The well is deeper than you think. Another excuse removed

During a group coaching session the other day we were discussing the number each person had in their database and what income that number of prospects could be expected to generate.

We discussed the accepted fact that each non-salesperson knows between 200-250 people. The source you might ask? Go ask your caterer and undertaker friends. That is their rule of thumb.

One of the participants had a major breakthrough with a little simple math.

So if that is true and you have 100 people in your database who know you, like you and trust you then you really have a target audience of 20,000 folks who can buy your product or service.

What is your excuse now.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

Want money really, really fast?

During a conversation with a client, (let's call him Ben) the other day the discussion focused on making money quickly. We discussed the distinction between marketing and prospecting.

Ben said that he needed to earn money quickly. And frankly was a little short of money to invest in his business.

If you want to build your business slowly and steadily then marketing is the answer. What is marketing? Marketing for this discussion includes things like print media ads, direct mail, bill boards, web sites. These tools rely on your prospects finding your message then calling you.

Prospecting on the other hand includes but is not limited to getting face to face (coffee/tea, lunch/dinner, and planned events), warm phone calls (since the advent of the No Call List), and in real estate, open houses. These activities put you in touch directly with prospects who may be or know ready, willing and able sellers or buyers. I will talk about RWA sellers and buyers in an other post

Want money fast, call someone and talk with them about what you do. Want to wait for business to come to you, then send direct mail. Both will and do work. It is a matter of timing and capital you have for investing in your business.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

Do you really have a million things to do?

Ever say to yourself that you have a million things to do today? Do you really? I bet not. You might have a handful. Maybe a dozen. Not a million.

If you find that you spend lots of time being frantic and frenetic maybe changing how you handle the day is as simple as telling your brain that you have a few things to do rather than a million things.

If you tell your brain that you have a large number of things to do, then your brain will gear up to handle this gargantuan number of activities. And your will be running around like a chicken with its head cut off, rather than moving smoothly from one task to the next.

One of my clients begins every day with her "High Five." These are the top 5 activities that must be completed today. Regardless.

Recently I was listening to a CD in my Automobile University. (Look here for more information on this powerful concept.) I heard one person add an interesting spin on the High Five. This speaker suggested that you stay with one task until it is completed. Not jump around (and around). Stay focused on only one task at a time until it is finished.

I know that I jump around. I often describe my attention span as very, very, very short and getting longer.

How do you stay focused on what you need to do? I would be interested in learning from you.

Click "Comment" at the bottom of the post to tell us all.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

Who do you want to work with?

Recently I spoke with a client who indicated that she had a new client and was having trouble bringing the sale to a successful conclusion.

I asked about the prospects attributes or characteristics. Was the person qualified to make a purchase?? Soon? Did they want you have to offer? Were they qualified financially?

Have you thought of the concept of your ideal client/customer? How about listing your psychographic and demographic characteristics?

Send along the elements of your Ideal Client. We can all learn from it.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

What are objections for anyway?

While driving between appointments today I was listening to an audio CD in my Automobile University program (see my post below on the subject).

The speaker spoke to objections and why some people get them and some people do not. It was her opinion that objections are not to test your skill. They are to test your conviction and level of certainty.

In my personal experience the more certain I am about what I am doing the fewer objections I receive.

When I taught Buyer Brokerage to Realtors, my co-instructor heard objections for the students that we had never, never heard from our prospects.

Why?? We had conviction in what we were doing and saying. We were certain that it was the one and only course of action that should be taken to purchase real estate.

What is your opinion about this?? I would love to hear.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

Why won't they follow up

The day before Thanksgiving I rec'd notice that my 93 year old mother had had a minor stroke. She is doing fine and not needs to be out of her home. We will be moving her into an assisted living facility in the next week or two. There were no lasting physical effects.

In planning to deal with her house in Nashville I had a question on how much her house is worth. I used one of the web sites purporting to help me. In order to get the free service, I was asked to complete a pretty robust input form which included my contact info and of course, information on her house.

A few days later I rec'd an email from a local Nashville real estate agent (who I am sure paid for the lead) The information rec'd was pretty useful given that he had not been in the house. It provided me with a range of values for homes like hers in her neighborhood. For now, the information was helpful. A range was all that was needed.

It has been about a month. No more contact from the agent even though he has my contact information.

Here is the point! If you are going to buy leads from any source, no matter what industry you are in, have a full and robust system/process for staying in touch. If you don't have such a system/process you might as well send me the money, no more use than you are getting out of this lead generation system that you have invested in. I will use it more profitably.

Create a system in your contact manager to remind you to send cards, letters, emails and/or call. These systems I call campaigns. Your contact manager must have the capability to create and handle marketing campaigns easily. If it does not, get a new contact manager.

Call me if you would like a free 1/2 hour coaching session on how to select one or read my other blog posts on working with databases.

One study I recently read reported that the time between initial contact and purchase was extending mightily. Sometimes as long a 18 months. The leads you get will not come to fruition for quite some time. And it is your responsibility to stay in touch with them, not their responsibility to remember you. Top of mind awareness is king.

Stay in touch after the prospect touches you. I will may you in a grand style.

To your continued success,

Reg Gupton

Your mom said that you should

The other day after sending a message to a very good friend, I was confused to say the least. My friend had done a me huge favor which was much appreciated. I sent an email thanking him profusely.

I never heard back. What happened? Did my friend not receive my thank you or ?

Later we saw each other in person. I asked if he had received my thank you. He said sure.

I don't know about you. I was taught by Ruth (my now, 93 year old mother) to always say "you are welcome" when I am thanked.

I said in passing that email is a conversation. Not just quick messages sent to get them out of your inbox. He said that he did not think of email as a conversation. I do. How about you?

Think about this. No contact, no relationship. No relationship, no contact. And each of us is in the relationship building business.

Please remember your manners. Mothers trained us all better.

Reg Gupton