We are all different. Why shouldn’t our Expired Listing Plan be different? In the past, I have taken some time to talk about how to adjust a generic Expired Prospecting Plan to make it fit for your area in my article A Tale of Three Agents. I reference them in this article so click here to read that article first. The next way I encourage you to adjust an Expired Plan after you have adapted it to fit your Market Area is by customizing it to fit your STYLE. When I say style, I mean Behavioral Styles. All of the clients I work with are given a DiSC Profile. This helps me as a coach to understand who they are and for the Realtor to understand and build off their strengths. I am sure many of you are familiar with DiSC, but if you are not or would like more information, log on to www.DiSCForRealEstate.com and click on the “What is DiSC” tab. I am going to give a very brief overview before going on to explain how my clients have adapted their Expired Programs to fit their styles. The DiSC® model provides nonjudgmental language for exploring behavioral issues across four primary dimensions: Dominance: Direct and Decisive. D’s are strong-willed, strong-minded people who like accepting challenges, taking action, and getting immediate results.

I’s are “people people” who like participating on teams, sharing ideas, and energizing and entertaining others.

Steadiness: Sympathetic and Cooperative.

S’s are helpful people who like working behind the scenes, performing in consistent and predictable ways, and being good listeners.

Conscientiousness: Concerned and Correct. C’s are sticklers for quality and like planning ahead, employing systematic approaches, and checking and re-checking for accuracy. Most agents I work with usually come up with a primary and secondary style. Many agents come up with High “Ds” as one of their two highest styles. Although being a High D is great when it comes to running a team, or closing a buyer, it can be intimidating to prospects early on and can be perceived as being pushy. In this case I encourage them to turn down their”D” and concentrate on the other highest style.

Remember the three agents I told you about in A Tale of Three Agents? They were the City Agent, the Suburb Agent and the Rural Agent? They all have different styles. Based on what I told you about the City Agent’s Expired Plan, can you guess what style he is?

Remember: He is on the phone calling Expired Listings every day from 9:30 am to 10 am without fail. His intention with the phone calls is to see if the homeowner is still interested in selling their home and to make an appointment to come out, that day if possible. After making phone calls, setting appointments and talking to those that are home; this City Agent then spends 30 minutes making up packets to drop off at the homes that he was not able to talk to. City Agent is a High C.

Conscientiousness: Concerned and Correct.

C’s are sticklers for quality and like planning ahead, employing systematic approaches. He does the same thing at the same time everyday without fail. He is very accurate, very precious and a very good agent. ----- How about Suburban Agent? What style do you think she is based on the way she adapted her Expired Plan to fit her style as well as her market area. Remember she is the one that: Uploads the picture, creates the card that then is printed in her handwriting and sent that day. She then sends out a post card through the same system 3 days later and another card 3 days after that. She continues with cards weekly for four more weeks and then puts them on a monthly card and postcard campaign which is automated through this system. Suburban Agent is a High “S”

Steadiness: Sympathetic and Cooperative.

S’s are helpful people, performing in consistent and predictable ways, and are good listeners. She created a system that she can put in motion that seems to be very personal, but is totally automated. ----- So how the marketing person for Rural Agent? Remember the marketing person: She has a number of different scripts to use when she calls, but she never uses them. She was born and raised in the small rural community and knows most of the people (or some mutual acquaintance anyway!) in the tri-county area. She just calls them starts to chat with them, builds report and sets the appointment for the lead agent. She chats with the neighbors when dropping off packets and even gets listing appointment through the neighbors who she builds report with. She is probably the biggest “I” I have ever met

Influence: Optimistic and Outgoing.

I’s are “people people” who like energizing and entertaining others. She has really put her natural gift of gab to work! ----- Which of the four styles do you think best describes you? How can you customize your Expired Plan so that it will really play off your strengths? I run come across so many agents that are trying to fit into molds and read scripts and send letters that is not who they are. Trying to do this business like someone you are not is not going to allow you to reach your full potential. Who are you and how can you create your business around THAT style. ----- I also want to touch on just briefly is how to customize your Expired Plan to fit the style of your prospects. I just outlined for you the four DiSC Styles and encouraged you to draw from your strengths. I also encourage you to adapt your style to better relate to your prospect’s style. Now I don’t want to confuse anyone so let me clarify that a person’s style is not influenced by if they live in the city, the suburbs or a rural area. You cannot assume that because your prospect lives in a certain neighborhood and that your accountant lives in that neighborhood, therefore all people in that neighborhood must be High “Cs” You must not generalize like this. If, however, you call someone on the phone or meet them when you drop off a packet, pay attention to what people say and how they say it. Do they talk fast and vibrantly? Are they more systematic in their responses? Are they very precise in their answers? If you are a High “I” and talking loud and fast and the prospect on the other side of the door or telephone is slower speaking, more exact in their word choice, how much rapport are you building. While I encourage you to be yourself, I also encourage you to tone down extremes if you don’t seem to be connecting with people. People Reading can be one of the most effective sales tools I work on with my clients. Using the DiSC Styles in People Reading is beneficial whether you are working with Expired Listings, FSBOs, sellers, buyers, everyone. To build rapport, it is import to listen, observe and adjust your presentation in order to build rapport. Remember, it is about them, not all about you.

1. Strategies for Creating a Positive Relationship: This report describes how to establish a relationship with the respondent that is based upon trust and mutual respect.
2. Relating to People and the Environment: This report explains how the respondent interacts with peers and interprets his or her environment.
3. Strategies for Managing: This report looks at ways in which people can most effectively manage the respondent.
4. Approach to Managing Others: This report analyzes the respondent's management style and behavior toward subordinates.
5. Strategies for Sales Management: This report examines the methods that people can best use to manage the respondent in a sales environment.
6. Approach to Selling: This report describes how the respondent performs essential steps in the sales process.

Have you ever felt this way? It is difficult to imagine that you haven’t. Most of us have felt the multiple demands of work, family, and other responsibilities that have been continuously added to our already too-busy schedules. When do I get a break? Why can’t others see all I have to do? No one seems to understand, and often no one jumps in to help.

The problem of being overwhelmed by excessive responsibilities is clearly a common problem. However, the way the problem is handled is critical to maintaining health and being productive in your life. The likelihood of managing the time demands in our lives is not good unless there is a dedicated effort to step back and understand what you are doing to contribute to your own problems (and to not just think or talk about needed changes, but doing something constructive to change your time management habits).

Frequently I hear the complaint, “there is nothing I can do,” or “I can’t control the things that come up at work or home.” I do not argue with these comments. However, I remind people that we have more control over what we think, feel and ultimately do, to help ourselves, than most people can imagine. In other words, we can’t control the stressors in our lives, but we can manage our responses to the stressors.

Research by Salvatore R. Maddi and his team at the University of Chicago have discovered practical ways that have proven to increase, what he terms, Hardiness-our ability to deal with stress in positive and healthy ways. His studies point to the direct benefits of better time management in order to resist the negative effects of stressors, such as overwhelming time demands imposed on many individuals.

This brief article suggests some of the practical ways to manage one piece of the Hardiness profile, “Control.” Specifically, Maddi identifies the need to feel a Challenge in your work or life, have a sense of Commitment to important aspects of your work or life, and finally a belief in your ability to exercise some degree of Control at work, or in other aspects of your life. These hardiness characteristics offer ways to resist harmful effects of stress on your physical and mental health. Control over how you choose to use your time is one major element in the management pressures and demands that create feelings of anxiety and being overwhelmed.

Control here refers to the perceived and real ability to change what you have control over and resist the temptation to worry and fret over what you can’t control. The statements at the beginning of this article illustrate the stress that can preoccupy, exhaust, frustrate, and drain the spirit of even the finest and most dedicated individual. This is followed by the loss of focus on challenge and unravels the commitment toward the most important tasks, people and events in your life.

What Can Be Controlled?
The management of time in our life is something that can be controlled. This will then lower the stress and provide a sense of greater peace, lead to greater productivity and improve your attitude and relationships.
The effective steps to gaining control are as follows. Though not every step applies directly to every person’s job or life, these will introduce a guide that you can use to accommodate your personal situation,

1. Get up 15 minutes earlier than you do now. If your day starts under great duress you have established the tone for the rest of the day. Getting sufficient sleep to provide for the early rising time is necessary.

2. Make a list of things to do when you get to work and keep track of them on a palm pilot or special computer software.

3. Make sure that you have not over-committed yourself. Often we schedule projects and meetings back-to-back and do not even allow time to walk to the other end of a building to get to an appointment. We, of course, are then behind schedule, and feel rushed and tense.

4. The list you make for any day needs to generously add 25% to each scheduled item. Research clearly points out the common tendency to underestimate (by 15%-25%) the time needed to do most daily tasks.

5. Prioritize the lists of events and tasks on your list. Frequently the most stressful work (or other) tasks are the ones that we put off or make last on the list. As an example, consistently people discuss the 18 items on their list, complaining that they will never get everything done. Yet, it is often the case that one or two items are the ones we least like to do (or are more difficult and less enjoyable than other tasks), so we consciously or unconsciously avoid them. Consequently, when we have 16 items completed, we have not reduced the stress at all, and carry the worry (over the most uncomfortable projects) home with us, and begin the next day with them still on our “to-do” lists.

6. Delegate as much as is reasonable. Too frequently we feel so important that we believe we are the only one who can do some tasks. This will only frustrate others (feeling you don’t see them as competent enough), and guarantee you will continue to add more to your workload. Teach others to assume responsibility for projects they are capable of doing. Remember, if you were sick and unable to do the work, the company would not stop operations.

7. When designing your list of things to do, spread tasks over several days, weeks, etc. if possible. Knowing that the tasks are at least on the schedule will help reduce the stress.

8. Divide the task list into two columns. On the left, write the task and on the right, list the way you will complete the task and the resources needed. There is significant stress reduction in knowing that you have thought through the task ahead of time. If you have new ideas during the day or evening, write them down on a card and put the card away to review at a later time. Worry about not forgetting what ideas we had causes enormous stress and loss of valuable time.

9. Set morning time for specific uninterrupted periods. Though many of us want to offer an open-door policy to others needing our help or advice, it is unwise to teach others that you have no limits to their intrusions. It is critical to remain focused and efficient by setting times (i.e., 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.) as an open-door time period. Also, it is very helpful to request that interruptions are only made after clear efforts have been made to solve problems before asking for help. The process of teaching others to think through something first will often lead to them solving their own problems, or will provide a focused, and likely shorter, time demand on you.

10. Don’t answer the phone. This sounds terrible, however, if you can train others to answer the phone and collect the appropriate information, you can have some control over when to return the call and be prepared for discussing the issues relevant to the call. Often it helps to leave a voice message requesting them to provide information about their concerns and a time period that you make return phone calls (i.e. ” I am currently unavailable but will return you call between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.”). If possible have a “human” answer for you. People are frequently irritated by only having access to a machine. Nevertheless, studies show that for every interruption of less than 30 seconds it takes from 5-12 minutes of time to refocus on the task you were doing.

11. Set time in the afternoon where your schedule is free for at least one hour. Interestingly, this time is usually taken up by the new and unexpected demands made earlier in the day. The value of knowing that you have saved time to catch up always gives a feeling of control and reduces the likelihood that you will always feel behind in your tasks.

12. Take time to be more than a “working machine.” Say hi and pay attention to others each day. This also contributes to a feeling of knowing more about others, feeling more in control, and effortlessly encourages commitment to you because you treat others with the concern and respect they deserve. Schedule this each day. This is as important as almost anything else you do. It will actually help manage your time by making others want to do a good job for you.

13. At the end of your day set 10 minutes for reflection on what has been accomplished, and what remains on your list for tomorrow (or in the future). Remember to always have a way to handle every item on your list. This make things feel more under control and reduces the stress, anxiety, and worry that exhausts us at the end of the day.

14. When leaving work, arrange for sufficient time to travel home. Communicate realistic expectations to others regarding when you will be getting home, versus being stressed about being late.

Set similar time management strategies for your non-work life too. To manage time, reduce stress, and feel in more control, you must organize your time and expectations in such a way as to drive your life at a more comfortable pace, knowing and planning your time constructively and healthfully.

Source: www.psychologyforbusiness.com

• Trim property taxes. If a house has lost value, have it reappraised by the municipal assessor. Consider petitioning — or even suing — to get back taxes overpaid in the last few months.
• Deduct a home office. Some people avoid the home office deduction because it requires deducting depreciation, but if the property has lost value, this isn’t an issue.
• Sale-leaseback with a relative. If you're convinced your property is due for a big price correction and you have equity in the home, then sell now. For example, if you have a $1 million home that has been appraised at $1.8 million, you can sell it and take home $500,000 of the $800,000 gain tax free — due to an exemption on profits from the sale of personal residences. Sell the property to a trusted friend or wealthy relative and then become a tenant and pay the buyer rent at market rates — a much more attractive amount than Treasury bonds are paying now. When the housing market corrects, buy the property back.
• Invest in housing futures. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange sells investment instruments that trade based on house price indexes for each of the 10 largest U.S. cities. You can sell futures, buy puts, or sell calls on this market to hedge losses in the value of your home.