Colorado 4-23-17

COLORADO EDITION

Six Powerful Prospecting Tips to BUILD YOUR BUSINESS

FEATURED AGENT

JAN LEOPOLD COVER STORY

JOHN SIMMONS & JESSE LANER

CONNECT BEYOND REAL ESTATE to Attract Future Clients

Managers and Team Builders: FOUR PRINCIPLES TO DEVELOP A GREAT TEAM

COLORADO EDITION

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JOHN SIMMONS & JESSE LANER

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JAN LEOPOLD

CONTENTS 4) CONNECT BEYOND REAL ESTATE TO ATTRACT FUTURE CLIENTS

14) SIX POWERFUL PROSPECTING TIPS TO BUILD YOUR BUSINESS

20) MANAGERS AND TEAM BUILDERS: FOUR PRINCIPLES TO DEVELOP A GREAT TEAM

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CONNECT BEYOND

REAL ESTATE

to Attract Future Clients What kind of content are you sharing on your blog, website, and social media? Does most of it have something to do with buying or selling a home? While sharing the latest market information or tips on how to qualify for a mortgage, or when someone should buy or sell is important and demonstrates your value as a REALTOR®, it shouldn’t be the only subject you cover. If you only focus on real estate, you’ll be missing the chance to connect with future clients that might not be ready to move just yet. By sharing a lot 4

of industry-heavy content, you are only going to appeal to those who are currently in the market rather than a broad base of potential clients.

To pull in those other future clients you want to provide fresh, interesting content that will appeal to those possible future clients that aren’t quite ready to move yet. However, you also want to still tie this content back into your business goals.

So, how do you share content that will speak to a wider audience, but also still be relevant to your business?

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Talk About Your Philanthropic Activities

The philanthropic work you do to support your community says a great deal about who you are as a person. Many people will be attracted to working with you because of the charitable works you are involved with. While you may be hesitant to share these efforts because you feel it may come across as bragging, you also need to remember that sharing information about the charitable organizations you support will actually help those organizations. Many of them have small marketing budgets, so any free exposure you can give them helps to promote their cause.

In fact, they want and need you to promote them.

And you can promote them without coming across as a braggart. Focus your content entirely on the organization. Talk about why you support them, how they help the community, and how others can also get involved. This turns what could have been bragging into something that benefits everyone. n

Your Local Community

We humans are connected to each other through our community – our local sports teams, parks, churches, schools, and much more. What better way is there to connect with people in your community than to talk about your community? Demonstrate that you are an expert on your community, and bring that community to your followers. Share information about a local event; perhaps even share the actual event through live-stream video. Interview city officials to get the low-down on the latest development project. Share information with your followers about things they didn’t know about their community. Consult with local historians or the historical society to share interesting information about your community that your followers will want to read. You could even turn it into a series of podcasts or videos. n

Use Your Creativity to Connect

Find creative ways to engage your followers on the topic of real estate. Try engaging your followers in an interactive project such as posting photos of interesting front doors. Doors are the entry point into our homes as well as our private lives. The way we adorn our front door can give someone a sense of our style and personality. Ask followers to submit photos and choose one to post each Friday. Make sure to watermark each photo with your logo at the bottom and include an inspirational quote that ties back to the importance of home. You could also ask your followers to provide a little story or caption to go along with the photo that tells something about them and their home. These kinds of projects are interesting and unique, and clearly connect back to your business. n

Share Your Hobbies

Are you an adrenalin junkie who has bungee jumped from some of the tallest bridges in the world? Are you a foodie that grows your own organic vegetables and fruit? Do you have a Top Agent Magazine

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secret passion for photography? Everyone has hobbies that they enjoy outside of work. When you look past the surface people become quite interesting. People also happen to find interesting people interesting, and tend to remember people based on their distinctive traits. We humans love discovering a person’s behind the scenes story, the mind behind the face. While you don’t want to talk too much about yourself, sharing pieces of your personal life and things that interest you can be a great way to connect with followers. By sharing interesting facts about your life, you will find that many followers will feel a strong, personal connection to you based on your hobbies and personal interests. n

Divulge Interesting Experiences

This is somewhat similar to the idea of sharing your hobbies. Sharing some of your more interesting personal experiences such as a fateful conversation with a stranger or an exciting adventure you had while in another country can be a great way to connect with followers as long as it also relates to some kind of life or business lesson. Talk about experiences you’ve had with clients or purchasing your own home. Experiences that relate to your business are great ways to connect with future clients in a manner that goes beyond the world of business. n

What and Who Inspires You

No matter what you’ve chosen to spend your life doing, you didn’t get there alone. You may have had a mentor that made a special impact on your life or someone already in the business that you looked up to and who perhaps inspired you to get into real estate. You may have found inspiration through a love of architecture or design. People want to know why others do the things they do. Sharing who or what influences you in your personal and business life is a great way to connect with followers. Recognizing that you didn’t get to where you are now by yourself shows humility, and talking about those people that had an influence on you shows others that you stay connected to the world and people around you.

Connecting with potential clients is something that is essential to any REALTOR’S® business. If you’re doing the work to create interesting blog posts and make those connections, you want to make sure that you’re sharing the right kind of content to draw in those future clients. It takes a lot more than simply providing the latest market news. To get the most out of what you share, you need to provide a wide array of interesting content 6

that will draw in a broad range of followers.

Providing the right kind of content can make all the difference when it comes to connecting with future clients and building the right kind of relationship with them right from the start. Connecting through your website or social media and sharing more than just real estate advice will help you build confidence and trust with future clients before you even meet them.

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JOHN SIMMONS & JESSE LANER Top Agent Magazine

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C3 REAL ESTATE SOLUTIONS From the moment they entered the business, John Simmons and Jesse Laner quickly made names for themselves as rising stars in the industry, receiving numerous recognitions and designations, including Rookie of the Year, Top 40 Professionals under 40, Best in Business, Best in the Nation, and many others.

After numerous successful years as award winning and highly respected agents, in 2012, John and Jesse teamed up to start C3 Real Estate Solutions. They quickly made a mark in the Northern Colorado marketplace and as a company, they currently have a 19% market share.

In 2016 Jesse and John personally closed 97 transactions with over $41,000,000 in sales Copyright Top Agent Magazine 8

volume. As a company in 2016 C3 closed nearly 1200 transactions with a sales volume of $398,000,000. They are looking to improve on those remarkable numbers in 2017 with projections of over 1500 transactions and over $500,000,000 in sales volume. John and Jesse both agree that those impressive numbers would not be possible without the humbling support they receive from their customers and in particular from their executive assistant, Tiffany Breitbarth.

With over 110 professional and experienced agents, Top Agent Magazine

John and Jesse teamed up to start C3 Real Estate Solutions in the Northern Colorado marketplace where they currently have a 19% market share.

C3 Real Estate Solutions has built a reputation for providing exceptional service, offering both buyers and sellers an experience that truly goes above and beyond.

John and Jesse both credit their company’s mission statement “Character. Culture. ComTop Agent Magazine

mitment.” as being a key to their success.

According to John, “We take our reputation seriously. Everyone who works here operates their business with the utmost integrity. The culture we’ve established here is one of constant innovation. We never rest on our laurels and are always looking for ways to improve Copyright Top Agent Magazine9

our systems. We are committed to providing the best service and cutting edge technology available to our clients. Their needs are our top priority. They deserve this and we are driven to provide it.”

One way C3 Real Estate Solutions has really stood out is with their comprehensive approach to marketing, that stems from an encounter John had years ago. “A long time ago, someone told me the question that every seller should ask when looking for an agent is “Do you have Copyright Top Agent Magazine Copyright 10

the financial ability to market my property?”

We’ve really taken that to heart. Our marketing packages are really phenomenal. It all starts with first class photography, staging and floor plans, then we do both online and print media.

There’s nothing we don’t do to get maximum exposure. We also go all out when it comes to capturing the property’s best feature, whether that be with aerial photos or twilight photography. We treat our clients’ money, as if it was our own. Our priority is always making a deal that serves their best interests.”

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C3 Real Estate Solutions’ approach to sales has been richly rewarded with a repeat and referral business rate of 90%. “We’re able to offer our clients such tremendous service, they happily refer us to their friends and family. That’s a really great way to know you’re doing something right. We show our clients the value we offer them, and they really appreciate that.”

C3 Real Estate Solutions believe wholeheartedly in giving back and support numerous national and local charities. John and Jesse far exceed the National average when it comes to contributions to charitable organizations and nonprofits. They feel that giving back is a privilege as much as it is a responsibility. They consider their philanthropy one of their greatest accomplishments.

John and Jesse couldn’t be more excited for the future. They have big plans to not only grow their real estate business, but to expand into mortgage and title insurance as well, all to create a more seamless and unsurpassed real estate experience for their clients. “For Jesse and me it’s all about Top Agent Magazine

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Left: John and Ana Simmons; Right: Amy and Jesse Laner

offering people a higher level of service. We want to be around for the long haul, and going above and beyond for people is the way to achieve that.

At C3 Real Estate Solutions we recognize that this is a people business. In good times and in bad times, we’re here to help.�

To learn more about John Simmons, Jesse Laner and C3 Real Estate Solutions call 970-672-7212 or 970-481-1250 email jlaner@c3-re.com or jsimmons@c3-re.com and visit mycolohome.com www.

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Lisa Gustafson is proud to congratulate

John Simmons & Jesse Laner

on being featured for the state of Colorado in Top Agent Magazine!

Lisa Gustafson | Loan Consultant | NMLS ID 388937 Direct 970-449-6605 | Cell 970-214-7605 | Fax 877-388-5358 lisa.gustafson@imortgage.com www.imortgage.com/lisa.gustafson

2721 Council Tree Avenue, Suite 236 | Fort Collins, CO 80525 NMLS ID 174457 loanDepot.com, LLC dba imortgage NMLS ID 174457. Licensed by the CO department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Real Estate as a Registered Mortgage Company. Regulated by the Division of Real Estate.

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Six Powerful Prospecting Tips to Build Your Business

By John Boe Why is it that some sales reps consistently earn a six-figure annual income while other reps, putting in the same hours, selling the same products, and trained by the same sales manager struggle each month financially to make ends meet? The answer to this question is painfully simple; the six-figure sales reps understand the importance of business development and never forget to ask for referrals.

Top producing sales reps set high standards for themselves and spend the majority of their time either actively prospecting for new business or closing sales. Successful sales reps set productivity goals, establish priorities, and don’t waste their precious time hanging out in the break room or taking twohour lunch breaks.

Top producers don’t need to be reminded to ask for referrals on a daily basis or follow-up on hot leads, because they understand that prospecting for new business is a necessity and not just an activity. The good news is that prospecting for new business, like any other learned skill set, can be trained and developed into a habit.

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Tip One: Don’t Forget to Ask for Referrals.

When it comes to asking for referrals, timing is everything. Research indicates that the most effective time to ask for referrals is right after you’ve made the sale or provided a valuable service for your customer. Asking for referrals prior to closing the sale is a big mistake and may even jeopardize the sale itself. Once the sale has been completed, your customer will be on an “emotional high” and far more receptive to the idea of providing you referrals. When you ask for referrals, your goal is to get as many names written down as you can. Just keep asking... Who else? Once your advocate has given you all of his or her referrals, then go back over the list of names to get details on each prospect.

Tip Two: Train and Reward Your Advocates.

An advocate is a person who’s willing to go out of his or her way to recommend you to a friend or associate. Most customers are initially reluctant to provide referrals without some basic training and motivation.

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Once you’re given a prospect, it’s a good idea to take the time to role-play with your advocate to demonstrate how to approach and talk to their referral. A brief role-playing exercise will build your advocate’s confidence and keep them from over-educating their referrals. During your roleplay session, be sure to prepare your advocate to expect some initial resistance. This training will pay big dividends by making your advocate more effective and less likely to become discouraged when faced with rejection. Always take the time to thank your advocates and give them feedback on the status of their referrals. I recommend that you call them and then follow up by sending a thank you card and or gift.

Asking for referrals prior to closing the sale is a big mistake and may even jeopardize the sale itself.

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Tip Three: Strike While the Iron is HOT. Prospects, like food in your refrigerator, are perishable and therefore need to be contacted quickly. Each day you let slip by without making initial contact with your referral dramatically reduces the probability of you making the sale. Develop the habit of contacting your referrals within two-business days or sooner. Have a system to keep track of your referrals so they don’t end up falling through the cracks. It’s critical to have a computerized client contact management system to record your remarks and track future contacts and appointments. Relying on your memory alone is a very poor business decision that will cost you dearly.

Tip Four: Schedule a Minimum of Two-Hours a Day for Phone Calling.

Make your phone calls in the morning while you and your referrals are both fresh and alert. Treat your prospecting time with the same respect you would give to any other important appointment. This Treat your prospecting is not the time to check your e-mails, play solitaire on the time with the same computer, make personal phone calls or chat with your respect you would give associates.

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to any other important appointment.

Avoid the temptation to try and sell your product or service over the phone. Your objective for every phone call is to create interest, gather information and make an appointment. If your prospect asks you a question, get in the habit of going for an appointment rather than giving a quick response.

Don’t shoot from the hip use a script. It’s important to use a phone script when you contact your prospect so you don’t leave out any key information.

It’s a good idea to role-play your script over the phone with your sales manager until he or she feels you sound confident and professional.

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Tip Five: Qualify Your Prospect at Maximum Range.

Unfortunately, not every prospect will be interested or qualified financially to purchase your products or services. Successful sales reps don’t waste time chasing after low-probability prospects and know when it’s time to cut their losses and move on.

Tip Six: Don’t Take Rejection Personally.

Selling, like baseball, is a numbers game pure and simple. Rejection is to be anticipated as a natural aspect of the qualification process, so don’t take it personally. Learn from rejection by using it as a valuable feedback mechanism. Salespeople who take rejection personally lack perseverance Salespeople and seldom make the sale.

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who take rejection personally lack perseverance and seldom make the sale.

For the majority of salespeople, prospecting for new business is without a doubt the most challenging and stressful aspect of the selling process.

Selling is a contact sport and daily prospecting for new business is the key to every salesperson’s long-term financial success. By integrating these six powerful prospecting tips into your daily business routine, you’ll be able to keep your appointment calendar packed with qualified prospects!

“Sales are contingent upon the attitude of the salesman, not the attitude of the prospect.”

– W. Clement Stone Copyright ©, 2016 John Boe. All rights reserved.

John Boe presents a wide variety of motivational and sales-oriented keynotes and seminar programs for sales meetings and conventions. John is a nationally recognized sales trainer and business motivational speaker with an impeccable track record in the meeting industry. To have John speak at your next event, visit www.johnboe.com or call 937-299-9001. Free Newsletter available on website.

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JAN LEOPOLD Jan Leopold was helping people even before she became a Realtor. Her career started in Maryland, where she was a nutrition educator promoting health and wellness. She always dreamed of living in the mountains of Colorado, so in 2000 her family moved to Breckenridge to experience life to the fullest. Passionate about her community, she wanted to help people live the mountain lifestyle. The client education process was right up her alley.

“About 63 percent of our market is second homes, so it’s a different market for clients in terms of location and properties. We have luxury properties next door to mountain cabins. I enjoy educating them, and there’s no pressure to buy or sell.” She loves being able to provide her numerous clients with the necessary market information and research for them to make the best rock-solid investment or get the highest price in the sale of their home. According to Jan, the best part of her business is creating personal relationships with people from all over the US and the world.

A full-time broker associate, Jan specializes in Breckenridge, Blue River, Frisco, Copper Mountain, Dillon, Keystone and Silverthorne, making every transaction smooth, professional and fun. A good listener who responds quickly, she works at her client’s pace, whether that’s three months or three years. As a result of the excellent service, most of her clients are repeats and referrals.

Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate, a boutique brokerage for over 50 years and the market leader in Summit and Eagle counties, makes marketing efficient for Jan. In addition to a full-time support staff for marketing, photography and technology and an in-house closing department, the company has a silent partner, Vail Resorts, which owns Breckenridge and Keystone resorts. “They invest in getting people here to play,” Jan says. “We help them stay. Our affiliation with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World and Luxury Portfolio gives our company world-class tools and resources to expand our reach on both a national and global level.”

Jan has unique marketing prowess. She works with high-end photographers who shoot 3-D virtual tours and drone videos; then the company’s customized marketing plan exposes the listings on more than 500 websites as well as in a professionally printed portfolio magazine and on local TV 8. And Jan doesn’t stop there. She has her own website and a Facebook business page. Her current Facebook campaign, geared toward buyers, offers a downloadable infographic entitled “10 Clever Tips to Pay for Your Mountain Vacation Home.”

As both a Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) and Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR), Jan has had experience working with everyone from first-time buyers and second homeowners to seasoned investors on multiple property types, including luxury homes, condos, ski in–ski out, vacant land and 1031 exchanges.

Once clients are in their new home or are ready to fix it up for a sale, she’s the go-to resource for roofers, painters, electricians, landscapers or whatever they need. Her passion for helping others and building long-lasting relationships has contributed to her success in the local real estate market.

It’s also her nature to give back to her community. “That’s a fundamental part of what makes Summit County a great place to live,” she says. Through her company’s foundation, she supports Domus Pacis, a nonprofit respite enabling cancer patients, their families and friends to experience the beauty of the mountains. She also supports the Family Intercultural Resource Center for families and children and Cycle Effect, which empowers young women through mountain biking.

In her spare time, she enjoys everything Summit County has to offer, from skiing, hiking and biking to attending local concerts, festivals and her son’s hockey games. Adventure at the beach is a special thrill during the winter months—she and her family head to the warm weather in Mexico and Panama a couple times a year.

After 17 years, Jan is ready to grow her business. She plans to bring on a licensed assistant in the near future who can help her conduct business the way she does—a way that’s successful for both parties.

It’s just the way she’s built.

For more information about Jan Leopold visit www.JanLeopold.com, call 970.389.3714 or email jleopold@slifersummit.com Top Agent Magazine

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Managers and Team Builders: Four Principles to Develop a Great Team

By Carla Cross “I work alone.” “I don’t need to be a member of a ‘team’”. We’re heard that for years in the real estate industry. Yet, the strongest, fastestgrowing real estate companies have team building as part of their cultures.

Agents who want to expand their businesses create teams. So, TEAM is no longer a four-letter word. The importance and implementation of leadership through teamwork and synergy is back in style in the real estate industry.

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Why Building a Strong Team is Important to Agents AND Management

As with all industries, the real estate industry is evolving. We’ve gone through the ‘go it alone’ phase. Because we’ve gotten more sophisticated in business. We realize that no one succeeds alone. We understand now that people working together create something more substantial than the sum of the parts. In addition, Top Agent Magazine

with the challenges in the business, we finally get that many minds focused on the same task can accomplish much more than each person working as his own little island.

Supporting this trend, strong company cultures have emerged which encourage and reward teamwork instead of solely independent achievement.

Do you have a job description for each of your team positions?

Do you provide it prior to hiring?

Talking About Team-Building is a Slam-Dunk

It’s much easier to talk about teamwork than to create a team. One of the reasons is that most of us have never worked as a team before. As an agent, I didn’t create a team. But, in my management career, I worked to create teams with common focus.

How did I learn how to create great teams?

An Unlikely Place to Learn Teamwork

My first experiences in great teams, and then leading teams--comes from the world of music. I’ve created and Franklin D. Roosevelt said, “People led teams as a jazz musician. I’ve acting together as a group can accom- played in exceptional orchestras plish things which no individual (I’m a flutist). I’ve seen conductors acting alone could ever hope to bring pull together one hundred disparate, temperamental, independent musicabout.” ians as an inspiring team. (It’s a lot If you’ve ever played on a sports like managing a real estate office!). team, you know the chaos that en- So, the four truisms here come from sues when every player tries to be the my experience in both worlds—the star—to go her own way. That’s not musical performance world and the a team. That’s a group. You may also world of real estate team-building. know the joy of playing on a team that shares a common focus and It’s Not Just About Developing commitment to excellence. What a YOU as a Leader difference! What if you could bring that into your real estate office or You may think that, as a leader, your your agent team? job is to find team members that Top Agent Magazine

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Just because people accept a position doesn’t mean they know how to proceed with the job. They need to have clear direction, a job description and a firm understanding of the responsibilities--prioritized. Do you have a job description for each of your team positions? Do you provide it prior to hiring? Do you coach to One of the differences between lead- it? Do you help your team members ing a group and leading a team is that, get so good at it that they can start in a successful team, team members training new team members (move also become leaders, and think like into leadership)? leaders, looking out for the good of the team, not just for themselves, In “Teamwork is the primary other words, will work well together. That’s true, as far as it goes. But, your ultimate job is to train and coach those team members to start doing some of the leadership jobs you’ve done. That way, you can keep moving to higher levels of leadership. You can expand and sell your business.

ingredient of success.”

Leaders develop leadership on their team.

Otherwise, leaders are not really leading. They’re managing—or micromanaging. From developing leadership over a couple of decades, I’ve found four major truisms for developing your team with strong internal leadership. These principles apply whether you’re in management or in sales interested in building a team.

Principle #2: People don’t know WHAT to do to get the job done.

Even if you hire someone who has real estate experience, it doesn’t work to leave it to them to figure what exactly needs to be done—from your point of view. They don’t know your priorities. They don’t know how you work. Do you have processes and systems in place to teach them exactly what needs to be done?

The Principles to Developing Team Leadership

Principle #3: It’s your job to teach them HOW.

Principle #1: People don’t know what’s expected of them.

Some people think “leaders” are the “idea people” and aren’t supposed to

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get into implementation. But if you want your team to excel, you must show them how. Having worked with assistants for over 15 years, I have found that assistants and team members need help in systemizing any process that you want done. They need help in developing dialogues to deal with affiliates and consumers in the way you expect. They are good at systemizing their own processes-but not good at all at systemizing ours! Help them.

regularly”. Hold your team members accountable for each step along the way to completion of a task as well as the end result. Do you have solid, measurable benchmarks from which to measure? How do you know you and they are succeeding?

All systems in place? Do you have foundational systems in place from which to improvise? Do you have a solid training program to bring a new team member on board? Do you a method to ‘clone’ yourself to develop someone who can take over your job?

Vince Lombardi, one of the greatest football coaches of all time, said of teamwork, “Teamwork is the primary ingredient of success.”

The pay-off for developing competency and leadership skills in all of your team members is a business that is ‘owned’ by all those involved, with empowerment assured.

Your goal is to develop processes, systems, and training for your team members—all which reflect your philosophy of how you do business.

Principle #4: When accountability They reflect your values and your factors aren’t built in, things don’t culture. Bring them into a leadership get done. mentality with you, so you can delegate more responsibilities and There’s a great difference between finally replace yourself! “do it the way you want” and expecting results and “do it the way you Copyright©, 2015 Carla Cross. All want and let’s check how it’s going rights reserved.

Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is an international speaker, writer, and coach, specializing in real estate management. Her Leadership Mastery Coaching program is unique in the industry.

A National Realtor Educator of the Year, Carla was recently named one of the 50 most influential women in real estate. Join Carla’s Community and receive special offers and free resources. Contact Carla at 425-392-6914 or www.carlacross.com.

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