rants: Professionals Don't Need Scripts
- 07/28/13 10:38 PM
Seen recently on a Facebook post of a SWS-minded real estate agent (an agent who follows Sell with Soul philosophies):
"WHY THE SCRIPTS!? Are we not past this yet as business owners and marketing professionals? As humans? Really!?"
Hold that thought.
I went to the chiropractor yesterday - my hands have been aching lately and I was hoping to find some relief. When I checked in, the receptionist asked me a series of questions related to the Reason for my Visit - "What would you rate the pain on a scale of 1-10?" "Is the pain constant or intermittent?" "How long ago did this … (89 comments)
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rants: Would You Be Willing to Show Your Business Plan to Your Clients and Potential Clients?
- 03/10/12 10:43 PM
Yesterday I read yet another (ho hum) article about how important it is for real estate agents to remember that their primary obligation (to whom?) is to prospect for new business. Every day. Before they do anything else.
Blech.
This attitude literally nauseates me. The article went on to say that (I'm paraphrasing) since the non-income producing activities (specifically client service) we "have" to do are typically the activities that give us the most grief (um... really?) and create the most frustration in our lives, we should spend as little time as possible on them and relegate them to the hours of … (61 comments)
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rants: Competence ... or Compassion? Likeable ...or Knowledgeable?
- 01/06/12 02:00 AM
A few weeks ago, I posted a blog called "Nine Attributes of an Exceptional Real Estate Agent" in which I listed nine competence-related skills and services I'd want my real estate agent to bring to the table if I were in need of real estate assistance.
None of the nine attributes had anything to do with being nice, friendly, likeable or compassionate; they were all related to taking exceptionally good care of me and my real estate transaction.
Several of the 120+ commenters called me out on that - they felt strongly that I should have included what they called "people … (30 comments)
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rants: Were You an "Order-Taker" During the Boom? I wasn't!
- 12/15/11 12:01 AM
Every once in awhile I hear or read something along the lines that those of us who worked in the real estate industry during boom years (or even stable ones) were simply "order-takers" who showed up to work most days and cashed juicy commission checks. That all we had to do was put a sign in a yard and voila! Perfect offers from well-qualified buyers poured in, we sorted thru them at our leisure, selected the most perfect one and scheduled the closing. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am and we were off to our next sign-in-a-yard installation and another easy payday.
… (12 comments)
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rants: How Do You Think Your Current (and Future) Clients Might Feel About Your 80/20 Plan?
- 11/28/11 11:14 PM
There was a featured blog here in the Rain a few weeks ago advising agents to devote 80% of their time prospecting for new business and 20% dealing with current business (i.e. active buyers and sellers). This isn't the first time we've seen this advice and it won't be the last; in fact, most Big Name training programs proclaim that a real estate agent's primary job is to prospect; that agents should vigorously resist the temptation to abandon their daily prospecting when clients call with pesky, administrative, non-income-producing problems to solve.
But I can't help but wonder... If a real estate agent's primary job … (96 comments)
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rants: READ THIS Before Your Next Price Reduction Recommendation!
- 10/21/11 01:22 AM
I have a friend who listed her house with one of the top agents in her area. They went on the market about two months ago, at the exact price the agent recommended and supported with his market analysis. Showings were brisk at first, then trickled off, as typically happens. Feedback has been generally positive, although the home is rather unique and simply not practical for many buyers, and the feedback has reflected that.
A few weeks ago, out of the blue, the agent recommended a $50,000 price reduction. This caught my seller friend by surprise since the feedback she'd received … (174 comments)
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rants: Real Estate Compensation: Does a Full Commission MINUS Referral Fee MINUS a Buyer Rebate EQUAL a Too-Small Payday? It Depends!
- 07/07/11 01:13 AM
I've been a little absent from Active Rain for awhile now - no real good reason, just had to triage my time and blogging took a backburner. Happily, for me anyway, Loreena Yeo's featured blog yesterday "It Costs $$$ to Do Business inspired me to jump back in and spout some opinions!
In case you missed it, Loreena's blog was about how there are some deals NOT worth doing - and she referenced one in particular where both a referral fee was due and a buyer rebate requested. When Loreena did the math, she decided that the net paycheck simply wasn't enough to cover … (18 comments)
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rants: "No I Won't Reduce My Commission! Do You Expect Me to Work for FREE?" (Um, let's do some math)
- 03/26/11 02:21 AM
Bear with me this morning as I rant a little bit about one of the Sacred Cows of the real estate industry (specifically, the compensation model that pays us based on the price of the property).
I recently read an article written by a real estate agent bemoaning a potential buyer client's request that the agent reduce his fee by half. Seems the buyer found a property on his own and just needed help getting the property under contract and to closing.
The agent was, predictably, outraged and offended. How dare this buyer ask him to reduce his fee! How dare he imply that … (131 comments)
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rants: What's Up with Online Video? I Don't Like It. I Just Don't.
- 12/16/10 12:41 AM
The other day, someone sent me to a website to check out - they thought I'd enjoy the company's philosophy on prospecting for business.
Well, I got to the site and it was nothing but videos. Page after page after page of videos. As far as I could see there was no written material on the site anywhere.
I navigated away.
Am I the only one who doesn't like watching video on my computer screen? Surely I'm not - to my way of thinking, there are more reasons video doesn't work online than reasons it does, but I feel as if I'm … (66 comments)
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rants: Did You Always Dream of Cold-Calling for a Living?
- 11/12/10 11:54 PM
Ho hum, yet another spammer on Active Rain posted a silly comment on an old blog promoting her essay writing service or some other nonsense. Yeah, like I (or my readers) am/are going to rush right out and hire her because she posted an obviously inappropriate comment on a two-year-old blog.
I have to wonder who comes up with this stuff. Is there a professional association out there teaching their members to promote themselves using stupid internet tricks? Are there books and magazines and newsletters on the subject? And if so, who signs up to be a professional spammer? What sort … (32 comments)
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rants: If Real Estate is So Easy, How Do You Justify Your Fee?
- 08/07/10 09:02 AM
Rant Cometh.
I am so sick of hearing people IN OUR INDUSTRY claim that our primary duty as real estate agents is to prospect. To bring in business. To make rain. To pursue buyers and sellers as our primary priority, even if that means we have to "guard against interruptions during our prospecting time from OUR CLIENTS" (don't get me started).
Here's what these folks imply, and sometimes outright say: That the vast majority of what happens after a listing agreement is signed or a buyer goes under contract can, and should be handled by an assistant. In fact, some go … (71 comments)
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rants: No, No, No! Buyers Are NOT Liars!
- 07/29/10 09:14 AM
I'm going to steal a page from the Broker Bryant rulebook and dredge up an old post from the distant past. In fact, what follows is one of my very first posts here on Active Rain, but I was inspired to re-post today it by Susan Haughton's excellent post on the same topic...
Besides I only got 8 comments on it the first go-around (hmpf!), so let's give it another go!
BUYERS ARE NOT LIARS! (first posted January, 2007)
Buyers can be hard to nail down and you'll hear agents talk about the "Buyers Are Liars" phenomenon. It's a phrase usually used … (33 comments)
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rants: "My Time is Better Spent Prospecting than Working with Clients." Uh... HUH?
- 06/18/10 12:00 AM
There's a never-ending debate in our world about which buyers are worth spending time with... and which are not. Some proclaim that the only buyer business we should pursue is that which will likely lead to a closing within the next 60 days or so; others (myself included) don't mind spending time with someone who will probably buy a house someday, even if that someday is 6 months from now or longer.
These debates also usually include passionate discussion into whether or not to require pre-approval or buyer agency before allowing a buyer to "waste" an agent's valuable time.
To each … (82 comments)
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rants: Give BP a Break! Yeah, I really said that...
- 06/14/10 03:00 AM
I live on the Gulf of Mexico. Pensacola Beach to be exact, which is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, as far as I'm concerned. I waited almost 43 years to fulfill my dream of living on the beach and just mere months into my dream-coming-true, this sh!t happens.
So, believe me, I'm annoyed.
But c'mon... can we get past all the bitterness and hostility toward BP and move forward?! Protests and boycotts and criminal lawsuits(??!) aren't helping solve the problem; in fact, I don't see how all this outrage can be doing anything but actually impeding the forward progress!
Yes, BP … (76 comments)
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rants: The Gulf of Mexico and the Real Estate Industry - Throwing Money at the Wrong Problems
- 06/08/10 12:45 AM
A few weeks ago, there was a bunch of hoopla on the local Florida TV stations about a $40M+ bill passed to help the Florida Tourism Department advertise to the world that our beaches are still pristine and oil-free. In fact, I was enjoying a Bushwacker at AJ's in Destin during the filming of one of the promotional spots... but I guess I didn't look the part of a happy tourist cause they didn't ask me to be in the commercial ;-[
Anyway, it occurred to me (okay, actually it occurred to my friend, but I'll take the credit) that … (19 comments)
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rants: "I'm Not Irresponsible - I'm Just Self-Employed!"
- 06/04/10 12:22 AM
I said those words this morning. Out loud. About myself.
Here's the deal - my rental properties are kicking my a$$ lately. I'm losing count, but so far this spring I think I've replaced three air conditioning units, two toilets and a garbage disposal, and repaired two (or three) plumbing-leaks-that-ruined-the-ceilings-below. Every time I turn around, I'm writing checks to my (wonderful) Gary-on-the-spot handyman.
And I must confess, I'm out. Of money. Yes, even world-famous real estate gurus (*snort*) have cash-flow issues from time to time!
So anyway, this morning, I was venting to a gainfully-employed friend (you know, one of those strange … (20 comments)
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rants: Turned Down for Health Insurance... Because there's NOTHING Wrong with Me! Self-Employed? Beware...
- 04/26/10 11:46 PM
Got a letter today from BCBS of Florida. "Ms. Allan - we ain't giving you any stinkin' health insurance because you don't meet our standards." Or, words to that effect.
What standards don't I meet? I'm 5'5", 125 pounds, I don't smoke or take drugs, heck, I don't even eat junk food. I don't have any chronic illnesses and I don't take any prescription drugs. I've never been hospitalized and I don't sky-dive.
But, oh, what's this here? Ahhhh, I went to the doctor back in December to make sure there was nothing wrong with me. See, I have food … (31 comments)
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rants: The WORST Emailed Sales-Pitch I've Ever Gotten
- 03/29/10 12:23 AM
I'm on a roll. Late last week, I posted a blog about the worst open house I've ever visited; today's Worst Of topic is a sales-pitch I recently received via email.
Here it is, in all its glory...
Dear Jennifer,
Okay, I'm at the end of my rope. Either you just can't recognize a great offer when you see it, or I'm just not smart enough to realize that I'm wasting my time taking all the risk so you'll at least TRY .
I'm serious about this. I'm sitting here almost in tears because I can't seem to get across to you the … (31 comments)
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rants: Real Estate Agents ask... "Why Should We Work for Free?" Answer... WE DON'T!
- 02/09/10 12:38 AM
I'm on a ranting roll this week and it's only Tuesday.
My friends... let's stop complaining about "working for free." Let's stop proclaiming that we need to better protect ourselves from the home-buying and -selling public who live to abuse our willingness to do work "without any guarantee of compensation."
WE DON'T WORK FOR FREE. WE WORK ON CONTINGENCY. There's a big difference!
Our willingness to work on a contingent basis - that is - to not be be paid until or unless we perform, is precisely WHY real estate fees are what they are. We are able to charge a lot of money to do what we … (106 comments)
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rants: A New Decade, New Priorities? A soapbox-y rant
- 02/07/10 11:11 PM
I read a featured blog the other day written by an agent who was regretting not insisting on a buyer agency agreement and was subsequently ditched by the buyers she was working with. She was disappointed, and in her blog, reconfirmed her commitment to always get that agreement in place before investing much time in a new buyer client.
Fair enough. I disagree with the agent's conclusion that the solution to being ditched by a buyer is a written contract, but that's okay. To each his own.
But one of the many comments on the blog caught my eye. It was something … (39 comments)
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Seen recently on a Facebook post of a SWS-minded real estate agent (an agent who follows Sell with Soul philosophies):
;)
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