. It is so easy to be motivated and positive when things are going great, but when things are tough we all have to look deep for the reason we do what we do, which is our true purpose. We have to be able to answer the question, “Why am I doing what I’m doing”.  It is so tempting to be discouraged in this type of market. For me I truly care for people and I’ve found a job where I can help them through a very stressful time in their life. I love having the opportunity to care for people when they are at their best and when they are at their lowest. I love helping them with this large financial and emotional decision they are making for their home and family.

Q. What do you see as your guiding principles for working with clients?

A. There must be a values match with your client and there must be a good fit with your business model. We have to use wisdom and work with the right people for us. I want to be the best agent for my clients and if I cannot do this then I need to refer them to someone else.

Q. How are you engaging your past clients and sphere of influence in an effort to receive referral business from them?

A. I’ve had to become an expert in the market and be very professional at all times. I make it a point to educate my clients on the market via a customized market report that I send out. I do a great deal of networking and holding open houses to meet new clients. I do not cold call but I do stay in touch with my past clients and sphere of influence regularly and I’ve been blessed to have them send me referrals.

Q. Are you using social media to grow your business? Explain how that is working for you.

A. Yes. I am using Facebook primarily. I use it as a soft sale. My friends know I’m in real estate so I don’t talk about it a lot on Facebook. I have a photo album on Facebook where I share pictures of my clients that recently sold or bought a home. I try to focus on letting my Facebook friends know that I am a real person and that I have a life outside of real estate. I want them to see the personal side of me as well as the business so I focus on a soft sale approach in social media.

Q. What do you believe are the top three to five marketing tools that must be used by all brokers in our current market?

A. The big hot topic is Social Media. Facebook Fan pages are something I’m looking into using more. Working with other businesses is extremely important to get business to business referrals. A client appreciation event has been very helpful for me as well.  Any activity that focuses on connecting you with other people.

Q. In your opinion, what are today’s consumers looking for from a real estate professional?

A. One thing that I love about this market is that it has weeded out a lot of the agents that had bad business practices. What is left are the agents that are dedicated and treat it as a career. I think professionals are expecting to work with agents that are well educated, professional, punctual, and caring. Clients want to know that you care about them and that you recognize they are a part of your success. People want someone that is tech savvy. They want agents that will match their communication style whether it is texting, phone, email, or using social media.

Q. What is your take on the market right now? Are you encouraged, concerned, excited?

A. I think right now we are experiencing a perfect storm in our market. We have low interest rates, a tax credit for first time home buyers and move up buyers, and we have low prices on homes. I get excited about working with first time home buyers and I share with them just how much of an opportunity this market is for them. I don’t think the expiration of the tax credit will affect our market at all. I think the low prices will keep buyers engaged in the market. I’m excited and encouraged.

Q. What is next for Kim Dittler? Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?

A. I would love to say on a beach in Hawaii! I don’t necessarily have aspirations of having an incredibly large amount of business. I prefer quality over quantity. I’m looking to grow my business but maintain quality. I’m looking at adding an assistant to my business to help me with the non-high payoff activities. My main focus though is to grow my business but never sacrifice the quality of the service I am providing my clients.

Q. What is the best piece of advice that you can give to brokers that are striving for success in their careers and life?

A. I think it is all about your frame of mind and attitude. I love what I do and love working with people. I see my job as an opportunity not as a challenge. If you have your heart in the right place and you are willing to work hard you will do very well. Take a day off and rest from your business. Be excited and keep your attitude positive.

If you would like to here the entire interview with Kim Dittler you can click here.

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

Q&A with Real Estate Superstar is a post from: Coach Dan Foster

Have you ever spent valuable time with a prospect only to find out they are not qualified or unable to use your services? This can be one of the most frustrating experiences in a sales professional’s day. Yet, this seems to happen over and over again regardless of the personal cost and outcome. Regrettably, in a down economy many of us use just one test for working with someone; the “can they fog a mirror test”. Having a system in place to help you pre-qualify potential new clients is essential to the success of everyone working in the field of professional services. Faithfully using that system will produce a higher level of success each time it is implemented.

I train my team to use a set of pre-qualification questions during the initial interview with potential clients. These questions have two purposes. First, they demonstrate that they are serious about their profession and the clients they serve by showing they care enough to ask questions to learn about their client and their goals. Second, these questions help you decide if this potential relationship is a good match for you, your services and your business vision.

I encourage my team to consider the following key areas before deciding to enter into a professional relationship with a client:

Area of Interest – Are they asking for your services in a geographic area that is within your market knowledge and expertise?

Time Frame – Do they have a realistic time frame for making a selling or buying decision? Will they be making that decision in the next 30-60 days or longer? What are the milestones that must be reached in order to make the key decisions?

Ability To Perform – Are they in the “right place” mentally, financially, and situationally to make a decision?

Willingness to Perform – Do you get the sense that all decisions makers are ready and able to make a decision? Is there an actual desire or is it just an interest?

Decision Maker – Are you certain that you are working with all parties that will be involved in making the decision?

Market Comprehension – Are their wants/needs realistic with the price they will charge or pay? Are they aware of the current market conditions and willing to use that knowledge to make objective decisions?

Values Match – Are they “discount consumers” always looking for the cheapest deal, at the lowest cost, without an appreciation for a full-service firm?

Loyalty - Are they someone that you can build a relationship with? Are they willing to sign a service contract with you for a reasonable amount of time?

Experience – What is their past experience with sales professionals? What are their concerns, hesitations, expectations? What did they like about their past experience and what did they dislike?

There are many additional questions that you can ask in each of these key areas.  The answers you receive will help you to decide whether this is the right client relationship for you to pursue. While many professionals might be tempted to boil these questions down to just a few relating to finances, job status, and decision time frame - when your goal is to build relationships for life; you need to dig deeper. If you are someone that wants to turn suspects into prospects and prospects into clients that will become referral partners, you must go the extra mile and learn as much as you can about your potential client.

Take the time to qualify your leads and you will save time, money, and valuable resources. This will allow you to focus your time on those you can best serve and those that will in turn help you to achieve your goals.

Question: Are you qualifying your prospects before you make them clients? If so, what is the process you use?

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

9 Key Areas For Qualifying Leads is a post from: Coach Dan Foster

Each quarter my company, Prudential Northwest Properties, uses client survey response data to compile a source of business report. This data is compiled by a neutral third party company named Quality Service Certified (QSC). We use this report to help our associates know where to best spend their time, efforts, and money to attract, win, and keep clients long term. Our Vice President of Marketing, Sandy Gillison, just sent me the 2009 Year End report and the numbers are fascinating. Here are some interesting statistics to consider, when comparing 2008 to 2009:

The percentage of Sellers whose primary reason for choosing their sales associate was based on …

• being a satisfied past/current client decreased 28% from last year.
• getting a referral from a friend increased by 14%.
• the Internet increased 97% from last year.
• the sales associate’s listing presentation increased 12%.
• the Prudential Northwest Properties name/reputation increased 41% from last year.
• an open house/walk-in increased 135% from last year.

The percentage of Buyers whose primary reason for choosing their sales associate was based on …

• their personal relationship decreased 18% from last year.
• a referral from a friend decreased 10%.
• the Internet increased 120% from last year.
• an open house/walk-in increased 26%.

These stats remind us that:

• Internet exposure is critical. Buyers not only find agents and listings online; sellers look for online exposure and professionalism when entrusting you to sell their home.
• Open Houses are a great way to meet buyers as well as prospective sellers.
• Referrals still generate the greatest amount of business, but it takes more than relationships to gain clients; real estate professionals increasingly need to present their capabilities to earn business.
• The strength and recognition of the Prudential brand continues to increase in importance.

Make it a great day!

Coach Dan

Where Is Your Business Coming From? is a post from: Coach Dan Foster