Welcome to another episode of Mike Ferry TV. My name is John Joseph, a Coach and speaker for The Mike Ferry Organization. Today, we’re going to discuss what you need to do in today’s market to succeed. Before we get started, let’s understand that the Real Estate market is always cyclical. It goes up, it goes down, it flattens out. And as we move from one cycle to another, Mike says it’s considered a transitional market. Now, some of you have been in a transitional market for a number of months, while others of you are just starting. And a few of you are asking, “What transition?” Regardless of what stage of a transition you’re experiencing, now is the time to take advantage of the opportunities that are being presented to you. So what are some of those opportunities? When markets shifts, the agents with little or no skills are headed out of the market. They realize that they don’t have the ability or the skill required to navigate in this transitioning market. In this market, you need the real skills of lead generation, objection handling, lead follow-up, understanding your market statistics and how to give a logical and canned presentation that allows a Seller or a Buyer to make a good decision for them and their family. So what is it that you have to do right now, not only to succeed but thrive in a transitioning market? Well, I have nine points from Mike that when followed, will help you achieve the goals that you have set for yourself.

So let’s get started. Number one, Mike says, “Right now, more than ever before, you need to take a lot of salable listings.” In a normal market, some of your listings will expire. Some will withdraw. The Seller’s motivation may change. Or the area where the listing is located is no longer desirable. Since we know that not every listing will sell, you will need to take a lot of listings if you want to have a lot of listings sold. Number two, Mike says, “You have to become an expert at market stats.” You need to become an expert and be able to educate your prospects on the reality of the market. Think about it. Where are most people getting their market information from? The news or the newspaper? Their neighbor, their Uncle Joe? Or even worse, the internet or social media? It is important that you learn the correlation between the numbers so that you can help your clients understand what’s really happening in the marketplace. Mike says that just being able to talk about the statistics gives your presentation more depth. So what are the numbers you should know? And here’s a simple list. The number of homes currently available on the market, new listings that came onto the market last month, properties that went under contract last month, the average day is on market and the average and median sales prices. If you don’t know where to get these numbers or the correlation of these numbers, ask your Coach or your Broker.

Now let’s move to point number three. Mike says, “Learn and practice your price reduction scripts.” Now, for those of you that have been involved with Mike Ferry over the years, when is the last time you really had to use these scripts? For those of you that are new to Real Estate in the past two or three years, you’re probably asking, “What’s a price reduction script?” We all need to get comfortable using this script when a price reduction is necessary. Remember that your listing needs to be the best-priced home in the area, not just the neighborhood. If you have a listing that’s not selling, look at similar homes that are listed for sale a half a mile or even a mile out from yours. Are you still the best-priced home? If not, it’s time to use your price reduction scripts. Point number four Create a daily skill improvement plan. Now, Mike says, “Your skill improvement plan should be two hours every workday and should include practicing your lead generation scripts, objection handlers, lead follow-up scripts, your price reduction scripts, your listing and even your Buyer consultation scripts.” Is two hours too long? I’m not sure. My Coach always asked me just to look at my bank account. He said “That’s a good indicator.” Point number five, do better quality prospecting, not just more prospecting. As the market shifts, more often than not, the type of sources that you should call may shift. Remember, during the pandemic, there weren’t many Expireds or For Sale By Owners to call. So Mike asks you to call your Center of Influence, Past Clients and around whatever listings you did have or your sales. In today’s market, we’re seeing an increase in Expireds and For Sale By Owners. Are you calling them or are you just still calling around neighborhoods? You should be talking to four to five different sources each day. The new Expireds and For Sale By Owners, your Centers of Influence and Past Clients, absentee Owners, old Expireds and old FSBOs and then some Just Listed Just Sold calls. It’s just a quality over quantity game.

Now number six, Mike says to, “Expand your territory.” Mike says that, “During these times we should expand our territory by 50%.” Your business is not necessarily limited to your small town or geographic farm. There are Sellers wanting to sell probably a couple of miles outside of your current area. Are you willing to get that business? Are you the best agent for the job of helping the Seller get the most money for their home? Of course you are. Now, if you have that limiting belief that you only work in a certain area? … Stop it. There are Sellers that need your help just a few more miles away from your territory. Point number seven on what you need to do in this market starting now, stick with the Mike Ferry Sales System and stop looking for the “magic pill.” Being or working towards being a successful agent is hard work. It can be stressful and frustrating at times. In fact, it takes a while just to get good at this business. It takes some folks three, four or five years just to get good. But the write up is a blast and very profitable. Stick with what works and that’s talking to people. Remember that marketing, branding and social media are not sales tools. They are tools to help you with your sales efforts. Let’s look at point number eight. What should you do when you take a listing in this market? The days of taking a listing and having five, six, seven offers on your desk within 48 hours are gone. Mike says that, “We have to get back to the activities required to get our listing sold.” So in today’s market, that means when you take a listing, call everyone in the area and let them know that you just listed a home for sale using the Just Listed script. Call every Buyer you have, even if the home doesn’t meet their criteria. They may know someone who’s interested. Call your Centers of Influence and Past Clients. Let them know you just took a listing and you promise the Seller you will call everyone in your database to find out who they know that might be interested in buying the home. Maybe call some Expireds and For Sale By Owners in the area. What are they going to think when you call them? The Expired is going to wonder if their agent actually made these types of calls to get their home sold. And we all know the answer to that one. The FSBOs are going to wonder if that’s what they really need to do to get their home sold in today’s market. Do they even want to be bothered in that type of activity? Probably not. Making these calls to Expireds and FSBOs may open up a dialog for you to get another listing.

And finally, point number nine. Mike says that, “This business comes down to four simple words: Mindset, Skills, Activities and Actions.” Your business depends on your mindset. In fact, mindset accounts for 90% of your success. What would happen to your mindset if you actually did practice your skills to hours each day? Would you be more confident? Would you be more prepared in your conversations? If your mindset improves because of your increased confidence? Do you think you would get involved in more income-producing activities? Sure you would. And if your mindset is continually improving because your skills are improving and your activities become more productive, don’t you think that you would take the necessary actions each day to continue your path to success? You bet you would. If you just follow these nine points and the points of the Mike Ferry Sales System, what do you think will happen to your business? Talk to your Coach or your Broker and put a plan together to make you and your business the best it can possibly be. My name is John Joseph, and today is a great day to take a listing.