Nevada 1-29-18

NEVADA EDITION

3 Ways to MAKE YOUR WORKSPACE WORK FOR YOU Get Your HEAD IN THE GAME! Drip Those ONLINE LISTING LEADS

COVER STORY

LAURA HARBISON

BE THEIR REALTOR® FOR LIFE: How to Build a Relationship With Your Clients that Will Last a Lifetime

NEVADA EDITION

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LAURA HARBISON

CONTENTS 4) BE THEIR REALTOR® FOR LIFE: HOW TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR CLIENTS THAT WILL LAST A LIFETIME 13) GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME!

18) DRIP THOSE ONLINE LISTING LEADS 22) 3 WAYS TO MAKE YOUR WORKSPACE WORK FOR YOU

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Be Their REALTOR for Life: ®

How to Build a Relationship with Your Clients That Will Last a Lifetime In the world of real estate, an agent’s relationship with their clients can make or break their career. This industry revolves around working well with people, and being able to develop a strong relationship with your clients is the foundation that you business is based upon.

Just like with a house, if that foundation is weak, the rest of the structure is also going to be unsteady and fragile. The mark of a good REALTOR® is their ability to build up a good referral network and following of loyal clients. This isn’t something that just happens by accident. Building healthy, strong relationships with your clients takes work and knowing how to gain another person’s trust, respect, and friendship. Here are some ways to make sure you are building the right kind of relationship with your clients.

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1. Use Your Friendliness and Optimism to Win Them Over: No one wants a pushy, overly confident salesperson for a REALTOR®. Clients are much more inclined to put their trust in the hands of someone who is friendly when it comes to one of the biggest financial transactions of their lives. A pleasant, outgoing disposition will win you more clients as well as friends. You want to establish rapport in the first few minutes of first meeting prospective clients. Rather than starting with business right off the bat, begin your meeting with some small talk such as similar interests, hobbies, and family life. This will immediately help to put your clients at ease, and show that you are not simply trying to “sell” them something.

People also respond well to optimism. During what can be a very stressful time, clients need someone to help them stay positive when a situation looks difficult and challenging. Optimism also tends to radiate charisma, and people want to be around and do business with charismatic people. You want to learn how to understand, motivate, and inspire people.

2. Be an Inquisitive Learner and an Empathetic Listener:

On the other side of this coin is knowing how to listen empathetically. Empathy involves actually putting yourself or your mind in their shoes so you can genuinely understand their concerns, needs, and opinions. That understanding and empathy is then reflected in your conversation with that client. Your clients want to know that you care about their situation, and that they’re not just another sale for you to make. People are much more willing to put their trust in you when they can sense that you are actually making an effort to feel what they feel in order to understand their situation.

Showing your interest through questions, and then thoughtfully listening goes a long way towards gaining trust. Showing empathy and acknowledging the feelings and emotions involved in your clients situation helps build a relationship founded on genuine care and trust.

3. Watch for Nonverbal Clues:

Don’t be afraid to show your curiosity and ask your clients a lot of questions. Some of these questions may even be difficult and uncomfortable. You want to discover and learn as much as you can about your client. Don’t make the mistake of jumping straight into the role of the know-it-all. Every different client has unique needs, so you want to learn as much as you can about their specific situation before trying to propose a solution. You want to uncover their primary motive for buying or selling, and flush Top Agent Magazine

out any potential concerns they might have.

After you’ve gained as much information as possible, you can then gauge their interest in your possible solutions by asking “what if” questions. Being inquisitive also demonstrates to your clients that you are genuinely interested and invested in their situation.

Most communication happens nonverbally, so knowing how to interpret your client’s body language can be incredibly helpful. Here are a few things to pay special attention to: Eye contact: Be careful with the level of eye contact you use with clients when first meeting.

Too much and too little eye contact can send the wrong impression. You want to try and maintain eye contact around 70 percent of the time. That is the amount that most people are comfortable with. Pay attention to your client’s level of eye

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contact to determine how comfortable they are.

When someone avoids eye contact that could mean they are not engaged in the conversation.

A good way to quickly build a feeling of rapport when first meeting clients is to make eye contact when you first meet them and then start nodding yes to what they’re saying. If the client reciprocates the eye contact and nodding, you’ve established a connection.

4. Prove your honesty and credibility:

Choose the right handshake for each client: One handshake does not fit all people, and that first handshake can be crucial to making a good first impression. The way to do a good handshake for each client is to try and mirror the other person’s handshake in strength, keep your shoulders aligned as you are preferably standing when you shake hands. While you shake your client’s hand make sure you make eye contact and give them a sincere smile.

Showing a little weakness can actually be to your advantage in this situation, and will actually make others more inclined view you as honest. You don’t want to come across as too good to be true. When revealing this weakness, however, the key to coming out on top is turning what sounds like a weakness into a strength. For example, your service may be more expensive, but that’s because you offer more personalized and extra services than your competitors.

Honesty and integrity are the two traits that 98 percent of buyers and sellers report are qualities they consider “very important”. The thing is you can say you have these traits all you want on your website, bio, etc., but trust has to be earned, and the only way to do this is to prove your credibility.

Here are a few tips for how to sound more credible:

When you talk to your clients avoid using filler words such as “um” and “uh”, which can decrease your credibility. You also want to watch the tone of your voice. People tend to translate a deeper tone as sounding more credible.

You want to develop a relationship to last a lifetime when interacting with your clients. There are many things you can do to accomplish this, and using these tips can take you from getting just a few referrals and repeat customers to gaining a loyal client following. Taking the little extra time to make sure you are projecting the right attitude and making sure that you are doing things to gain your client’s trust can make a world of difference for your business.

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LAURA HARBISON Top Agent Magazine

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Laura Harbison’s Realty Executives Southern Nevada Properties in Henderson, Nevada services all of Clark County, including Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas.

LAURA HARBISON Top Agent Laura Harbison, franchise owner of Realty Executives Southern Nevada Properties in Henderson, Nevada, has closed well over 7,000 transactions in her nearly thirty years in the real estate industry, and her team has been ranked number one by that company since 1999. Designated by the Wall Street Journal as the #92 agent in the entirety of the United States and the holder of a slew of designations and accolades, Laura is clearly an agent to be reckoned with.

Laura began her career while still in college, when she worked as an agent’s assistant.

“By the time I graduated,” she says, “I’d been there for years and found it interesting. I wasn’t exposed to real estate when I was growing up; it was a whole new world 8Copyright Top Agent Magazine

for me. Working there in that capacity I got to observe and see what the top-producing agents did, and I also got to see the habits of not-so-successful agents. So it was quite an education.”

Servicing all of Clark County (which includes Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas) Laura currently works with a highly-specialized team of twelve, including her husband John, who is her Director of Field Services.

Three Buyer Representatives, an Escrow Coordinator, an Operations Coordinator, an Accounting Coordinator, an Executive Assistant, two Receptionists (Laura’s office is open seven days a week), and another Field Services employee round out the cast of dedicated, hard-working real estate professionals.

“My staff is really stable,” says Laura, pride evident in her voice. “My clients can come Top Agent Magazine

back ten years later and still deal with the same people. So there’s a comfort level; a coming home of sorts.”

With more than a third of her business based on repeat clients and referrals, Laura is clearly providing top-notch service. When asked what she thinks might account for this loyalty, she replies, “It has to do with a lot of things. Superior marketing, for example. Any time new technology comes out, Top Agent Magazine

we adopt it. We use superior photography. I’m doing television advertising, internet advertising, social media, virtual tours, and video. But I still also use the old-fashioned methods, like color brochures, direct mail and magazines.”

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“My clients appreciate that they always have access to me personally, and they know that they and I are in partnership together.

Providing excellent customer service is of paramount importance to Laura. “I think my clients appreciate that they always have access to me personally, and I think they know that they and I are in partnership together. I think they can tell that my staff really cares what happens to them and that they look out for them.

When you’re buying or selling a house, it can be an overwhelming experience but they know they’ve got someone walking them through the process step-by-step. We’ve developed a personal relationship.”

A Premier Agent on Zillow, Laura has numerous five-star reviews on that site. Among the many glowing testimonials is this one that best sums Top Agent Magazine

up the experience of working with her team: “I would highly recommend Laura Harbison. She is very professional, patient, extremely knowledgeable and very easy to work with. Her staff of real estate professionals are always there to support you. You will not be disappointed.”

Laura and John, who have seven children, consider themselves “adrenaline junkies,” and in their free time enjoy seeking out the country’s best rollercoasters, bungee-jumping and other thrill-seeking activities. Laura is also committed to giving back to the community, and to that end she founded a charity in 1996 that provides for local homeless children. She has also been active in numerous non-profits Copyright Top Agent Magazine 11

that include The American Cancer Society, The National Marrow Donation Foundation and the Girls Scouts of America.

Laura’s success also has much to do with her passion for the real estate industry, and the true

satisfaction she derives from helping her many clients, regardless of their needs. “I love being able to help someone achieve their goals. I do whatever needs to be done, regardless of the dollar amount of the transaction. That’s very satisfying to me.”

www.facebook.com/markallanproperty/

For more information about Laura Harbison, please call 702-777-1234 or email Laura@HarbisonRealEstate.com Copyright Top Agent Magazine 12

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Get Your Head in the Game!

By Barry Eisen

Can you think of any top athlete in any sport who is inconsistent in prepara­ tion, has little focus, has no defined game plan, and has low confidence and self-esteem? If you can, you’re not thinking of a top athlete, you’re thinking of a wanna-be poser. There are lots of gifted and talented people in sports, but the world doesn’t care as much about the talent unless it shows up, demonstrates focus, shows a dedicated plan of action and acts like success is the natural by product of all the previous preparation.

The same scenario is true about successful entrepreneurs. You’d be hard pressed to think of a winner who wasn’t prepared, focused, strategized and confident.

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The stories about Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Billie Jean King, John McEnroe, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps, Lionel Messi, Amanda Beard, and thousands of other sports greats share many When you hear negative basic success principles.

Think of the Captains of Commerce in your business and chances are the success principles are much the same.

messages in your mind... take a deep breath and replace them with supportive words.

I’ve been privileged to have worked with some of the very best in sport and business over many years and this is some of what I’ve learned from them.

5 ideas for stepping up your game.

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Preparation is what creates confidence. Don’t work on confidence.

Practice more. Whether it’s practicing getting out of the starting blocks quickly in the 100 meter dash, efficient flip turns in the pool, chipping onto the green from 30 yards away or rehearsing business presentation scripts, introducing yourself while knocking on doors, or closing assertively after a strong presentation...you can’t get around practice/preparation. Check out “the 10,000 Hour Rule,” in Gladwell’s, Outliers. Ya gotta do the work!

Mental practice in a relaxed state of mind (self-hypnosis) can speed up the success process from 2-5 times. Read almost any autobiography of a successful athlete or business personality and recognize this common trait; almost all successful people saw and savored the end result in their quiet, meditative states first.

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The quality of Self-Talk is a big reason for the separation between superstars and the herd that follows. It’s easy to be positive and use positive words when things are going great and your attitude is up. One way of getting and keeping an “up” attitude is to silently tell yourself what the outcome of the next event will be...where the ball will land, your time for the 100 butterfly, the height of the high jump you’ll clear, the room you’ll mesmerize with your speech, the powerful listing presentation you’ll 14

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give today, etc. The result of negative self-talk (self fulfilling prophesy) is obvious...poor posture, unfocused, procrastination, fear. Self sabotage!

When you hear negative messages in your mind...take a deep breath and replace them with supportive words. This will get easier and more automatic with practice and so will your successes.

(If you don’t achieve what you set out for...it doesn’t matter...keep doing this.) The difference in how the ultimately successful get to where they are and where everyone one else gets, is how soon you pull the plug and quit.

Raise your game by staying in it. As you shift your mind your game will improve/your business will improve.

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Visualize the self-talk. Pictures make more and deeper neurological impressions. A picture IS worth a thousand words. The greats in every sport played the game, walked the course, saw the 100 mph fastball come in, saw the touch at the pool’s wall, broke the beam at the finish line well before their bodies were involved. Your actions are based on your thoughts.

Don’t be random. Choose successful pictures that move you forward.

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Feel the satisfaction of success for just a moment. How would it feel hitting that perfect dive, making the 20 foot putt, running your personal best in a 10k, nailing that listing presentation, passing that test?

Allowing the neurotransmitter dopamine to flash through the pleasure centers of your brain, reinforces the positive goal towhich you are moving.

We do things to maximize pleasure or to minimize discomfort. As you associate the task or goal with a positive feeling, you’ll approach the task/ goal with a more open, “CAN DO,” attitude. It’s attitude not aptitude that usually matters more. Like a pep talk before a game, like a supportive hand on a child’s shoulder before a test in school, like a smile from a prospect that says, “I’m open to what you have to say,” feel good about what you’re here to do. You’ll make changes, not because you need to or want to, but because it feels good. Take the kicking and screaming out of your life to experience a more centered and focused energy.

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Relax before you compete/take care of that piece of business. Some use music, some meditate, some create physical rituals (eat a certain food, do push ups, clap hands, stretch, a couple of breathes (and a whole lot of other crazy things you’ve seen. It ain’t crazy if it works.) Create a small ritual that focuses you in the last moment before the event/business presentation/prospecting/public speaking...

Some sport psychology is about emotional, social and or physical issues, more to be addressed by qualified coaches, counselors or therapists, trained to deal with psychological baggage and physical scars. Some business leaders sit in with therapists and coaches to sort out individual blocks.

But after all the analysis is said and done, the smart ones go back to the basics. See the ball, hit the ball.

Copyright©, 2016 Barry Eisen. All rights reserved.

Barry Eisen teaches personal development seminars and coaches Southern California top producing REALTORS®. “Your business will never grow more than you do” is the theme; self hypnosis and behavior modification are the tools for playing a bigger game. barryeisen.com, barryeisen@LA.twcbc.com 818-769-4300 16

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Drip Those Online Listing Leads

By Walter Sanford

My coaching clients are beginning to find more success with their online listing leads. Whether the lead is coming from postcard-generated invites to complete forms on their site or third-party consolidator leads, the web leads are coming in. The problem with a lot of these leads is bad phone numbers but good email addresses. The question is - how do we engage them in a conversation that leads to a listing appointment?

Uncovering the seller’s needs prior to an appointment is always the first step in creating client satisfaction, but it’s very difficult to do without good contact information. By showing these potential sellers value, my clients have found that many sellers who wanted to remain anonymous are now holding up their hands and shouting “I want some of that!”

The drip system that creates this kind of excitement is one that’s immediately started after the lead is received. The system shows the value that you can bring to their discovery process. Every three or four days, send an email that lets them know that there is so much more that a top, local, professional agent can add to their search.

With my clients, we only give a little bit of information at a time. Usually within a few weeks, we have the serious leads contacting the agent for an over-the-phone consultation.

Below are some of the points that we stress in our drip system email campaign for online listing leads: 18

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Week One: Thank you for contacting us for more information regarding the sale of your property. I hope the information we have already provided was of some help to you. We believe that a real estate relationship should be based on the client’s needs. Once we know those needs, we have some very unique solutions that our past sellers have mentioned were available nowhere else. Please give us a call so we can supply some unique answers to unique challenges.

Week Two: In our earlier email, we talked about unique solutions. One of the unique solutions we provide our sellers is a pre-listing consultation.

Go to www.(yoursite).com/prelistingconsultation to answer a few questions and schedule a phone call that’s convenient for you. This will allow our team to be better prepared to give you some insights regarding what to expect in this market.

Week Three: In continuing our theme of delivering value to our potential sellers, one of the most appreciated value propositions that we give our potential sellers is our “seller education system.” If you call us, we can program a search for brand new listings each morning. The search will include specs that compare to your home and the results will be emailed directly to you. This provides you with brand new listings that would be competing with your home, if it was on the market. This makes you the most educated seller in town knowing what the competition is. You’ll receive these new listings at the same time agents in (your town) receive them!

Week Four: Occasionally, we have a seller who isn’t interested in considering a sale unless he/she knows the value first. We came up with a solution that eliminates a lengthy listing presentation. We call this our free 48-hour phone value analysis. Go to www.(yoursite).com/valueanalysis.

Complete the form and within 48 hours, one of our team members will call you. Based upon the same comparables that appraisers would use, we will let you know the value of your home. This is a fast and inexpensive way to bridge the gap of an expensive appraisal or a time-consuming listing presentation with a service that can be just as accurate. There is no charge for this service, and we are happy to put the numbers together for you!

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Week Five: One of the services that our sellers most appreciate is our “meet the team” concept. You can go to our website or call us directly for the contact information on a trusted team member for almost any service.

We know the best plumbers, HVAC techs, electricians, roofers, landscapers, painters, carpenters, and carpet installers in the area. We use them on our own homes, we trust them, and we have long business relationships with them. If you need anything done around your home to prepare for a potential sale or if you just want to get it ready for a special occasion, we know who does the job well here in (your town).

Week Six: Our sellers get higher prices because we make their homes desirable to buyers! We call this service our “primp and polish” service.

Any consultation is free! We can provide you some simple tips to make your home more inviting to buyers. We will point out any potential red flags and help you place furniture to get things ready to create that emotional pull. We have professional decorators on call. Their services cost money, but we have found their service is a good investment based on the additional monies that we receive for our client’s properties. The initial consultation is free! Please give us a call so we can set this up for you.

Week Seven: Did you know that our company has access to a majority of the top real estate agents in any city in the world? If you are considering selling your home here and buying out of town--we can send you to top agents who understand your needs. Top agents know they can’t solve client’s challenges without first knowing what those challenges are. If you want a special house out of town, then give us a call. We know agents who will not only show you standard MLS properties but also properties that are not yet on the market. We call these “secret properties.” These secret properties can be owned by past clients who might consider selling or sellers developed from a postcard mailing campaign in your neighborhood of interest. These agents know many ways to find property that other agents will not show you. We find this service to be one of the best that we provide for our buyers so we wanted to make sure that you get the same service when you move.

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Week Eight: If you’re not quite ready to list your property, we have a system called “sell the sizzle before the steak.” I know it sounds a little corny, but we can discretely present that your home might be available to our database of buyers. This helps us to do a little pre-marketing prior to a full commitment of our complete marketing plan. If you are interested in this service, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.

Week Nine: Did you know that we have a policy where no real estate agent will be allowed to negotiate with you in person? We do this because many times real estate agents can be very forceful in the presentation of offers from their clients. We ask for that offer to be presented to us, and we will spend as much time as you need with just us - your representatives. This eliminates awkward meetings where you need more time to think, and the buyer’s agent is pushing for an answer. We believe that selling a home should not only be massively profitable but also fun. If you’d like more ideas on how we differ from the competition, email or call me at your convenience. All contacts will be kept confidential.

Well, I hope you get the idea that we’re trying to start a conversation with that potential seller instead of letting them fall through the cracks. A drip email campaign for a seller is similar to the campaign for buyers. It’s necessary for listing leads since the majority of information requests come via the web with incorrect or inoperable phone numbers. The only way to get these leads talking is to present them better value than everyone else.

Copyright©, 2015 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.

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3 Ways to Make Your Workspace Work for You Productivity experts agree that a curated workspace positively impacts productivity and mood, but oftentimes we settle for bland desks and cubicles that lack personalized details or considerations for workflow. Why miss out on the opportunity to optimize your surroundings when it could brighten your day—and boost your performance? Keep in mind some of these tactics to make your workspace your own and reap the benefits along the way.

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DETERMINE YOUR WORKING STYLE AND DECORATE ACCORDINGLY For the creative set, a colorful and art-filled workspace can inspire fresh ideas and reduce stress. Likewise, casual yet aesthetically pleasing furniture, accessories, and décor set an inviting yet functional mood. A pop of color from an office tool—even something as basic as a stapler—can inject a sense of fun and modernism into your daily tasks. For the more analytical, right-brained worker, clean

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lines and zero clutter go a long way. A few well-chosen personal photos in tasteful, unassuming frames can provide a motivating connection to the world beyond the office, while accessories and supplies that are sleek, monochrome, and contemporary inspire a sense of calm efficiency.

BUILD A WORKSPACE WITH YOUR DAILY ROUTINE IN MIND If you find yourself spending hours on the phone per day, or assembling stacks of documents and brochures, or even coming and going from the office with frequency—there are simple adjustments you can make to your workspace that will save you time and energy. If you sit for long hours—responding to e-mails or making calls—try incorporating an ergonomic chair or keyboard wrist-pad to maximize comfort. If you spend a long time assembling presentation materials, then file organizers, trays, and easy-to-pull labels can shave valuable time off your efforts. Lastly, those who step out for frequent meetings can reduce the hassle of being on-the-go by making your space mindfully organized—a coatrack and a dish for your keys by the door, an auto-brew coffeemaker, or an easily edited whiteboard calendar can make jet-setting simpler.

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ADD EASY DETAILS THAT ENRICH YOUR WORKING EXPERIENCE While organization and décor can rally productivity and mood, there are also a few extra details you can introduce to your workspace to improve the quality of your working life.

Healthy, easy to grab-and-go snacks—think nuts, homemade trail mix, and fresh fruit— can keep your energy up without the sugar crush or guilt. If there’s a window nearby, a hard-to-kill plant like a philodendron or a fern not only cleanse the air around you, but also provide a welcome connection to the natural world. Being prepared in a pinch is another great way to make your workspace work for you: a spare tie, a tube of lip balm, hand sanitizer, or a box of Band-Aids can save you a trip to the store when an unexpected need arises.

While we take great pains to make our homes our sanctuaries—complete with the decorations, furniture, and food we favor—we often overlook our work areas, even though we spend a sizable portion of our week sitting at the same desk. Challenge yourself to add a few of these personalizing, productivity-boosting details to your work area and bring the comfort of home to your working life.

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