Real Estate Out of This World: The Joys of Selling Lunar Property

January 4th, 2012

How challenging would real estate prospecting be if you were selling barren lots on the moon?!

Sure, the golden time for giving gag gifts is now over — anyone get stuck with anything insane from your family’s holiday Yankee Swap?

However, there’s really no bad time to amuse your Realtor friends or employees with some MLS listings for extraterrestrial house plots.

In the same spirit of buying and naming a star after someone, the Lunar Embassy will sell you a one-acre moon lot for the bargain price of $22.49 (plus a $1.51 “Lunar Tax” and $12.50 for shipping and handling of the deed).

Hey, if you look at NASA’s fact sheet on the moon, there’s now approximately 14,647,439.75 square miles of open space ready for developers!  And thinking about New Year’s Resolutions, you weigh a lot less up there, too.

There are many reasons to be skeptical that your Lunar property deed might not ever be graced with that dream vacation home (with a great room and sauna) you have been planning in your imagination. The “real estate” company itself starts off its FAQ in defensive mode, giving you its assurance that you are not taking part in a fraudulent transaction.

The Lunar Embassy claims its rights to Expired and FSBO listings on the moon is based on international law and a loophole in the 1967 United Nations Outer Space Treaty.

But here’s why I don’t trust the validity of their property claims: They don’t even bother to use spell check!

A quick example from their FAQs:

“Whilst we are on the subject, we would like to take this opportunity to give you some useful tips to avoid fraud on the Internet: Beware of pyramid shemes, sites that say you have won a prize but they want money up front before you can collect it, some business opportunity shemes, “get rich quick” shemes, work at home shemes and sometimes, even sales of computer equipment (you pay, and the computer equipment never arrives). These are the most common types of fraud to be found on the Internet according to recent statistics. Don’t give your bank account number or social security number to just anyone, unless you know the company that you are dealing with.”

C’mon, Lunar Embassy, are you not familiar with the word “scheme?”  How can I buy into a scheme even for fun, if you call it a “sheme” four times?

Credibility is vital for all real estate prospecting, of course, especially the Earth-based homes you likely specialize in.  When you are calling your Expired, FSBO, SOI and just listed/just sold leads, having the Mojo Triple Line Power Dialer will ensure that when an autodialed call is answered, you will hear the first “hello” and not the third, fourth or fifth.

Nothing is worse than representing yourself with the impression of a robo-call, an instant turnoff for most potential customers.

You may as well be doing cold calls for lunar real estate.

Which reminds me to leave you off with an invaluable piece of Realtor advice:  Definitely avoid the Lunar Embassy’s Venus property, no matter how tempting the price.  Surface temperatures on Venus can reach up to 860 degrees Fahrenheit.  And in that climate, there won’t be cold calls of any kind!

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Record Breakers: World’s longest candy counter, America’s most optimistic town and the quickest sales call connections!

December 5th, 2011

Sharing the same downtown mill building as Mojo, Chutters is home to the World's Longest Candy Counter as verified by the Guinness Book of World Records.

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of working with our technical support department, you know that we proudly keep our staff specialists in house and don’t patch your call overseas where some robotic voice reads from a script. We love that we’re based in Small Town America, Littleton, NH, and that our world likely mirrors the communities of many of the Realtors and independent insurance agents who use Mojo to boost their business.

We encourage all of you to consider New Hampshire’s White Mountains as your next vacation destination, but realistically realize not all of you can make it. So, in the spirit of vicariously sharing our community with you, here are a few tidbits you’d discover as a tourist in Mojo’s backyard.

First, we’re delighted to share real estate with one of New Hampshire’s sweetest landmarks, the World’s Longest Candy Counter at Chutter’s.

(Click picture for larger image)

It’s astounding that there is such a World’s Record, but if any enterprising retailer out there can extend their jelly bean turf beyond 122 feet, fame and fortune awaits you.  For research purposes, I just examined each old-fashioned candy jar and was impressed with the variety of flavors of malted milk balls as well as their selection of “vintage” or “retro” candies like Wax Mustaches, totally un-PC but yummy Candy Cigarettes, Squirrel Nut Zippers,  Black Jack gum and  colorful Wax Bottles.

Did I say “yummy” Candy Cigarettes?  Sorry, I got carried away with the nostalgia. They still taste like chalk.

Almost as fascinating as the candy is the store’s historical backstory:

“Chutters is named for its original owner, Frederick George Chutter, a Congregational minister who came to Littleton to preach but instead, resigned his ministry for the dry goods business, eventually becoming a well-loved and prominent member of the community. A brochure from the era claims, “Mr. Chutter is a warm-hearted, cordial, and enthusiastic man, of optimistic temperament, and much interested in the welfare of Littleton.”

“More than 100 years later, the shop retains his name, and the hospitality for which Chutter’s General Store was renowned still resonates throughout this delightful shop.”

Amazing.

Can you imagine your business lasting 100 years?  Well, if you’re cultivating lifelong customer relationships with Mojo’s lead management software and Triple Line Power Dialer, you have a chance to build something that you can sell or pass on to the next generation.

There’s plenty of places to buy sugary sweets in the world. Chutters stands out because they have creativity and marketing spunk.

Just like the town of Littleton itself for embracing its history as the Birthplace of Optimism.  Well, the birthplace of novelist Eleanor Hodgman Porter, who wrote “Pollyanna,” the inspiring story of an orphaned girl with a jubilant spirit and outlook on life. The book was a best seller in the 1910s and became a Broadway play and movie. The character was so popular that the term “Pollyanna” wound up in the English dictionary, meaning “a person characterized by irrepressible optimism and a tendency to find good in everything.”

Doing the "Pollyanna Wave" in downtown Littleton, NH -- Is the economy about to get better?

The Pollyanna statue in front of the town public library has become a magnet for tourists, who find it irresistible not to pose for a photo-op doing the “Pollyanna Wave.”

Our contestant in the 2012 Miss America Pageant, Regan Hartley, hails from Littleton and she couldn’t resist either. Apparently, it is considered good luck to rub the feet of the Pollyanna sculpture. We’re optimistic that if enough tourists do this, America’s economic woes will disappear. There’s no Guinness Book of World Records entry for “Most Optimistic Town” in America, but there should be.

We’d also like to see an official Guinness Record for “Fastest Voice Connection for a Power-Dialed Prospecting Call.”  Have you heard about the superior speed of our “First Hello Technology?”

 

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Mojo helps achieve financial security without any punches to the face

November 8th, 2011

After making millions as a professional baseball player, why does Jose Canseco still agree to cheesy "celebrity" fights??

So Jose Canseco, the man who brought disgrace (and honesty) to professional baseball and himself with the steroids scandal, was supposed to fight fellow tarnished star Lenny Dykstra over the weekend.

Dykstra, the former Phillies and Mets outfielder, was nicknamed “Nails” not for his beautiful manicures, but for his reported toughness — the kind of toughness that might delude you into thinking that you can fight someone twice your size.

Well, it didn’t happen. Nails didn’t show up.

He’s got other things to worry about though — like bankruptcy and cocaine, grand theft auto and indecent exposure charges. Prison time is almost certain when the authorities get around to it.

As for Canseco, the ex-slugger overinflated by illegal doses of human growth hormone, he’s been financially drained by two divorces and recently had his primary home foreclosed upon. In 2008, he walked away from his 7,300 square-foot mansion in California when he decided the $2.5 million mortgage was too much of a burden.

“You know my life, this financial thing, is a very complicated issue,” he told the TV show “Inside Edition” after the housing loss. “Obviously, when you make all that money, people think, `OK, let’s assume it is $35 million.’ People have to understand that $35 million, you’re paying the government 41 percent. That leaves you with about $17 or $18 million, not even. Then you’re taking care of your whole family.”

So how does this happen? How does “not even” $18 million become a tight budget to take care of your family?

But Canseco and Dykstra are hardly the only fame-starved celebs willing to get bruised for a few bucks.

Celebrity boxing bout between tabloid headliners Amy Fisher and Nadya "Octomom" Suleman.

If you’re the rubbernecked type who likes to slow down at car accidents, consider the “celebrity” fight staged over the weekend pitting Amy Fisher, a.k.a. “The Long Island Lolita,” against Nadya Suleman, a.k.a. “The Octomom.” Fisher is notorious for trying to kill the wife of her lover Joey Buttafuoco in the early 1990s and spent seven years in prison. The Octomom, of course, has made a mockery of fertility treatments, increasing her family size from six to 14 children with just one pregnancy.

We’re not going to tell you who won, because that’s not really the point.

The takeaway message here is “How do I NOT become them?”  How do I not become so desperate for income that personal safety and integrity get sacrificed for short-term gain?

Of course, you know the answer is Mojo.

It doesn’t take courage to beat someone up or get beat up. It takes courage to overcome call reluctance, that butterlies-in-the-stomach feeling we all face when we do cold sales calls over the phone. Whether you are selling real estate, automobiles, insurance or financial services,  Mojo’s Triple Line Power Dialer helps take the stress out of the process.

Blasting out 250 calls an hour, the system’s First Hello technology allows you to speak to a prospect when they first pick up the phone — meaning they won’t be agitated by the feeling they are talking to a robot.

Mojo’s lead management software automatically guides you through the process of following up with your qualified or targeted leads and turning them into customers. Each time you use Mojo or Mobile Mojo, there’s no guessing. The system tells you who you’ve already called, who you need to call, and who you need to follow up with.

It continuously separates your datastream into Hot Leads, Warm Leads, Cold Leads and Customers, so you can devote the appropriate resources to the prospects with the greatest potential for success.

With Mojo’s help, you’ll develop the discipline and persistence necessary to thrive in any kind of sales. There’ll be no need to have to fight for your lunch ticket — unless you really want to.

There are some sales pros who actually would be fun to watch in the ring. If you haven’t seen Keller Williams real estate agent Deric Lipski in action, for example, you owe it to yourself to see how endurance can be one of your greatest assets!

 

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Saving Underwater Homes: How will the White House foreclosure plan affect Realtors?

November 1st, 2011

Republicans and Democrats are pointing fingers as to who's to blame for the nation's foreclosure crisis.

We here at Mojo Selling Solutions don’t wear our politics on our sleeves. It’s not just because our office is a harmonious blend of folks across the ideological spectrum. It’s all about the fact that the telephone sales gods don’t care if the prospect is Democrat, Republican, or Independent.

Nevertheless, we can’t ignore what happens at the White House or Capitol Hill. With the housing market so critical to our economy, every minor burp from Washington matters.

President Barack Obama just announced new changes in the mortgage refinance laws aimed at helping struggling homeowners get more affordable interest rates even if they are underwater borrowers.

The President revealed his plans in a speech in Nevada, one of the most badly bruised states in the recession. An estimated one out of every 118 homes there filed for foreclosure in September. On a pure humanity level, foreclosures ruin lives and dreams. On a Machiavellian level, they ruin neighbors’ property levels.

And on a macroeconomic level, foreclosures hurt America because people without homes or jobs not only can’t buy things, they are also more likely to turn to desperate measures.

Federal changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) will now allow homeowners to borrow up to 125 percent of their property’s value at a lower interest rate — instantly saving them thousands each year. HARP was supposed to expire in mid-2012, but it will be extended until the last day of 2013.

What do you think of the changes to the HARP program?

The Los Angeles Times reports that the current momentum of foreclosures will be tough to slow down.

Consider:

“In the three months that ended Sept. 30, notices of default, the first formal step in the foreclosure process, jumped nearly 26% from the previous quarter, according to DataQuick, a San Diego real estate information service.

Additionally, a likely national settlement over complaints about banks filing faulty paperwork to take back homes should clear the way for an additional 400,000 foreclosures in coming months, according to Moody’s Analytics, an economics research firm.

Moody’s predicts that foreclosures will rise next year to a record 1.5 million, or a hefty 30% of all sales of previously owned homes.”

Meanwhile, President Obama’s critics charge that his sudden interest in Nevada stems from his election strategy for 2012. Glenn Cook, a conservative Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist, dismissed the new plan as “more taxpayer-backed swag.”

Nonsense, says the Philadelphia Inquirer, it’s better to do something than nothing and rescued homeowners would potentially save $2,500 a year — affecting up to 2 million American families. Those numbers translate to an increase of between $2.5 billion to $7.5 billion in consumer spending each year, the newspaper claims.

So who’s right?

You tell us.  We’re not interested in hearing political rants of any persuasion.

Candidly tell us what really matters. How does the foreclosure rate impact the short-term and long-term real estate market in your community?

(Real estate, insurance and mortgage professionals depend on Mojo for productivity-boosting solutions. Mojo’s Triple Line Power Dialer allows you to contact up to 300 Expired, FSBO and Just Listed/Just Sold leads per hour.)

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Perfect Timing — Can prospecting calls be planned around mood patterns?

October 3rd, 2011

Move aside mood rings, now your Twitter feed may be a more accurate indicator of minute-to-minute happiness!

Remember those cheesy mood rings from the 1970s?

The jewelry supposedly replaced the smile and frowny face and could more “accurately” telegraph how a person’s feelings would fluctuate by the moment.

Your Jewelry Doesn't Lie: The Full Range of Emotions Allegedly Revealed by Mood Rings. (Source: MoodRingsColorMeanings.com)

Mood rings change colors based on temperature-sensitive liquid crystals and have no real connection to human feelings — except that body temperature slightly rises when you are nervous and increase your heart rate. Based on the same novelty, there are also mood rocks, mood jars and LED mood lamps.

Kitsch aside, the next generation of the Mojo lead management system (coming soon) also pays close attention to color and temperature. We aren’t as flamboyant with the color spectrum, but you’ll be able to instinctively record the “temperature” of each customer call with a red flame (warm or hot lead) or blue ice (cold reception).

But wouldn’t it be great if you could predict beforehand how your sales prospects were feeling at any given moment and time your calls accordingly?

A two-year Cornell University study of 2.4 million Twitter users recently concluded that the early bird gets the happiest worms. According to the Los Angeles Times, sociology graduate student Scott Golder created a computer program to analyze the speaking patterns of more than a half billion Tweets. Using text sentiment analysis software, the study tabulated words with positive emotional connotations and compared them with the frequency of negative-sounding ones.

The researchers then sorted the positive and negative Twitter messages with their embedded timestamps.

How well do you use the power of social media to research your cold calls for prospective clients?

The Cornell study concluded that:

“Positive-mood tweets peaked twice a day throughout the world, early in the morning and again near midnight. The morning peak came later on weekends, presumably because people slept in. That the cycle was similar on weekdays (when pressures like work deadlines and school exams pile up) and weekends (when most people are more relaxed) showed that sleep schedules and circadian rhythms were important influencers of mood, regardless of day-to-day stresses, the authors reported.

They also found that, on average, moods improved as the days lengthened in the spring and worsened as days shortened in the fall.”

With the trend of many people abandoning landlines and using their cell phones as their primary form of communication, this kind of study raises some fascinating questions.  Are there better times than others to bunch up your calls?  Have you tended to have better rates of success with your Triple Line Power Dialer than others?

Regardless of what the Twitter study says, certainly it would be foolish to try to call at the other peak happiness time of just before midnight!

In any case, we soon will be enhancing your ability to cross-reference public social media posts with your real estate, insurance, mortgage, financial and general sales leads. The service, part of the upcoming Next Generation Mojo, will be especially helpful when making small talk with your Sphere of Influence (SOI) leads — helping to put major life cycle events on your radar.

Do stay tuned…

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Mojo for Breakfast: New Daily Planner feature as essential as OJ

September 26th, 2011

Jumping on the Mojo Bandwagon: We used the Mojo metaphor first, but who's counting? (Mojo Selling Solutions is not affiliated with Minute Maid Orange Juice or its subsidiaries).

I recently stumbled across this Mojo-themed ad while flipping through some magazines at my dentist’s office, which leads me to share two critical pieces of life advice:

1. Always choose a dentist or medical professional who has the latest magazines in their waiting room instead of a tattered pile that looks like it came from a yard sale. If they can’t afford brand new magazines, what’s the quality of their X-Ray machines or other diagnostic equipment?

2. If you’re tired of flipping through magazines wasting your time on celebrity gossip in any waiting room, be sure to maximize your downtime with Mojo Mobile, the free iPhone app for our customers that allows you to make calls and manage your leads from anywhere!

But back to the orange juice ad. Or is it a lipstick ad?

We love seeing references to “Mojo” in pop culture and advertising — as we pointed out in this earlier homage to Austin Powers — but we weren’t inspired by the movie. As our company’s general manager, David England, eloquently puts it, “When you’re at your best and things just fall into place, when customers can’t tell you no, when everything is going as planned, when you are living in a ‘Yes World,’ you have Mojo!”

Now, unlike the OJ ad above, we can’t promise that the Mojo Triple Line Power Dialer or our Pitching Coach training tool will cause you to be smothered in kisses. But we can tell you that Mojo’s lead management system for Realtors, insurance agents, mortgage brokers and other phone sales professionals will feel as important as a good breakfast.

Mojo’s system already triples your productivity — proven results that make long-term commitments and contracts unnecessary on our end — but the breakfast is about to get tastier.

Based on customer feedback, we’ll soon be adding some exciting new features in Next Generation Mojo (stay tuned here for the big announcement).  You’ll be starting your morning with the Mojo Daily Planner, an intuitive customizable prospecting planner that methodically tracks all of your opportunities and contacts and reminds you when to take the next step.

During each phone call, you’ll assign your opportunities, contacts and customers to an action plan. These action plans tell you when to call or email them again or just update them with a soft-sell newsletter with industry-specific consumer tips.

Mojo Next Generation will take even more stress out of your current daily workflow. When you show up to your desk, the Daily Planner will feed you your action plans to follow and there’ll be no need to overthink the sales process.

And that means more time to take your best clients out for breakfast and (hopefully) the budget for freshly squeezed juice!

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Celebrating the Emmy for America’s favorite Realtor

September 20th, 2011

Real estate agent Phil Dunphy, aka actor Ty Burrell, won the 2011 Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy. We're still waiting for an episode to focus on the challenges of real estate prospecting!

A hearty Mojo congratulations to actor Ty Burrell, who beat out some steep competition from his “Modern Family” colleagues to win a comedy Emmy the other night.

Why do we care about this on a real estate prospecting and lead management software blog?

Because Burrell’s alter-ego is Phil Dunphy, the funniest real estate agent on television!

Several memorable episodes of the hit ABC sitcom have focused on the sales and marketing challenges of the industry, including:

  • SLOW DOWN YOUR NEIGHBORS –  Phil learns that his new client happens to be a thorn in the side for his wife Claire, who is angry how fast the woman drives in their neighborhood. Phil must weigh his need for a hefty sales commission with his desire to maintain peaceful household relations. He doesn’t welcome the stressful duplicity involved in keeping the women apart: “I wish I were one of those people who thrives on the danger of leading a double-life. You know… Bruce Wayne… Peter Parker… Hannah Montana.”
  • THE MUSICAL MAN — Wanting to keep on the edge of modern real estate marketing, Phil shrinkwraps his minivan with a photo of himself with his family and the slogan: “I can’t be satisfied until you’re satisfied!”  However, the layout of the wrap-around ad has a picture of his wife alone with the slogan along with a cell phone number.  In a similarly unintended context, the picture of his oldest daughter Haley appears above the words “Let me make your dreams come true!”  Phil soon starts to get a barrage of inappropriate phone calls with heavy breathing. He’s horrified, but in a bizarre way, his soccer mom wife is flattered that she still can evoke that kind of response from men.
  • STRANGERS ON A TREADMILL — Will goofy dad humor play over well at a dinner of fellow real estate agents?  Phil’s family is a little nervous that his jokes may bomb when he is the keynote speaker at the Southern California Realtors Banquet (the “SCARB”). To “save” him from embarrassment, his wife Claire hides his notecards so he has to play it straight. Turns out that Phil’s improvisational lines are a huge hit, making him the Jay Leno of the real estate world. (You can listen to Phil’s killer speech here!)

This part of Phil Dunphy's real estate wrapped vehicle ad seems innocent enough....

... until you look at the other side of the van! (Click pic to see video clip highlighting the greatest fictitious real estate snafu in recent memory.)

The Emmy-winning scriptwriters of Modern Family definitely have their thumb on the pulse of the real estate world and what it is like to be a sales agent. We’ve seen the politics of an Open House, the personality-centric marketing campaigns and the pressures of making a living off commissions.

Now we wish the producers would go one step further and base an episode on the ups and downs of prospecting. Show us Phil when he’s tapping into his Sphere of Influence for potential new leads. Show us Phil when he’s mining FSBO and Expired listings. Give us a plot line surrounding the Triple Line Power Dialer!  How about some dialogue about Phil making cold calls from his car with Mobile Mojo!

Realistically, we recognize that the behind-the-scenes hard work of real estate sales isn’t that funny.  But the results can make you very very happy.  Check out all of Mojo’s real estate prospecting tools to find out how to become the Phil Dunphy of your local market — without embarrassing your family.

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Real Estate Prospecting Challenge: How would YOU sell this garbage Dumpster house?

September 12th, 2011

Curb Appeal: Are your sales skills so finely tuned that you can sell ANY piece of real estate?

How often in your private conversations with fellow Realtors do you say “That house is a real dump!” or “The previous owners really trashed the place?”

Well, you can now throw that real estate metaphor out the window with this property, an actual garbage Dumpster transformed into a small home for what the architect calls “luxury living.”

California performance artist Gregory Kloehn put hardwood floors, stainless steel appliances, electricity, plumbing, a six-gallon water storage tank, granite countertops, a stove and fuel storage for an outdoor barbeque into this sterile (we hope) trash bin. If his open house last weekend at the San Francisco Fringe Festival was a hit, could this become a new trend in economy living?

Whether you are selling a McMansion or a cozy lakeside cottage, every prospective buyer seems to covet natural light. With Kloehn’s home, you can crank the ceiling up and down like the roof of a pop-up camper. The design feature has two advantages: 1. It camouflages the home from curious onlookers at night; and 2. Sealing the unit lets you sleep even if the area is flooded with street lights or flashing neon signs.

The garbage Dumpster house contains a crank for lowering or heightening the ceiling.

Kloehn, who also makes office space and sound studios out of discarded shipping containers, calls this his “Elite Waste” model.

This “Dumpster of your Dreams,” snidely dubbed by critics as the ideal vacation home for Oscar the Grouch, challenges you to think about how much space people really need to live. What is most important to your prospective buyers when they are looking at a new property?  Do they care more about location, the back yard, the neighborhood, the school district, sewer vs. septic, town services, the crime rate or access to shops and restaurants?

What impact do you think this trash-themed home would have on neighborhood property values?

Cozy Quarters -- What kind of commission could you score on such a tiny home?

When you are making prospecting calls for sales leads, regardless if it is from Expired, FSBO, Just Listed or Just Sold lists or a Sphere of Influence (SOI) call, do you REALLY know what the property really looks like?

OK, granted it would be tough to masquerade this Dumpster as anything else in the MLS listing, but we’ve all seen our share of creative descriptions. Here’s how this house is listed in the Fringe Festival Guide:

Welcome to Elite Waste’s new line of Urban Homes. You are about to witness the newest trend in 21st Century living. Would you like to live in a home and never pay mortgage again? Simplicity and luxury optimized in our High End Dumpster home, The future of urban living has arrived!

All things considered, living in a Dumpster might not be so bad the Kloehn way. Heck, you could decorate the inside and outside with refrigerator magnets. And there probably are Manhattan studio apartments much smaller than this.

Yes, there's even a bathroom!

The only thing that makes me a reluctant buyer is the bathroom situation. No matter how well hidden the toilet is or how sweet the air fresheners, this home definitely is at high risk of smelling like a Porta Potty.

Or as one insightful YouTuber put it: “How long before teenagers set fire to it?”

You can watch Greg Kloehn show off his home in this video tour.

(Do you have a Realtor prospecting horror story, or better yet, a dream-come-true property to share? Tell us about your sales victories and challenges at tips@mojosells.com)

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Realtor Prospecting Experiment: What does a successful home office SOUND like?

September 6th, 2011

Thriving Office -- Can a sound effects CD help boost your confidence on cold calls?

Gotta love America — where else would a guy with a tape recorder and a silly idea become a cult recording star to home-based business people?

Until the picture phone catches on in the mainstream — and I don’t think it will to the extent of “The Jetsons” — the sales call can be a deceptive exercise. You can be sitting at home in your underwear or sitting in your car surrounded by fast food wrappers and the prospect on the other end pictures you in a bustling room of activity.

That is, until they hear the muffled loud speaker from the drive-thru window or your next-door neighbor’s obnoxious lawn mower.

San Francisco marketing executive Bill Freund introduced the “Thriving Office” CD soundtrack a few years ago to help home-based phone sales reps create the illusion that they are in the midst of busy cubicles with no dirty laundry strewn across the floor.

The sound effects album contains two 39-minute tracks — “Busy” and “Very Busy” — which includes soft co-worker background chatter, feverish computer typing, walking down the hall, ringing phones, shuffling paper and the rhythmic jazz of file cabinets being opened and shut.

Freund, who came up with the idea while he was a student at Harvard Business School, told Businessweek that he edited the office sounds together “like a symphony.” He describes the end result of background noise “controlled chaos.”

Although the original intent was to boost the impression of credibility to the person on the other end of the phone, Freund says many of his customers report an increase in work productivity once they get in the mood of a typical office setting.

“Thriving Office” got a thumbs up from Realtor Magazine, which wrote “When customers call, have your home office project the image of an established, successful company.” And the CD claims users who work for major insurance companies like Prudential and New York Life and real estate powerhouses  like Cushman & Wakefield, Re/Max, Century 21, Coldwell Banker and Keller Williams.

What do you think?  Can your call reluctance can be conquered with a little help from some ghost co-workers in the background?  What about white noise in general — are you more prone to get things done with the harmonious sounds of waterfalls or thunderstorms streaming out your computer?

The San Francisco Chronicle jokingly suggests creating a Dysfunctional Office CD, in which a hyperactive boss screams at you to stop reading blogs like this one and start making some more sales!

Luckily, you’re your own boss and there’s no one to yell at you but yourself. But as far as work productivity goes, Mojo’s Triple Line Power Dialer has you covered.  Three times as many prospecting calls — up to 250 an hour — than traditional autodialers.

And if you happen to be playing your office soundtrack on your car stereo, Mobile Mojo‘s got you covered, too.  The client will have no idea you are waiting for another appointment to show up or dropping your kids off at school. Mojo’s always with you!

(Got a great working-at-home productivity tip?  Share it with us at tips@mojosells.com)

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How to hang tough on cold calls like a boxer

August 16th, 2011

The late great undefeated heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano (the guy NOT on the ropes) demonstrates the kind of toughness you need to hang in with a reluctant prospect.

Brockton, Massachusetts calls itself the “City of Champions” because it was the home of boxing greats Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler.

It’s also the turf of Keller Williams real estate agent Deric Lipski, a Mojo user and salesman who describes his prospecting calls with the hyperbolic language of a ring announcer.  Consider the title of his most recent YouTube video, a sample of his phone rapping skills for other agents to observe and learn:

Deric Lipski vs. a Really Tough Expired Cold Call LIVE!!!

Yes, you can almost hear the announcer echoing throughout a packed arena.

Keller Williams real estate agent Deric Lipski wants you to know that he literally stands behind his name!

In the video, in which we think Deric kind of resembles Adam Sandler if he were to star in a real estate prospecting comedy, the agent records a real call where he has reached a frustrated homeowner who has taken his unsold house off the market.

The prospect, a married Massachusetts man named Jim, is reached on his cell phone in his car. Jim tells Deric right away that he is sick of taking calls from annoying real estate agents hovering over his expired listing like vultures.

Deric is unfazed.  In a confident, conversational tone, the Realtor keeps talking. He asks Jim about his previous agent and why he thought that person failed to close the deal. “Most good homes don’t sell the first or second time around,” he says. “You said that your wife picked the first agent?  Is it fair to say it’s now your turn to pick the agent?”

Jim says he wants to get off the phone. He repeatedly says he doesn’t like to talk on his cell while he’s driving. He says he needs to talk to his wife before even considering putting his $475,000 house back on the market. During three or four times in the conversation, it seems certain that Jim will hang up.

But he doesn’t. The conversation lasts an astounding 10 minutes 53 seconds and it looks likely that Deric will land an appointment to go to the home and discuss strategies for making the property more appealing to prospective buyers.

The license plate of a confident Realtor.

Deric hones in on Jim’s motivation to sell in the first place and learns he and his wife dream of moving to North Carolina for a more relaxed retirement. The pace is less stressful than maniacal New England, there’s no snow and the cost of living is much lower.

Hoping to set the stage for a price reduction, Deric suggests that the lifetime goals of relocating to North Carolina are much more important than a few thousand dollars sacrificed during bad market conditions.  Will the sales pitch succeed?  Will Deric sign up Jim and live up to his nickname “Mr. Sold?”

We don’t know.  But what we do know is that this phone call is a beautiful example of how to deal with call reluctance.

Yes, prospects get tired of “people like you” calling them all time. So don’t be like them.  Focus on what they care about and your commission will follow.

Every agent has their own personality and style, but it’s very likely you’ll pick up a few tips by watching Deric’s demo:

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Posted in Prospecting Tips and Tricks, Realtor Prospecting | 4 Comments »

World’s Fastest Flying Hybrid Car (and why Mojo cares so much about speed)

July 25th, 2011

Artist's rendition of the BiPod Flying Car in automobile and plane modes (Source: Scaled Composites).

WOW!  Imagine commuting to work or doing your errands in this sweet car…

Aviation Week & Space Technology reports that legendary aircraft designer and engineer Burt Rutan has one more amazing surprise up his sleeve: a Flying Electric Hybrid Car.

Rutan, a former flight test engineer for the U.S. Air Force, has five of his creations on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. He’s the brains behind SpaceShipOne, the world’s first privately developed spacecraft — and SpaceShipTwo, which is slated for private space missions in the age when NASA no longer has an active astronaut program. His aerospace company, Scaled Composites, just unveiled its prototype for a two-seat electric “roadable aircraft.”

The BiPod, which made its maiden test flight on March 30 in California’s Mojave Desert, can be driven like a car from the left cockpit and be controlled like an aircraft from the right seat.

The Flying Car's first test flight in the Mojave Desert. (Source: Scaled Composites)

To switch from plane to car mode, the wings are removed and stored between the dual fuselages. As a car, the BiPod will cruise at highway speeds. As a plane, it is designed to optimally soar at 200 miles per hour.  Is it the fastest Flying Hybrid Car?  Well, although there already is at least one competing flying car on the market (really), it’s not a hybrid, so its likely that Rutan owns the distinction for now.

Mojo cares a lot about speed — and we know how much our customers care, too.

Our Mojo Triple Line Power Dialer triples the number of calls you can make compared to a traditional auto-dialer, empowering you to zip through 250 numbers an hour.  Take a tip from health insurance sales standout Ethan Selph and set your Mojo auto-dialer to six rings instead of three, giving your prospects a chance to get off the couch and answer the phone without being out of breath.

“I used to get a lot of calls back right away, saying WHO’S THIS?” Selph told us. “I’m now getting a hold of a lot more people the first time.”

Of course, speed means nothing without results. Just as the Flying Car’s speed would be irrelevant if the wings weren’t aerodynamically sound, there are tons of features built into the Triple Line Power Dialer that make you a more effective sales person. Most important is our system’s “First Hello” capability. You talk to your lead the moment they answer the phone. There are no annoying clicks or delays, which telegraph the fact you are using an autodialer.

And with automated pre-recorded message drops, you only need to make your sales pitch ONCE to answering machines. The second you hear a voicemail message, just press your answering machine button and Mojo moves you on to the next potentially live call. Meanwhile, your upbeat pre-recorded pitch is left on the machine as crisp as if you were doing it live (because we insist on using superior copper lines).

For a full rundown on other time-saving and efficiency boosting features, click the link at the bottom of the Triple-Line Power Dialer box.

Power dialing and lead management software might not be as exciting as a flying car, but unlike the future world of the Jetson’s, Mojo is available to change your life right now.

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Posted in Power Dialer Technology | No Comments »

Take it from Ben Franklin, you get what you pay for!

July 18th, 2011

Ben Franklin's financial advice is still very much relevant to your lead prospecting.

Recognize these famous eyes?  They belong to someone who could spot a cheap knock-off from a mile away.

Ben Franklin believed in thriftiness, not cheapness. It's not an accident he's on the $100 bill.

American patriot Ben Franklin would thrive in today’s soundbite-a-second media environment. His Poor Richard’s Almanack — ripe with financial and life advice — is still hailed by Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger (Warren Buffet’s partner) as the blueprint for success. His quotes have also inspired novelty beer bottle openers and talking action figures.

One of my favorite quotes that applies to real estate prospecting and insurance prospecting is “He that would fish, must venture his bait.” Those eight words sum up the patience required to convert cold calls or qualified leads into sales — whether you are painfully still doing that fishing manually or taking advantage of the Mojo Triple Line Power Dialer.

Franklin is also widely attributed to another one of our favorite quotes, although the true origin of the words remain uncertain.

Here’s the wisdom:

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten.”

We’ve recently become aware of a few unscrupulous knock-off companies who are offering cheap imitations of Mojo products at much lower subscription rates.  We know this because inevitably these customers who thought they were getting a good deal were hoodwinked and shared their horrifying experiences with us.  Some of these dishonest companies are slandering Mojo by name via social media sites and we feel it is better to give our customers the real scoop rather than get bogged down in the mud.

Beware: Those cheapo depot lead management software and auto-dialer companies are NOT offering the same features or technology deployed by Mojo. It’s the difference between an iPod and the cheap MP3 player you might win at a carnival or from one of those crane machines at the arcade.

Would you buy your lead management and power dialer system at the arcade? Of course you wouldn't!

So here’s what to watch out for when you are comparing Mojo with the cheap pretenders:

TECHNOLOGY

* THEY use VoIP technology because it is inexpensive to run and has inexpensive telco charges. But that savings also decreases call quality and first-hello technology, taking advantage of that critical moment when a human voice first answers the phone.

* MOJO uses copper line technology. This is a more expensive service for us because it requires many more servers versus a single voice and data server that our competitors use. We do this because the connection rates on ‘pickup’ are instant and users hear the first hello. Also, by dispersing our load over many servers, users take advantage of servers that are not overloaded.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

* THEY use overseas technical support staff, leading to frustrating encounters with inexperienced help reading from a script. Not to mention occasional language and communication barriers. There is dramatically less problem resolution because there are no decision makers on the phone with the customer.

* MOJO insists on hiring American technical support, but not only that, ALL of it is in-house here at our New Hampshire company headquarters. We are able to strictly monitor quality control, escalate problem tickets and deal with level 3 issues promptly. We also have no communication issues due to language barriers.

ONLINE SUPPORT

* THEY have no online support. What else needs to be said?  You work flexible hours based on your own schedule and needs. Without any after-hours support, your business is frozen if you have an issue with your system.

* MOJO offers a technical support portal and forums where users can easily find answers to their questions. Using our Knowledge Base articles, you can  troubleshoot your issues and make sure that business continues as usual!

Whether you are purchasing a meal at a restaurant, tickets to the ballgame, or a lead management system for your phone sales operation, it all comes down to “You Get What You Pay For.”

And with no contracts or annoying hidden set-up fees, we’re confident that Mojo’s $149 monthly subscription is the best value in the industry by far.  That’s why we have our No-Brainer 7-Day Money Back Guarantee — an offer by the way that very few new customers bother to cash in.

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Posted in Insurance Agents, Prospecting Tips and Tricks, Realtors | No Comments »

Mojo Agent Spotlight: Oregon’s Andrew Beach embraces the Goddess of Commerce

July 7th, 2011

Mojo auto-dialing and lead management software helps real estate agents like Andrew Beach make up to 300 prospecting calls an hour to their Expired, FSBO, SOI and just listed/just sold leads.

LOOK WHO’S GOT MOJO!

Agent: Andrew Beach
Business: Listed2Sold Team at Prudential NW Properties
Location: Portland, Oregon
Website: Listed2Sold.com

Recent Dream Piece of Real Estate: “Ten acre scenic property on Bald Peak with mountain views, a total fixer-upper that was awesome to watch be restored and made new again.”

Recent Bust: “I had a total fixer, on a busy street, with no foundation, one bedroom, siding falling off, repaired siding with roofing shingles, commercial site next door with old tires, semi trailers, and debris everywhere.  Wow, that one I had to give back to the owner as they would have had to cut the price in half.”

Job Satisfaction: “I love exceeding client expectations on sale price and time on the market.  There’s nothing better than creating a satisfied customer.”

Andrew’s sales territory is gorgeous Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington, a region defined by mountains, farms and a commitment to the arts. The cosmopolitan city of Portland, which was originally founded as a trading post in the Old West, is symbolized by Portlandia, the Neptune-like “Goddess of Commerce.”

A giant copper statue of Portlandia, sculpted with the same hammering technique used to create the Statue of Liberty, sits at the entrance of the downtown Portland Municipal Services Building (City Hall).

Portlandia, the Goddess of Commerce, smiles on the real estate industry.

You might think of Mojo as a modern trading post for real estate prospecting.

Andrew definitely does. He found out about our Triple Line Power Dialer and lead management system from Washington power agent Don Leske, who recommended it as a replacement for a competing product that went out of business with no warning.

“My sales philosophy is to do more than anyone expects,” he says. “That means that I’m not just out for a sale/transaction and a paycheck. I want to create a continual revenue stream of referrals from clients who have had an exceptional experience with me.”

“Mojo makes me way more efficient on the calls that I would normally make manually,” says Andrew, based on 18 months of results. “It keeps me focused for short periods of time to get the same results in half the time.”

“I love when I get a wrong number or make an unexpected connection because of the value represented by Mojo’s service,” he adds.  “One time I was waiting near a house for a client to show up.  I decided to pull up Mojo Mobile on my iPod Touch and made four contacts in 10 minutes and added one person to my sphere that is now going to send me leads.”

Andrew recommends the Mojo system for every real estate agent wishing to become more productive — with one notable exception.  He “selfishly” wishes that competing real estate agents in the Pacific Northwest never find out about it.

“Get Mojo immediately and try it out,” he advises.  “It’s money back if you don’t like it or won’t use it.  Once you have it you’ll be hooked!”

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Posted in Realtor Prospecting, Realtors | 1 Comment »

Insurance Prospect Confessional: I WANT your sales calls!

June 24th, 2011
Tone is Everything: Mojo power dialers and lead management software helps you sort the No's from the potentially lucrative Maybes!

Tone is Everything: Mojo power dialers and lead management software help you sort the No's from the potentially lucrative Maybes!

If you’ve been doing phone sales for more than a day, odds are high that you have heard every possible excuse to get you off the phone as soon as possible:

“How DARE you call during ‘American Idol!’”

“How dare YOU call during my mid-morning snack!”

“How dare you CALL during the Super Bowl!”

Or…

“Would love to talk more about annuities, but my daughter’s dance recital starts in three minutes!”

“Can you try me back in a few weeks?  I’m washing my hair right now.”

“I’m in the middle of sorting my baseball cards and Silly Bands. You caught me at a bad time!”

Well, timing is everything — DON’T call during the Super Bowl or Christmas or Thanksgiving (even if you have nothing else to do). But conversational tone means a lot, too.  Very soon Mojo will be adding a “temperature” feature for you to label each cold or warm lead with a flame icon indicating their mood and attitude the last time you called.

Why is this important?  Because HOW a customer says No or Maybe is often more important than the words themselves.

I know this is true and let me testify why from the perspective of an insurance policy customer. I despise my current home insurance company. Their rates are outrageous and they are still punishing me for a tiny stove fire that caused some minor smoke damage in my kitchen a few years ago.

About six months ago, a sales agent from Company B called me up and told me that they didn’t care about the burnt pasta pot and that it is time I stop being raked over the coals for it. They gave me a quote that would reduce my annual homeowner’s policy from $1,200 to about $800 annually.  I checked the company’s references and it looks like they aren’t selling policies out of the back of a van. They have their name on a major sports stadium.

But in order to save that money, I would have to switch over my car insurance policy, too.  I told the sales rep to call me back in a few weeks because I really was happy with my car insurance even though she could beat that quote, too.

Since that initial call, Company B has politely followed up three times — and due to some inexplicable sense of inertia, I told the sales agent that I wasn’t ready to make a move yet. But as I’m typing these words, I’m embarrassed. It is obviously in my best interest to switch insurance carriers, and only laziness has prevented me from doing so. Now, I’m going to call her back.

A quick sales lesson from my ridiculous experience: If customers don’t want you to call them and open their eyes to advantageous opportunities, they won’t be bashful about lecturing you.  But if you don’t hear a hard “No,” you should keep calling back according to your sales action plan (sign up for our Facebook or Twitter feeds to learn how Mojo’s lead management software will soon help you STICK to your action plans).

John Petrowski, president of the Independent Health Insurance Agent Association (IHIAA), recently told Mojo that fear of being rejected or yelled at (“call reluctance”) is the number one reason why sales people fail.

“I can count on one hand the number of people who got upset at me,” says Petrowski.

That’s because many people have internalized the stereotype of the telemarketer who won’t take no for an answer, the caller who goes on and on with his sales pitch. Don’t be that person. If a prospect says they are not interested, take the hint and move on.

“You don’t get anyone mad with a ‘Have a Nice Day,’” he says.

The impact of “Call Reluctance” is so powerful that some psychologists have gone as far as calling it a “social disease.”

Sticking with the medical jargon, I’d say it is a disease closer to hypochondria. With a positive attitude, the frequency of rude responses you’ll get will be minimal.  Because the reality is that MANY people really do want to hear from you even if they seem rushed or harried.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a phone call to make….

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Posted in Insurance Agents, Prospecting 101 | 1 Comment »

Howdy Neighbor: Making the Most of Just Listed and Just Sold

May 6th, 2011

Neighborhood searchTwo of the most powerful pitches any real estate agent can make are the Just Listed and Just Sold calls.

When you present someone with the opportunity to “pick their own neighbor” because you’ve just listed a property next door, down the street, or around the corner, it’s a proposition too good for most people to ignore. When you follow up “I just listed the Jones’s house,” with “Do you know anyone looking to buy a home in this neighborhood? Would you like to pick your own neighbor” you have everyone’s attention.

Similarly, nothing sells like success, especially local, close-to-home real estate success. So, calling a prospect and telling them “I just sold the Smith’s house down the street—and I got 90 percent of the asking price—is music, and money, to a prospective home seller’s ears.

The new Free Form Plotting Search give you complete control over your farm

But, without the right tools and access to the right data, calling into a neighborhood can be daunting task. That’s why Mojo developed, then perfected, The Lead Store with Neighborhood Search. For a one-time $199 fee, you not only get access to all the publicly listed White Pages and Yellow Pages telephone directory data in the U.S. and Canada, you can hone in on any neighborhood you choose.

The Lead Store with Neighborhood Search plugs right into your Mojo application and you can instantly find the phone numbers within a ½ mile radius of any Just Listed or Just Sold property you choose. Better still, for homes in the U.S., you can free-form plot any customized zone you want.

Is there a several block area of apartments on the fringe of your zone? Just cut it out of the search. Want to search the neighborhood by business code or some other customized cross-cut version of the data? Tell The Lead Store with Neighborhood Search and it will populate Mojo with all the numbers instantly.

In real estate sales, there’s no such thing as too much information; there’s only too much information and too few ways to access it. With Mojo and The Lead Store with Neighborhood Search, that’s no longer an obstacle to breaking your own personal best sales records with Just Listed and Just Sold calls. Now, if we could just come up with a way to let people pick their own relatives…

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Posted in Features, Realtor Prospecting, Realtors | No Comments »

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