My thought:  It doesn’t matter – Keep Selling.

It is important that we know what is happening in our industry and to remain aware of what others are saying to our potential customers – so continuing to read and educate oneself is always good.  But, don’t allow external forces determine your success.  I’ve know many sales professionals who have done well in down times and I’ve known many more sales people who have done poorly in good times.  The difference is always in the person and their attitude.

Long ago, I had a sales and training manager who broke my sales development into three areas: knowledge, techniques and attitude.  Knowledge included market conditions, competitors value props, trends, and products.  Techniques included communication skills, presentation skills, negotiation skills, and conflict resolution skills.  Both knowledge and techniques were tangible and easy to translate/teach/track. But attitude? How do you know if you have a good attitude or a bad attitude and who is to judge?

What I have witnessed in myself and others is that attitude, in sales, is simply the reflection of your work habits and work ethic.  Strong work habits and a productive work ethic is the reflection of a good attitude.  Poor habits and a lazy work ethic reflect a bad attitude.

My old manager use to say “your attitude will determine your altitude.”  Don’t worry about what the others say and just keep working hard – the results will show for themselves.

That advice seems as good to me today as it did then.

To me, it just doesn’t matter.  Having seen and lived through various markets (in various industries,) I have always found that there are those sales professionals who do well and those who do not.  Those who do well are always focused on what they have at their disposal to provide value to their current or potential clients.  Those sales associates who don’t do as well, are always focused on what used to be or what others have, that they do not.

So to help jump start some ‘value’ thinking, I have listed a few items that we currently have at our disposal, to benefit our customers today:

1) Mortgage rates are fantastic!  Mortgage rates continue to remain very low, and while there is always talk of volatility in the mortgage backed securities market and the impact that volatility will have on consumer rates, even 5.5% or the dreaded 6% rate threshold for a 30 year fixed is a really good rate.

2) Declining prices are an exciting opportunity for first time and move-up buyers.  Take for example, a family who lives in a market where prices have dropped 15% or more over the past year or two.  While their $285,000 home may now be worth $242,250, the home that was $400,000 is now down to $340,000 – or about a $17,000 savings above their perceived ‘lost equity’ (you can do your own math for your area.)

3) FHA Mortgages remain a very large portion of our entire lending landscape.  While the House Financial Services Committee defeated a proposal to increase the minimum down payment requirements (it’s remaining at 3.5%), the committee did agree to raise the FHA mortgage insurance premiums from its current level of 0.55 percent gradually to an annual premium of 1.5%.  Speak with your local preferred lender and have she or he notify you to find out when this will happen – but the cost will rise….soon.

4) Home prices in many markets are beginning to stabilize and, in fact, there are a few markets where home prices are beginning to increase from their lows (S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices www.homeprice.standardandpoors.com).  So, even with all the talk of ‘shadow inventory’ from forthcoming foreclosures (which I believe to be true), we may look back and see it as a time when inflation/price increases began to show again.  So, now is the time for a great deal!

When you combine these macro-level economics with the very real value that each and every one of our sales associates has at their disposal using our Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate tools in the Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Greenhouse (www.mybhggreenhouse.com), we have more to offer today than ever before.

So, if you or one of your fellow sales associates is ever thinking about something you don’t have, read our blogs and re-review our web site – we are constantly adding and working hard to help you grow and have what others do not.

Protection of Personal Identifiable Information – Paraphrased from the US Department of Labor web site http://www.dol.gov/dol/ppii.htm, Personal Identifiable Information (PII) is defined as:

“Any representation of information that permits the identity of an individual to whom the information applies to be reasonably inferred by either direct or indirect means. Further, PII is defined as information: (i) that directly identifies an individual (e.g., name, address, social security number or other identifying number or code, telephone number, email address, etc.) or (ii) by which an agency intends to identify specific individuals in conjunction with other data elements, i.e., indirect identification…Additionally, information permitting the physical or online contacting of a specific individual is the same as personally identifiable information. This information can be maintained in either paper, electronic or other media.

The loss of PII can result in substantial harm to individuals, including identity theft or other fraudulent use of the information. Because employees and contractors may have access to personal identifiable information concerning individuals and other sensitive data, we have a special responsibility to protect that information from loss and misuse.”

According to the ‘Swanepoel TRENDS Report’, the following eleven considerations are specifically key in the protection of data in a real estate business environment.

1. Location of any paper information
2. Mail and special delivery procedures
3. Mortgage and pre-qualification information
4. Access to office and home computers including staff and encryption
5. Paperless transactions and encryption
6. Archived data on backup tapes
7. Natural disaster and terrorist attacks
8. Employee access
9. Vendor access and sharing of information
10. Virus protection and unauthorized use
11. Notification systems

The Swanepoel Report goes on to cite several points to consider when reassessing risk. If you feel that your company needs to revisit the area of risk mitigation, the points that follow are recommended by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (acfe.org).

1. Only hold the personal data that you need
2. Keep all personal data secure
3. Don’t over promise, but adhere to the customer security program you commit to
4. Make data security a priority with your employees
5. Require vendors to sign nondisclosure agreements
6. Test your plan periodically
7. Plan for the worst-case scenario!

There is no question that identity theft has become rampant in our society. As real estate professionals, we must recognize the enormous body of sensitive consumer information held within our data collection systems. Since protecting personal information is of great concern to consumers and with issues of proper business ethics at play, it is clear that every professional real estate organization must have a strong risk mitigation plan in effect.

We are not known to be a shy breed in real estate, and certainly are not bashful in sharing our opinions.  Some hot topics from the day included:

• RPR (NAR’s Realtor Property Resource)
• The role of MLS’s
• Brokerage of the Future
• Social Media
• Market Data

One consistency that I observed in every room, regardless of the topic being discussed, is that we couldn’t seem to agree.

• Is RPR good or bad?
• Should MLS’s stay or go?
• Will brokerage of the future be big or boutique? Bricks and mortar or virtual?
• How does social media build business?
• Is data the new knowledge differentiator?

One thing I’m confident of  is that even though the answers may not be clear and consensus is fleeting, the debates are healthy and ones we must continue having.

Thanks to all the organizers of REBarCamp New York (#rebcny) and Inman Connect (#icny) for giving us all the opportunity and venue to exchange our thoughts and learn from one another. This type of collaboration is beneficial for us all and for those we serve as real estate professionals.

Here’s to 2010 and challenging the status quo.

Bill is a 40+ year old sales professional in an industry that has gone through a lot of change.  He and his lovely wife are raising three great kids in a small, family friendly Midwestern town where the nearest airport is 45 minutes away and it takes two connections to get anywhere (I saw the pictures on his battered and bruised iPhone that looked as though he used it as a door jam; twice).  Bill prided himself on his past success and while not completely happy with the commissions he earned this year, he knew he earned every penny he was paid.

So, here he and I were.  Two lonesome sales professionals on the road eating food only reserved for those carb loading before the Boston marathon and telling tall tales about our sales success when we got on the topic of social media and its impact on our professional lives.  We both agreed that social media has, and will continue to have, a huge impact on our profession.  But the point of our discussion was not to convince one another the virtues of social media but rather what’s next, and not what’s next in the philosophical world reserved for those who are smarter than I.  Rather, the discussion was on what’s actually the next step in the sales process once a potential customer reads our brilliant blogs and sees our wickedly luminous soliloquies on Facebook.

The answer, he and I both agreed, was from both of our pasts; professional consultative selling.  Now more than ever, professional consultative sales skills are the key to sales success.  Bill and I were both unanimous in our opinion that while consumers have a greater thirst for and access to information than ever before in the history of our industries, they need us to be the best that we have ever been to help them the way they want to be helped.  Our potential customers are reading our blogs, viewing our posts, pondering our tweets with the need to find the sales person that they feel will help them.

Is this a new notion? No, but we/I tend to forget.  What are professional consultative selling skills?  There are numerous books written by scholars of varying backgrounds from a variety of industries – but nearly every book will describe how people desire to work with a sales professional that understands their wants and needs, has a strong working knowledge of the product and market they serve, and above all else, listens to what they (as the customer) have to say.

Together, Bill and I have apparently read every sales book written since the break-up of Pangea (go ahead and Google it,) and came up with three distinct chronological sales milestones that we both agreed are necessary to ensure success.

#1:  Building Rapport – once your customer finds you through the many social media outlets, always keep in mind that most people like doing business with someone who understands their needs.  How do you find out their needs?  Ask the correct open-ended questions.  Rudyard Kipling once wrote; “I know six honest serving men that have taught me all that I knew….their names were what, where, when, why, how and who.”

#2: Sharing Expertise – knowledge is a powerful edge in sales.  But applying your knowledge to what you learned about your customers’ needs during your rapport building is the difference between your customer believing that they made the correct choice when they selected you, or not.  And finding customers is too hard and expensive for it to be a “not”.

#3:  Gaining commitment – asking for the sale is absolutely appropriate and the right thing to do for your customer to help them think through their final decision if you performed the first two milestones correctly.  If you missed on the first two milestones, you don’t know how to continue to build value and are left talking only about price; which always seem to move inversely to income!

When last call came, Bill looked right at me and said, “well, this was boring!”……….. and then said “this all kind of reminds about that movie with that guy driving that car that went back in time.  It’s amazing – with all the new tools we use – we always come back to what we learned in the beginning: sales success requires professional consultative sales skills.  We can’t forget how we got here.”

What do you think?

• Inventory levels begin to fall, implying an initial increase in consumer demand
• Prices still have downward pressure as foreclosed and other lower-priced inventory sell first
• Sides flatten and even increase, as consumer confidence returns and more homes sell

With this information in view, please note the table below showing closed sales and average price in September and August 2009 vs. one year ago. You will observe that closed sales mostly flattened in August and increased in September year-over-year in all regions except the Midwest, while home prices showed some stabilization. It is important to note, however, that three of four regions in the U.S. actually experienced a year-over-year increase in closed sides during September.

Experts expect continued improvement through 2010

Based on a survey released by the National Association for Business Economics, home prices are expected to rise by 2 percent next year and 80+ percent of the economists surveyed by the NABE think the recession is over and recovery has begun. However, economists do warn that expansion will be gradual due to persistent unemployment. Additionally, sales of existing homes will rise by 11 percent in 2010, [Source: Associated Press, Alex Veiga (10/13/2009)] and Jay Brinkmann, Chief Economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association, recently predicted that sales of new homes will climb by a strong 21 percent in the new year. Finally, mortgage rates are expected to rise to 5.6 percent (low by historic measures) by the end of 2010, yet mortgage applications are still expected to increase by 12 percent [Source: Associated Press, Mae Anderson (10/12/2009)].

What can real estate professionals do to prepare?

All in all, the picture is clear. Recovery is upon us and the time to prepare ourselves for a stronger real estate market has arrived.  So what exactly can real estate professionals do in order to put themselves in the best position for success? Below are just a few suggestions to get the thought process going.

• Your confidence level is a self fulfilling prophecy – Keep in mind that market confidence is brought about largely by professionals bringing timely and accurate information to consumers. Your clients need your good guidance in order to navigate these positively changing waters.
• Consumer confidence doesn’t change overnight – Remember to be patient with one another. After all, we have truly been ‘through the mill’ over the last few years and changing consumer attitudes takes time. It is also true, however, that consumer awareness of trends often lags behind market realities, so some guidance now can help them make timelier and more cost effective decisions.
• Get more than one “no” from a mortgage company – Underwriting rules have tightened causing some mortgage applications to be denied. But nothing is preventing a determined buyer from seeking another opinion on their credit-worthiness. So don’t give up!
• If a property doesn’t appraise, look to get a second appraisal – In markets like the present one, banks and appraisers sometimes over react to the downside. Real estate professionals and consumers alike should therefore not hesitate to ask “why didn’t this appraise?” Open communication is the key here.
• Don’t hesitate to write offers – Resist getting tied up by traditional thinking and just make the offer! It’s kind of like baseball… once the ball is in play, anything can happen.
  
• “Do something today (that you did not do yesterday) to enhance your tomorrow” [Dominic Sacci, GM Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins and Associates] – This statement sums things up beautifully. Positive change is the key and we should all expect business techniques to keep evolving. So get comfortable with change, embrace the new and watch the magic happen.

Here’s to your success!

As a professional real estate trainer for nearly 25 years, I have the opportunity to come face to face with agents across the spectrum of professionals in our industry – an industry that has become largely diverse in both agent population and its approach to networking, productivity and long-term relationships.

As we look toward the future of our industry and the future professionals, we see promising, young and perhaps, virtual agents using the latest and greatest advanced methods of communications for inquiry generation and production (e.g. video, blogs, social networks, etc.). Yet, when we examine our current agent population, we have a majority of veteran professionals with ten or more years of tenure, production, and relationships that were built on handshakes, face to face conversations, and handwritten notes.

In fact, according to the NAR 2009 REALTOR® Technology Survey, a total of 16% of the respondents were between the ages of 25 and 35, collectively 33% were between 36 and 45, 41% between 46 and 55; and 34% of respondents accounted for agents 56 years and older.

And where the survey notes the ages of respondents, there is no correlation made between age and use of technology in networking and building business.

Further examination of the survey clearly indicates a combination of networking techniques is still needed for success. This brings several questions to mind:

1. To what degree does each form of networking contribute to a REALTOR®’s success?
2. How do we move our echo boomers, a generation raised on technological communication and hungry to tap into the benefits of the independent contractor status, toward reaping the benefits of one-on-one communication?
3. How do we coach our baby boomer population toward proficiency in the use of tools that are instrumental in our business today?

Clearly the real estate industry today indicates that we have migrated to a hybrid model that can be as volatile as it can be rewarding. Here are a few suggestions to produce a harmonious group:

• Poll your agents to determine their level of knowledge, expertise, and use of networking and inquiry generation methods.
• Provide training in all areas of inquiry generation and business building.
• Coach agents one-on-one to develop personally.
• Buddy agents for peer training and learning.

How are you bridging the generation gap in your office?