This is part 3 of a 4 part series

Value Proposition and competitive study

Part of the recruiting interview involves having a scripted agenda for the appointment. Managing expectations is an important part of the process. It sets people at ease because they have a sense as to the flow and objectives of the meeting. I suggest a 5 point agenda which includes the following.

1. About you
2. About us
3. Value Proposition and Competitive Study
4. Unanswered questions/ Office Tour
5. Mutual decision

In this article I will discuss the 3rd bullet point - Value Proposition and competitive study

The “Value Porposition” and “Competitive study” of your company is the most important tool in your toolbox for the “Strategic Interview”

A “Value Proposition” identifies your company’s points of differentiation. It defines what makes you different, why should someone just join your firm, how can they make more money, why should they pay more at your firm than somewhere else?

What’s important is to have the ability to quantify these points of differentiation.

If we are unable to quantify our points of differentiation and clearly articulate our value we will be resigned to sell price. Anyone can sell price. It is the easiest thing to do to be cheaper than your competitor. What takes skill is to sell someone on value.

A successful listing agent has a listing presentation prepared when they are competing for a listing. They are prepared to handle the objections on price and commission. As a manager or broker are you as well prepared?

Do you have your collateral material available in order to support your words?

Did you ask enough questions of your prospect in order to identify what things you offerthat will provide them additional value?

One of the keys to success is to know your customer (prospective recruit), identify their needs and offer a solution. They may not even realize what they need. It’s your job to discover it.

Once discovered take the time to describe how your service and offering can contribute to their success. Ask them how many extra transactions they would generate if they had access to your offering. Multiply that number by their average gross commission income to quantify the value of that service to them. In this manner you are effectively selling value verse price.

Hence the term “Value Proposition”

Is there really any good to sugar other than the taste when it hits your tongue. I think not! What’s so bad about it - lots!

When high sugar foods are eaten alone, blood sugar levels rise quickly, producing a strain on blood sugar control.

High sugar foods affect estrogenic metabolism -higher estrogen levels and PMS symptoms.

Sugars are hidden in processed foods in many ways.

READ food labels carefully and look for clues to avoid extra sugar content (sucrose, glucose, maltose, lactose, fructose, corn syrup or white grape juice concentrate). These words mean that extra sugar has been added. None of these are important to a healthy diet.

Did you know that:

• 1teaspoon of sugar reduces the effectiveness of the immune system for up to 18 hours
• average child eats 27 teaspoons of sugar / day
• one can of pop has 8-12 teaspoons of sugar
• the average adult consumes their own weight amount in sugar annually. eg. 150lb person consumes 150 pounds of sugar / year

*In the 1920’s it was 2 pounds / year

Make it a great day!

If it matters to you…it matters to me!

Monique Mueller

SPP Coaching/Health Division

Most real estate agents seem to work reactively on a daily basis rather than planning or scheduling their day in advance. They jump when the phone rings, they drop everything to show a house etc. There is no regular pattern of work time. The trouble with this approach is that it leads to low productivity and low earnings.

Successful people in any profession are scheduled people. Have you every met a successful doctor who tells patients to “come on in any old time”? No, doctors have highly scheduled lives. They have blocks of time divided into specific time increments set up for seeing patients. They know how many patients they need to see each day to create the lifestyles they choose to live.

To be successful, you must “time-block” your day. You need to understand that YOU (not the buyers, sellers, or prospects) control your schedule and that certain activities should be blocked into one’s daily schedule. These activities should be done only during those blocks of time. You need to schedule time daily to prospect, to follow up leads, to negotiate contracts, to return phone calls, to make listing presentations, to show property, to plan your business, etc. These activities should be clearly blocked in your schedule at specific times. The better you “time-block”, the more effective you will be. How effective you are, in turn, relates directly to your bottom line. The better you adhere to your “time-blocked” schedule, the more success you will have in sales. This of course means that you must decide to discipline yourself to follow a set schedule.

Don’t schedule yourself so tightly that you forget to allow for a little “flex time” or :play time”. You will need breaks mixed into your schedule. This break time will enable you to stay focused and sharp during the “up time”. Giving yourself an extra 15 minutes of “flex time” every two to three hours should be sufficient to give you a breather, and catch up so you can stay “time-blocked”.

Your focus must be on getting people to move into your schedule. You say it’s not possible? I say ‘yes it is!’

It can be done! Our successful agents are doing it.

Step 1: decide that you are going to do it.

Step 2: give your prospects and clients the opportunity to meet with you in your schedule. Ask them to meet you at specific times within your schedule. Give the client a choice between two times. You will be amazed to see how many people will select one of the times…

It’s a great feeling to do business on your own terms! You have now set a new work standard for you and your clients.

You are the one in control, not your prospect or client.

For more help in this area, call me at 1-877-783-8707 for a free complimentary coaching call.

 *  Calcium in most cooked leafy green vegetables is more readily absorbed by the human body

     than from cow’s milk.

*  Vegetables, grains and legumes contain all the protein that the human body needs.

*  Vitamin C enhances the body’s ability to absorb iron, the number one element on the deficiency list for North   Americans (especially women). 

*   The optimal amount of cholesterol in the diet is zero.  The body is capable of  manufacturing its own         cholesterol on demand which eliminates the danger of oxidized  cholesterol circulating in the body. 

*   The best source of fiber is found naturally in whole grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits.  Animal products do not contain any fiber. 

Whole Grains, Starchy Vegetables

This group includes bread, rice, pasta, hot or cold cereal, millet, amaranth, quinoa, teff, buckwheat and kasha, corn on the cob, potato, squash, sweet potato.  Since carbohydrate is the staff of life, build most of your meals around a hearty grain or starchy dish.  Grains and starchy veggies are rich in fibre and other complex carbohydrates, as well as protein, B vitamins and zinc.  The orange starchy vegetables also provide an important antioxidant beta carotene. 

Green Vegetables and Sprouts

Green vegetables and sprouts are packed with nutrients; they provide vitamin C, beta-carotene, riboflavin and other vitamins, iron, calcium and fibre.  Local dark leafy green vegetables such as  collards, kale, mustard greens, turnip and beet greens, chicory, bok choy and chard are especially good sources of these important nutrients.  The cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower provide additional cancer fighting phytonutrients.  Dark yellow and orange vegetables such as carrots and sweet peppers provide extra beta-carotene.  Sprouts are excellent reserves of vitamins and enzymes and are great to use when local green veggies are in short supply. 

Legumes

Legumes, which is another name for beans, peas and lentils, are all good sources of fibre, protein, iron, calcium, zinc and B vitamins.  This group also includes hummus, baked beans,  tofu and tempeh.

Fruit

Fruits are rich in fibre, vitamin C, beta-carotene and numerous cancer protective nutrients.  Be sure to include at least two servings each day of fruits that are especially rich in colour, such as fresh local berries or stone fruit, apples and local melons at the peak of the season.  Rosehip tea, citrus fruits and kiwi in the winter season are all good choices.  Choose whole fruit over commercial fruit juices (they don’t contain as much healthy fibre and must be pasteurized).  Instead, make or buy juices freshly squeezed.

 Nuts, Seeds and Their Oils

 This group of foods, rich in beneficial oils and essential fatty acids; includes local nuts and seeds and their unrefined oils, avocados, coconut and coconut oil, olives and olive oil.  Fresh unrefined fats are great energy sources, supplying energy to most inner organs.   Essential fatty acids found in flax and hemp seeds or walnuts are important for building healthy cell membranes and maintaining skin, nerve fibers, blood vessels and other tissues youthful and supple.  They are also an essential part of hormones and brain chemicals.  Choose fresh (raw) or freshly roasted nuts (done at home not bought roasted) and seeds over packaged roasted, salted or sugar-coated snacks that might contain harmful rancid oils.  Cold-pressed oils are excellent as long as they are properly stored (kept in the refrigerator) and not heated. 

 HST is another reason why to follow the 5 food groupsand stay away from processed foods.  If you have any questions about my article on the 5 food groups, please contact me.  Always love your feedback.

Have you ever wondered what the word breakfast stands for.  We all know that it is the first meal of the day, but it literally means to break your night fast gently and slowly. 

So you may ask;  “what is the best way to do this?”

Start with a couple of large glasses of water, herbal tea or freshly squeezed and diluted fruit juice to cleanse the bladder and kidneys and prepare the digestive tract for the daily meal routine.  Add a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice or unpasteurized apple cider vinegar into your water to rekindle the digestive fire after the night’s rest.  Avoid commercial citrus juices in the morning (or any time of the day) as they stir up acids in the body; freshly squeezed juices from very ripe citrus fruits are O.K. if well tolerated.  Eat juicy ripe fruit next and if still hungry, fresh or dried fruit with some proteins and starches.

Heavy fried foods, a lot of bakery goods, oily pancakes or doughnuts are not recommended.  If you are hypoglycemic, avoid too much fruit and fruit juices; try fresh vegetables, sprout and grass juices that you make yourself or some more convenient green drinks, such as reconstituted dry barley or wheat grass juice and spirulina that you can obtain easily in a powder form at a health food store.  Avoid powders with too many ingredients as they may interfere with the body’s natural tendencies to cleanse in the morning.  Fresh nut and seed milks made in a blender from soaked almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts, sunflower, hemp or sesame seeds are also very good enzyme and protein sources. 

Chocolate Shake

Silky smooth and delicious, packed with nutrients, this shake easily rivals commercial chocolate flavored protein shakes.

3 cup              prunes

1 cup              water

¼ cup             hemp hearts

2 Tbsp.            carob powder

1 tsp.               coffee substitute (such as Caro, Inka, Biocaf, Bambu or other brand)

2        tsp.                  pure vanilla extract

2        Tbsp.   raw almond butter or tahini (pureed sesame seeds)

Wash prunes and rehydrate by soaking in water overnight. 

In the morning, combine prunes with the rest of the ingredients in a blender.  Blend until

smooth.

Variations: Rehydrate different dried fruit (raisins, apricots, pears, peaches) or use fresh sweet fruit (peach, banana, apricot, blueberries …) instead of prunes. 

“if you’re interested in a free consultation on how

to increase your energy” book your appointment today!!!

Prospecting is the most efficient lead generator ever created. All it takes is time, willingness and a little bit of skill. You don’t need large amounts of money to prospect well.

It is a primary skill for every sales person to acquire. There is no method of lead generation that deals so well with the law of cause and effect. The law states certain causes create certain effects. Making phone calls and talking to people creates leads! Leads create income! It is a guarantee!

Most agents are searching for the “magic pill” formula or solution to avoid prospectingand still have an extraordinary business! They are hoping and praying that their marketplace will run contrary to the laws of success. You know better! You are in the people business - talking to people is how you make money!

The hardest step in any process is the first step. Just do it! That is your magic pill. Once you get the first call/conversation out of the way - you’re on a roll. The feeling of satisfaction of having accomplished your daily objectives is priceless - not to mention the monetary rewards resulting from your diligence.

The difference between an ordinary agent and an extraordinary one is the ‘extra’ that they do! Most agents avoid prospecting; they give in to their feelings and allow themselves to be distracted by other non-income producing tasks.

My question to you is this: Do you want to be ordinary or extraordinary?

This part 2 of a 4 part series - About Us – Sharing our values and what we want as a company

Part of the recruiting interview involves having a scripted agenda for the appointment.  Managing expectations is an important part of the process.  It sets people at ease because they have a sense as to the flow and objectives of the meeting.  I suggest a 5 point agenda which includes the following.

1.  About you

2.  About us

3.  Value Proposition and Competitive Study

4.  Unanswered questions/ Office Tour

5.  Mutual decision

In this article I will discuss the 2nd item.  About us

It is important to communicate in the recruiting interview that we are selective in the hiring process.  In step 2 of the agenda we need to take the time to share the values of our company.  I would suggest that you share the following values; Honesty, Integrity, Professionalism, Financial Responsibility and Productivity.

Take the time to share why these values are important to you.  It ultimately shows that you care about the culture of your office.  It will ultimately weed out the wheat from the chaff. 

Implement a 3 strikes and you are out value policy.  It is a great way to establish your commitment to your values and to your company. Share this value system with the prospect to show that you back up what you say.

This is why I believe we need an agenda for the recruiting process.  In order that we are consistent with our messaging and that we have an instance where we can point to where this message was communicated.

Next month we will discuss the “Value Proposition”

Are you feeling burnt out?  Are the demands and details of your work schedule stressing you out?  Does your family still know what you look like?  Are you getting bogged down with paperwork? 

Then it’s time to take the plunge and start thinking like a business person!  A business person knows that they would be more productive and effective if they leveraged their selling skills and delegate ALL the other tasks.  

You need to focus on INCOME PRODUCING ACTIVITIES!!!  Income producing activities are defined as:  prospecting, lead follow up and negotiating offers.  It’s all about procuring listings.   

How to get there?  Here is a guideline of ‘who’ should eventually become part of your team: 

Step One:

Non-licensed assistant - someone who can perform all administrative and office tasks.  

Step Two:

Licensed assistant –  someone that can support the sales effort and field inquires that only an individual with a license is allowed to do.  This individual also converts ad/sign calls for the buyer or listing agent and delegates the leads. 

Step Three:

Buyer Agent – someone that loves people and wants to take on the time consuming task of taking out buyers.  If you can generate enough leads to keep your buyer’s agent busy, it should easily cover your costs early in the relationship.  

Remember, your role is to be the rainmaker!!!!   

Building and managing a team takes time and expertise. Knowing how to delegate tasks and how to stay focussed are critical elements of success. If you have a team or are in the process of developing one; contact us here at SPP for our Team Consulting Services.