Tag Archives: CRE

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January’s Top Posts

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In case you missed them, here are the top posts from January.  Key to note – January marks the first month I’ve expanded the topics of my blog – from Commercial Real Estate best practices to Next Practices in Life, Business, and Commercial Real Estate.  Thus, please enjoy the post below on marriage as well as other business and CRE topics.  Thanks for reading!

I also want to invite you to sign up just to the right to receive my new posts straight to your email inbox.  Don’t worry about remembering to check my site.  I will do the work and make sure that you never miss a post.  I will also never share your information.

 January’s Top Posts

iStockPhoto via Erikona

iStockPhoto via Erikona

Why You Should Use a Simple CRM – ClientLook – CRE Tech & App Review – On the front-end, I must confess to being a CRM-hopper.  I started my career in 2004 with a legal pad – literally.  Then I moved on to Outlook.  Please pay attention when I say this.  Outlook is not a CRM system – sorry Dad.  It is simply email with contacts and a calendar.  Read More…

 

2012-12-21 22.10.31

12th Anniversary Trip

What 12 Years has Taught Me About Having an Awesome Marriage – I’ve had a crush on my wife – still do – since the day I laid eyes on her.  I was 10 years old in youth church choir.  She sings like an angel, and I liked being around girls that could sing like an angel.  It took me 8 years to ask her out.  Two reasons caused the delay.  I was sort of a dork, and she was intimidatingly beautiful – still is!  After 5 years of me proving that she is the most forgiving person on the planet, we got married.  (This is by far the most condensed version of ‘our story’ that I’ve ever pulled off).  Read More…

 

iStockPhoto from cosmity

iStockPhoto from cosmity

The 3 Benefits of a Well Done Prospecting Letter – 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.  Read More…

 

 

iStockPhoto by hidesy

iStockPhoto by hidesy

The One Secret to Winning the Business Every Time – When I started in the Commercial Real Estate Business, I knew that the listing presentation was important.  Very important. I wrote and rewrote.  I practiced and then practiced some more.  I would record myself and play it back while I was driving.  It was canned…  Read More…

 

iStock_000010779625Small

iStockPhoto

5 Reasons to Develop Decisiveness Using the 70% Rule – You will experience failures in your personal and professional lives.  It should not be the failed goal that defines the experience but the way that we respond to the failure.  Consider reflecting on these questions…  Read More…

 

 

January’s Stats

I’ve read on some other sites where they post their stats.  I have always appreciated this – as much as a benchmark as anything else.  It is difficult to know how well you are doing sometimes.

  • 2,371 Unique Visitors
  • 6,761 Page Views
  • 65% Percent New Visitors
  • 61 Countries
  • 30% from a mobile device
  • 81% of those from an iPhone or iPad
  • 119 Subscribers to my email list

I wish you all a fabulous February.  I turn 36 this month!  If you have any comments on the posts above or would like to make a suggestion on what you would like to read, leave a comment below!

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The One Secret to Winning the Business Every Time

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When I started in the Commercial Real Estate Business, I knew that the listing presentation was important.  Very important. I wrote and rewrote.  I practiced and then practiced some more.  I would record myself and play it back while I was driving.

iStockPhoto by hidesy

iStockPhoto by hidesy

It was canned.  I would give that same presentation to an elderly couple wanting to sell their land.  I would give it to a bank looking to relocate a branch.  I would give it to the owner of an office building that needed to lease space.  It didn’t matter who it was.  I had it down.

I would talk about the experience of our company (this was important because I had little experience at the time.)  I would talk about successful transactions we had closed.  I would talk about my Marine Corps service (the only thing I had going for me at the time.)  I would talk about how young and hungry I was.  It was all about me.  This, I believe, is what the normal CRE listing presentation looks like.

Through much reading, coaching, and mentoring, I learned there is a much better way.  I was taught the secret.  Before I give it to you, let me tell you a story.

Not too long ago, I received an opportunity through a referral from a CPA (if you aren’t pursuing relationships with CPA’s, smack yourself and start tomorrow.)  Instead of preparing a canned listing presentation for the client’s portfolio of properties, I simply scheduled a meeting.  All I did in that meeting was ask questions.  I didn’t talk at all about me, our company, or my experience – zip.

By the end of that meeting, I knew a few things I didn’t know before.  This prospect was tired of the management and unpredictable net income of multifamily property.  I knew that the prospect wanted to simplify.  I knew that the prospect wanted to be able to hold me accountable throughout the listing.  I knew that communication was extremely important.

I then took that information and crafted a client-centric, customized, benefit driven presentation.  I explained how selling these properties could eliminate the hassle of tenant turnover, dealing with management companies, and fluctuating income.  I showed how a shift to Single Tenant Net Leased properties would essentially produce stable mailbox money.

I explained our commitment to transparency and accountability.  I showed how I could give the prospect 24/7 access to our activities through our cloud-based CRM system, ClientLook.  I promised our commitment to regular communication.  I won the listing over our competition at a higher fee.

If you haven’t figured it out, the secret to winning the business is the Needs-Analysis Interview.  There are many versions of this interview that you can find. I’m not going to plagiarize any of them here.  I am going to give you keys that must be present for this to work.

  1. You have to be authentic – People can tell when you are blowing smoke.  If they care about communication, and you promise it to them, you must be committed to delivering.  If not, they are going to tell all their colleagues.  In the story above, I discovered the prospects highest needs, and then fed them back in a custom listing presentation.  This only works if you are being authentic.
  2. You have to care – Discovering the needs of your prospect is all about putting their needs before your own.  It is about them.  It is about taking the time to craft from your capabilities the solution that meets their needs.  It is about making a difference in solving their problem or helping them capitalize on an opportunity.
  3. You must seek their pain points – You could also say that must understand the opportunity they are trying to seize.  Are they trying to simplify?  Are they trying to pass down a legacy of financial freedom and wealth?  Are they trying to get out from under a mountain of debt and stress that is wrecking their lives?  What is causing them pain.  Learn this and you will be able to earn the business.
  4. You must understand their highest interests – Is maximizing the value their highest interest?  Or is it speed?  How important is visibility to that tenant?  Will they give on price to get the lease term they want?  You can not go to battle for your clients if you don’t know what their desired outcome is.

So I challenge you.  The next opportunity you have at new business, stop.  Don’t go blazing in with your canned presentation.  Schedule the needs-analysis interview.  Let them explain to you how to win their business.  Learn to ask questions and listen, and watch your business explode.

I’d love to hear some stories of how you have used this secret to win business?  Or how do you plan to implement this into your business this year and beyond?  Comment below!

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The 3 Benefits of a Well Done Prospecting Letter

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I previously wrote a post on The 8 Steps to a Killer Prospecting System.  Step 4 in that process deals with the use of a prospecting letter.  In my business, we sent just 20 letters to Dollar Store owners every week.  Then we called them the following week.

iStockPhoto from cosmity

iStockPhoto from cosmity

For the past 2 years I have used this system religiously.  It has had 4 different types of results for me:

  1. It hits the trash immediately.
  2. They see my name on the envelope before it hits the trash.
  3. It is opened and read. 
  4. It motivates the reader of the letter to call me first.

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 will 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

  1. Letters warm up the cold call – This is obvious, but it works.  Not only do I have a higher success rate in getting meetings with those that read the letter, it gives me something to refer to right off the bat.  “Hi Mr. Smith.  I’m Bo Barron and I’m calling to follow-up on the letter I sent you last week…”
  2. Letters force you to follow-up with a call – How is that, you say?  The letters force me to call because I tell them in the letter that I will be calling in about a week.  This is built-in accountability.  It gives you your first opportunity to follow through with integrity – or drop the ball.
  3. Letters force you to be intentional and systematic with your prospecting – This is a huge benefit for most.  To send out a certain amount of letters a week means you must have your database set up.  It means you are intentionally signing X number of letters a week.  It means that you are planning ahead.  It means that you are differentiating yourself from 95% of the rest of the brokerage community.

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!

  • Handwrite the envelope – Studies show that more people open mail that is handwritten versus printed.  I generally had my assistant do it.  She has much better handwriting.  Once a week, 20 letters appeared on my desk.  I signed them and gave them back to her.  She addressed the letters and sent them.  She logged into my cloud-based CRM system and scheduled the cold calls to the recipients.  I made the calls.  Clockwork.  Simple.  Effective!
  • Write a scannable letter – This is a scannable blog post.  I utilize simple sentences.  Short paragraphs.  Lists.  Bullet-points.  A friend of mine runs a local Packages Plus business.  He was sharing with me that studies have been done on increasing the read rate of a letter.  The second most likely thing that is read in a letter is bullet points.  I will tell you the first in a second.  Use them.  That is where your most important information belongs – written in a benefit statement for the reader.
  • Keep the letter short – Anything longer than a page is way too long.  Three-quarters of a page is what I think is best. You have about 15 seconds of eye-ball time.  After that, you lose their attention to something else.  Short and simple works best.
  • Talk about them – Don’t send a letter all about you.  They don’t care.  They care about themselves.  Talk about what is happening that affects their property – their bottom line – their lives.  If you don’t do this, you are wasting your time.
  • Use a Postscript – That’s right – the P.S.  The postscript is the single most read thing in a letter.  Therefore, put the most important thing in the postscript.  I suggest to you that is where you tell them you will call them.  If they read nothing but the postscript, and you tell them you are going to call them, they are much more likely to then read the letter.

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 in the past?  What worked well?  What didn’t?  Comment below!

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Why You Should Use a Simple CRM – ClientLook – CRE Tech & App Review

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I am a systems geek.  I’m not really a techie.  I love to use technology, but I just know enough about how it works to break it.  That said, when it comes to using technology in my Commercial Real Estate business, there is nothing more important than a good CRM (Customer Relationship Management).

iStockPhoto via Erikona

iStockPhoto via Erikona

On the front-end, I must confess to being a CRM-hopper.  I started my career in 2004 with a legal pad – literally.  Then I moved on to Outlook.  Please pay attention when I say this.  Outlook is not a CRM system – sorry Dad.  It is simply email with contacts and a calendar.

I then graduated to a real CRM platform in ACT! by Sage, then to Realhound, back to ACT!, and then to REA9 (Real Estate Assistant). All of these desktop applications have these things in common.

  • they all have a tremendous amount of functionality.
  • they are all loaded on your desktop/laptop (to be fair, some or all are coming out with cloud-based versions, though I see this as playing catch up).
  • they are huge programs.
  • they have bells and whistles on their bells and whistles.

Michael Griffin, the President and CEO of ClientLook, calls these and other desktop software programs Technology Legacy Anchors.  These programs tie you to your desktop – chain you there.

clientlook logo

I’ve been using ClientLook for over a year now.  What follows are the reasons you should consider switching to this cloud-based CRM system.

  1. ClientLook resides in the cloud – As opposed to the Technology Legacy Anchors, ClientLook resides in the cloud.  This means that your data can be accessed from anywhere where the internet can be accessed.  That means from your smart phone, a coffee shop, on the road, in an airport terminal, or even from a client’s office on their computer.  And we are way beyond worries of losing data at this point.  I would guess you have more of a chance of your office burning and losing your data.
  2. It is simple, simple, easy – In contrast to the other CRM programs, ClientLook is as easy as they are complicated.  It is formatted much like Facebook.  You can log notes on all your conversations and contacts.  You can schedule events and tasks and link them to projects and/or contacts all on your calendar.  It generates task lists.  It is super easy to search.

    Actual ClientLook Screenshot

    Actual ClientLook Screenshot

  3. It seamlessly syncs with Google – This is really what made it work for me.  I use an app called Calengoo on my iPhone 5.  It syncs beautifully with Gmail and Google Calendar which I use religiously.  Whatever I put on the ClientLook calendar, ends up on Google Calendar and on my iPhone.  Everything is synced automatically without me having to do anything.   This is the awesome part, though.  If I update a task or event with notes and next steps on my phone, it gets linked back to the correct projects and contacts in ClientLook.  This is a beautiful thing!
  4. It has Betty White – I am in my car all the time making calls.  I can be very productive while driving.  The problem is you can’t take notes.  You can forget to follow through on something committed to.  You can forget when you said you would call back.  This problem has always made me hesitate using windshield time to its fullest potential.  No longer.  ClientLook has virtual assistants.  You can call in and dictate notes, set appointments and next steps, etc.  You simply call in, leave a message with your account info and what you need recorded, then hang up.  When it is done, the VA will email you so you can confirm their work.  Now, on my phone, I have named the ClientLook VA number in my favorites list as Betty White.  So I make a call.  Then I call Betty White.  I make another call – then Betty White.  Nothing ever falls through the cracks, and my productivity is at an all-time high.
  5. It allows for virtual management of a team – If you manage a team, you can see what they are doing.  This really helps with a virtual team working on tasks together.  You can see notes, previous calls, etc.  You can see if someone is not making calls.  And this can be set up per the needs of the team.  Maybe you don’t need to see what someone else is doing in your company.  All that can be set.
  6. It is a great transaction management tool – You can give your clients access to their projects.  This means that they can log in and see what you are doing.  I have never lost a listing when I told my prospects that they have a way to hold me accountable.  This is also a way to allow your clients to drive you crazy so be very careful with this one.
  7. Great customer support – They respond to emails and listen to suggestions.  They have added features because I asked for them.  Super people!

Now, if I could change anything (and so that you know that this isn’t a sponsored post):

  • The search functionality is Google simple and fast.  However, when scanning through your contacts, it is difficult to navigate.  The user interface could be better.
  • Overall, the site runs a bit slower than most sites – for me.  This could be my 6,000+ contacts, but that should be pretty normal in the CRE industry.
  • There is no separate property database.  I simply used the Projects functionality and it works perfectly.  But for those power users of REA and Realhound, this is going to bug you.  To the rest of you, simple is the way to go, and I’m just talking to 100 people anyway.

So what CRM solution do you use?  What do you like about it?  What benefits would have to see to switch to a cloud based solution?  You can comment below!

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Update: Speaking Engagement: SVN #CRE Tech Tools Seminar – San Fran

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Update:  Due to our scheduled session reaching capacity, I am pleased to announce that we are adding a second session.  The new session will be a morning event from 7:30 – 9:30 am at the same location.  I hope that you can join us!

I am looking forward to speaking at the Sperry Van Ness #CRE Tech Tools Seminar.  I will be demonstrating how our advisors use cloud-based marketing, CRM tools and other technologies to manage and grow their businesses.

Date:  Dec. 11, 2012 (Happy Birthday Dad!)

Time:  7:30 – 9:30 – seats still available

   12:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Sold Out

Event:  Sperry Van Ness #CRE Tech Tools Seminar

Topic:  Cloud based Business Management and CRM technology demonstration

Sponsor:  Allen Matkins Law Firm

Venue:  Three Embarcadero Center, 12th Floor

Location:  San Francisco

Public:  Open to all CRE brokers/owners/managers

Registration:  Click here to register.

SVN Tech Tools Image

Click here for more information about having me speak at your event.

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The 8 Steps to a Killer Prospecting System

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In last week’s post, the Difference Between Top Producers and the Others, I made the case that top producers prospect.  That is the difference.  They schedule time to do it.  They have a system that they execute.  It works.  It sets them apart.  I have also written a post on the benefits of systematizing your business.  Both of these posts deal with the “why.”   Before you go any further, I encourage you to take a few moments and take a look at those posts.  Knowing “how” without believing in the “why” will lead to burnout and letdown.

iStockPhoto

iStockPhoto

I highly recommend coaching.  Regardless of your level of success, a coach and mentor can provide you with great benefit.  At the beginning of 2010, I hired the Massimo-Group to coach me in my commercial real estate business.  Up until that time, I had never systematized my prospecting efforts.  There was no rhyme or reason.  Often, there was no prospecting at all.  My coach helped me change that and revolutionized my business in the process.

I want to clarify what I mean by prospecting.  Prospecting is a form of business development.  Networking and building a presence – or a platform – is another form of business development.  Their activities are similar.  Their purpose is completely different.  (To read about the difference between prospecting and networking, click here.)  Prospecting involves asking for the business.  That is its only purpose.

Since my last post on prospecting, I’ve received a number of questions about how to do it.  My way is not the only way, but any effective prospecting system will have elements of these 8 steps.  This is exactly how I built my core business.  You can do it too!

How to Build a Prospecting System

  1. Define your geography – This is as simple as it sounds.  You have to know what geography you are working in.  I come from a small tertiary market.  To have enough Single Tenant Net Lease (STNL) properties to go after, I built a state-wide database.  I’ve heard different numbers, but you need at least 350 properties in your farm area.  If you are in Los Angeles like one of my clients, you may just have a section of such a large city.  Regardless, you need to be able to articulate it with clarity.
  2. Choose your specialty – If there is one thing true of top produces, other than they prospect, it is that they are specialists.  Use this test.  What are you good at?  What do you like?  And where is the deal velocity?  Your specialty should be where these three answers intersect.  A quick note:  it is OK to be a geographical specialist.  The number one broker from the number one CRE firm in New York City is a geographical specialist.  And he kills it!
  3. Build your database – Once you know your geography and your specialty, it is time to build your database.  It should include all the properties in your farm area.  You need to know who owns what, how long they’ve owned it, what they paid, and their contact information.  I’ve heard brokers talk about how they used to have all that information on notecards.  My assistant built mine using Excel.  We then imported it into my cloud-based CRM solution.  All of that info is now in my iPhone.
  4. Send them something in the mail – This could be a book, a letter, anything of value.  The whole idea here is you want to raise your chances that they will take your call and talk to you.  Letters are cheap.  There is no reason not to send them.  Get creative.  You want them to want to take your call.
  5. Make the dang call – This is the scary part for most brokers and salespeople.  Fear of rejection.  Fear of sounding and feeling stupid.  You must overcome those fears.  You must prepare – but not so much that you never make the call.  The entire goal of the cold call is to get a meeting.  That is it.  If you spend 30 minutes talking, you have missed the point.  Get the face to face meeting.
  6. Have the meeting – Face to face is where the top producers excel.  These meetings can take two forms.  I prefer the first meeting to be a needs-analysis meeting.  I am asking questions of the prospect and it is all about them.  Then the second meeting is where I make my proposal.  That isn’t always possible, but it is certainly ideal.
  7. Make the proposal – Sometimes, step 6 and 7 happen at the same time.  Ideally, you have had the needs-analysis interview and then gone and crafted a custom proposal that addresses the specific needs of that specific prospect.  This beats a canned-presentation every time.
  8. Win the listing/Make the sale – this is what success looks like.  After a while of doing this, you will know that if I make X amount of calls, I will get this many meetings.  If I get X amount of meetings, I will make this many proposals.  If I make X amount of proposals, I will win this many listings.

How do you prospect?  Do you have a system?  What can you add that I have overlooked?  Please don’t hesitate to comment.  We want to hear from you, and it will benefit the entire community.

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Top Posts for November – And The Dollar Shave Club!

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In case you missed them, here are the top posts from November.  I have also added a bonus Saturday post at the bottom that is guaranteed to improve your daily life – if you shave.  Be sure to check it out at the bottom!

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The 17 Rules of Email Etiquette – My biggest beef with email is its ability to interrupt me.  The nature of my business requires me to be doing multiple things.  I am not a natural multi-tasker.  I much prefer to hone in on a task and focus all my energy on it.  I rarely get to do this.  I am also easily distracted.  The ding and notification that announces every email can cost me 5 – 60 minutes  Read More…

The Difference Between Top Producers and the Others – How many times have you heard brokers complain about how the market has sunk their business?  Maybe I’m talking about you?  You have heard the cliché, “a rising tide lifts all ships.”  The reverse of that would be, “a sinking tide sinks all ships.”  That seems to be the mantra of the CRE industry of the last four years.  Read More…

How the 14 Marine Corps Leadership Traits Apply to Your Business – Part 1 – Today, I was organizing my closet.  Hanging there next to my ties and dress shirts were my old Marine Corps uniforms.  They caused me to think back 8+ years to my former life.  So much of my life now is influenced by my enlisted years.  Just as the old meets the new in my closet, so much of the USMC leadership traits apply to running a business.  Read More…

How the 14 Marine Corps Leadership Traits Apply to Your Business – Part 2 – I was born with bearing.  God just knitted this one into my personality.  When I was a PFC (private first class), I had duty for the first time.  This meant that I stayed up all night manning a post in the barracks.  I was part of a 3-man team.  This was my first time “on-duty,” and I made a mistake…  Read More…

How to Turn Failure into Motivation – You will experience failures in your personal and professional lives.  It should not be the failed goal that defines the experience but the way that we respond to the failure.  Consider reflecting on these questions…  Read More…

My Salute to Our Fighting Men and Women this Veteran’s Day – Today is Veteran’s Day.  Today is the day that we remember and honor all the men and women who sacrificed.  They sacrificed years. Some sacrifices limbs.  Many sacrificed their lives – for you and me.  We understand freedoms not known by most throughout history.  My brother, who is a Marine Aviator, is this day protecting the freedoms of Americans to burn the flag or hate our country.  That is sacrifice.…  Read More…

Bonus Post

I remember when I was in college, I would shave every 3 to 4 days.  There was two reasons for this:  every guy hates shaving, and I was lazy.  Then I enlisted in the Marine Corps.  They require a clean-shaven face every morning.  It is called “scraping your grape.”

Five years of “scraping my grape” every day has two unfortunate consequences.  The first is that I now prefer the shaven face.  The second, and worse, is that my wife now can’t live with my scrubby face anymore.

Since I have resigned myself to shaving every day for the rest of my life, I now hate the razor racquet.  I can buy the razor handle for pennies, but the razors cost a fortune.  I’m in a bad mood every time I have to buy razors.  And since I have to pay so much for them, I use them longer than I should.  This causes me to hate shaving even more.  This is a vicious spiral.

Enter the Dollar Shave Club!

This is the coolest idea I’ve seen in a long time.  Additionally, this video is genius and hilarious – though unfortunately more raw than it needs to be.  Regardless, enjoy the video.

So here is how it works.  You sign up for one of the 3 levels of razors.  They send you every month the razors you need – automatically.  This rocks for the following reasons:

  • The razors are comparable to the Gillette Fusion I used before.
  • The price of the razors are way less.
  • You no longer have the negative experience of actually purchasing over-priced razors from the store – the razors are shipped to your door!
  • You don’t have to stretch the use of each razor.  This improves your overall experience.

In a word, the Dollar Shave Club rocks!  Sometimes it is the simple things in life.  This is one of those things.  Do yourself a favor and check them out.  And have a great weekend!

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The Difference Between Top Producers and the Others

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If you have read this blog, you know that I am in the commercial real estate industry.  Since the crash in the CRE market in the second half of 2008, I have heard a lot of complaining.

In my coaching business with the Massimo Group, I have also had the great privilege of coach CRE throughout the United States and Canada.  From the catbird’s seat, I have gotten to see what top producers do that all the others do not.

The difference?

Prospecting

How many times have you heard brokers complain about how the market has sunk their business?  Maybe I’m talking about you?  You have heard the cliché, “a rising tide lifts all ships.”  The reverse of that would be, “a sinking tide sinks all ships.”  That seems to be the mantra of the CRE industry of the last four years.

Not so for top producers.

Many brokers prospect when they start their careers.  But then something happens.  They have success.  They become known.  They start to get referrals.  Business starts to find them.

Then they stop prospecting.

This somewhat describes the first 4 years of my career.  I walked into a family commercial real estate business where my father and grandfather had great success – for decades.  I inherited presence.  The “tide” was so high when I started in November 2004 that I was going to have success.  I never had to prospect.  Business just walked right through our office door.

Then 2008 happened.  All of the sudden, business dried up.  I realized that those who don’t prospect are hitched to the market.  If the market is great, you have a great year.  If the market is bad, you have a bad year.

You have no control of your business.

Top producers refuse to relinquish control.  They understand that the only way they can have consistent deal flow is to make prospecting the core of their business.  Having presence where business walks through your door is a blessing.  But it is also a trap.

Top producers come in all shapes and sizes.  Men and women.  Some with this personality and some with that.  Some are tall and good-looking.  Some are short with a bad hairline.  The one constant is that they prospect.  Every day.  They block out time to ensure they are doing the most important thing.

There is no secret sauce.  The one thing that can set you apart is right there in front of you.  Take it.  Refuse to be crippled by your fear of the cold call – of rejection.  Pick up the phone.  Then do it again – and again.

Now is the time to pause and reflect.  A new year is fast approaching.  Allow 2013 to be that pivotal year in your career when you break free of mediocrity.  Nothing is stopping you but yourself!

So what role did prospecting play in your business in 2012?  How would you rate yourself on a scale of 1 – 10?  Please share with us a quick story where prospecting led to a deal – it would be so encouraging.

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Speaking Engagement: SVN #CRE Tech Tools Seminar – San Fran

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I am looking forward to speaking at the Sperry Van Ness #CRE Tech Tools Seminar.  I will be demonstrating how our advisors use cloud-based marketing, CRM tools and other technologies to manage and grow their businesses.

Date:  Dec. 11, 2012 (Happy Birthday Dad!)

Time:  12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Event:  Sperry Van Ness #CRE Tech Tools Seminar

Topic:  Cloud based Business Management and CRM technology demonstration

Sponsor:  Allen Matkins Law Firm

Venue:  Three Embarcadero Center, 12th Floor

Location:  San Francisco

Public:  Open to all CRE brokers/owners/managers

Registration:  Click here to register.

Click here for more information about having me speak at your event.

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Social Media For Brokers Webinar: Twitter

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Please join Angela Brown and me for a free webinar sponsored by CoStar!

Social Media for Commercial Real Estate Brokers Webinar:  Twitter

Thu, Nov 29, 2012
3:00 PM ET (12:00 PM PT)

Click here to register!

During this live presentation with social CRE experts, you will learn best practices for elevating and managing your social media presence on Twitter. This program will go beyond the basics, leaving participants with actionable information that they can use right away.

Our topics include:

What you can do with Twitter – You’ve heard all the fuss but what is it good for?

Nailing the profile – A look at profile best practices and recent changes to its appearance

Connect with clients and prospects using
“The Rule of Thirds”

Presenters:

–Angela Brown, Communications Manager, CoStar Group

–Bo Barron, CCIM, Managing Director, Sperry Van Ness/The Barron Group

Click here to register!

*Do you communicate on a social media channel?  If so, spread the word!  Tell those that may benefit from this webinar to join us.

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