The Practice Doctor is IN

Al Depman, CLU, ChFC, CMFC, BH

Practice Wisdom from a Top Real Estate Agent

This past August our family had an opportunity to visit Yellowstone Park, Boise, Idaho, and Salt Lake City, Utah. We shared beautiful vistas, gorgeous mountains, incredible canyons and interesting downtowns. Highly recommended, by the way, even in the 100-degree dry heat of summer.

While in Boise, we stayed with my sister Ceci and her husband, Rick Bennett.  Rick is a lifelong salesman in his mid-fifties, a 60’s era surfer and snowboarder who obtained his real estate license and has been selling real estate in the Boise vicinity professionally for two years. 

During that time he has been setting sales records for his firm, Group One, a large presence in the region. This was intriguing––a new real estate agent entering the business during one of the worst housing climates in recent memory and setting sales records?  So I sat down with Rick to discuss his success and perhaps glean some wisdom from his experience.

Rick started selling during college in Southern California, turning his obsession with surfing into a lucrative business. His specialty was clothing, eventually developing his own line of surfer wear and gear. This was a 22-year love affair, surfing and selling globally.

In 1990, he “broadened his perspective,” branching out into the wild world of apparel licensing and merchandising, dealing with larger clients and national brands. By 2005, he’d had enough of the wholesaling and retailing of clothing and stepped back to re-evaluate careers.

Rick had always dabbled in real estate and doing his due diligence, decided that becoming a real estate agent might just be a good fit. Since then, he’s discovered a true passion about selling homes.

Here are some excerpts from our conversation:

Al: “What’s that passion made of?”

Rick: “Look at the two words ‘real’ and ‘estate.’ The ‘real’ is the hands-on, alive sensation of creating the deal. It’s the art. And the ‘estate’ is the product––ownership of property. Ownership means you can do with it what you will: keep it, sell it, pass it on. That is the science.”

Al: “How did you approach getting into the world of real estate?”

Rick: “I studied and learned to understand the marketplace. Yes, it’s a tough climate. What are people looking for?  They’re looking for someone to trust, someone who has the ability to close the deal in a timely and efficient manner.”

Al: “How do you market yourself?”

Rick: “First thing is to create a value statement. This is a phrase––one sentence––that quickly brings someone into a conversation with you. Otherwise, you lose them.  Mine is that I solve people’s real estate problems and help them achieve their dreams.”

Al: “And these days there are plenty of real estate problems to solve!”

Rick: “Exactly. After the value statement, it’s a conversation about time and money. There’s a relationship in real estate between time and money. The more time you have to sell, the higher the potential sales price. The more compressed the selling time is, the lower the price you usually get. The art of the deal is to secure the best price in either time scenario.”

Al: “Referrals are important?”

Rick: “That’s all I work with. I’m out all the time pressing the flesh, networking. I’m not shy about what I do. At this point, I’m getting referrals from people I haven’t even met! I also have prospects who don’t even know they’re prospects yet.”

Al: “How does that happen?”

Rick: “I empower others to sell my services. A lot of referrals these days are short sales, people who are facing foreclosure and need to negotiate a sale satisfactory to the bank. I turn this into a win-win-win situation: the seller gets a reasonable price and avoids foreclosure, the bank gets cash, less of a write-down and saves foreclosure costs, and the buyer has a new home.”

Al: “Why turn to you rather than other real estate agents?”

Rick: “I’m tough but fair with prospects. I interview them and they interview me. I have strict standards––are they motivated to buy? What is that motivation? Can I honestly represent them? I have little time for people who can’t make up their minds.  I get it done in a timely manner and people like that…and refer me on to others.”

Al: “Sounds like a formula––hard work and persistence.”

Rick: “No substitute. I am in this career 60 hours a week. My wife is a great support.  She knows the lingo of real estate and who my top prospects and clients are. She knows I need to get back to any referral within 24 hours, max.

I study the market daily, and keep score.”

Al: “Keeping score is a critical best practice. Can you give an example?”

Rick: “Sure.  I have 10 active buyers, 26 current listings, 12 potential listings, and 50 or so past buyers and sellers, who are my client base. These numbers are updated daily.”

Al: “You mentioned a prospect who didn’t know he was a prospect. Can you elaborate on that?”

Rick: “This is a skill that I learned a long time ago in the apparel world. Learn to anticipate. Find a property that is right for someone who you’ve met or know about but isn’t actively in the market. Through a client, I heard about a business owner who was thinking of expansion but didn’t have the capital or the time to explore a move. I recently came across an office space in a good location that would be perfect for his business at a very affordable price. I’ll be stopping by to see him tomorrow. He doesn’t know that yet.”

Al: “You’ve been selling all your life. What are some of the important lessons you’ve learned?”

Rick: “Three things: First, show up; second, show up on time; and third, show up on time and prepared. I’ve never made a presentation that I haven’t made to myself first.  Cal Ripken, Jr., of the Baltimore Orioles is my hero. He didn’t miss a start in 2,632 consecutive games. He showed up every day, on time, ready to play. I keep his autographed photo in the office.

“I learned to delegate out the things I do poorly, especially paperwork. I have two assistants who do all that. I get to go out and do what I do well: build relationships and look for properties.

“Believe in what you do. Know your product, know how it fits your client. Anticipate how your product might fit someone’s particular situation. Keep the referrals and networks going to create a flow of prospects…it’s the sales lifeblood.

“Be persistent. In my apparel selling days, I once literally camped out in front of a department store buyer’s door to get her attention after she didn’t return my calls. She saw my tent, looked inside and there I was. That broke the ice. She became a great client.”

Al: “Any final words to our financial advisors out there?”

Rick: “You’ve got to love sales. If not, don’t do it. I love making a difference in people’s lives. Be proud of what you do and let everyone know the value you can bring to someone’s life. Oh, and hang ten, dude!”

Until next month,

The Doctor is OUT.

Al Depman, CLU, ChFC, CMFC, BH, a.k.a. “The Practice Doctor”, is MitchAnthony.com’s Business Practice Consultant. He is the creator of “The Practice Management Assessment” tool and materials and has authored numerous articles in professional publications on practice management, and author of the forthcoming book, How to Build Your Financial Advisory Business, to be published by McGraw Hill in 2009. Al combined his Liberal Arts studies with 10 years of management experience with McDonald’s Corporation to enter the financial services world 25 years ago. Since then, Al has evolved from an MDRT-level sales rep into a full-time consultant specializing in helping others engineer their business practices to the next level. Contact him at al@mitchanthony.com.

© 2008 Al Depman