FIVE WAYS

Five Ways To Increase Your Commission

By Walter Sanford

Sanford Systems has the best systems for making money in real estate. Sometimes, our clients forget how to stop discounting and to instead raise their “fee.”

This month, we’ll cover five ideas. Here we go:

1Raise it. Before the listing appointment, fill out all paperwork with the new rate and make it business as usual. Scared? Well, make a great listing presentation. Don’t leave until you get the objection. Learn how to overcome the objection. If you have to, drop it back down to your old retail rate but only after much hesitation.

2Email new listings. Send new listings to your database immediately, hours before it hits the MLS. This is a two-fer: #1 - Keep your database informed with secret, prelisting information that they are reluctant to spam and in the email tell them to forward this hot info to their sphere. #2 - You make more double ends with new people.

3Institute a cancellation fee. Many agents allow sellers to cancel listings with a guarantee stating

they can cancel if they are not happy with the process. If you offer this guarantee, you will always be worried about offending sellers who are serial cement heads with a bent toward overpricing. You won’t try hard enough to get the price reduction, thinking they are going to cancel the listing.

On the other hand, sometimes sellers have a legitimate reason for needing to cancel, and, as upsetting as that is, you can’t sell a property that the seller does not want sold. Offer them an out and you get paid for your time, while working with a chance to get the listing back. “I offer an ‘any reason to cancel’ clause. It is $1000 in the first month and goes up an additional $500 a month after that. (Adjust for your price range.) It is fully refundable should you ever re-list the property with me and I am successful in contributing to its close.”

4Gain limited partnership as commission. I carried many of my commissions due from builders as a limited partnership interest in their next project, rather than giving them discounts.

5Skip the discounts. Instead of discounts, carry your commission as part of any seller carry back. It is better than taking a beating on the amount.

I coach top agents on a limited basis. If you are interested in coaching or a speaking engagement, please call our office at 800.792.5837. Be sure to ask about the half-off sale on our already discounted internet prices for training systems.

Don’t re-invent the wheel. Use 30 years of real estate wisdom and experience to your benefit!

Copyright©, Walter Sanford. All rights reserved. Walter Sanford has been designing and implementing real estate systems for 30 years. One of the most successful REALTORS® and now wealthy from his systems, Sanford teaches his systems and strategies through his products, seminars, and personal coaching producing the best results in the industry. Do what works, do what is proven. Hire Walter Sanford. Call our office at 800.792.5837, email walter@waltersanford.com, or chat with us online at www.waltersanford.com.

MARTA JACKSON

After graduating college with her engineering degree and MBA, Marta Jackson held Product Marketing positions at General Motors and Medtronic. Later in her successful career she started her own business, Granite Transformations, which assisted homeowners with improving their properties. She loved working in the housing industry and was searching for a career that could better balance her desire to help others with her love of entrepreneurship. “Real estate ultimately proved to be a great fit for my aspirations,” Marta says. “I find fulfillment in helping clients successfully navigate the challenging and stressful process of selling or attaining the home of their dreams.”

Currently, Marta is a Realtor for Edina Realty, Inc. where she assists clients throughout the Twin Cities and their surrounding areas. She has built a career around compassion and unwavering service, earning numerous accolades such as the 2020 President Circle Award and the 2019 Excellence in Client Service Award through Homesnap and Google. “Tenaciousness really matters in real estate,” she says. “I’m a naturally competitive person, and I want my clients to get the homes they have dreamed of.”

When listing a home, Marta applies her professional experience to help her clients. Listening to their needs and desires, she guides them carefully through staging, photography and marketing of their home with clarity and attentiveness. Her previous experiences as a business owner help tailor the process from start to finish for each individual client. “Organization is crucial for me,” she says. “When it comes to my clients, I’m extremely detailed.” Marta prefers an equally detailed workflow when assisting her buyers. She educates her clients throughout the homebuying process through to the closing and beyond. She continues to keep in touch after closings and loves to hear stories and see pictures of their new homes. For her compassionate approach, Marta has won an outstanding reputation around the Twin Cities area, as evidenced by her rapidly growing rate of referrals and repeat clients. Most of all, Marta enjoys helping people accomplish their goals. “You can always tell when a client has found the perfect house for their needs,” she says. “Moments like those are the best part of my career.”

When she’s not servicing clients, Marta can be found donating to her area food shelter. At home, she loves cooking, practicing yoga and spending time outdoors with her beloved family. This year, she looks forward to helping plan her daughter’s wedding and advising her son on his upcoming home purchase.

Elsewhere, Marta has solid future plans for her business. In the coming months, she intends on extending her reach, growing her client base and forging new connections around the Twin Cities region. Meanwhile, she will be expanding her roster of rental properties to better assist those in her community.

Marta first came to real estate for the ways it complimented her hardworking and service-oriented personality. Today, she has built an accomplished career and lifestyle in the Twin Cities. The key to her success? “I always put my clients first. In real estate, you’ve got to be there for your clients and let them know you’re looking out for their interests. If you do that, everything else will fall

into place.”

To learn more about Marta Jackson email MartaJackson@edinarealty.com, visit www.EdinaRealty.com or call (612) 770-7899

ROCHELLE JOHNSON-BROWN

After graduating from college in 1991, Rochelle Johnson-Brown decided to temporarily help her mom—a REALTOR®—and ended up liking the industry so much that she got licensed 6 months later. Rochelle is a Minnesota native, and resides in Lakeville with her husband and two kids. She gets invaluable help from her assistant, Nichole Reimer, who has worked with her for over 15 years, and who helps with marketing and ensures that the business runs smoothly so that Rochelle can fully focus on clients.

With a business that runs primarily on repeat and referral clients, it’s Rochelle’s attention to detail that gives clients the certainty of being in the right hands. “I like to stay on top of everything from start to finish. I work hard to ensure that we make no mistakes. I believe that’s the reason I get referrals. Now I’m doing third generations—clients whose parents I worked with, and now I’m working with their kids,” she says.

Another reason clients keep coming back to Rochelle is her dedication to ensuring that her client’s best interest is top priority. “I always do what’s in the best interest of my clients. I put them first, and I fight for them. I enjoy doing what’s best for my clients. I’m also very honest with them. I want to help them be in an area or a house that they’ll be able to resell if they want or need to.” I love when I get to help a young family purchase their first home, and then help them move into their second home as the kids get older. This job can be very fun and rewarding.”

Community involvement is important to Rochelle—although it has been curbed a bit due to COVID-19. She is a parishioner of a local church through which she participates in various volunteer opportunities, and she frequently supports the local high school programs. Coming from a family that enjoys sports, Rochelle’s time off is typically centered on family and football. She also loves watching her daughter play basketball.

Going forward Rochelle has no plans of slowing down. With her two kids about to go off to college, she anticipates that she’s going to have more time for her career. “I’m going to work until I can’t anymore. There are no plans of retirement.” And as for advice to young REALTORS®, she says, “Make it fun. If it’s not fun, it’s not worth doing.”

Rochelle’s marketing strategy includes social media, mailers, as well as her own network of colleagues. And through her hard work she has earned national sales awards from the Realty Alliance and The Dozen. She has also been awarded the Executive Circle, the highest tier in Edina Real Estate Industry, and finds herself in the top 2% of Edina Realty Agents. But the number of transactions or volume is not something she places a lot of focus on. “I don’t really get hung up on numbers. I’m more concerned with the people.

For more about Rochelle Johnson-Brown email RochelleJohnson@edinarealty.com, visit www.rochellejohnsonbrown.edinarealty.com, or call (612) 845–8858