Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Two Ton Elephants

by Jo Lauricella

I was chatting with a couple of realtors this morning at an Association meeting.  I commented that it seems that so many of the problems we are all having are under cover.  Sometimes I feel like we each are living with at least one 2 ton elephant sitting in our homes and offices that we simply chose to ignore and walk around. I am tired of it!


I am ready to try something different.  I am convinced that the only way we will all come out of this mess is to dig ourselves out.  But we do not have to do it alone.  I called a few of the successful realtors in the area and asked them what sets them apart, why they are successful?  Here is what they said:

  1. Referrals are the key. This must be in constant development and constant updating. I hate it when I call a customer and find out they used someone else because they did not know we provided that exact service.
  2. Follow up is vital. Jim Rohn, motivational speaker says that 80% of all sales happen after the fifth contact. That is a lot of persistence.
  3. Knowing exactly what the customer wants and getting exactly what they want.

 

Many years ago someone told me that sales was a numbers game. If you call enough people you will close deals. Jim Rohn calls it the law of averages. For every X number of people you call you get a sale. If X is 10, then the law of averages is 10 to 1. If you want 10 sales, you have to call 100 people. Someone else may have an average of 10 to 2. That just means they are a better sales person. Mr. Rohn says if someone wants to get better, just make more calls and work at getting better. 


Grant Cardone talks about making a list of objections, and working out a response to each objection. Then try out the new responses. Some will work, some won’t. Keep the ones that work and try different responses on the rest. Don’t worry about losing the sale, if you don’t have a workable response you are not going to get the sale anyway! He says, “Hey, you have nothing to lose and you could make a sale”
The members of the Boston Brick & Stone, Inc. team know that we are only as strong as the Realtors we support. We will do whatever we can to help. I will post this blog in the Agent Services Corner of our website. I invite all who read this blog to comment and add your suggestions. I will post your suggestions on our website. 


Together we can help each other climb out of this crazy economic situation. We can continue to ignore the elephants, or march all our elephants out of our homes and offices and take charge of our future.


Jo Lauricella is Marketing Director for Boston Brick and Stone, a Pasadena, CA based company that does chimney inspections, chimney repair, chimney construction, chimney replacement, and landscape design and installation.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Boston Brick and Stone Re-Defining Daycation


Meeting the needs of Realtors and Home buyers

LOS ANGELES-Boston Brick and Stone (http://www.bostonbrick.com), a Southern California leader in chimney inspections, chimney brick repair, brick restoration and landscape and hardscape design, announces simple outdoor solutions to improve your next Daycation.

Boston Brick & Stone offers a list of simple outdoor improvements on their new Twitter site. As the economy begins to recover, many people are taking one day off for an adventure, a Daycation. Boston Brick & Stone wants to help extend that Daycation by suggesting affordable improvements in outdoor living to extend that Daycation to a TwoDaycation or a Weekendcation.

Dave Laverdiere, owner of Boston Brick and Stone, stated “Our team works very hard during the week and looks forward to our time at home. Because of our expertise in improving out door living, we pooled each of our successful affordable outdoor improvements that upgrade our home time to Daycations and beyond. See our suggestions on Twitter, DacationatHome.”

Founded in 1993 by Don Hall and now owned and operated by Dave Laverdiere, Boston Brick & Stone is a business that has become a trusted name in chimney inspections and hardscape design amongst Southern California homeowners and real estate agents. The company has been a featured contractor on HGTV’s “Landscaper’s Challenge” and on “Backyard Brigade.”

Located in Pasadena, Boston Brick & Stone serves all communities in Los Angeles County. For more information about Boston Brick and Stone, call 866-612-6786 (Toll-Free) or 626-296-7700 (Local). You can also visit the company’s website at www.bostonbrick.com. Masonry License (C-29); General Builder (B) #783578.