Did you know that in today’s market the time from first contact to closing has almost tripled?
When you get a new lead you are excited! But here is the problem: Your lead will take so long to buy or sell that they will forget about you and use another agent. If you don’t turn that lead into a client, then you can forget about that commission check!
Now I have your attention. Good….
It used to be only advanced agents used follow up systems. And most of them only followed up with people who wanted to list their home - they did nothing for potential buyers. Well, times have changed - big time!
Any agent who wants to thrive in today’s market should be using an advanced follow up system for both buyers and sellers. A good follow up system will build a relationship with a potential customer with consistent, value added communication.
What adds value? Well sending a potential buyer a message “I just checked my schedule and I am free Friday from 1 to 5, lets go see a home” is NOT a message of value. In fact, most canned email messages that you get from a software company actually hurt your relationship with your potential client!
If you want to make it in this market, then you are going to have to focus your efforts on adding value and building relationships.
Your goal is to move a lead who says ”I Don’t Know You” to a client to says “I Know and Trust You”.
Here a some quick tips on how to build relationships
For people that you only have their email, send them good message about the market and what is going on 2x a month. These are personal messages you write yourself. It does not have to be long, a few paragraphs will do it!
If you have a few leads (and the time) then make each email personal. If you don’t have much time, then you can send the same email to everyone.
If you have their phone number, then call them back right away and make a follow up call when appropriate. Don’t hound them, but checking in every few months is great.
People are getting so many emails every day that they do not value emails any more. If you really want to impress someone, then physically mail them something of value. The classic thank you card after first meeting someone still works. If the person is new to the area, mail them a book about your city! If you create a newsletter, then send it to them.
Relationship building is how you turn a lead into a client and a client into a referral making machine! Your follow up system should not be a hounding system, where the potential client feels like you are stalking them. You will need to setup reasonable times for follow up emails, calls and letters.
Finally, consistency is very important. Don’t just send one message, you need a system and a schedule. I believe all agents should be using a contact management system to help them with follow up. If you have a decent business, go ahead and buy Top Producer. If you do just a few deals here and there, then use Constant Contact (fewer features, but very low cost).
We all know your website is critical given the fact that over 80% of all home buyers start their search on the internet. But what makes a good agent website? Does your website meet the needs of today’s consumers?
Given the popularity of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Zillow, Active Rain and lots of other sites - Your website should be the “hub” of your online marketing activities. It should “attract” potential buyers and sellers like bees to a flower. You should put some time into your web site every month.
In 1999, all you needed was a one page “brochure” site that talked about you. I see this type of website all the time (usually because the broker will give it away for free) - but it is not going to cut it in today’s demanding environment. Read more »
I work with agents from across the country every day. I can tell you the most common problem I hear is “I don’t have enough good leads for qualified buyers and motivated sellers.” It is not like agents are the only ones with this problem -all of my other business friends tell me this is their biggest problem too.
At the same time, now is a great time to grow your business. I was reading my Wall Street Journal Monday morning and this headline grabbed my attention: “An economic downturn is a great time to start a business. It sound paradoxical, but think about it. Costs are lower, and more talent is available, thanks to layoffs. Prospective clients are more likely to try a new supplier … Established players, too, are focused on cutting costs instead of increasing market share”
But you won’t increase your market share in this economy with traditional advertising. The advertising that you used for years is just not cutting it anymore. Read more »
Many agents want to pull back on their marketing when times get bad. Now is the most important time to increase your marketing as a percent of your commission income. You must stay in touch with your market!
I ran across this story the other day that proves my point
They’re Just Not Paying Attention Anymore!
The big digital TV switchover finally happened last week and about 2.8 million homes Read more »
You may be a good real estate agent, but you are a bad photographer. Now that the vast majority of people use the internet to find a home, pictures are more important than ever! Gone are the days when you could just snap a few pictures with your little camera and upload them to the MLS.
Pictures can make a huge difference in selling a home - and good pictures will make your client happy! I recommend people hire a true professional with good equipment to take the pictures of their listings. Good photographers are charging agents $75 to Read more »
During the housing boom, another shift was happening in advertising - a shift from outbound interruption based marketing to attraction marketing. Since WWII most businesses marketed their product or service by sending advertising to their potential customer without them asking for it. The advertising was placed in papers, TV and on Radio. This type of advertising is called interruption based marketing because it “interrupted” what you were doing. Interruption marketing worked for many companies, until today.
Have you noticed the number of news papers that are going out of business? Or the TV stations that are having problems. Or better yet, the number of empty billboards? Companies are moving away from interruption based advertising and moving towards attraction marketing, leaving the interruption based advertising companies to go bust.
So what is attraction based markeing and how can you use it to make more money?
Is your real estate marketing less effective today than it was 10 years ago? Are you having problems finding qualified buyers and motivated sellers? It is not just the down economy, your marketing is now less effective! To understand why and what you have to do about it, you need to understand both the impact of the emerging economy and attraction marketing is having on your real estate business. I will deal with attraction marketing in the next post.
The current housing boom started around 2000 when investors took money out of the stock market and put it into property. This boom was then fueled over the years with easy credit, speculation and debt driven consumption. People were buying and selling for fun. Their home was going up in value forever and they could use it as an Read more »
Did you know that in today’s market the time from first contact to closing has almost tripled?
You may be a good real estate agent, but you are a bad photographer. Now that the vast majority of people use the internet to find a home, pictures are more important than ever! Gone are the days when you could just snap a few pictures with your little camera and upload them to the MLS.