Establishing Respect with your Prospects!

When you go on a listing appointment is your mind already made up as to how much your real estate fee is or are you letting the prospect control the appointment and tell you how much they are willing to pay you?

The first thing you need to do is establish respect. This is first done in your mind.

Whatever you believe on your subconscious level is what you will make happen in your life and business. Most people today suffer from feelings of unworthiness. Like attracts like. You will attract to you that which you are. You are like a magnet.

So the first thing you will need to ask yourself is; are you worth your real estate fee and do you believe you are worth your fee?

When you go into a listing presentation are you nervous, unprepared and unsure if you are going to get the listing? Are you sending off signals that you are desperate, that you need the money or that you are struggling with your bills? Are you concerned about what they may be thinking about you? All of the above are signals to alert the prospect the prospect to not respect you and your value. People run away or trample on people that send signals of desperation in any form.

If you are getting a lot of sellers telling you they do not want to pay you 6% real estate fee but instead will pay you 5% or 4% ; that is not the market, that is a response to what you are saying, doing and the energy you are sending.

This rarely comes up for me. When it does, I tell the prospect that I am worth my fee and that it is the fee that my business deserves. I explain how the fee is broken down so they understand more of how the real estate business works and they are then glad to pay my fee, especially when they see the results they get by using our services.

There are exercises that you can do to raise your level of your worth which I will discuss in another post.

For now, think about:

1. What your real estate fee is.
2. Do you believe your deserve this fee?
3. Are you prepared when you arrive at the listing presentation?
4. What is your belief system regarding commissions?
5. How do you respond when someone puts you down for earning commissions?
6. Evaluate the signals you are sending off as you speak and walk and present.
7. Do you feel valuable as a person, wife, husband, parent, community member, agent?
8. Do you feel you have what it takes to earn your real estate fee without it being discounted?
9. Who is in control of the presentation, you or your prospect?
10. Can you walk away from a listing if the prospect is determined to lower your fee?

You can email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina

What is the Media printing about commissions in your Area?

Palm Beach Post 3/23/07 printed an article on the front page titled,
" Realtors' 6% cut continues dip, but big prices lift pay."
I sent a letter to the editor and posted comments on their blog,"The Real Deal".
We must be careful not to violate anti trust laws regarding commissions.
We can speak out against untruths about our industry and commissions.

I have not had a problem with negotiating my real estate fee. I know what I am worth, I know what I offer as service to my clients and I also know that if I accept a lower fee than what I am worth there has not been a fair exchange and that leads to ill feelings and disrespect. If I can not stick to my terms negotiating with my seller how am I going to be able to be a strong negotiator for him/her once an offer comes in?

The point in the Palm Beach Florida Post was totally one sided. Not once was it noted that Real Estate Agents expenses go up so they are not really making more money when they lower their fee even if the prices of the houses are higher as stated in the article. Not once did it state how low the average Real Estate Agents yearly income really is.

Most Real Estate Agents that I know work more than 60 hours per week and almost always work on weekends. They go above and beyond the call of duty providing service to their customers. Being a Real Estate Agent is an honorable profession and agents need to stand up and really tell the community what all is entailed in their day to day business. If you average out your gross income minus your expenses and then divided by the hours you work you will see what your average hourly wage is. Then go tell what that is to the Palm Beach Post.

There is this negative stigma attached to being paid a commission. Like 'commission' is a dirty word! Well, let's see; we pay all the advertising on behalf of our customers upfront irregardless of whether the property is sold or not, we drive prospective buyers around whether or not they buy a property and much more. Do we get reimbursed if the property does not sell? NO!
We get paid a commission because we worked for it just like those who get a salary work for it.

Real Estate Agents also pump alot of money back into the economy directly and indirectly through buying and driving cars, advertising, placing ads in all mediums, through recommending mortgage brokers, painters, plumbers, builders, repairmen, lawn services, cleaning services, title companies, attorneys, appraisers, Air conditioning companies, Staging consultants, Insurance agents, surveyors and the list goes on!

Please post your comments on my blog regarding this post. I would love to hear from you.
You can also email me at Katerinag@bellsouth.net for coaching and consulting information for Real Estate Agents. I am a Realtor and a Business, Career, Health and Personal Coach, Real Estate Business Consultant, trainer and speaker. Yours In Real Estate, Katerina