Boost Your Commission Income in 2012

Every vendor out there has a product they swear will help you make more money in real estate. However, as a Manager with nothing to sell who works with agents every day, I can tell you what I see that really works. Here’s my list of what WILL actually substantially increase your income without costing you money.

1.  Increase Your Average Sale Price

You can position yourself to get those one million dollar “come list me” calls. And you don’t have to spend a lot of money to do it. You need the right image. Work with those who are doing it, and position yourself in the market properly. Not that you’re going to dedicate your entire business to the high end, but you need to position yourself for those opportunities when they come up and you can position yourself for a higher average.

The Payoff:
Just a simple upgrade in your image and message can move you from an average sale of $300,000 to an average sale of $500,000. If you do 10 transactions per year, that’s a $50,000 raise!

How we help: Your image is critical and you’ll need position yourself within the high end marketplace and align yourself with a company and agents who are in that market. The high end is our niche. Prudential has the highest average listing price of all national firms nationwide year after year. Our Fine Homes division provides branding and image for agents that meets the demands of the high end market. In North Orange County, our average sale price is $626,000. That’s the highest of any company in North OC and over $50,000 higher than our closest competition in North OC.  (see Trendgraphix statistics from MLS data)

2.  Increase Your Average Commission

You need to learn how to get a full 6% on EVERY listing you take. There is some skill required, but it is again an issue of image, presentation, and style. Think about the difference in price you expect to pay when you walk in a Walmart vs. Nordstroms. Think of the customer you attract if you are a Walmart vs. Nordstrom.

The Payoff: If you can increase your skills and develop the image and presentation that consistently increases your average commission from 2% to an average of 3%. At 10 transactions per year and your new avg. sales price of $500,000. That’s an increase of $50,000 per year.

How we help: You need a brand that commands respect and full value. You need a brand that will get invited to the table more often with the professional image and marketing to win the listing. Prudential is the PREMIUM brand. People expect to pay a full commission to a Prudential agent. When you show them our impressive marketing, Sellers understand that with that much value, 6% makes sense.

3.  Expand Your Marketing Reach

Think regionally…Successful agents who farm locally are picking up business by taking advantage of regional opportunities in surrounding communities. There is simply no longer enough business to go around in the city or neighborhood you’re working. You can supplement your income with business you get from surrounding cities.

The Payoff: Position yourself for regional business and pick up 5 transactions from outside your normal neighborhoods and add another $50,000 to your income.

How we help: You need an office location that gets you outside your local and familiar community. Our office location puts you exactly in the middle of the entire NOC marketplace. If you’re Fullerton or La Habra, you’re in a lower price range and connected to lower price range communities. Brea gives you access to Yorba Linda, Anaheim Hills and our offices in those areas.

4  Increase Your Online Lead Generation

If you are not closing at least one deal per month from your online lead generation….SOMETHING IS WRONG. Over time, many agents have learned to expect nothing from their web site so nothing is what they get. Times have changed! With good coaching, you can generate a steady stream of leads from online.

The Payoff: If you learn how to make the internet work for you, the possibilities are unlimited. You should be able to create at least one new transaction for every Listing you take. Take 5 Listings this year and use the internet properly and you should be looking at another $50,000

How we help: You can’t afford to spend a lot of time online, so in-office support is critical to your success online. We provide the in-house support agents need to avoid the technology time trap. We do the online marketing for our agents! We pay for online marketing for all our listings and direct the leads directly to the Listing Agent! Our Online Virtual Assistant program and in-house social media support keeps our agents ahead of the competition online.

5.  Change Your Environment

You’ll never rise above the expectations of your peers. You need to be around successful people. You need to be in a drama free environment. Removing yourself from comfort and seeking challenge change causes personal growth and new opportunities.

The Payoff: New relationships and environment are stimulating and inspirational. Could you add another 2 transactions if you clear the relational clutter and focus on new ways of doing business? If so, add another $10,000

How we help: You’re around too many part-timers and non-productive agents. We have 8 of the top 10 Agents in NOC. No other company ever has more than one. We have the highest per agent productivity in North OC. That’s because we know how to help “good” agents become “great” agents. And we’ve developed an environment where ideas are shared. It’s an environment of success. The result is that we have the highest Per Agent Production of any company in North Orange County. Our average agent’s annual sales is DOUBLE our closest competitor. (see Trendgraphix statistics from MLS data)

Ok, so I just added another $200,000 to your income. Maybe that’s a little overboard. If only it was that simple in the real world. But you have to admit, these are definitely income producing ideas that would work if you had the right environment to keep you focused and effective.

I’d like to interview for the job of helping you do just that!

Tom Pelton
Extraordinary Office Manager
Prudential California Realty
tom.pelton@mailpcr.com
714-348-2350

Meet Little Man Who Decides What Comes Up on Google

There is a little guy at Google who decides what comes up on page one. The same little guy now works for Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites and decides who and what shows up in your newsfeed.

You need to get to know this little guy and how he thinks if you want your online marketing to succeed.  If you want your web site to come up on Google, you need to know this guy and how he thinks.  If you want to use social media to gain exposure and connection with more people, you’ll need to understand how this guy works.

This name of this powerful little guy is… Mr. Algo Rithm. (algorithm)

Algo commands an army of “spiders” who collect information from web sites across the web and report the raw data back. Mr. Rithm then sorts the information according to secret rules to decide who and what comes up on a search for any given key word or phrase.

Mr. Algo Rithm’s latest assignment is social media. He now works for Facebook, Twitter, and others. When you check your daily newsfeed, Algo decides which of your friends posts come up in your “Top News” feed and which posts are relegated to the “Most Recent” feed view of rarely seen friends. He follows pre-set rules to try to decided who’s news you want to see… like how many comments the post had or how many time you commented on the friend’s posts or how you’re related.  He wants you to see popular posts and posts from people you’re actually connected with.

At Google, Mr. Algo Rithum decides who comes up on page one. His army of spiders report to him how many times a key word is repeated on a page and how many other highly ranked sites like to your site to decide how highly your site should rank.

If you want to enjoy success online, you need to get to know Mr. Algo Rithm (most people call him AlgoRithm)  Learn about his ever changing rules and play by the rules of his game.  If you want to learn more about him… Google it.

– Tom Pelton Dec. 2010