For the first, and possibly only time, come and join us for arguably the finest ‘career improving’ (for those who come) and ‘business ending’ (for their competition) in Queensland Real Estate history.

If 2011 wasn’t the most fun for you, or even if you just want to make a great career even better, one time only, the biggest names in Real Estate join forces to help you SHINE in 2012.

John McGrath needs no introduction to readers of this blog, Mat Steinwede, arguable the most skilled real estate agent in the country and Chris Gilmour, Qld’s #1 Agent join me for a one day intensive training this February.

And this time, YOU get to control the content, so to ask your question of John, Mat and or Chris, visit www.HeavyArtillery.com.au and leave your most pressing concerns and our guests will move hell or high water to help make your career give you the kind of lifestyle that brought you to real estate in the first place.

More details at
www.QREAS.com.au

(or ask your question of John McGrath, Mat Steinwede or Chris Gilmour at)
www.HeavyArtillery.com.au

Recently listened to (for the second time) The Jim Rohn 2004 Weekend with Jim, Brian Tracy, Denis Waitley, Charlie ‘Tremendous’ Jones, and the MC is a wonderful author and speaker named Chris Widener.  He’s my guest this week. Over to Chris…..

When traveling down the road it is always good to beware of roadblocks! You don’t want to crash and burn do you? The same is true in our journey toward success. We need to beware of those things that will keep us from our destination!

What are the most common? Here they are:

1. Fear. Fear is one of the worst enemies of success. When fear wraps its tentacles around you and keeps you in bondage, you will never be able to reach for your dreams. We must confront our fears, see them for what they are, toss them to the side, and pursue our dreams with relentless passion. Conquering fear and stepping forward to reach new lands and new ideas is what makes success possible. What are you afraid of today? What fear must you conquer to be able to achieve your dream? When you realize what it is, take an action that is diametrically opposed to that which you fear. This will confront and conquer the fear by giving you the first step in the right direction.

2. Lethargy. Quite frankly, what keeps most people from success is that they simply don’t have the energy, or make the energy, to do what it takes to move to the next level. They get to a point that is comfortable and then they settle in for a nice, life-long nap! Don’t get lethargic; get going! Force yourself to wake up from the slumber and move!

3. Lack of perseverance. Often times the race is lost because the race is not finished. Success is often just around the sharpest corner or the steepest hill. Persevere. Keep going. One more hill. One more corner! In real estate they say the three most important things are “location, location, location.” In success the three most important things are “perseverance, perseverance, perseverance.”

4. Pessimism. The saying is that you can achieve what you believe. Ask yourself what kinds of beliefs you hold. Are you an optimist or a pessimist? If you don’t believe that you can achieve than you won’t. Your pessimism will prove you right every time. You will find that you subconsciously undermine yourself. Develop your optimism. Look for ways to believe that you can achieve success.

5. Not taking responsibility. I am the chaplain for the local police department, and the other day I went with an officer as he took two prisoners to court. Time after time the prisoners made excuses as to why they hadn’t yet done what the judge had ordered (she didn’t buy it, by the way). After dropping the prisoners off, I said to the officer that unsuccessful people and prisoners have the same bad habit – they won’t accept responsibility for their lives. Bottom line is: You are responsible, whether or not you choose to admit it or accept it. But when you do accept that (and that is the moment when you become empowered), you are on the road to success!

6. Picking the wrong people to hang out with. We can easily become products of our environment. This is why it is essential to hang around people who will spur you on not hold you back! What about the people you have surrounded yourself with? Are they quality people who will encourage you and strengthen you in your quest for success? If not, move on!

7. No vision. Those who succeed always see their success months and years before they live it. They have the ability to look ahead, see the future, imagine the good that can and will come from their lives, families and work. To not have vision is a tremendous roadblock. Sit down and work on seeing the future – and make it good!

Chris Widener

Amazing video, by the famous Brett Clements of Platinum HD, speechless. I had no idea this was what he was creating at QREAS.

It would cost $100,000 PLUS to have this list of trainers, authors, agents and speakers…..Chris Gilmour, Mark Dwyer, Pat Mesiti, Kurek Ashley, Mal Emery and the other experts assembled here to come and mentor you for two full days. They’re yours here for next to nothing.

Personal message from Glenn Twiddle….

I was lucky enough to have been given some great advice early in my career. To study and emulate those who are succeeding, and do what they did to get where they are, and you’ll be just fine. Well, Jason Adcock gave me some advice when I first started. Now at that time, Jason earned $500,000 in commission in the MONTH I met him. So I promised I would do whatever he told me to do. And he said he invested $10,000 in personal development material in the last year. So I just did what I was told, and it worked for me.

We understand though, that not everyone has $10,000 to invest so, here at QREAS, we have endeavoured to take all the risk out of this decision for you. We have made this training affordable, but we still managed to get the world’s best to come and teach us.

So, who are the speakers –

Click here for a comprehensive bio on each of our speakers. But in a nutshell, here are their bios.

First off, little ole ME….

Glenn Twiddle
Didn’t want to sound big headed so I thought I’d let my students talk for me. Check out the ‘Past Recruits War Stories’ Tab, in the menu above, for more examples of my students who have revolutionised their careers based on what I’ve shared with them. Here’s one to whet your whistle….

‘Glenn is the real deal. I personally have gone to number one in my area and I know of no less than three other agents he has done the same for on the last year. His strategies are simple, and you wonder why you didn’t think of them yourself. The fact is, do what he says and you’ll be wondering where the commissions have been hiding all this time.’

Chris Gilmour
The #1 Agent in Queensland right now, (and, unconfirmed, in the country) who has taken the SE Qld Real Estate world by storm.

With an average, normal area, average, normal prices, average, normal, suburban ‘Mum and Dad’ buyers and sellers, Chris has created anything but an average, normal career.

From Chris himself -

“I have just turned 30 and have been in Real Estate for three years. In my 1^st year I made $135,000, with some tweaks and systems in place my 2^nd year saw $880,000 – my 3^rd year I just made my goal of a million, by earning $1,040,966. In the 3 years I have gone from owning one property to now three, I work 6 days a week and spend Sunday’s on my boat or racing Formula 3 at some track around Australia, so anything is possible with systems, focus and dedication, I will show you how to achieve this and enjoy a lifestyle along the way.

I currently run with approx. 40 listings at one time, and have been averaging around the 15 Sales per month, even in a “down market”. I work within only 1160 homes in my farm area and have 82% market share, with a 91% list to sell ratio and my average days on market are 18 Days. Now all this didn’t happen in 3 months, it has taken thousands of dollars’ worth of training and discipline to achieve this and now I’m ready to share to you how I went about achieving this and still are today.”

John Dwyer (yup, THE John Dwyer who got JERRY SEINFELD for an Aussie small business. Not so small anymore though)
Jerry Seinfeld, in his entire lifetime has endorsed three companies – American Express, for a squillion, Microsoft, for several squillion and a little known building society in Newcastle. Well they used to be little known. The marketing genius behind this rags to riches story is John Dwyer. And this marketing genius behind whole ‘Seinfeld’ coup is no ‘one trick pony.’

John has consulted to many of the largest names in Australian business i.e.:

(McDonalds, Caltex, Coca Cola, News Ltd and lots more), but in recent years has specialised in providing wow factor marketing strategies to small businesses like yours.

John also showed his marketing prowess by selling his own home, using these ‘Wow Factor’ techniques for DOUBLE what the local real estate agencies told him he would achieve.

And I’ve talked John into joining us at QREAS and sharing some of his amazing, some would say ingenius, marketing chops with us at our event. Worth the price of admission for this session alone.

Kurek Ashley
One of the world’s absolutely best peak performance coaches. Kurek is responsible for more success than can be listed here. But he took Australians to Olympic gold medals, created many multi millionaires, has taken real estate agents to the top of their area. He also holds the world record for fire walking. He lives what he teaches and his message will rock your world. I spent two days with Kurek last year and I took a few of my close inner circle. One of those agents went from a complete rookie, to the number one agent in his area in the next year.

Click here for a preview interview with Kurek. (approx 10 mins)

Mal Emery
Australia’s Millionaire Maker. Dubbed ‘The Napoleon Hill of the 21^st Century.’ Personally I believe this ‘Napoleon Hill’ title is a little misplaced, because Hill, the Author of Think and Grow Rich, was very much into the midset of wealth. Mal, in my opinion, is at the other end of the wealth spectrum. Mal won’t talk to you about mindset and other things. While he acknowledges their importance, Mal will teach you the 1-2-3, A-B-C, step by step marketing strategies that will get you into the door of your clients, build credibility and trust with your prospects, so they are begging you to take their listing to sell. I personally pay Mal over $10,000 per year. As a favour to me, Mal has agreed to come and share with you, some of the secrets I pay him a small fortune to reveal to me.

Mark Dwyer
In my opinion, Mark Dwyer is one of the most intelligent trainers of Real Estate skill in Australia today. I personally have learned so much from Mark on the subjects of negotiation, getting full commission and running KILLER Open Homes. I’m honoured to have Mark join us at QREAS and whatever he brings to our seminar, will be absolutely top notch, I vow. (a snippet from his bio…)

Mark Dwyer is a career real estate person. Commencing a sales career in the late eighties he broke records for volume of sales and gross commissions by both auction and private treaty.

In 1992 after becoming the top salesperson for the First National Group he began Shire Real Estate Agents. Mark still owns, operates, leads, manages and administrates a real estate business. He is an extraordinarily talented and professional salesperson.

Mark’s vision for the future of real estate practice brings a new dimension for untold prosperity for leaders, managers, salespeople and support personnel alike. His message is clear, ‘the future arrives’ and his aim is to see you there first!

Simon Treselyan
Simon had a very distinguished career, covering more than 19 yers, in the United Kingdom Military Special Forces. A great deal of Simon’s service was conducted in “Covert Operations”. It was during this time that Simon received decorations for Gallantry. Simon has also briefed the UK Prime Minister, Civil and Military leaders on aspects of National Security, plus trained other International “Special Forces” members. He has also given training and instruction to the CIA and other International Intelligence Agencies.

After leaving the military, Simon began his career in the “Personal Development” field and is now one of the most sought after “Personal and Corporate Development Master Trainers”. He uses techniques borne of the most extreme environments and “hones” them into effective and powerful lessons for attaining excellence in the modern world. His work has inspired thousands worldwide to embrace extraordinary training in order to achieve extraordinary results!

Simon has appeared frequently in the television, radio and news media. He is also a regular columnist for magazines. He continues to publish articles on “Human Potential” and “Personal Development”. His first book “Who Dares for Success” was published in 2009.

Greg Vincent
In the past 18 months, Greg Vincent has become the go-to guy for real estate professionals in Australia trying to understand the internet and social media applications for their businesses.

Are you looking for someone who will share their extensive knowledge about how you can achieve better results from the internet as a real estate professional without all of that confusing ‘geek speak’?

Having been a successful real estate agent for over 20 years, running multiple agencies, Greg Vincent has now become one of the most respected Online Real Estate Marketing Experts/Speakers within the real estate industry.

Greg now has multiple web-based businesses & works with some of the greatest internet marketers in Australia. Having over 10,000 followers on Twitter, Greg teaches real estate agents about how to use the internet & Social Media effectively.

Since Greg has an extensive understanding of the real estate profession, he presents the online marketing concepts in a way that cuts through the confusion and makes sense out of the web for real estate professionals.

Greg is always looking for simple and effective ways that real estate agents can achieve more success online today and into the future.

Terri Cooper
Terri brings a wealth of experience, proven skill and passion for the benefit of her many clients. Her work with individuals and sales teams has resulted in massive improvements in sales results for participants and sales teams, and a by-product of this has been incredible personal growth for graduates of her trainings.

Up until the end of 2005, Terri had a very successful career in real estate sales spanning twelve years. She was awarded membership of the RE/MAX Gold Club for high performing agents from 2002 to 2004 and was among the top twenty RE/MAX sales agents throughout Australia in November 2005.

Terri’s recent training, is all about getting back your ‘Mojo’ in a market where you are surrounded by doom and gloom and how you can use the rest of the industry’s negativity as your opportunbity to shine through.

Kevin Turner’s Panel ‘Best of the Best’
The ‘Voice of Real Estate’ Kevin Turner hosts a very unique ‘Best of the Best’ panel this year. In years gone by, we have seen such real estate ‘superstars’ as REIQ Agents of the Year Amber Werchon and Daniel Argent, Agency of the Year Winners Peter Sissons and Paul Curtain of Place Estate Agents, and other thought leaders in Real Estate.

This year the panel exists of ONLY people who are writing sales NOW, in this market where others are struggling, a name alone is not enough. We must be seeing results NOW, in June, July and August 2011.

A session not to be missed !!!

Ok, I engaged other people to visit over 100 Open Houses and you know, the results are well documented and don’t need revisiting.

Even the dozen or so that I did personally I still only went face to face with about 4 of the 102 secret shops.

Well today, just out of curiousity, I visited seven myself. Wasn’t sure how many recognised me, but you’d think knowing I have a BIG mouth and whether they did a GREAT job or a CRAP job, I was gonna tell the world.

Well let me tell you about a few of them…..

Normally I’d apologise and cut some slack and be all ‘nice’ and say, well maybe they are normally great and I just happened to catch them on a bad day, but you know, that’s a cop out and you guys deserve better than that….so, if you happen to have been one that I visited, email me and you can come to my two day training for free, that’s my apology, an offer for you to get better…that’s it, if you’re mad at me and don’t want to improve…bad luck, and I hope your competitors are at my events.

I had my son on my shoulders for most of these, we had just been to the beach and we were on our way back, we own a house in the area, just bought there so one day we will sell, and you know, if any of these agents were stand outs, well of course, they would have instantly put themselves on my shopping list if even I were to sell.

Hey, I PAY my agents, and full comm if they are worth it….so this wasn’t a secret shop, so to speak, this was real, and if they stacked up, they certainly would have stood out like the proverbial….read on to see if they did….

First off, NO follow up whatsoever, although I admit, 5 of them couldn’t follow up if they tried because I think I was only asked for details twice….(I hear you cringe from here)

Open House #1

Arrive at house, agent (not obvious who the agent was because a neighbour was acting more like an agent than the agent. A few people there, agent says approximately three words to me (no request for name, number anything, I just say, ‘just head in?’ and he says for my boy to watch his head (he was on my shoulders) he kind of advises from the letterbox as we are heading through the front door, and he gets back to his conversation.

I poke around the house unattended, go out through the back door (could have stolen everything, complete lack of security), I head back out front, agent is there.

Neighbour is still by letterbox and I ask how big the block is. Agent says 607m2 or maybe neighbour did. I acknowledge answer then agent wanders off leaving me with neighbour. I ask neighbour, who has told me blocks over the road are a bit bigger, this row is 607 and the ones behind are a little smaller with an easement. Agent has gone somewhere by this stage (still no request for ID, phone, or name.)

I ask neighbour ‘what have they got on it?’

Neighbour replies, ‘oh 390 but it isn’t worth that in a million years. I own next door and the land is worth something but you know what I’d do, knock the house over, the land is worth something but they’ll never get anything like $390….’

‘Didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as I got into the car, my little boy on my shoulders and off to the next one….Hand out material…..

A Business card !!! A crap one at that, and by the way, here’s the kicker…..

It’s (xxx xxx) Real Estate as a brand right, and the sales person’s name…..YUP, it’s (xxx xxx). – The Principal !!……

Open House #2

An auction in 11 days. I identified myself on approach as someone who just bought through their agency

(True, and the agent i bought through is a really, really nice guy. Drink with him any day. Sell through him? Best of the bunch so far, but I’d role play some things to make sure. Look I’m being polite again….I’d grill him and make sure no one stole bought as well as I did when I sell. Like I said, one of the most like-able blokes I’ve met in the game, he could have used that against me more, but that’s another story. I’ve since referred people to him, so he’s definitely my pick up here)

Anyway, onto his colleague. Because I have a rapport owth the other guy, I kind of was ‘nice’ and for those who know me, I think I’m a pretty friendly guy. Well I go into this house, I think I gave a mobile number, pretty sure.

Go through house after meeting agent, and the tenant or owner is home, three kids playing out back, and you know, I just felt uncomfortable despite the resident being very very friendly. Just the kids being out back playing and the person living there being there in the kitchen, when my boy noticed he had dropped his shoe in the house somewhere and we had to go back in, I just didn’t want to go because it felt like I was invading this person’s home.

Left and felt like, ‘you know, who was trying to build rapport there?’ I felt like I was going out of my way to be nice, friendly etc to the agent, probably becuase of my admiration and rapport with the other guy from his office, but I drove off thinking, ‘you know, I think I’d rather fake, cheesy, annoying false real estate agent typical friendliness even though you know they’re not’ than this guy’s attitude.

I made a mental note to ask if this guy was doing any good, coz if he is, seriously, I want to open an office up here.

Hand out – DL card

Open House #3

Ok, this one was the pick of the bunch. I roll up, intro myself and she says ‘go have a look I’ll be right back’ and she goes out to her car for the next few minutes while I look around. No number ask, etc. I note the car had sign written magents of property home websites, maybe like Greg Vincent offers, or she deos her own, I didn’t look at any of them, but I noticed the magnets on the car. Thumbs up !!

So while I’m in the open, I notice a list, in fact I grab two lists, colour copied from the office, so not bad, but ‘office printer’ quality, lists of OTHER properties.

Seems this one was a brand new listing, listed only in the few days leading up to open.

Agent is a nice lady (Chris, one tick, she was nice) and asked me for a name, which I gave, and she recognised me from my marketing, but she was very nice and professional when she didn’t quite know who I was.

In fact, I don’t think she liked me very much, because while still very, very nice and friendly, I got the slight feeling that the rapport went down a bit (not noticably) but I don’t think she liked me prior to meeting me (just a gut feel)

Built rapport by showing me a book she was reading, on health, and we discussed my health goals. All in all, very nice, but….

Unfortuantely, I believe this open was a week premature if she wanted to use it as a lisitng tool, because she did print out the flyers for this property but forgot them, and when I asked the land size, she didn’t know.

Glad she didn’t lie, admitted she didn’t know, but that would have lost me as a potential seller, but all in all, she was nice, and probably wins the day based on that fact alone.

She knew who I was so the lack of follow up forgiven. Although, even if they know who I am, surely they know I live in the area, so don’t ignore me just because me job happens to be helping you, I’m a property owner who pays a real estate agent too !!! AND I refer others from time to time (2  or 3 to my guy already since I’ve been up here, plus countless in other areas to coaching clients !! Impressing me with skills, marketing prowess and service pays dividends people !!!)

Open House #4

A Go Gecko agent. You know, actually all in all, this guy, while not as ‘nice’ as the lady I mentioned, of everyone, he’d be the one I’d sell with (well no I wouldn’t, but if I had to choose, he would be the one. Funny huh, the $5995 guy is the pick of the ones to sell with.

Ok, nothing to write home about in any way, but he was nice enough, and he made it known that the property sold in the last few days, still conditional, under multiple offers conditions. And there were a few people still coming to the opens, so it seems as a marketer and negotiator, the half price guy had the best chops of the lot. If anyone wants to open an agency up here, seriously, if this is the bar, it ain’t high !!! But well done to this fellow.

Follow up – none
Handout – Colour one page printed in office

…ah, just noted, commission increase to $6950 noted.Good, he should be working for full fee, coz he’s as good as the others who are.

Open House #5

Chris Gilmour’s favourite….. (I had to ring him after this one…)

Walk up to driveway and am impressed. Directional signs and flags out front, not bad, best of bunch externally. Oh let’s not get hopes up yet…

I am distracted by the signs and impressed so I don’t notice something that I really should have as I walk up the driveway…..

Anyway, I get to the steps of the house, lady sitting out on patio having a smoke. I am confused, it’s 12.10pm and the OFI was advertised for 12. I ask if she’s the owner or …and she says renting and I ask if she’d stay and she isn’t sure, see who buys it, etc.

I ask politely, and I say, ‘sorry for asking, but is the agent there? have I got the right time?’ and she says, ‘yeah, he’s down in his CAR’ out on the road, yes the very car that had the flag under the wheel, I didn’t notice him in the car reading the paper !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!’

(there’s not enough exclamation marks to do my shock justice)

So I ask him I don’t even know, I was so shocked, he rolls the window down 10 cms, maybe 20, about 1/4 to half way down. I mean seriously, get the fxxx out of your car you frigging poor excuse for an agent….sorry this one really took the cake.

He passes out a flyer though the crack in his window, says something about him thinking I was a friend of the tenant, I said, ‘no I own a house up the road, just checking out what things are worth, you know.’ He says something non descript and I leave.

Seriously guys, don’t think I’m making this up, because I promise, my imagination isn’t this good, and the reports would be better if I was making it up. I would never in a million years have credited this one.

Ok, Gilmour, stop laughing !!! Some poor bastard is paying this clown !!! Seriously, part of me wants to call this sleer who appointed this bloke, (all of them really) and just ask for their address, and go around to their house, say nothing, and just slap them and leave. (ok, getting emotional, calm down……go get a bourbon, and be back for next round….)

Open House #6

Turned up, didn’t get my name, couldn’t follow up if he wanted to, and for a brand I used to have a very high respect for. They’re all the crapping same…

Not going into detail, seriously I’ve had enough of this incompetence and I’m sick of re-living it. Folks, the judge jury and executioner is in. Get your arse to my event, or get the hell off my list, unfriend me on Facebook, unsubscribe from my email list and click ‘do not contact’ and you’ll never hear from me or my team again, and please pass on my details to your competitor who wants to get better.

I thank all 109 agents for the last 14 months in this open house research exercise. I mean honestly, it has given me more training material than any other single source.

If you’re ready to roast me in the comments section, go for it, last time I did this personally I got a law suit threat, so if you want to go dowmn that path, you know what, BRING IT ON, coz every word is true.

I love you guys and I love this industry, and the 10% who make this industry a pleasure to work for and around make it all worth while. And this today, should serve as fuel to the fire in those types of agents.

I might come back and tone down this last paragraph or two, but while it’s up, I hope you’ve enjoyed the read, been challenged by it, if you had opens like this today, well, it’s 8.30pm, and no one’s followed up. Embarrassing.

Two choices, get better, constantly improve, or you WILL be gone, it’s just a matter of when.

Come hang out for two days if I haven’t offended you too much at www.QREAS.com.au

It’s official. Just got this text message….

‘finished the year on $1,040,966! Just did it….Woo Hoo, thanks for all yr help mate’

I just got some feedback that I should have Chris as a wonderful example of success, but make it more about me, and not about him, and you know, that is propbably very good advice, but how the hell do you not have a guy who has taken lots of what I teach, and not only implemented it, and created a seven figure income in his third year, but in many ways IMPROVED my system.

So this post, mate, Chris Gilmour, is a tribute to your success mate, aand a few of your videos below are examples of just why you have done what very few, if any, have done in the past…..

Pipped the seven figure mark, in your third year in the game.

I never did it, 99.9% of agents NEVER do it, including most Principals. Well done mate, the student certainly has, in this case, become the master.

 

While I will continue, with my teams of clients around the country, to keep tabs on things, I am done with my year long exercise ‘secret shopping’ agents open houses because the results are in, and clearly, there is a winner….

And the winner is….

ANY AGENT WHO WANTS TO GET OFF THEIR BUTT AND DO THE WORK !!!

Yup, here are the final results. Over 14 months, and after visiting 102 Open Houses, we have the results of how the agents out their treat the properties entrusted to them by property owners.

We were looking for certain criteria. Now not all of the criteria we were looking for is necessarily the right and wrong way, they were just indicators that I was curious about, and of course some of them are absolutely critical to both the agents’ success in terms of their ability to get their sellers the highest price (their legal obligation to do), and in turn, their success in their own career. One cannot exist without the other.

So the critical ones, I believe, are these

- Follow up process – did the agent make one or several attempts to follow up with guests at the open? Did they use multiple media ie phone calls, sms, cards, emails to do so without being too annoying?

- Qualifying – Did they simply give a guided tour? Did they not even do that, did they meet at the door, tell you to have a look around and call me if you like it? Or did they ask you some, not too many too quick, but some probing questions to find out if you may be interested in buying the property, taking a second look, goodness, even flat out did they ask ‘You Want To Buy It???’

- Be Nice - We wanted to know how many of the agents were simply nice people in their character, rapport building etc. Some great customer service advice I got recently that I think many businesses have forgotten. BE NICE !!!

We measured other things into 3 CATEGORIES….

- Presentation of marketing and take home materials below average, average/ok and ‘Very Good or better’

- Presentation of the Open itself  including the agent’s presentation, signage, street appeal, extras, etc.

- Did the agent promote other properties other than the seller’s property before ascertaining that 100% this WASN’T the property for the buyer.

- Were there two people there from the agency? Were the buyers escorted or left to their own devices?

- What contact details were collected? Asked for?

So, after visting 102 open homes primarily in S.E. Qld but a few in Perth and Sydney, the results were these.

The secret shoppers were instructed to say ‘We own a house in the neighbourhood, and we’re just checking out prices.’

They were also instructed to give the agents whatever contact details they requested.

Some interesting (I am politely removing the word appalling here) statistics

• 31 of the agents made our ladies either ‘feel unwelcome,’ neglected or they described the agent as completely arrogant
There are 10,969 bboks on Amazon on the subject of ‘Customer Service.’ Did we really need over one    million  pages (all of these books are well over 100 pages), at an average of 300 words per page. I mean do we need 300,000,000 wprds to say two……

BE NICE!!

In fact, until you feel bad, there’s a very high chance that NOTHING will change. So enough of the positive thinking, go and buy Larry Winget’s book, ‘Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life
,’ or ‘People Are Idiots and I Can Prove It!
‘ take responsibility for your career and get better.

Ok, ok, before you fans of the other speakers get all sookie, let me explain.

A few of my crew went down to AREL these last few days, including Chris Gilmour (as a speaker) and of course he sat through all of the two days and diligently listened for those tips that could give him the slight edge.

Here’s what someone just emailed him….

Hi Chris,

I saw you speak yesterday and you were the best speaker I saw all weekend, in terms of what new ideas I got from you.  I found your talk really interesting, and congratulate you in your short career for how much you have managed to achieve  (what some wouldn’t in an entire life time!!).  I know a lot of people there got great new ideas from you, and what you were preaching certainly isn’t the norm for the way to do things in RE.  Was nice to see a new, younger, and def fresh approach and it was really good to hear your views and thoughts on everything.

I am our BDM for our new rental business side of things, and will be applying many of your ideas to what we are not already doing, so thank you.

‘Best speaker all weekend !!!’ Even Chris himself, as a big fan of many of the speakers there, including the legendary Bob Wolff, was more than chuffed to get this, and similar, feedback from attendees.

Chris told me he was honoured to have shared a stage with what he describes as ‘the man’ and he reiterated that there’s no secrets to success, but simply, daily implementation of ideas and techniques that you know you should be doing, is the key to success in our industry.

(it seems Bob kept referring to Chris throughout his presentation as ‘crazy.’ Hope he meant in a good way, haha.)

I trust all who went had a blast, and that they implement the strategies shared where relevant.

Well done again Chris, your meteoric rise to fame continues……

www.ChrisGilmourTraining.com – Click here for a copy of Chris’ Home Study Course, including a ‘swipe file’ of all of his marketing pieces, letters, automation, pre-listing kit, the lot !!

My two cents worth.

Matthew Sullivan, nice bloke from Real Estate Business, the online publication, and I believe they are about to go into a physical mag, contacted me asking for comments on how you guys are using technology.

He needed quick responses so I sent these into him, but possibly you could help him out with a few responses of your own in the comments section.

Here’s what I sent him, hope it’s good, as you guys all know, I ain’t no Pulitzer Prize winner.

What are the biggest challenges agents face with their technology/ software?

Their use of it. Many agents don’t know the value of their database technology so they haven’t invested the time it takes to learn how to drive it well.

If they knew that some of the agents who are super successful are using technology and automation to achieve massive success in their areas, they would put in the effort required to master their technology, and get the huge payoffs associated with their effective use.

In what instances can technology be a hindrance rather than a help?

When agents see the ‘next shiny object’ rather than using technology as a means to either save time, or leverage their existing time. Things like Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and other social media activities, whilst can be used brilliantly to great effect, potentially can be the biggest waste of time since the advent of the internet.

The amount of agents sitting in offices staring at computer screens instead of connecting with people is staggering. You can click from place to place, but it’ll never replace face to face.

In what aspect of running a real estate business does technology have the biggest impact?

Databasing and automated contact systems. The biggest criticism the marketplace had of real estate agents is a lack of valuable feedback and communication. Many databasing systems now can put some of you communications on autopilot. Emails, sms, even letters and greeting cards can be sent in bulk, using mail merge technology and other systems, allowing agents to effectively market to more people in their working week than ever before.

In years gone by, for one agent to carry 20, even up to 50 listings at one time, would have meant those clients would have suffered a great lack of customer service. In the hands of a skilled agent, who is an absolute master of technology and it’s effective use, this is now a reality.

What impact can effective technology have on the efficiency of a real estate business (give examples)?

Kind of answered in last question. Economies of scale. Liasing with our buyers, sellers, prospects, all can be leveraged with the use of technology.
Email autoresponders, bulk email programs, sms and even physical mail can all be but on autopilot and leveraged.

As recently as 6 years ago, cold calling was considered time effective and a valid way to produce leads. Now, even phone calls can be leveraged using technology. A message can be recorded once and blasted out to an entire phone number list. John Howard used this technology even in his 2007 (unsuccessful) election campaign, so it’s not just real estate agents getting on the technology bandwagon.

How can poor technology negatively impact on business (examples)?
Most poor technology doesn’t get implemented into businesses so I don’t see this as a problem for most agencies. I have to say, it’s the people that’s the problem. If the people driving the technology don’t understand it’s value, the technology will be USED poorly, and in turn will seem like the technology is poor.

Eg, for many years I was of the opinion (incorrect) that mydesktop was an inferior Customer Relationship Manager, because some of my guests at seminars reported that to me. Some years later, I saw how Chris Gilmour had implemented mydesktop to it’s fullest potential and now I’m it’s biggest fan.

Technology will impact businesses more positively when the people get better at using it, and that will only happen when they see the value in doing so.

How much of your time is spent on your business’ technology?

An average real estate agent. Hard to say, but I do see FAR too many agents sitting at their desk surfing realestate.com, checking out RP Data or PriceFinder, when they should be either talking to a client, a prospective client, a buyer or preparing a marketing strategy to attract a client or buyer.

Over the past five years what three pieces of technology have most effectively changed the way you operate as an agent?

Ipad, Iphone, Facebook, and I must add in there, Google.