Sparta Success Systems is seeking experienced agents (100+ career transactions minimum) with a training background who are interested in training new and experienced agents on consultative selling techniques.  If you've been through Peak Potentials' Train the Trainer program, that's a bonus.

We will be looking to partner with agents around the country to run our training programs and sell our products.  If you're looking for a way to create a new income pillar in your business or you have a desire to transition into a full-time training position, send a resume and cover letter to resume@spartasuccess.com. 

Kelle Sparta is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent - Building Relationships that Create Loyal Clients, Get More Referrals, and Increase Your Sales, as well as  being a speaker and trainer specializing in the real estate industry.  Kelle is the founder of Sparta Success Systems, a real estate training company that provides tools, products, and training to empower agents and brokers to create lives and businesses they can love.  For more information, visit her website at http://www.spartasuccess.com/. © 2007, Kelle Sparta.

What would happen if, the next time you sat down with a potential buyer or seller, you focused your entire presentation on them rather than on you?

Fears And Goals
Buyers and sellers are stressed out. They're planning major changes in their lives. They want to know two things.

1. Can you get their goal met of buying or selling a house?
2. Are they going to regret hiring you?

They don't have much room left in their brain for more than these two issues. And these two issues come down to one actual question which is: are you the right person for them?

Getting The Job
How can you convince a buyer or a seller that you are the person for them?

Buyers:

• Be interested in them and their situation.
• Let them talk.
• Get them to tell you not only how many bedrooms and baths they want in their home, but why.
• Are they using one of the bedrooms as a den?
• Do they want privacy from their kids in their master bath?
• Do they have a special needs child that the house has to fit?

Sellers:

• Ask why they are selling.
• Is it a happy move or a sad move for them?
• What does their current home represent to them?
• How can you help them with the transition anxiety that they are facing?

Listen and Reiterate for Clarity
If you spend more time listening than you do talking in a listing or buyer appointment, the likelihood is that you will get the client. Get them talking and keep them talking until they have filled you in on the salient details about their life, their reasons for moving, their fears around their purchase/sale, and their hopes for the future. Then tell them what you've heard them say to make sure you have it right.

For most people, just knowing that you cared enough to ask and listen is enough to convince them that you are the right person for them. After all, you know them so well already - right?

Kelle Sparta is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent - Building Relationships that Create Loyal Clients, Get More Referrals, and Increase Your Sales, as well as  being a speaker and trainer specializing in the real estate industry.  Kelle is the founder of Sparta Success Systems, a real estate training company that provides tools, coaching, and training to empower agents and brokers to create lives and businesses they can love.  For more information, visit her website at www.spartasuccess.com.

You Don't Have To List To Last
It's long been said in our industry that "you have to list to last". And in the days of sub agency, where the only side of the deal that was guaranteed was the listing side, this was true. But today, with the advent of buyer agency, there is more to real estate than listings.

Which Brain Are You Thinking With?
One of the challenges our industry faces is that, even in the markets where buyer agency is established, we're still thinking with listing agents' brains. We want listings because they give us something to advertise to bring in the buyers and more listings. But here's a new thought.

What if we advertised our buyers instead?

Sellers Want Results
Do you think that sellers would want to list their home more with an agency that had a lot of listings or one that had a lot of buyers? Sellers want results. If we can show them that we have the resources to come up with buyers for them, then why wouldn't they want to list with us?

Try Something Different
So rather than going out and pursuing that next listing today, why not try something different. Send out a mailing or place an ad that lists the current buyer clients you are working with and what they are looking for. Any seller who is thinking about putting their house on the market, will be likely to call you.

Kelle Sparta is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent - Building Relationships that Create Loyal Clients, Get More Referrals, and Increase Your Sales, as well as  being a speaker and trainer specializing in the real estate industry.  Kelle is the founder of Sparta Success Systems, a real estate training company that provides tools, products, and training to empower agents and brokers to create lives and businesses they can love.  For more information, visit her website at http://www.spartasuccess.com/. © 2007, Kelle Sparta.

Do you find that you go above and beyond the call of duty to handle problems and your clients never seem to appreciate it?  There are several reasons why you may be having this problem.

Managing Your Clients' Expectations

If you are not making sure that your clients have reasonable expectations, then you may find that they don't appreciate what you do because they think you should be doing more.  You need to set their expectations at a reasonable level so that when you go above and beyond the call of duty, they know that it was above and beyond and not just your job.

Don't Keep Your Work A Secret

If you are already setting clear expectations with your clients at a reasonable level, then the problem is that you're not telling your clients what they have to be grateful for.  I know you want to be able to handle all the details behind the scenes.  You want to spare the client as much worry and stress as possible.  The problem with this approach is that the client never sees what you do.  The solution?  Tell them!  Go ahead and solve the problem, but when you're done, tell the client everything you did for them.  Your clients can't appreciate things you've done that they don't know about.  Tell them and watch your approval ratings go through the roof!

Kelle Sparta is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent - Building Relationships that Create Loyal Clients, Get More Referrals, and Increase Your Sales, as well as  being a speaker and trainer specializing in the real estate industry.  Kelle is the founder of Sparta Success Systems, a real estate training company that provides tools, products, and training to empower agents and brokers to create lives and businesses they can love.  For more information, visit her website at http://www.spartasuccess.com/. © 2007, Kelle Sparta.

I took a class from The Nurture Institute on how to cultivate clients more effectively. This is system works well with any client, but particularly well with the affluent. Today, I want to talk to you about this form of marketing in regards to working with your past clients.

The concept is simple really. Don't ask for anything until you've made multiple deposits into your client's emotional bank account. What is a deposit? It could be many things. It is something that adds value to your client's life by providing them with something of value.

Deposit Ideas:

• Information about the tax law changes
• A copy of their HUD1 Settlement Statement for last year's purchase
• An article on how to increase their home's resale value
• Tips on house maintenance
• Coupons for discounts from local businesses
• Personal notes or cards from you
• Client Love Letters telling them why you love them as a client
• A copy of the picture you took of them at closing
• A gift certificate to a restaurant
• And anything else you can think of that your clients might find of value

The important thing to remember with these little deposits is that you should not ask for anything in return as you give them. The idea is to build up some equity in your relationship with the client so that when you ask for something in return, they feel obligated to give it.

As a general rule, you should give at least three times as much as you ask for. So three contacts asking for nothing before you ask for something in return. Don't worry, if they want to send you a referral in the meantime, they will. Your contact with them is enough to remind them that you exist. You don't need to ask each time.

This process works particularly well with the affluent. They are constantly being asked to give time, money, influence, etc. To have someone offer something of value and ask for nothing in return is unusual to say the least. It makes you stand out from the crowd. They notice you. If you're trying to break into this very difficult market, you may want to consider this type of marketing more seriously.

Kelle Sparta is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent - Building Relationships that Create Loyal Clients, Get More Referrals, and Increase Your Sales, as well as  being a speaker and trainer specializing in the real estate industry.  Kelle is the founder of Sparta Success Systems, a real estate training company that provides tools, products, and training to empower agents and brokers to create lives and businesses they can love.  For more information, visit her website at http://www.spartasuccess.com/. © 2007, Kelle Sparta.

Are You a Highly Motivated,
Entrepreneurial Thinker?

Do You Have a Background in Real Estate?

(Even Better) Do You Have a History of Using our Products and Training?

Then WE WANT YOU!

Sparta Success Systems is looking for high-quality salespeople.  This is a commission-based position and will require a little homework on your part to familiarize yourself with the products and training before you start.  You will be calling brokers and real estate schools to talk to them about our products and services and then get them signed on with our training programs and product affiliate programs.  Commissions will be paid on current sales and future sales to those clients, so you can build a pipeline of business working from home. 

Candidates should be consultative salespeople - NO HARD SELLS!  You will be expected to sell to the prospect's needs, not from a script.  For the right candidate, there is the potential to move into management long-term. 

Interested candidates should forward a brief resume and cover letter explaining what your interest is in the position to info@spartasuccess.com.  If you are currently selling, please also include a link to your website.  Include "resume" in the subject line to ensure it gets routed to the right person.  A complete breakdown of the product line and commissions paid will be made available to qualified candidates.  For more information, visit our website at http://www.spartasuccess.com/.

Kelle Sparta is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent - Building Relationships that Create Loyal Clients, Get More Referrals, and Increase Your Sales, as well as  being a speaker and trainer specializing in the real estate industry.  Kelle is the founder of Sparta Success Systems, a real estate training company that provides tools, products, and training to empower agents and brokers to create lives and businesses they can love.  For more information, visit her website at http://www.spartasuccess.com/. © 2007, Kelle Sparta.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am a personal growth junkie.  Personally, I like to refer to myself as a Spiritual Masochist - if it hurts and I know that walking through it will make me a better person, well then - sign me up!  And even so, with all the workshops I've attended, all the books I've read, and all the personal work I've done, real estate is still the single most effective thing I've ever done to grow as a person.

Why is this?  I think it's pretty simple.  In real estate we rely on our relationships to make our living.  Unlike in many other professions, our personal flaws can mean the difference between living on the top or living on Top Ramen. 

When I started in real estate, I was 23 and I really was the tactless wonder.  I could not comprehend why it made a difference how you said things so long as you said them.  I spoke my mind without thought to the consequences and the more I could shock people, the happier I was.  Wow - talk about a recipe for disaster.  It's a miracle I made it at all.  But the fact is that I sold 25 houses that first year in the business.  I think my lack of finesse actually worked for me.  People knew that they were getting exactly what they were seeing - nothing hidden, even if it was a little rough around the edges. 

The problem was that I wasn't doing well with the tight-knit real estate community in my area.  I was burning bridges and raising hackles at every possible opportunity.  And, by the end of the first year, it was starting to come back and bite me in the butt.  I was getting attitude from agents, having difficulty getting my calls returned, and generally feeling less than welcome in the community.  And it was all my own fault. 

Now, at this point, I could have continued to barrel along doing what I was doing and let everyone hate me for it.  But I realized that my ability to negotiate on behalf of my clients was being jeopardized and my perfectionistic streak wouldn't allow that to happen.  So I changed - I grew. 

I learned the value of tact.  I learned that how I said things DID matter.  And I started to practice more effective communication with my clients and with other agents.  And, no matter how stupid the thing was that the agent on the other end of the deal did, I did NOT call him a moron. 

And thus, my business improved.  I found that these skills even helped me to negotiate better with my clients and get more clients to sign on with me.  And, for the first time in my life, I turned down my personality enough to hear the other person talking.  It was amazing.

 The next things on my list were boundaries and self respect.  I had to learn how to set limits on how much time I would spend with people who were never going to work with me.  I had to learn to say "no".  I came to realize that what I had to offer was of value and that I should be paid for it.  I learned to not cut my commission, to not let sellers' pick my pockets during the deal or at closing, and to fire clients who didn't respect my time.  All revolutionary events for me.

I could go on and on about how I had to grow or evolve to continue to do well in this business.  The fact that my income was tied to each item was a constant motivator.  It kept me on track in my personal growth process and, after a while, continual growth became a habit. 

And then there was the unintended consequence.  As I grew to improve my business, my life did better as well.  I started to like myself and other people more.  I took things less personally.  I found more to be happy about in the world around me.  I began to enjoy my life - really enjoy it.  And today I can say that I am truly happy.  Oh, don't get me wrong - I'm still growing.  But that's part of what makes me happy these days.  It's that sense of accomplishment, the ability to look back in time and see how far I've come. 

So here's my question for you.  When was the last time you looked at yourself to see what it is about you that might be limiting your ability to do better in your life and your business?  What did you find?

Kelle Sparta is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent - Building Relationships that Create Loyal Clients, Get More Referrals, and Increase Your Sales, as well as  being a speaker and trainer specializing in the real estate industry.  Kelle is the founder of Sparta Success Systems, a real estate training company that provides tools, products, and training to empower agents and brokers to create lives and businesses they can love.  For more information, visit her website at http://www.spartasuccess.com/. © 2007, Kelle Sparta.

Many agents think that they aren't doing too badly on income.  They see the commission checks for $5K, $10K, or $20K and they feel like it's all worth while, but is it?  They look at how much time they spent on that deal, perhaps 10-50 hours and think that they made $200-$300 per hour.  Great right?  Not really...

Most agents are leaving out the infrastructure costs of doing business.  Much like any other business owner, we have to cover the costs of advertising (not just the listing), web site maintenance/hosting, car maintenance, gas, desk fees, office supplies, continuing education, licensure, etc.  Then there's the time cost of prospecting for new business, time spent in education, researching new technologies, etc.  The average agent is working far more than those 10-50 hours if you cost-average the infrastructure over all your deals (which you should do if you hope to make a profit). 

The "average agent" nationwide makes very little and works tons of hours.  When I have done these calculations with middle-of-the-road producers in the past, the average is something like $0.50-$15.00/hr.  Even using an example of a closing commission of $10,000 (I'm assuming in this example that this is the net AFTER the broker split) only works out to about $40/hr assuming an agent is doing one closing a month (much more than the national average), taking two weeks off per year, and working a 60-70 hour work week (this is a pretty accurate number given the number of deals - assuming the agent doesn't have an assisant or other systems in place). 

And that's BEFORE you take into account taxes, and other out-of-pocket expenses which, on average, will eat up 40%-50% of that gross income.  If you compare that number to working at an hourly-wage job, that becomes more like $20-$25/hr.  (And, if you do those numbers backwards, assuming the broker is taking a split of 65% and then doing the math for your average commission amount, we're talking about a sale in excess of $600K.  Not many areas of the country can boast that high an average sales price.)  So in actuality, the price per hour for the average agent will be much lower. 

Sellers, buyers and, by consequence, agents, tend to only look at the time spent on the transaction itself.  But there is a cost to doing business in the world.  No business can survive without taking those costs into account. 

Think about it.  How many transactions did you do last year?  What was the average commission you made?  How many hours per week on average do you work?  How much time do you take off?  It's not hard math, but it will be sobering.  Some agents could make more money working for Starbucks (and get benefits too). 

Kelle Sparta is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent - Building Relationships that Create Loyal Clients, Get More Referrals, and Increase Your Sales, as well as  being a speaker and trainer specializing in the real estate industry.  Kelle is the founder of Sparta Success Systems, a real estate training company that provides tools, products, and training to empower agents and brokers to create lives and businesses they can love.  For more information, visit her website at http://www.spartasuccess.com/. © 2007, Kelle Sparta.

A friend of mine is selling her condo and she recently posted the following items that she received as a REAL RESPONSE to the home inspection from the buyer's agent and buyers. The buyers' comments are in plain text, the seller's responses (on her journal, not what she actually sent to the buyers) are in italics.

The main circuit breakers are not identified as to which belongs to which unit
Sure, except that they are all for my unit, the other unit has its own box.

A switch adjacent to the switch that controls the fireplace is not identified - would like to know
light switch for the plug beneath it, I believe. I've never written on the switches to identify them in the past but ok, it's something they'd like to know. I'll give them that.

two switches to the right of the garage door need to be identified
They say on them "heater" and "override" which explains that they are the driveway heaters and the override switch to turn it on all the time instead of letting it come on automatically when the temperature drops.

A couple of bulbs need replacement - exterior light
Yeah, this seems a little petty

A number of hinges on the kitchen cabinet doors are loose. need to be fixed.
yep, again, a tad petty (not to mention questionable)

The washer/dryer - the valve is tough to reach. Need to move the unit by an inch or so
An inch or so you say? Might I suggest turning on the spin cycle?

My friend put this out on her journal to invite people to make comments to the buyers. This is so ridiculous, I'm embarrassed to be an agent. The buyer's agent should never have allowed these comments to make it to the seller. If my friend had less of a sense of humor, this type of response could have killed the deal.

Keep in mind that home inspections are times to identify major structural issues - not a time to nitpick. I once had buyers show up with a list that was 22 items long. Rather than try to dicker them down to a reasonable response, I just walked over and started pulling up new properties for them to see. I told them that if they were going to turn in that list, that clearly they didn't want the house, so we should just say so and move on to a new property. When they assured me that they DID want the house, I threw out their list and started a new one which only had 6 items on it and all were real issues.

Being a buyer's agent means looking out for the buyer's best interests - not sticking to the seller at every opportunity. This agent did not look out for their clients' interests. In fact, s/he could have seriously damaged the clients' position with this type of response. If the deal doesn't happen, then no one wins.

Kelle Sparta is the author of The Consultative Real Estate Agent - Building Relationships that Create Loyal Clients, Get More Referrals, and Increase Your Sales, as well as  being a speaker and trainer specializing in the real estate industry.  Kelle is the founder of Sparta Success Systems, a real estate training company that provides tools, products, and training to empower agents and brokers to create lives and businesses they can love.  For more information, visit her website at http://www.spartasuccess.com/. © 2007, Kelle Sparta.