By Dan White
 
I have done a lot of things in my life and selling real estate is just one of them. What I am going to share is a formula that worked so well for me, that it became a lifestyle problem and drove me out of the business of selling houses.
 
I have had a rule all my life: “If I am not having fun and learning, then it is time to move on.”  For decades, hopping jobs and industries was just a way of life and an education.  As soon as I mastered one field, I would move to another.  If I got good at something; that meant it was time to move on because I had learned another skill and was no longer learning.
 
In 1974, I was working for American Motors as a computer operator and had just been recognized by my boss as having become a model employee; not because of the value of my work but because I was doing what my boss wanted. Having mastered the art of making my boss happy, for all the wrong reasons, it was time for me to achieve other things.  I decided I needed to learn how to be a great salesman.  Real estate was the first thought that came to my mind and so I embarked on a new career.  On the same day that I achieved model employee status, I enrolled in a real estate course and resigned my job.
 
In my first six weeks on the job, I found myself in the role of taxi driver, teacher and entertainer.  I drove clients all over hell’s half acre, burned rubber and sold absolutely nothing.  Not selling anything in a real estate boom did little for my self esteem.
 
My ability to sell houses improved when I learned a fundamental fact: you have to believe in what you are saying and what you are selling.  I realized that if I was not ‘cast in stone, stake my life on it, totally sure of myself’ when I advised a client to buy a particular house, they would not be sure either.  So I did the Canadian thing; I learned a lot about real estate and about all the properties on the market in my entire area until I was very sure of my knowledge.  I then became very decisive and it paid off because I was able to sell houses.
 
When I started earning a decent living, I decided that taking a Dale Carnegie Sales Training Course would increase my sales results.  I decided I would become like Dale Carnegie himself; that I would master every sales technique they could teach me.  I became the Dale Carnegie of handling objections and my sales results went down.  This idea was clearly not working.
 
I took some time out to think about this situation, where I was now smoother in sales but selling fewer houses.  At first I was upset with the Dale Carnegie approach.  Then I realized it was not Dale Carnegie who was the problem, it was Dan White. I decided to take from the sales course what fit my personality, and to ditch the rest.
I experienced an immediate upturn in sales results and I was now doing better than ever before.  However, I was still wasting a lot of time with tire kickers and buyers with no loyalty or appreciation for the time and energy invested in them.  It was clearly time for another change.
 
Way back then, there were no “Buyer’s Contracts”.  We worked for the vendor.  We sold a house, we got paid.  If we showed 1,000 houses we did not necessarily get paid.  I decided to make myself a buyer’s contract and not to show houses to any prospects who would not agree to it.  This was not like the one-sided contracts I have seen in the market today – this was a contract that bound me, the sales representative, to do what was needed to get the client the house they wanted.
 
My contract was totally slanted to benefit the buyer, so it was easy to sell to them. For me the upside of the contract was that they were committed to me to buy their house. It was a win-win arrangement.
 
When a prospect contacted me to show them houses, I would let them know I would be happy to show them houses but we needed to meet and talk first so I could let them know how I worked.  Anyone who would not have this conversation would be passed on to another agent.
My first qualifying question was “If you found the house you are looking for today, would you make an offer today?”  If the answer was no, I would pass them to a different agent.
 
Then I would ask: “Do you enjoy looking for houses?”  If the answer was yes, I would be concerned that they were looking for entertainment and might never buy a house, so I would ask; “Would you rather I did the looking or do you want to see lots of houses?” If the answer was that they wanted to see a lot of houses, I would pass them to another agent.
 
My next question was: “Do you have the down payment, income level and credit rating to allow you to purchase the house you are looking for today?”  If the answer was no, I would pass them to another agent. There were always lots of agents to pass the WOTS to. (WOT is an acronym for waste of time.)
 
If the prospects answered my questions correctly, I would then say; “Okay, that is great, I will be happy to show you houses. First let me tell you how I work. I will take you out and show you a variety of houses to get a good idea of what you are looking for. If you happen to buy one, that is a bonus and we both luck out. When I am satisfied that I really know what it is that you want to buy, I will send you home and I will go to work for you.
 
“I will personally inspect every house that fits your criteria as soon as it comes on the market.  I will compile a list of every house I inspect and let you know why I did not call you about it.  I will report to you once a week at a prescribed time to give you a status report. If I am not sure I have found the right house for you, but cannot eliminate it from my list, then I will call you and ask that at least one of you come out to see the house at your convenience.
 
“However, if I know it is the right house, I will call you and tell you to drop what you are doing, grab your spouse and bring your cheque book with you now, because you are buying a house today.  If you fail to respond to this, and do not have a really good reason for not coming immediately, I will drop you as a client.  I am not going to do this kind of work to have you tell me you are too busy to look at a house. The best deals get snapped up quickly and you need to move when I tell you to.
 
“The rider is you don’t talk to any other agents.  If you see a private for sale house that you like, I will check it for you and if I can’t get a commission from the vendor, I will work for free.”
It was amazing how many people jumped at this offer.  I found them their houses quickly because I was only working for WATTAES. (Worth All the Time and Effort).  The clients all loved it and referrals poured in.  I was often selling more than one house a day.  I was making more money than I had ever made before.  Sales were wonderful but life was not good.
 
The downside of all that success was I had a marriage on the rocks, kids who hardly knew me and friends who were annoyed with me.  I was a house ‘salesaholic.’  So…time for another change.  I decided that I had completed my sales training, which was the initial reason for going into real estate, and that I would now move on to other things – but that is another story for another edition.
 
If you find you are having trouble getting prospects to sign a buyer’s agreement, or find yourself driving people around who end up buying from someone else, you need to visit my concepts.
 
Dan White is a business consultant and is known for his innovative tax reduction strategies. Websites: www.danwhite.ca or www.wnbc.net.