Pam Burzynski

If you don't know who Joe Girard is, he is "The Greatest Salesman in the World". As a matter of fact for over 12 years in a row, Joe Girard was the #1 retail salesperson in the world and he still holds the world record today. Listed in the Guinness Book of World Record as "World's Greatest Salesman" You can read his books "How to Sell Anything to Anybody" and "How to Sell Yourself".

Joe used to average 6 car sales a day, and they were not fleet sales either. His record is unbroken.

How did Joe do it? And how can you follow in Joe's footsteps and do it too?

First Joes says,

• You have to Love what you do. Ask yourself right now, Do You Love what you are doing? You must!
• Work hard on improving yourself. To quote Jim Rohn, "Work harder on yourself than you do on your job." Are you doing everything you can to improve yourself physically, emotionally, and spiritually? Are you doing everything you can to improve your skills? If not, make this a priority NOW!
• Hang around Successful, Positive people-Always! Talk to people that only have good things to say.
• Smile, Smile, Smile
• Listen, Listen, Listen
• Show gratitude by regularly thanking your customers with handwritten cards. Show them that you appreciate them by calling them and also acknowledge them 12 or 13 times a year with personal Greeting Cards. Joe used to send out 16,000 cards a month with simple notes of appreciation....as simple as I LIKE YOU. Each year he would have 13 cards designed (1 for each month) and he sent them to everyone he met whether they bought a car or not.

I would venture to say that every book ever written on Sales and Referrals by all the greats-Tom Hopkins, Zig Ziglar, Napoleon Hill, Brian Tracy, Paul McCord-well you've read them all-stresses the importance of the handwritten Thank You and notes of appreciation--isn't it just common courtesy anyway?

Are you doing this, regularly and systematically? There is a web-based system that will make this EASY and economical for you to send quality cards, in you own handwriting. So no more excuses about not having enough time-IF you strive to be the next Joe Girard in your industry-You CAN Do it! This system will Change the way you do business and make you the next Joe Girard and you can try it for free at www.sendcards4change.com

Do All of it! And be the Greatest!!

You can thank my Seller for the title of this blog, and the evidence proves that it was in fact an "INVESTIGATION" as opposed to an Inspection.

I can tell you truthfully this listing was every Realtor's Dream come true, until it turned into a "Nightmare". A Dream listing in everyway. An incredibly well maintained home, impeccably clean, furnished beautifully, curb appeal galore, a realistic seller willing to price his home perfectly to poise it for a quick sale. What more could a Realtor want?

You want the truth? What a Realtor would want is a contract without a Home "INVESTIGATION" contingency clause. Just about every item listed on this home inspection was a Minor or Major Concern. And while this Home "Investigation" used the same boiler plate report most Home Inspectors use, somehow in the end you would think this home was "falling to bits" and could end up as a pile of rubble in short order.

• We had to call in a licensed PE for $230 to write up a report saying that the "surface" cracks in the foundation were not only of no concern, but had been repaired perfectly.
• Then we had the 13 year old hotwater heater, that had indications of scorching at the aperature which was cause for MAJOR concern. The one plumber gave a quote for replacement, the other plumber said everything was fine and working properly at the age of 13.
• The home inspector's report also had a MAJOR concern that ALL of the Anderson windows had been installed improperly 22 years ago and should be replaced.
• The 40 year architectural shingles needed replacing after 22 years.
• There was evidendence of amateur workmanship at an uncovered (actually crooked) switch plate near the basement workbench.
• The vent connectors for the furnace and water heater "May" be too long. This "could" make it difficult for exhaust gasses to exit the building, increasing the chance of exhaust spillage and "other" concerns.

I could go on and list the other 14 items the Buyer wanted repaired, addressed, and replaced but the point here is the report was absurd, I'm sorry, but the "butt covering" was SCREAMING in this "INVESTIGATION" .

So how did it turn out you ask....After 2 weeks of additional inspections/investiagations and proposals/estimates, we whittled the Home INVESTIGATION items down to 5 that the Seller agreed he should and would repair/replace.

The Buyer's had fallen in LOVE with this house when they first stepped in it, and the stress of the whole thing almost caused them to walk. The septic INVESTIGATION had been postponed until we worked out the Home INVESTIGATION, and even though we had not signed off on everything the Septic INVESTIGATION was scheduled. All parties were present at that INVESTIGATION, because at this point we were all sick of the He said's, She said's that had occurred during the home inspeciton. It was here that the Buyer and Seller met, and as the Seller led the Buyer around showing him the work he had done, and explained that the Anderson Window rep lived across the street and verified that the windows had been installed correctly, etc., etc. they both realized that they were dealing with a resonable person who was NOT trying to "screw" them.

Initially he Seller was astounded that his home was such a "wreck" and the Buyers couldn't believe that they had fallen in LOVE with a house that was in "shambles"....Everyone's hair is a little grayer, the economy is being stimulated, and if there are ANY concerns with the Septic System you can look for my obituatary.

The object of this posting is to uncover the MOST unique ways to get buyer's into a home. How do you do it? Let's start by putting down the obvious, and see how long a list we can get. This should help everyone and I for one would like some additional arsenol in my bag of tricks. We are going to assume that the Seller's have prepared the home well, and that it's in tip top showing shape inside and out. We have taken excellent pictures to post on the MLS and all over the web. So what do you do to draw buyers to your listings in droves? I'm not talking about what you do to get them to buy it once they are in the house, but HOW do YOU get them in the house in the first place?

1. Post on MLS, with good pics, marketing remarks and priced appropriately
2. Newsprint Ads
3. On Line Ads
4. Sign in Yard
5. Public Open Houses
6. Brokers Open House
7. Fliers to Agents via e-mail
8. Single Property Website
9. etc., etc.,etc.

Maybe you have some special copy in your advertising that is like a magnet; are you willing to share?

If you can't add anything to this list, can you comment on the above marketing methods, i.e. Do you get buyers from your Single Property Website? If yes, how; If no, why not.

I am looking forward to all of your responses. Thank you in advance!

As a Real Estate Agent, I love it when a Seller remains in the home for showings. It is the absolute best way to get the most information about a home, period.

If the Seller is there hanging around, asking us if we have any questions I fire away. As the Buyer Agent, wouldn't I be doing my buyers wrong if I didn't take this opportunity to get as much info. as I possibly could to help my buyers make their decision?

"So where are you folks moving too, Mr. Seller? Have you found a home yet?"

Now you can ask the agent these questions, but your sure don't get the quality of information as you get directly from the Seller with their tone of voice, expressions, etc. This simple question can uncover alot about the motivation of the Sellers.

"Mr. Seller, this looks like a friendly neighborhood; how are the neighbors?"

More often than not the Seller will tell you about the pain-in-the neck neighbor that's not really too bad!

This type of information is very useful for the Buyers. If they are very private people, they will not be happy with a pesky (but nice) neighbor who is constantly bothering them, and this tiny revelation could sqash your sale.

I also like to ask questions like, "Do you ever get water in the basement?" This question can open up a whole bunch of stories, like the time the gutters fell off, or the time the water heater exploded, the washer overflowed, etc.

These same Sellers want to tell you about every improvement they ever made to their home. While this can reveal some important timeline information concerning the age of systems that you may not have known, it also gives the Buyers a hint as to how emotionally attached you are to your home. The Buyer is trying to visualize themselves in your home and it's hard to do if they have a picture of you clinging onto the house.

If the Seller stays at the showing and doesn't say anything, this can look bad to a buyer also, because they may think you are hiding something, and this certainly doesn't work in your favor or either.

As a Buyer Agent I love Seller's to be in the home, As a Seller Agent I want my Sellers to leave for all showings. As a Seller you will never know if your being there worked in your favor or against you, so I wouldn't take the chance....Just leave and let your home speak for itself!