Published
Monthly by Joeann Fossland, GRI, LTG
Coaching High
Achievers For Sales Success
(520)744-8731 email:
Joeann@joeann.com (800)597-4196 fax
ADvantage Solutions
PO Box 133 Cortaro, AZ 85652
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Published monthly & Copyright 1998 by ADvantage Solutions Group. Copy & pass along
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link in the menu at left or email or fax your contact information. My goal is
provide you with solutions and ideas to give you the advantage!
Hello friends!
I'm hearing that business is very good in most places as we move
into Spring! Staying focused and on target becomes important as activity increases.
Continuing to use systems to prospect while taking care of business is important to avoid
that roller coaster look to your business. This issue provides some tips to stay
effective and some opportunities for you to increase your skills.
Thanks for the positive feedback on the changes on the format. Your
input, ideas and thoughts are always welcome and encouraged!
And, please do me a favor..........
Pass this along to someone else you know that would benefit! Thanks!
Hugs & Smiles, Joeann
ADvantage Thinking
Advantage Solutions Newsletter
- READER INPUT: Great Ideas, New Contest & Winners
- ADvantage Thinking: Spring Cleaning
-
READER INPUT: Buyer Loyalty Results & New Contest
This Month's Winner is for best idea is:
Greg Brockton, GRI, CRS First Realty BH&G, Des Moines Iowa dsm4sale@yahoo.com 515-453-7220
QUESTION:
What is the best way you've found to build buyer loyalty?
"I sign a 'Buyer's Agency Agreement" with the
Buyers. My personal twist is a "no cost guarantee" rider that lists the
things I will do for them that most other agents will not."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OTHER IDEAS:
The randomly picked winner of all the entrants is Susanna
Madden RE/MAX ACR Elite Group, Tampa FL
Her idea is "giving the buyer a buyers notebook, with a
nicely bound cover and 10-15 pages of relevant information about her, her services and the
contract and agency information, etc." Sounds like a great idea!!
Kathi Frank, Keller Williams Houston, TX kathif@kw.com said her two ways are : "Obtain a buyer
from a satisfied client and/or establish the value of your expertise by sharing what
information would be available if they have a formal Buyer Representation Agreement!"
Lynn Grimsley RE/MAX Penninsula LGRIMSLEY@compuserve.com "I send birthday,
anniversary & home anniversary cards to everyone who buys from me or buys my
listings."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
QUESTION for this month:
What is the best technique or method you use to build your
listing inventory?
Two winners: One for the best answer and another randomly
picked from all submissions.
Prize is a free class delivered by email! (This month's
winners should contact joeann@joeann.com for
details on how to sign up)
Send your answers to this months questions before March 30.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***************************************************
ADvantage Thinking: Spring
Clean!
***************************************************
"In a way, winter is the real spring, the time when the inner things happen,
the resurge of nature." Irish novelist Edna O'Brien
Whether spring has come to your part of the country or is right around the corner, that
ritual of packing away the heavy, winter things and getting out the lighter ones is one
emulate in your business. It's a ritual that reminds us to reevaluate and let go of
the old. Replace with the fresh and the new. Clean out your old business practices and
paradigms like you clean out your closets this month! You will attract better business as
you consciously create space, fine tune and upgrade and you'll find things will become
easier and more fun!
Give Yourself More Space
Simplify and clean out the "stuff" that is cluttering your office or you
life. Your physical surroundings either make your life easier or drain energy.
There's an interesting dynamic with space and time: If you have enough space, you will not
feel time crunched. Creating physical space actually impact your feeling of having enough
time.
Coaches Tip>
One tool I use with my coaching clients is a 100 point checklist, developed by Coach
called Clean Sweep. (available at
www.joeann.com/cleanwsweep.htm. It identifies the little annoyances or subtle energy
drainers that, when handled, free you up to be more effective. What are you tolerating?
Make yourself a long complete list and start to whittle it down. Yes, even those things
you think you can't do anything about are stealing energy: either accept them or take an
action to make a request or impose a boundary. Clear up 5 things this week on the
toleration's list. Or, if you really can't think of any toleration's, buff up one area so
it is perfect and reflects your personal style.
Purge
the Rolodex
Speaking of creating
space... what people are sucking energy? It's time to treat some of the names on the
rolodex like the old furniture in the living room. Are they still a fit for who you are
today? Have the outlived their usefulness? this may sound a bit harsh, but as we go
through life, we grow and evolve and others may not grow and evolve in the same direction.
Nothing wrong with the direction they have moved, but if it doesn't match where you are or
where your are headed, you begin to feel the relationships take more energy than nourish
and create joy.
Coaches Tip>
Do you have listings you KNOW are NOT going to sell? Or, perhaps worse, buyers you know
are not going to buy now? Let go of them! Refer them to someone else or simply tell them
you can't meet their needs right now. The relief you feel will create space for new better
business to show up! Spring clean you databases: quit holding onto people you really
wouldn't want to do business with again. Stop prospecting in areas that aren't your ideal
business niche. Do a month-long blitz contact each of those cool and warm leads and
determine if they should stay on your lists or are they just consuming your marketing
dollars? A small loyal database is much more valuable and allows you to leverage your
funds better than a large, lukewarm one. Are there people in your personal life that drain
you? Quit letting them do that. Set boundaries, make requests or simply stop saying yes to
spending time with them.
Upgrade
The Operating System
Perhaps you had
some New Year's resolutions about what new habits you wanted to create this year. How are
you doing? Or perhaps, you didn't have any because you knew it was hopeless..... If your
own personal operating system is not in good working order, how can you expect to work at
peak performance for your business and you clients? Are you living a life you love or
supporting a lifestyle that is more reflective of what's expected?
Coaches
Tip>
What old habit is most in your way? What new habit would
make the most difference? Raise the bar.... Create a new standard you will feel great
about. Not one you think you SHOULD do, but one that will make you proud of who you are.
Maybe it is a daily habit that would increase your contact with clients. Even 1 more call
a day will add 20 contacts a month or 120 for the year. Or maybe you need to take better
care of yourself. Treat self-care as a prerequisite to being successful and don't worry
about feeling guilty. Taking 30 minutes a day just for you- to meditate or exercise or
just walk and reflect might be the best gift you can give yourself. Your feeling of peace
will increase, you'll be more focused and problems with less anxiety. Ever notice the
people who are peaceful, focused and free of anxiety attract more business? Upgrade
yourself: identify that one habit to stop or to add and set up a plan to focus on that for
the next 30 days.
Spring is a time of renewal. A spring cleaning clears out
the old and makes room for the new. The seeds you plant this month, will be your bounty
and harvest in a few months. Be ruthless in simplifying, letting go and clearing out and
watch that space increase. Nature abhors a vacuum.. the space you create will attract new,
fresh opportunities. There is no scarcity. When you trust yourself to stay focused on
attracting the BEST business, it will come to you.
"No labour bestowed upon a worthless thing can be
productive of fruit;even by a hundred efforts a crane cannot be made to talk like a
parrot." The Hitopadesa (600?-1100?A.D.)
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