Fitzgerald Coaching review: charged $5000 for services not delivered 70

It sounds like "MadRealtor" needs to brush up on some skills and put some listings on the board instead of wasting time complaining that this company doesn't send the softball leads. The market is tough, and so you have to keep honing your skills to improve at what you do. If you've really had 39 opportunities...and listed none... like Bob has mentioned, maybe a change of what you're selling may be in order. Cars, furniture etc.

Bob also took my $5000 and don't want to refund the money. I did read all of the above so Bob & Glad Realtor spear of waisting your time on writing what I have to do...i am not new, just did not called right people to before signing with you!
Contract is a contract: deliver or return the money! Bob, you know what is breach of the contract, I don't need to tell you that.

@ Sag: This agent is in Souther California where there are not many expired listings. She doesn't want anything but expired listings so we are limited in the number of calls we make each week. We offered to call FSBO, JL/JS, NOD and COI for her just to seed up the contacts for her. She declined and with major attitude. We are doing exactly what she hired us to do but I guess she thinks I control the number of expired listings in her market. She also thinks a bad lead is an appointment where the seller is over priced yet our tele marketers don't discuss price at all... that is the agents job. I don't care if an agent turns down the appointment but this woman thinks that because she hired a telemarketer that the seller should be waiting with listing in hand below market value... without any objections... because she hired us. Absurd! She said it best... I told her we'd keep calling until she takes 10 listings. That is what we do. We call. I can't believe the time I have to spend defending what we do on web sites like this. We have several hundred clients and any agent seriously considering our service can speak to as many of them as they like. BTW... Just about everyone has "haters" on sites like this... including Ms. Sag. The only difference between her and I is that I don't think she's a bad agent because a few of her sellers think she is.

http://www.realestateratingz.com/ratings/825/Real-Estate-Agent-Lilia-Sag.html

Absolutely the worst! No follow through, does not return phone calls, very little knowledge on real estate sales. Lilia gives all Realitors a bad rap...paid too much for very little work. If your a buyer or seller do not get involved with her, she will mess the deal up. If your an agent - do yourself a favor and walk away from the transaction, she will drive you crazy.

“The system works, Debbie Chennisi, Keller Williams Realty,
5 Great Listings Taken So Far: 5 More To Go!

Bob,

I am happy to take the time to write you a quick note about the way that I handle a lead that your telemarketers set for me.

1. As soon as I see the email I call the prospective client and introduce myself to them and find out for myself if they are truly interested in selling their home. If they say that they are then I confirm the time that was arranged for us to meet and see if it works for both of us.

2. I prepare a Market analysis when we meet and handle the listing as if your company had nothing to do with it.

3. Basically speaking your company saves me time by weeding through the possibilities and landing some good leads for me. They are appointment/leads not guaranteed listings. I understand the numbers and my role.

4. The system works but does take time at first to land some prospects because of lead follow up. Just like my own prospecting.

Let me know if you need further clarification and have anyone call me if they want to talk. Have a nice day.

Debbie Chennisi
Keller Williams Realty
Deb's Cell: [protected]
TeamChennisi@yahoo.com
www.debbiechennisi.com

“Our strategy is simple. ATM is just calls, we have to convert.”
Ty Ignaszewski, RE/MAX

If I could find a way to take listings for agents, I’d do that too! But, we just call. If an agent is too busy or too flakey to convert… what more can we do. To bad agents like that blame me rather than sharpen their skills considering we could be setting appointments for them for the rest of their lives! - Bob FItzgerald

Hi Bob,

How is the ATM service working for us?

- When we receive the email we place a follow-up call with 4-hours to:
a) Continue to build rapport,
b) Confirm motivation & information,
c) Confirm appointment or change.

- If unable to reach we leave message and follow-up daily or what is
appropriate for situation.
- 24-hours before appointment we call with courtesy confirmation.

At appointment we: a) Educate on specific market and competition, b) Confirm motivation, c) Share realistic plan, d) Come to consensus to do business together or not (price right now or pre-determined price reduction strategy).

- Effectively communicate weekly or bi-weekly to provide update and working
with clients on doing the right to get it sold.

Our strategy is simple. ATM is just calls, we have to capture/convert.

Talk to you soon,

Ty

Ty Ignaszewski
Real Estate Consultant/REALTOR
The Carrie and Ty Real Estate Team - RE/MAX Insight
Website: TyRealEstate.com or CarrieAndTyHomes.com

“I spend 2-3 hours per day prospecting the same phone number and leads I send you, it is just your team is able to reach them at different times of the day that I am not calling. I have actually had telemarketers work for me before and paid by the hour or appointment, but spent way more money for less quality leads.”

Neil Bennett, Prudential

Thanks Bob,

Since I started using your prospecting services it has increased my way of finding prospects to contact. I treat each listing lead you send me as a hot prospect. As soon as I receive your email with their information I call back to pre-qualify the lead and either confirm or reset the time for the appointment. Several leads I canceled the appointment since they either could not or did not really want to sell.

The last listing I took which is number 4, was actually the first lead, a FSBO, you that I had gone on the appointment and continued to touch base with on a 3-4 week basis. Then 2 weeks ago he called me and was ready to list! I continue to follow up with each one till they list with someone or sell.

I spend 2-3 hours per day prospecting the same phone number and leads I send you, it is just your team is able to reach them at different times of the day that I am not calling. I have actually had telemarketers work for me before and paid by the hour or appointment, but spent way more money for less quality leads. Feel free to have anyone contact me if they have any questions.

Neil Bennett MBA
Neil Bennett and Associates
Prudential Towne Realty
305 Lynnhaven Pkwy.
Va. Beach VA 23452
[protected] office
www.sellhomz.com
sellhomz@cox.net

"I have taken 17 listings with the Bob Fitzgerald Agent Tele-Marketing Listing Lead Program... in a market with a population base of only 400, 000. I'm getting 18-20 appointment/leads per month…This equates to 36-40 additional listings for me this year... a real "NO-BRAINER"!

Steven Futch
"The Terminator"
Realty Executives SB
[protected]

Rick Bennett has taken 6 listings so far… he explains the key to making the Bob Fitzgerald Tele-marketing system work!

Prospecting isn’t new nor is it complicated. It is NOT a magic pill. We call. If you hired a tele-marketer to work in your office… they’d call. I don’t know why this concept is so difficult for some agents to comprehend but I can’t take listings for them. We have over 200 clients and less than 20 struggle with this concept. I’m thrilled with the skill most of our partners have because I LOVE referral checks! - BOB FITZGERALD

Hi Bob,

Prospecting and a referral are two totally different things:

A referral is someone that is coming to you because a person they know
love and trust told them too. A prospect is someone that is convinced you are there only for the commission or to get the listing and disappear, just like their last agent.

If you can understand the difference you can create great wealth in this
real estate market. Most prospects want the truth and they want it
presented in a logical manner, with kindness and sincerity. A prospect
in today's market is facing a difficult decision, selling at what could
be the bottom of the market. You have to explain, guide and council
this prospect, if you do it correctly you get the listing, sell the
house and cash a check, if not someone else will fill that spot.

… In addition to taking the listing you should also be procuring buyers from your sign. Those buyers may buy the house that is listed, or another house, but it is
that key ingredient, the listing, that allows for the buyers phone
calls.

Would I prefer referrals? You bet, do I love prospects, just as much,
because I have learned how to work with them and service their needs.
It is an equal reward system, I am getting an unequal share with Bob Fitzgerald’s
service, you just have to work to make it work.

Rick Bennett
Keller Williams Realty - Boise

“Bob's team gets the appointment set for the most difficult types of sellers- FSBO and expireds… The best part- ALL I have to do I follow up quickly to seal the deal!” -Ashley Wilson

Does prospecting really work? With Bob Fitzgerald’s telemarketers on your team, you have all you need to be successful. Bob's team gets the appointment set for the most difficult types of sellers- FSBO and expireds. They explain to FSBO clients how my services will net them more money in less time and with expireds, who are bitter about listing, they explain how the process will be different and positive with me and my team. The best part- ALL I have to do I follow up quickly to seal the deal!

The road is paved and I just have to finish up with a little relationship building!

I consider the folks at Bob's office my colleagues and my listing clients think of them the same way.

Investment worth making if you can be efficient in returning calls when you get the appointment. The team at Bob Fitzgerald will pave the way for you, but you ultimately will define your success!

Ashley Wilson
[protected]
www.RaleighRealEstate411.com

Maximize Your Conversion Rate

The good news is that we can get leads for you for the rest of your career... if you do your job.

What is your job in making our partnership work and converting the best of the leads?

I share the credit for the answer with the best listing agents in North America for helping me identify what is working best when we send you a lead... Here goes...

1- Whenever possible, call the leads immediately! Most of you have buyer agents and you already know that the conversion rate on a sign call is much higher if they call the buyer within 20 minutes of them calling on the 800 Info Home Line. Our ATMs have to fight for every appointment and without the ability to discuss the market, pricing, real estate or most of the selling points that you'd work into a conversation if you had done the prospecting... the "impression" we are able to make on the seller is... "just enough..." to set an appointment. Calling them right away is critical or by the time you get to them they may never call you back. We are losing a lot of hard fought leads because our members aren't calling to do their follow up or PreQ soon enough.

2- Build rapport around their desire to sell. This will allow you to get on "common ground" with the seller and remove any resistance they may have because they don't know you nor have not talked to you personally yet. Don't assume the rapport we built when we set the appointment is automatically transferred to you. If you don't build rapport and make them feel comfortable with you then they may shut you down, lie to you or even act like they don't want to sell when all the detail we sent over proves otherwise. Remember, we had to push ourselves just to get the appointment so get into rapport before you start pushing them to see how serious they are.

3- Encourage them about the market and the fact that homes are selling! The key to getting them ready to list right now is to creates urgency. Each of you have your own way to talking about the market... be it low interest rates or perhaps the pre-holiday fall market opportunity... that will encourage the seller that now is a good time to meet with you and list their home. We can not discuss the market but let's not forget we are dealing with confused homeowners looking to be "lead" by the expert, you.

4- Sell your track record! These people need you but most sellers think that agents are all the same. You are the highest producers in the entire state... in a real estate market where only 1 in 10 listings actually sell each month. We build you up but nobody sells you like you do so create the creditability you deserve by letting the "lead" know you are the best and that they need you. At this point they will go from being "willing" to set up an appointment with our ATM to "looking forward" to the appointment and all that you can do for them. Does that make sense?

5- DisQualify. Do this ONLY after you've built rapport so you get "truth" about their level of motivation and desire to sell. At that point you can decide if you want to go on the listing appointment or not. If you take a "prove your worth my time" attitude before you've "proven that you are worth theirs..." they will just tell you they don't want to sell." I always marvel when I get an e-mail from a client that says... "they don't want to sell right now so I'm deleting this lead..." and then I look at the lead sheet... and it says... they own another home that they are living in... the home they are selling is vacant... They tell us exactly how much they owe on the home... they set up a time to meet with you... they tell us that they want to sell and close within 90 days and that they plan to list the home within 30 days... and they tell the agent... "we don't want to sell." I've coached top agents for many years and they are losing a lot of money not talking the time to "educate" a seller so they make the right decision. The best agents are GOING on appointments and working their magic in the home.

6- Finally, remember... take the listings that you can get! Don't forget that the price reduction process will be as important with our listings as it would be for your own listings. I had a client say that we are sending "crap leads" and he is "holding out for sellers that will price the home to sell." I said, great... how many listings do you have right now?" He said, "I have over 100" ...as if he couldn't wait to tell me how successful he was. I said, "great, how many of them need a price reduction?" He said, "about 75% of them." I said, "what makes you think our listings are any different just because we are doing the prospecting for you?" The right price is a process 75% of the time. It IS what it IS... right?

Let's work together & win together!

Bob, I guess you have to much time on your hands

Prospecting is a Numbers Game! What does this mean?

We sell LISTINGS... but we send LEADS...

The prospecting that we do, is just like the prospecting you'd do... we dial for hours to make a contact, we generate a lead that was at least hot enough to set up an appointment and many of these leads will list with you and many will not. We don't stop prospecting until you have taken ALL of the listing that you ordered but we are still sending leads... You'll need to pre-qualify and weed out 4 of every 6. Of the remaining two... 1 will list with you and the other will require lead follow up before they list with you.

We've sent thousands of leads, most attached to an appointment... for some of the highest producers in North America and here are the numbers:

18.2% LISTED WITH OUR PARTNERS! (1 in 5.5)
19.3% LEAD FOLLOW UP stage and may turn into future listings.

7.0% TURNED DOWN the listing at the appointment.
3.7% LISTED with other agents.
12.5% DIS-QUALIFIED based on price. We don't discuss real estate.
16.7% DIS-QUALIFIED for other reasons (motivation, equity, location)
8.3% OTHER unique circumstances not listed above.

14.3% Were NEVER CONTACTED at all by our agents at all

For example, Steve Futch’s FIRST order of 10 listings... Steve listed lead #5, #16, #26, #30, #35, #42, #49 and # 50, #52, and #62 (LISTING RATIO: 1 in 6.2)

These are the numbers! it IS what it IS.

The only variables are the size of your market, the number of FSBO and EXPIRED listings that we can call and the contact rates in your market. The bottom line is that we won't stop dialing and working the "numbers" until you've taken every listing.

Coach Bob Fitzgerald

As you know, we are not a web site with unlimited access to low quality buyer leads. We pay telemarketers to spend the hours of calling it takes to make the contacts necessary to send even one appointment quality lead.

The biggest challenge that we face as a company is when our client does not uphold their end or our “partnership.” This includes not following up with leads, not going on appointments because their may be a few objections to handle or not taking listings because they may need a price reduction along the way.

We have hundreds of clients and we do the same exact thing for each one of them. We call! We can call for you for the rest of your career but we can't WIN unless you do your part.

There are only three types of clients we struggle with:

1) THE “TOO BUSY” AGENT: In most cases, an agent simply gets real busy managing their day to day real estate business and thus will go through periods of time where they stop doing a great job with our leads and simply react to the business that they have. As a coach, I've seen this cycle a thousand times and it is quite normal. Coaching an agent to follow up with their own leads is difficult enough let alone ours.

A perfect example... I had a top agent list 3 of the first 6 leads when the program was “new and exciting for them”… and then not another of the next 45 that we sent over. What would you think about a situation like that if you were me? When I finally confronted the agent... after he tried to blame me and the leads as if prospecting was a new thing... he admitted that they had become overwhelmed and could have done a better job. He admitted that they weren't calling the leads right away and then not following up with the leads that they had called. I will give him credit. He got re-focused and went out and listed the very next lead that I sent over and remains a great partner to this day.

2) THE MEGA AGENT: In some very unique cases, an agent has a production level that is SO high... that they don't even look at our leads let alone do the "work" necessary to convert them. If the seller has the slightest objection or is unrealistic about price on any level then they won't even make a presentation... yet they may have a hundred of their own overpriced listings and certainly understand the price reduction process. My genuine reply to this type of agent... Good for you! It is great that you can afford to "cherry pick" listings... but that doesn't work for our partnership. We just prospect and the agents that do their part and take listing after listing! It is that simple!

2) THE “FLAKE” AGENT: They are few and far between but… they couldn’t take a listing on their best day.

Bob, All of the above just shown again who you are. Regarding that posting you found on line( and the only one ), this is NOT any of MY clients, don't even know who it is, the person did not even bother to give their real name.

From: "Steven Futch"
Date: 9:42:26 AM EDT
To: "Bob Fitzgerald"
Subject: ATM Leads

Bob,
...A quick update; 8 new listings and continuing to follow-up on leads! 2 have sold already!...

I would never have known about these Sellers without the ATM leads...

This program is a "no brainer" for any Agent who wants to take more listings!

The key is to contact immediately, pre-qual and continue to develop the lead...thanks for your help and keep 'em coming.

Steve

Check out www.Listings4Agents.com far less then$5000 upfront committment

DATE:
AGENT:
ATM: Casey
TYPE: Expired Listing
APPOINTMENT:
SELLER:
PROPERTY ADDRESS:
PHONE:
COMMENTS:
Nana was very nice and very open to sharing information with me. She told me that she had the home listed previously with an agent that she feels did not do a good job trying to get her home sold. Nana is looking for an agent that is a little more proactive in their marketing strategies because she feels that her agent didn't work much to get her home sold. She had the insurance policy rewritten when she moved out, so now she has a landlord policy on the home. She really doesn't want to be making payments on the home or for the insurance anymore. She also wanted me to know that she had the home mortgaged before she added the attached garage or the deck on the back. She doesn't know if that will make a difference, but thought Jeremy and Jody should know that.
1. WHEN THE HOME SELLS, WHERE WILL YOU BE GOING NEXT?
Nana is already moved into her new home. She married her husband in August and they decided that he had the larger home, so they would move into his. Her home is now vacant, and she moved about a mile away.
2. IS YOUR HOME CURRENTLY LISTED WITH A REAL ESTATE AGENT?
No. The listing expired at the end of February, and Nana was very unhappy with the results from her realtor. She thought about leaving the home off of the market, but decided against that because she is extremely motivated to sell.
3. HOW SOON WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE THERE?
Nana is already in her new home, and she wants this home sold as soon as possible.
4. DO YOU HAVE AN ASKING PRICE IN MIND?
$307, 900. She would like advice on her asking price though. She told me that she thinks she may have been overpriced because her agent started her at $316, 000. She wants to make sure she is priced where she should be to get the home sold.
5. HOW MUCH DO YOU OWE ON THE PROPERTY?
As of October, Nana still owed $171, 000. She has still been making payments on the home, so it is less than that now.
6. WHAT WILL YOU DO IF THE HOME DOESN’T SELL?
She hasn't even thought about that option. Right now, she really just wants to get the home sold and be free from it.
7. ARE YOU INTERVIEWING ANY OTHER AGENTS?

Not at the moment. Jeremy will be the first since her listing expired.

8. IF WHAT (AGENT) SAYS MAKES SENSE… ARE YOU PLANNING TO LIST THE HOME?
Yes. She is extremely motivated to get this home sold, so if she thinks that Jeremy will be more productive for her than her last agent, she will definitely re-list with them.

We're not satisfied with the results of Fitzgerald's program. On a scale of 0 to 10 with 10 being the highest score we would have to give them a 0 (Zero) Give us the viable leads and we'll close them and get the homes sold. We started our contract on 2/16/2011 and todate we have received 3 leads. On 4/16/2011 with no more leads in hand, that will mean we received 3/4 of a lead per month. That's $5, 000 up front and $60.00 to landvoice to get the leads for Fitzgerald's people to call. We did considerably better on our own. The three leads that we did get were in the Peoria and Surprse area that is over 30 miles from us and out of our normal listing area that we typically serve. Less than one (1) lead per month. I would like my money back for service NOT delivered. Perhaps it's the result of services too many agents in the same area codes. I do not know the answer and I really do not care why. Deliver or refund our money.
Jeff Daley
Keller Williams Arizona Realty
Scottsdale, Arizona 85258
[protected]

Good Timing Deb. Every time I have to post a reply on a web site like this... I'm reminded that most of the agents we work for are thrilled. Prospecting isn't new nor is it complicated. We just call. There are those that wish it was a magic pill but it is not.

We are very good at prospecting. If you can take a listing... you'll love what we do.

From: Debbie Chennisi
Date: June 2, 2011 3:13:52 PM EDT
To: coachbobfitzgerald@gmail.com
Subject:

Bob,
I am very glad that I signed on with your company.

The fact of the matter is there aren't enough hours in the day to prospect as much as I would like. Hiring your company gives me the piece of mind that I am not missing out on the opportunity to get the potential leads.

I also appreciate the fact that I have contracted with you for as long as it takes to get the number of listings and this will take place and until they sell.

Thank you and your staff for the great work and I look forward to many more closings.

Debbie Chennisi

Keller Williams Realty
Deb's Cell: [protected]

I always appreciate your referrals!

After working for "the coach" i can only laugh at the BS. And that is what it is. If you wanna pay 5gs to have a person call your market for a half an hour...go nuts but the truth is that the company only prospects for a hour a day and then "sells" to agents the rest of the day. They will tell you there only calling one agent in your market...not true...you also have to get land voice or red x(not included in the 5 grand) the only one there that has real estate exp is Bob(who is a very smart and nice person) but he is rarly there. As far as the working there aspect, it was OK, but if i was a agent, No way would i do that..(the ref. they have you call are all friends that will wow u with great stories too) best way to describe it...watch a infomercial at 1am on how to get rich...its the same smoke and mirrors

i was upset they let me go...i have no clue what they do and what market they target.

I understand that getting fired is not an easy thing to deal with. As he stated correctly, none of our employees have any information or access to our call schedule, the number of appointments or listings our clients have nor do they have any information about our clients or their markets.

The bottom line is that we have hundreds of clients taking listings every day. They are thrilled and any agent can talk to as many as they like about how successful our service is.

On Behalf Of Jimmy Noble
Sent: Friday, July 08, 2011 10:30 AM
To: Cheri Washburn
Subject: Re: Request

As a former United States Marine, my background was not computers or telephones. This was all learned. One of the things that I learned was leverage. We only have so many hours in a day. Bob gives this great tool to leverage the time of others for a nominal fee that pays for itself quickly. This is business you would not have had otherwise.

I just wanted to say "Thank You" to the Fitzgerald team. This program offers great benefit and truly does live up to everything that they say. I was sceptical at first. We as agents get a lot of calls, but when I talked to some of the references, I met a guy who was from my hometown and knew my area. He relocated out of stated and was using the system. It was after that call that I realized this was not just 100% legit, but something that I needed to get on board with. As Bob's team will tell you, there is no magic pill, but for a new agent who wants to make it or a seasoned agent who has a packed schedule, this program is phenomenal. Right now my current listing inventory has over 50% of my clients being in the under contract status. My day is packed and this program gives me the ability to get appointments that I would have never had the time to get myself. Use the leverage and join the team. You won't be disappointed. The people on staff are some of the most professional people on the phone and through email that I have ever met. I wish agents that I deal with on the other side of a transaction had the same professionalism.

Please feel free to have anyone that has any doubts to contact me by cell phone. I have absolutely no problem explaining that you do in fact deliver exactly as promised.


Thank You, 

Jimmy Noble

Real Estate Sales Expert
[protected]
Email: Jimmy@JimmyNoble.Net
Website: JimmyNoble.Net


Bob doesn't deliver on his contract. He promises and promises and doesn't deliver. I took him to court for a refund. Guess what he didn't show up. He doesn't even want to defend his program in court. I know I would go out of my way to make sure my services were defended. I recommend anyone that is not satisfied with their service to take him to court. He won't show up, so you will be awarded a judgement.

DB. Did you get paid on the jufgement?

Did not get paid yet. Probably won't because Bob is a scam artist. But it is still worth it to file the judgement.

Bob help please. I can and have list but have received less then 2 leads per month. Despite this I have listd 4 one is withdrawing when I have a full price offer that lets them not have to do a short sale nothing I can do because they won't sign the contract of sale, another won't reduce would have to be a short sale, the third took a wile but I listd and sold. All the other leads were not valid - don't ask me about the spouse who threatened my life if I came over as scheduled to do the listing presentation, My results are there. What do I need to do to get you to give me the phone time to provide me the leads as the contract provides. You've given me 11 lead in 5 months. I have other issues bu if you can provide the leads and appointments I can list them How do I get you to fulfill your end of the contract?

I was lucky enough to read the complaints before I signed up. Thank you for that. We have been scammed before. On the other hand, How do you get these ###s to stop calling? After we first looked at the program and decided it was too risky, I asked them not to call me again. Well, I can count on a all from them every thirty days. I have requested every time to not be called again. They act dumb!
Maybe that is why they are getting [censored]tly listing leads for the folks who have signed upo for this program. If they bug the ### out of the seller, the seller will eventually say yes to an appointment, just to shut up the telemarketer!

I am an agent in So. Car. and I can tell you one thing, Fitzgerald will take your money and that the end of their servics. In about 3 months I received about 4-5 leads that were worthless. I an searching for a plaintiff attorney, call me, if you would to join or with your thoughts.S.C Broker-John-[protected]

I wish I would of found this web site 5 months ago, before I wasted $5, 000. I have had the same issues. They have sent me leads and I have NEVER MET any of them. They won't call back or they say they are not interested in listing. I agree that they badger the seller to the point that they give in just to get off the phone. I would be interested in a class action lawsuit also. Lisa, I also am a Keller Williams Agent. [protected].

We wanted to follow up on our first post from June 2, 2011 with the current results from the Fitzgerald’s leads program. As a review we paid $5, 000.00 up front for the program. This was to get us 10 leads that we would then split compensation with the Fitzgerald group. A win-win program. We have continued to subscribe to Landvoice for Expired and FSBO leads at $60.00 per month. These leads are sent to the Fitzgerald group for their team to call. We wanted to give this program time to produce results and try to achieve a decent ROI. Fitzgerald did not produce enough leads to make that happen even though we’re in Arizona with our fair share of Expired and FSBO listings. As of this date we have received less than ½ lead per month and some of these leads when called advised us that they were not interested in selling their home. A couple of leads were terribly upside down, in financial distress, and it was too late in the game for a short sale. I do not expect the Fitzgerald team to identify that kind of detail but just saying that the lead was dead on arrival. We love the idea of the program. Get us the valid leads - Our probability of success rate is high, so we have a good chance to have a great long term business relationship with the Fitzgerald group.

Now for those of you that might say we did not follow up, etc., let me say that year after year we have been at a minimum, the recipient of the triple gold award. For those of you familiar with Keller Williams Realty you know what that means. For those of you with other companies it suggest that we are a successful team.

We’re very disappointed we could not make this work. The Fitzgerald program simply would not delivery on their commitment. One of my concerns during this time was that we received a call from another agent with another company in Scottsdale, AZ and they wanted feedback on Fitzgerald. They shared with us the Fitzgerald promised them multiple leads each week. I had to tell them that was an interesting statement because we were not even getting 1 lead per month and we would be competing for the same FSBO and Expired listings. I called Cheri Washburn, a manager for the Fitzgerald team and she advised that they add additional agents in the area based on the available leads and Bob Fitzgerald manages that process. I emailed Bob Fitzgerald a couple of times with no response. My last email to Mr. Fitzgerald was on Thursday, January 19, 2012, at 1:35 PM MST. Still no response.

We received another call from another KW agent here in the Valley and she was told that when she asked for a reference from someone in the Valley that they did not have anyone working this are so it would be a great opportunity for her. We did check several references for Fitzgerald before we started the program and they did not have anything negative to say so perhaps the program is working for some but certainly the leads do not exist here in Arizona or we should have received them as part of the Fitzgerald program.

We wish we would have checked with the Better Business Bureau as well. We would have seen the current rating. On a scale of A+ to an F with F being the worst score, they are showing an F. It would have at least been a red flag telling us to research them further before entering into a contract. If I were to use the same rating system I would also grade them with an F.

There is more to this but I will include that in my Active Rain blog with all the facts, figures, and the names of the other agents that called me that have given me permission to use their name in the article. I will not use any information from any of these person that cannot produce authentic documentation to substantiate their statement. The purpose of this will is provide our experience that we had with Fitzgerald. It will just provide another piece of information. Those who are looking for references of Fitzgerald will have ours to add to anything else they find so they can make their own decision.

In closing, we cannot recommend Fitzgerald and their leads program. Read our Active Rain blog and you’ll have a much better understanding with facts, figures and dates included. BBB Rating is attached in a JPEG file.

The ScottsdaleAgent Article written on 4/9/2012 author is as follows:
Jeff Daley
Keller Williams Arizona Realty
Jeff@LuxuryValleyHomes.com
Voice: [protected]

These company is calling me daily. Thet are a total SCAM. Do not use them.

FACT: Prospecting isn’t new… nor is it complicated!

FACT: We have hundreds of clients that love the service that we provide. Clients that love the tens of thousands of dollars that they’ve made working with us! Anyone who is interested in our service can talk to as many of these references as they need to so they don’t lose out on taking listing after listings simply because a handful of agents out of hundreds choose to tell their one sided story on sites like this.

FACT: As I type this, we have over 300 agents in our prospecting schedule and by comparison we have had very, very few complaints.

FACT: In today’s day and age, most companies have people that complain on web sites like this. The only reason I took the time to reply was so that a handful of people with a single sided story can’t rob you of what others have called the single best investment they’ve ever made.

FACT: YOU ARE SMART! Simply read my reply and ask yourself… Does what I wrote make sense? This is my side of the story.

MY REPLY is very simple. Just think for a moment about what we do. We Call. We are telemarketers “calling” for sale by owners and expired listings. Prospecting isn’t complicated at all. If you’d like to see what our prospecting looks like watch this video…

http://fitzgerald-coaching-prospecting.blogspot.com/http://fitzgerald-coaching-prospecting.blogspot.com/

If you hired a telemarketer to work form your office, what would they do? What would you do? You would give them a list of people to call… they would call and set appointments and you’d make the presentation, handle the seller’s objections and get the listing. Right? Prospecting isn’t complicated.

So why do some agents that have a problem with this? We have set thousands of appointments for real estate agents there are four mistakes that agents make which end up causing them complain on sites like this. Decide for yourself who is at fault.

We do not want our telemarketers to be the real estate “expert.” That is the job of the agent. Our telemarketers do not discuss the current market conditions with a seller. Our telemarkters do not discuss home prices with a seller. Our telemarkters do not handle seller’s objections or answers a seller’s questions about the home selling process. We let the agent be the agent and we simply make the appointment.

This is an actual example of a typical appointment that was sent to one of our clients… then listed and then sold!

1. WHEN THE HOME SELLS, WHERE WILL YOU BE GOING?
Nana is already moved into her new home. She married her husband in August and they decided that he had the larger home, so they would move into his. Her home is now vacant, and she moved about a mile away.

2. IS YOUR HOME CURRENTLY LISTED WITH A REAL ESTATE AGENT? No. The listing expired at the end of February, and Nana was very unhappy with the results from her realtor. She thought about leaving the home off of the market, but decided against that because she is extremely motivated to sell.

3. HOW SOON WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE THERE?
Nana is already in her new home, and she wants this home sold as soon as possible.

4. DO YOU HAVE AN ASKING PRICE IN MIND?
$307, 900. She would like advice on her asking price though. She told me that she thinks she may have been overpriced because her agent started her at $316, 000. She wants to make sure she is priced where she should be to get the home sold.

5. HOW MUCH DO YOU OWE ON THE PROPERTY?
As of October, Nana still owed $171, 000. She has still been making payments on the home, so it is less than that now.

6. WHAT WILL YOU DO IF THE HOME DOESN’T SELL?
She hasn't even thought about that option. Right now, she really just wants to get the home sold and be free from it.

7. ARE YOU INTERVIEWING ANY OTHER AGENTS? Not at the moment. Jeremy will be the first since her listing expired.
8. IF WHAT (AGENT) SAYS MAKES SENSE… ARE YOU PLANNING TO LIST THE HOME?
Yes. She is extremely motivated to get this home sold, so if she thinks that Jeremy will be more productive for her than her last agent, she will definitely re-list with them.

Again, prospecting isn’t new nor is it complicated. The four most common mistakes that an agent will make using our service are…

1. The agent is too BUSY to actually do what it takes to follow up with a seller and convert the listing. Expired listings and for sale by owners are being called by a lot of great agents every day. It is very competitive and our telemarketers have had to stand out just to get the appointment for our clients. We IMMEDIATELY send the appointment to the agent but if that agent doesn’t follow up right away and confirm the appointment… what do you think happens next? If the agent doesn’t call back for days or in many cases even weeks then the seller doesn’t even remember that we ever called or loses interest and cancels the appointment. Without diligent follow up… generating that appointment was a waste of time. This is a challenge for some of our highest producers. They may earn six and even seven figures selling real estate but if they are too busy to follow up with our appointments then they are not going to get listings. Most of our agents will follow up right away, solidify the appointment and take the listings.

2. The second challenge that can be a problem with some of the higher producers is that they are already “buying leads” from so many other sources. Some have hundreds of leads from in their systems form lead generation services, web sites and services, marketing services, mailing services, call capture services… etc. The bottom line is that those top agents have so many leads that they don’t value nor follow up diligently with the expired listings and FSBO appointments that we set for them. In most cases this type of agent couldn’t even provide any feedback on an appointments that we set for them because they NEVER even looked at the e-mail with the appointment to begin with.. I don’t have a problem with an agent having far more leads than they can handle but unlike these other sources of leads, my team may have spent 3 to 4 hours and invested hundreds of dials to finally set that appointment. If they are too busy to open their e-mail or follow up with the seller to confirm the appointment then they aren’t going to like that I hold them accountable for not doing their job. This is a partnership and they aren’t holding up their end of the bargain. Most of are clients understand that it takes a lot of hours, dials and contacts to set these appointments and the value them as such and take listings.

3. The most common problem that I’ve seen after setting thousands of appointments for real estate agents is that some simply don’t have the skill it takes to convert a prospecting based lead. The first question that we ask every potential client is have they worked with expired listings and for sale by owners in the past? They are not “come list me” referrals. It is not difficult to handle basic objections about the seller’s price expectations or the fact that the seller may have a friend in the business but an agent doesn’t want to hear that other agents are listing the same type of appointments day in and day out. It is easier to simply “trash” our appointments because the seller had some basic objections rather then educate the sellers and take listings. I’ve spent more than a decade coaching agents and the bottom line is that if they can’t help a seller see the benefit of listing with them then they are going to have to stick with working with buyers. There was an agent that posted that we sent him 52 appointments and he didn’t take a listing so the program is a scam. Never once did it cross his mind that he only helped prove my point. We can set the appointments but we can’t take the listings. Most agents in our program would have listed at least a dozen of the exact same appointments. Again, only a handful of the hundreds of clients we are prospecting for complain at all.

4. Finally, how about common sense! If you hire a telemarketer you’ll need to provide them with phone numbers... If you don’t want an appointment in a particular area, don’t put that seller on your list… If you want to be in the call schedule this week, make sure we have your numbers in time… We work on referrals so you will have to communicate when you take listings or we will stop calling until you do…

When an agent writes a post that says they only received a few appointments… they never tell you that they haven’t sent in their prospect list in months and ignored every attempt to get feedback on any listings they have taken. There is ALWAYS more to the story.

Imagine a site like this for your sellers. The seller wants way more for the home than it is worth… they refused all the advice you gave them about the market and price reductions but they still went online to complain that you didn’t do anything to sell their house and that people should beware of listings with you. You’d simply direct them to sellers who took your advice and were thrilled with your service! If you are still unsure about our service, e-mail me and I’ll arrange for you to talk to as many agents as it takes to see that they are making thousands and thousands of dollars with us and so can you!

Bob Fitzgerald
Coachbobfitzgerald@gmail.com

This is a copy of a recent communication attempting to coach one of our clients:

I am thrilled with the service I have received from Bob Fitzgerald. I have been in business for 9 years and conservatively I have spent over 50k on "Leads". This is the first service that I am actually buying listings, not leads. I have recently booked 5 listings and I have several in the pipeline. I do two things that really help.

1. I contact the lead immediately and let them know I am excited about meeting with them and I get additional information about their situation.

2. I deliver a pre-listing package to their door-step that gives them an overview about our serviced and track record.

Bottom line... This is a numbers game. Bob does the critical time consuming ground work of making the calls. I follow up and make the personal sales call to obtain the listing. It is a great investment of my time and financial resources.

Thanks
Patrick McGinnley

Goes to show that about 90% of the real estate agents out there are a joke. $5, 000? Are you kidding me? Are you really complaining about the $5, 000 when you could be listing several properties a month? Lol, losers is all I have to say. The fact that some of you losers are putting your real name is even more revealing to how ignorant you are. If you are prospective client to anyone of the idiots complaining on here, run, please run because they suck horribly at selling real estate. Trust me, some of you agents will be googled, and your names will come up. That's how I found this page.

You have to be skilled to list expired and for sale by owner listings. If you don't have those skills, it sounds like this bob fitzgerald program is not for you. If you can't list his leads, look at yourself. It is a no-risk deal for you. All you are risking is $5, 000. If that is too much, then you are like most of the Realtors out there, BROKE AND STUPID!

As for you Bob, I am sure you have looked into this but I would qualify these agents and make sure they have some experience selling Expired listings and FSBO's so they can see how valuable your services are. The only reason I am on here is because I am thinking about starting a competing business with Mr. Fitzgerald and think his ideas are really good. However, hopefully I will steer clear of some of the idiots on this forum.

It's unfortunate that a company that hypes agents on over promising, but under delivers is still in business. Their BBB rating is an "F" countless complaints on this message board, and who knows if some of the positive replies are actually real agents or if it's someone on Bob's staff members. I have spoken to some of their referral agents in the program, and all were very positive and said it works, but of course you have to work the leads. I have received several appointments most of which were disqualified due to negative equity, unrealistic pricing, or flat out not motivated. I'm not a new agent to prospecting and have been involved with Mike Ferry 1 on 1 coaching for years. I invested $3, 000 and have not closed a single deal to date. When I brought this to Bob's management team they said there are NO REFUNDS. Reviewing my agreement there is no language about no refunds, and I received a scathing email from Bob stating he doesn't respond to threats, and they he would have his staff to contact every seller I had listings with to smear my business. The bottom line if clients aren't happy with your service part ways and move on...People would at least respect you, and at least not spend countless wasted time talking about your service. Just a thought!

I too have had terrible results with the Bob Fitzgerald Group! I guess I should consider myself lucky that I only got ripped off for $2, 500 in 2010 and to date as of January 2013 I still have not had ONE valid appointment and almost no leads in the last three years! I keep calling and e-mailing and they are very slow to return my messages if at all! I am very frustrated and furious to have been scammed by these guys not to mention also paying for both LandVoice and RedEx which of the two RedEx is the far better service. I know how to follow up and close leads...the problem...I have not got any leads from these guys (3 weak unqualified leads in 3 years) and am now hearing crickets when I call to see if they are still prospecting for me. My suggestion if one of their telemarketers calls you to pitch their prospecting service... RUN do not walk and whatever you do please do not give these guys your hard earned money as you might as well give it to a homeless person for the same results!
Sincerely, Eric Lee / Realty One Group/ Southern California/ elee457@cox.net