Today's blog was inspired by Commander A.J. Gwyn of the Southern Crime Prevention Task Force. Commander Gwyn is a retired Atlanta police officer who travels to real estate offices all over the country teaching safety tips for Agents. His service is free of charge and he will go anywhere in the country. This class was very timely for my office as an Agent in a nearby city had recently been accosted as she sat alone in an Open House. Thankfully, she was released by this man with no bodily injury, but that is definately the exception and not the rule. With Commander Gwyn's permission, I am sharing and paraphrasing the information so you can protect yourself when you are doing your job.

• When anyone you don't know calls to view property, ALWAYS ask them to meet you at your office first. Then fill out a Client Identification Form that will include their name, address, phone, employer and their vehicle information. On this form there is a spot for you to include your itinerary (what properties you will be visiting with this Buyer). Before you leave the office, make a copy of their drivers license, attach it to the completed form and leave it with your office manager. Ask the office manager to call you if you have not checked in with her or have not returned at the time you designated on the information sheet. I know this sounds like a lot to do just to show property, but how many times have you just dropped what you were doing when a random person calls to view one of your listings, you show up and it is a man that is larger than you, alone, no one knows where you are and you have nothing to protect yourself? I am guilty of it all the time and I have been fortunate that nothing has happened to me. After hearing Commander Gwyn's stories about Agents that have not been so fortunate, I will be taking the above advice from now on. If the Buyer protests, then there is a reason you should not be working with them. Remember to listen to your gut instincts, they will be correct most of the time.

• How many of you sit in an Open House by yourself? Guilty as charged. How many of you show the prospect around the house, including the basement? Guilty as charged. Whenever you work an open house, always ask another Agent to join you. Better yet, kill two birds with one stone and invite your preferred Lender to sit with you, they can prequalify prospects, while deterring anyone from harming you since there is strength in numbers. Some other tips for holding open houses is to never leave the front door. When someone comes to view, ask them to show themselves around because you are expecting lots of showings today and you need to watch the door for them. The reason for this is threefold. If you tell them to show themselves, they will get the impression that there will be a lot of traffic and it would be risky for them to harm you. If you are showing the prospect rooms in the house that are isolated (a basement, an upstairs bonus room, etc.), you are putting yourself in a position for possibly being attacked. No one will hear you screaming in a room that is far from the front of the home. If they shout to you from a back bedroom that they need you to answer a question about that room, ask them to come to the front and you will be happy to answer. The third point is that if you get a suspicious feeling that all is not right, you are closer to the door and you can leave if need be. According to statistics, the chance for a crime occurring during an open house drops to 20% if you are partnered.

• When showing property to a new Client, ask if they can follow you in separate cars. If they agree, when you approach the driveway of the home you are viewing, park on the street if feasible, if it's not feasible, pull aside and wave them into the driveway first. The reason for this is because if you pull in first (again, guilty as charged), and they are planning on harming you, they can pull in behind you and block you in. You will have no escape if you need it.

• When you show property, always invite the Client to walk into a room, house, in front of you. They will think you are being polite, but what you are doing is protecting yourself. If they are behind you, what will stop them from pushing you into a room and doing what they want? Or what will stop them from hitting you on the head and robbing you? Keep at least 6 feet between you and Client, if you need to run, you will have time and space to do it. Always keep your cell phone with you. If you have an emergency and you have 911 and your office number on speed dial, you will be ahead of the game. Don't ever put your home address or home phone number on your business card. One click on many search engines and your home number will reveal your home address and now you are setting your family up for a crime.  Commander Gwyn advises against arming yourself with a firearm while working as it can easily be taken away and used against you. He recommends the type of pepper spray that you can only buy from a police officer and it will render someone helpless no matter if they are on drugs, alcohol, full of adrenaline, or not in their right mind. This pepper spray will attack their lungs and stop them in their tracks for about 45 minutes, it will also mark them with a dye for 3-4 days so they can be identified if they do get away. Pepper spray bought in the store is not high potency and will only burn your eyes for a little bit, it won't even affect someone on drugs, alcohol, adrenalinized or not in their right mind.

These precautions are meant to keep you aware of your surroundings. Being cautious is different from being paranoid and neurotic, we have a profession that is often targeted and we need to protect ourselves.  If you are interested in having Commander Gwyn come to your office and teach these invaluable precautions (he also brings the pepper spray and other safety items for sale), you can reach him at 678-947-5914 or www.southerncrime.net.  If you would like me to fax you the Client Identification Form mentioned in Bullet  Item #1, drop me a note and I will be happy to email it to you. Have a safe and productive day!

If you are one of those Agents who wake up and wonder what you can do today that will be productive, I hope you find this blog entry useful.  There are a multitude of ways for you to be productive that doesn't include writing an offer for someone, taking a listing or even driving Buyers from house to house.  

Here are some suggestions on things you can do on a daily basis that you will make you feel accomplished and will also assist you in getting closer to a closing.

• Update your Listings on all of the websites that you post them to. Repost the listings as often as website allows. Re read the descriptions, make sure you are using as few abbreviations as possible and PLEASE use spellcheck! Be sure you have the maximum amount of pictures allowed on each posting. Look at the pictures you have, do they flatter the property? How is the lighting, the angles? If you need new pictures, go and take them. If you can enhance the ones you have by using a photoshop program, do it. Pictures and clear, thorough descriptions is what sells the property. A good price doesn't hurt either, but the Agent is not in complete control of that. If you would like a list of the websites that allow free postings of your listings, let me know, I am happy to share. Of course there are places such as Realtor.com that charge each month for enhanced listings. If you can afford to do this, I would recommend it. As you know, Realtor.com is the first place that Buyers go to search for houses and if yours has more pictures and better descriptions and complete contact information, you are ahead of the game!

• Attending seminars and classes can take time and sometimes money, although there are a ton of free ones to be found. There are many to choose from so pick a subject that interests you and expands your knowledge- maybe digital photography, how to write special stipulations, 7 Stupid Mistakes that Smart Agents make (that was a humbling class to say the least). The point is to take advantage of classes offered.

•  Tweak your website. You are spending money to have a website, you spend time and effort sending people there - shouldn't it be the best it can possibly be? Pull it up and objectively look at it. Better yet, have your best critic pull it up. Ask them what kind of functionality they would like to see that is not already there, what kind of tools and widgets would enhance your website? You would be surprised at the amount of services your website provider can offer you. Taking the time to update and create a good, solid website is worth so much! I recently went to the website of a property management company that was recommended to me. Believe it or not, they did not have their phone number on the main page! It took me a solid 15 minutes to browse through every page they had on their website and scrolled through a bunch of text before I found their phone number buried among the text. So, be objective and honest when you look at your website, then pick up the phone and call the website administrator and let them help you make your website the best it can be.

• Update your database. I am probably preaching to the choir on this one, but if you are one (like me) who procrastinates this task until you can't fit another business card in the rolodex, completing this task will guarantee you peaceful nights of rest. If you are starting from scratch, choose a database manager(Outlook is free, Top Producer costs) I use Prospect Maximizer and it is complimentary when you sign up for the lead generation system that I use at GetMyHomesValue.com. No endorsements here, just suggestions. So, now you have chosen your database, pull out all the business cards you have collected for the past 10 years and give yourself lots of time to enter the contact info into the database. I recommend that you set up categories for the contacts and add information when appropriate. The category of former sales clients would benefit from having the anniversary date of the closing entered into their contact info, you get the drift. I know, I know, I would rather have my eyelashes pulled out one by one instead of doing this, but when I get it done, I look forward to the best sleep ever instead of the nightmares I have about losing all my referral business because I don't know where the phone numbers are of past clients.

•  Join a network group and attend the meetings. Networking is one of those things that you either really enjoy or you do because you think you should.  It falls into that category of "I joined all these networking groups and I attend the meetings, but no one has given me a referral." I say that every week when I have to drag myself to the 8 am meeting, give a 1 minute or so speech about myself and my business, and then exchange cards with everyone. I am a strong believer in telling people when you receive good service and I have found that my network group is the first place I look when I need a service performed. You would be surprised how pleased the service provider is when you tell the whole group what a good job they did for you. I have been part of this group for a year and I just got my first referral from it last week. It's one of those things that you have to stick with and you will come away with new friends, a new list of service providers that have a roomful of recommendations and sooner or later - a referral that you can use.

I hope this blog gives you some ideas that you can use. If you have any suggestions for things I have not mentioned, please share them with a comment for all to see.

I am one of those Agents that are willing to share everything that I do that is successful, share what I have done that has not been successful (so you don't make the same mistakes) and encourage you to be an ethical, personable, responsible, exceptional Agent.

I can teach and talk and coach until I am blue, but if an Agent does not want to work for success, does not see the point in marketing themselves, does not take advantage of free seminars and Continuing Ed, does not show up for twice a month desk duty, does not RETURN PHONE CALLS IN A TIMELY MANNER (as you will learn in future blogs from me, this is one of my biggest pet peeves), does not communicate well with a co-op Agent - then the Agent will NOT become a success or if they do happen to have a closing, they will be marginal and few and far between. These things mentioned are basic things and even seasoned Agents don't do them on a regular basis.

Break down each negative mentioned here and think about what would happen if, for example,  you went to a free Continuing Ed class that teaches you about Termite Infestation. (This is mainly in FL and GA, so Agents in other states who are reading, please bear with the termite talk) I know, sounds boring and it is kind of boring, BUT, let's say that you pay attention and you learn the conditions that termites thrive in, you learn what termite tunnels look like, you learn what is needed to treat them.

Now let's suppose that you were too busy to go that class and never heard of termites or what kind of damage they will create. You have a First Time Home Buyer and the Buyer is relying on you to find them a house that will not only suit their needs, dreams and desires, but a house that is free of preventable defects. Any Agent remembers from their days in Real Estate School that we always, ALWAYS recommend an inspection, no matter what the age or condition of the house we are selling, however, how many Agents recommend that the Seller provide the Buyer with a Termite Clearance? And what if you know nothing about Termites and the word is never mentioned and you go to closing and you get your check and you move on to New Buyer and then you get a call from your Old Buyer (who is now your future referral source) and they tell you they have these weird bugs flying all over their new house that you helped them purchase. What are you going to do? You are going to probably call a pest control business and explain to them what the Buyer has told you and they will tell you that these are called Swarmers and they are the first indication that you have termites. You ask them what they can do and they tell you for a minimum of $500, they can treat the termites and set up baiting stations.

What this translates to is that because you have not taken the hour or two to learn about termites and what they can do to destroy a home, you have just cost your future referral about $500 off the top and additionally more money to maintain the bait stations. Do you think this Buyer will remember all the houses you showed them, the nights you spent away from your family because it was the only time they could meet you to sign documents, the COMMISSION you may have cut to make the deal work??? No, they will only remember that you didn't suggest that the Seller provide them with a Termite Clearance in order to close and now they have had to spend their own money.

Please don't miss the point in this posting and think that it is all about Termites and what does that have to do with me, it's about taking every opportunity to educate yourself as a professional and that means taking time out of your day to sit in a room and listen and learn and bring that knowledge to the table when brokering deals. Educating yourself means educating your Clients and that will result in success everytime!