Sales people- especially real estate professionals, have the “gift of gab!” Your sales speak is knowledgeable, you exude confidence and you certainly have the charisma which shows you have passion for your profession.  The challenge is…once you meet them- Then what? How do you “linger” long after you’ve met? How do you put into action…”I look forward to keeping in touch” when you know that’s easier said than done! Come and learn…along with your fellow Coldwell Banker Elite agents. I’m not gong to divulge all the secrets now, but I will in great detail at our upcoming webinar! Save the date for Monday, February 13th, 2012 at 1:00pm EST. Click HERE to register today and keep what’s rightfully yours…your contacts!

Coldwell Banker Elite takes agent development seriously! Our new registration site is up and  is running. The new makes it easy to add all the events to your calendar, register or just browse our course offering. This video shows you how to use the site, as well as add an app to your iPad or iPhone. www.EliteScoop.com/events

3 minute tutorial on how to use the site and add it to your iPad or iPhone

Upcoming Classes

February 2, 2012  “Getting The Most from MRIS MLS”

February 13, 2012  “Elite Prospector”

February 14-17, 2012  “ABR Online (CBU)”

February 14, 2012  “Joining A Relocation Team”

February 14, 2012  “Relocation 101″

February 16, 2012  “iPad for Real Estate”

February 17, 2012  “How to Setup Your Coldwell Banker Website”

February 21, 2012  “FREE 16 Hour Virginia CE / PL Class”

February 23, 2012  “Outgoing Referrals and Sales Lead Training”

February 24, 2012  “CBWorks / Realtor.com Training”

February 29-March 3, 2012  “GenBlue Conference – New Orleans”

March 6, 2012  ”How To Setup Your Coldwell Banker Website”

March 8, 2012  “Your Website and SEO – Getting Found”

March 9, 2012  “Getting The Most from MRIS MLS”

March 12, 2012  ”Virginia Real Estate Pre-Licensing” 

March 13, 2012  “What Lies Beneath… Facts Underground Tanks (CE)”

March 14, 2012  “Wallet Wise Free Marketing Tools”

March 26, 2012  “iTeam Training (Mandatory LeadRouter)”

March 28, 2012  “Windows Movie Maker Live Video Class”

March 29, 2012  “FREE Broker Mandatory CE”

April 5, 2012  “ColdwellBankerElite.com Training”

April 9-10, 2012  “ABR Designation – $99 – 16 Hours CE”

April 11, 2012  “Social Media for Real Estate”

April 19, 2012  “Getting the most from Realtor.com and CBWorks Enhancement” 

A lot of agents eventually decide to incorporate or form an LLC as their business grows.  Here’s a great infografph from Intuit that talks about LLCs.

A very frequent question is “How do I get the Zipform document into Docusign on my iPad?” It’s a great question and unfortunately there is no “bridge product”. By using drafts@docusign.net you can get around this troublesome issue. Visit www.EliteScoop.com for more tools and resources for Realtors.

Prosperitas: Latin – Success, Good Fortune

It Takes A Village

Real Estate is a continuously evolving industry and as it emerges it’s brought about a new challenge to staying relevant.  With so many moving parts many have found that sharing ideas and learning from others in a group has been a powerful tool to increasing and improving their business.

Mastermind meetings are an opportunity see things differently, invest in others and grow with a peer group.

Beginning in 2012, the Prosperitas Mindshare groups will meet monthly.  The meetings are open to any Coldwell Banker Elite agent who desires to share and learn with others.  It’ll be up to the group to set their agenda at each meeting, but there are a few simple rules:

• A one year commitment is expected of each agent, and agents must attend at least 75% of the year’s meetings
• All agents are invited, but everyone who attends is expected to share a new tool, app, technique or skill.
• The agenda will be set at each meeting
• Meetings will be less than 2 hours, but members are encouraged to share with one another outside of the meetings.
• Meetings will rotate between all the Coldwell Banker Elite offices, based on the size of the group.
• Meeting Schedules are posted on the EliteScoop Events Page

Resources

To help host discussions and projects outside of the Mindshare meetings, a page has been setup with discussion groups and shared areas.  Visit www.EliteScoop.com and click on “Prosperitas Group”.

Inspiration

Here’s a great example of what one other Coldwell Banker Collaborative group has evolved into.

Desktop Graphics

Floor-plans are an awesome addition to any homebook, listing website or even the MLS entry.  However, not every client has a copy of their home’s original floor-plans. I found a new app several months ago and have tested it a few times.   MagicPlan is a free app that works with iPhone, iPad2 and iPod Touch.  It’s simply to use and does a pretty good job.

One note, because it’s not always going to be perfect and we live in a litigious society, I’d suggest that agents using this app, place a disclaimer on the finish product, saying that all measurements are estimated and not deemed to be reliable.  I know most of our MLS already have that disclaimer, but another wouldn’t hurt.

Here’s a brief video on what MagicPlan does and then you can visit MagicPlan’s YouTube site to see the rest of the tutorials.  It’s a pretty powerful little app and worth the time to investigate.

If you’d like more information about Real Estate Apps and how to use them, Elite is hosting a free two hour class on iPad for Real Estate on February 16th.

In an effort to make our resources and materials more accessible, we’re adding them to EliteScoop.com.  Now, if you click on the Elite Agents Only menu-tab you’ll be taken to a page with a passcode.  Enter the passcode to access the company tools.

Once you access the page, you’ll find all the materials that once were on the Intranet plus more and in a much easier way to access.

Files

The first area of the agent only section is a depository of documents and tools, such as iPad listing presentations, graphics and logos, special forms and other resources.

Links

The next section is a list of links to the most used company resources, such as Elite Prospector, Email, Zipforms and more.  There are also additional resources that are very useful to you.

FAQ

The last section is a Frequently Asked Question list.  This isn’t a replacement for the Tutorials page, but does have a list of some of the most commonly requested instructions.

Marketing worked hard on making this easy to use and full of good information, so I hope you all will utilize this new tool!  If there is anything that you’d like to see added, please let us know.

If you don’t know the password to login, please contact your office Admin.

Coldwell Banker Elite is once again delivering on it’s promise to ensure we offer the best training in the Fredericksburg area.  Times are changing and it can be a challenge to keep up.  Our program delivers the most up to date information on each topic.

Coldwell Banker Elite’s 2 day CE package covers all your required hours for Salespersons license and 16 hours for Post Licensing, including all mandatory topics.

Our next free Continuing Education Package is February 21st and 22nd, 2012 at our Massaponax office, just off the Spotsylvania exit of I95.

We are also offering a complete Broker Management package for all Brokers and Associate Brokers on March 29th, 2012.

Coldwell Banker Elite agents are given first opportunity to register and many already have, so register soon to ensure your place.

 

As we enter into 2012, many of us (including yours truly, me) have begun healthy habits to improve ourselves this year. I am personally kick starting the 2012 year with working out daily- and I’m cleansing to re-start my metabolism. So far so good. You might be wondering, “How is this story relating to by business?” It actually is right in line with your business. Here’s how- your contacts are an accumulation of people you’ve worked with, people you know, people you’ve met at some point in your lifetime, right? If you were to print that list and skim through some of the names you would immediately recall how nice it is to work with that couple, or reminisce a contact that you just met that you really connected with…and so on. No question you will also run across “that person” who made you talk to the roof of your car in a parking lot- YOU know who I’m talking about! Everyone has “that person” in their database.

Here’s what I’m addressing- consumers have a choice when it comes to choosing who they want to work with-right? You, are no different. Give yourself permission to decide who YOU want to work with in the future. Think about the ideal client…they are truly enjoyable to work with, they like hearing from you, they trust you, they refer people to you, and so on. Imagine if your database consisted of more people who fit that criteria?! So when I use the analogy of a fitness cleanse…it’s out with the bad and make room for the good. Let me ask you, how do you know for sure that the contacts in your database are committed to you anyways? Have you qualified your contacts? Most professionals don’t qualify their database. What I am saying is- YOU need to qualify. Qualifying your database will help you focus on people you enjoy working with, AND it will help you stop marketing to people who have decided they will never do business with you- they just haven’t told you yet.

Let me help you make this process of “cleansing” your database more palatable- Do this…go through your list and qualify your contacts. (Here’s a Secret- Now is the perfect time to do this because it’s the New Year and its time to update information, right?)

Step 1: Send a note to your database- let them know you will be reaching out by phone within the week to update their information.

Step 2: Actually pick up the phone and call them- do a quick check in call- Let them know what information you have and update anything that is incorrect. Let them know that they are important to you and you plan on staying in touch in case THEY need something (service first). Before you hang up—very important—ask them this: If you or someone you know has questions about real estate do you have someone you trust who you would go to? (Let them answer) If they say, Yes. Let them know in the event something changes you are happy to serve them. If they say, No, they don’t have someone they go to- let them know you would like to be that person. Be sure you follow up with a hand-written note of thanks (for taking the time). More importantly, make the commitment to you stay in touch on a REGULAR basis. I’m talking at least monthly- this is non-negotiable. You can also make a decision on what to do with the others who have a relationship with another real estate agent.

Ultimately, this will create clarity in your database AND the bonus is- you’ll be surrounding yourself with more contacts who are committed to you. Imagine that! If you’re curious about creating automated messages of value to your contacts, let me know. You have access to a fantastic tool called Elite Prospector for agents who are serious about growing their business. Make a commitment to get your business network into shape today! Reach out to me for more information on how to get started~

Stefanie Hahn from Coldwell Banker Hearthside did a great introduction video to Blue Video.  Take a look…