Costa Rica Real Estate News 2010

C O S TA R I C A

• E-Marketing • All about listing • The Profession • Selling Tips

Second Edition

Empowering the Real Estate Industry to be professional leaders in Costa Rica

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First Costa Rican is Costa Rica’s premier real estate law firm serving developers, individual buyers, realtors, and investors. Our strategic partnerships with other highly-skilled professionals in the industry allow us to deliver the most comprehensive services available. Protect your investment and peace of mind by allowing First Costa Rican to handle all of your legal real estate needs.

For individual buyers:

For Developers:

• Title searches • Pre-acquisition due diligence • Corporate formation • Purchase contracts • Escrow services • Closing services • Title guarantees • Mortgages/Guarantee trusts • Corporate maintenance

• Real estate and business due diligence • Corporate formation • Deal structuring • Joint venture agreements • Property acquisitions • Lot segregations/subdivision • Easements • Condominium registration • Covenants, conditions and restrictions

First Costa Rican Title and Trust Corporate Headquarters: Centrally located in downtown San Jose at the end of 10th Avenue, between 33rd and 35th Streets, Los Yoses.

Ph: 011(506) 2225-0501 / Fax: 011 (506) 2225-0089 Guanacaste Office: Located in Playa Hermosa at then Oficentro Las Torres, 2nd Floor.

100 meters west of the second entrance to Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste.

Ph: 011 (506) 2672-1226

www.firstcr.com

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• Homeowners’ associations • Purchase and sale agreements with buyers • Escrow services • Title guarantees underwritten by Chicago Title • Mortgages and guarantee trusts • Leases

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C O S TA R I C A

Real Estate News is born of a real necessity. Costa Rica is a rapidly growing country that is bringing new investors which has had a significant impact on the real estate industry creating a prosperous environment during recent years. This presents an attractive field for a magazine that will deal with the real estate news and current issues in an intelligent and impartial manner via articles of interest to the real estate industry.

It is the desire of this magazine to promote the interests of real estate sales agents and professionals associated to the trade.

We are exceedingly anxious to make Real Estate News an open forum for the realtors and developers of Costa Rica.

Real Estate News is the first publication solely created for real estate sales agents, brokers, and developers in Costa Rica to provide an array of valuable information about the real estate industry.

25 Este de los Tribunales de Justicia, Centro Comercial , Zona Rosa, 2 piso, Heredia Phone: (506) 2560-0960/ (506) 2560-0962 Fax: (506) 2560-0963 Website: www.realestatenewsmagazine.com / info@ realestatenewsmagazine.com

How You See Yourself Is Not Always, How Others See You in the Marketplace.

What your prospects see in your advertising and marketing media is critical in Today's Competitive Market. Do it right the first time by combining part of your personality with a specific marketing message and set your business on a course to success and steady growth.

the agent or business then "captures" fresh new leads through a variety of advertising and marketing activities designed to ultimately cause people to choose you over another. You have to get this part of your personal marketing equation correct by first saying: WHO you are and, saying it in the most memorable way possible

Find out what YOUR "differentiating factor" is in providing sound real estate services to buyers and sellers in your area: There is SOMETHING - Identify it...

Capitalize on it... and Take that message All the WAY to the closing table.

-- And always saying it WELL. Only THEN will you have a specific marketing strategy to deploy in your printed ads, business cards, postcards, web sites, cd-rom presentations, billboards, labels, stationery, and everything else. Use this strategy over the entire life of your real estate career for consistency and professional quality which will bring increased growth year-after-year.

All businesses, including your real estate business, deal with how they are perceived by the public and how

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There are 8

universal and irrefutable business principles.

They are as follows: UNIVERSAL BUSINESS PRINCIPLE 1 - Prospects do not want to be sold. Prospects absolutely will not hear what you're saying unless you tell them what they want to know.

UNIVERSAL BUSINESS PRINCIPLE 2 - The ONLY vote that counts is the customer's. If you’re not sure whether something will work or not, test it out and let the customer tell you whether it's right. only direct response advertising can give you this power to test.

UNIVERSAL BUSINESS PRINCIPLE 3 - Prospects need a compelling reason to do business with you. Prospects won't call you just because they know who you are. If you want them to favor you with their business, you must answer the question "What's in it for them?"

UNIVERSAL BUSINESS PRINCIPLE 4 - If you try to be all things to all people, you dilute your effectiveness. It's very important to know who you're talking to; select your target market so you can focus your marketing efforts and be efficient with your spending.

UNIVERSAL BUSINESS PRINCIPLE 5 - You must make it EASY and fun for prospects to do business with you.

If your message is hard to understand, if you are difficult to reach, if prospects have to go out of their way, they won't stick around to give you a second chance.

UNIVERSAL BUSINESS PRINCIPLE 6 - The ONLY way to transform your JOB into a BUSINESS. Is to work on your business rather than IN it.If all you ever do is "Do, Do, Do," you'll never gain the perspective of how to DO BETTER. UNIVERSAL BUSINESS PRINCIPLE 7 - The ONLY way to avoid trading your time for money Is to understand and use the concept of leverage. Leverage is the power to maximize your results with the least amount of energy, time, money, and risk.

UNIVERSAL BUSINESS PRINCIPLE 8 - Without a system, you will reinvent the wheel every time.

Effective systems will save you time, and money, and help you achieve consistent and predictable results.

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How would you define a successful and enjoyable career in real estate?

How would you define a successful and enjoyable career in real estate?

Perhaps you would describe it this way: ....You have a steady stream of clients who automatically seek out your valuable services without you having to do any cold prospecting ....You are viewed with respect by clients who value your advice ....You are able to easily provide them superior service and results which lead them to refer you to others and give you their repeated business ....You work a normal work week (or less), take plenty of time off to pursue outside interests, and make a rewarding income In contrast, How many of you could describe your real estate career in this way?

The trouble in this industry is that the "hours worked = compensation" equation has traditionally been an "either / or" situation. In other words: ....you EITHER make a LOT OF MONEY and have NO LIFE outside your job

OR ....you do HAVE A LIFE outside real estate but DON'T MAKE ENOUGH MONEY

OR What's even worse, for many agents the equation is entirely unbalanced. There are many, many agents operating today who kill themselves with grueling 80+ hour weeks AND barely make enough money to survive.

Maybe this even describes you.

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We help you open your windows of opportunity to grow beyond your wildest expectations

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Add to this the fact that, increasingly, more and more mega-agents are capturing a larger and larger market share. Other factors affecting your future are the widespread consolidation of brokerages, and the encroachment of lenders and insurance companies into the front end of the real estate transaction.

How to Survive and Thrive Selling Real Estate in the

New Millennium

According to the National Association of Realtors, 80% of new agents do not make it through the first five years. Just as daunting is the fact that more and more real estate veterans are packing it in because they're finding they just can't make it work anymore: they're working far too hard to justify what's left in their pocket at the end of the day.

Well, part of the problem is that the real estate market is changing so dramatically: consumers are more sophisticated and demanding, commissions are under pressure, and technology is completely changing the way we do business.

All of these factors and more have shifted the ground beneath your feet. It used to be that real estate agents had proprietary access to the MLS. With this proprietary access, as a REALTOR you held "secret information" which your prospects needed. If they wanted to find a home, they needed YOU to find it for them. If they wanted to sell a home, they needed you to put it on MLS so that other agents could find it to show to their buyers.

This is no longer true. As a REALTOR, you no longer have the only key to this secret and coveted information. The explosion of the internet and the proliferation of listings on this amazing tool has single-handedly eroded your edge in this respect within the last 700 days. That's how recently the internet has taken the world as we know it by storm and, as a consequence, changed a fundamental assumption in real estate forever.

Other factors are also changing your industry. The downwards pressure on commission, the widespread consolidation of brokerages, the encroachment of lenders and insurance companies into the front end of the real estate transaction, the increasing incidence of mega-agents . . . all of these factors and more have shifted the ground beneath your feet. What are you going to do about it?

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I'll tell you this. As long as your "edge" is carved out of assumptions about the way this industry works -- a blind faith that you will be protected by flimsy rules and an adherence to the way things were -- you'll get swallowed up by the shifting ground. You can't build a successful real estate business based on the old rules.

The ONLY thing that you can safely hinge your future on -- the ONLY basis that will endure -- is a solid understanding of your prospects' and customers' needs. And you must understand that some of their needs will shift. Prospects used to rely on you to get them access to the MLS. The importance of this tool is greatly diminishing. If the sole basis of your pitch to your prospects is your ability to access the MLS, guess what? You may soon be out of business.

I know this is a greatly simplified example, but it's essence is solid. It is IMPERATIVE that you keep abreast of what your prospect’s and customer’s needs are because if you don't, you'll be out of business.

You can bet your career on the following. The prospect and customer of the new millennium: - WILL NOT do business with you just because they see your face around town - WILL NOT accept vague, empty promises - WILL hold you to your word, and push you for more and better service in less time at less cost - WILL demand that you have the knowledge and skill to take the leading edge with respect to helping them achieve their needs

Are you prepared to meet these needs? Do you have a plan to help you survive the certain fallout in this industry? Do you have what it takes to thrive?

Your job as a REALTOR is to make it EASY for your prospects and clients to achieve their needs. Listing their home on the MLS is one means of helping them accomplish this need, but it is not a need in and of itself.

If the MLS ceases to be the unique and proprietary tool it once was, you'd better get yourself versed on the internet and find more and better ways to help them achieve their base needs (i.e. to sell fast and for top dollar).

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Why You Must Walk a Mile in Your Prospect's Shoes It’s surprising that most Real Estate Agents never put themselves in their customers' or prospects' position.

Why else would they make doing business with them so hard?

How much do you take your customers, prospects and business for granted? By merely stepping outside your office and walking up to your business wearing the hypothetical shoes of a prospect, you should see a lot of flaws in your operation. Once they are remedied, you can dramatically improve your current and repeat business potential.

By making it inviting, easy, informative, non-threatening, educational, inspiring, and fun to do business with you, you'll loft your business above your competitors. REMEMBER:

1. You cannot serve too much 2. You cannot educate enough 3. You cannot inform too much 4. You cannot offer too much follow-up and follow-through 5. You cannot make calling or coming into your business too desirable The problem with most agents is NOT that they don't want to provide excellent service, but that they don't know where to begin. They never think to ask the customer what he or she wants, and they don't organize themselves properly to deliver on the promises they do make.

Your office team is an example of this. You have assistants so you can give your clients better service. By operating all on your own, you tell yourself that you can give your clients more personal attention, but it doesn't often happen this way.

Ironically, in striving to give this so-called “undivided attention”, you become, by definition, completely divided. And completely ineffective. And often completely burned out. If you try to grow fast and big without help, you probably spend a major portion of your day chasing your tail, retracing your steps, dwelling on the little things, speaking with irate prospects who complain that you weren't assessable enough, and playing the dreaded cat and mouse (agent/prospect) game.

A Frustrated Prospect is Very Unlikely to Turn into a Client!

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By operating with a team, you not only make it EASY and fun for prospects to do business with you, but you are freed to focus on the higher level activities you got into real estate to do (like helping qualified prospects buy and sell real estate), all the while knowing that the many, many small executional and administrative details are being taken care of by your assistants.

The Automated Hotline System An automated hotline system is another way to make it easier for prospects and clients to do business with you. Once you incorporate a 24 hour automated hotline on my ads, your calls may double, even triple.

Why? Because prospects feel less threatened about making the call. They know they'll get the information immediately, anytime of day or night, without having to speak with an agent who would try to corner them and make them feel obligated. In other words, you make it easy and fun to do business with you, and you generate three times as many calls for your clients in the process.

The computerized printouts of these homes represent great matches for your prospect's needs, and are mailed, faxed or emailed to them so they can keep up to date with the newest and hottest listings as they come on the market. With these printouts, they can drive by homes that interest them, and contact you when they find a home they want to view inside. This fantastic system is cost-efficiently available through SOAR MLS (Tel 1-877-762-7657).

The Tour of Homes A Tour of Homes is a third great example of how to make it easy for prospects (and clients) to do business with you. Instead of wasting a full day of the sellers’ weekend (and yours) to have their home viewed by a few curiosity seekers, an organized tour of several homes that you conduct on your listings attracts droves of qualified buyer prospects. It only takes 10 minutes of your seller's time, and the auction-like atmosphere created by the tour format often results in multiple offers.

The Buyer Profile System Another good example of how to make it easy for prospects to deal with you is a Buyer Profile System.

With this system, rather than arbitrarily picking homes for your buyer prospects to view and laboriously driving them around to look at them, you have a sophisticated computer program do the work for you (and do a much better job for the prospect in the process). Briefly, a Buyer Profile System is a computer program which automatically searches the MLS each night to find homes which match the buying criteria of your buyer prospects.

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Addiction and House Values.

A Beautiful Strategy to Snap Up Listings Face it: you’re addicted to your home's value.

Don't worry. So am I. And so is every other homeowner in your market. Maybe addiction is the wrong word. How about you’re very curious to know how much your home is worth.

Whatever we call it, most homeowners become preoccupied about the value of their home at least three or four times a year. Think about your own experience.

I know anytime I see a house for sale in my neighborhood and find out how much the home is selling, I always wondered how my home would match up to that particular home. Maybe you have too. Maybe you went as far as to have it appraised. I don’t know.

But I think we can both at least agree that the thought is there. Okay?

Now, if that’s the case, then here is a fast and easy strategy to use to profit from this curiosity.

You may have heard of—even have in place—a similar strategy: send a letter or postcard to people in a neighborhood where a home was just sold or listed. You tell them that a home in their neighborhood just sold or listed.

You might even have your contact information at the bottom of the letter or postcard.

And that’s it.

Here's how the one I want to present to you is different: Not only should you tell them that a home in their neighborhood just sold or listed, but you should also make a pitch to have them call your 800 number—a 800 call capture

number would work best, more on that in a minute—and leave enough information on the voice mail so you can follow up with them and give them an over-the-phone market evaluation of their home.

Now, get this: if you use a call capture 800 line instead of a conventional 800 line, when they call your number and leave a message you’ve not only identified someone who is interested in selling soon, but you also captured their contact information—a benefit unique to call capture 800 lines. That’s not all though.

You are more likely to generate more leads with a call capture 800 number than you are with a conventional 800 number. Why? Because most people like the idea of not having to talk to anyone on the phone. Matter of fact, you are likely to generate four times as many leads than if you didn’t use a call capture 800 line. That means you’ll probably get people who are anywhere from 1 month to 2 years out from the selling cycle.

That’s a huge audience.

But you’ll get to cherry-pick AND stuff your backend with hundreds of leads that you can nurture.

Furthermore: when someone calls your 800 line, they are asking you to call them. They are taking the first step in building a relationship with you. They are giving you permission to call you.

And now, especially if they are further out in the sales cycle, you can start to cultivate that relationship with a series of other mailers that keep them tied to you.

And all you did was to leverage their obsession over their home's value.

Note: for the Just Listed or Sold postcards, use jumbo postcards from a company like ReaMark Products (http://www.reamark.com/). The jumbo will stand out better than a standard 4x6.

The basic idea behind this strategy may be simple (every time you list or sell a home, send out these letters and postcards to the appropriate neighborhood). But don’t let its simplicity fool you. Because it is leveraging two very powerful emotions like pride and curiosity in combination with your toll-free call capture hotline, you’ll become a monster listing agent in no time. And snapping up listings effortlessly will become addicting.

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How to Attract the Move-Up Buyer…

This strategy could be considered both a listing strategy and a buyer strategy. And it requires a little bit of research.

The first thing you need to know is the average time a homeowner in your area owns a home before selling it to move-up. You want to find out what Tom Hopkins refers to as the "itch cycle" for your area. The itch cycle is how often someone moves. In some areas it’s every seven years. Other areas it may be every ten to twelve. The key here is to find out what the average is, then target homeowners eighteen months either side of the average.

For example, if the itch cycle for your area is seven and a half years, you would want to target anyone who has been in their home for six to nine years. This three-year window is your best target for the move-up buyer or seller.

Once you know what your itch cycle is, you need a list of homeowners in that range. You can research public records or you can purchase lists from various companies, like Edith Roman and Cahners Business Lists.

Once you have your list, this strategy is somewhat similar to other strategies we cover in your course materials. Your first objective is to identify the prospects on your list that are part of the "active market". Like the other strategies, you identify your "active" prospects by getting them to inquire for a "free educational report". Then, once they’ve requested a report, it’s simply a matter of following up with them until the timing is right and they convert.

One agent summed it up by saying, "It’s all a matter of timing and having the right offer. Your letters really do the trick. I mail a target farm of about 500 homes every other month just like you laid out. The results have been 7 listings and 9 buyer side transactions in the first four months of this year from this one single approach. Your

other materials are producing transactions to, but I really like the Move-Up market."

A 3-Step Mailing Program for the Move-Up Buyer / Seller Because of the lower urgency level, the move-up buyer should only be mailed every other month. Then, once they request the report, your follow-up system is the same as any other "active" prospect. But the target group in general should only be mailed every other month.

The letters in your course materials can be mailed again and again. The first letter appeals to the idea that they may be able to lower payments and own a nicer home. The second letter relates to ways of removing the stress from the transaction process. And the third letter provokes interest with the thought that you may have a buyer interested in their home and they need to act quickly.

Then your course materials presents a series of follow-up letters that take a similar path. The first one focuses on their equity and how it could be used to help them move-up. The second letter again tries to entice them to consider moving because you have buyers that may be interested in their home. And the third letter tries to provoke interest through easy financing options.

The reason you can mail and re-mail letters using these ideas is your prospect won’t receive a letter focusing on the same idea for a few months. By this time they’ve completely forgotten the content of your other letters. Therefore the process can be carried out almost indefinitely.

The only thing you need to do is alter each letter slightly so it doesn’t appear you’re sending the exact same letter. For example, change the number of prospects you mention in the letter about a potential buyer. Also, you could reference earlier letters you’ve mailed them, "I’ve written you a few times over the last eight months." Make your letters look more personal so it doesn’t look like you’re just mailing the same letters over and over. But you can use the same ideas again and again, the key is to make it look personal.

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YOU KNOW THE BEST HOMES FOR YOUR CLIENTS.

&

WE KNOW THE BEST WAY TO DO AN EASY REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION.

25 Este de los Tribunales de Justicia, Centro Comercial, Zona Rosa, 2 piso, Heredia Phone: (506) 2560-0960/Real (506) 2560-0962 Fax: (506) 2560-0963 Estate News 23 www.costaricalawyersbureau.com

Uniqueness...The Key to Listing or Re-Listing Expireds!

One good thing about an expired listing is you know they want to sell. The biggest difficulty is they are getting hit with a ton of calls once their listing expires. They get calls, mailers and agents knocking on their door. With so many messages being flashed in front of them, how do they decide?

This is where the power of a crystal clear USP is so crucial. If you don’t have a clear, distinct, compelling reason for them to choose you…frankly, why should they?

So how do you do that? How do you separate yourself from the growing crowd of look-alikes? Again, you have the easiest, simplest, most compelling reason for them to want to do business with you in your hands right now! This marketing system!

What is it about these strategies and a response hotline that would appeal to an Expired? Let’s look at the top three complaints of sellers: "agent didn’t show property enough", "agent didn’t advertise enough" and "agent didn’t communicate enough". This system solves all three problems!

If you can solve your prospect’s problems, eliminate their complaints and serve them in a way that brings value, they'll want you! You don’t have to sell them. Once they understand the value of your offer…they'll want you!

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Do You Call Them or Mail Them?

I would suggest you do both. First, I’ll talk about the direct mail step. Then, I will explain the thought process behind your next step, the expired phone call. Both steps ultimately lead your prospect to this system as your Unique Selling Proposition.

Your first step is to mail your expired prospect a brochure, in a plain white envelope, with a two-line address. Leave your company name and logo off the envelope. I know that many local boards have regulations about company name and so forth. But nowhere in the country are you required to put it on an envelope. Your advertisements maybe but not the envelope.

The A-Pile...Make It Look "Personal" The strategy here is simply to get your envelope opened.

One of my direct marketing mentors, Gary Halbert, explains it as the A pile, B pile theory. He suggests that we tend to sort our mail standing over the trash can. It’s a very useful mental picture. Your prospects quickly scan their mail to determine what is worth opening (A pile) and what is junk (B pile).According to Halbert, your first objective has to be getting your mail in the A pile. He further explains that the best way to get your mail in the A pile is to have it appear personal, because everyone will read a personal letter.There are six steps to achieving the "personal" look: - Use a plain white envelope - Leave out your company name and logo - Put a simple two line return address - Never use address labels - Always use a live first class stamp Preferably make them handwritten (hire a school kid for 3 cents an envelope) If you prepare mailings in this fashion, you maximize the probability of clearing your first direct mail hurdle. Getting your envelope opened by an Expired prospect is probably your biggest challenge. Once you’ve got it opened, at a minimum, you have a few seconds of undivided attention.

Your Offer Has To Be Inviting Once you have their attention, you need to make your offer inviting. It needs to appeal to prospects and be easy for them to take the next step. Taking the next step is your entire objective at this stage of the game. All you want them to do is pick up the phone and dial for recorded information. By calling for information, they’ve opened the door to your follow-up call.

So what kind of offers will get an expired prospect to pick up the phone? Once again, we go back to the three top complaints. If you can solve a prospect’s problem they want to do business with you! Here’s an example: 4-Step Postcard Strategy for Expireds These four post cards can be used as a four-step mailing program for expired listings. Mail them one postcard per day for four consecutive days, or until they call your recorded information line..

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offer with open arms. But, your client doesn't. In fact, he's disappointed because he really wants to sell for quite a bit more than he's asking and is willing to play the waiting game.

Four Questions to Rapidly Disqualify Unreasonable Sellers This is a highly-coveted prospecting technique that will have astronomical effects on your listing inventory.

Unmotivated real estate sellers can be risky business. You can work ten, twelve, fifteen hours, and not get paid until 3, 6 or 9 months later—if the house sells at all. And when your own mortgage is due at the end of the month, can you afford to wait that long to get paid?

I didn't think so.

See, motivated buyers and sellers make the most profitable real estate deals. Commitment is critical.

Also, you can waste a lot of time and energy with a seller who wants to sell above market value and isn't up front with you about it.

Imagine this scenario: You have a buyer make an offer on a house you represent. To make sure it's accepted, the buyer offers the asking price, expecting the seller to embrace the

From 2001 to 2006, sellers obtained multiple offers and high selling prices—the result of years of healthy real estate appreciation. This year is different. While it's true that in most areas prices aren't dropping, they aren't rising at nearly last year's pace either. Unfortunately, some sellers are still pricing their homes for last year's market. And if that is the case, you need to find out up front if you are dealing with a client who's unreasonable in his expectations.

See, sometimes we get so desperate (like when the mortgage payment is due) that we neglect to qualify a lead. We accept sellers who may want to play games.

Unreasonable games.

The key component to profitably working with sellers is to disqualify rigorously. Remember, we're looking for those who have a time-frame of at least 60 days or less. You can't really afford to wait any longer than that.

Use these four questions and you can rapidly single-out the unreasonable sellers and move on to those who are motivated and reasonable.

Why are you selling? Your first order of business as a buyer is to find out the seller's motivation When do you need to be out of your home? Timing is everything.

What did you pay? When the homeowners moved into their house and how much they paid for it are matters of public record, so it's futile for sellers to try to withhold this information.

How much do you owe on the home?

Ask this question directly and listen to or watch the response. Someone who balks is a red flag. Someone who is honest may turn out to be an asset. Also, seller financing for those who own their home outright might be an option they may be interested in to help sell the home.

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Vision and Technology in Costa Rica Real Estate Tools Costa Rica is a marketing and adver tising company that specializes in helping smaller companies compete and win against larger companies trough a power ful combination of unconventional and tradicional marketing techniques.

25 Este de los Tribunales de Justicia, Centro Comercial, Zona Rosa, 2 piso, Heredia Phone: (506) 2560-0960/(506) 2560-0962 Fax: (506) 2560-0963

www.realestatetoolscostarica.com/ info@realestatetoolscostarica.com Real Estate News 27

"How to completely dominate your competition, win the listing 95% of the time or more, and do it all with incredible ease...even If you're competing with the top agent in your market!"

When you walk into a listing appointment are you fired up with anticipation? Do you know beyond any doubt that you'll walk out of that home with the listing?

Let me restate it. If you were going up against the number one agent in your market...how would you feel? Would you be ready to take them on head-to-head, nose-to-nose?

Well, read through the following listing presentations and imagine yourself using the tools our agents use. Then come back and answer these questions!

"It was the heat of intense competition!"

The listing was the most appealing home in the area. He was given twenty minutes with the homeowners and if he didn’t impress them, the listing was going to the largest company in his area. His competitor was a firm that did over $375 million in transactions the previous year. So our agent was up against pretty stiff odds.

Describing the evening of his presentation Michael explained, "I had prepared for the presentation just like you told me to. I did a recording describing the home. I prepared a brochure for fax-ondemand. I had my cell phone..."

"I was ready!"

"When I arrived, I was quickly let in. The homeowners seemed in a hurry. They wanted to get going because they said they had plans later that evening. But I think they had already decided they were going to give the listing to the other company.

Here’s how it works. I advertise your home with a big bold call-to-action ad. It tells prospects to call for recorded information and fax-on-demand information anytime, 24 hours a day. Prospects dial in to hear a recorded description of your home and the best part is when they connect, I get their name, address, and phone number automatically – 100% of the time, whether they leave it or not! So I can follow up on every possible lead! Absolutely nothing slips through the cracks! Let me show you how it works!

Grab the phone and dial this number.’

"Bob, the husband, dialed my hotline number and entered the extension. As he began listening his eyes got bigger, he reached over and started to elbow his wife, and said, ‘honey, listen it’s our property!’ As they squeezed together my cell phone notification went off. I handed it to Bob and said, ‘Now here’s the best part.’

"It was awesome because Bob was staring at his ‘unlisted’ phone number, the one he just dialed from fifteen seconds ago! Then I told him, ‘Whenever someone calls and listens to the advertisement describing your home, my system automatically notifies me in 15-20 seconds, with their phone number, name and address and the fact that they've inquired about your home. So I can call them back right away, while their interest is at a peak.’

Their heads started bobbing and nodding like a doggie toy in the back of a car window!

"Bob and his wife started to nod, scooted up to the edge of their seats, and really began tuning into everything I said.

Then, as the recording finished, I said, ‘Here’s another great benefit. Press three and enter your fax number.’ He did. Ten seconds later the fax machine in Bob’s home office clicked on. It was so cool."

"So I opened up with, ‘Folks I’ve set up this new system specifically for you and your home. It’s a system that gives you 24-hour-a-day advertising and it generates hundreds of sales leads!

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"After the system faxed my two-page brochure, Bob and his wife seemed to relax. They seemed to forget they were in a hurry and started to ask questions. We talked about my marketing plan and they could clearly see I had an advantage. Even though my competitor was huge, Bob and his wife understood the value of timing. They understood the importance of reaching the prospect while their interest was at a peak. Without this system, I don’t think I could have got Bob and his wife to slow down and listen."

Really picture it! Isn’t this an awesome story? Michael stopped them dead in their tracks! Without this powerful demonstration it’s likely they would have nodded and smiled for 15-20 minutes, then showed him the door!

You’ve been there. You know that feeling! Instead he walked away with the nicest listing in the entire area! Now let’s take it a step further…

Their eyes get as big as pancakes when you WOW them with this!

Kevin (who now does over 100 transactions a year), like the other agent, he prepares a recording of his prospective seller's property. Then he briefly explains, "Most agents are available 40 hours a week. My business is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week! Dial this number and enter this extension."

done! Now you show your sellers page after page after page of detailed call reports.

One agent explained, "When I follow your presentation to the letter, it’s enough to close the listing 95 percent of the time. But when I show them a stack of call reports with names, addresses, and phone numbers of hundreds of callers, they are in awe. If they’re the slightest bit skeptical during my presentation, now there’s no way they can dispute what I’m saying. I’ve just given them concrete written proof that I’m generating 150-200 calls a month or more! Compared to the average agent who gets maybe 20."

Now let me ask, do you think you could close a few more listings with this presentation? Does this seem like it would add impact and help swing a few more of those close ones?

You know which ones I'm talking about. The ones you feel were almost ready to swing your way, but a week or so later you see a competitor's sign in their yard!

This is your chance to add incredible power and impact to your presentation and win the listing 95% of the time or more!

If these ideas make sense take a closer look... investigate...

"This is the best listing tool I've ever used. People are in awe when I go to a listing and they hear a recorded description of their home already done! I'm already a step ahead of my competition!"

After his soon-to-be-clients dial, they're pleasantly surprised because again it's an advertisement for their property! Then Kevin's cell phone notification goes off. He hands it to them.

As they look at the phone number, again, they are amazed...it's their phone number, the one they just dialed from 20 seconds ago!

Here's the clincher...

Kevin follows with, "Now press zero." They do. Six seconds later, his cell phone rings. He answers and the sellers are talking to him from six feet away. He then says, "Anyone, anytime, anywhere can call my recorded info line to get more details about your home and immediately reach me to set up a showing. My system works 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help me sell your home. Other agents give you 40 hours a week. That's why I do a better job of selling homes than other agents." Then softly with a smile he says, "So who do you want to list with?"

Twenty minutes later he leaves with their listing.

Understand Kevin doesn't work 24 hours a day. In fact, he shuts his cell phone off after 6:00 in the evening. He's explaining how his system takes care of business 24 hours a day.

Now you fire your final cannon! Here’s where you pound your competitors into dust with...

Both these presentations are incredibly powerful, but it’s not

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www.impresionesfullcolor.com Real Estate News 30

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10 Ways to make it easy and fun for prospects & clients to do Bussines with you

1. Use an automated hotline system to make it easy and

non-threatening for prospects to get the information they're after and triple calls on your clients' listings.

2. Offer buyer prospects a Buyer Profile Service which

automatically mails them weekly printouts of properties that meet their home buying criteria.

3. Conduct a Tour of Homes on your Sellers' properties to easily attract dozens of good buyer prospects with minimal disruption to the client.

4. Have a Customer Service Manager whose sole job is to speak with clients weekly to update them on market conditions and give them detailed feedback from showings

5. Place a Talking House Sign outside your clients' homes to make it quick and easy for buyer prospects to immediately

.

hear details about this listing in the comfort of their car as they drive by.

6. Offer to buy the client's home when they trade up to one of your listings through a Trade-Up Program.

7. Offer clients a Cancellation Guarantee which allows them to exit the listing agreement with no penalty if you don't perform to the level you promised.

8. Have a whole team of professionals who, together, provide superior service and undivided attention to all clients.

9. Provide monthly updates to prospects on area sales and pricing with a Market Watch newsletter.

10. Show buyer prospects how to buy a home with Zero Down.

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How to create inexpensive and highly compelling ads that will have droves of qualified prospects calling you to ask you to help them with their real estate needs

One of the least understood areas for most real estate agents is effective marketing. When most agents decide to abandon cold-calling and traditional prospecting techniques and venture into the "magic" world of marketing, they fall flat on their faces because they entirely miss the point of what their message should be about (i.e. it should be about their prospects, not about themselves).

REMEMBER this important point: Your advertising should be about your prospects . . . NOT about YOU! You see, the average person is exposed to thousands of messages each week from TV, radio, print, newspaper, flyers, billboards, etc. etc. etc. NO ONE processes all these advertisements.

Instead, we all consciously (or unconsciously) devise a strategy to deal (or, more to the point, NOT deal) with all this advertising.

Whatever you call it, the fact of the matter is, you can't MAKE people read or pay attention to something that doesn't interest them, because people don't want to be sold.

"Hard-sell, No-Benefit, Advertiser-Focused, Image Advertising" is ignored with great vigor by people. So if it looks, feels, or smells like this kind of advertising, you can count on the fact that the prospect won't see it.

MOST advertising by other REALTORS is exactly this kind of "no-benefit, image-type advertising." Maybe the advertising you've tried also falls into this category.

You see, the shocking truth is that most of your ads are probably getting zapped, and if your ad is getting zapped - if prospects aren't reading your ad - you can't really expect them to respond to it, can you? Clearly, they can't respond to your ad if they don't read it.

Tuning Out, Ignoring, By-passing, Avoiding, Zapping . . .

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How to Inexpensively and AUTOMATICALLY get highly qualified, Ready-to-Act prospects calling YOU

To lead off the discussion on what I call my Automatic Reverse Prospecting System, let me first talk to you about a fatal mistake most agents make which causes them to fail.

The two most common Old School strategies that agents employ in their effort to FIND prospects are: 1. Cold Calling (Grunt Prospecting), and 2. Running Image Ads (i.e. ads which talk about how great the agent paying for the ad is rather than any meaningful customer benefits) Because so many agents flounder back and forth between these two activities, as mentioned earlier, 80% of new agents fail within the first five years. They get locked inside a fatal cycle that ends up destroying their chances of success: the cold calling bleeds them emotionally, and the image advertising bleeds them financially.

You see, most agents start off with traditional prospecting (just like I did); some venture into image advertising (just like I did), and then fall back to prospecting again when they decide that "marketing doesn't work." Let's understand this cycle.

To begin with, I don't need to tell you much about prospecting.

We've all done it. Maybe you are still doing it. When I started in real estate 14 years ago, prospecting (banging on doors and making cold call after cold call) was the only strategy I knew to get new business in the door. After all, that's what they told me to do when I started. And because I didn't know better, I made the same mistake most agents make when they get into the business - I looked around at what everyone else was doing and copied it.

The problem is, not only is this highly labor intensive process humiliating, frustrating, and, quite frankly, nauseating, it's also ineffective especially when you're doing it all on your own.

How many calls do you have to make to find one willing prospect?

How hard is it to keep up this pace when you're trying to service the few clients you actually find?

When the typical agent has it up to here with prospecting, s/he usually throws his or her hands up in the air and moans about there having to be a better way.

It's at this point that many agents decide that "marketing" is the "better way" to acquire new prospects. That's certainly what I thought when I reached a level of frustration and exhaustion that was too hard to bear. Marketing made sense to me. With marketing, I reasoned, I could reach my target market far more efficiently.

Imagine how many prospects will read my advertising and call me to do business.

Well, I was only half right. I was correct that marketing was an efficient way of reaching a defined target of people, but because at that point I knew nothing about what made effective advertising, HARDLY ANYONE CALLED ME. You see, the kind of advertising I engaged in made all sorts of boasts about me, but it really offered no benefits to prospects.

The advertising I did was the same kind of ineffective advertising most agents do: EXPENSIVE Image Advertising (or, more specifically, Self-Image Advertising.)

Basically what these big, flashy ads said was: "Here I am.

There's no one like me. Aren't I great!" In other words, I talked on and on about me, me, me without giving prospects any reasons or benefits to call me over all the other agents who were saying exactly the same empty things.

Well, the fact of the matter is, marketing IS the better way, but NOT if you do it the way most agents do it. You see, the agent's self interest is just as apparent with image advertising as it is in his or her prospecting efforts.

Instead of abandoning marketing, your challenge is to start learning about and running inexpensive EFFECTIVE marketing that automatically compels your prospects to pick up the phone and call you to ask for your professional assistance (i.e. Marketing that reverses the prospecting process.)

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The Art of Persuasion 10 essential tricks every real estate agent should know.

Amazing, isn't it? How when you listen to one of the selling masters you say to yourself "Why didn't I think of that? It seems so obvious...so easy."

The masters always seem to come up with the perfect phrase...a few words...sometimes even just one word...that grabs you by the lapels and drags you into their presentation.

The perfect words make you want to buy whatever they're selling before they've even mentioned a product.

It's the Art of Persuasion. Right?

But let me assure you right now that it's less of an art and more of a science.

The Art of Persuasion is something you can learn. And the good news is the fundamental building block to any good persuasive presentation is simply building rapport.

As the motivational trainer Peter Lowe says, "The three keys to persuasion are: Establish rapport, Establish rapport, Establish rapport."

And to build that rapport, you need to cultivate behaviors that will make people trust you and make them feel it's in their best interest to follow your lead.

Here, are some ideas, big and small, for making yourself more persuasive: Before a presentation, ask yourself "What do I really want?" Ask soul-searching questions to understand your true motivation: family, money, fame, power. You're looking for what makes you tick, what drives you.

Develop the knack for making the other person feel like the center of the universe.

Be quick to compliment.

Train yourself to remember other people's names. One of the best ways: when you shake hands with a new person, note the color of his or her eyes. That forces you to make eye contact and, after a while, will also send a signal to your brain to store that person's name in your long-term memory. Also use the name soon afterwards, and you'll have a lock on it.

Empower others. Follow the maxims of legendary 3M leader William McKnight: "Listen to anybody with an idea.

Encourage experimental doodling. If you put fences around people, you get sheep; give people the room they need."

Try to arouse positive emotion.

Take a clue from your audience—whether it's a single seller or a family of buyers. Really make an effort to communicate in a manner that matches your message to the receiver.

Hone your sense of humor.

Practice being a better questioner. Follow up by asking, "How does that make you feel?" or "Have you ever experienced anything else like that?" or "How could that be handled differently in the future?" or "I wonder what lessons we can take from that?"

Keep your perspective. Remember: Even though you're passionate about your point of view, lighten up.

Tomorrow's another day-and another opportunity to persuade.

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How to create an effective classified ad‌ Classified ads are one of the oldest and least understood types of advertising that real estate agents use. Most agents confuse the issue by thinking that the reason they are running a classified ad is to sell a seller's house. This is why the typical house ad is little more than a laundry list of physical "features" of the home (such as new roof, garage door opener, etc.), some of which may be important to a buyer, many of which are not important, and some of which actually dissuade a buyer from even considering the property.

The real truth is that NO ad can actually sell the house it's advertising, and when you think about this, you'll see that it's true. In fact, no big ticket item can be sold solely on the basis of pure advertising. The most you can hope your ad to do is generate enough interest on the part of the prospect that they call to get more information. It's improbable that a prospect would make an offer on a home, site unseen, simply on the basis of a 4 line classified ad (or even a FULL page description with picture) in the paper.

Think about it in another way. When you run a classified house ad, what usually happens? The ad generates some calls from buyers, but it's rare that any of these buyers will actually purchase the property they called on. When buyers get the information on the property, 9 out of 10 times they eliminate it saying it's too big, too small, wrong location, too much money, etc. So all you can hope to do is leverage this first telephone contact into the opportunity to tell prospects about other homes that do match their needs. In other words, your ad didn't

sell the house; instead it simply got a buyer prospect to raise their hand. It got them to call you.

When writing classified ads understand that the one and only purpose to run these ads is to get prospects to call you, and that the best way to get prospects to call you is NOT to blather on and on about a long list of property features, but rather to hit the emotional hot buttons that speak to their deepest urges.

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But just speaking to these urges is not enough. You also have to: (1) show them that this home is affordable by showing them an incredibly low down payment and monthly payment and (2) make it easy and non-threatening for them to get additional information.

Compare the following two classified ads for the same property: NEWMARKET - 1 1/2 story, 2 bedroom, new roof, C/V, water softener, new paint, garage door opener.

(905)898-1234. Bob Smith, XYZ Realty.

them to phone the agent. Most homebuyers are familiar with the kind of cat and mouse game that will ensue if they connect the real estate sales agent and will avoid it like the plague!

In contrast, the bottom ad doesn't try to sell the physical house, but rather hits on the very powerful emotional hot buttons of safety and comfort. It speaks to the prospect's heart which is yearning for the safety and escape that these few carefully-chosen words have managed to convey. People make decisions on emotion, NOT on logic.

You may get some calls on the top ad. You WILL get dozens (or hundreds) of calls on the bottom ad.

NEWMARKET - lovely home on private treed lot, great neighborhood. Only $2,600 down.

At this point, don't worry about whether your callers are qualified prospects. Qualification is a separate issue that you will accomplish in two places: 1) your hotline script, and 2) your live conversations with these buyers.

Free recorded message 1-800-555-1111 ID#1234.

The top classified ad tries to sell the house in the ad by listing some largely irrelevant details, and then makes it difficult for the prospect to get this information by telling

All you're seeking to do at this point (when running your ads), is to get as many prospects as possible to raise their hand and respond.

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How to find ready-to-Act buyers who will happily PAY you for your services You already know that the way to attract prospects is to market to them in such a manner that they innocently raise their hand and identify the fact that they're in the market to buy or sell a home.

There are many places to generate prospective buyers: at your Tour of Homes, from For Sale Signs, from classified house listings, and from editorial-style direct response ads, etc. The last two are the most effective at generating good leads for your business, especially classifieds because they are the most effective and cost efficient way, bar none, to find the hottest ready-to-buy buyers.

The goal of your editorial-style direct response ads and your classified ads is the same: to generate a call from the prospect. In fact, the ONLY reason to run these types of ads is to get the buyer to pick up the phone and call you.

When you run editorial-style direct response ads, you're attracting both those buyers who are ready-to-buy right now and those who may just be starting to think about buying a home.

With these type of ads, you will attract some "now" business and also fill your Automatic Prospecting System pipeline with future buyers-prospects who will turn into business in 3, 6, 12 months, or longer. These ads are placed within the editorial section of the newspaper that is read by the population at large.

Your editorial ads will be "seen" by those who are consciously or sub-consciously in the market to buy a home.

With your classified ads, you're attracting mostly ready-to-act-now buyers, although some longer term prospects may also browse the classifieds from time to time. In most cases, if a prospect is reading the classified sections, he or she is not just thinking about buying a home; they have already made the decision that they are going to buy. THEY'RE IN THE CLASSIFIED SECTION TO SHOP AND FIND. If you want to get the attention of a buyer prospect in either place, you have to speak to THEIR needs. Your job is to offer them something that they want, and you have to make it easy and non-threatening to get further information.

What is it that buyers crave? Well, where home sellers want to sell fast and for top dollar, homebuyers want to get the best home they can for the best price possible.

What does "best home" mean? The definition of "best home" will be a little different depending on whether you're speaking with first-time buyers or upgrading buyers.

For first-time buyers, the psychological needs at the root of their desire to own a home are SAFETY, SECURITY, and COMFORT. It's the need to finally control their environment, to put down roots and find their own safe haven to run away to.

When you understand this, you'll understand why the Renter's ad is so effective at attracting first-time buyers. It speaks to their fears and their problem, and offers them a life raft to safety.

Up grading buyers are less concerned about SAFETY because, by already owning their own home, they have already achieved safety, security and comfort. They already have roots and a safe haven. These emotional needs are "assumed" with upgrading buyers. What these buyers crave instead is ESTEEM and PRESTIGE.

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Precio $ 600 Real Estate News 43

How your prospects decide to purchase a home: what you must know in order to get prospects to call you It's important to understand that purchasing a home is a PROCESS, NOT an EVENT. People generally don't wake up one morning, without any preamble, and go buy or sell a house. Instead, the decision to buy or sell an item as large as a home takes place over time. This may sound like an obvious statement, but it's very important for you to REALLY understand the implications of this if you want to get prospects to call you.

You see, purchasing ANYTHING - even a chocolate bar is a process and not an event. While the length of the process, and the thought that goes into each stage of the process, may differ depending on the kind of product you're purchasing, the stages themselves are pretty universal: 1. You DISCOVER that you have a need (e.g. your present living arrangements are inadequate) 2. You DECIDE to do something about that need (e.g. you decide to sell and/or buy a home) 3. You CONSIDER your options (e.g. sell by yourself or use an agent; buy a brand new home or buy a resale, etc.)

4. You CHOOSE an option (e.g. you choose agent John Doe to help buy a resale) As a real estate agent, if you want your business to grow, you need to find a way to attract as many prospects as possible at all stages of this purchasing process. Specifically, you need to: 1. Make sure you have a way of attracting prospects who are ready to make a move right NOW (“ready-to-act� buyers and sellers) 2. Make sure you have a way of identifying prospects who will be ready to make a move in the near future (3-12 months) and be able to engage them in a followup process before they form a relationship with another agent

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3. Make sure prospects in your marketplace are aware of the unique and special way you can help them with their home moving needs, so when they start to think about moving they will consider you as an option

Marketing to Perspectives Direct Response Advertising is the ONLY Kind of Advertising That Independent Business People Can Afford to Do. This is so because it is testable, trackable, measurable, and if it is crafted properly elicits an immediate response.

Unlike big corporations with deep pockets who may be able to afford to build image and sales over time, every advertising dollar needs to work overtime, and to pay back the investment many times over. The kind of advertising I do is not beautiful or flashy or clever - most of it doesn't even mention my name. But none of that matters because, bottom line, the kind of advertising I do WORKS. The most effective advertising is Direct Response

Advertising. There are three different types of direct response ads: Classified, Editorial style, and USP(Unique Selling Proposition),and each of the three serves a different purpose.

Specifically, each of these three types of advertising does a particularly good job of tackling one of the growth strategies I identified above: 1. Classified Ads helps to Attract NOW prospects 2. Editorial Style Ads helps to Attract FUTURE prospects 3. USP Ads helps to Build AWARENESS of a business’ unique benefits Before these ads can work for you, however, you need a systematic way of testing and tracking the response of each of these ads to ensure that the direct response ads that you are publishing are producing results.

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COMPANIES • Arenal Realty Costa Rica • Sunshine Real Estate Costa Rica • Alter Estate Costa Rica • Real Estate TV Costa Rica • Real Estate Tools Costa Rica • Costa Rica Party Tour • Uniform2 Costa Rica • Costa Rica Lawyers Bureau

PUBLICATIONS • Real Estate Directory Magazine • Real Estate Buyers Guide Magazine • Real Estate News Magazine • Realtors & Developments Map Costa Rica • Guía Médica de Costa Rica • Revista Guía Médica • Costa Rica Fashion Magazine • Urban Magazine Costa Rica • Tropical Lifestyle Costa Rica Magazine

Centro Comercial Zona Rosa, Heredia Phone: (506) 2560.0962 • Fax: (506) 2560.0963 info@gavarretegroup.com

www.gavarretegroup.com Real Estate News 47

How to create 300%-500% more quality inbound leads while slashing advertising costs 40%-50%!

I’m going to show you a way you can take any ad source you're currently using and get 300%-500% more quality inbound leads out of that source without your ad costing you a single penny more!

Have you ever wondered why more people don’t pick up the phone and call? Or why they call your competitor instead of you?

Well, it’s not because they aren’t good prospects. And it’s not because they aren’t ready to do something. The reason is you make it hard for them to call you!

Now I realize this may be hard to take but let me explain.

Think about it. Prospects are shy. They’re intimidated.

Even the best prospects have a natural built-in sales resistance!

To illustrate let me ask you, what’s your perception of the word "salesperson"? Even though you and I are in the profession of "selling", if you’re like I am your sales resistance starts to well-up just thinking about the word "salesperson".

Think about the last time you were in a furniture store and the "salesperson" strode up and said, "Welcome to ABC Furniture. How can I be of service today?" What was your response?

Well, guess what? The prospects you are trying to entice into calling feel the exact same way! They have sales resistance! When they get a telemarketer calling in the middle of their dinner they hang up the phone too!

To bring the point home, when those same prospects see your ad, that requires them to pick up the phone to talk with a "salesperson", here’s the painful truth - they put it off!

The Deadliest Sales Sin of Them All! The deadliest thing you can do to a good prospect is encourage them to put it off. If you encourage your prospects to put off the buying decision you’ll never bring them to the closing table!

You’re probably thinking, "I would never encourage a prospect to put the decision off!"

Well, that’s exactly what your ads are doing! Your ads are building barriers that encourage prospects to put it off, instead of making it easy and inviting for them to take the next step to get information!

Make It Easy and Inviting for Prospects to Get Information from You! Your prospects need to feel comfortable responding if you’re ever going to get the maximum response from your ads, mailers, postcards or whatever!

If you’re like 98% of every person living, you said, "Oh, I’m just looking". When you and I know darned good and well you wanted a sofa, in a certain style, with a certain color fabric and so on. But you said, "I’m just looking". Why? It’s because everyone has been hounded, pressured and "sold" until they’re blue in the face!

So let me ask again, what’s your perception of a "salesperson"?

So how do you do that?

Well, guess what? The prospects you are trying to entice into calling feel the exact same way! They have sales resistance! When they get a telemarketer calling in the middle of their dinner they hang up the phone too!

When they call, they hear a visually descriptive message that heightens their senses. It paints vivid mental pictures of them luxuriating in the benefits of your new community! The recording has them "seeing" the model home and "experiencing" the walk through.

By offering "Free Recorded Information – 24 Hours A Day!" It works like magic!

Offer your prospects the opportunity to hear a "recorded verbal tour" of your most popular models along with all the features, amenities and attractions of your new community.

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The more they listen, the more their excitement and anticipation builds! Now they’re positioned perfectly for one of your sales staff to follow-up.

It takes away your prospect’s sales resistance, makes it easy, inviting and comfortable to respond, and when they call – you have your lead!

Think about it! Let’s say you had a product you were interested in. Which would you rather do, call and get "Joe Salesman" on the phone or call and listen to a descriptive recorded message that gave you some of the benefits and then enabled you to have a brochure faxed or mailed to you?

According to the Direct Marketing Association, 83% of all consumers would prefer the second choice. 83% over 4 out of 5 people would prefer to call for recorded information to begin the entire process getting a little information, before talking with a salesperson.

Here’s another point about those prospects who got information before talking to a salesperson. 91% said they would be more likely to do business with those companies that offered to provide information first.

What does it tell you? It says the prospects of your market want information, service and benefits – not a sales pitch!

So how do you give it to them?

By setting up your Response Hotline! We’ve been teaching this method of advertising and marketing with 24-hour recorded information for over eight years now.

We’ve worked with thousands of builders, lenders and Realtors from all across the country and our number one goal has been to help our clients increase their marketing effectiveness with recorded information, as a "2-step" marketing method.

We’ve been showing these professionals how to use a simple recorded message system to grow their businesses by quantum leaps! And it’s absolutely amazing to see the affect this simple strategy can have on a builder’s bottom line.

The approach of simply shifting from pushing a prospect to call a "salesperson" to enticing your prospect to call for "recorded information" has increased our clients lead generation effectiveness as much as 300%-500%! And…

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When They Call, You Have Your Lead!

The biggest benefit of this approach is integrating it with our high-tech, yet incredibly simple Response Hotline call-capture technology. It’s called Provantage. It’s a technology that utilizes a sophisticated Caller ID system called Automatic Number Identification or ANI for short.

ANI captures the phone number 100% of the time! All calls (even unlisted numbers) that come through our system are recorded and captured. No number can be blocked! And yes! It’s perfectly legal, moral, ethical -even with the new Do Not Call Rules -- and your customers will love using it!

When a prospect calls for "recorded info" from one of your ads we can page you, "the consultant" with the phone number and a four-digit code identifying the exact property they are interested in – all within 20-30 seconds!

Or if you prefer, the system can automatically fax you an up-to-the-second update anytime 24-hours a day. Or you can even get your leads directly off our Internet web site.

All the information is up-to-the-second.

Now You Get Names and Addresses Too! As a FREE Added Benefit An advantage of our call reports (via fax or web) is about 65% of the phone numbers have an accurate name and address - our data source is updated daily from over 450 different sites around the country. Clients report less than 1% of their mail gets returned! That’s over 99% accuracy!

This is amazingly powerful for building a database of prospects for a mailing list! I could go on for about an hour on this one benefit alone, but I won’t. Back to the pager!

The biggest advantage of the pager is you can follow-up in a matter of minutes.

So you, "the consultant," get paged or text messaged on your cell phone with the phone number of the prospect and a four-digit code. The phone number enables you to call your prospect back quickly! Then, the four-digit code enables you to know what information your prospect requested and the ad that caused them to call you.

With that information it’s easy for you to follow-up and begin a dialog with your prospect.Now this part is critical.

Here’s where I’m always asked, "What does the prospect thinkwhen you call back? Are they upset you have their phone number?"

The answer is yes - if you "high-pressure" them! But if you approach it correctly they love it and you deeply position yourself as someone who wants to be of service.

An Unbelievably Simple, Yet POWERFUL Follow-Up Script!

For example here’s how a Realtor of ours does it. He calls back and says, "Hello this is Jim Miller with XYZ Realty. A few minutes ago you called my recorded information line and got information about the home on Elm Street we’re advertising in the homes magazine. I know you weren’t expecting me to call you back, but I wanted to call for a couple reasons. First, I wanted to thank you for calling about the home on Elm Street, I appreciate your interest.

But second, I wanted to tell you a little more about the home because in 45-60 seconds I couldn’t really tell you everything about it. Would it be OK if I told you a little bit more about it?"

He does four things with this approach that are universal and would work in just about any setting. First, he identifies with them. Second, he appreciates them. Third, he demonstrates he wants to serve. Fourth, he is respectful and asks permission to continue. If they don’t want him to, he ends the conversation. If they want him to continue, he starts building rapport!

How Well Does This Work?

Our agent tells us that out of a hundred calls he gets 99% of the callers to talk with him and begin the sales dialoging process!

Is it effective?

Well, last year he made over $250,000 using this technology! The year before he made about $75,000 without using our technology. You be the judge…is it effective? I’d say so! But then again, I’m biased.

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How to make direct mail profitable...the key is the "Personal Touch" An agent of ours who mails over 300 prospects every month explains how she creates the personal touch, "My contact manager mail merges a nice personal letter to each one of my prospects. Then I have my niece hand address each envelope. She then signs my name, folds, stuffs, seals and stamps each envelope with a first class stamp. I pay her 15 cents per complete mailer. She makes a little money and I save myself a ton of time. Plus the mailers have a real nice personal appearance."

The keys to the "personal touch" are: Always mail merge the prospects name into your letter Never, ever, ever, use mailing labels - it’s cold and impersonal

Either print envelopes or have someone hand-address them for 5-7 cents each Sign every letter, pay someone 3-5 cents to sign them for you or laser print your signature with a good enough laser printer that you can’t tell it’s printed Use a live first-class stamp - don’t meter or bulk mail You can pay people to put together mailings for you and you should be able to get them completely done and mailed for about 50-60 cents a mailer. Also there are companies that will do the job from start to finish for a little bit more, generally about 70-75 cents per mailer.

Again, if you are going to prepare the mailings you’ll need a good word processor and contact manager.

With these programs you can "personalize" literally thousands of letters and prepare them with little to no time spent. And that’s the key -- little to no time spent!

You need to develop ways of getting things like this done without exhausting your time. Your time at its highest level is worth $300-$500 an hour. By developing systems for getting the $7-$8 an hour work done, you can spend the majority of your time creating strategies for getting face-to-face with more good, quality prospects.

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When They Call, You Have Your Lead!

In spite of all the exciting and revolutionary changes, I want to start off by going back to basics and addressing some key fundamentals. Because it’s the fundamentals combined with cutting edge tools, like our Response Hotline, that will have you beating the pants off your competition!

Not focusing on the fundamentals is like building a house on sand.

The three fundamentals I’m going to address in this report...headlines...ad positioning...and follow-up preparation.

It amazes me when I look through my local newspaper. I see ads with nothing but purely self-serving headlines.

They basically say give me your business because I want your money.

I guess the writer thought it would be good enough to just write something "catchy". From experience in the school of hard knocks, I can tell you... it’s not!

How important are good headlines?

According to David Ogilvy (one of the all time great advertising masters), "Headlines are 90% of your ad's effectiveness. I’ve had one ad out-produce another ad by 22 times. The only difference was the headline.

"Really think about that one folks! A 2200% difference and the only change was the headline.

So, what makes a good headline?

There have been entire books written on the subject of headlines. But, I’ll quickly give you a couple pointers. It

has to promise your reader a clear, self-serving benefit...from their perspective...not yours!

Really try to step outside your own experience and get into their shoes...what would be important to you if you were buying or selling a home?

The other thing, don’t limit yourself to a set number of words. As long as it's meaningful to your reader, it doesn’t matter. Prospects will read everything you put in front of them as long as it’s interesting and important to them.

My point is, whenever you’re putting together a flier, sales letter or anything that’s going to be in a prospects hands...focus a great deal on the headline.

Try to fashion your headlines to contain one or more of these four key points: The most important is it must be written with the self-interest of your reader in mind. Try to make the headline appear to be something news-worthy.

Readers love news Make it appear that you have a quick and easy solution to their problem Avoid headlines that only provoke curiosity...combine curiosity with self-interest, news and a quick and easy solution and you’re virtually guaranteed a winner As a footnote, I would like to strongly urge you to get a copy of "Tested Advertising Methods" by John Caples.

It’s a fabulous book that will teach you the fundamentals of writing good headlines and ad copy. It has helped build more successful ad campaigns and produce more profitable advertising than any other book ever written!

To many advertising people it is like the bible of direct

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response advertising! If you get a copy and make a study of it, you will have the ammunition to take your ads from dead, tombstone ads to gushers of profitability!

The second fundamental I want to address is ad positioning.

Due to the limited amount of space in this newsletter, I’m just going to touch on this subject. I plan on going into much greater detail in an up-coming issue.

Let’s assume you have a good headline and the ad copy supports your headline and calls your reader to action. In order to make that ad successful, the first goal is to get the ad seen. That’s why the number one, single-most important factor in newspaper advertising is positioning.

The third fundamental I want to address is follow-up preparation.

This is a fundamental I’m sure gets over-looked more times than not. As an agent you get caught up in the day to day routine. Finding time to plan your follow-up can be difficult.

But, one of the major keys to being successful in anything you do is planning. I like the way Jim Rohn puts it, "Life does not get better by hope. It gets better by plan!" Isn’t that great?

The same can be said for follow-up. You need to plan your follow-up.

You might be thinking, "If I get a pager call and I’m calling back in 3 minutes, how can I plan my call?"

Well, here’s a razor sharp way.

If your ad is going to generate a response, it first has to be seen. If it doesn’t get seen, it makes no difference how good your headline or ad copy. It has no chance at all.

I’ll give you a quick example using an ad in our direct response ad kit with the headline, "WARNING! Don’t List Your Home Until..."

In the Sunday edition of a newspaper, it pulled 47 responses in one day... positioned correctly.

We had another agent, in the exact same city, use the exact same newspaper with the exact same ad for a Sunday edition a couple weeks later. The ad pulled 2 responses!

What was the difference?

It was buried in the section and rarely seen.

What’s the lesson? Fight for good position! Try to get your ad placed on the front or backside of a section. People sort their papers by section before they read.

If you can’t get the front or back side of a section, get it placed in the upper half, left side of pages 2 or 3 of a section.

When readers open a section, their eyes tend to scan the upper half of the inside two pages...from left to right.

In an upcoming issue, I’m going to cover this in great detail. This is so important it bares repeating. It can save you thousands of dollars in wasted advertising. It can leverage the effectiveness of your ads. With proper placement (provided you have a well-crafted ad with a good headline), you can achieve profitable results.

Look up a list of comparable properties for every one of your listings. And when you get a page, pull out your list of comparables and call your prospect back.

The conversation would go something like this...

"Hello, this is Jane Realtor with ABC Realty, a few minutes ago you called about one of my listings on Cherry St. from the ad in the homes magazine. As a courtesy I always follow up to see if I can be of service. Does that home seem to have what you are looking for in a home?"

At this point you’ll probably get the question, "What’s the price of the home?" Don’t do it. Don’t tell them yet...ask the question, "Well, what price range are you looking for?"

Then, guide the conversation with open-ended questions.

If they continue to ask about the property they called on, enthusiastically tell them about it...then give them the price. You’ll build some value before dropping the bomb.

Now, you’ll get a true feel for their interest level.

At this point in the conversation, it’s the perfect time to bring up your list of comparables. Begin by saying something like, "You know based on what you’ve told me, we have a house in the same area of town, with the same number of rooms, it’s every bit as nice for about $12,000 less. Would you be interested in hearing about that one?"

Again, this isn’t a new way of doing business, it’s a new way to make contact. The fundamentals are the same! My suggestion would be to revisit the fundamentals by referring to Section 5 of your course materials.

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How to Slash Marketing Costs By 30%-50% Instantly How to Slash Marketing Costs By 30%-50% Instantly Imagine being able to track every single response you get from every single ad you run – with pinpoint accuracy! You know exactly which ad, which publication, which headline, which offer, right down to the very last detail, caused your prospect to pick up the phone to call you.

Your finger is on the pulse of your marketing with precision! There’s no chance for human error! It happens every single time! A prospect calls – you track everything!

You know where every last call comes from!

What would this do for you?

It would give you the ability to slice and dice! You would quit spending money on ads that don’t produce and focus exclusively on those ads that do produce! You could cut every ad source that was under-performing and you could increase your presence in those publications or sources that generated more quality response!

That’s called "Massive Upside Leverage"! It’s taking the money you are already spending and leveraging it to produce a greater response! It’s like taking your money out of a bank account that’s slugging along at 3% interest and putting it into an incredibly secure high yield investment that generates you 200% annually for the next ten years!

The power and upside potential is staggering! But, it all depends on your ability to track your response, then improve your approach.

If you’re like most builders I know you try to do this already, but it’s very difficult if not impossible. You get calls that no one records. Or they take a message but never ask what caused the caller to respond. And it happens time and time again no matter how much you try to prevent it. Sometimes even you take a call and don’t ask…am I right?

Looking at the situation, it’s frustrating! You want to know where your advertising dollars are best invested but all you have is a vague, hazy hunch "about" or "of" what’s producing. You know if you spend X amount of dollars, the phone keeps ringing. Without the ability to track and measure accurately, you just continue to throw mud against the wall and hope some continues to stick.

THERE IS A BETTER WAY! What if you had a way that every time you ran an ad you knew with pinpoint precision and accuracy EXACTLY how many leads it produced? Again, if you knew exactly how many calls each source generated you could shave and trim marginal or under-performing ad sources out of your budget and focus more heavily on things that were more profitable.

What’s the effect?

Let’s look at an example. If you were advertising in four sources that all cost about the same and found: Publication #1 generates 8 calls a month // Publication #2 generates 29 calls a month // Publication #3 generates 7 calls a month // Publication #4 generates 37 calls a month what would you do?

First you would look at the conversion rates before you did anything drastic because the publication producing only 7 calls could be the one producing the most ACTUAL SALES. But all things being equal, you would cut #1 & #3 and you’d focus more on #2 & #4…the effect?

You could take out larger ads in publications #2 & #4, negotiate longer-term, better-rate deals, and increase your overall lead generation with 40%-50% less advertising money spent!

With our response hotline you have this ability!

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