Elite Agents Real Estate Podcast With Debbie De Grote

Hello and welcome to Debbie’s Daily Tips. So today we’re going to talk about Power Persuasion. You know it’s interesting that not too long ago, I did a little promotion for a webinar that I was planning to do on closing 98.2% of your prospects. Now the reason I pick that percentage is because of course, we will never close 100% because quite frankly we may not want to, right? We've all been on that listing appointment that once we got there, we kind of wished we hadn’t even arrived. So you know what I mean. And yet if we think about it, whatever your record is, whatever your closing ratio is, whether it’s 75, 80, 85%, records can always be broken, right? We should always be striving to close a higher percentage of the prospects that you meet. Because of course, I would assume you'll do a great job and they would benefit tremendously from having you as their agent, we just have to convince them to choose you. And that’s where the power of persuasion comes in. You know what’s interesting, that someone sent me a

If you are a real estate agent or broker that is looking to for more insight and direction on how to get more listings, sell more homes to your investors, and work with more buyers, then this podcast is just for you!

If you are a real estate agent or broker that is looking to for more insight and direction on how to get more listings, sell more homes to your investors, and work with more buyers, then this podcast is just for you!

Hello and welcome to Debby's Daily Tips! Today I wanted to answer a question that I often get from the agents that we're coaching and the question is: ''How do I properly use e-mail blast?'' So here's the main question they often ask: ''How much is too much?'' Well, in talking to my marketing guru Pete Mitchell, one of the things he always tells me is it's perfectly fine to e-blast them once a week, just don't be boring. So if you think about it, what are some of the things they might like to hear about from you? Well, it could be hot buys, new listings, exciting properties and opportunities. It could be a local market update. Now of course, it would have to be a little bit bigger picture, not specific to their neighborhood. So for example we're in Orange County, California, so I might do a Southern California market update, because that would cover all of our past clients across L.A. and Orange County. You could do something that's more community oriented, a food and wine festival, some type of charity event

Hello and welcome to Debby's Daily Tips! And so today I want to talk a little bit about connecting with people in social situations. So of course, as you're out at your PTA meetings and maybe at church or maybe at some other type of activity that you might be attending, you know, you don't want to be obnoxious and abrasive and literally shoving your business card in everyone's hand, and yet we know that those meet and greet opportunities are valuable. Because no matter where you go, there are prospects there. The other day we were looking at apartments with my daughter, who's going to be moving soon and there was one apartment complex that had an incredible gym and all of the people in that apartment complex were, I would say probably 25 to 40 years old, that's the majority, the make-up, which is the young professionals in Orange county, if they're paying that amount of rent, they have a substantial income. They all have a good job for the most part and I said to her, “This gym could be a wealth of conversati

Hello and welcome to Debbie's Daily Tips. So you know, I was talking to the coaches today and we were talking about commission cutting and overcoming the commission objection. Well first of all, we have some great scripts for this and if you're in coaching with us then absolutely you have access to those scripts. Now, if you are not in coaching with us and you need some help with this then reach out to me. In fact, you can go to www.businessstrategycall.com and you can request a complimentary consultation with one of the coaches because I do know that this is a big issue and I know that it can potentially cost you a lot of money. So we want to get you practiced on your different commission objection handlers, but there's a couple of things I'd ask you. One, don't volunteer to cut. Let’s stop that once and for all and number two, when you handle the commission objection don't hesitate, don't allow silence. Instead move immediately on to another subject. Well, ''Do you cut commission?'' ''Mr. and Mrs. Seller th

Hello and welcome to Debbie's Daily Tips! Today we’re talking about your listing presentation, and we’ve got a lot to cover, so I’m going to hit it hard and fast. One of the things I noticed is it’s very common hat when real estate agents come to us for coaching, they always need help with their lasting presentation materials. Also what I noticed is that most of the major brands have some terrific stuff that they give you to use. However they often have so much stuff it can often be 25, 30, 45, usually, more than that, pages, which is just so overwhelming. I find that most of the agents don’t use it and, quite frankly, most of the consumers don’t want to hear it. One of the things I know is, a confused mind doesn’t act. So in other words, when you overwhelm them with data and information, it doesn’t cause them to listen, in fact it may cause them to say, “I need to think it over.” Sometimes real estate agents tell me they spend two hours plus at a listing appointment. At a certain point, it’s information over

The coaches and I were talking this morning about what you can do when you need to find contracts fast. So we made a quick little top ten list. Call every new and old lead aggressively; getting them into action, sparking them into why now is a good time. If they’re not ready, ask them for a referral! Go back to every old expired, withdrawn and cancelled of your own or appointments that you went on that did not list, and try to reengage them. Call your AAA sphere and past clients and ask for a referral. Hold a high quality open house and invite the neighbors. Preview 5 houses a day and knock 10 doors on each side, talking to the neighbors. If you have listings that are not selling, get price reductions as soon as possible! Have a heart to heart with every buyer you have and get them on track. Expand search criteria, get them to spend more if they can, and ask them for a referral. Call every affiliate you work with and ask for at last one referral name. Get in front of 2-3 past clients, expired

Hello and welcome to Debbie's Daily Tips! Today I wanted to talk a little bit about selling the forgotten real estate skill. You may think that sounds strange, but the real estate industry doesn’t need to worry that we’re ever going to lose focus on the importance of technology, because we are obsessed with it!​ Every day of our careers we are reminded of such, thanks to the efforts, of Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, our real estate brokerages, our software companies, all which are dominating our conventions, extolling our contact management systems to us, the pervasive role of mobile ​devices in our lives. Industry institutions like Ris Media and others make ensure that we remain on the cutting edge by providing‎ us with both web and mobile content, as well as guidance on its importance and application. So this ever emerging trend, without question, has diminished the once revered emphasis on the second oldest profession (please forgive me) the second oldest profession: selling. That's right SELLING! I remembe

Hello and welcome to Debbie's Daily Tips! Today we’re finishing up our series on the best tips to find listings now.   Call absentee owners in your market. Tell them how hot the market is, and that now may be that time to sell they’ve been waiting for. Wear your career apparel or name tag everywhere. I know this one is simple, but you know what?  We are around the corner, next door, at the gym, at the grocery store, and if they see that you’re a real estate agent, they will often approach you. If you aren’t farming, now is the time to hit it hard. Be strategic about what you are sending. It needs to set you up as an expert, offer valuable information, and have a strong call to action.  Every day do a minimum of 5 high quality contacts, 5 hand written notes, 5 emails, and 5 texts to your best prospects! This is the 5-5-5-5. Would I like, as a coach, to see you making more than that?  Absolutely!   I would leave to see you making 20 contacts a day, 100 contacts a week.  However, just think about it.  If

Hello and welcome to Debbie's Daily Tips! We’re continuing on with our series: Best tips to find listings now, and today we’re on number 11.   Consider working divorce filings. 22% of homeowners who file for divorce list within 12 months of filing. We know they need help, as it’s a very stressful, very trying time. Contact old expireds. 90% typically list within 18 months. So contact them!  Call them, knock on their door, let’s go find them!  Send an “I have a buyer” letter to at least 100 homeowners for each buyer that you are working with, because you might as well hit those neighborhoods. If you are willing, I’d love it if you’d call or door knock behind those 100 letters. Another idea is to contact landlords who are trying to rent their properties and ask if they would consider selling. You know how it is if you own rental property. Just when you get everything all ramped up and ready to go, you have this thought, do you really want to rent this property to someone who’s just going to tear it up on

Hello and welcome to Debbie's Daily Tips. Today we’re going on with our series of: best tips to find listings – now.  We left off with tip #5 so now we’re on tip #6: Preview 5 new properties each day. New listings from the hot sheet or bulletin.  Knock 10 doors on each side, talk to the neighbors and find out, do they also want to make a move?   And you never know – they may know of a buyer for the home.  And you know what’s really cool about this.  Because they’re not quite sure how or if you’re connected to the neighbor – they’re often rather friendly and certainly very helpful in terms of trying to find a favored person to move next door.  And they always are nosy so it makes for very easy conversation. See every for sale by owner in your town. I get it that in some markets there’s just not a lot of for sale by owners, but you might as well keep eyes on them.   Go see them, because If they won’t list with you, you can always use them for pocket inventory. Because expireds are few and far between in some m

Hello and welcome to Debbie's Daily Tips. Today we’re talking about the best tips to find listings – now.  I have about 20 tips for you, so since it’s supposed to be Debbie’s Daily Tips, I’m going to give you a few and then if you want to check back in tomorrow, I’ll give you a few more, and we’ll work our way through the series so I don’t overwhelm you. Call anyone that you’ve met with in the last 12-24 months who maybe decided not to list at that time. And see if you can spark them back into action. Call any of your own expireds, withdrawns, or cancelleds. Sometimes I know you feel a little bit weird about that, that they might be mad at you – but you know what?  They get over it.  It’s easier for them to go back to you rather than go to a stranger.  So why don’t you give them a call and see what they’re up to? Call or knock 100 doors around every listing that you take inviting the neighbors to a sneak preview of the home. This has been very successful for so many of our coaching clients.  The neighbors ar

Hello and welcome to Debbie's Daily Tips! I had an interesting thought the other day. I was driving in and I was thinking abbot the fact that I’m always challenging you guys not to get complacent and not get too mired into a rut. And I realized I always strive to work the same way. I thought, you know, I need to do a pattern interrupt. Every day in my life I have to find something different to shake up the pattern, to keep me from getting lazy, to keep me from getting complacent and just stuck in that routine. I feel like when you’re used to interrupting your pattern and making yourself just a little bit uncomfortable, you’re definitely more likely to embrace new challenges. So I want to challenge you this week, often throughout the week, today, throughout the day, just find different thing to do to interrupt your pattern. All sorts of crazy things – drive to work a different way. If you always go to lunch at the same place, go somewhere different. If you always order a sandwich, order a salad. There are all

Hello welcome to Debbie's Daily Tips! I was at an event and I heard somebody say, “What got you here won’t get you there.” I love that. Think about this, what got you here, won’t get you there. I was looking at something and I may have mentioned this before, it was a picture of a dinosaur, dinosaur bones standing up at a museum and it says, “You were powerful, once before.” You’ve heard it said, “Don’t let on your laurels,” and I’ve even heard, “You’re a legend in your own mind. “ So I think you get it, you always have to be evolving and changing, climbing to that next level of mastery. Because you know, there are always those young and aggressive hunters coming up behind us, looking to take our spot. When I decided to launch my own coaching company a few years back, I had a slogan in my mind. I thought, I don’t want to be worried about out competing and thinking, what is the competitive coaching company doing or not doing? Because quite frankly, I don’t care. In most cases, I don’t necessarily agree with som

Hello it’s Debbie De Grote and welcome to Debbie's Daily Tips! I wanted to talk to you today about growing your business. You always hear that saying, “you need to invest time working on the business, not just in the business.” That’s sometimes very difficult to do because you have so much going on in your day, and your life, and your business and yet, here’s what I would like to suggest that you do this week. What if you took just 30 minutes? Pick a day, pick a time that’s a little bit easier for you, a little less distraction and interruption, and just pick a time and budget 30 minutes. I’d like it to be a time where you can go in to a room all by yourself; maybe you sit with a scratch pad, no distractions, no interruptions, leave your phone somewhere else, and just choose a topic to think about. Let me give you an example. Let’s say you went into a room and you said, hm, I’m going to think about, how can I increase my repeat and referral business? Now don’t overthink it, don’t try to over structure it, jus

Hello and welcome to Debbie's Daily Tips! Today I wanted to talk to you for just a moment about one thing that I feel is very important, that we communicate often to agents that are talking to us about investing in coaching. You really are your best investment. Now, I’m not saying that to convince you to sign up for coaching or stay in coaching, I’m saying that because what I often see is agents buying lots of tools and trinkets and gadgets, thinking it’s going to save the day and make everything perfect for them. Yet they find they don’t use it, it doesn’t work, and they have thrown away a lot of money and maybe even a lot of time. In reality, if we stop and look at it, you are the magic. Not the tool, not the toy, not the trinket, because let’s remember: before any of these gadgets existed, back in the day, agents sold real estate just fine. They, in fact, made lots of money doing it, and how did they do that? Well, Zig Ziglar always said, “Go see the people.” Invest time in improving your own skill. Invest

Hello it’s Debbie De Grote and welcome to Debbie's Daily Tips! I wanted to throw something out there to you. We have a saying around here that we often talk about. Discipline is not an option. My staff will kid each other about working out, or avoiding the donut, or making that one extra phone call, because we’re tough. I always think about it like, the few, the proud, the brave. Discipline is not an option. So I wonder, are you practicing the habit of discipline? You know what’s great about is, is it’s really like a muscle. The more you practice, the stronger you get. I remember someone telling me once that they would set up one weekly discipline. Something simple that they could do such as, “Okay for this entire week, I’m not going to eat any bread.” Simple enough, right? Or, for this entire week, I’m going to get up 30 minutes earlier. Or, this entire week, I’m going to read 15 minutes of a book daily. Because they said that they noticed when they would take one small discipline and practice it every week,

Hello and welcome to Debbie’s Tips! I was at an event the other day and someone quoted someone, so I’m not sure of the source, but what they said was, “If what you have is less than you deserve or desire, then consider this: it might be your effort.”  So in other words, how often do we wish that we had more money or more transactions, more stability or more listings? All the different things that we wish for in our lives – you could even add wishing that we’re in better shape physically – the list could go on and on. And yet when you stop to think about it, let’s consider this: are you really putting forth the effort to have what you desire and deserve? So it’s a short tip today because it’s a pretty heavy thought, but I’d like to ask you, as you walk away from this conversation, sit for just a moment and write it down. What is something that you really desire or deserve? And exactly what actions are you taking to achieve that? Maybe even a better question would be, what actions are you avoiding, but you know

Hello and welcome to Debbie's Daily Tips! Today I was thinking, what if you chose one skill, what if one skill if you worked on to improve could have a significant and possibly immediate impact on your income? I find as I travel around to speak to agents across the nation, it’s very common to find that they are often in competition for the listings that they are trying to win. Even just today in a group of 200 agents that I was speaking to, over 90% raised their hand to admit that they did not have a well organized listing presentation. And then, that same 90% raised their hand to say that they usually did not pre- qualify their sellers! And most of them also acknowledged that they get stuck if they have to ask for the signature more than once. These were veteran agents, so just think about it, if they, if you, perfected your listing presentation skill and process, how much more money would you make?  And I wonder if you would prospect more because you would feel more confident about reaching out and prospect