Everyone knows commissions are negotiable, up as well as down. So, why is it that every time the discussion comes up with a seller or buyer, they want to know how much we will cut ours? Despite that, there are agents today who are getting above-average commissions. Others are maintaining their “preferred” commission. While still other agents are beat up on a daily basis. What is the difference among the three scenarios? A combination of skill, market knowledge and a willingness to negotiate makes the difference. Before we tackle the how, we believe we must look at the reasons behind the prevalence of commission cutting. With the growth of the Internet and the dawn of online, do-it-yourself realty, sellers and buyers feel they must bring up the question about reducing commissions. It is a matter of principle to both sellers and buyers. If they feel they can get you to work for less money, and often they can, why should they not ask? Too often, we are thought of as being just like other competing companies. They have looked at one, and they think they have looked at them all. Most sellers and buyers think it is only your commission that distinguishes you from another agent.

Nothing is farther from the truth. To warrant the commission we deserve, we need to create credibility to support what we are asking for. Often, the battle is lost even before it gets under way. The seller or buyer asks for a cut, and the agent agrees…simple as that. When agents are asked why they do not give their all to overcome the objection, they have said if they do not take it at a cut, someone else will. Or, they needed the listing or sale, or their broker said to take it no matter what, and on and on.

Other reasons why sellers and buyers ask are they need every penny they can get (protecting their net), the other agent said they would take it for less or they feel the commission is the most important thing to them. They are bargain basement shopping. This is the type of seller you may want to decide not to do business with. Smart agents know when to walk away from a seller or buyer. Remember, if it is not salable, it is a liability, not a listing.

For additional information and guidance on this topic we have posted an article on our website entitled “Overcoming Commission-Cutting Requests” for you to review.

Commitment for the Week:

Show us your commitment by commenting with your thoughts, plan and deadline below!

Make A Commitment: I will role play for 30 minutes each day!
Deadline: _________

Bob Corcoran

On May 6, 1954 Roger Bannister did what practically everyone said couldn’t be done: that a human could run a mile in less than four minutes. His time: 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.
What’s interesting about this story is that since that date, more than a dozen men have gone on to run the sub-four-minute mile. In fact, just 46 days after Bannister broke the four-minute barrier, on 21 June in Finland, John Landy of Australia broke Bannister’s record by a second and a half. Today, the record stands at 3:43.13 minutes – nearly 18 seconds have been shaved off the record.
There two lessons I’d like you to take from Bannister’s story:
1. Bannister turned a deaf ear to the naysayers. It took him nine years of hard work with plenty of defeats and setbacks, but he kept putting one foot in front of the other until he did it. In fact, it was failure at the 1952 Olympics (where he finished a dismal fourth) that spurred Bannister to break the four-minute barrier. Are you giving too much credence to those around you who say you can’t do something? Think about it.
2. I want you to actually write down and keep this second lesson on or near your desk: Your whole life changes once you make a commitment. After that failure at the Olympics, Bannister did one simple thing that put him on the path to breaking the four-minute barrier: He made a commitment. He committed to what he needed to do reach his goal.
Is it easy? Bannister admitted it wasn’t for him. Here’s what he shared about the process: “Those who can drive themselves further once the effort gets painful are the people who will win.”
But he also added this after breaking the four-minute mile: “No longer conscious of my movement, I discovered a new unity with nature. I had found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed.”
I’ve seen this time and time again with my clients after they truly commit to their real estate goals. Good things start happening, “a new source of power” appears.
For 2012, I invite you to define your own sub-four-minute-mile – the goal that might seem impossible but that if you reached it, could change your life. Is it to sell 100 homes? 200? More? Less? You choose. Make it a good one. But don’t forget the most important part – make the commitment to put all – and I mean all – of your energy into achieving the goal.
I have an article I’m happy to send you free of charge called, “Changing breakdowns into breakthroughs” that gets to the heart of achieving more success in real estate sales. Just shoot me an e-mail at article@CorcoranCoaching.com and I’ll send it along to you.
I’ll leave you with a quote from Bannister: “Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a lion or a gazelle–when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”
Let me hear from you. Have you defined your own four-minute mile – that goal that people might snicker at if they heard you talk about it? What hurdle is keeping you from reaching your sub-four-minute mile? Is it your own beliefs? Is it what others say? What actions (or inactions) have been keeping you from achieving your potential? What actions might you start taking today that will put you closer to your goals in real estate? Please send any comments or questions you have to Article@CorcoranCoaching.com or http://www.facebook.com/CorcoranCoaching.
Bob Corcoran is a nationally recognized speaker and author who is founder and president of Corcoran Consulting Inc. (CorcoranCoaching.com, 800-957-8353), an international consulting and coaching company that specializes in performance coaching and the implementation of sound business systems into the residential or commercial broker or agent’s existing practice.
We look forward to hearing from you. Sign up TODAY for your complimentary business consultation. http://www.CorcoranCoaching.com/bpw.php.
END

To have joy in your life, give joy to your world. Live joy as each moment comes.

Don’t postpone the joy until conditions are perfect. Every experience is an experience to which you can add joy.

Feel how truly fortunate you are to be living this moment. Give joy and live joy just because you can.

Each day is an opportunity to add joy to life. You can always bring a sense of profound and abiding joy to what you do, no matter what it is.

Marvel at the big things, and find delight in the small things. The opportunities to express new joy are everywhere.

Make the choice to keep your focus on the most positive possibilities. Lift your whole world higher with the power of joy.

— Ralph Marston

To get ahead, work ahead. To enjoy bigger rewards later, make an extra effort now.

When you’ve already done what must be done, take the opportunity to do more. When you’re on a roll creating value, keep on rolling as long as you possibly can.

Productive, meaningful effort adds real and lasting richness to your world. Never pass up an opportunity to engage in it.

It can be tempting to sit back and rest on your past efforts and accomplishments. Keep in mind, though, that when you’re not moving forward you’re falling behind.

Look at the work you do not as a burden or as a punishment. See it for the immensely valuable opportunity it is.

With your work, with your efforts, you can create meaningful and substantial value. Embrace the work, build the value, and move straight ahead in the direction of your dreams.

— Ralph Marston

If you wish to achieve a great and ambitious vision, you have to be willing to fill in all the little details. Though they may seem terribly tedious at times, those details are what give substance to the dream.

Don’t ever consider the details to be beneath you. Doing so will put the achievement of your dream beyond your reach.

Yes, it is enormously helpful when you can delegate tasks to others. Yet to do so successfully, you must have full respect for the value of those tasks and for the people who perform them.

Dreams are not achieved by those who merely imagine and articulate them. Dreams are achieved by those who take responsibility for making sure that every little detail gets done.

Dream the dream, and then do the work. Envision the achievement, and then find a way to tend to all the details.

No detail is unimportant or beneath you. For it is all those details, combined together, which bring the dream to life.

— Ralph Marston

The purpose of this exercise is to identify the strategic and non-strategic costs of a company so that the whole organization knows how to save money and help make a profit.

Position With Overall Accountability: CEO or General Manager (whoever has the responsibility for the financial well being of the company)

Reporting Positions: All

Staff Positions: All

Items Needed: All costs within the company

Standards:

1. All Department Heads shall review budget and direct any and all questions to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) or General Manager (GM).

2. All company employees and salespeople shall adhere to company budget.

3. The CEO reserves the right to alter budgets provided that alterations add to the profitability of the company.

For additional information and guidance on this topic we have posted an article on our website entitled “Budget Outline Strategic vs. Non-Strategic Costs” for you to review.

Commitment for the Week:

Show us your commitment by commenting with your thoughts, plan and deadline below!

Make A Commitment: I will review my Budget vs. my Actual income and expenses on a monthly basis.
Deadline: _________

Bob Corcoran

What you do makes a difference. It may not seem like much, but it is.

What you do has an influence that goes far beyond you. What you do is an important part of the fabric of life.

The world around you is not only your home. It is your responsibility.

The way you see the world plays an important part in what the world becomes. Your vision for the future helps to create the future.

Live with hope, with joy, with love, and you add hope, joy, and love to the world. Live with honesty and integrity, and you give the power of truth to all of life.

Day in and day out, what you do truly matters, more than you can ever know. Live each moment as though what you do changes the world, because it surely does.

— Ralph Marston

The richness in your life is determined not by how much you have. It comes from how much you treasure and appreciate what you have.

Living richly is not necessarily a matter of living extravagantly. Living richly is living with purpose, with meaning, and with authentic joy in every moment.

You don’t need a certain set of circumstances to enjoy a life of richness. What it takes is a profound sense of gratitude for the life you have.

On this very day, in this very moment, you can live as richly as anyone. You can give great meaning and fulfillment to this moment by simply appreciating the fact that you’re in it.

Life’s endless goodness and richness surround you even now. Open your awareness to the positive possibilities and choose to live them.

Be truly rich, not by virtue of what you have, but by how much genuine meaning you give to each moment. Be truly rich, and let life’s goodness freely and unceasingly flow through all you do.

— Ralph Marston

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.”
W. Edwards Deming

You should be used to it by now - the buyer’s market has settled into its big, cushy, leather, easy chair and is resting comfortably. It is like the guest who just won’t leave, so you have to learn to live with him for a while longer. One of the best ways to do this is to sharpen your negotiation skills.

During the last five years of the hot seller’s market, negotiation skills weren’t quite as important as they are now. All you had to do was put the house on the market with a reasonable price and let the bidding begin.

Now things have changed. Today, we’re seeing a more traditional market where buyers have their share of homes to choose from. So the negotiation game among sellers and buyers (and their respective agents) has reached a new level of importance.

For additional information and guidance on this topic we have posted an article on our website entitled “Negotiation Tips For a Buyer’s Market” for you to review.

Commitment for the Week:

Show us your commitment by commenting with your thoughts, plan and deadline below!

Make A Commitment: I will work on my negotiation skills and focus on solutions!
Deadline: _________

Bob Corcoran

Give your goal a feature that will vastly improve its chances of being fulfilled. Give your goal a deadline.

A deadline provides a firm boundary for your efforts, yet it does not limit or constrain those efforts. On the contrary, a deadline will focus your efforts toward a single point, giving them more power and practical effectiveness.

Without a deadline you can exhaust yourself and still not arrive at any meaningful accomplishment. A deadline compels you to prioritize and to expend your best efforts in the most meaningful direction.

With a deadline, you are constantly reminded of how valuable and precious your time is. You’re able to see resources and opportunities that would otherwise remain hidden.

A deadline encourages you to do the best you can with what you have. And that’s a skill that reliably leads to great accomplishment again and again.

Give yourself a deadline. And get the job done sooner rather than never.

— Ralph Marston