What's Holding You Back: Part 3 of 3

Have you been updating your listing presentation for a few months now in order to get it just right? Are you getting ready to make those calls just as soon as you're a little more comfortable with that new killer dialogue you just read about from the hottest new real estate coach? Have you been agonizing over each detail of that new logo, business card, brochure or advertisement design that will make all the difference in your business?

If yes, your perfectionism, our third and final anchor, is stunting your growth. Perfectionism has you working hard getting everything ready and perfect, but not actually getting anything done for your business. The irony of perfectionism is that it is driven by an intense desire to succeed, yet highly correlated with the fear of failure. When you put yourself out there, you expose yourself to rejection or in a perfectionist’s mind failure. It’s far more comfortable to continue to “prepare” because we tell ourselves that once things are perfect there is no way we can fail. In reality, it's far better to have things done, than to have them be perfect because perfect doesn’t exist.  

In the end, even the best presentation, best dialogue and best advertisement will not make up for the lack of activity. The other irony, studies have shown that those that get out and take action, over time end up with better presentations, better dialogues and better messaging because they are doing it more often, getting feedback, encountering real scenarios and gain the experience that brings them closer to perfect. 

Keep elevating our industry.

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

#RealEstate #Realtor #RealEstateAgent #RealtorLife #RealEstateLife #grandrapidsmi #grandrapidsrealestate #remaxgr #remaxhustle #remaxmichigan

What's Holding You Back: Part 2 of 3

Ever find yourself wasting time overthinking the potential outcomes to a situation within a transaction? Does your mind ever start envision to the worst possible reactions a client could have? Do you over analyze all of the "what ifs” instead of taking action?

If yes, Paralyzing Analysis, the second of our three anchors, is stalling your progress and business growth. The human mind hates the unknown. It wants to feel safe and secure knowing exactly what comes next. Unfortunately fear of the unknown often causes us to stall, delay and put off important activities like delivering bad news or prospecting for new business, hoping that if we just give it some time the bad news will magically change or new business will suddenly appear.

The longer we wait, the higher the emotional and financial costs. Remember, that since your mind jumps to the worst case scenarios, the fear of what might happen is often far worse than what actually happens. Additionally, don’t waste time considering “what ifs” you have no control over. Instead, make a list of what you can control in the situation and focus your actions on those. 

Keep Elevating Our Industry. 

https://youtu.be/t_jZkumNyAE

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

#RealEstate #Realtor #RealEstateAgent #RealtorLife #RealEstateLife #grandrapidsmi #grandrapidsrealestate #remaxgr #remaxhustle #remaxmichigan

What's Holding You Back: Part 1 of 3

We all have goals to move our businesses forward, however we often ignore the anchors that are preventing or at least slowing our progress. Over the next 3 weeks we’ll cover the 3 anchors that are holding you back. The first is procrastination. I know it well and I excel at it often. It’s human nature to procrastinate. Our minds are hard wired for comfort, to find the easiest route and to avoid the uncomfortable, the risk of failure and rejection. The problem is all of our growth is in the discomfort. No pain, no gain is just as true in business as it is in the gym or playing field. Our brains like to procrastinate because it is easy in the moment, unfortunately the cost is great in the future. Here are 3 quick suggestions on how to pull this anchor. 

1. Do it first, early and often. If you get the feeling you want to avoid something move it to the top of the priority list. Do it early in the day when you have the most energy and do it frequently to build competence and confidence. 

2. Find accountability. Just like having a workout partner or trainer be accountable to someone you respect and don’t want to let down. 

3. If you absolutely can’t bring yourself to do it, hire someone. Yes, there is a cost to delegating it, but the cost is far less than avoiding it all together. I speak from experience. 

Keep Elevating Our Industry. 

https://youtu.be/7n1gIUaE3es

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

#RealEstate #Realtor #RealEstateAgent #RealtorLife #RealEstateLife #grandrapidsmi #grandrapidsrealestate #remaxgr #remaxhustle #remaxmichigan

The Real Estate Business You Want

How much time have you spent envisioning the business you want in the last week? What about the last month or the last year?  For many agents the answer is not much, if any at all. The result is a business that drifts along allowing your direction and success to change with the swings of the market. It can also leave you unfulfilled, feeling like you are treading water, wondering if you're making any progress.

If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to take the time to define the business you want. What does it like 1, 2 or 5 years from now? When do you want to work? How much do you want to work? What do you want to work on? Who do you want to work with? What type of support will you need? Who can help you get there? What are the results you want? Most importantly, why do you want those results and what would they mean to you? What are the steps to get there? When will you take the first step? This process alone will provide you clarity and inspiration. And taking action on the steps you define will lead to a more abundant life. If you want resources and help envisioning an intentional future for your business send me a message.

Keep Elevating Our Industry.

https://youtu.be/kyAA5rT6cCI

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

#RealEstate #Realtor #RealEstateAgent #RealtorLife #RealEstateLife #grandrapidsmi #grandrapidsrealestate #remaxgr #remaxhustle #remaxmichigan

Predict Your Future Real Estate Sales

We are 4 months into the year. That means 28% of all sales are behind us. If we take a look at our market's current rate of sales, which is 16% slower than last year, we can project that there are about 7000 sales remaining in our market for the year. How many of them will be yours? To project your remaining sales, take your YTD closed volume sales total and divide it by 0.28. Do you like what you see? If not, what new actions will you take to change it? Who will hold you accountable for those new actions? How will you track them? Make sure you track both the efficiency and the effectiveness of your actions. An honest assessment of both will determine your business’ future performance. One thing elite agents have in common is they track everything allowing them to make course corrections to their business plan and achieve peak performance. Keep Elevating Our Industry!

https://youtu.be/kYFUEkGVILo

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

#RealEstate #Realtor #RealEstateAgent #RealtorLife #RealEstateLife #grandrapidsmi #grandrapidsrealestate #remaxgr #remaxhustle #remaxmichigan

Sales Rollercoaster Fatigue

The rollercoaster ride of up and down sales and the mental fatigue that comes with it are direct results of ignoring what sales expert, Jeb Blount, calls The 30 Day Rule. It states that the prospecting work you do for the next 30 days will pay off over the next 90 days. What tends to happen is we get busy with our current clients and stop working to fill our pipeline with new opportunities everyday. Miss a day and you might not feel it. Miss a week and you’ll see a drop in your commission checks. Miss a month and you will hit a giant valley in your sales rollercoaster ride about 90 days later. Staring at your empty pipeline can drain you of your energy and motivation for any prospecting activity further stalling your sales. Can anyone relate?

The only solution is to dig deep and start over with the activities you don’t want to do, but know you must if you want to avoid this mental & emotional rollercoaster in the future. As you start again, remember the 30 day rule, because the results will not be immediate. You’ll feel like it’s not working, but remember it will payoff sometime over the next 90 days. You will experience a full pipeline again. If you are looking for activities to fill your pipeline download today’s resource on Marketing and Prospecting.

Keep Elevating Our Industry.

https://youtu.be/l5s4NZcCwN0

DSH, Marketing and Prospecting Resources

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

#RealEstate #Realtor #RealEstateAgent #RealtorLife #RealEstateLife #grandrapidsmi #grandrapidsrealestate #remaxgr #remaxhustle #remaxmichigan

Uneasy About Asking

When it comes to asking for contact information, appointments or referrals I often hear agents say "I don’t want to ask because I don’t want to seem pushy or salesy.” This fear, while very real in our minds, is miss placed in this situation. Typically pushy people are just pushy, it doesn’t matter what the activity may be. If you’re not a pushy person, your “ask” won’t be. Asking alone has no emotional energy attached to it. It is simply asking.

Let me reassure you, you have every right to ask for contact information, appointments and referrals. Your business relies on it. Similarly, whomever you are asking has every right to decide how they answer. But, don’t fear running someone off by asking. Even if you get a negative response it will save you time by allowing you to quickly move on to the next potential client. The more you ask, the more you will be surprised by how many positive responses you receive.

So start asking with confidence because remember that the worse has already happened…they are not working with you! The only way to change that is to ask. Keep Elevating Our Industry.

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

#RealEstate #Realtor #RealEstateAgent #RealtorLife #RealEstateLife #grandrapidsmi #grandrapidsrealestate #remaxgr #remaxhustle #remaxmichigan

1st Quarter Real Estate Market Comparison

With the first quarter behind us, let's take a quick look back to see how we started the year and compare our current market to last year. We have seen just over 1800 residential sales about 15% less that 2022. By comparison, this pace of sales is similar to 2009-2010 and puts us on pace for 9000-9500 sales for the year. The good news is 80% of those sales are still ahead of us! The actions you take now will determine how much of the remaining market will you capture. Similarly, sales volume is down about 12% coming in around 640m compared to 725m last year. Unfortunately that does mean there is less money in the market and it will take more work than before to maintain your market share. Are you putting in the extra effort? The good news is home values are still strong and up over 6% when compared to 12 months ago and pending sales indicate prices will continue to climb. Finally, we encourage you to download our latest market summary guide covering sales information from 27 different school districts over a 6 month period which is now updated through March. It is designed to educate and save time. We publish it quarterly and it is our most popular resource. Keep Elevating Our Industry!

Download: Market Summary Quick reference Guide

https://youtu.be/RrktZEV-l6k

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

#RealEstate #Realtor #RealEstateAgent #RealtorLife #RealEstateLife #grandrapidsmi #grandrapidsrealestate #remaxgr #remaxhustle #remaxmichigan

Unlocking Free Lead Flow

Leads aren’t flowing as you would like, but you don’t want to pay for leads? Tackle your free marketing opportunities first. These activities will not cost you any money, however you will have to invest your time. Consider open houses, phone calls, door knocking. Immerse yourself in a community or group of like minded people by volunteering and participating in events and activities. What ever you can do to have conversations with new people. This is just a sample of free activities, so be creative. Ask where and how can you meet more people to serve?

Then the important part is to put a system to it. For example a specific number of open houses a week, in specific neighborhoods. How will you promote and prepare for the event, what is your direct offer if you meet someone ready to move now, what is your in-direct offer if they don’t plan to move until sometime in the future, when do you put them in your CRM, and finally how do you follow up. Persistence and patience are the keys with free leads, because as with anything discipline and commitment are undefeated. Keep elevating our industry!

https://youtu.be/toLpq-PSCS8

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Managing Stress, Rejection and Uncertainty

The strategy we are covering today may seem too easy, but Harvard has proven it to be true. They found that amount of stress, rejection and uncertainty we experience in the sales profession causes a significant amount of negative self talk which we all know can be a downward spiral. For example, I just heard Brian Buffini talking about a top performing agent whose family member chose to list with another agent. The first thought she shared with her coach, “Maybe I am not good at this after all. I can’t even get my family member to work with me. Maybe I should be doing something else.” All of which her coach knew to be completely untrue. She had successfully helped hundreds of people achieve their housing goals in many amazing ways.

So what is Harvard’s recommendation? Telling yourself three positive statements a day greatly reduces the impact of the stress, rejection and uncertainty we experience in our profession. If that’s not reason enough to give it a try, it’s also been proven to improve sales performance by 33%. What 3 positive statements about yourself or your business will you tell yourself today?

Keep Elevating Our Industry.

https://youtu.be/Sg0ndu7ZtPk

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

#RealEstate #Realtor #RealEstateAgent #RealtorLife #RealEstateLife #grandrapidsmi #grandrapidsrealestate #remaxgr #remaxhustle #remaxmichigan

What Your Clients Are Thinking

Ever wish you could read your client's mind? Would it relieve some of your stress if you knew exactly what they were thinking and feeling? Do you think you would be able to advise them better with a better understanding of their goals and desires? While there is no way to know exactly what’s on their mind, a good set of open ended questions can get you awful close by revealing important information so you won’t have to guess. We have include a set of over 25 different questions in today’s email for you to download. Try using a few that at your next meeting and watch your prospect open up. People love to be asked what they think. It makes them feel respected and valued. It will help you build the trust you will need to get them to the finish line. Keep elevating our industry. 

https://youtu.be/rDztA_zeVDw

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Are You Memorable?

Were you memorable? Well considering 90% of clients say they would work with their agent again and only 13% do, it sounds like we could all use a little improvement in this area. Take a look at these 5 experiences: listing interviews, showings, the pending period, closings and post close. How could you make each more memorable?

Here are some ideas to get you started. Try sending a pre-listing package before your interview. Want to really stand out, include an e-book with a video introducing yourself and showing off some of your previous listing videos. At showings surprise your clients with their favorite drink or games and treats for the kids. We have our clients fill out a “favorites” form at the first meeting to know what they like. If a pending period is going smoothly sometime communication slows. One agent in NYC provides a small gift for each week of the pending period. For example, a restaurant gift card, with a note saying “I know how busy you are preparing for the move, so I thought you might enjoy a night with out having to think about dinner.” At closing, how are you helping them celebrate the moment? This another time that “favorites” list is helpful. Lastly, post close we use our client for life system. With a simple check of a box it provides several gifts, like a gift card to a hardware store for those new home projects, over the first 90 days and beyond.

Get creative, don’t be ordinary, make their experiences more memorable and you’ll be more memorable too!

Keep elevating our industry.

https://youtu.be/86nckujdI5E

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Where is the Real Estate Market Trending...

All indicator show that there will be less homes sold in 2023. If trends continue as anticipated, and with the latest comments from FED chairman Powell this week on continued interest rate increases, we could see a 15% drop in home sales. So how should you respond? How can you prevent a 15% drop in your business? With fewer people moving we need to adjust our numbers. If you had a database of 300 people that provided you with 20 sales last year, it will only provide you 17 sales this year. A 15% drop. In order to have 20 deals from your database you’ll need a larger database, but how larger?

Here’s the math. Take the 300 and divide it by 0.85 or 85%. Your answer is 350 people. You’ll need to find 50 more people to generate 20 sales. Or take that geographic farm of a 1000 homes that produced 10 sales last year, it will only produce 8 sales this year. Want it to produce 10? Divide 1000 by 85%. You’ll have to farm closer to 1200 homes for the same results. Do this math across your entire business and you won’t have to participate in the 15% dip. You might even want to apply this to your prospecting time. If last year was 60 minutes a day, divide it by 85% and bump it up to 70.

Keep elevating our industry.

https://youtu.be/HUSPLDbKTrE

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

The Stress of Delivering Bad News

In real estate there is no escaping bad news. No matter how well you do your job problems still happen and you have to deliver the message. For many of us this results in some significant stress over the anticipation of a phone call we don’t want to make. After all, who gets excited about delivering bad news.

The good news is your clients want you to tell it to them straight, it builds trust. So don’t sugarcoat it. Putting a positive spin on bad news can come across as disingenuous which undermines your relationship and future referrals. Instead, to minimize the stress for them and you, communicate it as quickly as possible and ease them into it by bracing them.

Before delivering the news prepare them by simply stating, “I have some bad news.” This is a deceptively simple yet incredibly valuable phrase. Here’s why it works. The regions of the brain that react to emotional pain are the same as those for physical pain. Studies of physical pain show that warning someone first actually reduces the pain they feel. The same rings true for delivering bad news.

So warn them, wait for permission to proceed, deliver the facts and the options they have. Preserve their autonomy by resist the urge to decide for them. Instead be silent allowing them time to process. Following this simple yet not so easy process will reduce your stress and build a stronger connection with your client. Keep elevating our industry.

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

A Walk in the Park

Signs of spring are starting to show. In February price reductions are down 27% and seller concessions down 12% when compared to January. The average sales price of a pending property has grow to over $360k (last year we peaked at $359k in April). Inventory will continue to be our primary challenge through out this year. Typically we see 11-12% of sales for the year are closed by the end of February. If that remains true for 2023, we are on pace for just 9,500 sales in 2023, a low we haven’t seen since 2008. I don’t mention this to scare anyone, but to prepare everyone. I like this analogy from author Steve Shull*.

"Imagine your friend invites you to go for a walk in the park. Only when you arrive you realize it is a national park, and the trail is several miles of hilly terrain. You’re totally unprepared, and by the end, you’re exhausted, dirty, sunburnt, bug-eaten, dehydrated and angry with your friend.

Imagine instead your friend invites you on a long, challenging hike and advises you to wear sturdy shoes and bring water, sunscreen, bug spray and a raincoat, just in case. The trail is the same as before, but now you’re ready for it. It is still a tough hike, but at the end, you’re grateful you were prepared, you feel a sense of accomplishment, and are happy you didn’t even need to use the raincoat.”

See anyone who chooses to prepare correctly can make it through and even thrive in our challenging market, but not everyone will. Wonder what others are doing or how to start preparing, send me a message or check out our Thrive in a Shift video series on our youtube channel.

Keep elevating our industry.

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

*The Full Fee Agent By Chris Voss and Steve Shull, Black Swan Press 2022

More Enjoyable Work, Significantly More Referrals

Understanding this key characteristic of human behavior will result in happier clients, more enjoyable work and significantly more referrals. Gallup, famous for its public polls, has sifted through mountains of data on how people remember past events. Here’s the key, people do not remember how it happened. People remember the most intense moment and how it ended. Turns out your last impression is the lasting impression!

Here’s a quick example. In the entertainment industry it is common place to arrive in a limo and leave in a taxi. Not so on the Oprah show. Guests would arrive and leave in a limo, a much more positive last impression. As a result, guests gladly came back and raved about their experience. You can do the same in your business. Ask the question “How can I make sure this person walks away happy?”

This doesn’t just apply to clients who close with you, it should apply to everyone. When people walk away happy they are much more likely to come back again. It is much more productive and enjoyable to work with someone who already has a positive relationship or impression of you. Keep elevating our industry. 

https://youtu.be/sNghGTykggw

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Not Using AI? You're Leaving Thousands on the Table

If you are not using artificial intelligence, you are leaving thousands on the table. I am Dave Veldkamp, owner of RE/MAX GR. AI is changing the landscape of many industries and real estate is no exception. Leveraging AI puts you at the forefront of real estate positioning you as an advanced forward thinking agent who pulls out all the stops for their client’s success. 

Imagine being able to tell your listing prospect that your marketing is not only beautifully designed, but it has been optimized by AI to maximize exposure and SEO to their advantage. Never again will you have to stress over the right keywords to make your property description perfect. Instead use services like Jasper.AI or ChatGPT to write your context for you.

The benefits don’t stop there. Ever feel frustrated when trying to create the ideal social post or advertisement to boost to generate the most leads? Now AI will write the ideal post for you giving you the broadest reach and bring you the most clicks.

AI is also the future of CRMs. No longer will CRMs just track your contacts or follow up with drip campaigns. They will identify more leads right inside your own SOI. Over the last two years, First.AI has identified over 100 sales and 41m in volume inside my own SOI 6 months before the sales happened. In addition, First.AI has identified the average agent is missing nearly 70% of the business from the people they already know.

The math is easy. Thousands are being left on the table for those who are not leveraging AI. Make sure you are at the forefront. Stop missing out. Message me if you want more information on Jasper.AI, ChatGPT or First.AI. Keep elevating our industry.

Watch Video: https://youtu.be/r_o0o3vCi0A

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Not Enough Listings in Your Pipeline

Potential sellers minds are full of questions especially with the perceived uncertainty in our market. “Is now the right time to sell?” “Should I put any money into my home?” “Are home values down?” And the list goes on. This uncertainty is holding many back from pursuing their current housing goals. In today's email you will find a comprehensive list of questions sellers are thinking, but might not be expressing. If you want to continue to build trust, take the time to write down possible answers to each question on the list. Then use the tools we covered last week to listen deeply to identify which questions are going through your prospect’s mind. Resist the urge to decide the right answer for them. Instead present the fact of each situation, the options they have and the likely consequences of each option giving the prospect the confidence to make their decision.

Now here is an additional tip if you don’t have enough listings in your pipeline. Use today's list of questions for short video topics. Take one or two at a time, record, publish and share. Here’s another stat for you, surveys show 65% of people go youtube for answers to their questions. Make sure they find you there. Keep Elevating Our Industry!

Download: What Sellers Are Thinking

Watch: https://youtu.be/chm9s1wXorU

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

3 Ways to Separate Yourself From the Rest

Last week we covered expert negotiator Chris Voss’ advice to move from “You’re right” to “That’s right” in order to build trust and separate you from other agents. You do this because people can’t hear you until they feel heard and they won’t understand you until they feel understood.

Here are 3 tools to get you to “That’s right”. First, Naming. Which is stating what you think the other person is feeling, thinking or doing. It usually starts with phrases like “It seems like…” or “You’re probably thinking or feeling…” This requires deep listening, but it will get you deep into the person’s head and the heart. And don’t worry about being wrong. People will love correcting you.

Second, Repeating. Simply repeat the last word or two someone says prompting them to expand on the subject. For example, if a seller says “We need to move quickly” reply “Quickly?” “Yes, we only have 2 months until I start my new job”. This is a powerful tool to get people fully express their thoughts and feelings.

Third, switch from “l” to “You”. The more you remove “l”, I think…I know…and instead say “you” the more you will be talking about their needs, desires and concerns. These 3 tools will build the foundation of trust that will not only make everything in the rest of the transaction easier, but your entire business going forward.

Keep elevating our industry!

https://youtu.be/vqT3QsRZHkE

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700

Gain More Clients. Receive More Referrals.

It feels great to hear “you’re right” especially if it is a perspective client agreeing with you. After all you did the research, you have the training and experience. You should be right, right? So what’s the problem with hearing “you’re right”? To be clear, you are the pro, so your experience and training do have you fully prepared and your research is accurate. You are definitely providing facts and information they will need during the process. That’s not the problem.

The problem is “you’re right” is what someone says when they are caving to your persuasion or simply giving you a false "yes" or polite “no”.  Caving leaves a person feeling like they have lost their autonomy. Leaving them defensive and resistant. A shaking foundation for building the trust needed to create a raving fan.

Chris Voss, former head negotiator for the FBI for over 20 years, recommends a subtle shift. Instead of “you’re right” go for “that’s right”. Hearing them say "that’s right" means they feel understood.  As we covered last week, when they feel understood, you build trust thus separating yourself from commodity of other agents. You gain more clients, your receive more referrals. So how do you get to “that’s right”? We’ll give you several tactics next week.

Keep Elevating Our industry!

Video: https://youtu.be/F5Wdy4Yb6bE

David Veldkamp

Owner | RE/MAX GR

Mobile: 616.460.6123

Office: 616.957.0700