Hi, it’s Dan Mumm here in Las Vegas. Welcome to Mike Ferry TV. It’s the week of February 6th, and Mike has asked me to share some ideas with you today about how to take more listings. Working with Mike Ferry directly has been one of the greatest blessings in my life, and I’ve learned a ton from him and I’ve written down in typical Mike Ferry fashion some questions today that he’s asked me that you might want to consider asking yourself if you want to take more listings this year. So we’ll get right into it.

The number one question that I have written down is do you have a simple and clear goal towards taking more listings? What I’ve found as an agent and as a listing agent is that I need to have a very clear, specific monthly goal for how many listings I want to take. It’s very easy to overcomplicate this business and look at transactions and buyers and team volume and all of these things. But if you really think about it, all of our success comes from us taking listings. The buyer calls, the sign calls. It really all starts with taking listings. So for me, I found the most beneficial goal that I can have in front of me every day is my monthly listings take-in goal. For me, that’s 13 listings per month. You might want to think about what that is for you and putting that. I have it right in front of me every day on my computer screen and I think that helps.

The number two question I have, I think this is one of the best questions Mike has ever asked me. Are you using momentum to your advantage? I think this is honestly the biggest thing I’ve learned with Mike is that the Real Estate business is a momentum business. What you’re doing well, that’s your best chance to do better. Think about when you take a listing at your commission and your price and how good you feel afterwards. Think about how much of a shame it would be to waste that mindset by being complacent and not doing your job the next day. Mike’s always told us that the best time to take a listing is right after you’ve taken another listing. So think about how can you use momentum more to your advantage in your business. One specific question that Mike has asked me is what causes you to get out of momentum when you’re in it. I know for me personally, one of the things that causes me to get out of momentum is not going on a listing appointment for a few days or a week. And so one of the things we worked on is going on appointments more frequently. What is it for you?

At number three I have, how committed are you to being a listing agent to begin with? So being a listing agent is a mental, physical, financial and energy commitment. It’s a very long learning curve, but it is worth it. So the question that I’ve written down here is do you want the fast payout or do you want the big payoff? I think we all know that being a listing agent is the big payoff, but it requires some patience and some learning. So you might know all the things that are required to be committed to. But coaching, training, attending events, developing your associations, it is a long-term commitment and that’s what it requires to be great, but it is worth it.

The number four question I have is, how good is your short-term memory. To be a great listing agent I think we need to have great short-term memory and honestly, this is one of the things that Mike Ferry has helped me with the most. I could take 20 listings in a day and I could tell Mike and his response would be exactly the same as if I took no listings in a few days. He would say, “Okay, that’s great, let’s move on. What do you have planned for tomorrow? What do you have planned for later this week?” Mike Ferry’s focus is always in the future. It’s never on the path, no matter how good or pass was. So as a listing agent, this skill is absolutely crucial to doing more business and being more productive. So how good are you at having a short-term memory? Whether that’s for better or worse, if you have a good day or a bad day, how focused are you on the future instead of what’s happened today or yesterday?

The number five question, this is a small tip but it’s helped me a lot. Are you asking your current clients for introductions to other clients and other sellers? As a Real Estate agent, I think this is honestly the best time to ask for an introduction. When you get the listing sign, there’s no better time when a seller has more respect and is more excited about the process than when they sign the listing with you. So are you asking at that time if they can refer you to other sellers? Neighbors? This is the time when sellers are talking to their neighbors and friends about selling their home. I know a lot of agents wait until later on and you know, the sellers move on. They’re not thinking about you anymore. They’ve closed out. They’re dealing with the stress of moving and all these other things. So really the best time, in my opinion, to ask is when you get the listing signed. That’s not an opportunity you want to waste. It’s been very helpful for me.

Number six, the question that I have written down is your definition of a lead strong enough? So in 2019, I made the biggest jump in my career and transaction count, and a large part of it, I think, is because my coach worked with me to strengthen my definition of a lead. What is your definition of a lead? What I find is that the agents who do the most business have the shortest definition of a lead. And what I have written down here is that you get what you focus and look for. If you’re looking for sellers, who will be? Ready in a year. You’re going to find sellers who are going to be ready in a year. If you’re looking for sellers who are ready to sell in the next week. You’re going to find sellers who are ready to next week. So the choice is yours. Where do you want to put your focus? I would guess in most of your markets, there’s no shortage of listings being taken. I know in Las Vegas, on an average week, we see 7 to 800 listings come on the market. We’re only looking for a small percentage of that and most of us would be very happy. So how narrow is your focus and how strong is your definition of a lead? I think that’s a really important question to look at.

Number seven. When’s the last time you recorded your Listing Presentation? This is an interesting question because I talk to a lot of agents who really are intense and regimented in their role-play and practice. But when I ask them if they’ve ever recorded a presentation, they shy away and they say, “No, I’ve never tried that.” To me, it seems so strange if you were a professional golfer or professional athlete and you had a coach who is working with you to get better and they never recorded your swing and you never knew what you were doing right or doing wrong, it would be really hard to get better. But for some reason, as agents, we don’t take advantage of that tool of recording ourself to listen and develop and get better. This is honestly the best way that I’ve had of improving my Listing Presentation. I thought I was delivering with great energy and great enthusiasm and I thought I was doing fantastic. And then I would go back and listen to the presentation and I was shocked with what I heard. And so that’s a necessary part of the process to get better. I would really encourage you, whether it’s a live Listing Presentation or a role-play, to try recording it to improve.

One of the next questions I have similar to that is, how long is your average Listing Presentation? What I’ve found as an agent is that of all the appointments that I go on because I do record most of them, the ones that are over 45 minutes, I never get signed, and all of the ones that are less than 45 minutes are the ones that I get signed. So I think there’s a clue in that if you’re doing your job and prequalifying and sticking to the script and asking questions, your presentation should not go longer than 45 minutes. Usually, I think if it is, it might be an indication that there might be too much talking and not enough questions.

So number nine, this is a very strong question and one of the best questions that Mike Ferry has asked me, are you willing to give back a listing to get more listings? This seems strange and counterintuitive. Dan, why would you tell us to give back a listing if you’re talking about getting more listings? Well, what I’ve found as a listing agent is that by having listings that are overpriced and not selling, it actually causes my mindset to suffer and it affects my mindset towards taking new listings. So the question that I have written down for you is, do you have any listings that you need to get a price reduction on or have a tough conversation with a seller? Because if you’re not, that is going to affect how many new listings you’re taking and what type of business that you’re doing.

The last question I have here, maybe the most challenging question is, if you answer honestly, how closely are you following the Mike Ferry listing process? I know for me this is the biggest regret that I have is that I overthought the process. I tried to complicate it. I tried to come up with better ways of doing it. I tried picking and choosing which parts I wanted to use and not use. And honestly, all of that was to my detriment. Ask yourself, how closely are you following it? All the things that Mike tells us to do. We know he’s asking us to do because they make us more effective and better at our job. There’s nothing that he’s going to recommend for us that’s going to cause us to be less productive. So how closely are you following it? Are there certain steps that you’re not following all the time, like the full prequalification, delivering the Pre-Listing Package, calling back to confirm? That might be something for you to look at. That’s all I have for this week. Look forward to seeing you at the next event and hope this was helpful.