Expect The Unexpected!

What would you do if you walked into your company's office meeting tomorrow morning and were told that your company has been sold...or worse, was closing its doors?

Having been an agent for 20+ years with a large, international brand real estate company, imagine my surprise, while on a family vacation, to find out that my broker did not renew his franchise agreement and we joined a well-respected, local real estate firm.

Can you imagine the shock and confusion that over 200 agents felt when hearing about it for the first time? I kept wondering how could this be happening. Many of us agents were extremely loyal to the brand and it was part of our business identity.

What was I going to do...find a new company or join my "new" and "immediate" family? After returning from my family vacation, I interviewed several competitors and analyzed their strengths and weaknesses.

I don't wish this situation on anyone. Looking back over the past 2 weeks, it makes me realize that many agents had to each weather through the storm and make the best decision they could on whether they would stay or go. There's no right or wrong answer...each situation is different.

The lesson I learned from all of this is you need to have a contingency plan in the back of your mind for the possibility of your real estate company not being there tomorrow. Your focus and goals must be strong enough to withstand the turmoil that accompanies a scenario like this. It will also help you get back into the game of selling real estate faster and not mentally "shut down" your business in the interim.

In the end, I stayed with my broker and his office manager, who I believe is the top sales manager in the city. They have an experienced staff and the infrastructure like no other.

Are you prepared if something ever happens to your broker? If not, now is the time to make a contingency plan.

To your success,

Dan

P.S. Are you on ActiveRain? If not, you need to be...it's an unbelievable, free source of real estate training, knowledge and possible referrals. Even if you don't blog, sign up today and discover the wealth of information that's there.

Getting The Most Out of a Good Book!

When is the last time you enjoyed reading a good book?

Was it in high school...in college...just last year...just last month?

Whenever it was, it's SO important to your personal growth to read books every day...just 10 pages of a good book daily!

Read 10 pages of a good book before you go to bed at night instead of watching TV. By doing this, your sub-conscious mind will be replaying this over in your head while you're sleeping.

This past week I returned from an 8-day vacation with my family out west...visiting Phoenix, Sedona, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas and driving back through the Mojave Desert to Phoenix.

We had a wonderful time. While flying to and from Phoenix, I was able to read the book "The Magic of Thinking Big" from cover to cover.

As I read, I highlighted the nuggets of information that I felt can help me become a better person, father, husband and entrepreneur.

Next, I copied the highlighted notes into a Work document, so that I can periodically re-read those nuggets and put them into action.

Now, as I read each new book, I write out a summary of valuable pieces of information that I can use to improve my life skills.

I'm making a notebook that's full of ideas, strategies and philosophies from many successful motivators and visionaries like Tony Robbins, David Schwartz, John C. Maxwell, Robert Kiyosaki, Jeff Olsen, Paul J. Meyer, Robert Allen, Jack Canfield, Dave Ramsey and so many more.

So, take the time now to start reading personal development business books, even certain magazines like Success Magazine and others are a great place to pick up powerful ideas.

Start today!

To your success,

Dan

Do You Have Your "4 Essentials" In Place?

Every agent needs to have the essential tools for their business updated and in place to be successful.

The 4 essential tools that you need are:

• Business Plan
• Pre-Listing Packet
• Listing Presentation
• Buyer Presentation

It seems so elementary, but it's critical to have these 4 tools fine-tuned and ready to be used at a moment's notice.

Having these 4 tools updated will help keep you focused and on target to achieve your goals.

By following the steps in your presentations versus just 'winging it', you'll get more listings and sales with fewer objections.

Sometimes by just making a small change in your presentation, you'll increase your odds by 25% of gaining a new client.

So if you haven't analyzed your presentations in the past year or two, take the time to look them over and see if there's anything you can add or delete that will help your overall success rate. You should even get your presentation critiqued by someone you respect, whether in or outside of your market.

I'm in the process of updating my listing and buyer presentations now.

To your success,

Dan

P.S. Are you on ActiveRain? If not, you need to be...it's an unbelievable, free source of real estate training, knowledge and possible referrals. Even if you don't blog, sign up today and discover the wealth of information that's there.