Good Advice is cheap and Good Intentions rarely amount to much.  There are two primary reasons for this.  Fear and lack of knowledge!   Indeed, when you think about it, lack of knowledge often creates fear, so maybe there is only one reason why good advice is ignored and good intentions fall by the wayside.  

Let’s focus then on what it takes to achieve Amazing Sales Success.

KNOW AND RESPECT YOUR JOB DESCRIPTION

A good salesperson is an expert in his or her field.  In real estate, a good salesperson knows the territory and the buying and selling process to perfection.  In addition to being an expert in the housing market, a good real estate salesperson is highly skilled in guiding those who want to buy and/or sell property.  Good teachers and good sales people have a lot in common.

WELL GROUNDED IN SALES TECHNIQUES

  In every area you will find many agents who know the territory and the process extremely well.  You will find most agents have a genuine desire to guide others through the real estate process.  But, you will find that only a few have a highly developed background in and understanding of the sales process.  Their lack of knowledge when it comes to the Sales Process often creates at atmosphere of fear and confusion and leads to ho-hum or even dismal results.  Not understanding the sales process causes agents to select inappropriate Websites, to choose ineffective sales aids such as mailers and gifts and to rely on hope as a marketing strategy. 

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In general, if you follow three simple guidelines, all of your marketing and advertising will be succeed outrageously.  These Guidelines involve the concepts of Asking versus Telling; Them versus You and Specific versus Generic.

ASKING VERSUS TELLING

  Selling has become more difficult in the modern world because there are so many sales voices and prospects have so little time. They want information but are not willing to sit still long enough to hear or read long-winded or wordy explanations.  To be effective today, your sales process needs to be question based.  That means that you ask meaningful questions so that the prospect guides what you talk or write about.  This is true whether you are interacting with prospects in person, over the phone or online. 

  THEM VERSUS YOU

  Imagine a sales clerk in a department store telling you how many frying pans she sold in the past year and the dollar volume this represents in response to you asking a question about a particular frying pan.   Funny isn’t it?  Yet some real estate people think that their Website should be about themselves instead of what their prospects want.

SPECIFIC VERSUS GENERIC

  People, in genera l, want to buy or sell real estate for a variety of reasons but if you are talking to me, you had better find out what I want to buy or why I want to sell my home right now.  A custom Website can help you get specific but a template Website is locked forever in the generic.  In fact, template and generic mean just about the same thing.  For a Free Custom Web Plan visit http://www.sellrealestate.net/FreeWebPlan.asp.  You’ll never regret taking your marketing to a higher level.

Before you ever get the chance to ask meaningful questions that focus on your prospects’ needs, you have to get their attention.  Like kids in school you can get attention by being smart or you can get attention by inappropriate behavior.  I’m sure you have seen some TV commercials where the spokesperson shouts, screams, makes faces, jumps up and down, beats on the hood of a car---all to get viewers to pay attention.  I, for one, can’t find the TV Changer fast enough!   So, let’s focus on ways to get their attention that make you look smart.

OUTRAGEOUS OFFERS

Advertising statements such as “If I can’t sell your house, I’ll buy it!” or “For Sale by Owner, Advertise Free on my Website!” are designed to capture the attention of prospective customers.  Money saving offers always appeal so if you are willing to work with customers on a sliding commission basis, shout it from the rooftops.  Maybe you aren’t prepared to purchase homes that don’t sell or maybe you are not interested in working with FSBOs but there has got to be something about you or about your Website that will fit in with an Outrageous Offer and if there isn’t, you need to contact me for a Free Custom Web Plan and I’ll help you develop an offer that can’t be beat.  Go to

http://www.sellrealestate.net/FreeWebPlan.asp. 

  GUARANTEES

  The very fact that you dare to use the word Guarantee will get you some attention.  Couple any outrageous offer with the word Guaranteed for a double whammy in marketing.  What can you guarantee?  Most helpful Website for home sellers in River City Guaranteed!  Most helpful Website for homebuyers in River City Guaranteed!  Describing a Website, “A Gold Mine for Real Estate Investors, Guaranteed.”  Of course if you are guaranteeing your Website to be the most helpful or useful then you had better be sure your site lives up to the claim.