There’s a Message in This Bottle (Sendin’ Out an S.O.S….)
Every company in my market has me on their recruiting list. I love reading the emails my competitors send out attempting to recruit agents.
I got one a few days ago that I found extremely amusing. It was from a local Team Leader of one of the “top brands” in real estate, and it was promoting an “Objection Overcoming Workshop.”
I had to read it several times to make sure I was understanding it correctly. And I was.
Really?
So, let me get this straight: two weeks from 2010, with Web 2.0 blurring into Web 3.0, with Google and SEO and SMS and YouTube and Social Media and Twitter and LinkedIn and FaceBook and blogging and Gen X/Y/Z and so many other things hitting real estate like a technology-driven-tsunami, with consumers finding houses and Realtors with mouse clicks and search engines and peer-to-peer recommendations, and with distressed sales and lending challenges and appraisal problems and other mega-issues complicating everything we do, we’re talking about…”overcoming objections?”
Really?
REALLY?
Really…
…1995 just called. It wants its real estate training agenda back…
Waters Look Clear and Smooth, Captain!
Honestly, sometimes I think the majority of the real estate industry is like the Titanic, chugging full-speed-ahead toward a giant iceberg while sipping piña coladas and playing gin rummy, blissfully unaware that a sea change (no pun intended) is not only imminent but already well underway.
I can think of a LOT of hot topics to discuss with agents to help educate and equip them for Real Estate 2.0 and beyond.
And, if I were to put together a list of those topics, it would look something like this:
- Developing Your Own Unique Selling Proposition
- Understanding Social Media
- Is Social Media for You?
- The ROI of Social Media
- The Evolution of Real Estate
- Real Estate 2.0 – Are YOU Equipped and Ready?
- All About Blogging
- Lead Generation in the Digital Age
- Incorporating SMS/Texting into Your Marketing Strategy
- Understanding the Psychology of the Web-Enabled Client
- Working with Web Leads: Strategies
- Selecting & Maximizing a PDA/Smart Phone – Pros & Cons of iPhone vs. Blackberry vs. Droid
- Understanding Twitter
- Twitter Strategies
- Understanding Twitter Clients: TweetDeck vs HootSuite
- All About Video
- How to Create & Edit Video
- Syndicating Video via TubeMogul
- SEO Considerations for Video
- Selecting a Virtual Tour Vendor
- Understanding Google Wave
- Working with Clients on Google Wave
- Using PDAs & Smart Phones to Handle Documents
- Working with Digital Signatures
- Understanding Gen X/Y
- Prioritizing RELATIONSHIPS over TRANSACTIONS
I could go on and on and on…a LOT longer. And it would be at least another 20 topics before I got down to “overcoming objections.”
And please let me say this: I am NOT suggesting that “overcoming objections” isn’t important. Of course it is. It is a basic, fundamental topic that every Realtor should understand.
Sending Out an SOS…
What I AM saying is that, given ALL THE OTHER THINGS that are going on right now, with the basic job of selling real estate morphing into almost an entirely different job than it was even two or three years ago, I question the leadership and the awareness of any company that would not be teaching its agents about some of these other topics that I think are much more relevant, much more timely and much more valuable.
It’s about PRIORITY.
And BIG PICTURE PERCEPTION.
And equipping agents and brokers to COMPETE AND WIN in a future paradigm that has come upon the industry at a much faster rate than most expected.
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Great post. Your list seems a little more…relevant, you think? Their idea of HARD selling the public to buy what for many is the most significant investment (we are not talking about a used car here) is part of the mindset that contributed to the housing bubble and the biggest mess of an economy any of us have ever seen.
Aren't we finding out now that even all those “rich” people we persuaded to buy 2nd and 3rd homes couldn't really afford them, but they sure qualified for them.
Now if they can teach us how to overcome massive unemployment, I might sign up.
Very true and don’t disagree with you at all. But it still never ceases to amaze me how some agents don’t get the basics either. Good read.
This post is as relevant today as it was last year. When I look back we all had such high expectations for Google Wave and its use never panned out.
I think the one other deletion if this was written today is the real choice is Droid vs iPhone. I think it Apple had more providers it would primarily be iPhone. Lack of choice of service drives the Droid market. Is 2011 the year for “RIP BB”?
Additions: iPad, iPad, iPad!
Hey Good Morning Mike,
I am commenting here, almost a year after the post, because I saw your recent tweet. What you have penned resonates with me. You could insert Apartment Operators in lieu of Real Estate folks and we have been singing the same song.
I have almost stopped attending trade conferences, as I can’t stomach watching and listening to what are otherwise pretty smart folks babble about Social Media, but yet not starting with the basic list you have outlined.
You are blazing new trails friend, keep at it, Bravo!
Eric Brown´s last [type] ..Just another day at the Urbane Space
Great to be up to date and cutting edge but, to amplify the point LoriBee made, what do you do if someone has an objection??
Editing a video wouldn’t be very effective there either.
You gotta have the right tools for the project at hand. Practicing overcoming (maybe a better word would be ‘answering’) objections is still very useful.
Good post…..I didn’t read it the first time around, so I’m glad I saw your FB msg about it today. Your list has on it several reasons why those that learn will survive. Not only do we need to know all the things to do the business properly (overcoming objections among them) but we have to do it within the realm of today’s world. For this learning to be accomplished, I am grateful the the ‘new way’ that allows me to follow (and learn from) folks like yourself, Tech Savvy Agent, and others that seem to be doing the things that need to be done to compete successfully! Thanks for another great article!
Well written Michael! I left a brokerage earlier this year partly because of the “old school” mentality and training of the broker. I started my career with this brokerage 3 years ago using the strategies that they taught and had a decent amount of success. I completely revamped my biz plan at the end of last year to focus solely on SMM and Internet lead generation and I am happy to say that I have done the same amount of deals this year as the year previous and fully expect that 2011 is going to be my BEST year in real estate. I am not discounting the old school ways of marketing altogether however I firmly believe that if Agents are not learning as much as they can from guys like you, Darin, Chris, Drew, Nicole, Ross and Jonathon they will wind up so far back in the pack, they will never catch up. Thanks again for yet another fantastic post, I love your writing style!
@jimlee @loribee
In my humble opinion objection handling is the last thing you need, if needed at all.
Go watch this video from me http://goo.gl/DLwIm , Go read SPIN Selling
and then anwwer this question, Do YOU actually handle objection?
Please watch the video and read that book before we get into a debate in the comments section here.
Darin´s last [type] ..My clients and prospects aren’t using social media
I watched your video referenced above Darin: http://goo.gl/DLwIm This was one of your own comments there: “if you don’t have a foundational understanding of homes, contracts, etc. everything I do as a sales trainer with you on is a waste.”
I believe Lori and I were just making the point you have to learn to ride your bike first, (“have a foundational understanding”) before you start learning how to do wheelies and trick riding.
Unfortunately and sadly there are lots of agents out there that have trouble balancing their bikes even with training wheels still attached.