I have been hearing people say for the past year…”the real estate business is changing” , what “they” mean by this is that the way agents get their business is somehow different than it ever was…to that I say BOLOGNA!

This business is fundamentally the same as it ever was I’m going to give you the  secret to sales success….ready? MEET A BUNCH OF PEOPLE AND MAKE A BUNCH OF FRIENDS. Wow, if it were only that easy. Guess what? It is! The only thing that has changed and for the better I might add is that now there are MORE ways to meet people and make friends. With almost 90% of buyers coming thru the internet these days there are opportunities everywhere.

So if it’s all so simple why do people fail? The answer to that is fear, fear of meeting new people and fear for rejection.

I wanted to see just how widespread this social fear is so I googled it. I typed in the words “fear of meeting people” and found 174,000,000 results, most related to overcoming this fear. So, let me start by setting your mind at ease…your not alone. Thousands of people share your anxiety about strangers. But you can overcome that and you must if you want to be successful in sales.

So how? What are some steps to overcoming that knot in your throat that you get every time you need to make a prospecting call or knock on a door?

I would suggest that the first step in the process is changing your mind, start doing confidence building activities, read books about communication skills…a great one that I think everyone should read at least once is “How to win friends and influence people” by Dale Carnegie. If you can learn how people want to be communicated with, you will feel more at ease when prospecting. 

Affirm your position, by that I mean…retrain your brain! Write daily affirmations like: “people want to hear from me”, “I communicate well and people recognize it”,   “I say and do precisely what is necessary to get appointments”. Take 5 minutes from your day to become clear in your goal of becoming a positively aggressive individual who is successful in sales.

Role-play…I’m not a believer in being tethered to a script but I do believe in Role-playing and specifically the type of role-play where you hear the word NO!. Have a friend or family member on the other end of the line and have them be your worst nightmare call. That’s right, have them tell you that you stink and that if you were the last Realtor® on the face of the earth they’d sell for sale by owner. So why heap all this rejection on yourself? …no matter how eloquent you are, some people just simply won’t like you and you have to be ok with that in order to make the next call, and the next one and the next one. Prospecting is a numbers game and the more no’s you hear the closer you get to the yes.  

Try these tips and then just jump in…I promise that the more you practice prospecting the more successful you will become and the easier it will be. I have been cold calling since I was 10 years old and fortunately for me I was too young realize I was supposed to be scared of it. Prospecting will become a habit and it needs to be. It is the single most important skill to sales success. 

Copyright (c) 2008 - Written by Dana Scalici, Director of Agent Development for Exit Homeplace Realty.

About the Author: Dana Scalici is the Director of Agent Development for Exit Homeplace Realty. Dana works to train and coach agents on all aspects of their business from planning to implementation. Prospecting and presentation skills are key in this business and after 17 years in the real estate business, Dana has the knowhow to get a deal closed from start to finish, she grew up in the real estate business in Michigan where she worked side by side with her father in their family owned firm and admits that real estate is in her blood. Call her today (910) 202-0999 for a one on one interview. "I can help you gain the skills and knowledge to become a top producer."

So you’re interested in becoming a real estate broker? Real estate is challenging, exciting and can be quite lucrative, if done correctly. Here are some steps to get you started.

“Is real estate right for me?” I call this my little query toward realty check. If you are deciding to get into real estate just because you think it might be fun to show people houses all day, I have to tell you, being your local area tour guide gets old real quick. Contrary to popular belief…Real Estate Brokers DON’T get paid to show houses they get paid to sell them.

Real estate is a SALES business. That’s right you have to get a signature on that line to actually get a paycheck. Straight commission is tough if you don’t have a foundation of skills and the right attitude.

I have to tell you a secret, I’m not really a salesperson… by that I mean that I am not the “salesperson” type. You know those people that could sell a Ketchup Popsicle to a woman in white gloves? They have that natural ability to make people feel like acting on whatever it is they are talking about.

If that guy I mentioned above is not you…have no fear. These skills can be taught. I learned them and so can you, if you have the right attitude and take an honest assessment of yourself you can be trained to sell.

There are endless real estate training programs out there today, I however tend to be a little on the old school side and like to stick with the classics Jerry Bresser, Zig Ziggler, Mike Ferry, Floyd Wickman are some of my favorites. EXIT Realty offers training that is beyond belief and is taught online or live both in-house and special events.

If you decide that real estate is the career for you…make a commitment to it by deciding that from now until retirement you will spend no less than $3,600.00 per year in your sales training and personal development. This is not an option in my opinion it is a must.

Wow, you thought all you had to do was pass your 75 hour Pre-license class, pass your state exam and the money would just kind of start rolling in, I hate to be the buster of your bubble but I really want you to know what you’re getting into.

You must hunt! They say there are two groups of people, those you know and those you don’t, which one is bigger? You have to meet and get to know as many of that second group as humanly possible in order to be successful in real estate and you don’t just have to get to know them you have to build relationships with them.

Scary? It can be if you’re not prepared for it. That is why the training is so important. That is what allows you to have the confidence to meet new people and let them all know…”Hi my name is Bob Broker and I help people invest in real estate.”

“But Dana, what about all the paperwork? How will I know how to write contracts, listing agreements, closing statements, etc.?” Do you suffer from paperwork anxiety? Well on this one I will put your mind at ease. Yes there are a lot of forms to learn but, a majority of the time, you will only use about 8-10 different forms that your BIC (Broker In Charge sometimes called Managing Broker) is there to make sure that you don’t mess it up.

A great rule of thumb with paperwork is to ask questions about it BEFORE you have a client sign it. Once they sign it, they have entered into a binding contract and it’s a lot harder to change, not impossible but a lot harder.

So, just to recap, if you want to tour houses then become a tour guide and if you want to sell houses become a real estate broker.