A few months ago, the CCIM Institute asked me to participate in their System for Success series for Commerical Investment Real Estate (CIRE), their award winning publication. I was honored to do so.
This is the link to that article where I share what I believe it takes for brokers to thrive in the current economic climate.
My wife drives a Toyota Sienna. Do you know why? It is because a couple of her friends do. My family is going on vacation next month. Do you know how we came up with Disney World? We asked our friends on Facebook what they recommended. This is what crowdsourcing is. By definition, it is the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people.
Courtesy of iStock Photo
Crowdsourcing is not a new phenomenon, but it has never had more power. Social media has brought the world to you laptop screen. You can access more content and opinions – and quicker – than you ever could before. People are making decisions this way. You probably did today.
Did you know that over 80% of all due diligence starts with a Google search? Do you know how many people trust a recommendation from a “friend”? 90%! Do you know how many people are positively influenced by a Facebook ‘Like’ button from someone they don’t even know? 70%! That number astounds me.
By contrast, only 19% of people now trust traditional advertising. I’m talking about print, TV, or radio. Do you know why? Because the game has changed. No one wants to hear you toot your own horn anymore. They want to know about real people who have actually used your product or service. They want a testimonial.
I plan on writing more in the coming months about the power of crowdsourcing and how you can maximize its advantages. But today, I want to give you 7 steps to harvest testimonials. There are a dozen ways to repurpose them once you have them. First, though, you have to get them.
I come from a legacy of men who have served. I don’t take that lightly this Memorial Day. My grandfathers were both in World War II. My father was in the Army towards the end of the Vietnam Conflict. One of my brother’s is currently a Marine Corps pilot of a CH-53 deployed in Afghanistan. His wife, along with the rest of us, eagerly await his return.
My dad and my granddad pinning my brother during his commissioning.
I want to share a little about my grandfathers.
My dad’s dad was a metallurgical engineer and served in the Army. During the war, he got to do two really incredible things, in my humble opinion. The first was to travel to Russia to study their tanks. The second was to be one of the first men to work in the Pentagon – when it was just a line! Only the first wing had been built at that point. He retired a Lt. Col.
My granddad with my son and my siblings.
My mom’s dad was a Morse Code operator for the Army. When I was in high school, his unit’s exploits were declassified. What he did was amazing. His unit was responsible for diverting Nazi attention from the D-Day invasion.
They used cardboard tanks and mis-information to cause Germany to believe the invasion would be at another location. I remember my granddad, in one of the few times he shared with me about the war, telling me how his unit would sew different patches on their uniforms every night. The hope was that Nazi Germany would believe they were a force much bigger than they were.
Their efforts worked. As D-Day dawned, a significant portion of the German force was diverted away from Normandy. My granddad, however, was transferred at the last-minute to Omaha Beach. He was one of the heroes that broke the German hold that day and turned the tide of the war.
More recently, a fellow Kentucky Marine distinguished himself in Afghanistan and won the Congressional Medal of Honor. His acts of bravery have characterized our fighting men and women for generations. Here is the Medal of Honor citation of Sergeant Dakota Meyer.
Citation: Corporal Meyer maintained security at a patrol rally point while other members of his team moved on foot with two platoons of Afghan National Army and Border Police into the village of Ganjgal for a pre-dawn meeting with village elders. Moving into the village, the patrol was ambushed by more than 50 enemy fighters firing rocket-propelled grenades, mortars, and machine guns from houses and fortified positions on the slopes above. Hearing over the radio that four U.S. team members were cut off, Corporal Meyer seized the initiative. With a fellow Marine driving, Corporal Meyer took the exposed gunner’s position in a gun-truck as they drove down the steeply terraced terrain in a daring attempt to disrupt the enemy attack and locate the trapped U.S. team. Disregarding intense enemy fire now concentrated on their lone vehicle, Corporal Meyer killed a number of enemy fighters with the mounted machine guns and his rifle, some at near point-blank range, as he and his driver made three solo trips into the ambush area. During the first two trips, he and his driver evacuated two dozen Afghan soldiers, many of whom were wounded. When one machine gun became inoperable, he directed a return to the rally point to switch to another gun-truck for a third trip into the ambush area where his accurate fire directly supported the remaining U.S. personnel and Afghan soldiers fighting their way out of the ambush. Despite a shrapnel wound to his arm, Corporal Meyer made two more trips into the ambush area in a third gun-truck accompanied by four other Afghan vehicles to recover more wounded Afghan soldiers and search for the missing U.S. team members. Still under heavy enemy fire, he dismounted the vehicle on the fifth trip and moved on foot to locate and recover the bodies of his team members. Corporal Meyer’s daring initiative and bold fighting spirit throughout the 6-hour battle significantly disrupted the enemy’s attack and inspired the members of the combined force to fight on. His unwavering courage and steadfast devotion to his U.S. and Afghan comrades in the face of almost certain death reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.
Fortunately, my grandfathers and Sergeant Meyer lived. Many others throughout the years have not. These fearless men and women laid down their lives for our way of life. Their sacrifices allow me to live a life of safety and freedom. They allow me to worship without fear. They allow me to work hard and provide for my family. They allow me to spend a Sunday afternoon, as I did yesterday, playing basketball with my boys in the driveway.
My brother and I shaking the hand of my grandfather.
I am indebted to all those who have served, and so are you. So on this memorial day, spend some time counting your blessings. Then go find someone who has or is serving and hug their neck. We act like the honor of serving is thanks enough, but we really appreciate it.
In case you missed them, here are the top posts from April on the topics of Next Practices in Life, Business, and Commercial Real Estate.
I do want to invite you to subscribe to this blog just to the right of what you are reading now. This will make it so easy for you to get my new posts without having to remember to check my site. And I will never violate your privacy!
Make the dang call! via iStockphotot.com
The Anatomy of a Cold Call – While I don’t believe in scripts, I do believe in crafting your opening statement before you call. Most salespeople have the most problems with how they start the call. ”Uh, hi. My name is Bo Barron and I’m with ABC Co. Uh….how’s it going?” Terrible! Read more…
The first face to face!
The 5 Steps of the Initial Meeting – With some experience and some great coaching, I learned a better way. Remember, if you are following my system, this initial meeting should be short. Actually, you told the prospect that it would be short. If you connect and the prospect starts asking questions – great. You may be there 2 hours. However, you told them short. Prepare for short as you are making an impression as someone with integrity…or not. Read more…
It is go time! What do you do?
The Winning Presentation – You have now landed a meeting to make a listing presentation (or whatever presentation applies to you). You have worked through the entire prospecting process to get to this point. Your put in the work becoming a market specialist. Building a database. Sending letters. Making cold calls. Conducting the needs analysis. It has all led to this moment. You sit in front of the prospect. The business is there for the taking. You have the privilege of potentially improving the life of the person in front of you. What do you do? Read more…
Bo Barron Speaking
Why Do We Fall? [Video] –This week I had the privilege of traveling to Salisbury, MD to visit SVN Miller Commercial. This group is the Sperry Van Ness 2012 Firm of the Year. They are a study in how to build a team with incredible culture. They like each other. They have tradition. They have camaraderie. They absolutely dominate their market.
I had the pleasure of training their entire company primarily on prospecting. At the end of our afternoon together, Brent Miller played this video. I was so moved that I wanted to share it with you.
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Clarity Series – Prospecting – Summary & Conclusion – When I was 15, my dad hired me to clean out a concrete drainage ditch. That ditch ran behind the houses of a street he had developed. We agreed on a price and I started digging. I soon discovered that I could hire my friends at a rate higher than minimum wage. I made all the income when I did the work. I made half that amount when they did the work. Read more…
How many times have you communicated a message to someone and followed up with “Do you understand?” In response you get a head nod and an “Uh huh.”
USMC Drill Instructor barking orders
When I was in boot camp, drill instructors barked orders at us all the time. When they would give instructions, they would follow-up with this question – “Do you understand that?” When said correctly, it sounds just like, “Undastanddat!?” Now jack up the volume and say it again.
Our response was always the same, “Sir, yes sir!” Regardless of how loud I screamed, I often did not understand. Bad things tended to happen at that point.
I remember the first time we were taught how to drill as a platoon. Not pretty! Drilling at its finest is choreography. It is also beautiful when it is down correctly. Check out this video of the Marine Corps Silent Drill Team. This is incredible.
My first day learning drill was the opposite of what you just saw. I distinctly recall that day. During a certain command, the entire platoon took a 45 degree turn to the right. Barron here took a 90 degree turn. I should have been wearing a sign that read “Please make me do push-ups until I create a pool of sweat from my brow.” Not pretty.
The Drill Instructor communicated the instructions correctly. Yet I didn’t get it. What happened? Where was the breakdown?
Leaders make this mistake all the time. They assume that because they have clarity in their minds, you should get it. Right? Not so fast. Let’s look at the communication process.
The break down occurs because words have meanings that could be different depending on where you are from. All the experiences of your past impact how you interpret the words you hear. Think of the word ‘father.’ Some of you are replaying great childhood memories. Some of you are reliving painful memories. To some of you, the word father means hero. To others it means absent. Your life experience gives meaning to words.
Because of this, every great leader and communicator adds a step to the communication process. That step is feedback. I was in a great workshop last week in Orange County, CA put on by MAP Consulting. I loved how they framed this concept. They call this the playback. Once you communicate the message, have the receiver play the message back for you.
Here is the phrase you want to learn. “So that I know I was clear, please play back for me…” Here are _ reasons why this phrase is so important.
The Clarity Series (CS) is a series of posts all on one subject. This particular subject is prospecting. While the context is commercial real estate, these steps and principles can be applied to any sales. To read the introduction of this series, click here. To read an overview of the entire prospecting system, click here. Thank you for reading!
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When I was 15, my dad hired me to clean out a concrete drainage ditch. That ditch ran behind the houses of a street he had developed. We agreed on a price and I started digging. I soon discovered that I could hire my friends at a rate higher than minimum wage. I made all the income when I did the work. I made half that amount when they did the work.
It was an epiphany for me. I made money by providing work for my friends. It cost me no time. Instead, I would mow yards. It multiplied what I could make. As I look back, this was the summer I was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug. The other thing I learned that summer was digging ditches is no fun!
Prospecting is much like digging a ditch. It is no fun. However, it is the path to substantially increasing your income? If I paid you a million dollars to prospect, would you not do it? This is your choice every day when you decide how to spend your time.
Dig your ditch! Here is a recap of how to do it.
Don’t I look smart? My wife thinks so!
1. Introduction to the Clarity Series on Prospecting
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2. Choose your Geography and Specialty
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Make the dang call! via iStockphotot.com
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This wraps up the Clarity Series on Prospecting. My hope is that you will now have actionable steps to implement into your business. Adopt the mindset that someone is paying your a million dollars to dig this ditch. Systematize your prospecting. Delegate every task you can. Make the calls! Do this and join the 5% of top performers. Nothing is holding you back except…you.
In case you missed them, here are the top posts from March on the topics of Next Practices in Life, Business, and Commercial Real Estate.
I do want to invite you to subscribe to this blog just to the right of what you are reading now. This will make it so easy for you to get my new posts without having to remember to check my site. And I will never violate your privacy!
via iStockPhoto
The Purpose of a Cold Call – The purpose of a cold call is very simple and there is no debate. It is to get a meeting. That’s it. It is not to spend 20 minutes on the phone. It is not to build a lasting relationship. It is not to make the sale. The purpose of the cold call is simply to get a meeting.. Read more…
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How to Write a Prospecting Letter – So, here is a not so short letter to my children. I share this because I believe intentionally communicating with our children what they should know is a great idea. Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life, but it could also be my last. I want to intentionally take steps to share certain things with my children that could make a huge difference in their lives. I share this to encourage you to do the same. Read more…
Don’t I look smart? My wife thinks so!
Introducing the Clarity Series: Prospecting – Clarity is such a powerful thing. It allows you to act with direction and focus. It gives you the ability to maximize your efforts and your results. Clarity of purpose allows you to say ‘no’ to good things and ‘yes’ to great things.
I am introducing the Clarity Series. Let me explain what the Clarity Series is.
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Preparation for a Cold Call – I recommend that you take 2-3 minutes before you make a call and see what you can find out about your prospect. There is way too much information out there not to. Your goal is to find something quickly that you can use to establish common ground. Remember, cold-calling is a numbers game. Don’t spend too much time researching your prospect. And don’t spend too much time on the call itself. Read more…
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5 Steps to Build a World-Class Database – In 2004, I got out of the Marine Corps and moved home with my family. The next day, I started working with my dad in his CRE brokerage business. As we would be driving around town, he would share with me the histories of the properties we drove by. He knew everything. He knew who owned the property. He could tell me what they paid for it. He could tell me how big they were. We would pass some properties he had sold multiple times. He defined encyclopedic knowledge of a market. I remember thinking that I would never get there. Read more…
The Clarity Series is a series of posts all on one subject. This particular subject is prospecting. While the context is commercial real estate, these steps and principles can be applied to any sales. To read the introduction of this series, click here. To read an overview of the entire prospecting system, click here. Thank you for reading!
In the last two posts, we have discussed the purpose and philosophy of cold calls as well as how to gain confidence by solid cold call preparation. In this post, we are going to talk about the ideal anatomy of a cold call.
Make the dang call! via iStockphoto.com
Anatomy of a Cold-Call
Opening Statement – Mike Lipsey calls this the IBS – initial benefit statement. The key here is to get right to the point. Communicate quickly and with clarity why taking this call will benefit the prospect. In Part 2 of this post, I discussed that you want to find the prospect’s website. What you are looking for is their mission statement, core values, etc.
For example, let’s say the prospects mission statement is to “Add value to the lives of our clients by providing unmatched products and world-class service.” Your opening statement could then be:
“Mr. Prospect. My name is Bo Barron. The purpose of my call is to help you add value to the lives of your clients by providing you with world-class service and unmatched expertise.”
Notice that I didn’t completely plagiarize their mission statement, but I’m talking the language of the prospect. The prospect will know that I’ve done my homework.
While I don’t believe in scripts, I do believe in crafting your opening statement before you call. Most salespeople have the most problems with how they start the call. “Uh, hi. My name is Bo Barron and I’m with ABC Co. Uh….how’s it going?” Terrible!
Knowing your opening line will give you confidence. It will also grab the attention of your prospect. This will give you a much better chance of landing the meeting.
Follow Up Question – Once you have gained the prospect’s attention with a killer opening statement, it is now time to ask the perfect question. What is that question, you ask? It is one that gets the prospect talking. If you can get them talking about a problem or an opportunity – even better. Here are some sample questions:
I suggest that you have two questions ready. If you bomb with the first, then you are ready to fire with the second. Also, human dynamics make it very difficult to say no twice. That is why a door-to-door salesman always has a second item to sell you when you shoot down the first.
And do not ask ‘yes/no’ questions. They will tell you no. Ask the prospect a question that leads them to share a little bit about their property, their plans, their frustrations, etc.
Value for Free – Here is where you can set the hook. Have something of value to offer the prospect for free. This could be a market report, trend report, or something in the news that could affect their property. The best thing, though, is a comp. Ideally, you have just sold something in the neighborhood. Owners want to know about deals that have happened. They want to know the details. They want to know who was involved. If you have that information, they will talk to you and meet with you.
Your thinking should be, “Even if I don’t uncover a possible relationship or transaction, this prospect is going to gain something valuable from taking my call.”
Close for the Meeting – At this point, you have shared with them the purpose of your cold call. You got them to share a little bit about their property or their business. Now you have piqued their interested in some information that you have. Now it is time to close.
Most of you stop here. Don’t. You have to ask for what you want. Ask for the meeting!
Now, you have just offered the prospect information that they want. Do not give it to them over the phone. Do not email it to them. Require that they meet you face to face. But make the requirement as whimsical and gentle as possible. I use the assumptive and alternative calendar closes the most.
First, I assume the prospect will meet with me. Then I give them two different dates and times that I can “pop by.”
Within these 4 steps of the anatomy of a cold call, the conversation can go anywhere. You need to be ready to improvise and go where the cold call may take you. But remember, you have to actually ask for what you want. Ask for the short meeting.
The Clarity Series is a series of posts all on one subject. This particular subject is prospecting. While the context is commercial real estate, these steps and principles can be applied to any sales. To read the introduction of this series, click here. To read an overview of the entire prospecting system, click here. Thank you for reading!
If you are like most salespeople, cold calls are the low point of your day. You don’t like them. You know that top producers cold call all the time. But you aren’t exactly sure what to say. What you need is confidence. Confidence comes from preparation.
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I remember my first cold call. I had just earned my license. I was calling the owner of a small office/retail stand alone building that had a for sale by owner sign. I was clueless about what to say. I remember sitting in my office and staring at the phone. It was a like I would be electrocuted if I picked it up to dial. I had these thoughts running through my head:
In Part 1 of this post,we discussed the purpose and the philosophy of cold calling. To review, the purpose of the cold call is to get a meeting. That is it. The philosophy that I teach and coach my clients is that you want to connect and add value. You do not want to use scripts or try to manipulate.
Just like anything else, cold calling needs a system that marries solid preparation with an understanding of the anatomy of a call. This post deals with the preparation.
Preparation really means putting your P.I. hat on. What can you find out about your prospect before you call? Remember, you goal is to quickly connect with your prospect and land a meeting. Ideally, you can do this in just a few minutes.
I recommend that you take 2-3 minutes before you make a call and see what you can find out about your prospect. There is way too much information out there not to. Your goal is to find something quickly that you can use to establish common ground. Remember, cold-calling is a numbers game. Don’t spend too much time researching your prospect. And don’t spend too much time on the call itself.
This is somewhat of a no-brainer first step, but too many of us don’t do it. Search for the name and city of your prospect. By including the city, you are more likely to quickly find the correct person. Take a few seconds to scan the links. Click through on one or two and see what you can learn. Have they been in the news lately? If so, you can reference that article when you call. Have they been in any financial trouble? This can give you a clue to possible motivations to sell, etc.
One of the links that will likely come up in the Google search is the prospect’s LinkedIn profile. This is what you want to find. On their profile, you can learn where they went to school. Especially around NCAA tournament time, their school is often an easy way to build rapport and connect.
You can also see their work history. Is there a common company that you both worked for? Have they had a position in an industry that interests you?
You can also see if they are a connector. A connector is a person that can be a gateway to get in front of many other people. Connectors can be much more important to you and your business than one particular deal. If you find one of these, purpose to build a lasting relationship. Give lots of value for free. Their friendship could lead to scores of deals in the future.
Maybe the most important information you can find on LinkedIn is if you have any common contacts. I would veer from my numbers game mentality of cold calling here. If you are calling a whale (think Gordon Gekko), it may be worth slowing down if you discover you have a mutual friend. Attempt to get an introduction from that common connection. An introduction is much more effective than a cold call as the clout and rapport of the common connection can rub off on you.
LinkedIn can also lead you to the prospect’s website. If you find that site, you are looking for one thing – their purpose for being in business. If you can find a mission statement, core values, etc., then you have valuable intel you can use to craft your opening statement when you call. I will get into that in the next post dealing with the anatomy of the call.
Keep in mind that these tasks can be delegated. I know a guy that has his assistant run through these steps. On his cold call sheet for the day are not only names and numbers, but information his assistant found through a little online research. Remember what you are worth. If you have a team member to whom you can delegate this step, do so.
Now I would love to hear from you about how you prepare before a cold call. What do you do? Or what is something that I have left out? Leave you comments below!
The Clarity Series is a series of posts all on one subject. This particular subject is prospecting. While the context is commercial real estate, these steps and principles can be applied to any sales. To read the introduction of this series, click here. To read an overview of the entire prospecting system, click here. Thank you for reading!
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In the previous posts for this Clarity Series on Prospecting, I wrote about how I prospected on dollar stores in KY. After choosing my geography and specialty, and then building my database, it was then time to start contacting people. This post is a slight revision on a previous post I wrote titled The 3 Benefits of a Well Written Prospecting Letter. It fits perfectly here.
In my next post, I will go over the anatomy of an effective cold call. But I prefer to warm up that call. Writing a letter is a fantastic way to do that. Determine how many prospects you plan to cold call a week. That is how many letters you send the week before. Twenty was my number. You can certainly do more.
Sending letters has had 4 different types of results for me:
You have to assume that at least 50% of recipients are not going to read your letter. They just won’t. And that is fine. All I’m trying to do is warm up my initial cold call. When I call those who actually read it, my ratio for getting a meeting goes up.
On average, they would call me first about once a month. 70% of those calls turn into listings – that is our close rate when they call us from the letter. That is a huge number for the cost of paper and a stamp.
I want to share 2 things in the remainder of this post: why send a letter, and how to increase your open and read rate.
3 Reasons/Benefits to Sending a Prospecting Letter
Now that I have covered why to send the letters, let’s discuss how to get more people to actually open and read the letter!
I have a couple more thoughts to leave you with. First, systematize this process. If you are prospecting on similar properties, there is a good chance that you can use the same basic letter over and over. If not, take the time to customize the letter to the owner. Your close rate going from call to meeting will go up. Take the time. It is worth it.
Second, delegate everything you can. I initially wrote the letter. My assistant would print out 20 a week. She would lay them on my desk on Wednesday. I would sign them and give them back to her. She would then address the envelopes and send them. Then she would log in to ClientLook and record who was sent a letter. Finally, she would schedule my calls for the following Tuesday.
Note that all I did was initially write the letter and sign them each week. Everything else was done by her. When I show up on Tuesday, my call list is already waiting for me. Delegate everything that anyone else can do so that you can focus on what only you can do. Systematization at its finest!
Most of you will not do this. Some because you are lazy. Some because you don’t know where to start. Some because you won’t pause long enough to build your database in the first place.
I challenge you to try this for 90 days. I think you will be blown away with the results.
Let me hear from you. Have you used prospecting letters before? Did they work? What would prevent you from doing it now? Please share your comments!