Protecting Your Time

EXCESS GOLF CLUBS?…

Periodically on my Coaching calls I hear the following statement, “I have three really good Buyers that I’m working with. As soon as what they’re looking for comes on the market, I will have a guaranteed sale – they’ll buy it.”

Sounds pretty straightforward… all you have to do is find what they want. It is easy to seduce yourself into believing that you have a great Customer who is “ready to go”, especially when they seem to be motivated.

There is a problem however… just because they are ready to buy and just because they are motivated,… doesn’t mean that you can produce the home they want. Here’s two critical questions:

Q#1. “Does their budget and their criteria match up for your area? Are their demands realistic?”

Q#2. “Assuming they have the money to buy, what are the chances of the home they are looking for coming on the market in the next 30 days? What are the chances of you finding that home that meets their criteria?”

Question #1 is fairly easy to deal with. As a professional you can arrive at a fairly speedy conclusion. It is question #2 that becomes more of a challenge. If it turns out that their criteria are too specific, you could spend the next six months searching for a “needle in a haystack”. The bottom line is you need to be careful that you are not hanging on to a “hope and dream” that is not likely to happen. Here are 2 “to do’s” that will really help you sort this out……

1. Go through your current list of buyers… the people you are contacting no less than 10 – 14 days apart. How many of those people have you had on this list for more than 45 days? They are the ones that are slowing you down. Think of the golf bag metaphor… you can only put so many clubs into one golf bag before it becomes too heavy to carry. Do you have “excess clubs in your golf bag”?
2. Get rid of the golf clubs you aren’t using. It doesn’t mean you throw them away, it does mean that you should take them out of the bag you are carrying and replace them with somebody you can help now. Promises of business to come does not put food on the table. It’s not your fault if what they’re looking for doesn’t exist… find someone who needs what’s available. That’s the business you’re in.

Make sure the odds are in your favour…do not hang on to Buyers who have expectations that can’t be met in the near future. If you can’t produce what they want in a reasonable period of time replace them. NO Excuses.