There is this myth in real estate that lead generation is expensive or it has to be expensive for it to be effective marketing in today’s world. Although I agree there are some very pricey marketing tactics in play right now, I assure you there are countless highly effective tactics that are “zero” cost or low cost to the agent and I know from the thousands of agents I have done work with these 20 lead generation activities work for any agent in any place in the world….
1. Agent to Agent referral system. It is who we know and who knows us to send us the referrals.
2. Always follow up and add value to any no sale or no appointment client lead. You just never know when they are ready.
3. Divorce attorneys. Bank foreclosure attorneys.
4. Sphere of influence. You need to be known, liked, trusted and seen. Top of mind.
5. Buyer house warming or Seller farewell parties that are financed by your professional service providers.
6. Mortgage lenders or bank loan managers.
7. Trades, contractors or small business owners.
8. Volunteer at charity, fundraiser or community events.
9. Estate attorney or notary.
10. Networking events like chamber, rotary or business after 5pm.
11. Attend community event calendar events where there are people to meet.
12. Find a club on www.join.me like a hiking or running club.
13. Attend garage sales or help people host their garage sale. Offer garage sale kits or hosting services for no cost.
14. Email marketing campaigns don’t cost a thing.
15. Social media campaigns.
16. Video campaigns.
17. Blog – written or video.
18. Open house.
19. Expired listing (if applicable) For Sale By Owners.
20. Career apparel – car logo, name tag, logo on clothing.
Bonus…
1. Seminars.
2. Public relations submitting articles to the editors.
3. Testimonials – google, yelp, written, video.
Don’t let the myth stop you from taking action and I challenge you to take action and implement and execute some of these lead generation ideas in 2020. Let me know how you make out and please share in the comments below any other fabulous low or no cost lead generation activities that work for you year in and year out.
Have you ever given up? Reached the point in real estate where you can’t go on any further? Remember that life is not a marathon or a sprint. It’s a series of sprints combined with a boxing match. You’re not just running toward a goal but you’re also getting hit along the way. I don’t know where you are on your journey, but I know there will be times you want to give up on a goal or dream. I know the importance of the right words at the right time. Whether now is one of those times or perhaps you’ll save this for a time you need to read it, I want to encourage you to keep going. Don’t quit! Here are a few ways you can fuel up your mind and soul for the journey ahead.
1) Keep your Vision Alive: It’s so important to keep looking forward and seeing the future you want to create. If you can see it you’ll keep moving towards it. Consider making a vision board or creating a vision notebook filled with pictures and words that remind you of what you are working towards. It’s wild how many things I wrote down that actually came true.
2) Fuel up with Purpose: There will be many times you want to give up but always remember that your purpose is greater than your challenges. It is the ultimate fuel for a meaningful journey. It gives you meaning and mission which helps you overcome adversity and avoid burnout. We don’t get burned out because of what we do. We get burned out because we forget why we do it. As you are moving toward your vision keep reminding yourself why you are going there. Consider creating a purpose statement that you can look at each morning to keep you going.
3) Believe the Best is Yet to Come: We don’t give up because it’s hard. We give up because we get discouraged. No matter what challenges you face along the way keep encouraging yourself. Maintain hope. Believe the best is yet to come. If you believe in what you are doing and know that this is what you truly want, then keep believing it will happen. Research from Duke University shows that if you believe it you are more likely to take the actions necessary to achieve it.
4) Focus on the Process, not the Outcome: There will be many times where the outcome is not looking good. You may not be hitting the numbers you want or getting the results you desire. The key is to focus on the process and just work to get better each day. Focus on small victories. Strive to hit milestones. If you have a vision you want to create and focus on the process each day, you’ll gradually move towards your goal and dream.
5) Trust in a Bigger Plan: Sometimes when all hope seems lost and you feel like there is nothing more you can do; I believe you can do something that will help everything. You can pray and trust in a bigger plan for your life. I did this many times when I almost lost it all in 1997 and 2008 during the global market corrections. I did it when we ran the company out of our personal savings. I did it when I was so unhealthy and having heart issues and needed to get into ownership. I did it when my first speaking and coaching events didn’t go very well. And each time I did it I had renewed hope and optimism that led me to this very moment where I wrote this blog and you read it. There’s a bigger plan and it includes both of us.
So don’t give up! Keep going! Because, you’ll be better for it and so will the people you impact along the way. I’m rooting for you!
When and how to hire a real estate assistant is a question so many agents ask themselves once they get into the industry. Some even go years contemplating whether or not it is the right time. Many people ask the same questions such as, “should I hire someone now?” and “can I even afford to hire someone?” Now we know it can be scary to let someone into your business like that but in actuality, it needs to be done sooner than later. If you are constantly asking yourself if you should hire an assistant, then that alone should tell you that you need to hire someone. When it comes to affording one, if they are really doing their job, they will be making you a significant amount of money. Here we are going to break down when and how to hire an assistant through 3 different phases. Each phase comes with 4-5 questions and steps into ensuring you are using the right solution.
PHASE 1
In Phase 1 begin to ask yourself, “How do I know it is time to hire an assistant?” Like mentioned earlier, if you are asking this question, then it probably is necessary. You are clearly starting to become overwhelmed once you start even thinking about having someone to help.
Question 2,Do you stay up late doing non best use of time tasks, also known as “BUT’s”? These include very simple tasks that are more tedious than they are difficult. After a long day of meetings, going to open houses and meeting new clients, the last thing you are going to want to do is work yourself up on those simple everyday tasks you had to keep pushing aside because they weren’t a priority at the time.
Question 3, Do you have aspirations to grow beyond where you are now? If you have aspirations to grow financially or even from a team standpoint, you are never going to get there alone. The only way you are going to grow and get the most out of your potential is to have help. Asking for help can sometimes seem as a belittling standpoint but it shouldn’t be. Everyone at some point or another asks for a helping hand and so should you.
Question 4,Do you live in the clouds? Meaning, are you not able to implement in the way you need to? People who are in real estate, especially self-starters and entrepreneurs live in the clouds and you need to take this in account for needing the help with your brain storming.
Question 5,Do you know that you are losing business? The more you wait for help, the more projects you are going to have to shy away from because of how busy your schedule is. The longer you wait, the more money you are going to lose, period. Their job is not just to do the tedious and hard work, it is also to make you money. As they say, you don’t remember what you’ve forgotten.
PHASE 2
Now that you have finally agreed to yourself you need an assistant, it is time for phase 2. What are you supposed to look for when you start looking to hire?The first thing you should be looking for is if they are detail and system oriented. In order to find someone who is, the best way is to make them follow multiple steps in the hiring process on the application. These can include: using a specific font size, only sending the application through a PDF, use a specific format, include this header and more. Now if they don’t follow the steps correctly you instantly know they are not good with following directions and are not detail oriented. In all, you are looking for a person who can get annoyed with a lack of order rather than too much detail or instruction.
The second thing you should be looking for is a naturally positive person. Now, this can be a little more difficult because in actuality, everyone is “nice” during their first interview. This is why you need to take it further and have multiple interviews in multiple settings. It is known miserable people can only act happy for so long until it takes one thing to take them over the edge. You need to be able to see how they act with more than one or two interactions with them to get their full personality and potential.
The third thing you should be looking for in a potential candidate is if they are self-driven. This person should be looking for ways to make your life easier. You want someone to anticipate everything so they can adapt to what is needed and what isn’t.
The fourth and final thing you should be looking for is someone that must be tech savvy and able to type. Now we’ve all seen how our grandparents and even sometimes our parents use a computer which is funny to us of course, but when it comes to hiring an assistant, it won’t be funny down the line when you are on a time crunch and they are still working on that first email. There are plenty of people in the world, especially nowadays with technology being as advanced as it is, that know how to use specific software and can adapt fast to new software.
PHASE 3
Moving on to the 3rd and final phase, you should now have hired someone but you don’t exactly know what to do next…
The first thing you should do is either take the time to properly train them or take the time to redo their work. You need to set aside time to be able to train them respectively because the quicker you train them, the quicker you will improve your business and make money.
Secondly, you need to give them clear expectations of what you want from them. You only have one chance to create expectation so think carefully. You want to set expectations such as what time they need to be there, the kinds of activities you expect them to do, what they should be able to do in a specific amount of time, etc. Be very clear in what you want out of them so then everyone is on the same page.
Next thing you want to do is teach them a marketing strategy to implement immediately. This is because it will shortly after bring your business making not only you feel good, but making them feel good as well. Try to teach them how to do things such as saving a search in a MLS, emailing listings, saving listings and similar tasks. All in all, they are adding to your business this way and it can only lead to great things.
Lastly, do NOT micromanage them! Many agents respond to this by saying, “but what if they don’t do it right?” Well, it is not that they won’t do it “right” it is that they won’t do it YOUR way. You need to let go of what you’ve been doing in the past to make room for the new because clearly something needs to change. Additionally, in most cases, they often do it better than you which may catch you off guard at first but you need to remember it is only making you and your business greater. You need to give them the freedom to be the person you hired them to be and let them do their thing.
If you haven’t already realized, there are only positive outcomes that will happen if you were to hire an assistant. After going through these 3 phases, you should see a massive positive change in not only the business but with you as a realtor. Now start looking for that assistant before all the good ones are taken!
Strength and courage, Wade
USE THE FORM BELOW TO GET YOUR FREE COPY OF THE AGENTSBOOST “HOW TO HIRE AN UNLICENSED REAL ESTATE ASSISTANT” STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE.
The summer is coming to an end and we just have one quarter left in the business year so let me ask you some questions? Are you on target for the year? Are you ahead of your target? Are you behind on your target? So what’s holding you back? What fears are weighing you down? What is making you overwhelmed? This week we are getting back to the fundamentals of our business and finishing your year in real estate strong. The past is the past. Time to just move forward!!! All we need is a little momentum and get that giant stone of business to start rolling with this action plan I believe you can…..
1.) Low Lying Fruit – What would help me get paid today??
a) Get A Saleable Listing
b) Get A Price Reduction
c) Present A Reverse Offer To Interested Buyers. Seller and their agent make the offer to the buyers sitting on the fence. Start the process!
d) Find Something For My Hottest Buyers To Buy
e) Get A Buyer To Sign An Exlusive buyer agreement.
f) Get A Private Seller To Sign A Fee Agreement or Exclusive Listing and find them a buyer. Doesn’t have to be on the MLS to work a listing.
2.) No More Getting Lucky – Time to work on our
a) Seller Counselling Skills
b) Buyer Conversion Skills
c) Questioning Skills
d) Presentation Skills
e) Pre Listing Packages
f) Pre Buyer Packages
g) Closing Skills
h) Advisor Skills
3.) Full Contact Sport –
a) Present Offers Face To Face
b) Present Counters Face To Face
c) Get Signatures In Person
d) Take Clients Their Paperwork In Person
e) Meet Your Clients At The Office For Advisement Session
4.) The Gift Of Time –
a) Coffee, Lunch, Breakfast
b) Pop By gifts just because
c) Phone Calls, Texts
d) Calendars, Christmas Cards, Birthday Cards, House anniversary cards.
e) Hand Written Personal Notes
f) Client Event
g) Complimentary CMA
h) Business Directory Book
i) Past client visits
5.) Face To Face Activities –
a) Open House
b) Mall Kiosk
c) Door Knock ( Just Sold, Bona Fide Buyer )
d) Networking event
e) Volunteer
6.) Planning 2019 – 2020
a) Business Plan
b) Marketing Plan
c) Budgeting
d) Track, Plan, Measure
e) Implementation Execution
7. Set 90 day goals and an activity plan for the next 90 days. Written out and commit on execution. No excuses!!
8.) Make a list of activities that generated your business this year. Now go do what already has made you money and do more of it!
Let us recap…..Change Your Mindset ( Hunt or be hunted! ) Worry about the things you can control and not the things you cannot control. Get Face To Face, STP (see the people), Implement & Execute or your intentions are wasted. Do what you already know works. Back To Basics. Practice Your Skills vs. Being Lucky. Be Intentional, Strategic and Planned. Do More Of What Always Worked. Give Others Your Greatest Gifts ( Your Time, Touch, Talents and Treasures).
I dare you to think, act and be bigger than you have been this last quarter and finish strong!!!
When potential clients are looking for a Realtor, they’re probably meeting with several before they decide on one. Because this is one of the biggest transactions people deal with in their lives, it’s no wonder they stress over choosing the right professional to stand by their side and help make sure everything goes smoothly. Plus they want to LIKE you, and have a great and fun consumer experience. So how do you help them make it easy to choose YOU as their agent?
Simply put, it’s by focusing on THEM rather than yourself. Most agents they interview are going to talk mostly about themselves, their sales, their competence, blah blah blah. Any presentations or meetings with agents the buyer/seller attends is going to run together in their minds- what is there to set them apart? When you focus on the client, talking to them mainly about their own wants and needs, they will immediately get the feeling you’re there to help rather than to sell them. And that interaction lays the basis for a consumer experience they’ll want to repeat, or refer others to.
Tip #1 Focus on the client. Before you meet with your potential buyer or seller, you should know something about their motivations and what they’re looking for. You’re not there to cram all your successes down their throats, or talk about how you’re the best agent in town – you’re there to show you have their wants and needs in mind.
For Sellers… How do you make sure sellers know you are paying attention to them and their needs? Before meeting with them:
Pull tax records for the home
Check MLS for past sales
Drive by the home and take a photo- show you went the extra mile
Ask if they’re interviewing other agents- ask to be their final interview if possible (you want to be their last, best impression)
What YOU want from a seller is a client who is motivated to sell. Ask questions like “When do you need to move?” and “Do you need funds from this sale to move?” You want to qualify the seller during this meeting.
For Buyers It’s important to qualify buyers to make sure they’re serious about buying, but once you’ve done so, how do you set yourself apart to make sure they want to work with you? It’s the same tactic as working with sellers, above- LISTEN to what they’re asking you for. Ask leading questions, take notes, and find out what problems they’re trying to solve by moving. Focus your meeting on how you can help them fix those problems. See Tips #2 and #3, below.
Tip #2 Extreme Differentiation. Many agents naturally think their advertising or promotions should be centered around their services — who they are. This is a big mistake. Your business is about fulfilling desires or solving problems of your client. This is the entire reason for creating your Unique Selling Proposition. Your USP is a simple, yet powerful concept that forces your mindset into becoming client centered – what you will DO FOR THEM. It answers the question every prospect asks of you: “Why should I do business with YOU, instead of any other Agent, or any other option, including doing nothing at all, or what I’m doing now?” Your Unique Selling Proposition is the answer to that question.
Here are the elements of a great USP:
First, your USP must answer the question: “Why should I do business with YOU over any other options?” Or, “Why should I buy this home vs. any others on the market?” Or, “Why Should I consider this financing package over every other option?” Do you see that your USP can be applied anywhere in your practice where you want to influence people? People want to know what’s in it for them!
Second, your USP must be very SPECIFIC and MEANINGFUL to your targeted audience. By specific, I mean: is it meant for them and them alone? And by meaningful, are you offering something important to them? Don’t use vague generalities, like “multi-million dollar producer,” or “quality,” or “excellence.” They mean nothing to your audience.
Third, your USP must say something UNIQUE about you or your offer – something you do different from others. Something that sets you apart in a meaningful way, and be above and beyond your prospect’s normal expectations of service from a Realtor. That’s why words like “experienced,” is fluff that doesn’t work. Who doesn’t expect you to be experienced? There’s nothing Unique about that term. The same is true for the designations you think are so important but the average person has no clue what they mean or how they benefit from you having them.
Fourth, if you want to know if you have a really great USP, it must evoke the question from your audience….
“Oh really? How do you do that?”
Here are some great examples of Unique Selling Propositions:
When Showing Homes: “The 22 point perimeter security system means you will feel safe and secure during those nights when your husband/wife is away.” (Turning a feature into a benefit)
When Helping Buyers: “This financing package will save you over $2,000 in normal closing costs, and reduce your payment by $95 each month”
When Making A Listing Presentation: “My exclusive 28 point marketing plan sells the average home for 97% of listing price, and in only 42 days”
Tip #3 Set Expectations and then EXCEED Them. Setting expectations with a client, and their great consumer experience, starts at the very first contact. Take detailed notes when talking to a prospective client (always keep a notepad handy), and follow-up with them immediately. They may have reached out to other agents, who took time to get back to them or maybe won’t remember much about the conversation they had with them at first. Be prepared with 3 important pieces of your toolset: Success Book, Marketing Plan, and a great listing presentation. End the presentation by talking about how you’ll communicate during the sales process, and what to expect as next steps. This period is key in helping your clients to understand what will happen next, when you’ll communicate, and every piece of the process. Then, work on exceeding those steps by going the extra mile. If you didn’t get the listing, it’s ok to ask why so you can improve for next time. If it’s not a mutual fit, that’s ok too.
Tip # 4: Follow up!! Here’s where MANY agents fail. Once the sale is over, they let the relationship drop away. You’ve gotten what you wanted- why bother working a completed transaction? WRONG. Your past clients are your most important source of referrals – they’ll even bring you repeat business if you maintain your contact with them. What do you usually do after a sale? Do you send a gift, like Steve Vaught? (click here to read Steve’s idea) Do you send a follow-up letter asking for your client’s testimonial or for referrals? You probably should be doing all of those things, but MOST importantly you’ll need to keep in touch with previous clients on at least a monthly basis.
Commit to monthly or don’t even start. The Direct Marketing Association reports that the optimum contact time is every 21 days. There have also been studies out there that say for every month you forget about your house list/clients, you lose 10% of them – another reason for monthly contact. Finally, the NAR reports the “average” contact program takes between 8 and 12 months to “start” working. We’ve cut that time in half with Service For Life!, but even if it takes 10 months to start the “market share engine” producing, that’s still a great deal, considering most agents never get it going.
Why would you want to include a virtual tour with your home marketing efforts? Nowadays, buyers don’t even look at online listings if they don’t include a virtual tour. The technology for virtual touring properties on the internet is amazing with the help of services like IGuide and Matterport. This allows us to virtually take the property to any potential buyer around the world and let them virtually experience the property without physically being here.
How Do Virtual Tours Work?
Virtual tours take you inside the home and give you a 180 to a 360-degree view. Some are interactive, meaning you click the mouse and it takes you to the ceiling, the floor, the walls, leaving no inch of the room unseen. Others are flat-screen views put together to give you a moving image that you watch but do not control. Some are digital and 3D like you are in there in person. You can order virtual tours in a number of ways. Shoot your own photographs and hire a professional to simply upload and assemble them for you. Hire a professional to shoot the photos, upload and assemble artwork into a tour. It’s so affordable today that most people pay for a virtual tour. Or buy your own software and compose/create it yourself.
How to Get Started With Making a House Virtual Tour?
Every virtual tour should consist of a minimum of two spins. Even a small 800-square-foot condo can be shot on a two-spin tour: the living room and the clubhouse/pool area, for example. Use collages of 36 photos or more. Super intense virtual tours are generally reserved for the homes valued at more than a million dollars and may involve an aerial tour shot from a drone. Buyers want to see the guesthouses, the wine cellars, the indoor pool and spa facilities, the libraries, media rooms, gyms, studios, the 18-car garages, and helicopter pads. Most professional virtual tour companies will handle everything for you, from beginning to finish, and will supply their own server to host the virtual tour. All you have to do is post the link in the appropriate places. These virtual tours are generally one long continuous show.
Tips for Staging a Virtual Tour
Determine what your focus is and what your viewpoints are. You can take your own digital photographs and upload them to your computer. This way you can study each room for its appeal and photogenic quality. Print out the photos you like and show the virtual tour photographer the angles that you want. Begin the tour focused on the most interesting element in the space and end with that element. Think about what the viewer will see first to determine your starting point for the tour. You don’t want to begin filming a doorway, for example, because most doorways are boring. Move excess furniture out, and properly prepare the room you are shooting. You want the space clean, open, clutter-free and to appear much larger than it is. Consider the level of the camera. If you raised it a foot or so, would it eliminate glare from windows or avoid showing the unpainted fence outside? Choose the best spot in the room to set up the camera. While you might capture a wider range of view from a location close to a hall or door, think about the entire circle of view and how interested your viewer will be staring at a close-up of a nearby wall. Remember, one click of the mouse, and your image is lost.
Added Features for Virtual Tours
Most virtual tours provide ample space for marketing content. Use adjectives sparingly. Concentrate instead on the use of sharp nouns and action verbs. Every picture tells a story, doesn’t it? Describe that moving video with text that rolls across the screen. Don’t rely on the viewer to know enough to scroll down the page to your verbiage. Add a line of verbiage directly to the video. Supplying Audio: Some virtual tours give you the option of adding your voice to the tour. Be enthusiastic, speak clearly, and remember to smile, like you were talking to a friend because a smile resonates in the voice. Allow a mute button.
Where to Upload and Post Your House Virtual Tour Link
Link the virtual tour to your agent’s MLS number.
Upload the tour to local websites and your agent’s personal website.
Consider buying a separate Web address to host the virtual tour. Domain names are very cheap, and independent property websites are popular.
Many tour operators will also upload the link to Realtor.com, Realtor.ca, a website which gives visitors the option of viewing only those listings with virtual tours.
Put your virtual tour on YouTube.
Showcase your virtual tour on Facebook.
There you have the latest technology for marketing listings to the internet empowered buyers around the world. Check out your local virtual tour provider today and put this technology to work for your listings and sellers today! You will be glad you did.
Imagine if a deadly disease hit Earth with a devastation rate anywhere near the failure rate in real estate… People everywhere would live in complete, utter panic. EIGHTY-SEVEN percent. Think about that… 100 will start. 13 will survive! Sounds intriguing. Except it’s your livelihood at stake. Why do nearly nine out of every 10 agents fail and quit the business? I’ve worked with and studied real estate professionals for a long time, and I’ve identified 10 of the biggest reasons why agents fail. Avoiding these pitfalls will help you join that elusive “Club 13” — the 13 percent of agents who actually survive and succeed in this business. Let’s go…
10 Reasons Why Real Estate Agents Fail
Interested vs. Committed. Just being interested in your career isn’t enough. When you’re interested, you do things when they’re convenient. Success in real estate is all about being fully committed, which means doing whatever it takes as long as it takes to achieve your goals. If you’re not fully committed, it’s time to reassess your career choice.
Not Strategic. Can you explain your market trends easily? Do you truly know your market? What’s selling? What’s not? To survive in real estate, you need to look at your marketplace from a strategic standpoint. You must look at the hot sheets every day. You’ve gotta own that knowledge and become the knowledge broker in your market. It’s not enough to simply like houses and enjoy working with people. Take a step back, analyze your market and make sure you know it, and you know your place in it.
Fear of Mistakes & the Desire to Look Good. There’s a lot of vanity in real estate, which can lead to people shying away from anything that might paint them in unflattering light. But you can’t be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes are how wisdom is gained. Accept it’s okay to make mistakes. Try new things, see what works, learn from what doesn’t, and always keep moving forward. The more mistakes you make, the more you’ll bridge the gap between knowing and not knowing.
No (or Wrong) Role Model. Having someone to look up to, to aspire to, to model your behaviors on is a hugely critical step to help you reach that “next level” in real estate. Far too many agents have no role model for their business. Or they have the wrong one. To accelerate your ascent in this business, find someone who is successful in both life and business and model your behaviors on theirs.
Your Gas Station is Only Open One Day a Week for an Hour. As a real estate agent, your No. 1 priority is attracting customers. It’s not a part-time pursuit. Far too many agents do just a little bit of marketing once a week and hope for the best. Lead generation and lead conversion need to be your primary focus. If there was a way to teach every new agent this philosophy and force them to live up to it, that 87% failure rate would decrease dramatically. Focus on the “Core 4″… Database. Open Houses. Geographic Farming. Online Presence
Monday-Friday, 9:00-6:00 Mentality. Being a real estate agent isn’t a job. It’s a business. It’s YOUR business. You’ll get out of it what you put into it. Especially if you’re new, you absolutely must put in the time and effort. All the money is made before 9:00am and after 6:00pm. If that doesn’t work for you, you might be in the wrong business.
No Sales Swagger. Long ago NAR released a report that said the vast majority of new agents come into real estate with no sales experience, no marketing experience and no negotiation experience. What are the essential skills of succeeding in real estate? Sales. Marketing. Negotiations. Hmmm. If you haven’t mastered these three skills, you need to be working on them constantly. Put yourself in situations where you learn the objections, get hung up on and gain that experience. Putting yourself in those situations repeatedly will break down those fears of calling FSBOs, expireds and the like. I often encourage brand new agents to work with FSBOs and expireds to break them in with “the most challenging” clients. When you know what to say, everything becomes easier.
No Goal/Broken Into Numbers That Get Measured. When you know your numbers, you put yourself in control. On average, how many leads does it take you to convert one sale? 30? Great! 162? Great! “I dunno.” Not great! As long as you know your numbers, you know what you have to do. If you don’t know your numbers, you’re just hoping for that winning lottery ticket. Knowing your numbers makes your business predictable. Being predictable leads to success. Know your numbers!
Poor Schedule, Weak Routines. If you’ve followed me for a long time, you’ve heard me say it a million times: “Show me your routines and I can predict your future.” If your schedule isn’t aligned with your goals, instead of achieving your goals, you’ll end up wherever your schedule takes you. The key is figuring out the specific activities that will lead to the achievement of your goals. Then you schedule those activities. The role of discipline in your success cannot be underestimated. Schedule everything and find a way to hold yourself accountable.
Lack of Financial Management. Lots of people get into real estate thinking it’s a low overhead business with an opportunity to make big, giant paychecks. Those days are long gone. This business is so competitive, you need a funding plan not only to survive, but to invest in your business and build it in an efficient way. Make sure you’re managing your money smartly in order to avoid that 87% failure rate.
So now you know the 10 biggest pitfalls that cause the catastrophic 87 percent failure rate in real estate.
What are you going to do with this information? In what areas do you need help? Where are you seeking that help? Let me know your comments below.
If you’ve been to a tourist hotspot like Venice Beach or Downtown Las Vegas in the last couple years, among all the sunglass vendors and street performers, you might have witnessed a weird new phenomenon: People who are willing to be punched or kicked in exchange for money. Yep, you give a complete stranger $20 or so, and he grants you the right to hit him. Sound crazy? Of course it does. But here’s an even crazier thought: I’d contend you – as a real estate salesperson – have more in common with these people than you might expect. You might not subject your body to physical punishment in exchange for money, but let there be no doubt about it… …If you want the monetary rewards associated with a successful career in real estate, you need to be willing to get punched in the face. Repeatedly.
All the Money is In Follow Up. So in your case, I’m not talking about literally getting punched in the face. But figuratively? Yes, most definitely. The statistics show only 5.6 percent of conversions happen upon first contact with a lead. That basically means for every 20 calls you make, one will achieve your desired outcome and 19 others will feel like a right hook landing squarely on your jawline. So here’s the big question for you: Can you handle that type of rejection? Can your psyche deal with that kind of punishment day in and day out? If not, you basically have two choices: Find a foolproof lead generation source that brings business to you automatically (Marketing Edge will help you there), or ask yourself if you’re in the right line of work. Or… you can adapt to accept the rejection and roll with it. Here’s how…
Remove the Emotion. Follow the Data. Here’s some more fun research based on numbers from our coaching members: 68 percent of conversions came after 8-12 conversations with a prospect.
Not one call. Not two. Not three. Not four. Not five. Not six. Not seven. EIGHT or more!
Are you following up with every one of your leads eight times? How about twelve times? (If not, you’re leaving money on the table. Piles of it.) Becoming relentless in your follow up is a matter of expecting to be punched in the face and knowing that each time you get “hit,” you’re one step closer to that next “Yes.” Conversion is purely a numbers game. The more you understand that and the more you look at it from that vantage point, the more you can eliminate the emotion from it and accept it as a reality of doing business.
3 Steps to Highly Effective Follow Up. To dramatically improve your conversion skills, follow these three steps:
Select and commit to a follow-up platform/CRM. Don’t get hung up on which one it is. Just get a tool in place that will help you set up your follow-up cadence and remind you when it needs to happen.
Create your formula. This really has two elements to it: Deciding the tools you’ll use to touch base with people: Phone call, text, email, in person, social media, etc. and the schedule you’ll follow with each of those methods.
DAY 1 A.M.
When a lead comes in, send automated email
Call within 5 minutes!
Send a text if you don’t reach them
DAY 1 P.M.
Call again
Send an email
DAY 2 A.M.
Call again
Send a text
DAY 2 P.M.
Call again
Send Market Snapshot
DAY 3-28
Call every 5 days via Mojo dialer
Send a text after the 5th attempt/28th day
DAY 29+
Call every 30 days until they “buy or die”
Track and measure your own numbers!
Don’t rely on the 8-12 calls statistic mentioned above when your own business is at stake. The better you track and measure your own results, the more predictability you can bring to your business.
So, what’s your verdict? Are you willing to (figuratively) get punched in the face? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below…
A major activity for a real estate agent is to prospect for, and convert leads. This seems to be the most avoided activity due to its unnatural, time consuming and difficulty to do for most agents in the business today. This week we look at some of the best practices of prospecting in real estate from the book “Fanatical Prospecting” by Jeb Blount. We help the agent to overcome call reluctance, structure your referral requests and leave a message that will increase your prospecting conversion.
Let’s begin by accepting the fact that prospecting requires you to interrupt people and it is not bothering people but you are interrupting people in a relevant way and that’s what we do in sales. I believe I am an excellent resource in real estate and the agent that they need for help. Stop asking people “Is this a good time to call?” The reflex response from anyone to this over used question is always “NO” but instead give them the reason for your call and get to the point. Be Brief! Be Bright! Be Gone! The 1,2,3 punch to prospecting.
Learn how to ask for the referral. Don’t overcomplicate it, simply ask “Of all the people you know who do think will be moving next?” Just pick up the phone today and call a few past clients and ask them this question and let me know what response you get?! It is important you not only know how to ask for the referral but also educate them on how to give you that referral. “Give me their name and number and I will follow them up and give them excellent service and I promise not to pressure them at all.”
Once you have got past the reluctance of prospecting and you get good at being brief, bright and be gone. You master the ability to ask for the referral and remember to educate them on how to give that referral, you then block time for prospecting daily. The key to changing your business is blocking the time to prospect. Like exercising, the best workouts are usually intense, small intervals. So block your prospecting time to an hour a day. Yes an hour a day. Then break the hour into three separate 20 minute chunks of prospecting time. I guarantee you will see better prospecting results for your business. Remember! One hour a day, split into 3 twenty minute chunks will have a greater impact.
The last prospecting tip is removing all distractions and stop the multi-tasking insanity now! Turn everything off. Be present and focused for that intense interval of twenty minutes of prospecting called your Golden Hour. Maximize that prospecting effort and see the results begin to change for you by being completely focused on the task at hand.
So there you have it. We have to interrupt people in real estate to make money and accepting that fact will make your life a lot easier. If you are polite and relevant your interruption will always be welcome to any prospect. As an exercise today take the time to create a weekly grid and start blocking your one hour of prospecting every day but remember to block it into three separate twenty minute blocks of focused uninterrupted prospecting.
Let me know your results in the next couple of weeks!
We’ve all had one of those experiences with a salesperson or customer service rep who is obviously reading from a script… and doing it poorly. Do you know why that’s a total bummer to me? Sure, it’s cringe-worthy and we feel embarrassed for the guy. But the real reason it bums me out is because good, capable salespeople will point to those examples to justify their opinion that scripts are bad. I’ve heard all the excuses/supposed reasons…
“Scripts are for newbies.”
“Scripts always sound fake.”
“Scripts are cheesy.”
“I don’t want to sound canned.”
“Using a script just isn’t me.”
But guess what?
When a great real estate salesperson uses a script, you can’t even tell. It sounds like a normal conversation. If you’re looking to increase your conversion and book more appointments, it’s time to stop resisting and start taking advantage of what scripts have to offer. Today I’ve got three reasons and one important tip to convince you scripts are the quickest and best route to not only upping your conversion, but also creating more fulfilling personal interactions with your clients. If that sounds counter-intuitive to your perception of scripts, I urge you to keep reading…
What You Say Matters – How many times have you hung up the phone or left an appointment and started thinking about all the things you should have said instead of what you actually said? That feeling of regret really stings, especially when it costs you the listing. Using a script allows you to avoid that mistake and never commit it again. A good script is designed to lead the prospect to your desired outcome. Scripts can also help you overcome common objections with ease. Perhaps most importantly, having a script eliminates the excuse for not making your calls of “Well, I just don’t know what to say.” When you have the right scripts in your business toolbox, you’re more likely to pick up the phone, you’re more likely to engage with people you meet, you’re more likely to know what to say and actually say the right things… And as a result, you’re highly likely to win more business.
How You Say It Matters – The art of persuasion is a complicated dance, and the words you say are just one element of the big picture. How you deliver your message also matters. Think about it… There’s no way a monotonous robot voice is as engaging or effective at communicating an idea as an energetic human being using the right tonality and body language. So if you’re not using scripts and you’re just “winging it” every time you speak with a prospect, it’s highly unlikely you’re maximizing your persuasion techniques. (I’ll touch on this more later, but the great thing about a script is that it allows you to practice it repeatedly – and master it – before you put it into action.)
Create a Stronger Connection with Your Clients – When agents are averse to using scripts, they normally say it’s because they want to be genuine with their clients and they feel using a script steers them away from that objective. I sort of see where they’re coming from, but I respectfully disagree. Think about what really happens if you’re in a sales situation and you don’t know what to say next… Are you actually paying attention to what the other person is saying? Or are you “in your head” scrambling for your next response and how you’ll make yourself sound good? When you’re distracted and searching for answers during a conversation, guess what? You’re NOT engaged. You’re NOT coming across as genuine. You’re NOT creating that crucial emotional bond with the other person. That’s why I contend those who truly master their scripts are able to be the most engaged and “in the moment” with their clients. There’s one big catch, though, and it goes back to the very beginning of this blog with the obvious script user…
You MUST Practice! – Do you know why that person I mentioned earlier wasn’t effective with his script? Because he used it way too soon. The key to using scripts effectively is simple: Practice is mandatory! The more you practice and role play your scripts, the more you can internalize it and make it your own. Practice is what separates great salespeople from the embarrassing others who give scripts a bad name. When you’ve mastered a script, you’ll naturally know how and where to lead a conversation, without being “in your head” and trying to figure out what to say next. You’ll become a better listener, come across more authentic and provide more authoritative answers.
And in the process, you’ll win more business and enjoy what you do even more. But you got to practice. And that practice has to be with the right people in the right environment. The Cardinal Sin is to “practice” on your clients. Stop the resistance, find yourself some good scripts, and put in the work (PRACTICE!) to make them your own.
I’d love to hear about your personal journey with scripts. Please… Share your tips, stories, and any feedback on this blog in the comments below!
To get you started here are 5 proven scripts for you to practice with…
There is this myth in real estate that lead generation is expensive or it has to be expensive for it to be effective marketing in today’s world. Although I agree there are some very pricey marketing tactics in play right now, I assure you there are countless highly effective tactics that are “zero” cost or low cost to the agent and I know from the thousands of agents I have done work with these 20 lead generation activities work for any agent in any place in the world….
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