Jerry Rossi's summary of the 2009 buyer

Watch this video by Jerry Rossi. He has a solid view of the characteristics of the 2009 buyer. Many of his points are about the characteristics we have been discussing but his overall message points out the need to provide pertinent information to capture the buyer lead. Pay close attention to his first listing video.

The Practices of Follow Up

Successful agents are driven with determination and commitment when following up with leads. The more consistent the follow up the greater the chance the professional will have of converting the prospect into a client. Be careful of success and of being too busy for follow up. Being disciplined is a critical part of successful follow up. If you consider these tips when designing and implementing a follow up system you will have SUCCESS!
Time Management
· Following up with leads has to be a routine – set specific times daily to follow up with prospective customers and clients.
· Don’t let follow up time suffer from being busy. Set aside time daily to follow up even if it isn’t the same time every day.
· Lead follow up is your number one job when you’re not out actively performing duties for your buyers and sellers. It is a mind set of tenacity and determination.
Discipline and Organization
· Believe in the fact that consistent follow up is a proven method leading to success. Use an easily to follow system for follow up and stick to it.
· Organization begins with keeping the information you have on leads in one place. Don’t get confused between one lead and another by being disorganized or haphazard in organization.
Documentation
· Use a system to capture critical information like a prospect sheet and use it with every lead. Use a system that is easy for you and makes you feel comfortable.
· Keep notes on each lead with details from each conversation. Review these notes before each contact with a lead to help redevelop rapport and refocus on key information.
Set Your Expectations
· Expect rejection! It’s ok. Determine your no to yes ratio to keep yourself encouraged. Using that ratio and your average commission determine how much each no is actually worth. Have fun with this!
· Understand rejection. Many times customers use the word no to mean, “I need more information .” Sometimes no means, “I’m not ready yet.”
· If you don’t ask you’ll never be rejected. Ask for business a lot otherwise you’ll never get to a single yes.
· Understand your prospects’ needs and wants by asking probing questions and listening to their answers. This valuable information will help you be of exceptional service and stand apart from the competition.

Follow Up...A Key to SUCCESS

Following up with prospects is a key to being successful in real estate. Having a system that allows regular, consistent, and expected contact with your prospects is a must. When designing a follow up system consider the following five pricniples to get the most from your follow up routine.
1. Reach out on a regular basis. Consistently contact your leads and focus on building your relationship. The more a prospect hears your name, the more likely they will remember it. If you remain in contact with a prospect, they will be more inclined to work with you because you made an effort to stay in touch.

2. Make yourself memorable. Make yourself stand out among other sales associates. Give your prospects a unique item; tell them something interesting about yourself (hobbies or other interests outside of real estate); wear something distinctive so it's easy for potential buyers and sellers to remember you. Provide your prospects with a higher level of service than your competition so you stand out from the rest.

3. Make it personal by being a student of your prospects. Knowing details about your prospects' lives helps you to have a more natural flow to your conversations. People feel more comfortable with someone who can talk to them about leisure activities and common interests. Also, your leads will be very impressed and flattered that you took the time to learn something about them.

4. Give something of value. The purpose of each contact with a prospect should be to offer them something to help them with their real estate needs,and ultimately lead to them working with you. Offer to provide them with new listings that meet their needs, meeting with your Gold Services Manager, the Weichert Brochure or one of the other Weichert Tools at each contact. Get to know the inventory and stay current on the local market statistics such as average days on market, absorption rate, and median sales price in your area so you are ready to talk abut these helpful facts with your prospects.

5. Write it down - Use a system to schedule and organize your activities. Don't let disorganization keep you from following up with your prospects. Put a system in place to organize notes on your prospects and prompt you to call them in a timely and regular manner. Whether your system is online or paper based, the discipline of recording what action to take and when with each prospect will keep the relationship alive. When your prospect is ready to make a move, it's you they will turn to since you were the professional who kept in constant contact, focusing on their needs.