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Since employment rolls started taking major hits in 2007, most American workers have been distracted to one degree or another by concerns over their job security, or lack thereof. But the more you let those distractions get to you, the more likely they could negatively impact your sales performance – and we all know where that could lead.

Make no mistake, job insecurity fears are real, and pose serious risks. A recent University of Michigan study found that chronic job-insecurity fears were more strongly linked to health declines than actual job loss or unemployment, and that the currently rocky labor market has weakened bonds between employers and employees, which in turn has fueled worker perceptions of job insecurity.

If selling success is rooted in confidence, then the last thing any sales professional needs is to be distracted by fears over losing his or her job. Here are four “cornerstone” considerations for beating those fears:

Stay focused on your strategic goals. When the market is tough, the sales pros that keep producing are the ones that set a strategy that corresponds to current client needs and keep working toward achieving that strategy’s objectives.

Be reasonable. What kind of trouble would your business have to be in for you to actually lose your job? Once you’ve outlined that process, evaluate any momentary concerns about your job security you might have against that list to determine if they are valid.

Ditch the fear and cultivate a sense of detachment. No one likes the prospect of losing his or her job, but at the same time, life goes on, and we eventually find a solution to even seemingly insurmountable obstacles in life, such as unemployment. Consider developing a “plan B” that you would put into motion if you lost your position. Knowing that you have a plan and that things will be okay can bring peace of mind and restore your focus.

Prioritize self-discipline and your process. When business is down, you have to work twice as hard, so check your worries at the door and hit the phone and email as hard as you can. That extra effort will hopefully help your company and reinforce your job security by demonstrating how invaluable you are.
It’s hard not to give into fear when unemployment regularly tops 10 percent and rounds of layoffs and businesses shutting down make for regular evening news fodder, but by exercising some self control and refusing to give into fear, you can help ensure not only your job security, but your long-term success.

A sale isn’t complete until the salesperson has closed the deal, and that means getting the customer to agree to the terms and sign on the dotted line. It often takes one last, gentle nudge to get the customer to pick up the pen. Here are some key ways to confirm client commitment:

Be an adviser. Undoubtedly, the most effective way to close a sale is by opening it. If you began the process by asking all the necessary questions ahead of time and truly worked with the customer to develop a solution to fit their needs, closing the sale would be a mere formality.

Offer alternatives. This is a standard closing method, but it works. Offer the client two or three options to pick from, because if the customer is almost ready to make a move there is a good chance he or she will opt for one of them. “Would you like the two-year warranty, or the one-year warranty with bundled customer support?”

Give them the Goldilocks treatment. If you are trying to get customers to land on a specific option, offer a range of alternatives that you feel confident will lead customers to the ‘middle’ option (inexpensive but doesn’t suit their needs; too expensive for their budget; just right).

Sweeten the deal. Give hesitant customers a free value-add to push them over the top. “You’ve been such good customers, I’m going to include installation free of charge.”

Quantify the cost of indecision. If you have customers that clearly need solutions to their problems, but are indecisive, remind them how expensive not acting could be. Assuming you’ve been asking questions, you should be able to determine how costly not taking the initiative could be.

Uncover the hidden objection. If you feel you are close to making the sale, but can feel the customer holding back due to an unknown objection, confront the customer with this exercise. Suggest that the two of you weigh the pros and cons of your solution. You list all the pros, and then hand the client a pen and ask him or her to list the cons. Chances are that 1) your list will be much longer (assuming you prepared ahead of time), and 2) your customer will finally have to write down what has been making him or her hold back.

Remember, in any negotiation — even those that are reaching their end and appear to be resolved — the savvy sales professional will closely watch the client and monitor their feedback to ensure that they are still confident with their decision. You want the customer to feel positive and proactive when the deal is closed. That will help ensure future business from the client and hopefully foster a long-term business relationship.

• Target is Low to Moderate income borrowers, or borrowers located in Low to Moderate Income census tracts.
• 30 Year Fixed Rate
• 100% Financing***************
o Credit Score>660: Max LTV=100%
o Credit Score 620-660: Max LTV=97%
• NO MORTGAGE INSURANCE*****************
• Only 2 Months Reserves Required****************
• Manufactured Housing allowed with an LTV reduction of 5%
o Must be on permanent foundation according to appraisal report
• Borrower must qualify based on income. APPLICANT(s) income must fall below:
o Mobile County: $39,600
o Baldwin County: $46,560
• Eligible Property Types: Owner Occupied
o Single Family Dwelling
o Condominiums (Low Rise and High Rise)
o Townhomes
o Planned Unit Developments
o Manufactured Housing (LTV reduction of 5%)
• Seller Concession up to 3% of Sales Price
• No Minimum Borrower Contribution
o Funds for down payment and closing costs can come from gift, grant, or unsecured loan from family, employer, government, or nonprofit agency.
• Standard Appraisal (Non FHA)

RBC Bank
Professional Program

• Professionals are defined as: Medical Residents/Doctors, Dentists, Lawyers, Architects, Veterinarians, Certified Financial Planners (CFPs), CPAs and Engineers.
• 100% Financing
• Max Loan Amount: $500,000
• NO MORTGAGE INSURANCE*************
• NO RESERVE REQUIREMENTS**************
• Owner Occupied and Second Home Purchases
• Eligible Property Types
o Single Family Dwellings
o Condominiums (Warrantable)
o Properties with 15 Acres or less-Subject to supporting comps on similar acreage
o Planned Unit Developments
• Credit Scores
o Min. of 680 to extend to 100% financing
o 660-679: Max 95% LTV
• 3/1, 5/1, and 7/1 ARM Programs with 30 Year Amortization Term
• Funds to Close
o Seller Concessions Allowed
o Gift Funds Allowed
• Standard Appraisal (Non FHA)

RBC Bank
Private Banking Program

• Applicant must be an existing Private Banking Client. Prospective borrowers must become a Private Banking Client to qualify for this mortgage. Requires appointment with Private Banking Account Manager.
o $500,000 in Investable Assets
o $200,000 in Annual Income
• 100% Financing
• Max Loan Amount: $1,000,000
o May increase on an exception basis
• NO MORTGAGE INSURANCE**************
• NO RESERVE REQUIREMENTS**************
• Owner Occupied and Second Homes Allowed
• 3/1, 5/1, and 7/1 ARMs with 30 Year Amortization Term
o Interest Only Option Available on 5/1 Arm
• Eligible Property Types
o Single Family Dwellings
o Condominiums (Warrantable)
o Properties with 25 Acres or Less-Subject to supporting comps on similar acreage
o Planned Unit Developments
• Credit Scores
o Min. of 680 to extend to 100% Financing
o 660-679: Max LTV is 95%
• Funds to Close
o Seller Concessions Allowed
o Gift Funds Allowed
• Standard Appraisal (Non FHA)

Product Comparison
RBC’s AHP, FHA, and USDA

Characteristics RBC’s AHP Rural Housing FHA
Max LTV 100% 100% 96.5%
Credit Score Requirements -Min. of 660 for 100% LTV
-620-660 for 95% LTV No Minimum Minimum of 620
Mortgage Insurance Not Required Not Required -Upfront MI premium, and
-Monthly MI Payment
Income Restrictions Mobile Co. $39,600
Baldwin Co. $46,560
-Applicant(s) Only Mobile Co. $73,600
Baldwin Co. $73,600
-Household Income None
Appraisal Requirements Standard Appraisal FHA Appraisal
-More Stringent FHA Appraisal
-More Stringent
Manufactured Housing Allowed
-Max LTV is 95% New Units Only Not Allowed
Geographic Restrictions None Yes
None
Average Closing Time
-Subject to Certain Limitations
-Foreclosure?, Appraisal/Repairs required for USDA and FHA, etc. 25 Days 60 Days 35 Days
Qualifying Debt Ratio 43%, 45% if Housing Payment shock less than 25%
-May go higher on an exception basis 41% 45%
Reserve Requirements 2 Months None Required None Required

Ian Kennedy
Mortgage Loan Officer
251-622-7661
Ian.kennedy@rbc.com

Google has a history of producing powerful applications for real estate agents, from real estate listings to residential street views and maps pinpointing property locations. Google’s newest tool, Google Wave, is likely to be no exception, and real estate agents need to be aware of it.

It’s a live communications tool that combines instant messaging with image, video, map and file sharing. Why should real estate agents be interested in Wave? Imagine being able to display a property listing for free, along with photos, interactive location and boundary maps and associated documents, all on the same webpage. Known as a ‘wave’, it can also be used as a means of enabling three-way communications between real estate agents, vendors and prospective buyers who can join your wave as interested parties and receive notification of updates and exchange instant messages with you and other members of the wave in real time, as with MSN or Yahoo chat messengers.

For those curious about how it works, Google Wave is rather like a cheesecake built from three layers — product, platform and protocol. The application itself is built using HTML 5, the latest version of the programming language used to write webpages. It’s HTML 5 that gives Google Wave its offline storage capacity, document editing and browsing history management that’s so useful for sharing property files and photos online. The next layer, the platform of Google Wave, is built using various APIs — essentially web services that allow developers to build tools and applications. Finally, there’s Google Wave Protocol, a mechanism that allows us to share and publish our property listing waves on several different websites. The property images, files and documents along with discussion threads are all stored on Google’s servers in much the same way as with Google Docs, Google’s existing document sharing and editing tool.

So why should we consider using Google Wave rather than sticking to Facebook or other traditional networking tools? First, Google Wave provides us with a single way of doing everything from checking our emails to blogging and updating listings or messaging clients. It’s a simpler means of doing all those tasks without having to visit a number of different websites.

Second, you can embed your property listings wave on any blog or website, making it easy to integrate with your existing site. Google Wave is a fast instant communications tool where potential buyers and sellers can contribute and respond to your posts simultaneously, adding a comment to the same property image, for example.

What’s Google Wave like to use? The interface is fairly simple, with a large central inbox containing both your latest messages and wave member’s updates, which you can mark as read/unread or file away into folders or archive. You can search through your wave updates and messages, and on the top left there’s a button for creating brand new property listing waves. To the right of your inbox there’s a Snapshots panel for uploading and sharing images where photos can be dragged and dropped to folders, marked as read or unread or tagged with keywords. The navigational panel is on the left, along with a contacts address book that also doubles as an instant messenger to chat with contacts in real time.

Like Facebook, Google Wave is likely to include a variety of applications that all the members of a wave can use, from colleagues to potential vendors and buyers. These can be anything from applications for localized weather reports for your real estate area to anti-spam robots. A gadget called Bidder allows you to produce eBay-style auction waves capable of including conversations with bidders (including sales inquiries), images of the property you’re selling, emails and shared files with product information. This auction application also allows potential buyers to see the names and avatars of other participants in the auction and the ID of the current highest bidder.

The next logical step is for Google to integrate Wave with eBay itself. Then it might even be possible for an eBay wave to be promoted on other websites besides eBay for more exposure.

Perhaps more controversial is Google Wave’s Twiliobot Robot, which allows you to include the text of phone conversations in your waves. It works by using the Twilio Phone API and some Python and XML code to allow you to dial vendors’ or potential buyers’ phone numbers simply by clicking on a link. Twilio then phones that person’s mobile or landline and the conversation is both transcribed as text and turned into an audio sound file to which others can listen.

This technology opens up all sorts of possibilities — and potentially some security and data protection implications. Inevitably some conversations are private and confidential and legal regulations govern whether they can or cannot be published online. Google Wave also allows real estate agents to rewind instant message conversations, blog and image posts and discussion thread dialogue to see how property discussions evolved, and use this information to refine marketing and sales technique.

It’s too early to say if Wave will revolutionize the way we present property listings or deal with inquiries from buyers and vendors, but it’s certainly an exciting new development, particularly given that, unlike existing collaborative tools (such as Microsoft Sharepoint Services), it’s free and has the weight of Google behind it.

You can get a glimpse of what we can expect at wave.google.com, where you can learn more about this technology and watch a video of Google Wave’s features.

By: Petra Jones, www.remonline.com

comments just to post a link will get the ip banned from the site

The purpose of a pre-listing package is to create a distinction in services and reinforce that your personal brand is centered on the consumer and not the agent. This simply means that you should not include ego-inflated information about your past achievements, track record, etc. in your package. This is of little importance to today’s homeowner. They are mainly concerned with two things:

1) Performance

2) Results

Proving these two things to a seller can make or break a deal. If you want to emulate today’s real estate top producers, a pre-listing package is a real estate marketing tool you need to implement. This is the single most valuable marketing piece you can use. It should be delivered to all prospective clients prior to your listing presentation. Nothing is more powerful than showing prospective sellers beforehand about your techniques and qualifications as a real estate professional.

First, the purpose of a pre-listing package is to establish credibility as a real estate professional; second, it educates the prospective client on the flow of the transaction; and last, it should cover the importance of pricing, home and market condition and answers to common questions. By using a package you don’t need to sell yourself; it does all the selling for you.

Once the client receives your pre-listing package, it instantly sets you apart from other agents. It conveys to the prospect that you are professional and that you know exactly what you’re talking about. By the time of the listing appointment, the client will be more willing to work with you and more inclined to take your advice on how to price their home competitively on the market. It’s important to include pertinent disclosures and forms in the package so that the sellers will be prepared for the appointment.

Did you know that with the right package, you could get 90% of all your prospective clients to sign with you? That’s 9 out of every 10 clients you set an appointment with. It’s not the only benefit you’ll receive; you can also double your sales, listings and referrals — but only if you use it effectively.

So why aren’t all agents using a proven system that can guarantee listings? It could be that they don’t know about it, or they’re not willing to come out of their comfort zone and try new a marketing strategy. If you keep doing the same old marketing routine, then you’re going to get the same results.

There are numerous benefits to using a pre-listing package, but here is just few:

Saves time — If you provide each and every prospect with a package, you are letting it do all the work for you. It does all the selling for you because it lets the seller know what your role is and exactly what you’re going to do for them. When you use an effective package it should answer most of the sellers’ questions and make them feel comfortable with your services.

You can use the same package for every seller while customizing a few details to make it more personal. By using a package you’re saving valuable time in consultation and you are providing disclosures in advance for them to sign, which will save you a great deal of time as well.

Shows professionalism — When you use a pre-listing package you no longer look like a salesman. With a package you will be respected as a real estate professional as you should be. When a client receives a package it says a lot about who you are as a person. It reflects that you actually care about your clients, especially if you personalize the package to their home.

More sales — You can dramatically increase your listing and sales potential in short period of time. Using a package can allow you to close 90% of all your listing appointments and many agents reported that their sales and listings doubled within a few months of using this tool.

If you want to create your own package, here are some items you should include in order for it to be most effective and save you time.

Your marketing plan — A good package will include your marketing plan. An example of your marketing plan is absolutely essential in your package. The seller needs to know how you are going to market their property and get it sold.

Pricing strategy — It is imperative that you help the sellers determine the best listing price of their home. You are the market expert and should provide evidence as to how you came up with this figure. Using a Comparative Market Analysis allows the sellers to make an educated decision on how they should price their home.

Educational materials — Include information in the package that will benefit them and explain what they need to know about the process.

Tips — Including tips on questions to ask other agents and how to properly stage their home is very beneficial. It is important to know the answers to the questions you provide so you know what you’re talking about.

Seller’s homework sheet — This is a list of documents as well as any other information you might require to help you efficiently market the property. For example, asking the seller to gather important papers like mortgaging documents, deeds, tax documents, utility bills, title reports, surveys, two keys, etc. Remember, almost 85% of agents don’t even contact the client before the appointment, so your request to have the paperwork ready further indicates that you are proactive and professional. Why should you waste your time while they are sorting through old paperwork? When you arrive at your appointment and see the paperwork and keys are ready, there is a very high probability that you will be walking out with a signed listing agreement.

It is important, however, to not create a novel when developing your package. Many agents make a big mistake in thinking that more is better. This is not the case when it comes to creating a pre-listing package. Your clients don’t have a lot of time to read through a pile of paperwork. They are only concerned if you have the confidence and experience to get their home sold. The package should be delivered to the prospective client within 24 – 72 hours of speaking with the lead. You really want to make sure they get it as soon as possible because, of course, you don’t want them listing with another agent.

I hope you incorporate a pre-listing package into your marketing from now on and see your business grow. Good luck and much success!

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