Ten Ways to Spot a Rat
Every now and then we all have the misfortune of meeting people who are less then honest. After a recent encounter with perhaps the slimiest people I’ve met yet, I complied this list of situations that should raise a red flag and have you and your staff asking a few extra questions.
1. One week or less turnaround times. When transactions are rushed, title companies don’t have time to stop and think about what they are being asked to do and sellers don’t have time to realize that they are being scammed.
2. No one wants you to contact sellers. They may be afraid you’ll tell sellers something that would tip them off to a scam. Or they may not want you to find out about unusual situations until the last minute when your under pressure to close the deal or lose it.
3. Clients who talk through you, over you and down to you. If they don’t respect you as a person they probably don’t respect the work you do either.
4. Two closings on the same property in the same day. This could be an illegal property flip and requires more information to determine its legality.
5. Experienced Investors who don’t seem to know anything about title or common requirements to clear title. They may be pretending to be ignorant in hopes that when faced with the pressure of closing you’ll give in to clearing items that should not be cleared.
6. Sellers who want to deliver mortgage payoff checks personally. They may plan on forging a signature and stealing the money.
7. Sellers or borrowers who provide their own payoffs or satisfaction pieces. These could be forgeries.
8. Married individuals wanting checks payable to only one party or Executors wanting checks payable to themselves rather than the Estate.
9. Newly issued drivers licenses.
10. Clients who refuse or are reluctant to produce requested documents prior to settlement. Those documents may not exist or may not be legitimate.
This is by no means a conclusive list, but most are situations I’ve seen just in the last two months. Never be afraid to ask questions and never put the importance of closing a deal above your ethics. One premium today could be your license, your business, your freedom and hundreds of thousands in fines a year from now.
Why Entrepreneurs Don't Sell -- And What to Do About It!
by Allan S. Boress, CPA, CFE
The Sales Training Institute
In today's economy, most entrepreneurs don't even think about selling; the work just seems to come in. Will it always be this way? What about those prime opportunities that you somehow just can't close for the fees you want? Why doesn't anyone else around your firm help bring in business? What about replacing those deadbeat clients with better ones?
Let's take a look at the FIVE main reasons people who work for themselves don't sell - and what to do about it. These explanations reflect upon working with over 500 professional service firms as a sales consultant these past twenty years:
Excuses ... Excuses ...
The most common excuse is "I HAVE NO TIME TO SELL!" Chances are that answer spilled right out of your mouth.
Who's got time to sell? We're supposed to be billable -- that's how many of us are compensated. Indeed, lack of space in one's daily workday is the foremost justification for not bringing in more work. After all, professionals aren't salespeople, who are supposed to be spending all of their time selling. Of course, "lack of time" gives those not inclined to sell a handy excuse.
Fact is, there are very busy people who do find the time to sell, even during their busiest times of the year, because they know how important it is.
And there is a part of every workday that is absolutely perfect to sell more business: lunch time. Where do you eat lunch? At your desk? Got a lot of walk-by traffic?
You've Got The Time
Lunch (or breakfast) is one piece of every day that is usually occupied alone or with one's fellow partners or staff. Even during busy times, we usually find time to eat. Why not invest some of those lunchtimes with clients, referral sources, and prospective clients? Not every day, perhaps. Consider utilizing lunches six to twelve times a month to sell more business. Experience shows that you'll be having six to twelve more valuable contacts with prospective clients, referral sources and clients than 98% of your competition.
And by getting a prospective client into a restaurant, you take control of the situation and remove them from all of the distractions that always seem to pop up in their office.
Don't argue with success: The Top Business Producers in all professions do most of their relationship building and selling at lunch or away from their offices.
This isn't the 1990s anymore
Excuse #2: PERSONAL MARKETING SKILLS AREN'T REQUIRED FOR BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT.
Even in today's competitive environment, there are still some firms that promote staff to partnership who don't have the disposition or talent to bring in business!
What the firm often winds up with are staff technicians earning partnership salaries without bearing the burden of contributing new life-blood to the firm.
Be prudent about the message you are sending to your staff. Are they abundantly aware that in order to attain partnership they will have to prove that they can bring in business? Don't wait for them to be motivated to do so once they make partner--by then it will be too late.
Yes, some will scream: "Joe was promoted to partnership without bringing in business; why are you changing the rules on me?" Fact is, the rules have been changed on all of us. You can't do business successfully in the 21st Century as you did in the 1980s and 90s.
Excuse #3: "Professionals PRESUME THEIR CLIENTS KNOW WHAT THEY NEED AND WILL ASK FOR IT WHEN THEY'RE READY."
Many of us are reluctant to approach our clients over what we may feel they need or should want for fear of damaging the relationship.
However, by not approaching clients for additional work, we leave them wide open to interlopers -- outsiders who sometimes wind up getting the kind of work we could do just as well. For instance, your client may consult with a stranger as to what computer system to buy, yet who knows the client's records and systems better than you? The same is true of estate and tax planning, inventory control, cash management, office productivity and business succession planning or an add-on service your particular firm offers, no matter the profession.
By not approaching clients when we could, we are opening the door to outsiders who have their own coterie of professionals and consultants they like working with. They can, and often will, introduce our competitors to our clients.
Also, by not being proactive, our clients' businesses aren't perhaps as healthy and successful as they should be. Maybe they would be less concerned about fees if they made more money, too.
Excuse #4: "I HAVE NO SET PLAN OF ACTION."
People in business like to create lists. We need systems and action plans to control our activities. Without a set plan of action, a list of activities to follow, we generally stall out and do little or nothing.
Imagine trying to accomplish any engagement without a written program. The same holds true for accomplishing a personal sales plan.
Set goals for the number of face-to-face contacts you will have every week with clients, prospective clients, and referral sources. Start with two a week. At the end of a year you would have over a hundred opportunities you might not have otherwise had.
Excuse #5: "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SELL MYSELF EFFECTIVELY."
Most professionals tend to be quite risk averse by nature and only embark upon those pursuits we feel very confident about. Is the art of persuasion, the Greatest Skill in the Business World, an intuitive skill for people who provide professional services? If it were, wouldn’t they have gone into the highest paid profession of all, selling?
This is a very valid excuse. Ninety percent of the professionals I run into haven't a clue as to how to conduct an effective sale or successfully personally market themselves or their skills. You wouldn't dream of sending an unprepared staff person out on an audit. So, don't dispatch your professionals into inherently risky selling situations without similarly providing the training they need
The Paperless Transaction Part 2- Fax to Email Solutions
Fax to Email is one more piece to the paperless transaction puzzle facing the real estate industry. In its most simple form, it converts faxes into email. For example, a client faxes you an order to your email-fax number. That fax then arrives in your email a few minutes later. Click on the attachment and view the fax. You can then print it or save it as an image file.
Fax to Email also makes “scanning” documents easier than ever. Your clients can request that you email them a HUD and you don’t have to cringe at the idea. Simply fax it to your own eFax number. When the fax comes into your email save it as an image file or pdf and attach it to your new email. Scanning has never been so easy.
There are several companies offering these types of solutions, below we’ll highlight a few.
Since 1995, eFax® has offered leading-edge faxing solutions that save money, increase uptime, and maximize productivity. The best part is- It’s FREE! With your eFax Free account, you will get a non-local eFax number to receive faxes in your email.
After you see what eFax Free can do, upgrade to eFax Plus and get all the benefits of a local eFax number, plus the ability to send faxes. With an eFax Plus account, send a fax in three different ways: email it, use the eFax Messenger software to send it for you, or follow the step-by-step directions on the website to send it from anywhere you have an Internet connection.
Docuharbor was built with the Real Estate Industry in mind. They have specifically address agent security concerns and have even created an interface template for Calyx. They offer a 30 day free trial, flat monthly fees for service, and free Toll Free numbers. Their Online Filing Cabinet allows you to receive and store all the documents for a transaction in a private and secure way. Everyone in the transaction has access to see only their documents 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Faxxis offers incoming & outgoing faxing solutions, email & online document management, local & toll free numbers just as the providers above. What sets Faxxis apart is their voicemail capabilities. With Faxxis you can retrieve your voicemail via email. It will be emailed to you as a wave file. Click on it to listen to your message and even save it your computer for future reference. But don’t worry, you can still retrieve the voicemails via phone too.
The paperless work environment is quickly becoming a reality. These and many other companies are offering new and varied solutions so do your homework and find one that meets your company’s needs.
Humor
WHEN A real-estate agency hadn't sold our house, we decided to do it ourselves. I placed ads in the local papers, spray painted a "For Sale" message on a sign board and posted it outside.
When my husband came home that evening, he told me, laughing, that my sign was the most truthful one he had ever seen. Confused, I rushed outside to take a look. In my haste I had printed - "For Sale by Ower."
_________________
Please forward this free newsletter to your colleagues.
_________________
|
