by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
As the market changes, Realtors need to change the way they approach their business to continue to succeed.
Kim Dickey, a professional sales trainer and motivator, gave an entertaining and energetic presentation to over 100 at the Women’s Council of Realtors’ monthly luncheon last month at the San Jose Country Club.
“This is a tough industry!” said Dickey. “The market shifted so fast we are all still suffering from whiplash!”
Dickey said that even though it is now a buyer’s market and things are slow; don’t use that terminology in your dealings with potential customers.
Be positive, she says.
“You have to be so careful of the words you use,” said Dickey. “If you are using words like ‘soft,’ ‘flat’ and ‘slow,’ we are actually paralyzing our own industry. People rely on us to make decisions and it’s about what we share in the market place that will help them to make those decisions. You might be wondering: ‘Where are the buyers?’ Buyers are out there, we just haven’t given them an exciting reason to start taking action.”
Dickey said we are not in a real estate bubble getting ready to burst.
“What we are experiencing is an adjustment back to reality,” said Dickey. “I call 2004 and 2005 the ‘glory years.’ Weren’t they something? You just couldn’t help but make money. I hope you made a lot of money and saved a lot of money because right now we are in an adjustment back to reality.”
Dickey said there is no such thing as a bad market, especially in Florida. She said there is just a need to employ different strategies.
“If you are doing the same thing today that you did two years ago, you are probably frustrating yourself,” she said. “There are 50 percent more Realtors today than there were five years ago. When there is that much competition, you can do one of two things: reduce your commission or improve your skill. What do you think makes the most sense?”
Dickey said that 85 percent of Realtors enter the industry with no sales experience at all. That was fine during the glory years, but not now.
“During the glory years, we didn’t have to have skill, we just had to work fast and be available,” said Dickey. “But now, we get to do what we do best, which is skillfully take care of the customer.”
Dickey discussed how to handle listings with a whole different approach by focusing on the two things that sell the property – fair price and exposure.
She said Realtors should be proactive by changing the advertisement and photo often to appeal to different buyers.
“If you have a listing that is 60 days or older, make an appointment with your seller,” she said. “Rewrite the advertisement and re-shoot the photo. Give it a different look and different feel.”
Other suggestions she had were to get an appraisal and drop the asking price $100 below the appraisal, advertising it as “Priced below appraisal.”
Or she said, offer to pay buyer’s first year of homeowners insurance or other expenses, but make sure to cap the offer and give an expiration date — i.e. “Good through Labor Day Weekend.”
“You have to do things to make those listings stand out,” she said.
Dickey said Realtors need to pay attention to who their customers are by separating them into their respective generations.
The four generations she discussed were Silent - people born between 1925 and 1945; Baby Boomers - born between 1946 and 1963; Gen X – born between 1964 and 1979 and Gen Y – born between 1980 and 1994.
She said you need to tailor your sales approach to the different generations.
“The Silent generation has been labeled by some as withdrawn, indifferent and silent,” she said. “A lot of bad things happened during that time. They are a little more cautious.”
Baby boomers are known as the ‘me’ generation.
“They were born in a period of economic prosperity and increased birth rate following World War II,” she said. “There were 79 million people born during this time. Today, Baby Boomers make up the major share of the political, cultural, industrial and academic leadership in the U.S. They comprise 40 percent of the national labor force, 50 percent of the discretionary income and control 70 percent of the nation’s wealth.”
Gen X and Gen Y generations expect a completely different approach.
“Gen X is 45 million strong and Gen Y is 76 million strong,” said Dickey.
“The average age of a Realtor is 52. Think about the age difference between the Realtors and this huge generation (Gen Y) that we have to start employing different strategies for.
“Gen X and Gen Y want different things from you than earlier generations. First of all, they want fast response. You can tell a Baby Boomer or Silent generation that you will get back to them in a day or two and they’ll be OK with that. But, with X or Y, you have to get back to them within minutes. They want data rich, sticky websites. They don’t want a sales pitch, they want to learn about you on the Internet so they can decide if they want to be with you.
“What does ‘sticky’ mean? Does your Web site have an interesting content? Is there a reason to stay on your site? They want you to share information freely. Email is the preferred way of communication. They don’t want a phone call or to meet face-to-face. They want you to explain your values quickly and efficiently.”
Overall, Dickey when someone asks you what you do, you should refer to yourself as a licensed real estate professional who has decided to take an entirely different approach to real estate.
“Tell your potential customer that you make sure your clients get the best price, most protection and the least amount of stress,” she said. “Say, ‘If you or anyone you know would like this kind of treatment, please pass along my business card.’”
Dickey said you are the difference between selling and selling well. Four things determine whether you sold or sold well.
“First of all, did they get the highest net?” she said. “Did they get the most protection? Did they get the sale with the least amount of stress? Did it sell within the seller’s time frame?”
Using these four guidelines, she said, Realtors need to customize a marketing strategy for each seller to ensure a good experience.
Realtors need to use their expertise to have the ability to price a property correctly, to prepare a property to sell and to negotiate to get the highest price.
“Help buyers understand that buying real estate is an investment, not an expense,” said Dickey.