Train Your Sphere Of Influence To Be Your Personal Sales Force
Did you realize that everyone is attracted to success?

Have you ever noticed that powerful people attract other powerful people? People love to be around others that share a passion for excellence, they also love to see others succeed. Your sphere of influence should be viewed as an extension of your own business, your own personal sales force.

Your salespeople actually have a very easy job, all they have to do is keep their ear to the ground, and if they hear of anyone considering buying or selling real estate, they send you a referral. Believe it or not, your sphere of influence is ready, willing and able to send you referrals. So, why aren't they right now?

All great sales managers will tell you, great salespeople are not born, they are created! How? Through training! You have to train, or condition, your sphere of influence to send you referrals. They don't know how to do it, or why they should do it, unless you explain it to them. This training program is a long-term project. It's! not just one letter, or one postcard, or one phone call, it's ongoing. You should be continually training your sphere to send you referrals over the long haul.

There really is a right way to do this, and a very wrong way. The wrong way is calling your sphere of influence every other week and asking them -- "Whom do you know that is ready to buy or sell today?" How would you feel about that call after about three phone calls? Not good, right? Instead, when creating a marketing strategy you must always ask the WIFM question -- What's In It For Me? Because that is exactly what your clients will do when you ask them for anything.

The bottom line is that members of your sphere of influence are just like any other client, they want something before they give you something. For some it may just be a thank you, or the presence of your company, for others it may be to be kept up to date on the progress of the referral, for others it may keeping an eye out for who you may be able to refer! to their business. This is his or her key, and every person has a different key.

What if you took the time to identify each of your clients unique set of keys. Imagine the possibilities! Consider the doors that these figurative keys might unlock. The opportunities are truly endless!

One-way to do this, is lead with a clients needs. By asking the client a simple question, for instance -- "Listen, I would love to earn your referrals, is there anything I can do help you with any of your projects?" You may find clients will have a need that you can help to fill.

Give and you shall receive. The law of reciprocity is a powerful one that can reap huge rewards. So put that personal sales force to work today and starting asking for more referrals!

The Fed Stays on Hold and Long-Term Rates Recede
- David Seiders NAHB Chief Economist

As we expected, the Federal Reserve held short-term interest rates steady at the Sept. 20 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), maintaining the 5.25 target for the federal funds rate. The FOMC statement highlighted the ongoing "moderation" in economic growth, the ongoing "cooling" of the housing market and the likely moderation of inflation pressures over time. The way things are going, stable monetary policy is the best bet for the balance of this year and the early part of 2007.

The Housing Downswing Still Is Underway Data received in recent weeks clearly show that the downswing in housing market activity still is underway. Housing starts for August were down by 6% from a downwardly revised reading for July and stood 20% below a year earlier. Building permit issuance was down by 2.3% in August and stood 22% below the previous year. Indeed, single-family permits are now down by 25% on a year-over-year basis.

On a brighter note, the weekly index of applications for mortgages to buy homes (Mortgage Bankers Association series) perked up a bit during the first half of September, however this measure remained about 21% below a year earlier (four-week moving average basis) and doesn't signal a fundamental turn-around in the housing market. We're now showing year-over-year declines in total housing starts of roughly 12% for both 2006 and 2007, and some decline in national average home prices has become a real possibility. The evolving housing downswing must be viewed in the context of the unsustainable housing boom of 2004-2005.

Total housing starts dropped 6.0% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.665 million units, the Commerce Department reported last Tuesday, leaving home construction down 19.8% below the pace of a year earlier. Single-family home construction fell 5.9% during the month to 1.360 million units, which was 20.6% below a year earlier.

Multifamily housing construction was down 6.7% for the month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 305,000 units, 15.7 percent lower than the pace of August 2005.

"Builders have been reporting weakening demand for some time and appropriately are cutting back on new supply in order to meet current market conditions and control their inventories," said NAHB President David Pressly. "Many builders also are offering substantial incentives to bolster sales and limit cancellations, and with mortgage rates still very favorable, now is a good time to buy."

"We are in the midst of an inevitable adjustment following the housing boom of 2004 to 2005 when housing market activity soared to unsustainable levels," said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. "The downward adjustment to housing production should run its course by mid-2007. The market that emerges from this correction will display good balance between supply and demand and move to a healthy and sustainable trend based on solid underlying fundamentals."

"Home buying conditions actually are quite favorable at this time," Seiders added. "There are a lot of homes on the market, mortgage rates are at historically low levels, house prices are softening in some areas and household income growth is proceeding. These developments are improving the affordability of home buying.

"August housing starts declined 5.5% in the West, 6.1% in the South and 12.2% in the Midwest. They were up 5.4% in the Northeast, following a 12.5% decline during the prior month.