Related to yesterday's installment about previewing, today's Confident Rookie Secret is to ALWAYS drive your route before meeting with a buyer. It's mortifying to get lost with a buyer in the car and even worse if 
they're following behind you. Unless you're showing in a neighborhood you know intimately, always always always drive the route ahead of time, even if that's at 6 am before you meet your buyer at 9am.
Driving Your Route is not the same as Previewing. When you preview, you're ruling out properties - you might start with a list of 12 or 15 homes and narrow it down to the best 7 or so. Therefore, your previewing route will not be the same as your showing route. KWIM?
A GPS is not the answer. You need to be able to get from house to house smoothly and effortlessly, as if you know every thoroughfare and side street in town... without that nice Garmin lady interrupting your conversation every 30 seconds. Of course, a printout of Mapquest Directions is even worse! Being able to talk with your buyers as you navigate from house to house will do wonders for your air of professionalism. And of course, becoming increasingly frazzled as you make u-turns and wrong turns will have the opposite effect!
Sometimes you don't have much time between making the appointment and the appointment itself, so you might be tempted to rationalize that you simply don't have the opportunity to Drive Your Route. But I promise you - you'll wish you'd made the time. I've gotten up at 4am and hit the streets at 5am to ensure I didn't make a fool of myself (and I've been doing this almost 13 years!). The good news is that there's much less traffic at 5am!
Remember, the goal of these Ten Secrets is to give the rookie real estate agent the tools to look and feel confident and knowledgeable in situations he or she may not have been in before. We can't prepare you for every single contingency, but the more you are prepared for the aspects you can control, the less stress you'll put on your antiperspirant!
The Confident Rookie Series:
- Know Your Systems
- Practice with Your Printer (sounds silly, I know)
- Preview, Preview, Preview
- Drive Your Route Ahead of Time
- Cheerfully Waste Your Time
- Find Your Handyman
- Let Your Seller Prospect Do Most of the Talking
- Get Comfy with Your Commission
- Admit that You're New
- What to say when you don't know the answer
Stay tuned...
The 2009 Real Estate Cyber Convention is Back in Session!
Stop by my booth and enter to win a copy of my book AND get a great doorprize!
(You'll find me under "Featured Speakers")
UPCOMING TELESEMINARS AT SELL-WITH-SOUL-LAND
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April 18
Representing Your Buyer in a Short Sale
April 22
The Art of Commission Negotiation
May 13
REALTOR Moms - How DO You do it??
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