Kevin Ward's YES Talk | Real Estate Coaching and Success Training for Agents

1. Get tougher. Toughen up your commitment. The story inside your head must get tougher, to a point where you can handle rejection & failure. Be 100% determined to win at all costs.
2. Train with a coach. Find somebody that can guide and help you with systems, strategies, skills, and mindset to help you grow your business. No one ever succeeds alone.
3. Tighten up your schedule. Use your time in a more productive way.
4. Track your numbers. Track your total number of…
   1. Conversations (How many conversations are you having in a day?)
   2. Connections (How many new relationships are you creating?)
   3. Commitments (How many appointments are you setting?)
   4. Contracts
   5. Closings
   6. Cash
5. Talk to more people. Spend at least 90 minutes a day getting into conversations with people (whether it's prospecting or talking to people you already know).Focus on building relationships the ff people (they will help FIX your business):F- FSBOs

   I- Investors

   X- Expireds

6. Take only YES for an answer. Don't give up too easily when people first tell you NO. Be friendly, not aggressive.

What are the 3 secrets to success in a market shift for realtors?

1. The Power of Commitment. Be willing to go ALL IN 100% (this is not the time to be a part-time agent). Your commitment is what drives you to do the work consistently. Don't give yourself an option to fail.
2. Mastery over your feelings. Your feelings are probably the most powerful part of your life, because they drive your behavior. The highest achievers in the world follow their commitments rather than allow their emotions to control them. Stop seeking other people's approval because their opinions don't determine your success.
3. Having an Energy of Certainty. Especially during times of chaos, people turn to someone with absolute certainty & confidence that they know what they're doing. Sellers & buyers are looking for an agent they can trust to help them. Trust yourself first before you can earn their trust.

Your commitment drives your actions towards mastery of your feelings and the skills to become great at what you do. You then become more confident, show up with certainty, and get people to trust you.

The first step to having a more profitable business is to build relationships with people you know.

You want to create Top Of Mind Awareness with them by adding value to them and genuinely making them feel special. You become unforgettable, and they will refer business to you over and over again.

Here are 4 Strategies for Getting More Business Through Your Relationships

1. Care about people.
   1. Send out personalized handwritten "Happy Thanksgiving" notes.
   2. Call (or leave a voicemail) or send a text message, greeting them a Happy Thanksgiving.
   3. Shoot them a personal Thanksgiving video greeting & text it to them.
2. Give people something of value. You can do a Pie Giveaway. Call them up, say, "Hey, I want to get you a pie. I'm ordering you a pie for Thanksgiving. Would you like pumpkin or pecan pie?" And then you're going to deliver those pies to them.
3. Promote local businesses on your social media channels. (i.e.Post a quick shout out to your favorite local coffee shop on your Facebook page.)
4. WOW your past clients. Give them something above and beyond what you'd normally give everyone else. This is not a closing gift. Instead, you send this to them 6 months after closing. Just say, "Hey, I appreciate you as a client. Anything I can do for you. I'm here for you and this is just a little token of my appreciation." And then, give them something that is worth 3 to 5% of the value of the transaction.

How do you deal with sellers going through a divorce (and get the listing)?

#1. Get into a conversation with both of them. Ask for the other spouse's contact information and reach out to them to see how you can help. Or, do a three-way conference call with both of them present. No matter your track record or how close you are to one of them, it's the first agent that gets into a conversation with the husband and the wife and makes them both feel comfortable that gets the listing.

#2. Identify the motivation of both parties.

1. Who's living in the house right now?
2. Do they want to save the marriage? Does one of them want to keep the house?
3. Who's currently making the house payments? How is the money going to be split between them? If one is getting more than the other, that will affect the other's motivation to sell.

#3. Never take sides. Reassure the other spouse that you don't know well that you'll represent them both fairly.

#4. Get them both to agree on one thing: selling their house for the most money in the least amount of time

#5. Stay in 3-way communication. Throughout the entire process, keep both parties informed. You can do group text, group chat, or group email.

Here are 3 Emergency Steps to take to help your business thrive in the face of the current economic crisis & real estate market shift.

1. Accept reality. Although your business did well last year, this is not the time to be complacent. You have to persevere because what's coming up is going to be worse than the Great Recession of 2008.
2. Focus on building relationships. In times of crisis, people will only listen to someone they trust. Do not convince people to buy or sell. Now is the time to connect, build relationships, and earn their trust by letting them know that you're out there to help them make a decision that's in their best interest.
3. Communicate certainty. With every conversation you have, you must communicate certainty. But first create certainty within yourself. Know what's happening in your market, and then you become a resource person. When you show up with absolute certainty, people will listen and follow you.

With interest rates going up, is this a good time to buy?

1. The buyer wants a place to live and plans to stay for 5-10 years.
2. You're in a market where buying is cheaper than renting.
3. You as the agent can help the buyer negotiate the best terms and price. You can negotiate to have the mortgage company buy down their interest rate (with seller concessions)

1. Identify their motivation. The most important thing is to identify their reason for wanting to buy a house
2. Be the problem solver. If their problem is high interest rates, give them several options (i.e. you can negotiate to have the seller do a concession to buy down your interest rate, figure out ways to make it as good a deal or better than if they had bought 6 months ago.
3. Keep building the relationship. Shoot straight with them, so you earn their trust. And stay Top of Mind with them, so when the time comes that they're ready to buy, they will reach out to you.

Is it a good time to sell your house, or should you wait?

Right now, interest rates are high, inflation is up, the stock market is down, businesses are not doing well, and more layoffs are happening.

1. Identify their motivation. Find out WHY they want to move.
2. Be the problem solver. Guide and lead them to a decision by giving them the pros & cons of moving & selling now.
3. Build & value the relationship. Be honest & always make it about what's best for them (not your commission check).

1. They're thinking about downsizing. The price of their home has gone up over the years, and they no longer need to live in a big house.
2. They want to get the most equity out of the property. In some markets, prices are starting to drop, so it's best to sell now to protect their equity.
3. Planning to buy right away. Interest rates are already up and are going to spike even more in the future.

People have to understand that historically, when prices go up & down, it takes months or years for the market to shift back.

Three reasons why a market downturn is great news for real estate agents ready to explode & grow their business.

1. Motivation to sell jumps dramatically. People who have been putting off selling their homes suddenly get the urge to sell because as the market shifts, home prices start to drop.
2. Scared people will listen. Whenever people start seeing the market turning, they start getting scared. And when you have market knowledge, understanding, and expertise, all of a sudden, they're going to start listening to you, trusting you, and they're going to hire you.
3. Most of your competition will disappear. A lot of real estate agents (mostly those who are not doing the work) will panic & flunk out of the business because deals aren't coming to them anymore. Even top producers will consider retiring now.

Be willing to do the work and master the skills, strategies, and systems to succeed…and the opportunities for you are going to be massive.

What do you do when an Expired says that they're never moving out unless it's the right price?

1. Start the relationship. Connect with them through text. First, respond with a text message saying, "Understood" (with a thumbs up emoji). And then add, "What would be the right price?" If they text back with the price, you then reply, "Great. When would be a good time to jump on a quick call?

2. Get into a phone conversation. Over the phone, you can identify their motivation and start building rapport.

If they're motivated to move, go ahead and set the appointment. If they're not motivated, say, "Okay, great. Understood. If anything changes, let me know." (The complete script is in The Book of YES. Get your FREE copy here.)

NEXT: After getting off the phone, send them a quick video and say, "Hey, Mr. and Ms. Smith, thanks for taking time to talk to me today. I understand right now is not really the time you want to sell. So I just want to send you a quick video, personally introduce myself, and let you know if I can help with anything, I'm here to help you. And whenever things change, please let me know. We'll talk soon. Have a great day."

3. Build the relationship. Touch base with them every month through a quick phone call or text.

Did you get into real estate just for the money? Or is there more beyond real estate?

To be really successful in real estate, you have to be winning in all areas of your life because they're all connected. When you fail or succeed in one part of your life, it affects everything else.

To give you a framework, here's an overview of the 7 Domains of Life:

1. FINANCE. Are you making enough money to secure your family's future?
2. FOCUS. What are you focused on? What is your major purpose in life?
3. FEELINGS. Your emotions (whether it's fear, uncertainty, or confidence) drive your actions.
4. FITNESS. Watch your health because your body is the only vehicle that will help you achieve your goals.
5. FAMILY & FRIENDS. How are your relationships with the people that matter most to you?
6. FUN. Laugh, play, and do something you love so you can recharge & function well in the other domains.
7. FAITH. This is not necessarily religious, but what do you believe? It's your moral compass. It's your values of what you believe about right and wrong and about power and about the universe, about God, about people.