Wireless I.Q.’s Weblog

5 Tips to Help You Become More Efficient and Productive

As originally posted on ActiveRain:

There is a reason real estate agents are among our largest demographic of clients. You will hardly ever find a real estate agent in one place all of the time. The best in the industry are always on the go, doing what they can to get more listings and to close more sales. These are the agents that are making the money, not settling for average. Most of these agents are well versed in using tools and techniques to help them stay on top of their game by having a high level of efficiency and productivity. At Wireless I.Q., we coach current and aspiring top producers and develop an “action plan” to use technology to achieve goals.

I have compiled a list of 5 tips to increase your efficiency and productivity in 2009:

1. Adopt a new technology and openly look for ways to utilize it to your advantage.

I give a free presentation at real estate company sales team meetings. At the beginning of the presentation, I ask for a show of hands from smartphone users. During one presentation, I was shocked to see that out of over thirty agents there were only three or four hands raised . The week after the presentation, I received calls from a dozen of those agents looking to make the jump to a smart phone. Try to overcome whatever is holding you back from adopting a new technology and approach it with an open mind.

2. Better Manage Client Relationships

What makes a good salesperson? I have always thought of myself as a successful salesperson because I understand who my client is, exactly what they are looking for, and use techniques to help me position my services to their individual needs. If you are asking the right questions, or “power questions” as they are sometimes referred to, you are quickly gathering all of the necessary information needed to help you find the right listings to show your clients. A long sales process can be very stressful for both parties, especially if your client seems to be unhappy with any listing you show them. Maybe they are being difficult. Maybe a better relationship needs to be built.

When I meet a new client, I always add them into my phone’s address book. In my BlackBerry, there are many different fields of information that can be entered. I fill in as many fields as possible, especially the birthday field. Then in the notes section, I write as much as I can about our conversation when I asked them “power questions.” I now have all the information I need to position our services to fit their individual needs.

A few good books to read if you want to improve in this area:

• Spin Selling
• Getting Past No
• Sales for Dummies

3. Showcase Your Property Listings

Find a new way to communicate new listings and changes in listings to potential buyers. If you are reading this on ActiveRain, you have already taken the first step. Social Networking has become a very effective way to market products and services. In the United States alone, there are over 36 million Facebook users. As time progresses, many of the people on Facebook will become first time home buyers. You can setup a Facebook page to help scoop up some of these people and make them your clients. Businesses can now setup their own page with loads of information for Facebook users to view. A few other sites worth checking out are MySpace and LinkedIn.

Another great way to communicate to your clients is to setup a blog or an email distribution list. You can tell your new and existing clients that they can check out your blog for new listings or price drops. If you start an email list, you can send out a weekly newsletter that showcases one particular property. Use your cell phone to take pictures or video of a property and post it on your blog or email it to your clients. If you choose the email newsletter, make sure to tell your clients that you will not share their email address and use the bcc option to hide their email from others.

4. Remain Focused on Your Goals

It is hard to juggle all of the aspects of your job. This is especially true when your family or personal life come into the mix. I use a few techniques to keep up with everything that needs to be done.

First I use my calendar to store every event in my life. I enter deadlines, business trips, meetings, and other events into my BlackBerry or into Microsoft Outlook and set reminders to give me enough time to remember everything I need to do for that particular event. You can change the length of time your reminder goes off in relation to the event. If I have a meeting, I will set it to give myself enough time to get to the meeting. If it is a deadline, I give myself enough time to complete the project, and so on. I even put entries into my calendar when bills are due.

In conjunction with my calendar, I use a task list to mark my progress on my to do list. By using the tasks on my phone, I can set priority and the status of the task on hand. I also use a whiteboard in my home office to give me a visual reminder of tasks that need to be taken care of, calls to be made, and if I am waiting on anything needed to complete my task.

5. Save Time Where You Can

This is usually the most complicated step for our clients. We sit down and brainstorm on ways to save time on daily tasks. One of the most frequent dilemmas is answering an entire day of emails after work. Even with a mobile email device, I see many clients that spend an hour or more responding to emails on their computer at the end of the night because they only read the emails coming in throughout the day. Try to answer an email when waiting in line for coffee, while on a smoke break, or as you scarf down lunch. If you can respond to a few at a time throughout the day, you will have more free time to work on other things at the end of the day.

Another popular solution is setting up wireless synchronization for your smartphone. Many BlackBerry, Palm Treo, Windows Mobile, and iPhone users get home, power up their computer, and plug in their phone to sync with their computer. We help setup a lot of real estate agents for wireless sync. Now when you enter an appointment into your phone, it automatically goes into your computer without having to do anything. The same works vice-versa and for contacts as well. This could save you 15 minutes per day. It can also help if you have someone that helps schedule appointments. When you enter something into your phone, they would immediately be able to see that change and could reduce scheduling conflicts.

You may already be doing some of these tricks. If you are, you are one step ahead of the game. I am always looking for different solutions to help in these areas. If you have any tips or tricks that work for you, leave a comment below.

For more information on how you can improve your efficiency and productivity, feel free to email me or call the number listed in my profile.

Mileage Trackers for BlackBerry

Depending on what industry you are in, you may either get reimbursed for mileage through your company or write off the mileage on your taxes.  Last year, the IRS made a change to the deduction amount for mileage.  It went up to 58.5 cents per mile (if you are claiming for 2008, the first six months is 50.8 cents per mile).  I logged almost 4000 miles and am going to have a nice deduction.

There are a few programs out there for BlackBerry that allow you to track your mileage.  I tested out two programs, TrackIT: Vehicle Edition and Mileage Manager.  They both work very well to record your mileage.

TrackIT: Vehicle Edition - $24.99 at Handango

This program allows you to track all vehicle expenses in one place: mileage, fuel costs, vehicle expenses, and maintenance.  It also allows you to track multiple vehicles.  The program is very easy to use and even has a feature to view reports and graphs for your expenses.  Data can be exported to your computer using email on your BlackBerry.  Filters can be set to export certain types of data.

Mileage Manager - $9.50 at Handango

This is a more basic way to track your mileage.  If you are not interested in tracking other expenses, this program is for you.  You can easily add mileage entries to the list and export it using email in either HTML or CSV (for Excel) format.  Mileage Manager allows you to set a reimbursement amount for your mileage and will keep a running total of how much reimbursement you are owed.  This application does not allow you to view reports or graphs.  There is one “bug” with Mileage Manager.  Normally, if you press the back button on a BlackBerry, it prompts you to save or discard your changes.  With this program, the back button will automatically discard your changes.  You have to press menu, then save in order for your changes to take effect.

Trial versions of both software is available for download:

TrackIT: Vehicle Edition

Mileage Manager

Check out the video review of both applications below:

Supra eKey for BlackBerry

GE is releasing a long awaited eKey for BlackBerry.  eKey is used by realtors to access lock boxes on properties available for sale or lease.  The technology also allows realtors to search for listings using eKey lock boxes from their cell phone and to track statistics regarding their listings.  Previous lock box users were confined to using a device with an infrared port, generally Palm Treo and Windows Mobile devices.

BlackBerry users can now purchase an infrared eKey fob (pictured).  This is a bluetooth device that connects to the BlackBerry similar to a headset and is small enough to connect to your key chain.  Once you enter your PIN to open a lock box, the keyfob translates the signal from the BlackBerry to infrared in order to open the lock box.

There are two types of eKey service designed for the BlackBerry.  The first is eKey Basic, which is available now.  This allows you retrieve keys for iBoxes, program iBox access hours, beam data to iBoxes (showing notes, listing highlights, and business card information), change shackle codes, and track KeyBox inventory.

eKey Professional will be available sometime in March of 2009 and will include all of the features of eKey Basic.  It will also include eDATA Mobile which allows realtors access to listing information while on the go.  eDATA allows searching of MLS listings that can be viewed on Google Maps.  It also shows updated contact information for other agents and gives you the ability to receive real-time showing notifications.

You can find out more information about eKey for BlackBerry, including an order form for the IR keyfob by clicking here.