When we give up commission, we end up working harder for less money. Your clients and prospects respect you less. They feel in greater control of the relationship and the transaction. They will usually start to take greater advantage of that control and extract more from you. It’s like the old saying: “Give them an inch, and they take a mile.”
There have been hundreds, even thousands, of studies done over the years about buying trends. In all of these surveys, when people decide on a product or service, the price of the product usually comes in as the 5th or 6th most important factor in their decision. We often treat the price as the No. 1 factor, not the 5th.
I know what some of you are thinking. Some of you are tapped into the theory of self-exclusion. The theory of self-exclusion says that your marketplace, your competition, your services, and your customers are so different that a full commission arrangement could never happen. That simply is not true. Even in high priced marketplaces, agents are getting full fees.
Believe in your value – attitude and expectations
“Your career success hinges on your conviction and belief of your personal value.”
~Dirk Zeller
You must have the attitude that “I am worth more than the competition . . . ask me why!”
There are two key words that lead to success in life. These words control the successful outcome of your business, marriage, and many other areas of life. Although you may have incredible talent and skill in life, you will fail if you do not master these two words, and vice versa. Even if you have only limited talent and skill, you will win if you live by these two words. These two words determine your future. The two key words are attitude and expectation.
If you have a positive, forward-looking attitude, you will accomplish great things. How is your attitude? Does it need improvement? Are you positive and upbeat? If you have the attitude that every challenge or obstacle leads to new opportunity, success is all but guaranteed. Thomas Edison was said to have worked on creating the electric light bulb because darkness interfered with his ability to conduct further experiments. He wanted to be able to work long into the night. Edison could have moaned about the darkness – though that would not have done any good. He used his attitude and solved a problem of darkness. There are thousands of examples in life of how some people took lemons and, with a great attitude, made lemonade.
Start building your attitude today. Convince yourself that you are the best Agent anyone could hire. You have to be convinced yourself before anyone else will be convinced. The attitude you bring when faced with commission objections will help you handle them and get the contract signed. The attitude that you take when you have a problem transaction will make the difference between a closing and a deal falling out.
The second power word is expectation. If you don’t expect to win, you will not win. If you don’t expect to secure a contract with a certain commission rate, you won’t. Henry Ford said, “If you think you can or think you can’t, either way you are right.” If you go on a listing and expect to take it at your price and commission, you will. If you go expecting a fight on commission and your price, you will receive that also. Make sure to set the positive expectation of success before the appointment with a prospect or client. You also need to set a positive expectation before every call you make. Expectation is the gateway to confidence. The first step to having unshakeable confidence is to believe that you are the agent for the job; that you are a Champion Agent. If your expectation is strong enough, people will come around to your way of thinking. You just need to be stronger in will and mental focus than your clients, prospects, and other agents are. A perfect example is Henry Ford.
Many years ago, Ford went to his engineers and told them to build him an eight-cylinder engine. They said it could not be done. Ford plainly told them to go do it and report back in 90 days. When the 90 days were done, they reported back to Ford. They had spent the whole 90 days figuring out why an eight-cylinder engine was impossible. In the meeting with Ford, they spent their time trying to convince him it could not be done; an eight-cylinder engine was impossible and could never be created. Ford’s attitude and expectation of an eight-cylinder engine was stronger than the engineers’ attitude and expectation that it could not be done. We all know who won in the end.
Your expectation will create your reality. You have to expect before you can receive. You need to expect the people and situations that will enable you to create the future you desire. Expectation does not mean you don’t have to work. You will work harder than before to develop the outcome you desire. The expectation takes away the fear of failure.
Set your attitude to positive. Look for the opportunities in every situation. Expect to win…every time.
Vince Lombardi had a famous saying: “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t have to win once in awhile, you don’t do things right once in awhile, you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit; unfortunately, so is losing.”
Lombardi had the right attitude and the right expectations. He believed they would win…every time. Lombardi would believe that he could take the listing at full commission, as well.
Dirk Zeller is a sought out speaker, celebrated author and CEO of Real Estate Champions. His company trains more than 350,000 agents worldwide each year through live events, online training, self-study programs, and newsletters. The Real Estate community has embraced and praised his six best-selling books; Your First Year in Real Estate, Success as a Real Estate Agent for Dummies, The Champion Real Estate Agent, The Champion Real Estate Team, Telephone Sales for Dummies, Successful Time Management for Dummies, and over 300 articles in print. To learn more, please visit: http://www.realestatechampions.com/.