Frank Cuneo, Halstead Property, LLC

Clients and friends often mention. “What does it take to sell or buy a residence in today’s Manhattan market?” and “What do I do with all the information available online?”How have the neighborhoods have been redefined – which neighborhoods will peak which ones will continue to evolve.

On September 22nd at 12 noon, join Adrian’s Network for a lunch time networking meeting with Frank Cuneo, associate broker with Halstead Property, who gives you the facts to demystify vertical living in Manhattan – Frank is going to share insider ear-to-the ground information with us exclusively that will help us evaluate our current and future real estate needs. He will explain the benefit of have a trusted relationship with a team- branded agent and The Vertical Living Team – Lifestyle approach to Manhattan Real Estate.

Before joining the New York Real Estate industry, Frank spent many years as a sales professional in the Fashion Industry. It affords him a unique perspective and business skill set for the rigors of today’s market. Frank is used to change and how to create something deliverable that makes sense.  Do Real Estate and Fashion have similar life-cycles? Yes and NO. That’s a whole topic in itself.  Next Time.

Click here to register for this networking event.

But ask yourself, do you respect your clients? No really, don’t answer quite so quickly. Do you R E S P E C T your clients? Here’s what I mean:

Do you return calls and emails in a timely manner and for that matter, do you know what “timely” means to your clients vs. what YOU consider to be timely? (Hint, they’re often not in sync.)

Do you keep your clients apprised of what’s going on with their project and do you do this proactively or simply wait for them to “check in” with you for a status update?

Do you promise the world and then scramble to do the job while the scrambling results in a less than stellar work product?

Do you provide your client with out-of-the-box thinking or are you pleased that they will accept “just what you give them”?

Do you miss deadlines?

Do you change the budget and do so without ample warning?

Do you do ANY of these things?

Yes, it’s all about respect.

Sing it Aretha!

1) Be flexible, creative and make an offer that people WANT. Don’t be rigid and stick to what you’ve always done before. These are different times and old tricks just might not work. Do you know what your prospects want, what they crave, what they’ll say “yes” to? You don’t? Then why not do a survey and find out. The best way to increase sales to provide products and services that the market wants. Even if you’re a superstar salesperson, if they don’t want it, you’ll probably have a difficult time getting them to buy. Why work so hard? Ask the right questions and the market will tell you what they want and need and perhaps even what they will pay for it.

2) Have you looked at your existing database lately? The fasted ROT (return on time) comes from your existing clients, dormant accounts and even those prospects that never said “yes” but are still in that undecided stage. So take a close look; do it now! Start with the clients that have given you the least amount of business and find out if that is because they truly have no more sales potential or are they giving a portion (perhaps the larger portion) of their business to your competition. (You didn’t really want to leave business on the table, did you?)

3) How good are you at staying on the grid? If you allow yourself to be “out of sight, out of mind” then you are simply not getting as much out of your prospecting efforts as you should. We are all inundated with marketing messages and if you are “checking in” and “touching base” then you are being banal and not winning the attention and interest of your prospects. Remember the three I’s (information, invitations and introductions). Deploy them and you will be a sales superstar.

Start now; the sooner you take action, the sooner more business will flow into and through your sales funnel.

Any questions, give me a call.

Yep, I’m sitting here and looking at the myriad of beach set-ups. Some folks have umbrellas and elaborate sun blocking paraphernalia; others are lying on chairs and blankets basking in the rays and clearly going for the glow. They’re all making it work for their specific needs…customizing it for themselves so there’s full satisfaction.

Do you do that? Customize I mean or, do you have a “one size fits all” approach?

Sure there are certainly businesses and applications where customization is unnecessary, and where a cookie-cutter approach is just fine and perhaps even preferred (think about it…when you get your Dunkin’ Donuts don’t you want to “know” how they’re going to taste?).

But for us consultants customization is king. We seek to deploy solutions that are specific to the situations at hand, and we do this by exquisite probing. Asking the kind of insightful questions that enable you to uncover exactly what you need to know is a best practice in sales.

I encourage you to do these simple things:

1. Prepare a list of 15-20 questions that you should review prior to every prospect interaction. Add new questions to the list as they become relevant.

2. Practice your probing skills and refine your delivery and timing so you don’t come across as interrogating your prospects. Use your prospect’s answers as a platform for you to provide additional information and benefits statements about your product or service.

3. Listen to the responses that you receive. 80% of the sales dance is listening.

Remember that if in your business one size does NOT fit all it is up to YOU to get to the heart of the situation. You can never count on the prospect to freely disclose their wants and needs.

Sunscreen anyone?

Prospects and clients have ALWAYS had the power to prove just how much they want and need your services. They do it by accepting your proposal and then by continuing to work with you and in this environment, heck, in any environment, you need to show the “love” on an ongoing basis.

They’re NOT under your thumb. There’s always competition waiting to eat your lunch and if you want to rest easy (ok, easier) and be confident that your clients are firmly in YOUR court, may I suggest the following:

1. Go over and beyond what is expected. Doing a good job is no longer enough. Strive to be “great” and make your clients raving fans.

2. Don’t BS. Presenting a less than honest picture of what you can do and how you can do it will lead to disappointment on the part of the client and they will go elsewhere.

3. Be on time and on budget. (Nothing more to say about that!)

4. Become a resource and not a vendor. Resources are valued and are not as often subjected to budget scrutiny. Vendors are replaceable; business resources not so.

5. Show your appreciation for their business. Do it frequently.

Take my advice, unless you’re Mick Jagger, you shouldn’t be singing this tune.

Now I would never (never!) be so presumptuous as to do any sort of Gaga and Adrian comparison. That would be really nuts, right? But for amusement’s sake, let’s play this out a step or two.

You see (like Lady Gaga) I also aim to gain the dedication and loyalty of my clients, contacts, referral sources and prospects extending myself at all times and in all ways by being a trusted ally and friend ready, able and willing (most of all willing) to lend a hand when needed.

The “buzz” around my personal brand has indicated that I’ve been successful in demonstrating my commitment, and it is something that I think about and attempt to improve each and every day.

What about you? Are you like Lady Gaga? How are you growing your base of fans and most of all, do your fans know how much you care? How do you demonstrate your appreciation and respect for their business and / or friendship?

Most of us don’t do a good enough job of this so before you cast aside any thoughts that Lady Gaga can’t possibly be a business role model, think again.

Yep, sales is a process. You start with some due diligence to identify your best suspects, develop the most effective marketing materials designed to woo and wow those prospects, schedule sales presentations to help seal the deal and then, of course, deploy exquisite follow-up and follow-through (aka touch point management) to make certain you can carry that new prospect all the way to closure.

Throw in some tracking and measurement and you have a peek at a very simplified sales process. (Yes there are lots of additional steps but you get the point, right?:) )

Ignore any of the requisite steps and you run the risk of failure because all of them—that’s all of them—are critically important to your ultimate sales success.

So take a look at what you’re currently doing.

1. Are you sure that your marketing materials and web site communicate your brand and message?

1. Have you constructed a well-integrated sales and marketing campaign?  Marketing may crack open doors and create awareness but it must be solidly tied to sales competencies, processes and follow-up.

1. Have you identified your best prospects?

1. Are you utilizing well-crafted touch point initiatives?

1. Have you instituted a CRM program in order to track your prospect and client activities?

Yes? No?

Don’t stumble. Put this into action now.

You know the situation.

The project is completed and there is nothing left to do. You did a good job and the client is more than satisfied but you heard me, there is nothing more for you to do.  (And yes, you’ve explored ALL of the tangential projects as well.)

Yes. It’s over and time to move on to other projects and clients however although you are moving on, must you really get “divorced” from your previous, and now, dormant account?

The answer is a resounding no. Separation perhaps, but not divorce, because there is always the potential of a renewed relationship on yet another project further down the line.

But just how will you get that next project / renew the relationship?

Might it be by “keeping the faith”?  Definitely…NOT!

While faith is fab it does little to renew business relationships. You have to continue to add value to the business relationship even when that relationship is in a hiatus period. You want to maintain a connection but you must do it in a way that provides a benefit. That means sharing information and invitations. Extending worthwhile introductions. It doesn’t mean “checking in” or “touching base” and other overtures that will waste your (inactive) client’s time.

Yes, maintaining the relationship in such a manner that your reach-outs are desired.

So feel free to keep the faith but make certain to deploy sound sales and marketing tactics too. Then, and only then, might you see that client again.

Prospects asking about fees BEFORE they ask about much else. Clients (even ones that are doing just fine) attempting to change the fee structure and reduce the cost of what they agree has provided for positive and beneficial business gains.

How much indeed?

I get it. Times are / were difficult and everyone is looking very closely at any and all expenditures.

But sales consulting. Really.

Sales consulting and training are measurable and when shown to be effective does it make any sort of sense to consider these activities discretionary and start to nickel and dime the arrangement.

Cutting in the areas of sales, marketing, branding, advertising & PR have been shown to have a long-term disastrous impact. It’s simple: looking at cost BEFORE examining benefits, value and ROI is poor business. You’re not buying a doggy; you’re protecting and growing your livelihood.

This all too common practice of hiring the “big dog on the porch” is a relatively safe one. You select the biggest and most well known entity and the responsibility (blame!) for any sort of screw up can’t be laid upon your shoulders. Whew. What a relief.

And so masses of business people hire resources and companies and employ this underlying selection criteria (make the safe choice and don’t risk your job/status/reputation by picking the less well known (albeit highly credible) resource…yes, play it safe!).

And yes, full disclosure right here: I am hardly the “big dog on the porch” yet for 24 years my firm has been providing clients with high quality, cost-effective, results-driven training and consulting. But our history of success and extensive testimonials from satisfied clients didn’t mean much this past week when I lost a piece of business because as the firm stated, they “felt more comfortable” going with the name brand. And although the selected organization provides a fine work product it will be a generic off the shelf solution that will not address this client’s unique situation as detailed to me in their initial discussions. I guarantee it.

I do understand that my small firm does not have the bandwidth for some projects but this wasn’t one of them. This was a program that I would have nailed perfectly.

But in the end it didn’t much matter and so the hunt for new business continues. Let the little dog prevail.