Three Steps to Overcoming your FEAR of FSBOs

By Scot Kenkel, CRS GRI DAD www.PersonalSalesCoaching.com

“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.”

--- George Addair, Author

Did you know that most people are afraid of something? As children, we were afraid of the dark. Or of going to school. Or of big dogs. As we grew older, we replaced childhood fears with grown-up fears like long term commitments, sharp needles, clowns, and screaming children. Sometimes even mothers-in-law.

In almost every case our fear can be traced back to an unrealistic emotional response. Zig Ziglar, a world renowned sales trainer, expressed the word as a useful acronym: F.E.A.R. which stood for False Evidence Appearing Real.

Okay. It’s truth time. Ask yourself this question: Is my fear of FSBOs real or false? Many real estate professionals are fearful of FSBOs, yet when you think it through on a logical level, what is there to fear? FSBOs don’t have your experience. They haven’t been taught as well as you have. They can’t market a home the way you can. And most importantly, they won’t come out as well doing it on their own as they would if they hired you.

But this still may not be enough to compel you to pick up the phone and call a few of them, right? If that’s so, then it’s time to OVERCOME your FEAR of FSBOs! Here are three simple steps to help you:

Step One: Imagine the worse case scenario. What’s the absolute worst thing that could happen if you called a FSBO? Maybe he’d hang up on you. Maybe she’d say she’s not interested. Come on. How bad can it really get? My students often tell me how surprised they were once they actually started making contact with FSBOs. So will you.

Step Two: Develop good habits first and then add the technique. If you were training to run your very first marathon, you’d probably start off by running just a little each day, and then slowly increase your distance each day or series of days, right? Little by little. Why not start out the same way with FSBOs? Start by just sitting down and calling five FSBOs each day. Soon, make it six. Then seven. Eventually you’ll get to where the habit feeds your business like a craving. Instead of getting stuck on what happens, focus on developing the right habits.

Step Three: Separate the RIGHT ACTIVITY from the WRONG OUTCOME. Your objective is to overcome your fear of FSBOs. It’s not to go out there and take a dozen listings in the next three weeks, although that would be sweet. As with any effective training process the right activity will eventually generate the right outcome, and the wrong activity will naturally generate the wrong outcome. If your outcome is to overcome your fear then the right activity is to make the calls. Overcoming your fear can only be accomplished doing the right activities. Stop over analyzing it and just get started by picking up the phone – now dial it!

George Addair said it best when he wrote that “everything you want is on the other side of fear.” Overcoming your fear is just the start in mastering the entire FSBO process. Once you’ve tackled your fear, you’ll soon be able to look forward to working on the other techniques necessary to help convert contacts into appointments, and then into marketable listings. Use your FEAR to your advantage!

About Scot Kenkel, GRI CRS DAD

Scot Kenkel, a self-professed dad-a-holic, proud father of four, recovering travel junkie, training humorist, and overall smart guy, has been edu-taining real estate agents for nearly 15 years on how to grow their business using cutting edge sales and marketing techniques. Scot’s style has been described as energetic, fast-paced, down-to-earth, easy-to-follow, and sometimes hilarious but always informative. Find out more about Scot and his other courses by visiting his web site at www.PersonalSalesCoaching.com. You can also contact Scot directly by email at Scot@PersonalSalesCoaching.com or his office at (888) 831-5945.