How comfy are you with your systems? Specifically, your MLS and your contract software. For me, if I'm not proficient with my tools of my trade, it's easy for me to shy away from using them. In our trade, shying away from using the MLS or your contract software is pretty much fatal to your chances of bringing in a paycheck.

Last year, after two years away from the trenches, I reactivated my real estate license. The RE/MAX office I joined had a new fancy-schmantzy contract software program I'd never used before. The heavens smiled on me and I literally got a buyer off my blog the first day back. We went out looking at houses and they found one they liked and wanted to make an offer on it.

YIPES! I had no idea how to even fire up the program, much less navigate through it, so I put the buyers off for two days with some stupid excuse, so that I could get a crash course on the software. But even with the crash course, I was a bit of a basket-case writing up the offer, from a technology perspective.

For a new agent, this is unnerving! At least I'd gone through a purchase contract with a buyer a couple hundred times, so I wasn't nervous about that, but the actual technology of it just about shut me down.

So, the first step is admitting you have a problem.

When you run an MLS search for a buyer, do you trust your results? When you're looking for comparables to price a home for a prospective seller, are you sure you found them all? The solution is to practice, practice, practice. And to get some training, either from the local MLS provider/board or from another agent in the office. Do five practice CMAs (Comparative Market Analyses) on five office listings. Do a CMA on your own house. Search for homes Just Like Yours and go preview them.

If you use contract software, as opposed to handwriting your contracts, get training. These systems are not intuitive and you'll be the basket-case like I was if you're sitting down with a buyer to write an offer and can't figure out how to print it out or how to auto-populate the fields from contract to contract. These programs are typically pretty powerful and can do a lot of things for you. So it's in your best interest to learn them.

Yes, I know that learning your systems isn't nearly as sexy as learning how to prospect, but unless you're a master fake-it-til-you-make-it-er, those prospects you bring in won't be worth much to you without a decent knowledge of your systems.

Secret Two - Practice with Your Printer

This may sound silly, but when you're writing an offer for a buyer, it's nerve-wracking if you can't get the printer to work.

I wrote my very first offer back in 1996 at 6:00 pm on a Friday night in my Coldwell Banker office. I called my broker away from Happy Hour to help me. I'd had training on the contract software and was pretty comfortable with it, but had never actually printed a contract.

Using my brand new contract software (registered under my name & all!), I created the purchase agreement with my broker's help, and then went to print it out. Oops. Great big DRAFT watermark across every page. Hmmmmmm. Tried again. Same thing. My buyer was sitting in the conference room waiting for me, but neither I nor my broker could figure out what was wrong. And, being Friday night, there wasn't much chance of finding any customer service at the software company.

I felt like an idiot. I ended up hand-writing the entire contract and life went on. Turns out that I needed some activation code to remove the DRAFT watermark.

But there are all sorts of things that can go wrong when printing from new software, aren't there? Especially if you're in a networked real estate office.

So, as you're practicing with your contract software, be sure to also practice printing out the contracts. Please don't hesitate to waste paper. If your software requires legal paper, be sure you know where it is and how to load it. If you have the option of either legal or letter, be sure you know how to select the one you want. Know how to "insert" or "remove" n/a's and such.

And always have a back-up plan. Here's mine:

Plan A: Business as usual. Use the regular office printer.

Plan B: If that fails, try the other printer at the office.

Plan C: If both of those fail, email the contract to the receptionist to print out

Plan D: If I'm really crashing and burning, know where the pre-printed contracts are and write it up manually.

Again, I know this sounds trivial and even silly, but just wait until your buyer is sitting in the conference room waiting to sign his offer and you can't produce anything for him to sign!

Next Secret: Don't Wing it with Your New Buyer!

Published: August 26, 2009

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Jennifer Allan is a former top producing real estate broker, a published author, a speaker and a trainer. She has written five books a bout the business of selling real estate, including her flagship book: Sell with Soul: Creating an Extraordinary Career in Real Estate without Losing Your Friends, Your Principles or Your Self-Respect. Her new book entitled "If You’re Not Having Fun Selling Real Estate, You're Not Doing it Right!" will be released in early 2010. Jennifer believes that the secret of success for real estate agents is not in aggressive marketing techniques or hard-core sales pitches, but rather in being competent in one's craft. Competence begets Confidence. And in today's world of increasingly suspicious and ad-weary consumers, having an air of self-assurance and enthusiasm will be far more effective than a slick sales campaign. Jennifer writes and speaks with this philosophy in mind. She preaches that salespeople should follow the Golden Rule in their day-to-day practice of business - treating clients and prospects respectfully, as the salesperson him or herself would like to be treated. Being competent, reliable and fair, and motivated by a true desire to earn a paycheck, not just show up at closing with hand outstretched. She is a regular contributor to several real estate newsletters and magazines, a member of the RE/MAX Hall of Fame and one of the industry's most popular bloggers. You can learn more about Jennifer's "soulful" philosophies at www.SellWithSoul.com. Subscribe to Jennifer Allan's Newsletter for SOI'ers Tips & Strategies for Generating Business from Your Sphere of Influence Your Email Address: Your Name: