Level Up - From Agent to Entrepreneur

Set Up Your Negotiations To Succeed

Every stage of the real estate transaction has been impacted by the COVID-19 lockdowns and changes in the market. The terms of deals are changing rapidly, and the decisions of buyers and sellers are also shifting along with the situation we’re in. 

Agents are still presenting and receiving offers and having to negotiate deals, but the process has become more challenging. 

It is our responsibility to give every offer as good a shot as possible of getting to the closing table, and that’s dependent on the action we take, but most importantly, our mindset.  

How do we prepare ourselves and our clients for navigating this real estate market? What information do we need to have ahead of time, and how will this make closings more likely? 

In this episode, we talk about how to adapt our negotiation to what’s going on. 

 

The mental part of this game right now is critical. There are going to be 4 sets of emotions in the transaction, and the only one you can control are your own. -Brendon Payne 

 

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode  

Pre-qualifications and pre-approvals are getting outdated rapidly. If a buyer has a pre-approval that’s a few weeks old, make the deal contingent on them getting a current pre-approval. 

Having relationships with mortgage officers is important because they can become a resource during this time to keep us informed on what’s changing in the market. 

It is our job to remain calm. When we react emotionally, we become the problem in the transaction and the reason deals fall apart.

The Power of Collaboration

When things are not going well in business and in the market in general, the importance of certain activities and measures is amplified. 

Right now, more than ever, there’s a huge need for all of us to work together to navigate these tough times and mastermind to come up with solutions and strategies. We also need people who can step up and provide guidance and certainty. 

What are some of the ways we can mastermind and collaborate within our teams? How can we bring light to our consumers through leadership? In this episode, we talk about why leadership and collaboration are two critical aspects of getting through this.  

 

At times like this, true leaders step up and shine for others and bring light to the business and help people navigate. Collaboration is also critical. -Greg Harrelson  

 

3 Things You’ll Learn in this Episode 

• How to get our heads right to help the consumer get their heads right 
• Why we’re in trouble if our leadership and collaboration is only showing up now 
• What leaders can do to stay grounded and focused right now

Have You Made The Right Changes To Your Routine

In these unprecedented times, the market, the industry and the consumer demands different things and even new things from us. Our habits have to shift accordingly, so we need to create a new routine to match where we are. 

What habits need to change, and which ones need to stay the same as before this crisis? What are our agents doing to keep taking listings and keep the business going?

In this episode, we share the things we need to be doing to cultivate a positive mindset, and generate energy and business right now. 

 

Lead generation doesn’t stop. How you lead generate and the conversations you have might change, but the process of waking up and going out to look for business still exists. -Greg Harrelson 

 

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode  

• Prepare for the routine to change multiple times but still commit to the fundamentals like mindset, lead generation and follow up. 
  
  
• Maintain the mindset that we’re going to get through this and that the action we take right now will contribute to the state of our businesses on the other side.
   
  
• Virtual in a real estate agent's world can be lonely. Get plugged in somewhere to stay in the collective headspace and conversation of real estate.

Getting Family To Buy-In To An Altered Schedule

More of us are working from home than ever before, and this presents a challenge for our households and families. We need to be responsible and have business maturity to maintain our ability to work in a location with more distractions. 

It’s important to prepare our families and involve them in our communication around what’s going on. How can we get the household to protect us instead of distracting us? How do we get our families to help hold us accountable to our routines? What happens without family buy-in? 

In this episode, we talk about the importance of getting our families to buy into the new way of working.  

 

It is important to provide certainty to our families, to use this opportunity to educate our children, and to be an example of a true professional. -Greg Harrelson 

The Eyes Are On The Internet, Where Are You?

With millions of people stuck indoors in these uncertain times, people are spending a lot more time online than before, especially through their phones. This means we have a huge captive audience of people we can inform and connect with. There’s an opportunity to engage with people and there are many ways we can leverage it.  

How do we capture mindshare through information so that we become the people they want to talk to, and the people they want to work with when certainty returns? 

In this episode, we talk about how to leverage the added eyeballs and attention online and the kind of content we can create. 

 

 We have to be positioned where their eyes are pointed. -Greg Harrelson  

Takeaways + Tactics 

• The frequency at which we’re consuming the information we’re interested in has gone through the roof. 
  
  
• People have more time to Google and research us online, it’s important that we put our best digital feet forward. 
  
  
• Focus on informing people not on giving advice. 
  
  
• Leverage online marketplaces. Right now, the number of views a new listing is getting is going to skyrocket.

Fill in the Blank - I Wish I Would Have___

When things change in the market and there’s an interruption in the direction we were going, we need to adjust and react quickly. Depending on how we respond to what’s happening, a year from now, we can either look back with regret or gratitude that we took the right actions. 

Once we’re in the clear, and the dust has settled, there will be the agent who took market share and the agents who contracted. We can make the decision on which side of the divide we want to be standing. 

How can we future-proof ourselves so that we’re not looking back wishing we’d done things differently? In this episode, we talk about an important thought process that needs to govern our choices right now. 

 

Most people miss the opportunity that’s presented when there’s disruption in the market, because they withdraw from it. -Greg Harrelson 

We also discussed:

• Why we already know what we need to do to avoid regret 
• How we’re all in a leadership role for ourselves
• The difference between motion and advancement 

Breakdown or Breakthrough - The Choice is Ours

As leaders, the times that we’re living through are going to require more mental and emotional bandwidth from us. Times of turmoil create more intensity and more things that we have to be concerned with. It can feel like things are breaking down, but the biggest positive changes come from breakdowns. 

How do we compensate for the rising intensity level? Why is it so important for us to fight for something bigger than ourselves? 

In this episode, we talk about what it takes to break through the pain of a rise in intensity or the challenge of a new routine. 

 

Breakdowns are necessary if we want to experience massive breakthroughs, the bigger the breakdown, the bigger the breakthrough. -Greg Harrelson 

 

In This Episode You’ll Learn 

• Why breakthrough is preceded by breakdown
• The difference between being offensive and defensive in our approach 
• Why we can have a big WHY and still be complacent

Plan B: The New Business Plan

Coronavirus, the ensuing uncertainty and market volatility requires us to adopt an alternative business plan. 

Whatever business plan we created at the beginning of the year isn’t going to cut it right now. We need a plan for what we need to do right now to sustain our businesses. 

If we’re rethinking our business plans, what are the non-negotiable activities that need to be a part of them? What do we do to make sure when the crisis is over we come out of it running instead of crawling? 

In this episode, we talk about creating your Plan B business plan.

 

 

When we come out of this, the consumer is going to go back to demanding skills from their agents. -Brendon Payne 

 

Takeaways and Tactics

• Take a look at expenses and be really realistic about what’s giving you a return and what’s not necessary at the moment. 
  
  
• Our business plans need to include our routine, our activities and accountability.  
  
  
• Get in touch with past clients, centers of influence and your database. Stop thinking about it as prospecting, and see it as connection and support. 

How to Keep Making Calls During the COVID-19 Crisis w/Dale Archdekin

Despite all the uncertainties in the market at the moment, people still need to buy and sell houses, and if we conduct ourselves the right way, we could be the agents to help them proceed. How can we continue to make calls in such a sensitive time,  and is there a right way to handle our database’s anxieties? How do we know which contacts we should be nurturing during this period? On this episode, Dale Archdekin, Founder of Smart Inside Sales, shares how to keep making calls during the COVID-19 crisis. 

 

Don’t be tone deaf to people’s fears right now: we have to be sensitive and empathetic. -Dale Archdekin

 

Takeaways + Tactics 

• While we have to keep reaching out, it’s important we don’t come across as tone deaf. Be mindful of the challenges people are facing and speak with empathy.
  
• If an important announcement has just been made, go ahead with calls but offer to call back in a week or two with an update on the market. People are most anxious immediately after an announcement, so call them again in a few days, when their stress levels have stabilized somewhat.
  
• Ask potential clients if the only reason they’re hesitant to buy or sell now is because of the current pandemic. If we know they’d be willing to go ahead with a transaction if not for COVID-19, we can keep nurturing a relationship with them in the meantime.

 

At the start of this episode, we spoke about the importance of adapting our scripts to be as empathetic as possible during this time. We also discussed why it’s so important to stay productive during this period if we want to ensure our future in the industry.

 

On this episode we discussed:

• Why the current situation will make or break real estate professionals
• The importance of building rapport with our database now
• How to avoid pushing people into a business conversation

 

Guest Bio- 

Dale Archdekin is the Founder of Smart Inside Sales, a coaching and training company serving residential real estate agents and brokers. As former Director of Lead Generation for a top-5 Keller Williams Realty mega team, Dale was instrumental in more than doubling the team’s sales to over $200 million in just 3 years. Dale has been a residential real estate salesperson for close to 10 years now. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, who is also a residential real estate agent with close to 10 years of experience, and their two amazing kids. Dale and his wife invest in real estate as well and real estate is their main vehicle for their retirement planning. 

 

To find out more about Dale, head to:

Smartinsidesales.com 

You can also email him directly at dale@smartinsidesales.com

Understanding The Shift That Has Happened

In a time of widespread confusion, concern and fear, it can be hard to put a finger on what has really shifted and changed, and how to respond to it.

What has really happened and what should we be focusing on in response? How does where we are impact how our clients will act and make decisions? 

On this episode, we talk about what the shift that’s taking place is actually a sign of, and what we need to do to win in this space.  

 

The key to developing and sustaining a good real estate business through turmoil is being the professional who brings certainty back into the conversation. -Greg Harrelson 

 

Takeaways + Tactics 

• If you’re hearing people’s legitimate concerns as objections, you’re going to come across as ‘salesy.’ This won’t work in this market. 
  
  
• Things change quickly, and the way of communicating a week ago might no longer be relevant to the current concerns of consumers. 
  
  
• Learn how to shift your listening and your activity in order to be prepared for what’s happening in the market on this episode of The Level Up podcast.