Having talked about the impending changes for months and even creating programs specifically to help agents take advantage of the "No Call" list, I believe there is one thing that will set apart the agents that use the "No-Call" law to their advantage -- that is their mental approach to the impending change. We must prepare for change.

When change has been thrust upon us we are often overwhelmed by the change. We view it as monumental when it might be just a slight adjustment. The first change is making sure your attitude is right. Your attitude will always affect your altitude in life. If you have the right attitude linked to the right expectation you can achieve anything.

The key word is expectation. Many agents are expecting this "No Call" list to kill our business or at least make it more difficult. What if that is not right? What if it is going to make it easier? All these agents will be doing is creating their own reality separate from the true reality. The "No Call" list changes have the makings of a tremendous opportunity for the right-minded people.

The most important mindset an agent can embrace is the mindset that they are a business owner and are running a business. Henry Ford said, "If you think you can or think you can't, either way you are right." If you think this "No Call" list is a real problem for your business it will be. If you think, I don't want to change, it's too much work, it will be and you won't. Each successful agent is really a business owner inside a real estate brokerage business. You are all CEO's of multi-million dollar sales companies. One of the primary jobs of a CEO is to effect change in the organization. To seek out ways of doing what their company does more efficiently and effectively. To strategically move the operation to serving their customers better, expanding their customer base and maximizing the profit for the shareholders … you.

Most agents don't think like a CEO often or frequently enough to help them deal constructively with changes in the marketplace and market conditions. Companies as well as people must improve or perish. We as human beings and business owners are either growing or shrinking. We are either getting better or getting worse. We do not have the option to stay the same. We are not like a helicopter where we can expend energy to stay in the same spot. We are either advancing or we are retreating.

I believe that the so-called "No Call" list problem is merely an opportunity for a grander future. Norman Vincent Peale always described opportunities as wrapped up inside a problem. The one who solves it wins! The "law of difficulty" tells us that most people don't attempt anything difficult or grand. Once we get past the difficulty, challenge or problem, we have clear sailing because not many people have tried and fewer still have broken through the problem to the backside. Remember this "No Call" law will be enacted. You can guarantee that this law will take effect. It might be delayed as the recent broadcast tax legislation was, but it will become law. Our slight, but important, adjustment in our attitude will pay us huge dividends. The first adjustment is the mental acceptance that it is coming. This is a huge advantage for you in the future. You can do it!

Usually there are ways around most laws or rules on the books. People trying to sell products and services will figure out how to go right to the line without crossing the line on this "No Call" law. There are numerous loopholes in the National "No Call" list law. The media in recent months has portrayed this new law as the total solution for intruding telemarketers. There has been a huge media firestorm on this subject over the last 6 months. You can't read your local paper or watch any of the National nightly news on ABC, NBC, CBS or CNN for any reasonable time and not see a piece on the "No Call" list. The consumer will not get what they expected from the "No Call" list. Let me say that again. This law will fall far short of consumer expectations!

It is entirely possible that the most fertile and productive population segment to call for prospecting purposes, as a Salesperson, will be the people actually on the "No Call" list. These people will get fewer calls, but they will still receive calls. With so many loopholes in the law, companies that have products and services to sell will adjust how they approach the consumer over the phone to be in compliance of the law, but still be able to call whom ever they choose. One of the ways to approach the consumer but still be within the law is through the use of surveys.

If you are taking some form of survey over the phone, you are exempt from the "No Call" list. As a Realtor, you could easily survey home buying or home selling trends. You could survey their neighborhood and neighborhood activity. You could survey what they were looking for when they bought their home. You could survey where they would move to and why. As you can see, there are unlimited surveys one could perform to the consumers in your marketplace. Most companies that sell products and services to consumers will develop and use the survey technique to access the people on the "No Call" list.

The "No Call" list creates a lot of advantages for the prepared agent. This change is one of the best opportunities agents have had in 20 years to expand their business.

Editor's note: Mr. Zeller has designed a training course to help Realtors deal with the do-not-call changes. Visit his Website located below in his byline.

Published: October 3, 2003

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Dirk Zeller is a sought out speaker, celebrated author and CEO of Real Estate Champions. His company trains more than 350,000 Agents worldwide each year through live events, online training, self-study programs, and newsletters. The Real Estate community has embraced and praised his six best-selling books; Your First Year in Real Estate, Success as a Real Estate Agent for Dummies®, The Champion Real Estate Agent, The Champion Real Estate Team, Telephone Sales for Dummies®, Successful Time Management for Dummies®, and over 300 articles in print. To learn more regarding this article, please visit www.realestatechampions.com.