In This Chapter

The Top Dog is a particular breed whose ears point and tail wags when opportunity appears. Top Dogs spring into action when they sense advantage, and in so doing emerge as the top movers and shakers in the real estate sales field. This chapter and the rest of this book describe some of the tools and strategies agents use to achieve admission to this unique breed we call the Top Dog.

Real estate sales can earn its top producers a robust income, and this is borne out by NAR’s survey showing that top agents nationwide earn a median gross income of $177,400. In high-value areas like California, where the median home price is twice the national median, the median income for Top Dogs is also doubled. But it is not income alone that defines an agent as a Top Dog. There are many other factors, which are explored throughout these remaining chapters.

What motivates the Top Dog? A study of these unique real estate professionals indicates that they are motivated partially by financial reward and partially by a deep desire for professional and personal challenge. Top Dogs say that when they take their place in real estate, they know they have found their calling, at which point they move ahead with confidence and determination. These are some of the steps they take:

We’ve discussed some of these topics already. This chapter focuses on website development, specializing, and obtaining professional designations and training.

Your secret to long-term success, even when you are a millionaire, is to understand that lead generation is not optional. It is the foundation of your business and no matter how successful you become, you must always make it your first priority and personally administer it. Top Dogs have done this for their entire careers. Not only has lead generation been a top priority, it is the first thing the Top Dog does every day. They make sure their lead-generating systems are in place doing their job, and if that means making phone calls, they pick up the phone and work the system.

As technology has begun to automate marketing and lead generation, Top Dogs upgrade their high-tech tools to capture these valuable markets. They realize that marketing is an ever-changing job. Now that clients often come through the Internet door, they make sure their business plan changes to capture this valuable client base. Top Dogs know they cannot remain stagnant; they must incorporate ever-changing real estate models, especially when lead generation is concerned.

Tops Dogs, therefore, incorporate many of the options in the lead generating model described in Chapter 13. They are always testing new systems and innovating their business models. They do not wait for their offices to suggest change. They know they are entrepreneurial small business owners and it is incumbent upon them to have an entrepreneurial state of mind, always moving toward systems that work better and easier.

According to the National Association of Realtors, 77 percent of home-buyers use the Internet as an information source in buying a home. And 21 percent find their agents through an Internet search. Another survey conducted by the NAR shows that buyers who use the Internet are also among the most desirable clients, because compared to non-Internet buyers, they …

Hearing these statistics, the Top Dog is on full alert, so much so that the vast majority of Top Dogs have their own destination websites to attract Internet buyers and sellers.

Before the Internet became popular as a way to find information, products, and services, buyers followed traditional methods of home searching: they drove around to look for homes for sale, they used newspaper ads to direct them to properties, and they ultimately hired an agent referred by a friend or family member to find them a home. Internet buyers for the most part discard traditional means and use the Internet to find both properties for sale and agents to represent them. Convenience and information accessibility is often their determining factor when choosing an agent.

Statistics show that on the average, Internet buyers visit six websites to find an agent and eight sites to look at property listings. When they do select an agent, they are motivated and ready to buy. This is the dream client we all hope for and the client the Top Dog sets his aim to secure through being one of the six or eight websites the Internet buyer searches.

A familiar term to all real estate agents is farming. Farming is considered the most effective tool for cultivating and identifying prospective clients. The disadvantage to traditional farming is that it takes a lot of effort and expense over a long period of time to capture your market.

The answer for the Top Dog is to do reverse farming. Let your clients come to you via a lead generating destination website on the Internet. With traditional farming you decide what your specialty is, pinpoint 250 people who would be interested in your specialty, and bombard them with your mailer over and over and over. In Internet farming, you decide what your specialty is and put up a website that responds to an Internet search for that specialty—and they find you over and over and over.

Can you imagine having a market that delivers your message worldwide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year, while you sleep, while you lie on the beach in Hawaii, while you take in a movie? Your website is a 24/7 marketing resource of the most unlimited potential as well as a 24/7 resource for your existing clientele. According to a survey by the National Association of Realtors, nearly 90 percent of adults nationwide are online. This fact combined with continuous message delivery makes website marketing a number-one priority for Top Dogs. They lead the pack by making their business model one of bricks and clicks, offering impressive offices for client in-person contact and an enviable Internet presence for cyberspace clientele.

This edition of the book includes a new topic, a multimedia lead generation model (Chapter 13), which incorporates many Top Dog marketing features and adds a few they will now adopt. Top Dogs and aspiring Top Dogs should carefully review this chapter.

The secret to Internet farming is to create a specialty that caters to keyword search. For instance, “Back Bay Boston Mass homes for sale buyer’s agent” is sufficiently specific for an Internet buyer who is looking for a home in the Back Bay of Boston and wants to be represented by a buyer’s agent to locate an agent whose website uses matching keywords. Through a successful web presence, Top Dogs are able to attract any target viewer by making sure their website keywords draw the market they want.

How do you achieve this goal? Identify a small, focused group to target and make that your specialty. Or tackle this the other way around. Take your specialty, if you already have one, and create keywords associated with it, then break those words down into a smaller, more identifiable market. Be the client you want, sit at the computer, and input the description this Internet buyer or seller would use to describe your services.

It could be “retirement homes in a gated community in Sarasota Springs, Florida” or “golf course homes in Palm Desert, California” or “first time buyer homes (your area),” “lake homes in Sheridan Beach, Indiana,” or “stock market investments to real estate market” (this is our Top Dog in Chapter 24). You want to make sure your site will come up in the top ten of the keyword search for both buyers and sellers. For the seller, you may need to also include keywords that attract sellers if they differ from your buyer specialty. Sometimes it takes paying an Internet search engine to achieve top ranking. Only you will be able to determine if this is the best option for you.

It is only through acting as the Internet consumer that you will target the right keywords to drive traffic in your direction. This is not the job for your website provider.

Only you can identify the market you want. The company that provides your website will have tools to assist you in completing this important step. If your intention is to be amongst the Top Dogs, take the following steps when key wording your website:

Top Dogs make their sites a destination point, not only for those who use the right keywords but for their home base. “Build it and they will come” was meant for website marketing. When they come, as they will, Top Dogs give them a reason to stay. They treat their visitors well and give them what they are after.

For buyers, Top Dogs provide maps of the area, community information, school information, mortgage information, weather reports, a link to obtain their credit report, and access to the listings on the multiple listing service. But they don’t stop there. A common mistake agents make is to assume that only buyers are looking at their websites. What about sellers or for sale by owners (FSBOs)? They, too, are part of the Internet generation and an important source of business for you.

Top Dogs attract Internet sellers and FSBOs to their sites by offering a free comparative market analysis, free staging services (addressed in Chapter 23), or seller-only services where they represent only the seller, thereby avoiding dual agency representation. If you want to attract sellers in a certain town or area, include detailed information about that community’s special characteristics.

As computer and Internet technology has continued to take over the mainstream marketplace, more and more people are using the Internet to assist them in the home buying and selling process. Internet consumers are shopping for products and for services on the Internet. Before they list, many sellers surf the net to determine the value of their homes. In this process, they could easily come across your site if it is indexed optimally, and may very well choose to list with you. A recent survey indicates that 21 percent of Internet consumers choose their agent from Internet searches.

Some Top Dogs also provide concierge services to their clients by providing resources that clients may need to plan their move. Many website providers have followed the lead of the Top Dog by designing websites with pages for relocation that include these types of referrals.

Top Dogs are ready to deliver Internet prospects to their door. Each page of their sites includes an obvious link to send them e-mail. Internet surfers expect an immediate way to get in touch with you to ask about a property or your services. It’s your job to make it easy for them to contact you.

You must also respond quickly to these communications. Internet consumers are accustomed to rapid response. If you do not respond in a brief period of time, 15 minutes for instance, they will move on to the next site which is only a click away. Many agents do not make e-mail a high priority. When you have a destination website that has been carefully designed to capture your market, make sure you are set up to respond to it when it comes.

The Master Marketing Model in Chapter 13 includes tools, such as web pager and 800 voice mail pagers, which will send leads directly to your cell phone from your web site or your 800 call capture system. Top Dogs take advantage of these relay services allowing them to respond to leads “in the moment.” When you send or respond to e-mail, whether with Internet prospects or your regular business base, make sure your e-mail includes a full signature and address block. It, too, should be professional looking and include all your identifying information. Setting up a signature file is a simple procedure in every e-mail program. The vast majority of agents do not take advantage of this simple option—these are the very same agents who plaster their names and faces everywhere in every other conceivable manner, yet fail to capitalize on marketing when it comes to e-mail.

Another way the Top Dog achieves his status as a peak performer is through specialized training and professional designations. The Top Dog begins his career highly motivated to be the best, continually striving for cutting-edge strategies to tip the scales in his favor. These peak performers are motivated to go the extra mile, and they often believe that specialized training and designations will deliver them to their own personal finish line.

In most states there are two levels of real estate agents. The first is an agent or broker associate; the second is a broker. Most people first take the agent’s exam and apprentice as an agent for a year or two before taking the broker’s exam. Broker licensing is optional, but it is required if you want to work for yourself or employ others.

Top Dogs who obtain their broker’s licenses feel they are catapulted to a new level of achievement. They gain a freedom in their newfound ability to work on their own which increases their bargaining power with the company they work for and gives them more of an entrepreneurial frame of mind. Some never leave the company they work with, but their commission split shifts more in their favor. Some start their own offices and either work alone or employ other agents to work for them.

In most states, agents may become licensed as brokers if they complete additional educational requirements and a period of time actively working as an agent. Each state differs in its requirements. In most states the broker exam is a full day with a break for lunch. The questions are very similar to those on the agent’s exam but cover a broader spectrum of subjects. The broker prelicensing courses and examination preparation are handled by the same companies that prepare agents for licensing, as described in Chapters 4 and 5.

Some Top Dogs attribute their success in part to the expertise they gain from course instruction. Julie, whom we met in Chapter 3, feels her expertise in understanding tax issues has brought her a broad range of clients she would not have drawn had she not become a tax wiz. Another Top Dog, Eric, believes that the contract law courses he has taken help him to understand contract provisions and contingencies that contribute to his success. Both of these Top Dogs carefully select the courses they take to fulfill their continuing education requirements to advance the particular specialty they have identified. Some Top Dogs I regularly deal with specialize in equity sharing and lease options, which gives them yet more ways to put deals together, a clear advantage in the real estate sales field.

Basic tax laws relating to real estate are not difficult to understand. The agent who understands taxation on the sale of a principal residence and on the sale of an investment property takes a leadership stance both among his clients and peers. Of course, you never want to give tax advice to your client, but knowledge of real estate tax laws allows you to converse better with your clientele and direct them to a professional when appropriate.

The current principal residence tax law is simple. It exempts a certain amount of gain depending on whether you are married or not and has time restrictions with respect to residing in the property. That’s it. As for exchanging out of an investment property, the tax-free exchange should be understood by every agent, whether residential or commercial. Its rules are also straightforward.

The National Association of Realtors reports that agents holding professional designations have incomes that are significantly higher than those who do not. Most Top Dogs acquire one or more professional designations as they achieve their success. As part of their carefully orchestrated regime to climb the real estate ladder, they achieve financial reward and professional respect far greater than the norm.

Some Top Dogs feel that their designations brought more respect from their clients and peers, which in turn heightened their creditability and enhanced their professional development. Some feel that the training and study they undertook to obtain their designations gave them more knowledge and tools to use in their business, thereby increasing their potential. All felt that obtaining professional designations is an important career step to take.

Some designations are conferred by the National Association of Realtors, while some are given at the state and local level. Most of these designations require education, some have experience criteria, and some have tests that must be passed. The following list describes some of the more popular designations obtained by Top Dogs:

You must enjoy associating with and helping a vast variety of people in order to achieve the greatest success in real estate. This is where the Top Dog becomes the leader of the pack.

The vast majority of Top Dogs have become community leaders of sorts. They involve themselves so fully in the community that they become known by a large segment of their communities. They become everyday words that roll off people’s tongues whenever real estate is mentioned. They have being a social butterfly down to a science.

The reason for their popularity is not just because they show up. These people are genuinely interested in assisting others. They have earned a reputation for good, honest service. It takes time to earn this type of popularity and reputation, but Top Dogs do. This is the reason Top Dogs are typically older than the rest of us—they have been around for some time earning the respect of their peers and clients.

Watch the Top Dogs in your office or your community. See how they interact with others. Interview them whenever possible. You will find they are likeable, generous people willing to extend themselves whenever possible. They have also been out moving and shaking and have made networking a priority in their lives.

There were too many factors leading to Top Dog status to include in this one chapter. The following chapters on staging listings, giving and receiving support, and tapping into future income streams must all be considered to grasp the whole picture of our real estate Top Dogs. They are multifaceted professionals and their expertise entails the many aspects described in the following chapters.