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.

From my live blog:

9:29: Just saw a copy of an email about the system issues stating:

“Current Issues and Workarounds

These are the issues that are currently being worked. We do not have solutions for some of the systematic issues just yet. As many workarounds as are available are provided below.

Issues upgrading a FT line (CARE only):

Work around to get customer out the door: split line off of the FT, make individual and then put back on the FT account.

Tethering for Unbrick is slow or erroring (telegence and care)

Send customer home to tether. Reps will still be comped.

Cannot add a line to an existing FT account (CARE only):

New line Port-in Failures:

The vast majority of our port failures have been because the rep is not asking for the Pin/Password. This field MUST be populated if the customer has a pin/passcode on their account.

Cannot sell out the 16GB white device (69115)- not available for sale (care and telegence) on both new line (port) and upgrade:

Not showing as a 3G device.

The CSS for upgrades in CARE markets is not printing the Upgrade Fee for ANY phone sales. iPhone and non-iPhone.

Rep must be sure to cover the fee with the customer. Fix is not until Tuesday.

Feature Conflict with Existing FT Messaging”

I didn’t get the second page, so if anybody wants to fill that in, email me.

Picture after the jump.

7:00: Daycare was a few minutes late opening but traffic was not too bad. I am number 59 in line. It just so happens that my spot has a bench to sit on. They won’t tell us how many are in stock. I got a free bottle of water. I wonder what happens if I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll take it easy on the water. Pictures below.

I just saw a person that was waiting in line last year for the iPhone and the Ms. Debbie Heroman, the lady that did our flowers.

7:22: The guy in the number 61 spot bought a first-gen iPhone two weeks ago and now has to wait in line to exchange it for the 3G version. What rock was he hiding under?

8:00: The doors are finally open. I ran to Starbucks to use the bathroom while someone held my spot in line. I talked to the first people in line and they said they got here about 11:30 last night. I also got a glimpse of the new phone. Pretty nice looking. The line is moving fast.

8:30: Pretty much at a standstill. I’m sure activating in store this year is going to make the wait a little longer. I’ve made a few business contacts while waiting in line.

8:40: Someone just came outside and said there was a “small glitch” in the system. Great.

8:44: I’m starting to hear a lot of cell phone conversations saying “I’m gonna be a little late for work.”

8:49: Some guy just shouted “Does anybody want to buy a BlackBerry Curve?!” My battery is about to die on my laptop. I’ll be back when I plug it back in.

9:29: Just saw a copy of an email about the system issues stating:

“Current Issues and Workarounds

These are the issues that are currently being worked. We do not have solutions for some of the systematic issues just yet. As many workarounds as are available are provided below.

Issues upgrading a FT line (CARE only):

Work around to get customer out the door: split line off of the FT, make individual and then put back on the FT account.

Tethering for Unbrick is slow or erroring (telegence and care)

Send customer home to tether. Reps will still be comped.

Cannot add a line to an existing FT account (CARE only):

New line Port-in Failures:

The vast majority of our port failures have been because the rep is not asking for the Pin/Password. This field MUST be populated if the customer has a pin/passcode on their account.

Cannot sell out the 16GB white device (69115)- not available for sale (care and telegence) on both new line (port) and upgrade:

Not showing as a 3G device.

The CSS for upgrades in CARE markets is not printing the Upgrade Fee for ANY phone sales. iPhone and non-iPhone.

Rep must be sure to cover the fee with the customer. Fix is not until Tuesday.

Feature Conflict with Existing FT Messaging”

I didn’t get the second page, so if anybody wants to fill that in, email me.

10:32: Finally in, out of the 92 degree heat. It is a little heated in here, with people frustrated by the system slowdowns and news that they are not eligible for upgrade. The combination of the two has caused a pretty long wait.

I’ve been told that I will have to activate the phone using iTunes. They also have to change my rate plan to the same rate plan??? It was easier when you just had to buy the phone and then activate through iTunes.

10:50: Got to play with a demo. 3G is pretty fast, but I noticed that the frame rate is lower than using wifi. i’m going to post a video review once I activate through iTunes.

11:10: I’m done. Not sure what all just happened, but I am getting out of here. Still have to “unbrick” through iTunes. I might wait until a little later to activate it.

11:23: As I was walking out, I heard a manager say they were out of 16GB in black.

Pictures below.

Contact us if you have any questions regarding international traveling or anything else pertaining to wireless.

Ben
ben@wirelessiqllc.com
www.wirelessiqllc.com

Prerequisites:

Generally, you must be a customer of AT&T mobility for at least three months before they will enable your phone to travel internationally. They may make an exception based on your credit history. You can check on this by calling AT&T’s international customer service number directly at (916) 843-4685.

Calling plan:

Once you have international roaming enabled on your AT&T account, you will be provisioned to have AT&T Standard International Roaming. This is a per minute rate for every call made and received. The rate varies by country.

You can receive a discounted international roaming rate by signing up for the World Traveler roaming feature. This package is $5.99 per month added to your cell phone bill. The feature can be added and removed without penalty. Most people add this feature before they leave the country and remove it when they get back. ***I would recommend that you leave the feature on until you receive bills from AT&T covering charges the entire time you were abroad. I have heard of AT&T customers removing the feature the day they get back and were charged the standard rate. Sometimes it can take up to two billing cycles to collect the usage data from foreign wireless carriers.

If you are going to Canada, you can get $.59 per minute calling for $3.99 per month, and if you are traveling to Mexico, you can get $.59 calling for $4.99 per month.

A list of the standard and discounted rates by country/cruise ship can be found here.

Equipment:

Most cell phones that AT&T provide are quad-band. This means that they operate on four frequencies: 850MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, and 1900Mhz. Here in the U.S., AT&T operates mainly on 850MHz and some 1900Mhz. While international, the frequency varies by the wireless provider. On AT&T’s website, after you select the country you are traveling to, click details. This will open a popup window displaying the frequencies available in that country.

To make sure your phone is capable of using these frequencies, go to PhoneScoop and enter your phone model. It will list all of the frequencies for your cell phone.

AT&T also recommends that you have a 3G SIM card. I’m not quite sure the reasoning for this unless you are traveling to Japan or South Korea.

Japan and South Korea operate on the 2100MHz band. AT&T does not provide a cellphone that can use this frequency. There are some AT&T devices that can be used in Japan. You can also rent equipment in Japan or from Cellhire.com.

Data:

For most people, the above information will be enough to get by making and receiving cell phone calls abroad. Others using BlackBerry, Palm Treo, Windows Mobile, iPhones, or Laptop Connect cards may have concerns about data charges while abroad.

First off, sent text messages are a flat rate of $.50 per message sent and multimedia messages are $1.30 per message sent. Received messages are billed according to whichever domestic text message package you have.

BlackBerry has an unlimited international data package that is $64.99 per month. This gives you BES and BIS access in over 140 countries, making it the best data option for AT&T customers. You can even combine the World Traveler package mentioned above and pay a total of $69.99 per month. It can also be added and removed without any penalty. There seems to be conflicting information regarding the ability to freely add or remove the international BlackBerry data package.  AT&T’s website only specifies that agreement for using Laptop Connect while abroad.  I called international customer service and they said that it is a one year agreement.  The rep then stated that since I have a business account, the early termination fee may be waived.  In my experience, I have seen many cases in which the international BlackBerry service was able to be added and removed freely.  Please note that the information provided by Wireless I.Q. is correct to the best of our knowledge and we are not liable for any misinformation.

Smartphones, PDAs, and iPhones have a limited amount of data in their international plans. For $24.99 per month these users receive 20MB of data in only 41 countries, listed here. Once you go over that, it is $.005 per KB (kilobyte). If you are an iPhone user, you can select at 50MB data plan for $59.99 with the same overage charges. These overage charges can add up very quickly. On their site, they list $.005 per KB being about $5 per MB, if that gives you an idea. A great tip is to set your email to not check automatically while you are abroad.

Make sure you will be traveling in the list of 41 countries, otherwise it is $.0195 per KB to use data.

*I would not recommend attempting to tether your cell phone to your laptop for internet access while traveling abroad.

Laptop connect subscribers can use up to 100MB of data while roaming in the same 41 countries as PDAs, Smartphones, and iPhones. This service is 139.99 per month and the user must agree to a one year agreement. If you only travel to Mexico and Canada, you can get it for 109.99 but the same one year agreement applies. Because of the one year term, this option is usually used by frequent international travelers.

Troubleshooting

Once you arrive to your destination, it is recommended that you turn your phone off then back on to get signal from the carrier. I take it one step further by removing my battery completely, waiting about 10 seconds, then reinsert the batter. Once the phone powers back on, it usually picks up the signal quickly.

If you still have trouble, you want to call AT&T’s international customer service team at +1(916) 843-4685. They will be able to further troubleshoot any issue. If your phone is not working, you may have to call from a landline. Make sure to keep details of the cost of this call. I was able to receive credit on my cell phone bill for making calls to that number when my phone was not working.

To dial back to the U.S. make sure you dial + 1 (area code) (phone number). You can get a + on most regular cell phones by pressing and holding 0. PDAs and BlackBerry devices will be a little different. In most cases, you will press the shift key, then the corresponding button with the +. Consult your owner’s guide if that does not work.

To call any other country, you will need to know the country code. Dial + (country code) (phone number), depending on the format used by that country.

Links:

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/international-roaming.jsp

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/international/roaming/affordable-world-packages.jsp

http://www.cellhire.com/att/index.htm

3G, Built-in GPS, 5 hours of talk time on 3G, 8GB for $199, 16GB for $299

Launching July 11th. Read more for other announcements from Apple.

You can watch the entire keynote here.

Thanks Engadget.

Contact us if you want to know how these announcements can help your business.

Ben

ben@wirelessiqllc.com
www.wirelessiqllc.com

Other things announced today:

iPhone 2.0 software update will be released in early July.

Features:

• Exchange capabilities
• Contact search
• iWork support
• Microsoft Office support
• Bulk delete/move for documents
• Ability to save images from emails
• Scientific Calculator (<sarcasm>woohoo!</sarcasm>)
• Parental Controls
• New languages supported

MobileMe

A service that pushes email, contacts, calendar and keeps your Macbook, Outlook, iPhone, and a web-based platform synchronized. You will get 20GB of storage for $100/year.

Apple Push Notification Service

A tool for developers to be able to push information (i.e. Instant Messaging) to an iPhone without having to run the application in the background.

[Update 6/11/2008 – (via Engadget) The software update may come earlier than expected.  Apple’s Australian website is showing that the App Store will be available on June 27th)

Back in March, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced a software update that will help the iPhone evolve and better position itself in the business segment and against other smart phones. With rumors circulating about a 3G iPhone release, early adopters of Apple’s wireless device can get the software upgrade for free and take advantage of true business applications, without having to upgrade their device. These applications include access to Microsoft Exchange’s wireless sync capabilities, increased control by IT administrators, and third party application support. Jobs anticipates that this software update will be released before the end of June, probably around the one year anniversary of the iPhone launch date. We will have a video review when the update is released. Read on for more details about the update.

Currently, iPhones can access corporate email using POP or IMAP access to their company email server. Many IT admins do not allow this type of access because of security reasons. Contact and calendar data must be synced using a USB cable connected to the user’s computer. The iPhone software update will bring Microsoft Exchange capabilities to the iPhone, allowing users to securely receive their email from a company’s Microsoft Exchange server (2003 or later). Outlook data, such as contacts, calendar, tasks, and memos will also synchronize over the air. iPhone end users will have access to their company’s Global Address book, giving them the ability to view colleague

IT administrators will also have increased control over iPhone users accessing corporate information. Admins will be able to remotely configure IT policies on iPhone devices. This is especially important for businesses that transmit proprietary information. Mandatory passwords can be implemented to devices to protect data from getting into the wrong hands. A lost or stolen iPhone can also be remotely locked until the device is recovered or the data can be completely wiped from the device. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) can be used to access information on a company Intranet, whether it is using the at&t data network or through built-in wifi capabilities.

The most anticipated feature is the ability to download third party applications for the iPhone. Wireless phone users love to customize their device to fit their individual business and personal needs. iPhone users will be able to access the Apple App Store and download applications directly to their device. The Software Developer’s Kit (SDK) for the iPhone was released about the same time this software update was announced. Third party application developers have been working hard to come up with applications to be used on the iPhone, some even being free of charge to the end user.

Wireless I.Q. specializes in helping professionals customize their wireless phones to assist wireless users in becoming more efficient in their day to day activities. We look forward to the release of the software update and being able to better people’s lives through the use of technology.

As always, feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have.

Ben

ben@wirelessiqllc.com
www.wirelessiqllc.com