What's Your Business?

I was reading a blog post from IttyBiz  this morning and it made a very good point.  I've been blogging here for years - no really - about 20 years in blog-years (kind of like dog years, but for blogging - I'm counting about 5 years for each one).  And I realized that I don't often talk about what I actually do.  I tend to write about whatever is top of mind for me in the moment.  One day it might be about SEO and internet marketing, another might be about the broader life picture in our western culture, and still another about my pursuit of purple hair (yes, I did dye it after all).  But, as a friend of mine pointed out recently, in my blog to real estate agents on a real estate blogging platform, I almost never talk about real estate and, more importantly, I almost never talk about what I do.

So I decided to answer IttyBiz's challenge.  I've copied her questions below so that you can learn more about what I do so that, if you enjoy reading me, you can tell your board or your broker or your mortgage officer that they need to bring me in.

What’s your game?

Real Estate Training, Coaching and Speaking - with some really cool, useful, and productive tools thrown in to support the process.

What do you do?

I teach people how to walk others through big life-altering transformational processes. In the real estate industry, this means that I teach my clients (agent, brokers, and mortgage officers) how to step into more of a life-coaching role when dealing with their buyers and sellers. Why would they want to do that? Because there is usually some major life transition that underpins a client's decision to move. If you deal with the transition on that level, then you tend to not get blindsided by issues that you didn't know about that can blow your deal, and you end up with more referrals and repeat business because you got deeper into relationship with the client.

How Do You Do It?  [I added this one since it seemed relevant.]

I speak at live events (my favorite way to work), offer teleseminars and webinars (in fact I have a free one coming up tomorrow with NAR on building relationships check it out), podcast (brokers, consider replacing your sales meeting with a weekly or monthly podcast that I create especially to fit the needs of your company), one-on-one and group coaching, and sell training products that teach basic and advanced skills.

Why do you do it? Do you love it, or do you just have one of those creepy knacks?

A little of both.  I've made a life-long study of people and what makes them tick.  I love to break down complex concepts into easily understandable descriptions that give people the vocabulary and foundational concepts that they can then use to be able to understand a process more completely.  Then, once they have these ideas firmly in place, I like to take it to the next level and teach them how to blow the competition completely out of the water by using the advanced systems.

Who are your customers?

Speaking and Training Engagements - I'm usually booked by local or state boards, larger brokerages, and/or mortgage companies for my speaking engagements although I'll be training at NAR for HouseLogic this year so it really could be any company that has a larger audience who has a values match with getting deeper into relationship with their clients. 

Teleseminars and Webinars - Agents, Mortgage Officers and Brokers.  I may offer these on my own where people can sign up individually or, if you can get at least 15 people on the call, I'll schedule one custom for you on the topic of your choice.

Coaching - Agents, Brokers and Mortgage Officers.  Brokers I am availble not only for individual coaching, but also for group coaching for your office.

Products - Most of my products are written for the use of the individual or small team of agents, but I also have a recruiting program and new agent training program that brokers find useful too.

What kind of people would need or want what you offer?

Agents interested in improving their people-skills and moving their business to the next level.  Agents, mortgage officers and brokers who want to increase their referral rates.  Boards, brokerages and other companies looking for something more interesting than another internet marketing seminar or "back to basics" program.

What’s your marketing USP? Why should I buy from you instead of the other losers? [Her words, not mine!]

Focused on Transitions - Not Transactions - This is my concept.  When you focus on what the client is dealing with, then you take your business to the next level.  The move is so much more for them than the purchase or sale of a home.  It's transformational in their worlds.  If you honor, respect, and facilitate that transformation, you build relationships that last for life.

What’s next for you? What’s the big plan?

I'm putting together the classes I've always wanted to teach.  I waited until the end of this dip so that only the serious agents would still be around because these concepts are so powerful, I wanted them to only be in the hands of the most experienced, most attuned agents.  I'm going to teach you how to:

• Lliterally read your clients' minds
• Improve your negotiation skills dramatically to get the best deal for your clients
• Make people like you from the first moment they meet you
• Take the pressure off in key moments to leave space for your clients to make big decisions
• Convert frustrated uptime callers into loyal clients - in 5 minutes!
• Train your clients to send you referrals
• Elicit unbridled appreciation from your clients

Wow!  That was a lot! Whew!  I didn't realize how much I had to say that I hadn't told you!  I hope you made it this far because the future's looking pretty bright (where are my shades?).  Well, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  Thanks for tuning in!  And just because I believe in rewarding a stick-to-it attitude, here's a link to some FREE SAMPLES of my recordings.

Oh, yes, and don't think that your answers to these questions are obvious - they aren't to your readers - especially the USP one. Why not do the exercise for yourself and see what comes of it?