NHORA presents HAFA education event

In 2009, the Treasury Department introduced the HAFA program to provide a viable option for homeowners who are unable to keep their homes through the existing Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). The HAFA program took effect on April 5, 2010—although some servicers may implement it sooner, if they meet certain requirement--and sunsets on December 31, 2012.

HAFA provides incentives in connection with a short sale or a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure (DIL) used to avoid foreclosure on a loan eligible for modification under the HAMP program. Servicers participating in HAMP are also required to comply with HAFA. 

NHORA (National Hispanic Organization of Real Estate Associates) is presenting an education event at Maggiano's Restaurant in San Jose, on April 14th.

Here's a brief video describing the event:



Click the title of this post above to reserve your seat at this important luncheon seminar.

Best to you,

Jim Herrera

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Take Ownership of Your Customers

When times are tough and customer dollars are scarce, the companies with excellent customer service standards weather the storm. A company culture that places high value on strong relationships with its customers, from hiring empathetic staff to encouraging employees to take ownership of their roles and responsibilities, creates an overall attitude that attracts customers, say Marilyn Suttle and Lori Jo Vest, coauthors of Who’s Your Gladys? How to Turn Even the Most Difficult Customer into Your Biggest Fan. Consider these tips for better customer service to keep your customers coming back:

• Give customers what they need. Although you may not have a lot in common with your customers, if you take the time to get to know them, you will be better able to meet their needs.

• Behave in a manner that is consistent with your company’s brand. Everything you say and do on the job, and sometimes even off the job, has an effect on customers’ perception of your company. When your performance is aligned with your company’s brand, your customers feel secure and trust grows.

• Feel compassion for your customers. When customers yell, they’re not yelling at you. They are yelling at the company. Don’t take it personally. Disengage from your own feelings and point of view long enough to imagine what the customer is experiencing. That allows you to respond with empathy.

• Learn from your mistakes. No company is perfect. Mistakes happen. But when a mistake is handled with care, customers have good things to say to everyone. And referral business brings success.

• Honor the customs of your customers. Take the time to learn about, and respond to, the customs of your customers. The more respect you show for people’s differences, the more your business and your skills will grow.

• Be fully present. No matter their background, financial status, or title, at the most basic level your customers are human beings. When you take the time to give them your undivided attention, they feel valued.

• Establish trust. Your integrity is crucial in helping customers determine whether your company’s products or services will meet their needs. When customers trust that you have their best interests at heart, they will fall in love with your company.

• Anticipate customer preferences. Your powers of observation can help you provide an extraordinary experience for your patrons. When you notice what selections your customers make or what they express interest in, you can better anticipate their preferences.

• Exceed their expectations. You can promote customer loyalty by tapping into the creativity of the people who work directly with your customers. Brainstorm with them. By exceeding expectations, you make an emotional connection with customers that keeps them coming back.

Client Satisfaction

Do your customers feel the love? Not the ho-hum, check-the-“satisfied”-box-on-the-survey kind of love. We’re talking about the kind of warm-and-fuzzies that inspire spontaneous thank you letters. If your customers aren’t head-over-heels gaga about you, then you’ve got work to do, says Jeanne Bliss, author of Chief Customer Officer: Getting Past Lip Service to Passionate Action. She offers these quick tips for getting your customers to love you.

• Eliminate the customer obstacle course. Who does the customer call? Sales? Operations? Customer service? It is in these handoffs that customer failures occur. Make it clear how customers can do business with you in a way that’s actually beneficial to them.

• Fix the problems. Customer satisfaction research has told us how we can improve, but we haven’t acted on the information. Customers read this lack of action as a lack of respect. Don’t talk a good game: address the top 10 issues bugging customers.

• Deliver what you promise. From missed deliveries to unwieldy warranty claims, customers are annoyed and aggravated — and they’re telling everyone they know.

• When you make a mistake, right the wrong. If you’ve got egg on your face, admit it. Then right the wrong. There’s nothing more frustrating to customers than a company that won’t admit it faltered.

• Work to believe. Very little respect remains after a customer is put through the third degree when they need to return a product, put in a claim, or use the warranty service. Suspend the cynicism and work to believe your customers. Most are going to honestly relay what is happening to them with your product or service.

How would you rate your client satisfaction? What are you doing right now, to make your clients be your best marketing?

Let me know.

Best to you,

Jim Herrera

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2010 Sales Trends

Innovative concepts begin during times of dramatic change. The new year will provide interesting opportunities to an extent that sales professionals have not experienced since the 1980s, contends Drew Stevens, PhD, a leading sales expert and author of Split Second Selling. “We are moving toward a pre-boom economy, and selling professionals and managers will need to be more efficient and more productive next year,” he explains. Here are some of the areas that will be affected:

1. Lead generation. Although technology has helped with lead generation efforts, conversion rates have not increased. Selling professionals and marketing departments must collaborate for better target market optimization. Simply put, make every effort to convert more leads.

2. Customer service. Studies show that 45% of all customer interaction involves customer service, but customer service has been sacrificed in many organizations. Selling professionals must focus more on their most vital asset — the customer — to ensure business success.

3. Better hiring. The days of placing butts in seats to fill a void are gone. In the coming year, to help increase margins, more pressure will be placed on sales managers to find the right talent.

4. Preparation. Thanks to the Internet, customers have access to as much information as sales professionals. It’s vital that all sellers be prepared for every customer interaction. Reading annual reports, keeping up with the news, and having a prepared list of value questions will aid every call.

5. Value. We are in a knowledge economy. Selling professionals must provide value by converting the information they have into knowledge, for the benefit of the customer.

6. Process. Most selling professionals do not have a process to build customer relationships and close business. In 2010, it’s necessary for sellers to gain the knowledge necessary to build trust and close business more efficiently. Sales professionals must also be better prepared and better educated. The days of “anyone can sell” have ended.

7. Training. Gone are the days of sitting in a classroom for eight hours expecting a return on that investment. Managers and business professionals do not have the time and, quite frankly, event-based training doesn’t work. With the movement of selling as a profession, companies will remove themselves from education and desire that individuals take ownership of their job.

Are You Trustworthy?

To paraphrase Lt. Saavik in Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan: "Trust. It is a difficult concept. It is not logical."

Many people look at social media with disdain, others see it as a panacea. Wherever you are on that continuum, you need to be yourself and you need to be trustworthy, lest others view you with wariness.

Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and other social media channels, it’s nearly impossible to pretend to be someone you’re not. It’s also a lot tougher to win people’s trust, according to Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, coauthors of the new book Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust. According to the authors, the qualities that make Web 2.0 attractive to “digital natives” — instant access to wide-ranging research, open invitations to join conversations, universal transparency, etc. — also make it difficult to reach out and do business with strangers.

So how can you get through to customers who no longer respond to typical advertisements, or win over clients who tend to be suspicious of expert claims? As Brogan and Smith have discovered, the Web’s best business communicators are people with a knack for building relationships. They offer these niche marketing tips for earning trust online:

• Crash the gate. Before you can make your own splash, you need to understand who “owns” your target market. These people and companies are the “gatekeepers.” Make a list of all the gatekeepers you can think of. Then, make a list of the upstarts, the “gatejumpers.” (For example, in the auction business, Sotheby’s was the gatekeeper and eBay is the gatejumper.) Identify the qualities that define each list. The exercise will help you determine who your gatekeepers are. Then, decide which rule you can break to make yourself a gatejumper.

• Be human. Before you can become “one of us” in the consumer’s mind, you need to be liked and accepted. Start by sharing a bit of yourself. Use your picture, not your logo, as your avatar on social sites. Promote others 12 times as often as you promote yourself. And always remember to ask about other people first. How are they doing? What are they doing?

• Understand the difference between a friend and prospect. Becoming “friends” on Facebook is liking saying hi at a party to someone you don’t exactly know. It’s a good start. Unless your connection is really a friend, consider being accepted as “friends” to mean that you can pay attention to what your network connection is doing and try to find a conversational entry point. Marketing to a new friend will almost always result in being “unfriended” — and possibly an angry blog post.

• Choose one thing you’d like your community to do. Try running a cause-related event. Simplify the act as much as possible (make the link to it on your site obvious, blog about it on the day of the event, etc.). If the cause stands behind something the community cares about, it will be more successful. Reach cause-related influencers and help them spread the word. Finally, create incentives for participating. Any event is bound to be more successful, more fun, and more meaningful if there’s a benefit for all involved.

Lt. Saavik could learn a little about trust from Brogan and Smith. Building trust is not based on the logical tasks that can be checked off your "to do" list. Rather, it is the consistent outreach and honest human concern for each other that builds the connection and eventually trust.

Where are you in that continuum?

Best to you,

Jim Herrera


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Communication is the Key

As I began to think about the new year (and it's inevitable resolutions), I came across the following quote:

Take advantage of every opportunity to practice your communication skills so that when important occasions arise, you will have the gift, the style, the sharpness, the clarity, and the emotions to affect other people. - Jim Rohn



I'd like to think we're all great communicators and can convey our messages with clarity, brevity and impact. But I know that's not the case for me. It takes some hard work - i.e., practice. But as my Dad used to say, "Practice doesn't make 'perfect', perfect practice makes 'perfect' ".

So, take every opportunity to do some public speaking. I think it will help your business bottom line, but more importantly, will help your self-confidence.

Best to you,

Jim Herrera

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Your business slogan is worthless ...

unless your business has a valid value proposition!

When asked what they do for a living, most people state their job title: “I’m the president of a bank.” “I’m a consultant.” “I’m a professional speaker.” So what? The same can be said for most “elevator speeches” at networking events — they’re worthless.

In these competitive times, when building brand awareness is critical, what is needed is a concise statement that can be repeated by you, your employees, and your customers that conveys the value of your offerings: a value proposition.

So, what is a value proposition? Well, Drew Stevens of Drew Stevens Consulting, says that a value proposition is a statement that promotes the benefits your business offers to customers. It focuses on the customer, not you or your processes. Simply put, it’s a succinct sentence that can be heard, repeated, and appreciated in a world cluttered with commercial messages.

A value proposition should contain no more than 10 to 15 words and should feature as many colorful adjectives as possible. It should be outcome based (i.e., what the buyer gets), results focused, and appeal to most any industry. Consider:

• A poor value proposition: We help create a fit individual.
• A good value proposition: We have a 7-step program for better abdominals.
• A great value proposition: We dramatically accelerate results that match your individual fitness desires.

Why should you develop a value proposition? There are four main reasons to write a value proposition as part of a brand-building strategy:

1. It separates you from the competition.
2. It distinguishes you and the organization in niche markets.
3. It spurs lead generation efforts.
4. It enables sales professionals to expediently get in front of decision makers.

Developing a value proposition is not difficult, but it takes patience. It’s vital to look at the organization from a customer or competitor’s view. Here are four questions to answer:

1. What does your business do from a benefits or results perspective that distances it from the competition?
2. What results do customers achieve with you?
3. What is the organization extremely passionate about when it comes to meeting customers’ needs?
4. What are your core values that provide results to customers?

If you can’t gain answers from these questions, the next best source is your customer base. Testimonials and case studies are great examples of value. Take customers’ statements and simply develop them into benefit-based sentences for building the brand.

“What gets repeated, gets rewarded,” the old cliché states. That’s especially true for a well-thought-out value proposition. Memory recall is faster and easier. Your employees and customers will repeat it. And, most importantly, it will drive phone calls, emails, and sales leads.

Special thanks to Drew Stevens, President of Drew Stevens Consulting.

Best to you,

Jim Herrera


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Marketing to Today's Buyers and Sellers

I continuously read about the real estate industry from multiple sources. Click on my blog profile to see some of my resources.) The following is gleaned from NAR information, the Pew Internet Life Study and articles from Bernice Ross, featured columnist at Inman.

Here are some tips about the buyers for the current market...

1. Gen X and Gen Y Rule the Buyer Market
If you're working with buyers, you can no longer ignore the fact that 60 percent of today's buyers were born after 1964 (i.e. are members of Gen X and Gen Y). In fact, 54 percent of first-time buyers are in the 25-to-34 age group. For Gen X and Gen Y, the primary motivations for buying was their desire to own a home, a job-related relocation or move, the desire for a larger home, or a change in their family situation.

Opportunity: As 75 percent of all first-time buyers are currently renting an apartment, consider marketing to tenants in high-end rentals. For buyers ages 18-24, 62 percent used social networking sites several times per week. That number drops to only 33 percent for buyers ages 25 to 44. To earn the right to do business with this growing group of young buyers, become an active part of the online conversation. This does not mean promoting your services. Instead, consider sites such as Facebook and Twitter to be similar to a social gathering where you meet others who share common interests. Gen X and Gen Y want to get to know you in a social environment prior to doing business with you. Dump the vanity marketing that focuses on you and your accomplishments. Instead, show up as an interesting, fun person who also happens to be a competent and likeable real estate professional.

2. Empty nests
Sixty-two percent of all buyers have no children living at home. Among this group, nearly twice as many single females (24 percent) purchased homes as compared to single males (12 percent). Married couples overwhelmingly preferred single-family residences (86 percent), compared with 63 percent of single females and 65 percent of single males. In terms of preferring townhouse or apartment-style condominiums, only 10 percent of married couples preferred this type of property, compared with 31 percent of single females and 30 percent of single males.

Opportunity: Niche your marketing efforts to fit the type of property you are selling. For example, Gen X (born 1965 to 1976) appears to be putting off marriage and having a family as opposed to Gen Y moms (born 1977 to 1994) who have an average of 2.3 children. Thus, Gen X buyers may be better candidates for condominiums or townhouses, while Gen Y couples may be better candidates for single-family homes. In terms of marketing to Gen X and Gen Y, these two groups dislike newspapers. They do read magazines, especially those focused on lifestyle. When marketing to both Gen X and Gen Y, show pictures of their age group enjoying the good things about living in your area, especially pictures of singles and/or families who are having fun. For older buyers, focus on couples downsizing or buying second homes.


3. "Location, location, location" is still true
While people may debate what really matters most to homeowners, NAR's research shows that the number one concern for all buyers (62 percent) is quality of the neighborhood. Convenience to work was second (51 percent), while overall affordability of homes, convenience to friends and family, and quality of the school district rounded out the top five. Given the high price of gas during the time the survey was conducted, it's not surprising that 41 percent of all buyers said commuting costs were very important and another 39 percent said they were somewhat important.

Opportunity: When working with buyers, be sure to explore what constitutes a "quality" neighborhood as well as potential commute times. Gen X and Gen Y place more emphasis on time spent with family and friends. Be sure to discuss these important issues prior to showing them property.

4. Age influences how long the buyer will live in their home
The median time that buyers between the ages of 18 to 24 expected to stay in their homes was six years, compared with 10 years for those 25 to 44 and 15 years for those over the age of 45.

Opportunity: Younger homeowners who have been in their homes four to five years are more than three times more likely to put their property on the market compared to older homeowners. While 21 percent of the 18- to 24-year-olds plan to sell in four to five years, only 17 percent of those between the ages of 25 and 44 planned to sell. For those 45 to 64, only 6 percent planned to sell that quickly and only 3 percent for those 65 and older. On the other hand, the prime time for buyers to purchase a second or retirement home is between the ages of 50 and 60.

So, now that you might have some ideas on who might be a buyer, the next question is: How can I effectively market to them? Here are some additional thoughts.

1. Increase your online advertising budget
If you're throwing your money into newspaper advertising, magazines or buying guides, you may want to shift some of those print advertising dollars to online advertising. According to the survey, only 1 percent of consumers found their agent through the newspaper, Yellow Pages, direct mail, or specialty advertising such as calendars and magnets. Furthermore, the number of people finding their homes through a newspaper, a home book or magazine, or directly through the sellers declined by 50 percent. Part of this is due to how people begin their real estate search. Eleven times more buyers now begin their search process on the Internet (33 percent) than they do in print (3 percent).

2. Fewer buyers use real estate agents to locate their homes
In 2001, 48 percent of all buyers found the home they purchased through a real estate agent, compared with 38 percent in 2008. During the same period, the number of buyers finding their home online rose from 8 percent to 32 percent. Nevertheless, the number of people who found their homes through other traditional approaches has remained stable since 2001. Fifteen percent of all buyers found the home they purchased from a yard sign or an open house sign. Another 7 percent to 8 percent located their home through a friend, relative or neighbor. Bottom line: Put your advertising dollars into Web marketing while continuing to market your listings using yard signs, open house, circle prospecting and referral strategies.

3. Internet usage trends
According to the survey, "Eighty-seven percent of home buyers used the Internet to search for homes, up from 71 percent five years ago. Not only has the trend in overall usage risen, but the percent of buyers using the Internet frequently increased from 42 percent in 2003 to 69 percent in 2008." Even though buyers actively search for homes on the Internet, a whopping 77 percent then drove by or viewed the home in person.

4. Value of Web site features
Buyers overwhelmingly cited that photos (86 percent) coupled with detailed information (84 percent) and virtual tours (68 percent) were the most useful Web site features to them. Two studies conducted by Point2Agent in 2007 and 2008 showed that having 16 photos (as opposed to 15 photos), resulted in 33 percent more page views. Based upon the Point2Agent study, the optimum number of photos for lead conversion is a minimum of 20.

5. Your local MLS Web site trumps all competitors
While social networking can help you build your online reputation, the best place to display your listings for maximum exposure is still your local MLS Web site. Only 1 percent of all buyers surveyed used Facebook, MySpace, YouTube or other social networking sites to locate properties. In contrast, 60 percent used the local MLS Web site, compared with 48 percent using Realtor.com. Individual agent Web sites (43 percent) garnered nearly as much traffic as brokerage sites (46 percent). To reach the greatest number of potential buyers, market your listings in all of these venues.

6. Disintermediation is dead
A few years ago, Web marketers proclaimed that the Web would eliminate the need for real estate agents (disintermediation). The exact opposite has occurred. In 2001, 69 percent of all buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker. In 2008, that number was 81 percent.

7. Foreclosure sales represent only a small fraction of all transactions
Despite the nonstop press about foreclosures and short sales being the only types of transactions currently closing, only 3 percent of purchasers acquired their homes through a foreclosure or trustee sale. Nevertheless, that's still triple the 1 percent number from 2001 through 2007.

8. What buyers want most from real estate agents
A large proportion of the industry was worried that the buying public would have no need for agents once they had access to MLS information. Surprisingly, 48 percent of all buyers indicated that their top reason for working with an agent was to find the right home to purchase. In terms of what buyers perceived as being beneficial, the top three items were helping the buyer understand the purchase process, pointing out unnoticed faults or features, and negotiating better terms. The characteristics they found most valuable in their agent were honesty and integrity (97 percent), knowledge of the purchase process (94 percent), responsiveness (93 percent), knowledge of the real estate market (92 percent), and communication and negotiation skills (83 percent). Technology skills were considered to be "very important" by only 37 percent of the respondents.

9. The saddest finding of all
A whopping 70 percent of all buyers said that they would "definitely recommend" their agent to other buyers, and another 18 percent said that they would "probably recommend" their agent. Sadly, only 11 percent of all buyers said that they used the previous agent to buy or sell a home, while 43 percent relied on a referral from a friend, neighbor or relative. This finding underlines the importance of staying in contact with past clients, especially for both repeat and referral business.

I've said in the past that the world has changed. And clearly it has. Are you ready to keep up?

If you find this blog has value, please pass the link along to others. Thanks.

Best to you,

Jim Herrera


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www.perceptiveinsights.com

Reinventing MLS Services

Greetings folks!

The real estate industry is replete with procedures, processes and business models that have evolved during the 20th century. Some of these processes are necessary, however many are arcane. What's clear is that in the 21st Century the "walled garden" of real estate information is gone. Consumers have unparalleled access to real estate information. This fact alone has changed the nature of the real estate "game".

MLSListings - the MLS service for San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties - has recognized this massive power shift. Behind the scenes it has reinvented itself. It has evolved from an organization that wrote properietary, "one size fits all" MLS search software to an organization that is dedicated to serving the needs of a complex and changing real estate industry while providing maximum service to real estate buyers and sellers as well.

Earlier this year, MLSListings rolled out its "PERKS" service - a "best of breed" partner program in which MLSListings negotiates free or significantly discounted services on behalf of its subscribers.

Tomorrow, June 1, MLSListings is rolling out a third party search service on top of its MLS back end system. MLSListings' subscribers will be able to use the Tarasoft Matrix(r) software as well as the Realist tax data search software. It will mean that MLSListings supports 3 front ends to its MLS system.

For MLSListings' subscribers, this means that there is another set of information tools that they will have to support their clients in a more comprehensive way.

For consumers, it means that real estate agents using the MLSListings service will be able to provide more detailed and more comprehensive information so that they can make better home buying/selling decisions.

21st century real estate demands the best possible tools and services to help brokers, agents and consumers. MLSListings is doing just that - by reinventing itself and leading the MLS industry as well.

Best regards,

Jim Herrera

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For purposes of full disclosure, I am in charge of Subscriber Outreach for MLSListings.

A New Way To Look At Marketing

I thought I'd start this week with a brief video I discovered on the web. It describes the way Coors does marketing. The message here is that you should look for ... well ... you'll just have to watch the 3 minute video ;)




We need to really look after our clients. Because clients are demanding, knowledgeable and increasingly sophisticated. How are you looking at the market's unarticulated needs and unconscious behaviors? Are you looking?

Let me know what you think.

A Home Is NOT an investment vehicle.

Hopefully, this doesn't turn into a screaming rant. But I needed to get this concept into the blogosphere.

Point 1
Traditionally, single family home real estate was NOT meant to be an "investment vehicle". Single family homes were meant to be ... well ... homes! Places you live in for 10, 15, 20, even 30 years. That was the tradition. That's how mortgages were originally designed.

Point 2
Most everyone has forgotten the lessons learned from "greed gone wild" of the late 1990's dot com boom and bust. Do you remember? During that time people wanted so desperately to make easy money that they were willing to drop almost any amount of money into almost any type of dot com company.

Wall Street experts were quick to point out all the problems with investing in these untested technologies. "Sure they're cool," they said, "but as you're unsophisticated investors. You'll lose everything. You should leave the investing to the professionals."

Well, guess what, this time around with the real estate bubble, we allowed the "professionals" to create these new types of investments. And as we eventually discovered, these real estate securitized investment vehicles were built upon the same type of bogus promises that the dot com companies used in the late 90's. Only the stakes were MUCH bigger. When the dot com bubble burst, individuals lost their money. When the real estate bubble burst, EVERYBODY is losing. ARGH!

OK that was a screaming rant. Sorry. Let's go back to basic here.

Back to Basics
If we look at real estate as a home - not a highly volatile stock investment - a different picture is apparent. Pricing for residential real estate have risen at a steady, NORMAL price increase. For example, let's look at the San Jose DMA. Here you can see a steady 4% increase in price over time. (Source: Zillow.com)


And, as we begin 2009 and move forward, the prices of housing will undoubtedly rise, albeit at a similar steady growth rate.

Additionally, homeowner equity is continuing to rise as seen in the graph above. (Source: Zillow.com)

As real estate professionals, educate your clients about this. A house is a home that builds equity over a long period of time. A house is NOT an investment vehicle with a 12% year over year return on equity.

If you're in the Santa Clara, San Mateo, San Benito, Monterey or Santa Cruz counties, your REALTOR(r) associations should be able to help you with these statistics. MLSListings, the MLS is always ready to help as well.