Bernice L. Ross, Ph.D.

"First I wanted to say that Bernice's Classes at the Long Beach Real Esate Expo were the HIGHLIGHTS! I took so many notes, I thought my pen was going to catch on fire!"
~ Jack Young

"I've heard Bernice speak several times before. The session she did for us today I got over $100,000 of new ideas for our business."
~ Rich La Rue
President Realty Executives Southern California

"When Bernice speaks the industry listens."
~ Donna Lee
Unique Global Estates

"I received my license in Jan 2005 and found myself at a very slow start. The me, me, me attitude this business presents was very difficult to weed my way through. (I’m from the South, we just don’t act that way.) When I began to question, is really when I began to have trouble. I decided to hang on thinking if I could just get past two years it would reveal itself. Well, that didn’t happen and life always throws us what we ask for, doesn’t it? (Bernice breaking her arm!)
 
I am finally starting writing down goals of what I needed to have happen and what I would do if it did. I knew I needed a coach, but it is very expensive. Just about that time,  Dilbeck introduced us to you at the rollout of our new technology. When I saw you, I knew someone had heard me. I found a way to pay for it regardless of my situation.
 
You adapted our system within your coaching, and I have never experienced someone doing that. You always have to adapt to their methodology. Your  “Give to Get” system and way of thinking really hit home with me about going back to my roots of who I am and how I was raised. I was already involved with two escrows when joining your class and gained a lease again from my previous client, and from that gained 2 more qualified leads that I just completed finding that new lead a house today.
 
It works if you stop trying to reinvent the wheel and get out of your own way. Thank you so much for coming to Dilbeck and spending the time to stay committed even with such a small turnout. It was well worth your effort and greatly appreciated. I look forward to my new success and I love the 17% statement for full commissions, it is truly powerful!"
~ Stefanie Y,
Realtor

Thank you so much for a wonderful educational class you gave us at the TAR Mid Winter last week. It was the best class I took the whole conference. I would love to have any information you can send me from the class. Thank you again.
~ Debbie E

Browse Bernice's speaking topics designed to enhance your skills, build on your strengths, conquer challenges, and increase your profits. For more information on sponsoring a seminar or class contact us.

You Can’t Shake Hands with an iPad

Harness Your Negotiation Power

How to Engage Gen Y and Millennials

Unlock the Secrets of Leadership Success

No More Lame Webinars

Put It Local, Take It Global: Nine Secrets for Working With Global Clients -

Why Didn't You Just Text Me? Nine Secrets for Bridging the Generational Gap

"Don't Call Them Wealthy: Secrets to Working with Affluent Clients"

Gems and Trends for 2012

Distressed Properties: Profit Center or Money Pit?

Waging War on Real Estate's Discounters (Earning Full Commissions in a Competitive Environment)

How to Create and Sell a Wildly Profitable Real Estate Business

A Love-Hate Guide to Agent Profitability

Coach Your Office to Increased Profitability

"We met before your session in the audience and I had the privilege of sitting in your session in Orlando last weekend. I just wanted to say great job. Your delivery and message was excellent and very entertaining."
~ Broker owner of a Franchise in western Canada

You Can’t Shake Hands with an iPad

Traditional, web, or social media lead generation all share the same goal—to produce a face-to-face (F2F) appointment. Today F2F often means using tools such as Skype or Google Plus’s “Hangout” feature to meet digitally. It can also mean using tools such as Foursquare and Meetup for F2F meetings with those who share your passion for the same places and interest. Participants in this session will learn the 21st Century F2F lead generation techniques including digital listing presentation strategies, how to “make a friend now and do a deal later” as a social media marketing and lead conversion strategy, as well as how to use geo-spatial marketing to grow their businesses F2F. Participants will also learn five proven secrets that will create raving fans for their businesses for years to come.

Target Audience: New and experienced agents, broker owners, and trainers

Length: 75-180 minutes
I.     Learning Objectives: Participants in this session will learn:
A.   How to generate F2F leads based upon their unique interests using geo-spatial sites such as Foursquare, Facebook Places, Google Plus “Hangout,” and Meetup.com.
B.   How to create a digital pre-list package and to conduct a F2F digital listing presentation.
C.   The Do’s and Don’ts of F2F lead conversion including tone of voice, body language, and how to ask powerful closing questions.
D.   Five proven secrets for generating great social media and online buzz about their services.

1. Session Outline
   I.  No more cold calling and door knocking: Digital marketing married with face-to-face lead generation and lead conversion strategies.
   A.   “Hangouts,” “Check-ins” and “Meetups” as lead generation and lead conversion strategies.
   B.   How to “make a friend now and do a deal later.”
   C.   The new closing model for 2012: you earn the right to do business with your social media network by offering service, being authentic, and building connection and trust.
   
2. The language of closing
   A.   Body language secrets
   B.   The most important phrase in negotiation: It’s your house and it’s your decision
   C.   Digital pre-list guidelines
   D.   Sample digital listing presentation—no iPad required
   E.    Ten powerful closing questions
   
3. F2F Marketing, video style
   A.   Ten strategies for marketing your business with video—micromarketing rules.
   B.   The do’s and don’ts of shooting video for your listings
   
4. F2F offer presentations make a comeback: Skype and Google Plus negotiation strategies.
   
5. Other geo-spatial strategies to grow your F2F referral network.

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Harness Your Negotiation Power

What’s old is new—great negotiation skills have never really gone out of style and are more important today than ever. With Skype and Google Hangout, the hot new trend is good old-fashioned face-to-face negotiation except it’s now online. This session unlocks the secrets of using spoken language and body language to negotiate more effectively, how to set up showings so buyers are easier to close, as well as proven strategies for overcoming 13 of the most common buyer and seller objections, whether it’s face-to-face or online. 

Your audience will learn:
A.   How to use spoken language and body language to negotiate more effectively.
B.   How to use the language of negotiation to close more transactions.
C.   Thirteen powerful scripts to overcome common buyer and seller objections.  

Designed for: Broker/owners, managers, plus new and experienced real estate agents.

Length: This session may be presented as 60, 75, 90, or 120 minutes.

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How to Engage Gen Y and Millennials

When it comes to Gen Y, the old hunt ‘em, tell ‘em, and sell ‘em advertising strategies are dead. Engaging Gen Y is all about working collaboratively and marketing to each individual client’s “unique” needs and lifestyle.  Learn how to implement the three steps that lead to strong Gen Y engagement, how message your marketing in today’s social media based environment, the hot Gen Y trends including the new “Mommy market,” plus the latest geo-spatial technologies that will let you say goodbye to cold calling and door knocking and hello to meeting future clients who actually want to meet and get to know you.

Your audience will learn:
A.   What makes Gen Y unique from previous generations.
B.    The three key steps for building connection and engaging with Gen Y.
C.    Proven strategies to help attract and convert Gen Y clients so that YOU will be their REALTOR® of choice.

Designed for: Broker/owners, managers, plus new and experienced real estate agents

Length: This session may be presented as 60, 75, 90, or 120 minutes.

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Unlock the Secrets of Leadership Success

This three-hour leadership workshop assists leaders at all levels of the real estate industry to identify their unique leadership style, avoid burnout, and to build stronger, high performance teams at all levels of their organization. Participants will learn how to zap negativity, create a positive mindset, as well as simple ways to manage conflict. The talking circle exercise that closes the workshop is one of the most powerful means ever created to build group cohesiveness as well as to illustrate the power of being heard without judgment or comment.

Target Audience: Association Executives, WCR, trainers, broker owners, and agents who hold leadership positions in the real estate industry who want to grow their leadership skills.

Length: 150-180 minutes

1. Learning Objectives: In today’s session you will learn:
   A.   Leadership strategies for reducing stress and managing change in your organization.
   B.   Four key components for effective leadership.
   C.   How to eliminate energy drainers that block top performance.
   D.   The secrets to attracting and leading a great team.
2. Four strategies to prevent burnout and to avoid going “splat!”
3. Eliminate costly adrenaline triggers (Adrenaline Quiz)
4. Reinvent your mindset including how to handle negative comments, how to control your personal self-talk, what to do when a team member or direct report goes negative, as well as how to create a negativity free mindset.
5. Put attraction into action: The six secrets of attracting and maintaining an effective leadership team.
6. The four dimensions of leadership—“What’s Your Leadership Style?” Quiz
   A. Change vs. status quo
   B.   Reaction vs. response
   C.   Self-focused vs. other focused
   D.   Open vs. closed (what it takes to avoid burnout)   
7. Four key leadership questions
   A.   What results do you want to create?
   B.   What actions can I take today to stay ahead tomorrow?
   C.   How can I better support those I work with to get what they want?
   D.   What feedback do I need to create the best possible experience and outcome for my leadership team?
8. Being Heard Exercise

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No More Lame Webinars

In today’s fast paced business environment, trial and error approaches are horribly inefficient. Now imagine the boost in productivity that would occur if you had a consistent process for delivering both face-to-face and virtual meetings throughout your organization. How much more confidence would you experience if you could quickly pinpoint where your meetings were going wrong and were immediately able to get them back on track? This session unlocks the secrets of creating effective virtual meetings whether you are leading a conference call, teleseminar, webinar, videoconference, or even a face-to-face-meeting.

Target Audience: Association Executives, WCR, trainers, broker owners, and agents who want to master the strategies required to lead effective webinars that will also help them to grow their business.
Length: 90-180 minutes

Learning Objectives:
1.    Identify the three key building blocks necessary to design and lead effective webinars.
2.    Implement the three key strategies required to lead a webinar.
3.    Avoid common mistakes that result in poorly run webinars.

1. Session Outline:
   I.     The Three Building Blocks You Need to Design and Lead an Effective Webinar
2. Your unique leadership proposition:
   A.   Four major leadership types
   B.   How to create and maintain strong connection on your webinars
3. The secret to attracting and creating great results from your webinars
4. Question, question, question
5. Simple guidelines for creating great content
   A.   Create a great title
   B.   Intellectual property—release or lock it down?
6. Slide deck Do’s and Don’ts
7. Instructional design issues.
8. Technology Do’s and Don’ts
9. Marketing your webinar
   A.  Clear purpose and intent—what outcomes do you want to achieve?
   B.   Fee or free—payment systems
10. How to build engagement, even if there are a 1,000 people on the webinar.
11. Six best practices to lead the best webinars ever

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Put It Local, Take It Global: Nine Secrets for Working With Global Clients - New 2011

Today's real estate market is no longer just local—it's global. Serving the global real estate consumer requires a completely new set of strategies that honors cultural differences while also integrating the best of Web 2.0 strategies including the videoization of the web, iPodification, and innovative uses of social media platforms. This session reveals nine secrets of working more effectively with both local and global clients both on and offline.

Learning Objectives: Participants in this session will learn how to:

1. Implement best practices that capitalize on four new business shaping trends: videoization of the web, iPodification, globalization, and social media.
2. Modify their communication strategies to fit global clients including taboos to avoid, key points of differentiation between numerous countries, as well as key body language cues to watch for when clients are not fluent in English.
3. Four key cultural dimensions that help agents and brokers understand differences between U.S. clients vs. those from other countries including directness, hierarchy, consensus, and individualism vs. collectivism.
4. How to leverage Web 2.0 for business development and efficient global customer service.
5. How to unlock the buying codes for most major countries.
6. Five key expectations most global clients share.
7. How to implement listing and website translation services, listing syndication, and video syndication to attract and convert more global business.
8. Taboos to avoid.

Results: Your participants will provide better customer service to their global clients due to a better understanding of cultural differences, be able to reach more global clients through global Web 2.0 strategies, plus convert more global client leads into closed business.

This session may be presented in a 90 minute, 120 minute, or 180 minute format.

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Why Didn't You Just Text Me? Nine Secrets for Bridging the Generational Gap

For the first time in history, the age of our clients influences how we will communicate with them. This is especially challenging for the real estate industry where the median age of Realtors® is over 50 and the median age of first time buyers is 31. This session unlocks the secrets of communicating across the generations.

Learning Objectives: Participants in this session will learn:

A. Nine secrets for bridging the generational communication gap.

B. How to improve your personal communication skills based upon technological expertise and generational differences.

C. How to implement the latest technological trends into your business including syndication strategies, blogging, and social networking.

This session may be presented in a 90 minute, 120 minute, or 180 minute format and has been approved for CE credit in numerous states.

Session Outline

I. Learning Objectives

II. Principles that Apply to All Generations

A. Secret #1: The Five Steps for Creating a Multi-Generational Marketing Campaign.

B. Secret #2: What you're really selling—it's not real estate

C. Secret #3: Multi-sensory marketing and staging

III. Secret #4: Multi-Generational Negotiation Strategies including charge neutral and letting the client own their own decisions.

IV. Secret #5: Body language: what they're really saying. Emotional vs. logical decision makers, truth telling, and other "tells."

V. Secret #6: Adapt your marketing to fit generational differences

A. Traditionalists (born before 1946), 59 million, stable, loyal, & dedicated, respect for tradition, authority, rules & self sacrifice. More likely to be conforming—won't rock the boat.

B. Baby Boomers (1946-1964)—idealistic, workaholics, "Me" generation,

C. Secrets for working with Boomers and Traditionalists

D. Gen X (1965-1976) 48 million, latch key kids born into the highest divorce and abortion rate in history. Over 1/2 were raised in one parent homes. No heroes, cynical, don't respect authority, want it now!

E. 21st Century "floor time:" Six insights from Gen X (immediacy and authenticity)

F. Gen Y (1977-1994): Collaborative, optimistic, peer group influence, most educated, fun, impatient, and narcissistic.

G. The hottest new niche for Gen Y: "the Mommy Market"—unlike Gen X, want kids.

H. Face-to-face communication challenges for Gen X & Gen Y

I. Go for Win-Win Negotiations

VI. Secret #7: Communicate the Way Your Clients Want to Receive Information

A. Instant Messaging, Jott, and iPodification,

B. Social media including blogging, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn

VII. Secret #8: Video—the Hot New Application for 2009

A. Syndicate your virtual tours to 15 different video portals with TubeMogul.com

B. Ten ways to use video in your business

VIII. Secret #9: The web is like a haystack—the more places you are, the more likely potential clients are to find you.

A. What's hot in terms of today's marketing revolution

1. Word of mouth and viral marketing—get someone else to tell your story.

2. You are what you publish—blogs, podcasts, & vlogs create trust and credibility.

B. Website Syndication

1. Go global with Immobel.com and Proxio.com

2. Make your listings stand out with at least 20 pictures—increases page views on your site up to 300 percent.

IX. Action steps and close

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"Don't Call Them Wealthy: Secrets to Working with Affluent Clients"

Ninety-two percent of today's millionaire's are self made—don't call them "wealthy'—they call themselves "successful" members of the middle class. If you represent the top 10 percent of clients in your market area, this session will unlock the best kept secrets you need to know to represent the most affluent real estate clients in your market.

Don't call today's millionaires "wealthy'—they're "successful" members of the middle class. This session unlocks the 12 best kept secrets you need to know to represent the most affluent clients in your market.

Designed for: Broker/owners, managers, and experienced real estate agents

Goal: To assist participants in doing a better job of providing the utmost in customer service to their clients not only in the luxury price range, but in all other price ranges as well.

Learning objectives: Participants in this session will:

Be able to integrate the four pillars upon which luxury branding and marketing rely.
Tap into the unconscious buying triggers that motivate buyers in all price ranges.
Market more effectively to international clients based upon their "culture code."

Session Outline:

1. Dream-weaving: You're not in the real estate business
2. You attract who you are: how the Attraction Principle plays out in the luxury market
3. "It pays to be seen in the right places."
   a. The four pillars of branding your real estate business.
   b. Making the connection and keeping it strong.
4. How to avoid the one mistake that will kill your luxury business in a heartbeat
5. Why Miami rather than Beverly Hills? When knowledge of the local inventory is not enough.
6. Unlocking the luxury buying code: secrets from the Fortune 100's leading marketing guru, Clotaire Rapaille
7. Shark aquariums and James Bond rooms: what today's buyers really want.
   a. Multi-sensory marketing
8. The Russians Are Coming: Tapping the buying codes from other cultures.
9. Never make another referral again: the proper etiquette for introducing your best clients to the best service providers.
10. Discreetly marketed properties—it's all about your network.
11. Strategies for Slaying the Dragon in the Deal: when product inventory and market statistics are critical
12. All you have to do is to move your clothes—providing the ultimate real estate customer experience.

Length: This session may be presented as 90, 120, or 180 minutes.

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Gems and Trends for 2012

What will the next decade of 21st Century real estate be like? What changes do you need to make today to stay ahead of the competition tomorrow? Learn how to turn today's change into dollars with the top trends that will influence the real estate business today and throughout the upcoming decade.

Learning Objectives: Your audience will learn:

1. How to implement best practices related to ten key trends that are reshaping the real estate industry.

2. Strategies for capitalizing on major business trends including transparency, globalization of the real estate market, the shift from commoditization to customization, and the shift from top down marketing to authenticity and on-going conversations.

3. How demographic trends such as "Middlelescence" and the Gen Y "Mommy Market" will drive the next real estate recovery.

4. How to implement the latest technological trends into their business including "everything in your pocket," "F2F (Face-to-face rather than text2text), meetups, plus video syndication strategies in order to provide improved levels of customer service.

5. How to monitor and protect their online reputation where "Big Brother" may be stealing their data and their identity.

6. How the drive to consolidation is creating more powerful platforms for consumers as well transforming the future of the MLS.

7. How some of today's unusual innovations may show up in their business tomorrow.

This session may be delivered in a 90, 120, or 180 minute format.

Results: Your audience will leave this session with a list of cutting edge tools and strategies that they can use today to increase their profitability and to provide even better customer service tomorrow.

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Distressed Properties: Profit Center or Money Pit?

Background: Short sales and REOs still dominate today's real estate sales landscape. This session shows agents how to help owners of distressed property to achieve the best possible outcome to their particular situation, to close more distressed property transactions using a traditional and social media marketing plan, while taking specific steps to limit their liability when representing short sales and REOs.

The longer version of this session will provide a detailed BPO strategy that also applies to pricing any listing correctly in any market.

Key Learning Points

Participants in this session will learn:

1. How helping troubled homeowners stay in their homes can be a huge plus an agent's business.

2. Strategies to protect both you and your clients from hidden sources of liability including Errors & Omission Insurance issues, REO listing traps, plus other issues that can cost unsuspecting sellers thousands of additional dollars.

3. A systematic traditional and social media marketing plan that will assist distressed property owners in achieving the maximum price from their real estate sale.

4. Strategies to help protect the seller's credit.

5. Pitfalls for buyers of distressed properties including issues for the agents who represent them.

Length: This Session can be presented as 90, 120, or 180 minutes.

Results: Increased consumer and brokerage protection, better good will in the community for helping owners keep their homes whenever possible, plus quicker closings for distressed property owners who must sell.

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Waging War on Real Estate's Discounters (Earning Full Commissions in a Competitive Environment)

Background: The media and the so-called alternative business models have hammered the point that commission is the only factor to consider when hiring a real estate agent. The strong market of the past few years has allowed these models to prosper at the cost of the full service model. Nevertheless, only 15 percent of consumers choose their broker based upon the commission rate. Five percent want and will pay for premium service. The other 80 percent want value, which is a combination of both commission and service. The issue facing full service brokerages is how to educate sellers about the benefits of using a full service brokerage. Research collected from across the country consistently shows the same pattern: a skilled real estate broker who charges a full commission normally nets the seller more money than using a broker who discounts.

Results: More listings taken at a full commission, increased profitability, better market exposure for your inventory, increased referrals, and improved customer retention. If you're tired of having to defend your commission at every turn, Bernice's presentation will show you how to reclaim your power and start earning the full commissions you deserve.

Designed for: Broker/owners, managers, plus new and experienced real estate agents

Your audience will learn:

• The key strategies for earning full commissions from Bernice's book, Waging War on Real Estate's Discounters.
• How to create a Premium Marketing Plan that uses technology, competitor reconnaissance, and guerilla marketing strategies to differentiate their services from the competition and thereby convert their clientele into raving fans.
• Over 25 ways for agents to create their personal "unique selling proposition" that will assist them in overcoming both discount and traditional brokerage competitors.
• Proven scripts and dialogues to overcome the discount objection.
  

Purpose: To help full service agents who charge a full commission create a unique selling proposition that net sellers the highest price possible in the shortest amount of time.

Special Features: Waging War on Real Estate's Discounters (Alternative Title: Earning the Commissions You Deserve in a Competitive Environment) is a fast paced program packed with proven scripts and strategies to help agents earn the full commissions they deserve. Participants will walk away with over 25 strategies to make their marketing plan unique. This session can be presented in a 90 minute, half-day, or full day format.

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How to Create and Sell a Wildly Profitable Real Estate Business

Whether you are an agent or an owner-broker, are you ready to close the most important deal of your career—the sale of your real estate business? This jam-packed session will show you the ten steps you must take to create a wildly profitable real estate business. You will also learn what is required to successfully sell your business, key strategies to help you make your business more valuable, how to price your business, issues to consider at sale, as well as pitfalls that cost you plenty.

This session can be customized to the general agent population or for broker-owners.

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A Love-Hate Guide to Agent Profitability

Can you name the top three profit centers for your business? Do you know where your real estate practice is bleeding profits? Learn how to make every penny count by eliminating non-productive opportunity costs, reducing the time from initial contact to closed sale, decreasing client attrition, and using new technologies to generate, convert, and track the leads you generate. Our 20-Point "Money Diet" makes keeping more of what you make simpler than you ever believed possible. 

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Coach Your Office to Increased Profitability

What do agents want today when you try to recruit them? EVERYTHING! The market is slow, budgets are tight and many agents are exiting the business. This session gives you concrete, inexpensive steps that you can take to provide your agents with cutting-edge technology, plenty of leads, while simultaneously building your profitability.

Your audience will learn:

1. Traditional and Web 2.0 marketing strategies to build your brokerage business and increase your profitability.

2. Five recruiting strategies to attract more high quality, productive agents including how to spot the top producers of tomorrow.

3. Managing and retaining across the generations.

4. Tech tools to increase profitability and to attract the best young talent.

5. Easy to implement strategies that will help your older agents become excited about using the latest social media prospecting tools.

6. A simple six step-coaching model to help your agents become more effective and more profitable.

Results: Increased agent and office profitability, improved recruiting and retention, plus a significant competitive advantage for your office/brokerage in 2011 and beyond.

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For more information on sponsoring a class email us.

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