Ninja Moms Meeting Notes, January 2011

Thank you so much to everyone that attended last weeks Ninja Mom meeting here in the Seattle area.  We had a great time and it was the perfect way to kick start the year. (If you are in the Seattle area and would like to attend the next Ninja Mom meeting in March, post a comment here and I’ll add you to the invite list.)

Here are some of the fantastic ideas and insights that came out of the meeting:

Focus on core activities:
~ Some of the agents have formed a scripts group and they practice weekly for an hour to make sure that they have really ingrained how they want to relate to their clients.

Focus less on the process and more on the purpose of what you are doing:
~ It’s all about truly connecting with the person that you are with.

It is okay to be deliberate about what you are doing:
~ We talk about being in the flow with people and that if you are the business will show up.  You still need to be proactive about it and seek the business.  Being in flow with people will make it easier to connect with people and allow those connections to be stronger, but you still need to go after the business.   There is a great story about Larry Kendall, the ultimate master ninja, and he wanted to meet a specific person at a conference so he hung out by the registration table until they got there.  He was deliberate in his actions, but it was his ability to connect with that person and stay in flow that built a life long friendship.

At some point you have to just do it:
~ Taking classes and implementing more is good, but at some point you need to just take it and run with it.  Don’t wait until it’s perfect, just start doing something.  You can always adjust as you go along.

Great book recommendation:

3 Feet From Gold
~ It’s part of the think and grow rich anniversary series and is all about not giving up on your dreams.  The reality is that things often look the most bleak right before they come together, so stick with it. Success may be closer than you think.

Comparing normal sales to short sales and bank owned:
~ We talked about the fact that in some areas there are a lot of short sales to compete with for Sellers and how does that effect pricing.
~ Take your parameters for price, location, etc and then breaking it down and pulling all of the regular sales in the active / pending / sold categories and then doing it again for short sales and then bank owned.  In many cases while there may be a number of short sales in the active category, by the time you get to the solds category they are almost non existent.  This can be a great benefit to your Seller if they are not a short sale and a good eye opener if your Seller is a short sale to know that they may have a long road ahead of them.

We shared some great ideas for staying in touch with clients:
~ The contact manager Top Producer has a great feature called ‘Market Snapshot’ which will automatically send your clients a market overview on a regular basis.
~ Some agents mail monthly and some email.  Either way, it is important to stay connected on a regular basis.
~ We also talked about being proactive regarding adding people to your mailing list.  If you keep it friendly and informative most people are more than happy to receive it so stop over thinking it and just do it.
~ Often times the more personal things get the most reaction.  One agent talked about sending out a quick note to all of her clients on New Years day that said: “Happy New Year.  Thanks for all of your support this year.  Let’s get together soon.”  She had 17 responses from clients saying thank you and wanting to connect!
~ Another great mailing is your favorite reading list and a book mark

Delivering things and doing pop byes:
~ The general consensus is don’t over think it! Just get out there and stop by
~ One agent delivered her calendars this year rather than mailing them and had a fantastic time connecting with her clients
~ Some other things that agents deliver are: A small potted flower at the start of spring, pumpkins in the fall, a wreath at Christmas

With all of this:

It doesn’t matter what you do, just pick something and DO IT!

Plan your year
Schedule your week
Prioritize your day

Wishing you an amazing 2011!
xoxo

Nicole