Welcome back to Mike Ferry TV. My name is Tony Smith, coach and speaker for the Mike Ferry organization filling in for Mike Ferry. Listen, we are in a changing market in some parts of the world. It’s actually a flat market. In some parts of where we work, it’s a declining market. The advantage of working around Mike and the Mike Ferry sales system is that he has 50 years of experience taking us through normal market cycles. You have to recognize that what we’re dealing with is part of a normal economic cycle. Now, it may not feel like it’s normal because we’ve been on this ride over many, many years of the market going up, up up up, up. Okay, so this doesn’t maybe feel normal to you at this moment, but it is normal to have cycles like this. The question is, are you absolutely clear what to do and how to behave in this changing market. I’m going to go through a series of thoughts from Mike Ferry about what you should do now if you want to thrive.

1) In a changing market, you have to accept the fact that you must increase the number of listings you take

So let’s look at the first thought. In a changing market, you have to accept the fact that you must increase the number of listings you take. In fact, we might even say double the number of listings in your inventory starting today. All right. Uh, in a changing market. Not every listing is going to sell instantly. You have to appreciate in this market that it’s back in what we call a normal sales cycle. You know, if you look at Mike Ferry script that he wrote back in the mid 70s, did you know it could take 3 to 6 months in this market to get your home sold? Okay. So we have to double the number of listings that we take. Are you spending the majority of a workday on listing property? I sure hope so.

2) Eliminate poor quality contacts, prospects, leads, and listings immediately

Look at number two. Eliminate poor quality contacts, prospects, leads, and listings immediately. If you want to understand working in a changing market, you have to move away from unmotivated people quickly. Right. If you have a seller that doesn’t care if they sell or not, or if you have a buyer that’s just out kicking tires and wants to just keep filling out the market. Is this the time to spend a lot of time with them? Absolutely not. You have to eliminate the poor quality leads. Do you have leads that are not motivated? Do you have listings or prospects that are not motivated? You have to move away from those quickly because you need all of your time, energy and effort to go find people that have to sell. You can’t spend time with people that don’t look at three. We have to determine how many leads, prospecting, listings and pending we can handle before we’re overwhelmed.

3) Do you have checklists and processes in order

All right. One of the challenges of a flat or maybe changing market is I know I have to have more listings, but I’m only used to having 1 or 2 at a time. I’m not used to having 7 or 8 or 10 or 20 active listings. So do I get overwhelmed when I have to communicate with those sellers every week? Do I have checklists and processes in order? You know, you think about having a lot of listings. If I’m only taking 1 or 2 listings a month and they sell instantly. Do I need checklists to follow through all the processes? You could probably keep all that in your head and stay on top of it. But if I need to have six, eight, ten listings a month, do I need to have checklists to follow through? Did I put the sign up? Is the lockbox on? Is it in the MLS? Did I talk to this seller this week? How much inventory overwhelms you? You have to get over that if you want to thrive.

4) To thrive today, you have to become fanatical about the prequalification process

Look at number four on this list. To to thrive today, you have to become fanatical about the prequalification process. Okay. You have to learn the nuances of it. You have to be willing to ask all the questions, and even more at times, to find out the motivation of the clients you’re working with. How strong are you at the prequalification process? Can you become fanatical about it? It’s a skill. It’s an art. It’s required today. Think about it.

5) Use 100% of the scripts that Mike Ferry is trying to teach us in a flat or declining market

How about this number five? Use 100% of the scripts that Mike Ferry is trying to teach us in a flat or declining market. We don’t have the luxury of winging it. We have a five step listing process. That process is more vital today than it’s been in years because of the market conditions. So don’t curb it. Don’t use only parts of it. Get involved in the entire process that we use. It works. And it’s been designed for a market like this.

6) Spend one hour a day practicing and role playing your scripts

Look at number six. Spend one hour a day practicing and role playing your scripts. All right. In a changing market. Skills win in a changing market. We have to hone and refine and perfect those skills. The pre-qualification skills, the pricing, property skill closing and handling. Objections skills. Price reduction skills. Are you spending an hour a day refining and honing and improving the skills that you need to list properties today? Okay. Make your practice stronger and more intense than it’s been in years. It pays today.

7) We have to define for ourselves the meaning of hard work

How about this number seven? We have to define for ourselves the meaning of hard work. All right. In a hot market, when everything’s selling, we know that you work a lot because you have 20 offers on a listing. And of course, you’re going to get that offer. One of those offers accepted in a flat changing or declining market. You have to redefine what hard work is for yourself. Have you set up some evenings and weekends each month that you’re going to work? Put in a little extra effort on the evenings and weekends. Are you getting to the office on time and spending an honest eight hours of hard work? Right. It’s that time to go back and really take a look at yourself and really define for yourself. Am I honestly working hard? What is my daily schedule? Does it include all of the things you need to do to list property? Okay. Um. If you will outwork your competition, you have a great chance of winning today. That’s for sure.

8) You have to become fanatical about your lead follow up

How about this thought? If you really think about number eight, you have to become fanatical about your lead follow up. When I say fanatical, fanatical means if somebody comes into my view that they want to sell, I’ve got to find out if they’re motivated and find out if it’s a yes or a no that they’re actually going to sell today. And I need to find that out faster than everybody else, which means making some calls to leads in the evening, calling a lead 2 or 3 times in a day. When a lead answers the phone. You have to be very diligent in getting that lead to an appointment today. If they’re not motivated, you have to move on very quickly for the next one. How fanatical are you about your lead follow up? Very important in today’s times.

9) In a changing market, you may need to either expand your territory, the space you work, or expand your sources by 50%

Look at number nine. Very possibly in a changing market, you may need to either expand your territory, the space you work, or expand your sources by 50%. Maybe both. Okay, if there are less people in the market that are motivated enough to sell, then we have to expand our reach when we are looking for motivated people, right? I’ve been working in this little farm of mine, right. You probably need to expand geographically so you can find motivated people. Well, I only work my past clients and center of influence. You definitely need to expand into Expireds. And for those calling around your listings and sales, calling through hot neighborhoods absentee owners. Expand your territory and your sources by 50%.

10) You have to intensify your lead generation and your prospecting time

How about this number ten? You have to intensify your lead generation and your prospecting time. Lead generation. Everything about generating leads and everything about prospecting. If Mike were here today, he would say that you probably need to add 20 to 30% more time and energy towards generating leads. Well, if I if you have a goal to talk to 15 people a day, but I’ve only been averaging ten. And now the market says I need to talk to 30 people a day. That’s a big jump, isn’t it? All right. So I’m suggesting right now that you add 20 to 30% in the amount of time you prospect and the amount of people that you talk to each day. Let’s get on the journey in the pathway of talking to a lot more people.

11) Put in extra effort when it comes to listing properties today

I put this down. I spoke about it earlier, one evening per week and 1 or 2 Saturdays per month. The market is telling us that we have to put in extra effort when it comes to listing properties today. Are you willing to dedicate one evening per week and 1 or 2 Saturdays per month looking for strong listings? If you do, you’ll be leaving your competition in the dust.

12) Preview homes

And one more point for today. Preview, homes. All right. When the market changes, we have to become the expert on what’s selling and what’s not. If we become the expert on what properties sell and what properties don’t sell, then we bring that expertise to that listing appointment. Are you studying the market stats? Are you out looking at homes that are actually selling? Are you previewing the homes that are that are actually succeeding today? We recommend that you get immersed in understanding the market conditions you’re in. So when you’re sitting down with that seller, you can present effectively to them about the price about the market conditions. Okay. It should be part of your daily activities. Okay. So I have a whole series of thoughts from Mike on what to do in a changing market. We might divide this into a couple of Mike Ferry TVs. Pay attention to these thoughts. Take immediate action today and you will thrive in this market. Thanks for your time.