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Swansea, IL Real Estate News

By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
A recent Microsoft Money blogger Louis Navellier outlined 7 reasons housing is doomed: Low housing starts... foreclosures hit record numbers... expensive homes still not selling... banks not giving loans... property prices falling... housing permits drop... homebuyer credit expiring The responses by commenters ranged from "at last, someone outside of real estate is telling us the real truth" to "one that I believe is the only response that will help the situation: I bet that if the media did an experiment and just decided to write positive things about the housing market for 4 or 5 weeks people would start to believe that houses are a good investment and the market would begin to heal itself...so much of this is an emotional reaction and pack mentality....try it please.... If real estat...
Comments 11
By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
A common technique shared with job seekers is to prepare a 30 second commercial about themselves.  When they make a job call or meet someone they know, they are encouraged to work in the commercial as it give more insight them than saying, "Hi, I am John Jones. I have a degree. Please hire me." As agents, sometimes we list all our credentials on our websites and flyers without really convincing anyone that we are the best agent for the job! However, as a knowledgeable expert, you embody just what the name implies. You are more than your written credentials.  You are an expert in the field of real estate, who knows what it takes to buy or sell a home. You know how to best market a listing and get the highest price. You're familiar with the homes in your area so the buyer isn't riding aro...
Comments 42
By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
As business coaches in the world of real estate, we are often asked, "How can agents better differentiate themselves during a networking event when other agents are present"? In other words, most agents shine during a listing presentation, when all their notes and market analysis are right there in front of them. The question then becomes, how can they do that while networking, when time is short and they're talking to someone they just met? It is easy; begin to think of yourself as the knowledgeable expert. You are the type of person who knows a good bit about a particular subject but is not stingy or preachy with the information. A conversation with you on real estate needs to be like talking to your neighbor about the lawn. "Boy your lawn looks great! What are you using on it," you m...
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By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
Like any other things you do in our business, you need to research  a few things before you hire a virtual assistant.  With most virtual assistant companies, you are not making a long time commitment, but you want to find a good match to maximize your time. What do you need to do before you hire a virtual assistant? Research VAs There's an ocean of information about them on the Internet. Search on the words virtual assistant for literally thousands of results. Revisit your business plan I'm a big proponent of business plans, especially ones that make service to your clients a top priority. You will want a VA who understands your commitment to your clients. Beyond that, identify tasks best handled by VAs then turn those tasks into a job description. With systems, everyone on your team kn...
Comments 5
By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
When the Internet took off in the 1990s, many predicted it would end agents' jobs. Ha! Not even close! In fact, the Internet has bolstered Agents in many ways. One way is through the arrival of virtual assistants (VAs) - those who work off-site. Many specialize in helping agents. There's a good reason why VAs are flourishing: efficiency. Productivity is vital in business, but productivity without efficiency is a sure path to a slow and painful death in real estate - or in any other business. VAs help you put a laser-like focus on what you do best -sell real estate. I practice what I preach. My director of technology lives in British Columbia. He saves me a bundle every year. I don't pay for his equipment, office space, insurance, vacation days, sick days, training or any other budget-dr...
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By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
This week we've been talking a bit about calls to action you might use to turn casual visitors into active prospects.  One of the most obvious calls to actions is a plain old "Contact Me" page on your website.  Many times you might have linked to this throughout the site, but in any case you want a site visitor to be able to find this page right away when he or she visit your site.  Putting the information in tiny type at the bottom of the page does not do the trick.  Especially these days, when many wonderful online companies are virtually impossible to contact in person (i.e., Amazon.com), having your contact information as a top level navigational bar is very important.   After all, do you want people to look at your pretty website or sell them a house? In this internet age, people s...
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By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
Your job description does not include "encyclopedia."  Even if you are a local area expert, intimately familiar with the properties in your town, you probably do not know how many bedrooms the home at 10764 Adams St. has or know the exact dimensions of the lot at 52 Morrison Ave. without looking it up.  If you handle a lot of property or do a lot of advertising, you or your staff could spend considerable time fielding information calls about property details. Here is a case where Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology can be a big help to you.  By dialing a hotline number, interested buyers can learn about properties of interest. When they want to talk in detail about a couple, they can press a key to get through to the operator.  This technology can also be used make automated cal...
Comments 21
By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
Some things speak for themselves. Or do they?  If that were the case, everyone would vote the sameafter a candidate lists his assets. In fact, politics, and political candidates, generate great differences of opinion among people who hear the same thing or read the same thing listed on a campaign flyer. Around a political campaign, campaign strategists endeavor to change popular thinking about their candidate.  Part of their efforts are to convert the opposed; there comes a point where they focus on winning the undecided. Keeping that in mind, no TV ad, no print ad, no photocopied flyer omits the desired call to action: Vote for ________, your best choice for __________. Insert the name, insert the cause. In real estate advertising, the point is the same.  Unless you are doing public s...
Comments 3
By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
Consumers (and I) will tell you that most agents have room for improvement when it comes to following up with leads. It honestly boggles my mind. Research clearly shows that consumers work most often with agents who respond first to their inquiries. Why do some Agents struggle to sell five homes in a year and others sell 100? Two words: Lead Management. Frankly, getting leads isn't that difficult. You can generate leads all day and night through your website, advertising, word of mouth, yard signs - on and on. The tougher job is managing leads. In fact, converting leads is the number one issue affecting the sales profession across all industries - real estate is not alone. That's why I believe the first investment an agent should make is in a lead management system - it is the kitchen ...
Comments 3
By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
A fellow coach, Kim Ades, recently gave a seminar with a provocative title: How to Live an Extraordinary Life when the Evidence Doesn't Support It.  Every time I read that title, I find myself structuring a blog.  Maybe all of us coaches think alike and promote a similar brand of positive thinking, but her title sums up my philosophy. How do most people measure success in life? With money and prosperity? Fame? Children? A nice home and car?  What is it for real estate agents?  Awards from the franchise? Ever increasing sales volume?  Industry designations?  Invitations to speak at conference?  Regard as an expert in the field? In the last couple years, some agents have continued to prosper, but many have not.  Some have left the field; other have cut back their operations to bare bones ...
Comments 2
By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
Have you ever thought of using a satisfaction questionnaire to keep in touch with your clients? According to Businesstown.com, most unhappy customers will not complain directly to the business they are unhappy with. Instead, they will complain to everyone they know while taking their business to a competitor. To counteract this possibility, businesses are increasingly making follow-up calls or sending out satisfaction questionnaires after a sale is made.  If you go to Walgreen's, Red Lobster, or JC Penney's, you will find a number on the receipt to call to complete a customer satisfaction survey. You might consider sending out a survey to clients who have completed a transaction or even to prospects who have received a few months of your emails.  Your questionnaire can be very simple an...
Comments 3
By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
No matter how old you are, you probably remember what happened every time you received birthday gift from Grandma.  Your mother would sit you down with a box of notes and a pen, and tell to you write her a thank you note.    These days, the computer makes writing "thank you's" easier and email may have even replaced the mailing phase.  The important thing is that the message was delivered, but an actual thank you note, maybe even handwritten, makes the gratitude seem a little truer.  How often do you get anything handwritten in the mail these days? How about a personal note from a company you do business with? Imagine for a minute how one of your clients might feel looking through the mail and finding a note from you, thanking them for a recent purchase or transaction. Do you think that...
Comments 4
By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
When you think about spreading the word about your business, a brochure automatically come to mind.  Even though customers may find out about you and your services on the Internet, when people meet you, they like to come away with something more substantial than a business card. Brochures can give a good "snapshot" of your business. Aside from presenting your logo and your contact information (address, phone/fax number, website, email address) - business card content- the brochure gives you a chance to tell the client what to expect from you.  It usually lists the things you can do, but offers you an opportunity to go beyond that. According to Robert Middleton, author of the Infoguru Marketing Manual, most brochures focus mainly on what a business does, rather than the problem the clien...
Comments 41
By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
It costs six times as much to get a new customer as to keep a customer you already have. Anonymous Business Sage I have heard several versions of this quote with different math.  The point is the same.  Marketing for new customers is more is expensive that developing past or current ones. In real estate, people do not buy homes all that frequently, so you can‘t just work old customers for new business from them. However, they might be ongoing sources of referrals between purchases. This is why keeping in touch with past clients can reap benefits for you. In addition, all of you have a list of prospects who you made initial contact with but who were not ready to buy at first.  You have already warmed up these people with a few calls and some emails.  It would be a shame to be forgotten w...
Comments 4
By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
"Genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration."  Thomas Edison You remember the old saying about the balance of perspiration vs. inspiration in most endeavors of life.  That 99:1 ratio reminds us that after the light bulb has come on, the implementation and the follow through are what matters. In real estate, blogging and social networking are two of the biggest light bulbs illuminating the field.  Both give potential clients an insight into who we are.  Blogging, the more time consuming effort, requires more time to prepare, but offers more space to state the case that we are experts in the field and in our local communities.  A recent article in Inman's made the point that a blog lasts forever in cyberspace - until we take it out of circulation.  Though we may count our "clicks" in ...
Comments 4
By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke may think that the worst of the economic crisis is probably behind us, but anyone out in trenches knows we have a way to. Anythign that helps, including the $8,000 first time homeowners tax credit needs to be extended , not ended.  This is why the recent Call to Action by the National Association of Realtor is right on time. Subject:  Call for Action - Extend and Expand the Homebuyer Tax Credit Earlier today, the National Association of Realtors issued a Call for Action to its 1.2 million members in support of this same objective. We urge you to go online to NAR's Realtor Action Center* and use their turnkey communications tool in order to contact each of your elected officials in Washington, D.C. We must impress upon Congress the importance of ext...
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By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
Personally, I like to talk on my cell phone in the car when I am not in a busy area.  However, some cities and states have recently banned texting while driving and even using you cell phone while driving.  We've all seen examples of where people cut it too close or made a risky turn with their phone in one hand. Yet most of us are double-minded when it comes to banning such distractions.  We say, many drivers can't handle it - I can.  Or, I need these wasted moments on the road to conduct my business... Cell phones enable high speed multitasking that can be dangerous if you‘re not careful.  Aside from the potential road hazard issue, like all multi-tasking, it can you take attention off the customer.  You may not hear what the customer has to say very clearly, or you may have to make a...
Comments 5
By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
We all know that some clients have no idea what they want.  Many do, but they are just not showing their hand.  So, when some people  say they are just looking, they may be: Actually looking with plans to buy.  Some concrete information and little a nudge might get them going. The $8,000 credit might do it.  Talking through their situation might do it.  Finding them a more affordable home (or one with special features the want)  might do it. Looking for the future to get a better idea of what's out there.  They may know that their credit is whacked, that they don't have a job at the moment, or that they aren't ready to be homeowners.   In the long run, they might turn out to be good prospects, but today they are "window shopping." Comparison shopping.  They may already have a deal in pr...
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By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
Recently, we were helping a consulting client find a website package that would help them promote a particular segment of their business.  We researched several sites on line and made a couple calls so we could give the client a brief overview of what was available in certain price ranges.   We were, literally, just looking - window shopping, so to speak -for the client to help him narrow down what he needs.  One company gave no information about the pricing on line, so we filled out a form.  A few days later, we got a call from this vendor. "What's the ballpark price of your sites," we asked. "Let me show you to a few sites and we can zero in on that," he said. We replied, "We already saw some nice packages on your site. At this point, we are doing a brief survey of what's out there. W...
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By Bob Corcoran
(Corcoran Consulting & Coaching)
Someone once asked auto racing legend Bill Vukovich the secret of his success. "There's no secret," he replied. "You just press the accelerator to the floor and steer left." That is about as simple as you can get. Stop for a moment and ask yourself if you can boil down your real estate business to something equally as simple. Having trouble? Then it is time for a peek under the hood of your business. Have things become unnecessarily complicated at your office?" Has bureaucracy crept in and started making your operations messy? Do you feel like you have lost focus? If you are answering "yes "to any of these questions, you may have lost touch with the basics. But do not feel bad, it is easy to do these days with all the bells and whistles around.   It's also easy to drive with steering, w...
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