OHIO 1-11-21

OHIO EDITION

DEVELOPING YOUR PRICING PHILOSOPHY

EMOTIONAL FLUENCY:

How to Communicate with Clients When Tensions are High

RECONSIDER REFERRAL-ONLY

WHEN PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

FEATURED AGENT

AMY GUTHRIE COVER STORY

NICOLE PETERSON

OHIO EDITION

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AMY GUTHRIE

After graduating from lege with a degree in Fa Merchandising, Amy Gu took a position with C Handbags and Leather She spent twelve years NICOLE PETERSON AMY GUTHRIE the company, working he up to managing a fashion in Cleveland. “I liked cre NICOLE PETERSON relationships with client wanted my next career to involve that, but also CONTENTS me to further learn and grow.” She’d become fasci with real estate after she and her husband purc 4) 3 MENTAL TRICKS THAT 15) FLUENCY: their firstEMOTIONAL home in Massillon in ‘09, and in 201 WILL TAKE YOUR BUSINESS HOWtoTO COMMUNICATE decided take the leap and become an agent TO THE NEXT LEVEL nowWITH leads CLIENTS a team atWHEN Keller Williams Legacy G TENSIONS Realty which is ARE madeHIGH up of two buyers’ speciali including her husband Chris, who joined her i 6) RECONSIDER REFERRALbusiness in 2017; Tom Heidy, who made the tran ONLY WHEN PLANNING FOR 20) DEVELOPING YOUR to real estate from banking in 2019; and Shari P THE FUTURE PRICING PHILOSOPHY a licensed closing coordinator with twelve yea experience in the business. Together they serve County and the surrounding areas.

Phone 310-734-1440 | Fax 310-734-1440

Amy and her team use a personal approach wh

mag@topagentmagazine.com | www.topagentmagazine.com comes to connecting with their clients. “We want

No portion of this issue may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior consent of the publisher. Top Agent to know our clients. We want to be their trusted Magazine is published by Feature Publications GA, Inc. Although precautions are taken to ensure the accuracy of published sors and friends,” Amy by says.

She and her team tak materials, Top Agent Magazine cannot be held responsible for opinions expressed or facts supplied its authors.

To subscribe or change address, send inquiry to mag@topagentmagazine.com. time to get to know their customers so they fully u Published in the U.S.

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stand their situation and real estate goals. “My and I pride ourselves on giving great service,” she Top Agent “We are with our clients from startMagazine to finish.” H a small, close knit team also ensures that nothing

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3 Mental Tricks That Will Take Your Business to the Next Level It’s no secret that running a successful business requires careful planning and a tireless work ethic. Beyond those obvious ideals, it also takes the right mindset in order to capitalize on professional opportunity. In the world of real estate and mortgage lending, mental fortitude is a major component to reaching the next 4

level and achieving longevity in a sector that requires so much self-discipline. With that in mind, we’ve compiled a few key mental tricks you can employ to reinvigorate your working philosophy. Incorporate these techniques into your daily mindfulness routine and your business will surely benefit.

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Visualization helps you work efficiently and keep your cool.

This may sound like one of the oldest tricks in the book, but there’s a reason why Olympic athletes and those serving in first-responder positions use visualization as a time-honored mental technique. Not only does visualizing your daily tasks help you organize your mind, but it amps up your ability to focus on what’s important. Visualization also helps reduce stress in the moment, since you’ve already created a mental expectation of the task ahead. Whether you’re preparing for a negotiation or a pitch to new a client—visualization primes your brain and affords you an extra sense of control as you tackle your day.

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Distill concepts into their simplest terms for ultimate understanding.

As an agent or loan officer, you’re likely juggling numerous clients and commitments on any given day. That’s why it helps to distill your responsibilities in clear, definitive terms. Let’s say you have a meeting set with a client to outline a marketing approach for their property. You may understand the broad strokes, but beforehand, try verbalizing the exact takeaways you’d like to impart to your client.

This may seem obvious, but one of the best ways to clarify your communication and ensure your com-

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plete understanding of a subject is to explain it aloud in its simplest terms. This crystallizes your main point and can come in handy if you drift off-topic or need to double-down on your message.

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Accept that mistakes will be made.

While it’s natural to fear failure, sometimes the dread of making an error can overwhelm your ability to perform. As the saying goes: don’t let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.

If you accept in advance that set-backs will occur, challenges will come, and things won’t always go accordingly to plan—you’ll be less confounded when hurdles do arise. What matters is keeping an even keel as you sort through unexpected delays or mishaps. Accepting that mistakes will happen allows you to shift your focus towards a solution or contingency plan. In other words, don’t spend your energy trying to achieve perfection. Aim high and work hard, but be in touch with reality: upsets are bound to occur. Accept this and you’ll be ready when they do.

The path to lasting success is ongoing, and there are bound to be challenges along the way. It takes mental fortitude to make it to the top, so keep these tricks in mind as you continue to grow as a person and a professional. Seeing situations in a new light can make all the difference as you adapt, evolve, and take your business to the next level.

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Reconsider Referral-Only When Planning for the Future

A 100% referral rate is a testament of client happiness. But even a 30% referral rate is proof of client satisfaction. It’s all relative, say some agents. One number pays tribute to past success, which is certainly a story worth telling. But the other might better predict the future. Many agents plan for the idea that 6

working only on referral may not be sufficient during slower times of the year, in a down market, or when an agent needs to expanding into a new sector.

Unless you are clairvoyant enough to flawlessly predict every market change or every

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Many agents plan for the idea that working only on referral may not be sufficient during slower times of the year, in a down market, or when an agent needs to expanding into a new sector. life change that your clients and referral partners may experience, it’s wise to maintain an active marketing presence. The reasons vary, however, depending on the goals and trajectory of each individual’s business.

If long-term success, a growing team, a legacy or expansion into new areas are not priorities, then working a sphere of influence may be enough for some agents, especially those who may be in the industry mostly for the love of the business. But for a majority of agents, no matter how much they love their work, their real estate and mortgage businesses are careers, first and foremost.

Let’s start with the team-builders and mentors. Agents and brokers who are building teams are wise to invest in business marketing, advertising and community outreach. Ty Hutchins, who owns and operates Ty & Company Real Estate in Colorado’s Front Range, says that, while she could personally live off referrals alone, her goal is to build up her agents. “I do the marketing piece for my team, so I can help them succeed,” she says. That marketing includes running commercials on TV and in movies theatres, as well as lead generation that identifies potential buyers, sellers and Top Agent Magazine

investors between the Colorado Springs and Denver markets. Her team’s goal, she adds, is to promote their reputation of being honest, hardworking professionals with the reach of a major brand but the personalized approach of a boutique.

Then there are the growers. Khrista Jarvis and Nicole Jung of The Khrista Jarvis Team in the San Francisco Bay Area, are on a considerable growth track. “We’re the #1 team in our area and the top team in Compass Real Estate nationally,” explains Khrista. While high marks for service on behalf of their clients have led them to these heights, they know that they must continue to evolve and market their brand. “We do a good deal of social media marketing for our listings and for our business,” she says. Their names, therefore, are frequently linked to sentiments of trust, dependability and market knowledge, both in their marketing and in their reviews.

Next, there are those who weathered the worst of times. Susan Roche entered real estate sales in 2003, following several years of property management in North Carolina.

The key to her sustained triumphs through major market swings lies in her long-range planning. “If the market starts to dip or fall,

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I have safety nets in place,” says Susan Roche, team leader of Simply Real Estate, based in Charlotte. “When it’s a seller’s market, I still plan for a buyer’s market and when it’s a buyer’s market I plan for a seller’s market..” In other words, no matter how comfortable her existing work may feel, she networks consistently. She also employs a full-time marketing director who leads several projects including ongoing research, events and social media exposure in addition to listings marketing. By staying ahead of market changes, Susan knows she can unfailingly represent her clients’ best interests while still maintaining a safety net for her business.

Even professionals with more than three decades’ experience and deep referral networks know the importance of business

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marketing. Cathy Richards, co-owner with Nancy Dalaska of Epic-Wasatch Homes in Park City, UT, entered real estate in 1987 and still draws at least a fifth of her business from lead generation, social media marketing and community outreach. Her business partner, Nancy, adds that real estate is about much more than their own business. “We love collaborating and brainstorming with other agents to help them prosper,” says Nancy. “We believe the healthier the market, the better we all are.”

Regardless of market conditions, even the best reputation can’t guarantee long-term success. To sustain and grow, it’s wise to feed your business by increasing exposure, remaining flexible and maintaining systems for customer service, networking, research, marketing and lead-generation.

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NICOLE PETERSON Top Agent Magazine

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NICOLE PETERSON Top Agent Nicole Peterson is a member of McDowell Homes Real Estate Services, where she services clients all throughout Lake County, Geauga County and Cuyahoga County.

Growing up in Northeast Ohio, Nicole Peterson started her sales career at age five, pulling a wagon of “rocks for sale” around her neighborhood. She’s been a natural entrepreneur ever since. Two years after graduating high school, she earned her real estate license 10Copyright Top Agent Magazine

and started in the business. While raising her children, though, she worked part-time in a variety of industries, from bio-diesel to sales. “But I was always drawn back to the idea of being a full time Realtor,” she says.

“So in 2017, I decided to jump back in and Top Agent Magazine

make real estate my career—and it was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

the drive, expertise and attention to detail to meet any clients’ needs.

Today, Nicole is a member of McDowell Homes Real Estate Services, where she services clients all throughout Lake County, Geauga County and Cuyahoga County.

Whether she is helping first time homebuyers realize their dreams or providing a seller with the latest listing technology, she has

When listing a home, Nicole prefers a diversified approach, sharing properties over personal pages, company pages and targeted social media campaigns. She also embraces cutting edge resources, such as Matterport 3D technology, to give her clients an added advantage in the market and highlights her

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newer listings via segments on local FOX 8 and WKYC Channel 3 TV stations plus local radio channels.

But Nicole is equally focused on helping her buyers, personally seeing to each step of the transaction—from home inspections to the closing table.

“Right from the beginning, I set a meeting with my clients to discuss our goals,” she says.

“There, I make it clear that I’m their point of contact for any questions or concerns.”

Nicole has already earned a terrific reputation throughout Ohio, with the majority of her transactions coming from repeat clients and referrals; in fact, she has recently ascended to the top 2% in production among all agents in Northeast Ohio. “In real estate, you get to work with people on such an emotional level. While there is certainly a business aspect to what we do, I most value interacting with

“In real estate, you get to work with people on such an emotional level. While there is certainly a business aspect to what we do, I most value interacting with my clients and helping them through such an immensely important moment of their lives.”

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my clients and helping them through such an immensely important moment of their lives.”

Outside her career, Nicole is tremendously active in her community. On top of serving in both the Eastern and Western Lake County Chamber of Commerces, she has also joined the Young Professionals Network and Bylaw Top Agent Magazine

Committees of her Local Board of Realtors.

Moreover, she volunteers for various charities around town and promotes local events with the other agents in her office. When she’s not assisting clients or giving back, Nicole, a mother of four, can be found traveling or attending her daughter’s volleyball tournaments. She also enjoys nature photography, Copyright Top Agent Magazine13

practicing music on the piano or flute and an evening out with friends.

Nicole has strong plans for the future of her rapidly growing business. In the coming months, she is looking to build a team and perhaps take a few agents under her wing. But

above all, she looks forward to the new connections and opportunities that lie ahead. “By the end of the process, I become friends with my clients,” she says. “They know they can trust me and that, should any issue arise, I will make sure it’s resolved in a way that suits their best interests.”

To learn more about Nicole Peterson please call (440) 901-9696, email Nicole@ClevelandRealtorGroup.com, or visit ClevelandRealtorGroup.com www.

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Emotional Fluency:

How to Communicate with Clients When Tensions are High Managing emotions, expectations, and personalities are central to a successful real estate career. After all, this is a business based on relationships and interpersonal communication. Likewise, real estate is built on one of life’s central milestones—homeownership. This means that stress, disappointment, excitement, and competition are inherently Top Agent Magazine

involved in the process. As an agent, you take on the real estate world every day, but most of your clients aren’t well-versed in the norms of the industry and are likely riding an emotional roller coaster throughout.

Acknowledging this, how do you steer the ship when emotions and tensions are running high?

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For starters, it’s not always intuitive. Just like you add tools to your arsenal when it comes to marketing, social media, or lead generation, you also have to add emotional tools to your repertoire. Here are a few ways to diffuse tense situations and keep clients on an even keel—even during the ups and downs of the transactional process.

Create realistic expectations from the outset and reinforce them as you go As a seasoned agent, some aspects of the industry may seem run of the mill to you, but may come as a shock to your clients. That’s

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why communicating expectations from the beginning can help create reasonable touchpoints in the minds of your clients. In addition to talking through the steps of the transactional process with your clients, consider writing out a checklist or compiling a buyer’s guide that can serve as a resource for them throughout. Think of it like a security blanket, but one that’s built by facts, figures, and anecdotal experience. If you paint a clear picture of what to expect, clients are less likely to be taken by the surprise and react impulsively as a result. What’s more, reinforce next steps, expectations, and possible outcomes as you go. If your client is left to wonder or guess at what’s ahead or

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what will happen, they will either envision the worst-case scenario and panic, or they’ll misjudge the next step and be disappointed or left anxious as a result. Minimize surprises by communicating regularly, clearly, and with all options on the table.

When unveiling a problem, come to clients with potential solutions in hand Any agent worth his or her salt knows that bumps in the road are likely to occur along the way. You can’t promise a transaction free of stress or unforeseen issues, but you can minimize the ensuing stress by preparing you client in advance for any potential problems, and by addressing any problems

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clearly and with solutions already in hand.

Clients are likely to become agitated if a problem arises and they can’t understand why or what it means. That’s why slowing it down, talking it through, and offering potential avenues for recourse can quell fears and remind clients why they chose you to facilitate the transactional process. This means you’ll have to vigilant, proactive, and on the ball. Of course, it’s much easier to be an agent when everything is going great and flowing naturally. It’s when things take an unexpected or negative turn that true talent is really tested. Accordingly, show your clients that you are confident and in control by remaining adaptable, communicative, and clear in your problem-solving approach.

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Never underestimate the power of listening As an agent, you are probably well-versed in putting out fires and sourcing solutions. Sometimes, however, clients are really looking to you as a confidante and a listening ear. You’d be surprised how much nervousness you can resolve by simply offering a listening ear and offering reassurance. Sometimes it’s not about providing a band-aid or a practical solution; oftentimes, it’s all about listening. Clients need to feel like they’re being heard, even if you’ve heard it all before. By listening to their fears, acknowledging their perspective, and reiterating their goals—you display your empathy and understanding, which is often just what a client 18

needs to feel better. In other words, you don’t have to break out the graphs and data each time a client airs his or her insecurity. First, slow down, listen, and interact on a personal level. You may stop an emotional upheaval in its tracks simply by putting your listening cap on.

Not all clients are alike. Some will require a little more hand-holding than others, but it’s your job to put yourself in their perspective, recognize the milestone at hand, and managing the personalities you’re working with. The next time you feel frustrated by a client’s unpredictable emotional energy, keep these insights in mind as you diffuse the situation, steer them to a place of comfort, and fortify your interpersonal skillset in the process.

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AMY GUTHRIE After graduating from college with a degree in Fashion Merchandising, Amy Guthrie took a position with Coach Handbags and Leatherware.

She spent twelve years with the company, working her way up to managing a fashion store in Cleveland. “I liked creating relationships with clients and wanted my next career to involve that, but also allow me to further learn and grow.” She’d become fascinated with real estate after she and her husband purchased their first home in Massillon in ‘09, and in 2015 she decided to take the leap and become an agent. She now leads a team at Keller Williams Legacy Group Realty which is made up of two buyers’ specialists— including her husband Chris, who joined her in the business in 2017; Tom Heidy, who made the transition to real estate from banking in 2019; and Shari Probst, a licensed closing coordinator with twelve years of experience in the business. Together they serve Stark County and the surrounding areas.

Amy and her team use a personal approach when it comes to connecting with their clients. “We want to get to know our clients. We want to be their trusted advisors and friends,” Amy says. She and her team take the time to get to know their customers so they fully understand their situation and real estate goals. “My team and I pride ourselves on giving great service,” she says.

“We are with our clients from start to finish.” Having a small, close knit team also ensures that nothing slips through the cracks. As a result of the attentive, expert service Amy and her team provide, an impressive sixty-five percent of their business comes from repeat and referral clients.

To keep past clients up to date, the team checks in quarterly, and also sends regular, educational updates about the market. Each month, they also send top clients and top referring clients gifts from local businesses. “We go out of our way to keep a pulse on what is going on in Top Agent Magazine

their lives, make them feel special, and let them know we appreciate them and the relationship we have with them,” she says.

When it comes to marketing listings, Amy and her team take a proactive approach. They create a “Coming Soon” listing campaign to create buzz about the listing. They post each property on the MLS, as well as over 350 real estate websites, and conduct a thorough campaign on social media. “Our job is to find the buyer before they find us.” She also reaches out to other top agents in the area and the team prospects through their database to find the match for the property. The result is often a quick sale at a competitive price. This year she and her team are on track to complete 140 deals.

To give back to the community, Amy and her team are involved in helping KW Cares with various fundraising activities and volunteering. In her free time, Amy enjoys traveling the world with her husband and exploring new cultures and foods.

For the future, Amy is excited to continue growing her close knit team while maintaining the same high quality, boutique service. With her boundless enthusiasm and love of her work, she’s sure to make that goal a reality.

To find out more about Amy Guthrie, please call (330) 752-3939, email amy@theguthrierealestategroup.com or visit TheGuthrieRealEstateGroup.com or facebook.com/TheGuthrieRealEstateGroup www.

www.

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Developing Your Pricing Philosophy

By Dirk Zeller

Ask a dozen agents to explain their home pricing philosophy, and you’ll

hear a dozen different approaches. And if the talk reveals frank responses, you’ll also learn that the most common pricing strategy is no strategy at all.

Here’s my advice: Break out of the ranks by establishing and following a specific strategy for arriving at the ideal selling price for each home.

Adopt the philosophy that, in real estate sales, price is king. Price trumps all other factors—including marketing approaches, home condition, market competitiveness, and sales approach. I believe that, in the end, marketing and condition of the property are controlled by the price.

The alternative, advocated by many agents, most sellers, and even some sales trainers, is to emphasize marketing over pricing. Rather than working to set the ideal price, they believe success will come from optimizing the home’s condition and presentation and then marketing it with skill and savvy.

I take the opposite belief, based on years of experience working with sellers who wanted unrealistic prices for their homes and who experienced firsttime sales failures as a result.

Over my sales career, I resurrected and re-listed more than 600 expired listings—nearly 75 a year. Among all those transactions, I never met an owner with an expired listing who thought that an unreasonable price had anything to do with the home’s failure to sell. They all blamed the previous Copyright Top Agent Magazine 20

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agent and that person’s approach to marketing. Each sought some magic marketing strategy to change the reality of the law of supply and demand.

There is a magic strategy: Price the home correctly.

Price is the only factor that can overcome sales obstacles, compensate for a home’s deficiencies, and motivate a purchaser even if the condition of the property and your marketing approach is less than perfect.

Getting the listing at any cost Does this scenario sound familiar? An agent (usually a newer agent) is short on business or maybe even desperate for the chance to stake a sign in someone’s yard. The agent wants a listing at any price – even if the chance Top Agent Magazine

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to seal a deal erodes the likelihood of selling the property. To gain a seller’s nod of approval, the agent makes a flatteringly high pricing recommendation, throwing out a number the client wants to hear and then hoping something good will result from the bad situation.

I can think of few examples, if any, where this philosophy works. Hope isn’t a successful pricing strategy. Worse, the please-the-client mindset is a hard one to abandon. Agents who achieve listings with unrealistic prices find it hard to later counsel their clients honestly.

If you take and price a good listing competitively, it will sell. You can’t keep a good price a secret!

The pitfalls of a “please the buyer” approach are many and significant. By overpricing, you can practically count on a reduction in your productivity, profitability, and salability, and here’s why: It’s impossible to keep your productivity high when your time is spent in conversations with an unsuccessful seller who lacks motivation to take corrective action. The seller’s negativity, concerns, and phone calls will only increase with each week or month the house remains on the market.

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As time goes on, you’ll devote more and more time unsuccessfully trying to create a sale not only for your seller but also for yourself. This will pull you away from activities that are more likely to deliver income. The ensuing frustration will de-motivate you and stunt your ability to secure better appointments that create other income opportunities.

An unsold, overpriced listing negatively impacts your profitability because it costs you time and money to service while it delivers no revenue to your business. And the situation only gets worse the longer the listing languishes on the market. You’ll end up deducting the expenses of this in-limbo listing from the proceeds generated by any revenue-producing deals you manage to close in the meantime, reducing your net profit and business success.

Unsold homes that linger on the market seriously diminish your salability, which is the term that describes your sales success track. Your salability is based on such key statistics as your average ratio of listing price compared to sale price and the average number of days your listings are on the market.

Obviously, these statistics, which prospects rely on when choosing one agent over another, can be crushed by a “get the listings at any cost” philosophy. They’re also harmed by the “start high and reduce later” tactic.

If you take and price a good listing competitively, it will sell. You can’t keep a good price a secret!

Dirk Zeller is an Agent, an Investor, and the President and CEO of Real Estate Champions. Copyright©, Dirk Zeller. All rights reserved.

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