Estate of Mind by Tony Morris

Tony Morris has taken his ten years of experience in training and developing over 8,000 sales and lettings negotiators across the UK and wrapped it up into one book. He has had the benefit of seeing and listening to some of the best negotiators in both corporate and independent agencies and has created a blue print of what it takes to be a world class negotiator.

Tony has broken down the book into sections based on a day in the life of a negotiator to make it easy to implement his ideas straight into practice. The book has been designed into a workbook which allows the negotiator to write their own words in sections that are relevant to their agency. The negotiator can use the book as their sales bible and refer to it on a daily basis to build successful habits that achieve the right results.

The first chapter outlines what it takes to be a world class negotiator. Having seen some of the best negotiators in the country, Tony has created a blue print of what ‘world class’ looks like. He shares a story about a lettings negotiator called Laura and the simple things she does to stand out from the crowd. One of the ideas shared could literally double your stock levels for lettings if your agency is not already doing it. Tony has found the majority of agents he has helped were missing this trick that has transformed their business.

The second chapter focuses on how a negotiator prepares for their day ahead. Tony found the vast majority of estate agents he works with are guilty of falling into the trap of working on autopilot and going about their day with very little preparation or attention. He found that only the top 5% of negotiators he has worked with spend 10 minutes at the beginning of everyday setting themselves goals they are striving to achieve. These are broken down as follows:

• The number of viewings they are looking to generate
• The number of market appraisals they are looking to book
• The number of FS appointments they are looking to arrange
• The number of referrals they plan on asking for
• The number of private landlords details they are looking to obtain

Richard Denny said it best ‘if you don’t have a goal, then you can’t score’.

Tony has found that most the agents he has worked with have daily morning meetings run by the branch managers, however what was discussed in that meeting varied enormously. The most successful meetings focused heavily on the lessons learned from the previous day and are used as a coaching opportunity to continuously develop the skills of the team. The key questions that were asked in the meetings were:

What prevented you from booking more FS appointments?

What objection arose on the market appraisal and how did you deal with it? The team are then asked for their contributions on how they would deal with the same objection.

The Managers would then test the team’s knowledge of their stock list by saying ‘we have just received an enquiry for a 3 to 4-bedroom house in X area, the applicant wants character, however is not willing to do much work to the property, which properties would you be recommending?’

The Manager would then test the knowledge of the area by saying ‘the couple have a 2-year-old child and an 8-year-old; which schools would you recommend?

The father plays golf and wants to join a golf club in the area, where would you suggest he joins?’

Tony goes into detail about the most effective ways a negotiator can best prepare themselves for an enquiry, a viewing and a valuation. These ideas are easy to implement and will ensure the negotiator is always ahead of the game.

The third chapter examines how to build rapport with every type of person whether it’s a first time buyer who is straight out of university or a couple looking for their retirement home. Tony found many negotiators have what he describes as ‘1 serve’ and therefore will only build rapport effectively with certain behaviours. Having studied NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) for many years and become a practitioner, Tony shares many insights into how to develop a rapport with all walks of life and provide negotiators with a new perspective. One common misconception in selling is ‘people buy from people’; this is only half correct. ‘People buy from people LIKE THEMSELVES’ and Tony provides simple to use ideas on how to develop a great rapport no matter who you are sat in front of.

The fourth chapter breaks down the criteria required to book a qualified viewing. Tony has found before undertaking training with an estate agency that only 15% of the information is obtained. This leads to a poor conversion rate from a viewing to an offer and little interest shown in the applicant. Tony shares ideas on how to have a ‘conversation, not an interrogation’ to ensure that you don’t go into robot mode when qualifying an applicant.

The fifth chapter explores ideas to win new instructions for lettings without spending an extra penny on marketing. Tony has proven there are 5 methods to gaining more valuations which if done correctly, will turn into instructions. It’s one thing gaining a private landlord’s details and it’s another thing turning that conversation into a valuation. Tony shares the exact words to use on the phone call that have the highest probability of winning that valuation.

The sixth chapter looks at how to conduct the perfect viewing. Many of Tony’s clients have different ideas on the right order to show the properties and the most effective way to conduct the viewing. Having seen over 800 viewings in the past decade, Tony has seen which have the best outcome and what are key ingredients to ensure success. Tony shares an idea that will give you an unfair advantage over your competition.

The seventh chapter looks at all the objections that arise on an enquiry, a walk in, a viewing and a valuation. Tony shares the exact words to use for each objection and the technique on ‘handle the person, not the objection.’

The eighth chapter looks at one of the biggest things that is missed by 99% of the businesses Tony works with through his company Sales Doctors, which is asking for a referral. This is proven to generate the most business at the smallest marketing cost. Tony not only talks about the right time to ask for a referral, he shares the two most powerful methods of asking that will result in a huge amount of new business.

The ninth chapter looks at one of the most vital parts of the sales cycle and often the area that is missed; asking for the business. Before training, Sales Doctors carries out mystery calls acting as a fake applicant looking to rent or buy a property. In 90% of cases the negotiator does not ask for the viewing and instead suggests to email the relevant properties and awaits a call. Tony discusses the best closing techniques to use depending on your style.

The tenth and final chapter is the lessons Tony has learned along his journey of working with 8,000 negotiator’s. These include some very amusing stories and some eye opening ones that will make you think differently.

The ideas, techniques and strategies you will learn from reading Estate of Mind will propel a negotiators development to the next level. If implemented, the negotiator will significantly increase their conversions from an enquiry into a viewing and a viewing into an offer; in some cases, Tony has seen increases as high as 60% on the back of reading his book. It will help an estate agency owner grow their stock without spending an extra penny on marketing and in some cases, reducing their marketing budgets as they will learn a more effective method.

The Property Academy would like to thank Tony Morris for providing this summary of Estate of Mind.