This blog article is powered by CIR Realty, adding value to you and your business by bringing you innovation and experience. To find out more about us, visit www.cirrealty.ca.

This blog article is powered by CIR Realty, adding value to you and your business by bringing you innovation and experience. To find out more about us, visit www.cirrealty.ca.

Hey everybody, Lindsey Smith here with your business tip this week.

I was walking down the street and I saw these new homes behind me and it reminded me of a business tip that I heard from two gurus named Chad Holmes and Harvey McKay.  And the tip is this, is that if you can’t be #1, make sure you secure your spot as #2.  And the way it works is this, I get questions all the time about how do I prospect builders or lawyers with divorce sales or perhaps it’s banks with foreclosures.  And the deal is this.  Is that you have to constantly be building relationships with these people.

Now, I’ve talked to people that said, “Oh, I can’t do it; they’re already working with someone.”  Well that is their number one pick because they made it and then chosen to  work with them.  But now think; if you could be #2 in these people’s eyes, and if they said, “Do you know what, if this relationship ever ended, we would give you a shot.”  Then that is almost more powerful because here’s the reason.

Imagine, you can be prospecting 50 of these types of clients, builders, banks, lawyers; and imagine that they switch who they do business with once every ten years.  That means on average, at every single year, this person; there would be five of these people that switched who they do business with.  And if you’re #2 in their eyes, then guess who they’re going to turn to for their business?  That’s up to five a year.  Now, some people aren’t going to switch as often.  Some people may switch more often.  But think about the power of that.  So if you ever can’t be first, make sure you maintain your relationships to ensure your spot as #2.

That’s the business tip this week.  All the best in doing a ton of business in 2009.

This blog article is powered by CIR Realty, adding value to you and your business by bringing you innovation and experience. To find out more about us, visit www.cirrealty.ca.

There are many, many books written on negotiation. There are as many good books as there are bad. In the past, manipulation used to be the standard method of choice for negotiating. Learning how to control and use subtle techniques to get what you want, and then leave the other side without a leg to stand on. This ultimately led to prolonged negotiations, with one side feeling cheated. As a result, that side would likely choose not to do business with the other party in the future, or would go out of their way to compensate for their losses. As a result, both sides would lose.

Business has changed. The knowledge and expectation of consumers has increased dramatically. The average consumer has done their homework and now brings a lot more to the negotiating table. Unfortunately, outdated negotiating tactics are still rampant and most REALTORS® still have not adapted. Real estate training programs, with their origins in the 80’s, dominate today’s education for agents. Negotiations today remain stressful, heated and emotional. The tension between buyers and sellers has led to increases in law suits, retaliation and extreme dissatisfaction. Poor negotiating is a major flaw in the real estate industry.

Here are the biggest mistakes and the solutions to each: Continue reading »

Hey everybody, it’s Lindsey Smith here with your business tip this week. I want to give you guys a really quick tip about your office or your work space. Now this could be at home or this could be in an actual office environment.

The tip is this. Whatever you do, make sure that your office is always comfortable, is organized, and is extremely functional. Because what happens is, is if our own workspace is not conducive to working on a regular basis or if there’s little nagging to-do’s that we wanted to get down but haven’t got done yet, then we will build up resistance to working there.

Now, think about this is – if your filing cabinets are broken or if they’re too far away then chances are you’ll have papers and files that are literally building up because of your resistance to filing. Now this isn’t just filing cabinets and filing; this could be anything. If you have something in your office that’s incomplete or is difficult to manage, then you will build up a resistance to doing it and as a result, it might just get pushed to the side burner and eventually your to-do list or different activities will build up or you’ll become unorganized and things will start to get missed. Continue reading »

Hey everybody, Lindsey Smith here with your business tip this week.  Today’s tip is all about making your marketing pay off huge for you and this is what you’re going to do.  You’re going to invest a little bit of money in testing ideas, in testing different marketing concepts and then once you figure out what works, you’re going to scale up the marketing dollars that you spend from there.  So this is what it might look like. Continue reading »

With the real estate market heating up, and the rise in consumer confidence married with historically low interest rates being evident; this may arguably be the best time for a first time home buyer to enter the world of home-ownership.

Unfortunately, one of the toughest obstacles faced by most first time home-buyers is the dreaded down payment, and until just recently, the two options for those facing this issue were:

1. A select few lenders offering 100% financing with extremely strict qualifying guidelines. This option generally lead into a conversation as to why the client didn’t meet the lending requirements and brought them back to square one; being option two. Continue reading »

Marketing Tips to Maximize Your Mini Trade Show Event

Trade shows are an excellent way to attract new clients and to re-connect with existing clients by marketing new products and services while continuing to develop personal relationships.

 Here are some strategies and ideas that will help you and your business get the most value out of our mini-trade show event! Continue reading »

Hi Everyone;

As many of you know, CIR Realty sent almost the entire CIR Management Team down to NAR to learn new ways to better serve you. I wanted to share with you my favorite speaker and I have also included some notes if they are of interest to you. CIR Realty has ordered the audio tapes and they will be posted soon so you will be able to listen and learn from the talented speakers in the comfort of your own home.

Did you know the first 30 seconds of a meeting sets the tone? How do you do in the first 30 seconds? Tips below will ensure you make the most out of every valuable second. These valuable seconds lead to positive negotiations and money in your pocket.

A little about the speaker I loved…… Continue reading »