Agentjason 2.0

Pick up the phone!

This morning I needed to put in a solid hour prospecting and found myself whining about it. Not out loud but in my head. I don't want to prospect today. I have to pick up family at the airport soon. I have to straighten up the house. I have to watch over my dog Buddy who's home recovering from surgery. I have to work on a marketing project. I have to....

I was going on an on until my decade of being trained by Floyd kicked in. Prospect now, get it out of the way, and the rest of the day you can do what you want. That's what I heard Floyd saying in the back of my head and 58 minutes into my prospecting hour, I had scheduled an appointment.

You can put off prospecting and then beat yourself up in the afternoon, because you didn't do what is truly important, or you can just sit down and pick up the phone. It's kind of like working out; when you're done you feel great and either you're committed or your not. Now go make a dang call!

A few of my friends

I've been in a reflective mood the last few minutes thinking about some of the great people I've had the honor of training this year. So just for fun, here are some of my new friends (and newly minted StarMaker graduates)!

The Super Seven from McGraw Realtors in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The gang from Coldwell Banker deWetter Hovious in El Paso, TX and Las Cruces, NM.

Referrals...How does he know?!

Regular readers know I link to Seth Godin often...and lately, I've been wondering if he's been hiding out in my classes. Actually, Seth is a fantastic marketer and when it comes to referrals, he seems to "get it" as well.

There are lots of folks who want to teach you how to work by referral, but no one does it with the sophistication of Floyd Wickman. Read Seth's latest post on referrals and see if you agree with him. Floyd and I do. And if you're a StarMaker graduate, brush up on the Referral Lead Generator first, then see just how much of Seth's post is covered in that tool.

Where I learned to blog

Seth Godin is a master blogger. I watched him for 3 months before I wrote a word on my blog and I know you could benefit from watching him too. Today, he wrote a post titled "How to write a blog post". Click and go read it!

The story buyers tell themselves...

Your buyers tell themselves a story before they even contact you. The story is about the lifestyle they want to live, the house they think they want, the neighborhood it will be in, AND the price they should pay for all of that. Most of us understand that the story and reality are, shall we say, somewhat different. Understanding what your prospects are telling themselves helps you anticipate hesitations and objections. Don't miss Geno Petro from Chicago on the $800,000 house.

Holiday Travel Done Right

I've completed my last week of heavy travel for the fall run of programs. Yesterday I started to think of all of the leisure travelers about to descend on the airports in the coming weeks. With 130+ flights logged so far this year, most of this stuff is obvious and automatic for me but I thought those of you who don't travel for a living might appreciate some tips. Here's what you need to know:

Core Values in Action!

One of the StarMaker Core Values: Do what I say I'll do, sometimes more, just never less.

I guess some airlines do care. In this case, it was JetBlue. Click "sometimes more" to read the story.

PS. I know it was JetBlue because they have the TVs and XM radio on their planes.

How do you say Realtor?

We all are bothered by things that seems like no big deal to others. Popping gum, not hitting the gas the split second the light turns green, talking too much to the cashier in the line at Starbucks, talking too loud on an airplane...all things that to me, are like nails on a chalkboard (Ironically, nails on a chalkboard don't bother me that much). Chill out Jason, you say?! Okay, well there is one more thing that drives me crazy. It's the fact that half of our population (and way too many real estate agents) can't pronounce the words Realtor and realty. This week I've noticed it more than usual. Real-la-tor is wrong and makes you sound uneducated. Real-la-ty is wrong and also, makes you sound uneducated. And if you say, "When my listing sales...", you should be smacked. It's "When my listing sells...".

No big deal you say? What facial expression did you make the last time you heard our president say nucular? To be sure, Realtor is on the list of the 100 Most Mispronounced Words.

Out of Control Email

175. That's the number of emails currently in my Inbox. That's just stupid and until recently I didn't even realize that is was an unconscious source of stress in my life. An inbox is not a place you store "stuff". You receive things there and organize from that point. I'm on a quest to reduce that number from 175 to between 5 & 10 and this inspiration came from a report I read yesterday. It was written several years ago and some of the parts are dated but the core message is excellent, valid and may just help you too. Here's the link:

Download Managing Email (PDF)

Floyd = Confidence

Confidence is a powerful word indeed. Why is it that some Realtors have confidence to spare and some move through each day afraid of success? The answer, i think lies in that which gives an agent confidence.

WORDS.

At the end of each program I teach, I often hear and read statements like: "What I like most is the confidence I've gained from the program." The connection to me is very clear. Confidence comes from having the words to respond to your clients concerns, hesitations, objections, etc. And that's Floyd's greatest gift to the real estate industry. Words, wrapped around psychologically sound tracks that are persuasive and that work. Words that make you a salesperson and prevent you from talking at your clients. Words that persuade yet aren't pushy. Words that become dialogues when used with world class delivery skills.

If FLOYD = WORDS = CONFIDENCE, then FLOYD = CONFIDENCE.

And if you are a student or graduate of ours and you lack confidence, there's an easy solution: speak Floyd.