Bruce’s new book is due out soon, in Sept 2016!

Entitled, “Words. What To Say When You Don’t Know What To Say. The Ultimate Guide To Selling More Real Estate In Any Market”, this exciting new publication is absolutely packed with terrific skill and business building ideas for your career. Some of the topics include:

• The “Success Concepts” of today’s real estate professional
• How to answer the two most common questions in real estate to generate new business opportunities
• Sales skills and techniques for success today
• How to be a “Trusted Advisor” instead of a salesperson, and build lasting relationships with your Clients that result in repeat business and referrals
• How to “Sell” yourself online to the Digital Consumer
• Powerful skills for working with Buyers and Sellers in any kind of market
• How to master the listing appointment and be ready for any objection
• How to master the market data and crush the competition
• How to go from Rookie to Rockstar in record time!
• and much more…..

It has a list price of $34.95 and will be available on Amazon.com, this website and as a Kindle book.

This groundbreaking book will change the way Agents learn how to become true professionals in the industry, and enable them to increase their income and grow their businesses!

Knowing the actual market stats for your local area is critical to building confidence with your Prospects and Clients!

If you work within a handful of neighborhoods on a regular basis, then being familiar with the stats and/or trends for those neighborhoods is essential.

Here are some market stats to track on a monthly and quarterly basis:

• Average sales prices
• Average sold price per square foot
• Average days on market
• Total number of available homes
• The “Turnover” rate
• The “Absorption” rate

Tracking these stats regularly will also reveal “trends”, or changes in the stats over time. Comparing the market performance in a specific month and also the market performance from the previous year will establish how the market is moving and may reveal opportunities. For example, if sales prices in a neighborhood are up year over year, and the days on market is down, then it might be an excellent time for a Seller to list their home. Might be a great time send out a marketing message soliciting new listings due to improved market conditions.

Tracking your market stats will also prepare you to have a powerful and effective answer to the question, “How’s the market?”. The answer to that question is certainly not “Unbelievable!” , but rather a short but detailed review of a couple of key stats that will impress a Consumer with your knowledge and competency, and will be memorable because you are a real resource and a professional in our industry.

Gain an unfair advantage over your competition! Build the habit of knowing your local market information!

Building a successful real estate career requires an Agent to develop 3 areas of discipline: Skills, Strategy and Structure. the Skills to successfully help Buyers and Sellers get through the buying or selling process. A Business Strategy that is a good match for them, and a strategy that will work in the current market environment. And Structure, or how everything works together and the operational side of the business: websites, databases, processes and systems, and leverage (other people who help you).

The biggest challenge most agents face today is the development of a consistent and productive lead generation strategy. Typically, once they have developed a Client relationship with a Consumer, they usually excel at delivering great customer service and helping that Consumer achieve their real estate goals. The problem is finding enough Consumers to work with on a regular basis. When you take this challenge, and add the changes in communication with the internet and social media, and the economic upheaval of the past several years, you have a real problem.

What does work, especially now?

What used to work really well may not work well now, or even work at all.

So “going back to the basics” may be a terrible idea.

The answer is found in the question: “What does the Consumer want from us?”

Answer that question, and you will be on the path to new success that will work today.

Serve the Consumer, and you will Thrive.

“The best way to get what you want in life, is to help other people get what they want”, Zig Ziglar

“Seven Styles” was written to address this challenge, and to help agents find a genuine and authentic method of generating leads for their real estate business.

Here’s a simple formula for lead generation today: Know who you want your Clients to be, develop the skills and build the Value Proposition to serve that Client, promote your Value Proposition through your Web Assets and Social Media Communications, and actively interact (prospect) with these Consumers/Clients to develop relationships that will grow into business relationships.

Obviously this is a rather general statement and somewhat philosophical, but there are multiple examples of agents succeeding by following this simple formula.

What is fascinating is to contrast this with the advice from the past. The old ways included door knocking, mass mailings, newspaper and magazine advertising and more.

We live in a new world today, and this new world in populated by the information empowered Consumer, and the seek real estate agents who clearly understand their needs, and have the skills and services (your Value Proposition) that serve those needs. And this new world offers incredible opportunities for success for agents who understand this new dynamic.

Serve the Consumer, and you will Thrive.

Do you have a real lead generation system, and is your current lead generation system about “service”?

How important is an agent’s business strategy? Great question, especially since our industry doesn’t really address that question.

Forgive the obvious pun, but an agent’s strategy is like the foundation of a house. Without a good foundation, we can put in a lot of work and still not have shelter from a storm. The result of our efforts can be worthless. It’s the same with an agent’s career: no clear strategy, then no consistent results. Lots of effort but no momentum.

The other option is to choose the strategy first, then build the business on it. A much better result. In fact, once the strategy is defined, then writing the business plan is much easier. The activities that fit the strategy become rather obvious, just as the activities that don’t fit become obvious too.

The bottom line: choosing a strategy first is essential to success. In our work, we have identified seven basic strategy types, or “Styles”, hence the name of the book. When we work with an agent to help them to develop their careers and business, our first priority is to determine the agent’s strategy and then build from there. We’ll define the elements of the strategy and the income producing activities, and how to position an agent’s web “assets”. We also consider if the chosen strategy is a fit for that agent’s personality profile based on the DISC® system. Other considerations include whether or not there appears to be a sufficient market to support the strategy, and whether it’s likely that the strategy will work in the current real estate market. This comprehensive approach works with an agent launching their career with authority, and for an agent seeking to re-invent success in a changed world.

If you analyze the career of a successful agent, you will find that they have a clear strategy, and it will be a strategy that fits them as an individual. The last element is that their strategy works well in the real estate market cycle that they exist within. If you examine the career of an agent who is struggling, these elements will be missing.

Our goal is simple: change the way that our industry has the conversation about how to succeed, empower agents with the tools that they need to become successful and stay successful in the face of a market change, and open the door for genuine success for more real estate agents.

Our strategy is to help you find your strategy.

Over the past 3 years, I have been coaching real estate agents, and my emphasis has been to help them create and implement business strategies and plans for success that are matched to who they are as people. I have worked hard to understand an agent’s natural “assets” and their personality type, and then help them create an individual strategy and plan built on that foundation. In this way, they will
be engaged in activities that are comfortable for them, and that take advantage of their strengths.

In doing this work, I’ve been able to identify the different ways an agent can succeed and have labeled them. Now we have a system based on this concept that empowers real estate agents to create powerful and successful careers. Clarity is achieved, the Business plan can be easily written, and the path to success is apparent.

The core concept is simple: an agent can design a career that is matched to them and will deliver the success that they seek, and still be true to who they are. That is the message of “SEVEN STYLES”.

My personal goal is simple: I want to change the way we have the conversation in our industry about how to succeed. And I want more agents to succeed in ways that are natural to them. I want to make a difference in the lives of others.

“SEVEN STYLES” was written to make that difference.

Soon, my newest book, “SEVEN STYLES. How to Design Your Real Estate Career of Success and Significance” will be here, and the discussion about strategies for real estate agents will begin here.

It’s everywhere. It seems that every industry has segmented into smaller, specialized micro markets, serving a narrow market niche.

The medical field has many specialties: foot specialists; ear, nose and throat specialists; heart specialists; back specialists, etc.

The automotive industry has morphed over the past couple of decades into something new. There was a time when we had a problems with our car, we would take it to a mechanic. Now, when it needs an oil change we go to the quick lube outlet, when it needs tires we go to the tire store, when it needs brakes we go to the brake specialist.

Think about the number of different restaurants that are now available, or different kinds of grocery and convienence stores, department or household goods stores, and so on. Specialization has spread everywhere.

The result is that the consumer is now trained to seek out a specialist when they need a product or service. There is great perceived value to working with a “specialist” or an “expert”.

Has the real estate industry responded to this trend in consumer behavior? Do we have genuine specialists with specific value propositions designed to appeal to the consumer with a special need? Really?

Oh we have some agents who specialize, or say they do. And we have some who actually do have a specialty and a finite value proposition. But how many?

As an industry, we are still training agents to be generalists. We promote all kinds of designations and training, and agents seek them out so they can appear qualified to work with many kinds of consumers. So they are prepared to work with almost anyone. But is this really the best plan?

What will the future hold for our industry? Will the consumer more often seek the real specialist to help them? Today, they can locate such a specialist in moments with search engines like Google. Will the consumer begin to reject the “generalist” agent in favor of a highly trained and competent “expert”?

Is the future of our industry really a future of specialization?

If so, what will that mean to you?

How is consumer behavior changing?

Clearly, consumers have migrated online. Over 90% of consumers start looking for property information on line. There is a wealth of that information, and a plethora of on line tools now available, with new ones launching daily.

With so much information available, consumers have delayed contacting Realtors until later in the process. It’s common practice now for a Buyer to connect with a Realtor with a short list of favorite homes that they want to see, complete with detailed information and research on the individual properties and on the neighborhoods. A high percentage of them have already started working with a mortgage lender and have been pre-qualified.

Sellers have also done their homework. They have their “Zestimate”. They’ve been to the county website. They’ve done research on similar close-by homes, both available and sold. They often have a fairly clear idea of the value of their property when they meet with us.

How does this change our behavior and value proposition?

How does this change affect what they want from us as professionals?

How can we better serve the “New Age” Consumer?

The New Age Realtor is, and must be different. A lot less “happy talk” and more real value and knowledge. Less “howtheheckareyou?howboutthemCowboys!” and a little more “Here’s what I can do for you”, and “This is why you should choose me”. Maybe a little “I’m a specialist” thrown in just for good measure. It might even help to be very clear on what your real value proposition is, and why they should care. A little differentiation from the crowd would help too.

Those of us who recognize the new consumer realities, will be positioned to capture market share from those that aren’t.

Which side of this line will you be on?