Kathy and I just took a week off at our vacation house in Tryon, North Carolina. This is a fabulous house. It has a Viking stove and a Sub Zero refrigerator with no ice maker. It has no ice maker. We have ten ice trays in the freezer. Remember that. I am sure many young people can not remember NOT having an ice maker. If you don't have an ice maker, you have to fill the ice trays with water so you will have ice when you are thirsty and you want a cold drink.
This is so much like selling real estate. Filling the ice trays with water is prospecting. If you don't fill the ice trays with water, when you want a cold drink, there is no ice. What do most people do? They complain, "There is no ice.". You did not fill the ice tray this morning. Of course there is no ice. This is called a natural consequence.
What I like to do is this. Did I tell you we rent this house out through VRBO? http://www.vrbo.com/361170#ownerprofile When we arrive there is usually ten empty ice trays in the freezer. I do not understand why people put empty ice trays in the freezer. If you know the answer to this mystery, leave me a comment and enlighten me. I know for certain that people do this. Where was I? I fill the ten empty ice trays with water. Several hours later, we have ice. When I get thirsty, I go to the freezer and fix myself a cold drink. I like to empty three trays of ice into a plastic bowl and leave it in the freezer. Then there is ice available anytime you want it. That way the ice is almost as convenient as having a ice maker. I fill those trays with water and return them to the freezer.
This works fine as long as only Kathy and I are at the house. When we have other guests, sometimes they don't understand how the ice gets in the plastic bowl. When the plastic bowl is empty, you need to fill it with ice and refill the ice tray with water. If you don't, we will have an ice crisis. It seems so obvious to me. It is not. Many people have a hard time figuring this out. They can only understand that there is no ice. Why is there no ice? There is no ice because no one filled the bowl with ice and refilled the tray with water.
This is selling real estate. If you have no closing scheduled for this week, what is the problem? More importantly, what is the solution? Look and see if there is ice in the tray. Ice in the tray is listings. Ice in the plastic bowl is pendings. Do you have any? Do you have enough? You can check your MLS and find out what per cent of the listing in your MLS will go under contract this month. This is a statical fact. If there is ice in the trays empty it into the bowl and refill the trays. What is filling the trays with water? It is prospecting for listings. Are you prospecting? Are you complaining because there is no ice? There will always be an ice crisis if you don't fill the trays with water. You have to prospect for new listings. Get focused on prospecting. That is where sucess starts. Put some water in the ice tray. Emptying ice from the trays to the bowl is marketing. You have to market your listings. You have to market yourself.
There is no free lunch. There is no icemaker. The water doesn't jump in the tray. The ice doesn't jump in the bowl. It starts with prospecting. Contact some prospects. Put some water in the ice tray. You will have ice when you want a cold drink.
If I can help you learn prospecting skills contact me at www.climerrealestateschool.com
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