By Renee Knollman, Rockwell Institute
All too often, salespeople have difficulty expressing themselves clearly. Their words do not express their thoughts. Awkward speech patterns reflect poor preparation, a lack of confidence, or both.

Many argue that programming a salesperson to handle a predictable situation is unprofessional. Critics insist a canned sales dialogue is insincere and unlikely to inspire customer confidence.

Still, it is difficult to ignore the obvious: there are right and wrong things to say at any given stage of the selling process. It is certainly better to respond correctly than to stutter, stammer, or stick your foot in your mouth. Successful salespeople do and say the right things at the appropriate moment. If a rehearsed sales presentation is delivered fluently, with an air of confidence, customer response is quite positive. In this way a practiced presentation comes across as sincere and believable.

Focus on the words you use in the closing situation. Are they effective? Do your use different words, or do you repeat yourself? What has worked for others? For example, a pre-owned home sounds more valuable than a used home. Footwear is more desirable than shoes. Some businesses have clientele while others just have customers.Wordiness vs. clarity

If you feel your vocabulary is limited, you may want to select some new closing words that have worked for others. But quantity is not the goal. Your concern should be with quality, which means clarity. And clarity is best achieved with straightforward, simple words that are descriptive and easily understood. Avoid technical terms and industry jargon. To buyers and sellers, a mortgagee is a lender and an ARM is an adjustable rate mortgage. Don’t presume knowledge and don’t condescend.Don’t use Watery Words

Samuel Knox, a leading sales trainer, explains, “In closing there are meaty words and watery words. Meaty words inject a burst of meaning into a single phrase. Watery words are shapeless ghosts of thoughts and their meaning is lost no matter how well the words are spoken.” The following represents a brief list of watery words or phrases.

Here’s my challenge to you:

Make a commitment to keep in touch with your network in a personal and meaningful way. If you don’t know how to do that, get a system like the one we use to help you personally connect with as many people as possible. Either way, decide to keep in touch and give back to your network each and every day. Then, see what connections and opportunities life brings you in return.

More about Michael Port: Called a “marketing guru” by the Wall Street Journal, Michael Port is the guy to call then you’re tired of thinking small because he has lectured, trained, inspired, and provided coaching and consulting services to over 20,000 small business owners.

Groping Words

“What I am trying to tell you…”
“In other words…”
“The point I am trying to make is…”

Trite phrases

“Let me be perfectly honest with you…”
“I can say this without any fear of contradiction…”
“Obviously this idea needs no introduction…”

Repetitious Language

“Let me say this again…”
“As I just said…”
“I don’t want to be redundant, but…”

Weasel Words

“You understand, this is just my opinion…”
“You may disagree with this, but…”
“I may be wrong, but…”

Superlative Declarations

“You can’t find anything equal to this anywhere…”
“Unquestionably, the best…”

Negative talk

Don’t talk about your health, political views, personal problems, religious beliefs, or sexual preferences.
Don’t interrupt, don’t contradict (even good-naturedly), and don’t change the subject.

Polish Your Closing Voice

How you sound is as important as what you say. The proper range, tone and voice inflection can be the difference between making the sale and losing it. The voice can convey confidence or it can suggest uncertainty. Practicing a sales dialogue in the car, in the shower, or in the privacy of your office will improve performance, often dramatically. Get in the habit of rehearsing at every opportunity. The following are tips for improving your delivery.

• Practice lowering the pitch of your voice. A lower-pitched voice is more pleasant than a high-pitched voice.
• Learn to pause at appropriate moments. A well-timed pause builds suspense and is a good attention-getter. It also implies a willingness to listen.
• Don’t speak too loudly or too softly. Find a good balance. Loud voices are identified with pressure selling; soft voices indicate uncertainty.
• Don’t speak in monotone. You’ll have the customer clamoring to get away from you.
• Practice your body language. Your gestures should look natural and they must never contradict the spoken word.
• Maintain an appropriate amount of eye contact. But keep in mind, it is easier and more natural for the listener to hold eye contact. The speaker’s eyes should roam a little as she organizes and then delivers her thoughts. Never stare at your customer when you ask for a signature.

Ask those around you what has worked for them. Polish your closing dialogs when you are not under pressure, when you are free to experiment and make mistakes. Appropriate responses in a closing situation are priceless. They make the difference between prosperity and failure.

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To find out more about Rockwell Institute and their educational opportunities,click here to visit their website.

By Mark Rosenberger, CSP
After 128 years of business, a household word, Montgomery Wards, Inc., closed their doors forever and filed bankruptcy.

With 258 stores and 28,000 employees in 30 states, Wards fell victim to competition from service-driven retailers like, Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Circuit City. Wards claimed a “poor retail environment” for the failure. Interestingly, Wal-Mart and Home Depot didn’t shut down. (Editorial sarcasm).

Wards is a perfect example of a company that thought it was in the retail business and missed the fact they’re in the service business.

Perhaps they rested on their laurels. After all, 128 years in business is rather noteworthy in today’s ever evolving economy. And clearly, size nor name recognition saved this organization from distinction.

The 28,000 employees will soon be looking for work. Why? Because the organization missed the mark. They remained retailers when the competition had evolved to a more personal, service oriented approach. And I’m willing to bet that most of the employees are “stunned,” “surprised,” “confused.” They thought the old way of doing business was just “fine.”

Perhaps this can be a wake up call for every business. What exactly does your business do? The quick answer is generally, “we make, manufacture, service the best darn ‘Gismos’ in the universe.”

The focus is on the “stuff.” The focus needs to be on the outcome.

Sure you might “make, manufacture, service the best darn Gismos in the universe,” but if the end result isn’t happy, satisfied customers who enthusiastically spend more of their money with you while telling friends, family and associates, you’re destined for short term success, at best.

Remember, Wards was in the “retail business.” Now their inventory is being liquidated at 40% to 50% savings.

A further wake up call might be on the horizon. If the U.S. economy moves toward a slow down, customers are going to be harder to find and still harder to keep. Following years of rapid growth, stunning sales with record profits, most organizations have felt little need to focus on customer retention, customer satisfaction, keeping customers, customer loyalty, customer service, customers for life or any of the current “service” mantras.

In fact, talk to just about any executive and they’ll tell you their organization is “committed” to customer loyalty. Give them a few more minutes and they’re likely to brag about the level of service their organization is currently providing. And just look at the numbers—they must be doing something right.

But just wait. The companies that spent the time to build and grow a powerful workforce with a focus on excellence and service will be light years ahead of the game as competition increases.

In other words—”Good times can camouflage poor performance.”

So what’s this mean to you and me?

First, FOCUS, Re-Focus and continue to RE-Focus. What is your company in business to do? What role does your department play in the process? How can each player move performance to the next level? Keep answering and re-answering these core questions.

Second, EVALUATE, Re-Evaluate and continue to RE-Evaluate. Take a hard look at the service offered by your company, your department, your team from the customers’ eyes. Be on the look out for opportunities to take performance to the next level.

Evaluate opportunities to enhance performance internally with your important Trapeze Buddies—the people you count on most often to complete a task, function or provide you with information so you can get your job done.

And, never assume that “NO News” is “good news.” Your customers are talking—it just might not be to you.

Third, INNOVATE, Re-Innovate and continue RE-Innovating. Buggy whips sold well in their day but if you’re in the buggy whip business today, you’re short on customers.

Innovation is essential for continued, long-term growth. Look for innovation opportunities in the following areas: 1. Enhancing your core product or service; 2. Saving customers time or money; 3. Reduce customer’s headaches and hassles; 4. Help your customers gain a competitive advantage.

The rules of the game keep changing but one universal truth is this: the job of every business is to attract and keep satisfied customers. Period!

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Mark Rosenberger, CSP, is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Your Realty Insider. He is also a sought after speaker and author. Download the FREE Trapeze Buddy e-book at http://www.NoSplatZone.com. Mark can be reached at mrosenberger@yourrealtyinsider.com

By Patrick Luck
Editor and Publisher, RealtySuccess Magazine
An easy way to gain instant and deep rapport with your customer is to present to them in a way that they can process information comfortably.

The first thing to do is ask, “For you, what’s most important about your next home?” Follow their answer with, “What else?” Their answers will be their criteria for purchase. This is the language that will motivate them to buy. So, if the answers were, “We need to get a peaceful setting, and we need to be near a good school,” then the customer’s motivating language is “peaceful setting” and “near a good school.” Input these power words into your presentation immediately and often.

You will begin to see the customer warm up to you, because you are speaking their language. You can establish instant and deep rapport with customers using these power words. Always speak to your customers in a way that is most appealing to them.

Another way to do is to find out if the customer is a toward-type person or an away-type person. To do this, ask, “What is getting a peaceful setting really going to do for you?” When they answer, “Well, my wife and I are writers and we will be able to get a lot more accomplished,” they are answering how having a peaceful setting will help them get more done. They are moving toward something. When they answer, “Well, then we don’t have to worry about finding quiet times to work.” They are answering how having a peaceful setting is going to help them to avoid something, a possible problem. They are moving away.

Neither is right or wrong, just how you present to these customers from now on is. If they are a toward-type, speak to them about how this home, the peaceful setting, the good school, is going to help move toward things and get more. If they are an away-type, then speak in terms of how this home, the peaceful setting, the good school, is going to help them avoid problems, or worrying.

Another way to speak in terms of how customers process information is to find out if they are internal or external decision makers. To do this ask, “At the time you made the decision to buy your last house, how did you know you made the right decision when you made it?” When they answer, “I just knew it,” or, “I could feel it in my gut,” this customer is an internal decision maker. An internal decision maker does not want or need advice or to be pushed (a great way to end a sentence with an internal decision maker is to say, “…and ultimately, it’s up to you…”).

However, when the customer answers, “I checked at eight real estate web sites, I asked my brother-in-law who sells real estate in New York,” this person is an external decision maker. They need references to make sure; they want advice or confirmation. External decision makers can be spotted easily when they ask, “What do you think I should do?”

Not everyone is always toward-type/away-type or internal decision maker/external decision maker in every situation. They could be toward for one thing and away in another. When you ask the question, the hot button words will leap out, and then use the information you learn to speak in terms most comfortable to the customer.

The same goes for the internal and external. Practice asking these questions in different situations with co-workers, friends, and family, and you will get good at it.

Don’t hesitate to repeat the question if the customer looks puzzled for a moment, or says “what?” They are not familiar with these questions, so just repeat it. And don’t paraphrase it.

Gaining instant and deep rapport and speaking in terms that puts your customers at ease can eliminate the response, “Well, I just need to think about it,” when it seemed you were giving the customer just what they’d asked for.

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Patrick Luck is the Editor and Publisher of RealtySuccess Magazine. He can be contacted at 866.239.3698, or by e-mail at luck43@sellingsuccessonline.com. To subscribe to RealtySuccess Magazine visit http://www.sellingsuccessonline.com

Real Estate Marketing: Power Up Your Prospecting for 2007 Success

By Charles Warnock
Marketing Director, eNeighborhoods

With every deal, agents have the opportunity to gain transaction knowledge and improve skills in negotiating, legal and regulatory matters. On the other hand, many agents find it a challenge to develop marketing strategies because it’s often not part of their day-to-day jobs.

Though the past few years have been characterized by quick sales, rapid price appreciation and record commissions, this prosperous period has had an unexpected downside – many residential real estate pros enjoying their success began to neglect the marketing basics that are crucial for long-term success. Today, many agents are reevaluating business plans to meet the challenges of slowing markets, increased competition, and emerging technologies.

Here are some questions agents might ask to see if their marketing efforts are on target in 2007:

1. Do you market yourself successfully online?
   Research, by the National Association of Realtors, shows that nearly 80 percent of buyers begin their home search on the Internet, but less than 10 percent of real estate marketing dollars are spent online. Most agents are willing to increase Internet marketing activities, but are not sure which online channels and activities will produce the best results.
2. Do your marketing materials pack that visual impact?
   Many agents simply print, copy and paste material from the MLS and other sources that were never intended for consumers. A high percentage of property listings still appear without photos. Today, consumers have higher expectations and want maps, images, and current data wrapped up in a professional presentation. Younger consumers who grew up on video games and 3D graphics strongly respond to color and visual impact. Agents who understand this can use high-impact materials to stand out from the crowd.
3. Do you provide neighborhood expertise?
   There are many online sources for consumers to obtain information on individual properties. But what about neighborhood and community information? By a wide margin, buyers rank neighborhood quality as the most important factor when deciding where to purchase a home. By providing neighborhood expertise in addition to individual property knowledge, agents can gain a competitive advantage.
4. Are you ready for the end of one-size-fits all marketing?
   One of the most successful tactics for online marketers is segmentation – developing multiple marketing messages to target specific customer profiles. Today, the U.S. population, and probably your own neighborhood, reflects more generational and racial diversity than ever. That means you need to know your audience and personalize more than ever. It’s a challenge because what works for empty nesters probably won’t resonate with generation Y buyers coming into the market. It’s an opportunity because real estate niche markets can be very profitable, even when broader market conditions are trending downward.

Focus on marketing and prospecting

Real estate marketing and lead management have changed dramatically in the past few years. As Web technology advances, people are able to perform more tasks related to buying, selling and home ownership online. Naturally, more real estate marketing activity has moved online to capture these consumers.

Unless you’re fortunate enough to work in an office with a proven lead generation/management system, you’ll need to develop these skills to build your real estate practice. Putting aside the larger debate about lead aggregators and which types of leads are good or bad for the industry, the source of leads is an important consideration.

Before the Internet, real estate leads came from sources like referrals, cold calling and open houses. They were usually self-generated and each received a personal follow-up. Database and Internet leads may or may not be self-generated. They could originate from your agent website, or be purchased from any number of third-party lead sources. Their quality may vary widely depending on how the lead was captured and other factors. When leads are not generated through your own marketing activities, you must take steps to make them your own:

1. Have a system in place to manage your lead pipeline – often shown as a funnel – to ensure you’re taking advantage of every lead that comes your way.
2. Measure the cost and quality of leads from various sources to determine which types of leads work best for you.
3. Handle leads quickly and efficiently so that lead generation and conversion becomes part of your day-to-day agent routine.

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This article is an excerpt from eNeighborhoods’ new eBook, the 2007 Real Estate Marketing Success Kit. For a free copy of the eBook and the Marketing ROI Tracker, email sales@eneighborhoods.com or visit www.eneighborhoods.com/2007success

By Michael Port, Sponsored by In House Lender
All sales start with a simple conversation. It may be a conversation between you and a potential client or customer, between one of your clients and a potential referral, or between one of your colleagues and a potential referral.

An effective sales cycle is based on turning these simple conversations into relationships of trust with your potential clients over time. We know that people buy from those they like and trust. This is never truer than for the professional service provider.

But as Sir Winston Churchill once said, “It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.”
If you don’t have trust, then it doesn’t matter how well you’ve planned, what you’re offering, or whether or not you’ve created a wide variety of buying options to meet varying budgets. If a potential client doesn’t trust you, nothing else matters. They aren’t going to buy from you—period.

If you think about it, this may be one of the main reasons that so many professional service providers say they hate marketing and selling. They may be trying to market and sell to people with whom they have not yet built trust.

If you want a perpetual stream of inspiring and life-fulfilling ideal clients clamoring for your services and products, then just remember—all sales start with a simple conversation and are executed when a need is met and trust is assured.

So, where do you start? Start by using the most effective marketing strategy on the planet for the professional service provider. The always-have-something-to-invite-people-to offer.

Your services have a high barrier for entry. To a potential new client, your services are intangible and expensive—whether you think they are or not—especially to someone who has not used the kind of services that you offer or to those who have not had good results with their previous service providers. People usually hate to be sold, but they love to receive invitations. Don’t you?

The Book Yourself Solid Sales Cycle begins by making no-barrier-to-entry offers to potential clients. A no-barrier-to-entry offer is one that has no risk whatsoever for a potential client so that she can sample your services. I’m not talking about offering free services, which I don’t recommend, and, unfortunately, is still a common practice for many professional service providers.

When you’re using your core self-promotion strategies: networking, web, direct outreach, referral, writing, speaking, and keep-in-touch, rather than attempting to sell people on your services, why don’t you simply offer them an invitation that has no barrier-for-entry?

For example: I worked with a man who is a personal trainer and a healthy eating chef. When he joined my Book Yourself Solid 15-Week Intensive Group Learning Program, he hadn’t yet created relentless demand for his services. As you might imagine, this caused him to be anxious over what his future held.

After we rebuilt the foundation of his business we created his always-have-something-to-invite-people-to offer: the Fitness Fiesta for Foodies. One Sunday evening a month, he would host a party where he would teach his guests how to prepare healthful meals that help them stay fit. There were two requirements for attendance, however. He would put that month’s menu on his website and each guest was required to bring one item off the menu. Each guest was also asked to bring someone new to the event, thus creating a new audience for his work.

After he made his first round of invitations, he barely had to market himself. It was magical. People loved it and they loved him for doing it. And they joined his programs because of it.

A financial planner could do something similar either on the phone or in person. Even a simple Q&A about building wealth would do the trick. Are you beginning to get your own ideas on how this could work for you? Good! Here are some more examples that might inspire you:

• A Realtor® can offer weekly real estate investor tours where they fill a van or tour bus with active real estate investors and scour the neighborhood hotspots.
• An Architect or Designer can offer a monthly makeover where they go to a potential or new client’s office or home, along with a small group of 10 or 15 people (it’s not bad to have a waiting list for these types of offerings), and the Architect or Designer offers new design ideas for the space that will increase the value of the property. Ask clients to bring a new friend every week. Each week or month a new location would be chosen and include a social event afterwards.
• An IT professional can host a weekly webinar to demonstrate impressive technical innovations and solutions… and deal with real life questions or problems that potential clients are struggling with.
• An accountant can offer quarterly conference calls that focus on the latest in tax saving measures and better bookkeeping.
  The value you add in your offer meets the needs and desires of the people you serve.

Then as you continue to build trust over time through your sales cycle and your follow up and by offering additional value and creating awareness for the services you provide, you’ll attract potential clients deeper into your sales cycle, moving them closer to your core offerings.

You’ll notice that the always-have-something-to-invite-people-to examples I offered above are done in a group format. There are three important reasons for this:

1. You’ll leverage your time so you’re connecting with as many potential clients as possible in the shortest amount of time.
2. You’ll leverage the power of communities. When you bring people together, they create far more energy and excitement than you can on your own. Your guests will also see other people interested in what you have to offer and that’s the best way to build credibility.
3. You’ll be viewed as a really cool person. Seriously. If you’re known in your marketplace as someone who brings people together, that will help you build your reputation and increase your likeability.
   Please give away so much value that you think you’ve given too much and then give more.

I had a friend in college who, when he ordered his hero sandwiches, would say, “Put so much mayonnaise on it that you think you’ve ruined it, and then put more.” Gross, I know. I believe that he has since stopped eating his sandwiches that way and his arteries are thanking him, but adding value is not a dissimilar experience.

Remember, your potential clients must know what you know. They must really like you and trust that you have the solutions to their very personal, specific, and urgent problems. The single best way to do that is to invite them to experience what it’s like to be around you and the people you serve.

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More About Michael Port:
Called a “marketing guru” by the Wall Street Journal, Michael Port is the guy to call when you’re tired of thinking small because he has lectured, trained, inspired, and provided coaching and consulting services to over 20,000 small business owners.He is the author of the national bestseller Book Yourself Solid, The Fastest, Easiest and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Then You Can Handle Even If You Hate Marketing and Selling. Visit http://www.BookYourselfSolid.com

This article is courtesy of In House Lender. To find out more about In House Lender, please call 866-406-1901 or visit them online at http://www.yourrealtyinsider.com/ihl.

By Ed Silverstein
Gary Goodell knows how to lasso a good deal when he sees one. The cowboy turned Las Vegas Realtor has been a loyal customer of eCommission since April of 2000 and has completed more than 25 transactions with them.

eCommission allows Realtors to receive advance payment of their sales commission before closing, offering immediate access to money earned.

Realtors who list properties typically wait 120 days or more to be paid. When working with buyers it could be 30 to 45 days before Realtors see a check. These inconsistent cycles make it challenging to manage cash flow, and Realtors may want to receive their hard-earned money a little sooner.

For instance, Goodell advanced on one of his commissions recently and used the proceeds to make an investment. Other Realtors may want to use it to invest in property, pay personal bills or business expenses. Whatever the reasons, eCommission is there for all of them. It makes a lot of sense in this business.

The company will give the Realtor up to 80% of their net commission to a maximum of $7,500 before the closing date, on non-contingent, residential real estate transactions. “The price eCommission charges for this service is low,” Goodell explains, “because my company is an alliance partner and they find savings with volume.”

In 1990 Goodell moved to Las Vegas to enter the real estate business. Affiliated with Century 21 Advantage Gold Realtors, he sells mostly residential properties and specializes in upper-end horse properties.

Goodell first got interested in eCommission because he had several properties in escrow and was in a state of transition where he was trying to get more listings. He usually takes advantage of the service whenever his closings become grouped closely together. He draws one of his commissions early, and ensures his cash flow remains consistent throughout the year.

He says the whole process is simple. Just go online. Tell them about a property. Within 10 minutes, a contract is faxed that needs to be signed. And within 24 hours of the contract being signed, he receives payment of his commission.

“It’s handy. It’s a way of enjoying some of your money upfront if you need it,” Goodell says. “They’re very professional and good people to work with.”

eCommission has exclusive alliances with real estate organizations that employ over 300,000 sales associates and generate over $10 billion in commissions. Alliance partners enjoy price discounts and priority approvals.

Brokers can register their company with eCommission free of charge, and have no liability in the event an advance is provided on a sale that falls through. In those rare situations, the Realtor is responsible to repay or replace the commission within 60 days.

eCommission also offers a wire transfer of funds directly into your checking account. There are no delays, no holds. The money is deposited within 24 hours, which is a timeframe the company guarantees or the transaction fee is free.

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This article is courtesy of eCommission. For more information about eCommission and their commission advance services, please call 877-882-9416 or visit their website at http://www.ecommission.com/INDPC.