BOLDly going where no agent has gone before!

21,000. That’s the number of transactions projected for round two of BOLD, MAPS Coaching’s latest breakthrough program! And with 22 new locations added to the lineup for 2009, living your life by design, not by default is within reach. Here are several more stats that are driving the success of agents and their market centers!

What a difference BOLD can make! In 2008, the Lake Travis market center listed 73 homes. After associates took BOLD the market center’s total listed homes jumped to 283 – a 25 percent increase!

Over the course of the eight-week BOLD program, Tim Heyl, associate with the Austin Southwest market center, took 10 listings and closed three contracts. His most recent listing was for a $2.99 million property. "If it hadn’t been for BOLD, there’s no way I would have gone after such an expensive property," he says.

Enrolling in the BOLD Program changed everything for Gary Budek. During the eight weeks that he was in BOLD, he took 14 listings and closed 21 buyer transactions, quadrupling his production from the first part of the year. "I was letting the market get to me and getting entrenched in the negative talk," he says. Getting into BOLD "was like a new lease on life for my business."

Getting into BOLD is one great way to improve your business. Christian Seemuller took it one step further. Read why he joined Keller Williams Realty after becoming a BOLD student.

"I was very comfortable in my real estate career, but that all changed when I started reading the MREA book. Almost at once I realized that the "comfortable" feeling I had was the byproduct of never being challenged. Soon I attended a BOLD seminar, and WOW! What I saw in BOLD was an opportunity to grow my career by challenging myself. I realized that the BOLD sessions were just what I needed! Like a clear sunny day I could now envision my true potential. It wasn't long before I made a BOLD move and chose KW!"

To learn more about BOLD email maps@kw.com or call (512)-327-3070. You can also visit the Coaching page on myKW.

Make E-Mailing Easier

By Saul Klein New technologies and best practices can help you use e-mail more effectively.
More businesses that rely on e-mail communication are finding that their messages are being blocked, bounced, or filtered as spam.

As more and more real estate businesses try to eliminate paper communications and move important functions such as voting, education, and meetings to an online environment, the problem with blocked e-mails is causing great concern. After all, how can REALTORS® and consumers make the move toward online transactions when they can't even ensure that e-mail is being delivered? Read the rest of this article.

How to Double Your Business

By Dana Lerner
Want an easy way to immediately double your business AND be of service at the same time? It is the beginning of the fourth quarter - once again it is that time of the year to contact your buyers and sellers to finish your year with strength, and set yourself up for a phenomenal first quarter! Give your 2009 buyers and sellers two key pieces of information they will need regarding their real estate transaction: 1) reminder for buyers to file for their homestead exemption from property taxes; 2) copy of HUD-1 Settlement Statement for buyers and sellers for their income tax preparation. Many times when people move, they put their important documents in a “very safe place” and we all know what happens then, right!? So once your clients are a bit more settled in their new home, a copy of the closing documents will be received as a welcomed service from you.
Read the rest of this article.

Customer Service Doesn't Equal Accessibility

By Dirk Zeller For 30 years we have been taught, as REALTORS®, we must “be there” for our clients. I hear it all the time from Agents across North America: “I want to be there for my clients.” What does “be there” mean? Does “be there” mean we are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for our clients? Does it mean that we miss soccer games, tee ball games, and piano recitals? For many Agents that is exactly what it means! Many of us equate access with service. We have been trained for years that access is the primary vehicle of customer service. We feel we need to be there at all times for our clients. We grant them access to our lives whenever they want it. They can, and will, take over our business, if we let them.

I want to share with you a new concept. Access has nothing to do with customer service. There are many professionals we do business with on a regular basis who are less than accessible. Read the rest of this article.