The Sales Pitch Spacio

Keith Robinson from NextHome

 

Today on The Sales Pitch podcast, host Melissa Kwan speaks with Joe Rand. Joe is the Managing Partner of Better Homes and Garden Rand Realty, and the author of the books How to be a Great Real Estate Agent and Disruptors, Discounters, and Doubters books. Joe has been a sort of a real estate celebrity, but not many people know about his life before him getting into the industry. This is something we will discuss in our episode, alongside his experiences, advice, and tricks for real estate. He has tremendous experience and enticing personality, so make sure to dive into the episode right now and learn from what he has to say.

Today on The Sales Pitch podcast, host Melissa Kwan speaks with Emmanuel Fonte, VP of Ultimate Client Relationship & Digital Strategies at John L. Scott Real Estate. Aside from being a sales leader in real estate, Emmanuel is also one of the most vibrant people in the industry and he shares from his own experience, giving insight on how sales agents have to approach their philosophies in 2019 to find success in business.

It’s about outworking any potential competitors, being the knowledge broker for myself, for my team, for my colleagues, for my client, really really excelling in how much we eat, breathe and sleep this craft.~ Roh Habibi
Today on the Sales Pitch Podcast, Melissa Kwan speaks with Roh Habibi, the founder and principal of The Habibi Group Opulent Properties, a San Francisco–based Real Estate Brokerage. Roh talked with Melissa about how he had initially started out working in financial planning, but found that it didn’t quite jibe with his personality. So he ditched all the comforts of a big corporate job and started to pursue real estate instead. It’s worked out well for him, running the Habibi Group and landing a spot on Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing San Francisco.
Provide more value than anyone else Melissa asked Roh what his sales philosophy is, and he came back with something so simple, yet very important: To provide more value than anyone else can or chooses to do. For Roh and his group, that means continually learning, continually building a knowledge base so the group stays on the leading edge. But what’s fascinating is that when it comes to lead generation, Roh is a little old-school. Open houses are still the main avenue for his lead generation, and he expresses a healthy skepticism about solutions like Zillow’s data analytics. This is a really fascinating conversation on this week’s episode of The Sales Pitch.
Taking a hospitality approach to open houses On this week’s episode of The Sales Pitch, Roh told Melissa that his main driver of lead generation is the open house. And how does he make his open houses so successful? He says they take a “hospitality” approach, meaning as soon as someone walks through the door, it’s his agent’s job to make sure they’re being helped in whatever way they need. One example of that is his technique of keeping a list of off-market houses within a mile radius, so if someone comes to the open house and it’s not the right fit for them, Roh’s agent can offer something that no one else can. And that’s what he means by bringing unique value to potential clients.
Build rapport, and worry about qualification later Roh says the first thing he’s worried about when someone walks into an open house isn’t whether they are a qualified lead or not. The first thing is to build a relationship and build rapport. Eventually, the client will come out with the truth about how ready they are, how qualified they are. But if you can build rapport and get actual, real contact info from them, then you can begin to identify their needs and qualifications. He also has a very…frank metaphor for reeling in leads, but you’ll have to listen to this episode of The Sales PItch podcast to hear it.
Consistency over creativity One of the most fascinating things Roh says to Melissa on this week’s episode is that if you’re just starting out, don’t feel like you need to be creative. You don’t need to break the mold. What you need to do is do the most basic things consistently, and as Roh says, you’ll be a “star.” And you have to do them relentlessly. As Roh says, real estate onboarding isn’t like any other career. It takes five years to truly get a handle and master the industry. Roh is a truly unique and original thinker in this industry, and you’ll want to hear what he has to say on this week’s Sales Pitch Podcast.
Here’s What You’ll Learn: [1:03] How Roh got into real estate [2:25] Roh’s sales philosophy [8:42] How Roh conducts an open house [12:34] How Roh and company qualify their leads [15:25] Roh’s biggest obstacles when he started [19:04] Why Roh thinks you don’t have to be creative [26:10] What Kobe Bryant can teach us about real estate [31:42] Have a more productive open house Resources & People Mentioned admin@thehabibigroup.com Connect with Roh Habibi Roh Habibi Roh on Twitter Roh on Instagram Roh on LinkedIn Connect With Spacio

The worst thing that can happen is that you don’t connect with someone. Big whoop. In a few years you won’t even remember that moment. So just start today.~ Colleen Barry
Today on the Sales Pitch Podcast, Melissa Kwan speaks with Colleen Barry, CEO of Gibson’s Sotheby’s International Realty. Colleen took a fascinating path to real estate, first working as a graphic designer and even a pizza cook, before taking a job answering phones at a real estate office in Boston. While she worked that job, she started helping with marketing projects, and then was hired on to work in the marketing department before she ended up running it. As she puts it, she took a circuitous route, working in other departments before taking on the CEO role about a year-and-a-half ago. On today’s episode, Colleen and Melissa talk about how Colleen fosters collaboration in her firm, how agents can help get past sales obstacles, and what explains Colleen’s meteoric rise.
How to develop stronger agents: connect people During Colleen’s time as a member of Gibson’s Sotheby’s leadership team, the firm’s sales have grown fivefold, making it a top-three Sotheby’s firm in the nation. Colleen said that one of the first things she did when she took on the role of director of productivity, which she came to after being director of marketing, was to help connect people across departments and across offices. As a business grows and acquires other offices, it’s easy for people to stick to what they know and stay within their tribes. So Colleen started connecting people who were maybe tackling similar issues. And she interviewed top-performing agents so she could glean advice that she could then share with others who hadn’t hit that mark yet. For Colleen, it’s all about connecting people, and she gives great advice for how to achieve that on this week’s episode of The Sales Pitch.
Fostering a collaborative culture As Colleen says on this week’s episode of The Sales Pitch, there isn’t a direct line from her efforts connecting people, to agents have an easier time asking for help when they need it. agents have an easier time asking for help when they need it. But, her firm has what she calls an “unusually collaborative culture.” Real estate is both a competitive and collaborative business, says Colleen, so fostering collaboration is not always easy. But by encouraging people to get together and help each other out, she says her agents see that it’s a “1+1=3” equation, rather than a culture of fighting tooth and nail for clients. It’s a very unique and obviously productive approach that’s elevating Gibson’s Sotheby’s.
Lead generation is all about telling your story Real estate has changed dramatically in the last ten years, says Colleen, especially when it comes to lead generation. Gone are the days when the MLS was a closely guarded book kept by real estate firms. Instead, Colleen says agents need to be able to tell their story, what value they bring to potential clients. Agents who made the pivot away from being the gatekeepers of information to articulating the service they’re offering have been the most successful. The way Colleen and Gibson’s Sotheby’s has addressed lead generation is to help agents connect better with their communities. One example is how her agents are using digital open house tools like spac.io to connect better with potential clients, and foster those relationships. If you’re struggling with lead generation, you need to listen to this week’s episode of The Sales PItch podcast.
Connect with people by telling your story As Colleen says, it’s imperative that you are able to tell your story well so that you can connect with potential clients. But the million-dollar question is: How do you do that? It can often be difficult to tell your own story. Colleen recommended a book, Start with Why by Simon Sinek, to help you craft your story. It’s important that you dig into why you do wha

I don’t think there’s one way to sell. You can’t force yourself to be the type of salesperson you’re not. So you need to figure out what your personality is, and what your add-value is. Believe in yourself and don’t have fear, and you’re going to be good. ~ EA Stribling-Kivlan
Today on the Sales Pitch Podcast, Melissa Kwan speaks with Elizabeth Ann Stribling-Kivlan, president of Stribling and Associates and an in-demand expert on entrepreneurship and real estate. Elizabeth is a fifth-generation New Yorker whose mother started Stribling and Associates when she was ten years old. But despite being in a real estate family, EA actually studied religion in college and then moved to San Francisco to start her career as a food writer. But the family business pulled her back in, and she landed a job as an assistant for a top broker in the city, and never looked back. On today’s episode, EA shares her insights on how to build a network when you start in the business, what differentiates between a great salesperson and a good one, and how to put on a great open house.
The key to sales: Work hard and be honest Melissa asked EA for her sales philosophy, and her answer may surprise you. The fundamental philosophy is: Work hard and be honest, but the vital corollary to that is work hard and find the right answer. As EA says on this episode of the Sales Pitch, it’s so easy with technology at our fingertips to find an answer to a question or a problem right away. But that doesn’t always mean it’s the right answer. And so EA promises her client a deep dive into any question or problem that comes up, to ensure they are getting the best advice and information, not just whatever answer comes up first in the Google search results. As you can tell, EA is an original thinker, and her approach will provide a lot of inspiration to listeners of The Sales Pitch.
How to succeed in real estate if you’re new to sales As EA says on this week’s episode of The Sales Pitch, not everyone is a fifth-generation New Yorker whose mother is prominent in their field. But even if you don’t start with a network, you can still succeed by getting out there and hustling. As she jokes, if you have a friend who trades commodities, you’re probably not going to go out with them for drinks and discuss pork futures. But everyone is interested in real estate. And if you go out there and show you’re an expert in real estate, you can start to build that network. As she says, find your community. Even if that community isn’t real estate, find the community that shares your passion and become the person in that community who can help with real estate questions. It’s really great advice, and just the tip of the iceberg for what EA shares on this episode of The Sales Pitch.
There’s not one way to sell, so find the way that works for you There’s an idea in real estate that the way to sell more is to be more aggressive, to always be pushing. But as EA says on this week’s episode of The Sales Pitch, there is no one way to sell, and you need to find the way that works best with your personality. There are some basic traits you’ll need, however, like being able to hear the word “no.” Real estate brokers hear “no” all day long, and you have to be able to roll with that to advance in this business. You need to believe in yourself, and if you can do that, you’ll be okay. As EA says, you need to jump off a cliff a bit every day.
What distinguishes a great salesperson from a good one EA has more than 400 people working for her, so she sees what makes a great salesperson rise above the rest. And as she says, aside from working exceptionally hard, great salespeople learn to listen. And that means not only listening to what your client wants, but listening to what’s behind their asks. So a client may say they want a gas fireplace and four bedrooms, etc., and their requirements may be unrealistic. But the great brokers listen to that, u