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JUST SHUT UPAND

BUY THE HOUSE


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Just Shut Up and Buy the House

Copyright 2010

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, digital,photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, withoutthe prior explicit written consent and permission of the author. EDW-831

Edited by: Elizabeth Marshall Charlotte, NC


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CONTENTS

Foreword ix

Preface xiii

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The Mind 7

Chapter 2 Massive Results 11

Chapter 3 The Bond That Binds 25

Chapter 4 Dont Fall in a Customers Hole 45

Chapter 5 Love and HateTwo Emotions to Deal With 65


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Chapter 6 Smart Marketing 75

Chapter 7 Uncooperative Clients 95

Chapter 8 Super Agent 103

Chapter 9 Listing Secrets 117

Chapter 10 Peel the Onion 147

Chapter 11 Everyone Is a Potential Sale 169


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Dedication

For Carolyn Rose. What every person in the worldshould aspire to be, and to whom I am so greatly

indebted. I can never repay you for all that you didfor me, and we will soon be together again.

I am proud to have called you Mama.

For Tonda, Savannah, and John Eric,who ll my heart with joy and wonders every day.

To my brother Scott, whos always been there thanks doesnt say enough.


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FOREWORD

BY: BILL GALLAGHER

For thousands of years, people in every culture have taughtstudents to master their professions, via a master-to-apprentice relationship. Even today, young men and womenshadow their masters as they perform their daily tasks. Theapprentices learn tricks of the trade and benet from theskills of the master. Today, more than ever before, real-

estate agents can no longer do business they way theyhave in the past. The evolution of technology has broughtus to a point in society that requires that the real-estateagent be more educated than ever before. This evolution oftechnology is one that we cannot deny. Newer innovativeways of advertising, promoting, and exchanging property


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are going to be essential to be a successful real-estateagent. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social

networking mediums employ methodology that the real-estate world has never experienced before. Prior to theinvention of the Internet, the only way to socially networkwas to throw a cocktail party and invite other agents toyour open house. Today, when people hear about a hotnew listing, it is usually by means of an announcement on

Facebook.Finding the balance between the master-apprentice

traditional method of learning and the implementation ofnew technology is difcult, to say the least. The younger,more tech-savvy agents are going to be able to market andsell properties in revolutionary and innovative ways.

One fundamental truth that is not going to changeis the importance of language and communication withour clients. This skill is what John Horne introduces toreal-estate agents in a way that truly denes the master-apprentice relationship. Fancy Web sites, great blogs, andthe Internet are wonderful tools, but if you cant educateand communicate with a client in a way that gets him to the

closing table, this technology doesnt improve your bottomline.

Agents that are on the cutting edge of self-improvementand higher education will be the ones who dominate the real-estate industry. Those who dont keep up with the technologyadvancements will nd themselves on the sidelines,

wondering why they cant make a living in real estate.


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The role of the real-estate consultant is no lessimportant because of technology. In fact, clients are

desperately in need of our help. Clients are going to continueto depend on real-estate agents to guide them throughthe maze and confusion of the real-estate market. Homeownership is and always will be one of the most importantpurchases that people make in their lifetime. Shelter isone of our basic necessities, but the real-estate market of

today is so much more than mere shelter. It is a nancialinvestment than one cannot enter into lightly. Customersneed the help of someone who not only has a real-estatelicense but also has depth, character, wisdom, and advancedtraining. The work of the real-estate agent is important.Sure, real-estate agents arent out practicing medicine,performing heart surgery, or rescuing people from burningbuildings. Their heroic efforts are often not seen until aclient goes to sell. The agents efforts during the purchaseprocess are often overlooked.

My challenge for the thousands of real-estateprofessionals and mortgage lenders around the world that willread this book is to not just think of your clients as a single

transaction. Make sure that when your clients leave the closingtable, they leave with a smile on their face. That is how youshould dene your successnot by the number of transactionsor the number of homes sold each year, but by how many ofyour clients smile when they leave the closing table.

John Horne knows what it is like to experience a smiling

client over and over and over and over and over and over


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and over again. When it comes to real-estate trainingand insight, the master is John Horne, and when you nd

yourself frustrated and wanting to scream at your clients:Just Shut Up and Buy the House, remember what you havelearned in this powerful book.


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didnt come out of a personal tragedy or a weekend seminarwith a guru. It simply happened at a moment of awareness.

This moment came from a great friend that put things ingreat perspective for me. What makes a good friend is love,what makes a great friend is tough love, and this greatfriend told me to stop receiving a small piece of the pie thatis given to me, and start baking my own pie. It was onlywhen I found myself open to hearing that I was able to nd

the answer to this question. My heart screamed out at me.My mission is to pass on my knowledge, my skills,my success, and my failures to other real-estate agentsacross the country. I believe that what we do for our clientmakes a difference. We can make the difference betweena great buying decision and a terrible one. Our work cansave a client from foreclosure, it can make an investor lotsof money, or a mistake or bad advice given to a client canruin the nancial dreams of either party. I believe in the roleof the real-estate consultant as the advisor, the advocate,the negotiator, the counselor, the guide, the watchman ofthe details, and most importantly, the role we play duringa transaction as the captain of the ship. I believe that what

I have learned, the experiences that Ive gained, and thefailures that Ive had, can improve your sales ability andhelp you accomplish your goals.

My training is different from that of most sales coacheswhom you will nd out there offering you what they call

easy solutions. They entice you with false hopes such as:

Only work when you want to work and earn six gures.


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My training is not a scam or hoax; it is reality. The truthis, the answer to succeeding in real-estate sales can be

captured in two words: hard work. Thats right! There areno easy answers, there are no magical Web sites, there areno wonderful marketing ads that bring people to your doorsaying, Take me out and sell me a house today! It justdoesnt happen that way. It takes hard work, discipline, andsystems that work in order to make it in the real-estate

business. My mission is to do everything I can to get youproducing quicker, better, and easier deals than before.Hopefully, through reading this book, you will gain insightinto the psychology of selling and an understanding of moreeffective marketing strategies and tools that you can use toimprove your business.

My high school track coach was one of the best trackcoaches in the country. Every year the track team came backfrom the state competition as champions. I have alwaysbeen a terrible runner, so when I was in high school I wrotefor the school newspaper. I had the pleasure of interviewingCoach White once, and I will never forget the answer to onequestion. I asked him, Coach, when students try out for

the track team, what do you look for? How do you decidewho makes the team and who doesnt? His answer was assimple and profound as ever. I look for the ones who falldown during the race but get up and nish no matter howbad it hurts. He went on to say, Those are the ones whowill end up being winners. I never forgot those wordsand

yes, I have fallen down many times in my attempt to sell


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houses. You will too. But the agents that get up every day,that train the hardest, that have the discipline, that do the

miserable cold calls, that push themselves to their limitsevery day no matter how bad it hurts will be successful.

So I ask you: What are you here for? Why are you inthe real-estate business, and if you fall down a couple oftimes, are you going to get up and keep running the race?

I hope this book inspires you to not only start the race,

but to get up and nish it, even when you fall down.


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INTRODUCTION

I have interviewed, trained, and supervised many real-estate agents over the past years, and one clear truth thatstands out to me is that very few real-estate agents actuallyunderstand the importance of their role when representinga client. Most do not have any systems in place. Most willsimply go put a sign in the yard and cross their ngers inhopes that their listing sells. What I nd most interestingis the mere lack of awareness that they could be doing so

much more. When detectives begin an investigation intohow burglars break into businesses and homes, they startby looking for a point of entry. One fact that has held truewith regard to criminals is that they are lazy. They generallytake the path of least resistance. For example, when lookingthrough a parking lot for a car to break into, a thief simply


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Imagine going into the operating room and saying tothe surgeon who is to remove your spleen: Doctor, please

make the incision from the back, because I dont wanta nasty scar on my stomach. Just imagine the surgeonagreeing, knowing that the surgery would take hours longerand put you in greater risk. You could end up with terriblecomplicationssimply because the surgeon wanted to pleaseyou and make you happy. In an effort to provide great

service, he cut you from the back instead of doing exactlywhat he had been taught to do, which is cut from the front.After the surgery, who do you think is going to have dirtthrown on them?And who is going to throw it? Right! You,who asked for the no-scar-in-the-front surgery, are probablygoing to end up suing the doctor for the complicationsresulting from having done the surgery from the backinstead of the front.

You are the surgeon! Dont let a client convince youto cut from the back. When you meet a client one of twothings are going to happen: either you are going to fall intohis system, or he is going to fall into yours. What is it goingto be? Remember what I said about becoming aware? My

challenge to you is: Right Here, Right Now, Decide! Decidethat he is going to fall into your system, and if he doesnt, youare not going to waste your valuable time working with him.

My very rst managing broker asked me a profoundquestion one day when trying to teach me this point. We hada questionable buyer who wanted me to spend time with

him showing houses. My manager simply asked me: What


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is the time spent with your family worth? I responded,What do you mean? He said, Right now, put a monetary

gure on what your time is worth with your family. Heinformed me that he calculated that the time with his familywas worth at least $400 per hour, so if he didnt think itwould be worth at least that much to go meet with a client,he chose his family instead. Putting a dollar amount on thehourly rate of family time made it real to me. I was able

to make wiser, more informed decisions when going throughthe client-selection process.This introduction is not intended to ridicule or criticize

real-estate agents. I can tell you that most real-estateagents do care for their clients. They do want successfulbusinesses. They do want to work with great clients, andoverall, most are great people. I hear stories nearly everyweek of real-estate agents who give to their communities,work with habitat for humanity, or give to charities. Thepurpose of an introduction section of a book is meant todo just that: introduce you to what the book is all about. Myoverall goal for writing this book can be summed up in oneword: awareness. If you read this book and walk away just a

little more aware of some areas in which you could improve,or if you discover a system that might work better for you,or if you nd a technique that will get you one step closer toachieving your goalsthen my mission will be accomplished.

When consulting with business leaders, one question Ioften ask is: What is your mission? Well, I learned over the

years that instead of asking what their mission is, I should


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ask the question in a different way. When NASA engineersbegin to plan a space mission, they start by dening the

goals of the mission. More importantly, they ask themselveswhy each of the goals is important and if those goals areimportant enough to risk human life. Often their answer isthat they dont know if the goals are worth a human life,because they are dealing with the unknown. Who knowswhat lies beyond the atmosphere? Who knows if their

experiments on cancer cells in no-gravity environments willone day lead to a cure? But they go into space anyway!Why? Out of hope: hope that their discoveries will one daylead to the improvement of mankind. So I am not going toask you, What is your mission? I am going to ask youatthe end of every day, at the end of every transaction, at theend of every phone call or meeting with a clientwhat itwould take for you to be able to say, Mission accomplished!The truth is that when we deal with human beings, veryrarely do we know what the outcome will be. Your journey inreal estate can be traveled alone. You can continue to workas you have been working and get on the spaceship with nocaptain. Or you can choose to travel with an experienced

captainone who has been into outer space many times,one who promises that you will not just be a passengeron board. You will be my co-pilot, and you will learn howto land the ship safely yourself. So put on your space suit,strap yourself into the chair, check all your systems toensure that they are functioning at optimal level, and lets

travel together with the hope of what may come.


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CHAPTER 1

THE MIND

I want to take some time to tell you how the human mindworks. I have to give a disclaimer; this is my personaltheory. I havent read this in a book, and I am not quotinganyone. This is purely how I see it. I believe that Godcreated our minds for two main purposes: survival andlove. What I have observed in my life about how themind works is that everything you do, every decision youmake, and every thought you have is based on a series

of highly reasoned, quickly determined assumptions thatyour brain makes. For example, just in the time that youhave been reading this book, you have made assumptionsabout me. You may think that I was born rich and hadgreat opportunities for higher learning. Maybe you assumethat my family life is great or that I have been lucky. The


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truth is that I was born into a family with a rather abusivefather, blue collar at best, and a terrible alcoholic. My

mother worked mainly as a secretary most of her life. Ididnt get the opportunity to go to Harvard. I was not aparticularly smart or gifted student. It wasnt until after Ibegan attending college at the University of North Carolinaat Wilmington that I began to understand how to learn. Iwas a late bloomer when it came to academics. The point I

am trying to make is that we all make assumptions aboutpeople and situations every day. I believe the reason wemake assumptions is due to our natural, primary instinct tosurvive.

Imagine living in a time in which you had to farmand hunt for food. Imagine if you had to constantly worryabout encounters with other dangerous tribes and live with

no air conditioning, heat, or technology of any kind. Goddesigned us to survive, and he knew that you and I wouldneed brains capable of assessing a situation quickly. We arenaturally inclined to make assumptions and decisions thatare usually based on inference versus fact. When you meeta client for the rst time and he says to you, We want to

buy a house, what are your rst thoughts? Most agents aresurvivalists and think of commissions. The rst thing theysay to the client is: I need to get you in front of my lender,to make sure that you qualify for the house. Most agentsgo directly into survival mode and assume that clients cantqualify because in the past they have wasted time working

with people who cant qualify. Then, if they do qualify, the


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next thought the agents have is: When can I get him in thecar? I need to get him under contract. I dont have a closing

lined up for next month, and this will help me meet mysales goals. Can you start to see why people dont like salesprofessionals?

I would encourage you to have a paradigm shift. Aparadigm is the lens through which you see the world.Instead of going into your own survival mode, start thinking

with the connecting, caring, loving part of your brain anddo what I call: Become Curious. Start asking questions atthe most basic level, and make no assumptions about theclients. This is going to be difcult because your brain isnaturally wired to think in survival mode, not the love mode!


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CHAPTER 2

MASSIVE RESULTS

The advanced approach to real-estate consulting involvescreating and developing deep relationships with your clients.

You should think of this approach or system as developinga psychological contract with your client. The contract thatyou create allows and requires your potential client toconsciously choose you to represent him. I like to think ofthis as mutual agreement for how to proceed. It requiresthat you and the client share relevant information that leads

to consensus on the goals. This mental contract is criticalbecause it is the stage that allows your skills and expertiseto shine. This foundation is so critical because withoutthisessential connection,you will nd that regardless of yourskill level or expertise, the likelihood of referral to someoneelse diminishes greatly.



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To create this contract, you need a clear denitionof roles as well as an agreement by all parties about how

you will work together. This stage of the system is calledestablishing the rules of the game. Imagine sitting down toplay chess and not knowing or understanding the rules. Itwouldnt work. There would be no point in playing. Deningand explaining how you work and determining if that is a tfor your client is what determines a great outcome. If you

dont take the time to explain the rules of the game to theclients, they work from assumptions as to what they thinkyou should do. For example, most sellers see listing agents(on TV) promoting open houses. You and I know that openhouses rarely yield a buyer for that particular house, but itcould lead to being able to get new buyer clients for you. Thesellers perception is that you as a listing agent should do

open houses, but they dont realize that doing open housesrarely leads to a sale of their particular home. They areoperating under a false assumption. If you dont establishwith them up front that you dont hold open houses and why,they will assume that you are not doing your job and arenot a very good listing agent, based on their assumption of

what a good listing agent should be doing to sell their home.When you have a client making assumptions, thisis a badposition to be in. In my experience of supervising upwards ofeight hundred real -estate agents, I have found that a goodmajority of complaints could have been prevented by theagent simply setting expectations as to his role and getting

agreement from his client.

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My approach is what I like to call the advancedapproach, and it includes a system for developing this

agreement that enables the agent and client to make aneducated, well-thought-out choice about working together.There are some fundamental rules to keep in mind whentaking this systematic approach. You can learn my entiresystem by visiting www.agentedgetraining.com.

RULE 1: ALWAYS WORKWITH BOTHOFTHE DECISION MAKERSINAN OPEN SETTING

For example, you are working with a couple, but thehusband is not coming into town to look at houses; the wifesays that he trusts her to make the decision. This would

denitely be a situation that violates this rule. Now, I am notsaying that you shouldnt show houses to the wife withoutthe husband present, but you had better get on the phoneto verify that he is okay with whatever decisions the wifemakes and to talk with him about what is important to himwith regard to purchasing the house. I take this particular

rule very seriously. When calling to give information on arepair request, for example, lets say Mr. Johnson answersthe phone. I always attempt to get both Mr. and Mrs.Johnson on the phone to review this repair agreementtogether. Mr. Johnson clearly is not insulted by my askinghim to also put Mrs. Johnson on the phone, as I have

explained this as a fundamental way that I work during my



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initial meeting with the client. Not only have I explained this,but I have gotten agreement from them that we will follow

this rule together during the process of the transaction. Youmay be thinking that this is a little extreme. However, ifyou pull one of the clients aside and speak with him or herwithout the other being able to hear or participate, whatmessage did you just send that person? For example: if youonly speak to the husband about the repairs and not to thewife, you clearly conveyed to the wife that her opinion reallydidnt matter. This will create negative consequences andwill damage the relationship between you and the wife. Youdo not want to create situations that disregard a decisionmakers opinion. One way to do this would be to call the wifeand say, Mrs. Johnson, I have the repair request from thebuyer; would you like me to discuss this with you, with Mr.

Johnson, or with both of you at the same time? It is alwaysokay to design the conversation together with your clients,but it is not okay to disregard one over the other on anytopic.

RULE 2: DESIGNTHE PROCESSWITH YOURCLIENT

If you take the time to talk with your client about theprocess for buying or selling a home, you accomplish severalthings. First, you open the door for the client to participate,and this is important. Client participation is one key to

getting referrals. Here is an example: lets say you meet

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with a client and tell him that you are going to take him tolook at eight houses and that these are the best in his price

point and area of interest. The mistake is that these arethe best eight houses for sale in that area in your opinion.The better approach would be to sit down with your clientor e-mail the list to him, and verify with him that he thinksthese are the best eight houses to see. This way your clienthas bought into the process and feels more like a memberof the crew that helps guide the ship, as opposed to beingdragged along in a dinghy behind the ship.

RULE 3: REMAIN NEUTRALAT ALL TIMES

Make sure that you remain outside the agreement between

the buyer and the seller. This is likely the hardest thing formost real -estate agents. Remember, you are a facilitator;your job is to bring buyer and seller together. All decisionsare to be made by the clients, not you!For example, if thebuyer wants to cancel a contract over what you think is asmall repair item, it is his decision, not yours. All you can

do is inform him of your opinion based on your experience,but he has to make the decision. I am not saying that youshouldnt have an opinionbut when two parties write acontract and come to an agreement, guess what? You arenot a party in the agreement! The agreement is between thebuyer and the seller, not between you and either of them!

Remember, all decisions must be made by the clients.



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RULE 4: NO AGREEMENT MEANS DOING NO WORK

This is a rule to live by. Do not do any work until you getagreement from your potential client. Remember, when acustomer calls, he has ideas in his mind about what youshould do for him. Your number-one priority is to explainto him the details of how you work and see if he willagree to use you as his agent. Here are examples of someagreements you may seek with clients.

Agent: Mr. Johnson, it is important to me that we be agood t to work together; if I agree to show you the house,would you be willing to have a conversation about workingtogether? This will take about fteen minutes, and if we arenot a good t, would you let me know at that time?

Agent: Mr. Johnson, I am glad to meet with you about

listing your home. Before we schedule a meeting, it isimportant that we design the meeting together. I would liketo take some time to determine if we are a good t to worktogether. Would you be willing to have a conversation aboutthat? This will take about fteen minutes, and if you feelthat I am not a good t, would you tell me at that time?

Agent: Mr. Johnson, I am so glad that you called aboutnding out the value of your home, and I would like to sharesome information about this process with you. Would that beokay?

Client: Yes.Agent: Mr. Johnson, it takes me about an hour to

research the value of your home, and the computer will only

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tell me so much. It is important to me that I give you anaccurate value for your home. What I have found in the past

is that when I give a number from the computer and thenI visit the house, there is usually a signicant differencein the opinion of value. So instead of me sending you areport or calling you with a number, I would like to set anappointment to come by and see your home. Would that beokay?

Client: Yes. Then you can go into the conversationalpattern, explaining how you work.

Client: No. I really dont want you to come to myhouse. Can you just give me an idea of what it might beworth? We are just thinking about selling.

Remember, no agreement means no work for you. Thiswould be your response in such a situation:

Agent: Mr. Johnson, you just said that you dont wantme coming to your house and that you are just thinkingabout selling. Is that accurate?

Client: Yes.Agent: Mr. Johnson, I appreciate you sharing that with

me. What is it about me or another agent coming to your

home that concerns you?Client (possible responses): Well, I am just not ready

to talk with a salesperson yet. We are just thinking and arenot ready at this time to put it on the market. We have afriend who is a realtor, and I just want another opinion.

All of these responses give you more information andan opportunity to ask questions, but in the course of the



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conversation, never agree to do work without an agreement.So, one idea for how to respond could be:

Agent: Mr. Johnson, I work differently than otheragents, and as I said before, it usually takes me about anhour to complete the computer analysis to determine thevalue of your home. You said that you dont want to meetwith me in person, is that right? (Always verify.) So, Mr.Johnson, what I would like to do is give you some optionsthat might meet both of our interests. I have an interest ingetting paid for the work that I do. Normally, the way I getpaid is by selling a home and earning a commission. In thiscase, because you dont want to meet with me in person, Iwould have to charge you for the time it takes me to do theanalysis on your home. Does that make sense? In a situationlike this, I normally charge eighty-ve dollars for the

analysis of your home. How would you like to pay for that?This is a great conversational pattern because you get

to use the words, I have an interest in getting paid forthe work that I do. Arent those powerful words? It sendsa clear message that you normally require a meeting, buteven though he is not willing to meet, you are still willing to

do the workbut for a charge. You will be able to determineMr. Johnsons intentions quickly when he refuses to pay youfor the evaluation. In my experience if the person doesntwant to meet with you and or pay you for your work,they are wasting your time and have no intention of everworking with you. This conversational pattern is a greattool because, you just saved yourself at least an hour that

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you would never get paid for. You have also set the tone forMr. Johnson that that your services are not free. Remember,

only you can dene yourself as a professional, no one isgoing to do it for you, and the way you do that is to CHARGEfor your services.

RULE 5: GO SLOWTO GO FASTER

This could be the most important rule of all. I have foundin my experience that if you dont take the time up frontto explain how you work and discuss common assumptionsthat people have about real -estate agents, you set yourselfup for failure. Dening how you work needs to be seen asdening the parameters of the relationship. This includes

explaining the process for buying or selling a home, whatyou will do, what you wont do, and why. For example,feedback is important to sellers, and some clients haveassumptions and unrealistic expectations that everyonewho shows the home will immediately send feedback.But it doesnt work that way, so you need to set low

expectations for feedback on listings. In fact, I have createdan expectations list that I give my clients, and the rst itemon my list states that I will send one request for feedback,which is an automated e-mail built into our showing system.If I get feedback, it goes directly to the clients. If there isno feedback, then the client should understand that theagent and his client are not interested. The only feedback



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that is even important is that there is an offer on theway! By going over this expectations list with my client, I

dont have to worry down the road about him calling andcomplaining about getting feedback. The expectations listhelps to clear up any assumptions he may have about howI should be working. This rule is so important that I have arule about this rule. Dont move forward until you have hadthis conversation with your client. In other words, dont do alot of work until you have an opportunity to explain in detailwhat you do and what you dont do and get agreement.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

These rules are my rules. I would suggest that you take

these and use them as a base line for developing your ownrules. Take some time right now to think about what youwill and will not do for a client. Write these ideas down.Take some time to think about what you feel is importantto convey to a client beforeyou move forward and agree towork with him. One of the most valuable rules is designing

the process with your client. When you simply ask yourclient a question like: What is important to you? you willbe miles above other real-estate agents. When you askthis question, you will get all sorts of responses, but oneresponse that I loved getting is: What I want is for you tohandle everything for me. I am going to be in New Zealandfor the next ve years, and I wont be able to do anything

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with regard to selling this home. I need for you to doeverything.

Wouldnt it be great if all clients would just let you doeverything? If they would let you price the house as you seet and market it the way you know it should be marketed?Choose the home inspector, the attorney, the repairman?You know, it would be great if you could take the client outof the process altogether, but sorry! You cant, and becauseyou cant, you must include him in the design of the process.If you dont, you are setting yourself up for failure.

The inclusion of your clients in the process will saveyou, because they will feel that they are in it with youas opposed to putting the entire burden of everything onyour shoulders. Thus, they will not become dissatised anddisgruntled. Two examples of how I have included the clients

are: (1) I print postcards announcing that their house isgoing on the market and take 2550 of these (with stamps)over to the sellers house and ask them to send them totheir friends, church members etc. This is a great idea,and you will be so surprised at how many call you and say,

Can you bring me more of those postcards? (2) A second

marketing piece I do is a yer, and I ask them to place thisin the break room at their ofce.Sometimes they will do your suggestions and sometimes

they wont, but either way, you are getting them to participatein the process. The other important benet you are getting isan endorsement from them to all of their friends about you.This works toward building a referral pipeline of business.



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My wife loves to scrapbook. During the course of ourmarriage, she must have put together a dozen or more

of these picture books. The technology and the detailsurrounding the scrapbooking industry are staggering.However, when I compare my mothers older scrapbooks orpicture books to my wifes newer more modern scrapbooks,wow! What a difference! The most noticeable difference iswhat I would call the framing of the scrapbook page. Forexample, she can place American ag and reworks stickersin the frame with pictures of the Fourth of July.

The ve rules that you just read frame the pictureforyou and your client. My mothers old scrapbooks had thepictures just thrown on the page in no particular order,with no particular theme. Sure, you can view the photos, butthere is no clear message portrayed. In contrast, my wifes

properly framed photo albums have a very clear theme andmessage for every page of the scrapbook. Do you have to

frame the transaction to sell a home? No, but the pictureis so much better, and you have a much clearer messagewith your client; you create an appeal with your clients thatmakes them want to show everyone the scrapbook that

you created. One of the companies that my wife orders herscrapbooking materials from is called Precious Memories. Ifyou properly frame the ground rules and the way you workwith clients, you will create precious memories of yourselfand of the transaction. There is no better advertising in theworld than a previous client telling everyone about you andabout his good experience with you. Frame the pictures for


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CHAPTER 3

THE BOND THAT BINDS

When I have observed real-estate agents fail with a client,the majority of the time it is because they failed to build

a meaningful rapport with their clients. Many times, weare so eager to get the clients into the car so that we cango out and show them houses that we fail to follow thebasic steps of the selling systems we have created. I wouldimagine that many agents have heard a trainer talk aboutbuilding rapport, but my guess is that most dont fully

understand how or why you should take the time to dothis. The denition of meaningful rapport is to establish anunbreakable connection with a client.

One guideline to keep in mind is slow down! Mostcustomers are excited about seeing a house you have listedor one they have found online, and they just cant wait to



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go see it. I am not saying dont go show the house, becausethe truth is that if you dont, another agent will. Think of the

home-buying process as a chess gameby the time a clientcalls you and wants to go out to see a house, he may be atcheckmate in his mind even though he should be just settingup the board to play the game. Your job is to rewind yourclients thinking process to the rst step, which is to set upthe board. Having a buyer set up the board means gettinghim in a position to buy. You have to be on the lookout forsellers who want to go out and look at homes when theirown home is not under contract or sold. One underlyingassumption that I make regarding selling is that peoplechoose to work with people whom they know and trust.Getting to know someone takes time, and trust needs to beearned.

Imagine that you are a single guy and you decide thatyou are going to nd a wife. You go to the jewelry store andyou purchase a beautiful diamond ring. Next, you go to abar, you nd a beautiful woman, you go up to her and say,

Will you marry me? The likelihood that the woman is goingto marry you is slim to none. Why? Because she doesnt

know you! This is, in essence, what we do in our mindswith clients. We think that because they signed up on ourWeb site or requested information, they have automatically

chosen us to represent them during the transaction. Thisis not the case at all. One thing we know about adults andtheir decision making is: if an adult makes a well-informeddecision to work with you, that decision (choice) is worth


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that your client is staying on the path. This has the addedbenet of making you aware when the client loses his way or

steps away from the path, so that you can plant the properbreadcrumb to lead him back to the path, or get him to theclosing table.

You never get a second chance to make a rstimpression. We have all heard this familiar phrase that Headand Shoulders shampoo used in its commercials for manyyears. This statement is so true when it comes to sales.

Everything that you do must be by design! Everything: howyou answer the phone, how you respond to e-mails, howyou ll out your contracts, how you negotiate. Everythingyou do must be planned and by design. Professional athletespractice; no captain of a ship pulls out of port withoutplotting a course. When you do get that call to go show

the house, your rapport building must begin with the initialconversation on the phone. How do you build rapport?Simple answer is: ask great questions, and listento theanswers. Here are some great questions that you shouldconsider asking when you have your very rst encounter:

OPENING PATTERN PART 1ETHICAL AGENT

Imagine that the customer calls about your listing, an onlinend, or possibly a sign.

I am glad to help you and get you information aboutthis house, but as a realtor, I am not supposed to consult


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OPENING PATTERN PART 2BUILDING RAPPORT

1. I am glad to schedule a time to show you this house.Can you tell me what it is about this house that youlike? (then listen and take notes)

2. Re-cap what he said, to ensure that you heardhim correctly Okay, great, so let me make sure Iunderstand. You like this house because it is all brick,it is on the golf course, and it is a ranch model. Is that

correct?3. Assuming he says yes, your next question should be:

Can you tell me more about what is important aboutthe house being all brick and a ranch model? You couldalso include the golf course portion as well.

This technique is what I call Peeling the Onion.Imagine that truth is like an onionand yes, you have sometruth on the outside layers; he does like all brick. But thereal truth is located closer to the center of the onion, andyou have to do all that you can do to get to the center ofthe onion. You get to the center by asking questions.

When you say, Can you tell me more about that?

or What is important about the house being all brick?you accomplish several things: First, you are soundingvery different from any other agent he has spoken withover the phone. Second, you are starting to build rapport.Subconsciously you are telling him that you care about whatis important to him. When you ask: What is important? and

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when you repeat his answers, you are demonstrating thatyou care enough to listen to what he is saying and that you

truly heard him. Another impression you make by conrmingyour understanding is that you are attempting to connect

with him.By using these questioning techniques, you are actually

getting the client to start thinking about what is importantto him, and you are also getting him to start thinking bydesign. Lets go back to the questioning exercise.

Agent: Can you tell me more about what is importantabout the house being a brick ranch? The clients answermight sound like this: Well, we believe there are fewerproblems with brick homes, and we want a ranch becauseour current home is a two story, and we dont want to walkup and down steps anymore. You need to check in with him

regarding his answers to peel away another layer of the onion.

YOURQUESTIONMIGHTBE:

What leads you to believe that you have fewerproblems with brick homes? I assume that you have

had bad experiences in the past with homes that werenot all brick? Am I right? (Pause, listen to his answer,and take notes.)

You mention that your current house has stairsand that you are tired of going up and down steps.Mrs. Johnson, I have found that I do a much better job



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ofnding the perfect home for my clients by asking lotsof questions and gathering as much information as I

can. Would you mind sharing more with me about thefact that you dont want to go up and down stairs? Isthere anything else that I should know? (Pause, listento his answer, and take notes.)

Again, you are just going deeper with the clients on thephone by asking questions. My rule is to always go at least

two layers deep with your questions. Their answers maysound something like this: Well we had a home with stucco,and we just had a nightmare with that material, or Myhusband has bad knees and he just cant do stairs anymore.

I hope this sample conversation demonstrates how youcan get closer to the middle of the onion by using thesequestioning techniques. When you do this, you are well onyour way to building meaningful rapport with your client.Your conversation went from: Can you come show usthis house? to gathering a deep understanding of what isimportant to him.

OPENING PATTERN PART 3KEEPING PROMISES

Another part of building meaningful rapport is to connectin a way that is memorable. The purpose of this script is tolead a meaningful conversation to a personal level. So nowyou have asked some great questions. You have had a goodconversation, and you need to start taking some control

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of the process. Here is a great pattern that you can use tobegin connecting on a more personal level with your client.

This is a powerful script, because when you openyourself up to share something personal withhim, it makes him feel more comfortable aboutsharing something personal with you. There aresome rules and insights to remember with thispattern.

1. Find a reason to notmake the rstappointment.

2. If you have children, always use them as thereason for nottaking the appointment.

Not agreeing to the rst appointment timehelps you do three things:

a. Test to see if the client is cooperative andexible.

b.Demonstrate that you are a person, and you have a lifeoutside of work.

c. Show that you are not desperate for a sale.

Remember, you need to be memorable and differentfrom other agents with whom he has spoken. Whatwould most typical non-skilled agents say? Yes,tomorrow at 2 PM would be ne. They also wouldntrealize that they lost such a great opportunity to plantthe most important trust seed that you can plant; thatyou dont break promises.


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Agent: Thanks for sharingthat information with me. Ind that if I have a goodunderstanding of whatneeds and wants you have,I can help you nd theperfect home. When would you like to go seethis home?

Client: 2 PM tomorrow.

Agent: Okay, would you mind if we makeit 4 PM tomorrow instead? It is important thatyou know that I am available to help you, butmy son has a soccer game and I promised himthat I would be there; I dont break promisesto anyone. Do you have children?

Specically mentioning that you dontbreak promises to anyone plants another

trust seed in his brain. Use the words, Idont break promises. This translates in hisbrain tothis agent wont break promises tome. The only reason you dont agree to therst meeting is to be able to use the words, Idont break promises.Remember that my

training guides your client down the path toclosing. This is a serious bread crumb that you

just laid down at the beginning of the path.Assume the sell by saying, I nd that if I have a really

good understanding of what needs you have, I can do a better


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His answer might be:


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His answer might be:Client: Yes, we have two girls. Both are married and

have moved away from the area.If you get an answer like this, you are really doing well,

and this technique is working! He just took a bite of yourbread crumb. This is a sign that he is cooperating with you. Heis opening up to you and is giving you personal information.

If he says yes, he has kids, always ask more questionsabout his kids!

Your next scripts may sound something like this:Agent: Wow! Two girls (You are repeating what he just

told you, establishing again that you are listening.) I have aboy and a girl, and they bring so much joy to my life. Hasit been a hard transition to make with them leaving home?or you could simply say: I assume that it has been hard to

adjust to being without them?Note: Look at the above pattern carefully. Notice that

I mentioned that I have a boy and a girl. This is what I callthe association technique. The association technique shouldbe used whenever you discover that you have somethingin common with the client. In this case, he has childrenand I have children. He mentioned that he has two girls. Iimmediately go back with, I have a boy and a girl. I associatewith him mentally. I am painting a picture of me for him.

Lets assume that he tells you how difcult the transitionhas been. This is going to be a sad place, and normally youwant to stay away from sad places with your client. However,this presents such a great opportunity for connection with

John Horne

your client You absolutely have to ask a question To go


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your client. You absolutely have to ask a question. To gofrom a negative to a positive with a client intentionally shiftthe emphasis back to you and your situation.

EXAMPLEOF GOINGFROMA NEGATIVETO POSITIVE:

Agent: I bet that has been hard. (show compassion)My son is about to start drivers ed. and my daughter is

beginning piano lessons. I bet you have been through all ofthat? or I assume that you have been through all of this?

Client: Oh, yes, I remember when I took my daughterJulie out in our station wagon and she hit every mailbox onour street. Key learning: You just went from a negativethechildren leaving hometo a positive memory.

I could tell you lots of stories about how I builtmeaningful rapport with couples by simply talking andsharing stories about our kids. Children are an easy way toconnect at a memorable level. I am sure that some of youare wonderingwhat if they dont have kids, or what if youdont have kids, how do you go about building rapport then?

PATTERNFORAN AGENTORCLIENTWITH NO CHILDREN:

You have to keep asking questions. If you get negativeresponses, you need to structure your questions more openended. For example:


Agent: Do you have any children?


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Agent: Do you have any children? Client: No, we dont have any children.Agent: Well, I am sorry that my son has a game

tomorrow. I cant remember what my life was like beforechildren. I sort of feel like a taxi cab driver sometimes.Do you guys have any activities that you like to do on theweekends? (open ended and not too invasive)

Client: No, not really.Agent: Put it back on yourself. Well I have to say, I

think I have a problem. (joking) I am addicted to bowling.I do enjoy the friendships that I have made throughmy bowling league. What sort of things do you enjoy?(open endedhere you have also planted the trust seedof friendship. You imply that you would enjoy a making afriendship with them.)

UNCOOPERATIVE CLIENT

Note: If you have a client who is not answering yourquestions, and you get to a point where he is not sharinginformation, you are going to have to start asking yourself ifthis is the type of client with whom you want to work. I valueworking with cooperative clients. If you sense or feel thatthey are not sharing, one pattern you could use would be:

Agent: Mr. Johnson, Ive noticed that you are not reallyresponsive to some of my questions. I get the feeling youdont want to share information with me. Is that correct?

Or

John Horne

Agent: Mr. Johnson, I would like to mention to you


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Agent: Mr. Johnson, I would like to mention to yousomething that I have observed. I noticed that you haventbeen responsive to my questions. I feel like you arent reallyopen to sharing. Is that accurate?

Client: Be prepared for him to say something like:Youre right, I dont feel like sharing. This gives you a greatopportunity to say: Mr. Johnson, I appreciate your lettingme know how you feel. I have found in the past that usuallyclients who arent willing to share information feel the way

they do because they have had bad experiences with salespeople in the past. Is that the case with you?

This opens the door for you to go right into telling Mr.Johnson the details of how you work. So you just openedthe door to nding out more and connecting. Hopefully atthis point you have connected. But you are not through yet!

Using this same example, lets say that you have, in fact,agreed to meet him at the house at 4 PM. Before you hangup, you need to use the script in Opening Pattern Part 5.

OPENING PATTERNPART 4QUALIFYING

After you have begun to develop rapportwith the client, begin to ask qualifyingquestions such as these.

Does he have a house to sell?Is he prequalied?


Can he afford the house?


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a a o d ouDoes he have a job?

One great question is: Tell me about your current livingsituation. Do you own a home now? At this point you aregathering gold. Consider gold to be information that theclient is sharing.

OPENING PATTERN PART 5SETTINGTHE APPOINTMENT

Agent: Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, I am going toschedule our showing for 4 PM tomorrow, and Iwill just meet you there at the house. Do youknow how to get there?

Client: Yes.

Agent: In the past, I have found that ithas been important for us to exchange phonenumbers, just in case I am running behind orsomething happens. Would that be okay?

Client: Sure. exchange numbersAgent: Great. Also, everyone in this

business works differently, and it is importantthat I explain what role I play as your real-estate consultant. It is important for you tomake an informed decision about workingwith me. IfI agree to show you the house,would you be willing to have a conversation

tomorrow in person about how we might work together?

John Horne

Client: Yes.


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Agent: After we talk, if you decide that we are not agood t, would you let me know? If I feel that we arent agood t, Ill let you know as well. (assume yes)

Agent: If no, ask more questions: What it is abouthaving that conversation that you have reservations about?

Agent: One last thing; you should probably know thatit will take about fteen minutes to show the house and talk.We can certainly take more time if necessary, but I like to

give clients an idea of how much time our appointment maytake, because I understand how valuable your time is. Illsee you tomorrow!

This pattern is so important for setting the rst meeting.It is totally by design. This script helps set you up forsuccess. First, by meeting them at the house, you take the

pressure off. Most people would prefer not to ride with youor be forced into a conned place with someone they dontknow. Also, if they agree to exchange phone numbers, theyare following the system. This is a signal to you that thingsare going in the right direction. Remember, you are guidingthe client down the path, and these conversational patternsare what you use as breadcrumbs to keep him moving in theright direction. Exchanging numbers implies that it would bealright for you to call him and for him to call you.

By mentioning to clients that everyone is different,you are really telling them that you are different. By usingthe words, It is important for you to make an informedchoice about working with me or not working with me,


you are telling them that it will be okay to choose to not


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work with you. This lets them know that you are not goingto put the hard sell on them or pressure them. Also, youshift the emphasis from making a choice about buyingthe house to making the choice to use you as their agent.Notice what I didnt say. I didnt say anything about thembeing pre-qualied. I didnt say anything about making anoffer. I didnt say anything about seeing other properties.Remember the chess-game analogy. I am setting up the

board to play the game.When you set the expectations of how much time they

should plan, you are really telling them that you are onlyplanning to take fteen minutes. By telling them that youunderstand how valuable their time is, you are really sayingthat your time is valuable also.

This script is powerful, because you set the tone forthe rst meeting. You send a clear message that there isno pressure, and you limit the amount of time required tospend with them. Remember, you may be making a choicethat they are not a t for you. You may meet them and notlike them or may choose to not work with them. By settinga time limit, if you decide to not work with them, you cansimply say: Well, we agreed that we would only spendfteen minutes for the rst meeting, and our time is up.Thanks for meeting with me. The time limit gives you a wayout, and this can really help you with the disconnect.

Disconnecting from a client in a way that is notoffensive or abrasive is really important. You can go to this

John Horne

meeting condently, knowing that if you determine that you


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dont want to work with these clients, you can simply remindthem that we agreed to a time limit offteen minutes andthat you have to move on to another appointment. Customerselection is an important key to success. Dont ever be afraidto say no to a client. Your time is extremely valuable. If youuse some of my lead generators, you will have more clients,so you can take more time to pick and choose who youwould like to work with.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Condence is what allows you to say no to a client.Condence in your systems, condence in your abilities,

and condence in your boundaries are all priceless. Theproblem or challenge is to put systems in place thatgenerate reliable, dependable leads every month. If you areinterested in learning my lead-generating systems, you cango to my Web site at www.agentedgetraining.com. A greatreal-estate agent and a person whom I admire a lot in oureld, Heidi Hines, taught me a very valuable lesson. She satdown with me one day and told me that when she begansaying no to clients was when she really began making lotsof money in real estate. It is in our nature to trust peoplethat have boundaries. People choose to work with peoplewhom they trust, so setting boundaries, not just saying yesto what the client wants, helps you to earn respect. Think of


it like this: i f you and I were working together on a projectd I i h di i ld


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and I saw you going the wrong direction, would you wantme to intervene and say something to get you back on theright path, or would you prefer that I not say anything andlet you go down the wrong path, make a wrong decision,and ultimately waste time, energy, and effort on a fruitlessventure? How can a client ever trust you if you just jumpand run and say yes to his every wish? Your client needs toknow that you not only have the experience and knowledge

to point him in the right direction but that you will actuallystop him from making a mistake.


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CHAPTER 4

DONT FALL IN A CUSTOMERS HOLE

There is an old Russian saying: Never dig a hole forsomeone else, because you always end up in the hole.

One of two things happens when you receive a call from apotential clientwho in our business we call a prospect,and some even go so far as to call him a suspect (andI believe the latter may be a better description). Eitheryou fall into his system, or he falls into your system.You have to be of the mindset that he is going to fallinto your system, or you will nd yourself asking, Howdid I contribute to my own failure? Imagine that anacquaintance calls you up (not a friend, an acquaintance)and says, Bill, could you come over and dig a hole for me?My back has been giving me some trouble, and someonetold me that there could be buried treasure right here in my


backyard. There are three ways in which you can respondto this question:


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to this question:

1. Heck no.2. Whatever you want.3. My way or the highway.

Heck no people: I am not digging a hole for you. Inour business you cant be a heck no person. If you say, Imnot going to dig a hole for you, then you will never get any

business! You are going to have to get dirty. You are goingto have to pick up a shovel and dig. If you dont dig, you willnever uncover the buried treasure.

Yes, whatever you want: This person says that hewill dig whatever hole you want, whenever you wantjustplease accept him, and let him come dig the hole for you.

He is a rescuer and savior. This please-accept-me personis what I used to be when I rst started in the business.People would call, and I would jump and run and go underthe guise of providing great customer service. I have hadthe benet of learning from some of the very top peoplein our industry, and I was working beside one of the topproducers in our area. I would often wonder, Why is hehaving success, while here I am providing great service and

jumping and running, but I am not selling or having successlike him? Have you ever seen the Disney movie entitled:The Little Mermaid? Ariel is down in her little hideaway,and one day she decides to swim to the surface. She seesher handsome beau (Prince Eric) on board a ship. She

John Horne

observes that he has legs, and she sings a song. In the songshe says (paraphrased here) When is it my turn? I want


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she says (paraphrased here), When is it my turn? I wantmore. I want to be where the people are. I want to hearthem laughing, up where they walk, up where they run.Wouldnt it be nice to be part of that world?

I found myself wanting more, I wanted to be a big-timeproducer. I wanted to operate like these other agents wereoperating. I wanted to sell ten houses a month and have myname on the agent board. How many of you feel like you are

selling the bottom-of-the-barrel houses to the bottom-of-the-barrel clients? How many of you are out there saying, Iwant more!

My way or the highway: Yes, Ill dig the hole if youagree to do it my way. Ill do it Saturday at three oclock.You must also agree that the hole will only be six inches

deep, and well use my equipment if I dont have to sweat,if you provide beverages, and if you promise that I wont getdirty. Then I will agree to dig the hole for you.

The tough part about this lesson is that we believe inour heart that if we jump up, run, and provide great service,this will somehow get us to the level of the top producer.What I learned is that it doesnt work that way. It is a hardpill to swallow, and in a lot of ways it doesnt make sense. Iam not saying that you dont have to provide great service.What you absolutely must do is gure out a way to dig thehole for your clients, your way. If you dig the hole their wayand on their terms, not only are you going to end up dirtyand in the hole, but once you get in it, the clients will throw


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John Horne

make my follow-up coaching call the next week, they havenot accomplished any of the tasks that I instructed them to


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not accomplished any of the tasks that I instructed them todo. There are many ways in which we contribute to our own

failure, but the number-one reason we fail is because wefail to act.

When I reect on my own failures, of which I have hadmany, most of the time, I did contribute to that failure inone way or another. It is only by examining your failures infull and honest detail that you begin to recognize when and

how you went in the wrong direction.I recently experienced a failure that I will share with

you for learning purposes. I recently had a client (seller)that I was representing, and I was fortunate enough to gethis house under contract in nine days. This happened duringthe worst market that our area had experienced in a good

number of years, so I was feeling pretty good about gettinghis home sold in such a short period of time. Where I failedwas in not following one of my own rules during the listingconsultation. I love quotes, and Teddy Roosevelt once said,

Trust but Verify. This is a motto that I have lived by forawhile, and so far the only time this motto has failed, iswhen I fail to verify. One rule that I follow during a listingappointment is to verify payoff information.

During this particular consultation, I admittedly was ina hurry to get to another meeting, and I made the mistakeof taking my clients word on his payoff number. The mistakewas not a deal breaker. In this case, my seller specicallysaid that his payoff on both rst and second mortgages


was $217,000. I wrote this down on the inside of my listingfolder. This note taking is what saved me later. At the closing


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folder. This note taking is what saved me later. At the closingtable, we discovered that the payoff amount was $2,500

more. This may not seem like the end of the world or a bigdeal to you and me. But my client thought he was getting$2,500 more at closing than he was actually getting back.Of course, who did he blame? Me!I knew the number waswrong. Of course, my client was getting upset, and I wasable to quickly ascertain where the mistake was. This didnt

make it any easier for him to swallow. It did shift someresponsibility from me back to him as I showed him theoriginal gure that he had given me of $217,000.

Some would say that I shouldnt consider this a failure,but my client perceived that he was getting more back thanhe actually was, and it was my fault. You see, I set a higher

expectation than I was able to achieve. So the de

nition ofa failure in our world is: not meeting the expectationsthat we set with our clients. It is much better to setlow expectations and achieve higher ones, than to set highexpectations and actually perform lower.

SET LOWER EXPECTATIONSAND OVERDELIVER

Setting unachievable expectations is often one way wecontribute to our own failure. For example, if you tell a sellerthat you will be calling every Friday at 1 PM to tell him whatactivity there has been on his house and then you dont

John Horne

make that call for whatever reason, you have just failed yourclient. A better script may be:


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p yAgent: Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, sellers often get worried

or assume that I am not doing anything to sell their homeif they dont hear from me. Please know that if you donthear from me, it doesnt mean that I am not doing anythingto sell your home. Can we mutually agree that you will letme know if you start wondering or beginning to have doubtsabout what I am doing or not doing to sell your house? Will

you give me a call and have a conversation with me aboutthat?

This script will save you because you give your clientspermission to call and discuss difcult topics. Instead ofsitting over at their house stewing about the fact that aneighbor told them that their agent did two open houses

and you havent done any, now they can at least call andhave a conversation about why you may not be doingan open house. I use the open-house example becauseseveral times a week I hear from sellers: Our agent didnteven offer to do an open house. I share with them thatthe likelihood of selling a home from an open house isabout one in four hundred (national average). This means

you have to have four hundred people come to the openhouse before you actually get an offer. The sellers startto understand that having an open house really doesnthelp sell their home. We all know the television showsthat people watch are not a true reection of how the realmarket works.


There are several ways in which you can set lowerexpectations. Here are some example patterns that you can


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p p p yuse to develop this skill:

BUYER

1. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, tomorrow we will be looking ateight houses, and I have not personally viewed these

houses. Please be prepared for possible disappointment.If we dont see any that you like, we can regroup andcontinue our search.

2. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, if we get to a house tomorrowand you dont like it, do not hesitate to let me know.You will not hurt my feelings. In fact, it is better to tell

me as soon as you know that it wont work, and why,so that we can get moving to the next home.3. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, the pre-approval process is not

an easy one. You will be required to give the lender lotsof paperwork and details about your nances. I want toprepare you by letting you know that this can be afrustrating part of the process, and it is often not fun. If

you get the information to the lender in a timelyfashion, it will make the process easier.

4. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, people often ask me how long ittakes to nd a home, and the truth is that it can takea long time. I work with some clients for a month andsome clients for two days. But you should realistically


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on the repair list, and the process is that we sit downtogether and go through it line by line.


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SELLER

1. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, I have found in the past thatsellers believe their home will sell more quickly thanwhat the market data indicates. The average days

on the market for your area are 120 days, and it isimportant to give you a realistic idea of how long it willtake to sell your home.

2. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, I like to explain to my sellerssome of the things that you can expect to happenduring this process of trying to sell your home. First,

it is going to get frustrating trying to keep your houseclean and organized for showings while still living here.I recommend dividing the duties between you by areas.For example, Mr. Johnson, you may be responsible formaking sure that the bathrooms are in order before youleave for work. Mrs. Johnson, you may be responsiblefor making sure the kitchen and living areas are in order.

You cannot leave the house without it being ready for ashowing. Someone could call at 10 AM and want to see itat 10:15 AM. Second, you should expect that people aregoing to look at everything. Often they will open yourrefrigerator, so make sure that you dont have anythingstrong smelling in the fridge. They will look in your


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consider all of the relevant information. I believe thatyour house is overpriced, and here is why.


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LOWER EXPECTATIONS CONTINUED

Failure is a subject that is not easy to deal with. However,when you fail, you have an opportunity to learn. One smallthing that you can do after every appointment is to make a

list of the things that went well and the things that didnt gothe way you wanted. I had a listing appointment last nightthat didnt go the way I wanted because I got off track withmy listing presentation. I went away from my system andit collapsed. The reason I share this with you is becausewe all fail and make mistakes. The important thing is thatI was easily able to recognize the point at which I wentoff path and steered the ship back in the right direction. Iencourage you after every meeting, after every failure, totake a few minutes to ask yourself: How did I contributeto the failure? Dont say that house didnt sell because ofthe market, staging, or because of pricing. In other words,ask yourself: What could I have done differently to inuence

how they decided on price? Is there anything I could havedone differently to help them stage the home better? Byexamining how you contribute to a failure, you can learn andimprove your techniques.

After working with agents and dealing with all sorts ofissues and difcult situations, I have found that success and


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specically leads you to believe that there will be noproblem?

Client: If he responds with anything other than I


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Client: If he responds with anything other than, I

have already met with my lender, and he has sent me apre-approval letter, you have to dig deeper. The buyer maysay, Well, I have great credit, and I have never had a latepayment on anything.

Now you know that he hasnt been pre-approved, andyou need to start sharing and educating your client. The

next script might sound something like this:Agent: You said that you have great credit and no late

payments. Thanks for sharing that with me. However, in myexperience, there are often items on your credit report thatyou may not be aware of. If we do go out and nd a perfecthouse and you fall in love with it, I assume that you want toget the best deal. Is that accurate?

Assume yesAgent: The way to get you the best deal is to make

your offer very appealing to the seller, and without you rstbeing in a position to buy, no seller is going to take youroffer seriously. Every seller is going to ask, How are yourclients going to pay for this house? Usually, we answer that

question right up front by sending him a copy of your pre-qualication letter along with the offer. This puts you in amuch better negotiating position than a buyer without pre-qualication is in. I also need to share with you my interestin getting you pre-qualied. I have an interest in gettingpaid. I dont get paid anything unless you buy a house, so

John Horne

what I have worked out for people who want to shop forhomes but are not pre-qualied is an hourly rate of $340. Ihave had to do this because in the past when I have worked


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have had to do this because in the past, when I have worked

with clients who didnt get pre-qualied, they usually neverpurchase anything. Therefore, I dont get paid for the timethat I spend with them. So your options are: (1) You can getpre-qualied and continue to use my services at no charge.(2) Not get pre-qualied and pay my hourly rate to viewhomes, or (3) Choose a less experienced real-estate agent

who might agree to show you around for free. How wouldyou like to proceed? The reason I share this information withyou is because I have a core belief in limiting risk and savingtime, so would you be willing to speak with my preferredlender and get this taken care of prior to our scheduling timeto go out and view houses?

If yes, set them up. If no, you have to keep digging.Every once in awhile, I will get a no; they dont want

to meet with a lender. This should be a huge red ag foryou, and you have to assume that there is a reason whythey dont want to go through the pre-qualication process.Some of you may read this script and nd it difcult oruncomfortable to charge for your services. The consequence

of not charging them is you do not get paid. I dont knowabout you, but I would much rather be at home with myfamily than out hauling and hoping that the buyers in my carcan qualify. Remember, you are the professional, you are theexpert, you have the real-estate license, and if you dont actlike a professional, you become an amateur. Professionals


get paid. If a client doesnt want to meet with a lenderor get pre-qualied, you should rst recognize this as aproblem Second inquire as to their reasoning in a genuine


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problem. Second, inquire as to their reasoning in a genuine,

curious way. If you dont, then you run the risk of doing alot of work with clients who are simply window shopping andusing you for the ride.

I recently encountered an agent who was settinghimself up for failure. He brought in an ad for me to review.The ad looked very similar to this:

John Horne

Talk about setting yourself up for failure! There are somany things wrong with this advertisement. I asked Jimseveral questions about his listing program, and here are the


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several questions about his listing program, and here are the

responses that you might nd interesting:

If they do everything that I say, I can sell their homein thirty days.

If they price it $10,000 below market value, it will sellquickly.

I asked him: What do you think people will believeabout your postcard that says you can sell their home in 30days, when the average days on the market are 180 daysand we are in the worst housing market that we have seenin over fteen years?

They will probably think this is some sort of scam.

I asked him: What would you think if you received apostcard like this in the mail?

I wouldnt even read this; I wouldnt take it seriously.

When he said those words, I think his awarenessstarted to kick in. We do this type of thing all the time. We

over promise and under deliver, thinking that if we can justget them to call us, we can make it work out. In this case,there is no way that Jim was going to win. Even if peopledid take him seriously and called the number and listedtheir house with him, he would fail. Houses in this particulararea just werent selling. Funny thing is, even at a $10,000


reduction in price, he wouldnt have sold most of the houseshere. The city had recently re-drawn the school district linesthat shifted the students in this neighborhood from a really


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g y

good school to a relatively bad school district. So it wouldnthave mattered if the homes were reduced $25,000; notmany people would now buy in a neighborhood that fedinto that school. I redirected his efforts, changed his ad, andhe sent the new advertisement to a neighborhood wherehomes were selling. His new ad made no false promises and

concentrated on his new listing program (that I helped himdevelop). Then he had a lot of success.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Take a few minutes and ask yourself this question: Whatam I doing to contribute to my own failure? Try to generatea list of four or ve top things that you are doing or notdoing that keep you from being a top-producing agent. I amnot talking about answers like, We are in a bad market,or Its just the slow time of year, or None of my buyersare ready yet. I am talking about answers that point the

critical nger directly at you. Like, I know that I am notsending out a newsletter like I should, or I know that I amnot cold-calling like I should. Another great answer may be,

I know that I am failing because I am a please-accept-meagent, and I dont have a system. When you start askingyourself what you are doing to contribute to your failure,

John Horne

you begin to understand what a powerful impact changecan have. If you read the preface to this book, you read thestory of Paul Potts. Paul didnt fail in his effort to become an


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y

opera singer; he failed to create opportunities for exposinghis talent to the world. If you think about it, he changed hiscourse of failure by choosing to take a chance on BritainsGot Talent. Just like now, by reading this book, you have achoice. You can choose to continue your current methodsof selling, or you can make a choice to change. Once you

make the decision to change the way you are doing things,the very rst step is to do what Paul Potts did . Find a wayto expose your talent to the world. If the world knows whatis inside of you your desire to get results for your clients,to take care of them, to protect them, to get them thehouse of their dreamsthen the results will be exactly whatPaul Pottss results were. His rst album has already goneplatinum; likewise, you will be a top agent in your market.


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and believe that having a home will give them a feelingthat they couldnt achieve by merely being renters.Some manifest love in their mind through another person,


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and some manifest love for other material things like amotorcycle or car. I had a friend who owned a corvette. Heloved this corvette so much that he wouldnt even drivethe car in the rain. We all manifest love in different waysthrough different things.

I remember my rst home. I was engaged to be

married. My wifes lease was expiring about three monthsprior to our wedding. I found myself making a decisionabout whether to rent a place or purchase a home. I wasworking in public service at the time, and my wife was aschool teacher. Together, at the end of the month, we hadabout two dollars left in our checking account. We found ourstarter home, new construction, and the builder/bank wasallowing customers to do sweat equity. This sweat equityprogram was a perfect t for us. As a part of the sweatequity program, we did the insulation, interior painting, andlandscaping. For doing these items during the constructionprocess, we were credited $5,000 toward our down payment,and we were able to borrow the rest of the money on a 100

percent term. The interesting thing about our situation wasthat when we went to the model home, my wife fell in lovewith it. We ended up not even considering any of the otheroor plans offered. I knew this was the home she wanted.Here I am, my wife is in love with this cute little house,and I knew in my heart that she was more in love with

John Horne

the idea of the house than with home ownership. It wasso interesting to watch my wife fall out of love with thehouse. We started putting the insulation in the home in the


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middle of the summer, and my wife quickly crossed the neline between love and hate. It was about 98 degrees withno air-conditioning, and laying insulation in the attic of asmall, 1.5-story home was no picnic. Next came the interiorpainting: walls, doors, and trim. My wife was beginning tohate this little house. Finally, we found ourselves spreading

grass seed, in a futile effort to get grass to grow in 100degree heat. The transformation from love to hate didnttake long. I tell you this story to demonstrate that yourclients fall in love with the idea of a home, but often theyare not prepared for the reality of homeownership.

REALITY SCRIPTSUSETO REINFORCETHAT THEYNEED YOU.

Agent: Buying a home is not like going to an electronicsstore and buying a stereo off the shelf; it just doesnt workthat way.

Agent: Can you imagine purchasing $100,000 worth

of stock without seeking the aid of a stock advisor orprofessional stock broker? We all know that most wealthypeople surround themselves with the very best attorneys,stock brokers, real-estate advisors, CPAs etc. Most wealthypeople will not make an investment of that nature withoutseeking the advice of a professional.


I caution you about love, because there is a ne linebetween love and hate. I want you to start listening for yourclient to say, I love it. This is a great buying signal, but


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it should also serve as a redag for you to start loweringthe clients expectations. No house is perfect, not even newconstruction. If you dont lay the groundwork for problemsthat could arise, then you are going to create unintendedconsequences.

Sometimes these consequences can create mistrust

and a feeling that you are not protecting or ghting foryour client. For example, you have a client who nds a

house that he loves, but while you are there, you notice orthink there could be some issues with the roof. If you letthe client fall in loveand especially ifyou say things like:

Oh, isnt this house great? or This house is perfect!you are setting yourself up for failure. Later when theinspection report shows a leaky old roof that needs to bereplaced, who do you think the buyer is going to blame?Remember, you just said, Isnt this house perfect? Youhave sold them on the fact that you are a house expertright? That you know houses, and you are this greatreal-estate agent. Then

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