"The Magic of Twelve"

Thanks to Brenda Blakenship with Home Warranty of America for providing the “Magic of Twelve”. I know that we have heard the importance of keeping in touch many times but it never hurts to be reminded, especially in the difficult market that many are experiencing. I keep hearing and seeing signs of recovery and hopefully your area is rebounding.

By "touching" someone 12 times you ensure more success in your sales objective. Just once or twice allows you to be forgotten but "persistent persistence" is the key. Develop your own 12 touch program to encourage potential buyers to act and potential sellers to list their homes with you. Here are some suggestions to help you "touch" your potential clients:


1. Utilize a Client follow-up program to share valuable homeowner tips.
2. Follow up every phone call with an e-mail.
3. When providing your business card, request contact information in return.
4. Send potential buyers news of great opportunities, programs and tips.
5. Send potential sellers news of sales successes with homes similar to their own.
6. Invite potential buyers to join your Facebook group and dialogue with them on a weekly basis - a simple wall post will keep you fresh in their mind.
7. Invite potential sellers to join your Facebook group and keep your listings updated with photos and visual tours. Let everyone know about your successes too!
8. Request a personal reference quote or letter from previous buyer/seller clients and provide to your potential clients.
9. Take time to send more personal, handwritten notes. Write some daily!
10. Provide your clients with useful information often by e-mailing to your database.
11-100. Use your personal skills and creativity to touch, touch, touch without pressure. Developing relationships will be the key to your success... and ultimately the sale.

Provided by VaLois Hounsel

"Success" with Becky Hill, 2009 WCR National President

The Dallas Metro East Chapter held a successful meeting the first day of July with a style show and visits from our two WCR Texas presidents – National President, Becky Hill and Texas State President, Sandra Hunt.

The highlight was the message that President Becky brought to us as food for thought. Would you like to be more successful as a realtor, in an organization, or on a personal level? What are the common traits that unite these diverse areas into one? She distills all the possibilities into “10 Characteristics of Highly Successful People”.

1) Be optimistic
2) Define purpose or destination
3) Work hard
4) Discipline – systems in place
5) Trust your intuition
6) Be a risk taker
7) Prolific reader
8. Strive for mastery
9) Expect the best – remain positive
10) Seek the help of others

What a priviledge for us in Texas to have the counsel, advise and expertise of our National President so readily available to us! President Becky has spoken to many of our local chapters during the year. She has plans to speak to speak to the Collin County Chapter and Houston Chapter in the near future. You can also see her at the WCR/TAR Fall Meeting in Dallas, TX as she installs Deborah Spangler as our 2010 Texas State President. Make plans to join us!

Mid Year Meeting - "Real You Incorporated" with Kaira Rouda

A favorite speaker with Women’s Council, Kaira Sturdivant Rouda, returned with an important message to empower women in business. Her goal is to help women discover their personal brand. Her book, Real You Incorporated: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs won the USA Book News’ 2008 Best Book of the Year Award in the Business: Entrepreneurship & Small Business Category.


What does it mean to be real? It means your values—and your personality—are in sync with your business’s operations and its people. It means you surround yourself with people who think and act like you—true believers—inside and outside the workplace. It means you nurture your passion with a network of mentors, friends and activities. It also means you reach out and give back.


In her presentation, she discussed the Real You Chart that will help you develop your personal brand. First, you need to start with the one word that describes you. This became the favorite question to ask of your friends and family. There are 7 more levels to be discovered as you work toward your goal. To learn more click here.

Provided by VaLois Hounsel

Mid Year Meeting - "Real Estate, the Next Generation" with Matthew Ferrara

Bright and early Saturday morning, our first session was with Matthew Ferrara, President and CEO of Matthew Ferrara & Company. Matthew and Amy Chorew, National trainer for his company, are favorites with Women’s Council members. The company was responsible for building our new website several years ago.

The session dealt with “Real Estate, the Next Generation". The program is designed to help the realtor compete in a consumer-centric, tech-savvy and quality-centric world. What does the consumer want and how do they want it? We probably all realize that the future consumer isn’t anything like the past consumer. The session combine new sales techniques, modern relationship management and technology to create a different approach to real estate.

Real Estate, the Next Generation looks at:

§ Market research about buyers and sellers that challenges old perceptions about who they are, what they want and how they want it delivered (Hint: Your old approach isn’t going to last much longer!)

§ Presents the audience with facts - not cliches - about how the real estate consumer really works - and it’s not the way today’s REALTOR still does!

§ Elimination of excuses that let current brokers continue outdated practices

§ Exposure of “Death by Cliche” that pervades the industry and holds back true performance

§ How to Start an “industrial revolution” at your company, that maximizes teamwork, process improvement and high production environments

§ Develop a leadership strategy that focuses on strengths, not weaknesses, that brokers need to leverage to thrive in a whole new market

§ Implement and adopt existing technologies - most of which brokers already have - to improve training, marketing, online presence and profits

Provided by VaLois Hounsel

Mid Year Meeting - E-Myth

During the research for the “Chapter Programming that Works”, I found reference several times to the E-Myth. Several local chapters presented programs based on the principles found in the books by Michael Gerber, the world's number one small business guru.

The E-Myth point of view is the perspective that your business should work for you, rather than you working for it. The "E" stands for entrepreneurial and the myth is that most owners are not entrepreneurs but someone who just works in a business where the owner has himself for a boss instead of somebody else.

Gerber's E-Myth Revisited offers salient points with the most important being, "Work ON your business not IN it." We are introduced to three working personalities: 1) the entrepreneur who always has ideas, 2) the manager who keeps everything organized, and 3) the technician who knows that "If it's going to get done right, I'd better do it myself."

He tells the story of Sarah, who went from making pies for fun to managing a store that delivered pies as a business. She soon became enslaved to her business, dreading the love she once had. But more so, unable to grow the business to achieve her goals.

Through the eyes of a business owner/client, Gerber unfolds the story that allows us to see the importance of each personality preference and the necessity for balance between them. We also see the different stages of business growth and come to appreciate the benefits of implementing systems at the beginning of developing a business.

The franchise system allows all personalities to excel, and when they excel the customer is better served and better satisfied. The system works. So managers and technicians can have a business that will be successful and they will be fulfilled working on. But it does not stop there. He also teaches that entrepreneurs must create their small businesses according to a "franchise prototype," basically set-up systems and operations so the business can work most effectively.

Until next week...

"Chapter Programming that Works" with VaLois Hounsel

As a former teacher, it is safe to say that I am passionate about education. I felt honored and thrilled to be selected as a facilitator for the lab session titled “Chapter Programming that Works”. The goal was to learn from the past using technology to better plan for the future. To achieve the goal, I used an online survey to chart the program preferences of our members and outline sources to search for the best programs/best practices.



Many thanks to the Texas state members who helped by completing the survey. The results of the survey along with the programs that work can be found in the power point presentation. Click here to view the presentation.



The last fifteen minutes of the session were devoted to the winners of the new award for best programming by Wells Fargo. We are Texas proud that the Houston 1960 Chapter won for the Mega Chapters from across the entire nation! Representatives from three of the four winning chapters spoke for a few minutes concerning their efforts to add member value through programming.

Mid Year Meeting - "Women and Money" with Deborah Spangler, 2009 President- elect

I was very proud to be one of three Texans teaching learning labs at midyear in DC... representing over 30%of the lab instructors.. All the classes were great and I was wishing I could have been in all of them. My class, Women and Money, What women need to know about their finances, was well attended and I had a great interactive audience. This is a timely subject and I wanted to share with you a few things I found out from my audience. Click here for Power Point Presentation

1. Only 4 of about 100 attendees knew their net worth.. do you?
2. Only 2 of the attendees had budgeted for the DC trip..
3. Only 1 knew what their current credit card interest rate was.

My desire is that we as women do not allow ourselves to be caught unaware or unprepared for the future. I hope you will look over the powerpoint (lots of interesting facts) and share what you learn with others. Many thanks to all the Texas WCR members that came out for support.

Provided by Deborah Spangler