Real Estate Sales Training

Sales training is perhaps the most important training in which a real estate professional can participate. Of course, in every state and the District of Columbia a real estate agent or broker must be licensed but without the ability to sell, the real estate license serves no purpose.

According to estimates from the National Association of Realtors, there are about two million licensed real estate agents in the United States. Its a relatively easy field to join. The licensing requirements, although different for each state are not that stringent. Although you can get a bachelors degree, it is not required to procure a real estate license.

Maybe because it is so easy to jump into a real estate sale explains the large number of licensed real estate agents and brokers across the country. Of course, the turnover rate is high too. By some estimates, as high as 80 percent. Some estimates are equally as high for the percentage of real estate agents who quit in the first year.

There are seminars and classes and books that offer sales training. Some large realtors provide much of the sales training for their real estate agents. Others leave the agents to fend for themselves.

Real Estate sales training is not unlike any other kind of sales training. The same rules apply. You must know your product in order to sell it. For a real estate agent this translates into knowing the community, the housing market, market trends, economic facts and figures, what is currently selling and what isnt. It also means knowing more than a little about loans and mortgages. There are far more options today for buying and selling property than there used to be and not keeping up with the industry is the fastest way to sales suicide.

Sales is always about communication. That usually entails listening more than talking. You have to know what your clients need is before you can fill it and the only way you will know this is effective listening. Thats why the Dale Carnegie sales training has always been so effective. It teaches interpersonal skills and communication skills. You can know everything there is to know about the real estate profession but if you cant interact effectively with people, you will likely not be successful at real estate sales or any other kind of sales.

Its not enough to just be a nice guy though. Thats one reason its imperative to have sales training. Having a real estate license is not enough that just means you have a grasp of the basics and youre legal. Knowing your product isnt enough either and you can be the nicest person in the world and not be able to sell a dime for a nickel. Remember Gomer Pyle? Can you imagine buying anything, let alone a house or other real property from him? Sure, hes a nice guy but how confident would you be in his ability to sell you the best house for the best money and make sure everything went smoothly?

Learning by example is often the best way to learn. If youre lucky enough to have a mentor or at least an experienced and successful real estate sales professional that will take you under their wing, let them. If theyve been in the business very long, then its likely theyve dealt with a wide variety of sales experiences and you could benefit greatly from that experience. Youre going to need some time anyway, in the form of several months living expenses to be able to survive in this game. If at all possible. link up with someone you can actually watch at work and discuss the experience before and afterwards. Theres no more valuable training. In fact, the better your sales training is, the more successful youll be as a real estate professional.

Whether you have a mentor or not, classes and seminars can definitely help. Theres nothing like the gung-ho feeling you get from a revved up motivational speaker who is also a salesperson. Any motivational speaker, therefore, is a salesperson or you wouldnt be listening to him.

If a live class or seminar appeals to you, there are a great number of motivational speakers as well as sales coaches to learn from. The important thing is to learn the techniques youll need to be successful in real estate sales. Not everyone learns the same way or at the same pace. Sales training comes in different forms and the same format may not be right for everyone.

Knowing what not to do in sales can be just as important as knowing what to do. Sales training is one learning experience where you can greatly benefit from others mistakes as well as their successes. There are many online resources as well as live seminars and classes for every real estate sales professional.

Jeff Blackwell is the founder of SalesPractice.com, an online sales community that assists sales practitioners in mastering the art of sales by providing professional sales training resources including a collection of leading articles, sales script book, industry source book, and sales forum.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 9th, 2008 at 1:31 am and is filed under Sales Training . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.