22 Feb A Look In The Mirror
The following is from Wit & Wisdom of Business Brokerage edited by Connie Womack, a well-known industry veteran, now retired. The book is published by Business Brokerage Press.
As year-end approaches, I find it beneficial to take a closer look at my performance, and where I might need some fine tuning. I will share my diagnostic review questions with you and perhaps you may wish to take a closer look at your own past performance. After you pinpoint your area of concern, you might find that a “DO BETTER” pill is called for.
- Is the development of a quality listing inventory your highest priority?
- How many hours did you work at developing a quality inventory last month?
- Did you have to guess at the answer to question #2, or do you have an accurate method of tracking your activities?
- Is your level of motivation on getting “buyers” in to your “office” high, medium or low when you answer an ad call? Why?
- What are the advantages of having written goals?
- Are your goals in writing?
- Do you look at your written goals on a daily basis?
- What percentage of listing turnover is acceptable?
- What is the turnover of your listings?
- Did you have to guess at the answer to question #9?
- When you spend 10 hours of listing solicitation, how many quality leads would you expect to generate?
- Do you feel in “CONTROL” when making a listing presentation?
- Have you compiled a list of common objections from sellers and the possible solutions or answers?
- Are you satisfied with your listing portfolio?
- What percent of your time do you spend on listing activities?
- What percent of your time do you spend on buyer activities?
- Do you spend more time with other sales associates than you spend with buyers and sellers?
- Do you ask questions that lead the buyer into making offers or do you find yourself trying to “Talk” the buyer into making an offer?
- How many hours last month did you spend reading or listening to material that would help improve your results?
- Do you generally make your first contact with a buyer or seller before 9:30AM?
- Do you spend a lot of time worrying about whether or not you can make it in business brokerage?
- Are the results (earnings) low, but you feel that you pretty well know it all?
- Do you find that once a deal is started, you procrastinate on getting loose ends tied up?
- When faced with negative reactions by the parties to a sale, do you try to critique your actions to figure out how you could have done better or do you tend to blame “LYING SELLERS”, “UNQUALIFIED BUYERS” or “UNREASONABLE LANDLORDS”?
- How many times have you asked a buyer to buy a business in the past week?
- How many listings have you amended for better price and terms in the past week?
Consider the ramifications of your answers. Would it be worth it to you to spend some time planning strategies to overcome the negative feelings or habits that are controlling you? If so, don’t put it off; do something about it now! Plan tonight and over the weekend, so you won’t be denied success in your chosen career. The choice to be successful is yours!
