Most of us want to work with fewer people and target luxury markets. But what makes the targeting process for higher-end leads different? Based on what do the rich and affluent make hires? And what should be our selling proposition? In this episode, Kelly O’Neil talks about how we can attract and retain high-end clients.
Affluent people are more likely to buy services based on relationships. -Kelly O’Neil
Three Things We Learned
Build relationships and authority in your niche
Many people go to marketing and sales courses where they’re told the same strategies. But anything that’s done by a large number of people becomes ineffective because nobody ends up standing out. The rich and affluent usually hire based on referrals or by searching for influencers. They rarely hire people who send cold emails or share their business card.
Immerse yourself in their world
You don’t have to spend a lot of money to hang out in a place where the affluent go. You can take a Bentley for a test drive, or participate in events. The more money someone has, the more selective they get with whom they choose to work with. This translates into actually knowing and liking the people who they hire. And the best way to make the affluent like you is to meet with them face to face.
Sell convenience
The more wealthy you are, the more aware you are of how much your time is worth. Affluent people look for service providers that provide convenience, save time, and make the whole process pain-free and seamless.
When you market yourself to a crowd that has a bigger budget, you have to keep in mind that they expect a top-notch experience, one that not only solves a problem but also solves it in the fastest and most convenient manner. And in order to even be considered as an option, you must either be referred by someone or be recognized as an influencer in your industry. As a result, networking and branding should be your main focuses.
Guest Bio
Kelly O’Neil is the CEO of Innovate Media Services, a brand marketing expert, multi-award winning entrepreneur, and bestselling author.
She was featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, and many other publications. Currently, she’s working on her latest book that you can pre-order here and receive a free chapter.
You can find out more about her books, courses, and speaking events here.
Many agents forget that real estate is a people-based business and that the relationship comes before the transaction, not the other way around. How can we make lead generation less stressful? How can send-out cards help us touch the lives of our prospects or database? And why should we look into building several streams of passive income? In this episode, Gayle Zientek talks about how she uses send-out cards to sell more homes and which 4 streams of passive income she’s currently using.
If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room. -Gayle Zientek
Three Things We Learned
How to make lead generation more fun
Lead generation can be quite stressful, but building relationships and making somebody’s day brighter isn’t. Send-out cards are a great way to make lead generation more fun because you aren’t asking something from people, you’re just giving.
The card should be about them, not you
When you send a card, make sure you don’t make it about you and your business. Use the card to tell a story and tap into people’s emotions. You can put your name and contact information on the back of the card, but don’t transform the card into a real estate brochure.
Invest in a passive income strategy
Agents are always as good as the last transaction they had. As a result, their income isn’t predictable. The best way to make your income more predictable is to invest in passive income strategies. This could involve teaching a course, EXP shares, and retreats.
The best form of branding is giving back to the community that we’re active in. This way, each time people see the results of our work, they’ll think about us not only as agents but also as people who are willing to walk the extra mile and take care of their community. Pick a charity that resonates with you and make a donation each time you sell a home.
Guest Bio
Gayle Zientek is an entrepreneur, coach, and Realtor at eXp. With over 14 years of experience in real estate, Gayle shares the knowledge she accumulated over the years at Referrals for a Living.
Her mission is to teach others to build a relationship- based-relationship and make lead generation more fun. You can contact Gayle here.
Facebook advertising is often ignored yet is far less expensive than real estate lead aggregators. What can you use to attract attention to your real estate ads on Facebook? Why should agents ask questions about the motivation of the buyer or seller before starting a lead nurturing campaign? And what piece of information can be used to convince online leads to meet you in person? In this episode, Matt Cramer talks about how to convert Facebook ads to deals.
We’re trying to find a few nuggets of gold. We aren’t trying to turn the entire river into gold because not every lead is a winner. -Matt Cramer
Three Things We Learned
How you can keep the cost per lead low
When it comes to online lead generation for sellers, home evaluations still work. But if you want to lower the cost per lead, switch from using a landing page to a lead form on Facebook. This results in lower costs because Facebook likes it when its users stay on the platform.
Don’t nurture a lead without knowing their motivation first
Online leads, like any types of leads, work only when nurtured. The best way to start a conversation is to ask questions about the motivation behind buying or selling. But make sure you don’t mistake your leads' motivation for their goals. To find somebody’s motivation, you usually have to dig deeper.
Don’t make your leads jump through too many hoops
Longer forms don’t ensure warmer leads. Short format forms are enough to get you all the information you need. There are very few online leads who are looking to buy a house right away, so there’s no use in trying to filter out all leads for a rare type of potential customer.
A home list is superior to videos or photos of a listing because it makes people come to your office for exclusive information. When you show a listing online you give people all the information at once without receiving anything in return. If they see it and feel that they aren’t sure whether they like it, they move on. Giving away information about listings causes you to miss the opportunity of getting qualified leads to meet you in person and ask you for more information.
Guest Bio
Matt Cramer is the former Director of Lead Generation at Perna team and the CEO of Relentless Media. His mission is to provide real estate agents who are struggling with lead generation warmer leads using social media at a lower cost.
You can find out more about how he helps agents increase their revenue here.
Online lead generation works but is costly for both teams and individual agents. How can we increase our chances of converting online leads by using online reviews? Why shouldn’t we invest in online leads if we’re expecting an immediate sale? Why do we need to let people know what we do for a living more often? In this episode, Jordan Sibley talks about online and offline lead generation.
Prospecting hasn’t changed in 50 years. You still have to get in front of people. You still have to pick up the phone. -Jordan Sibley
Three Things We Learned
Many buying decisions are influenced by online reviews
Online reviews matter. Just think about it—each time you want to buy something, you probably look at what others are saying about it. The best way to increase your number of positive reviews is to ask satisfied customers for them.
Internet leads are long-term leads
Very rarely do internet leads turn out to be instant sales. Most people who are looking for homes online do so months before they actually buy or sell a property. As a consequence, you have to build a nurturing system and stick around them until the incubation time is over, and you must also be there for them when they finally decide to make a move.
Let everyone know what you do for a living
Don’t let others wonder what you do for a living. Wear a branded t-shirt. Use an email signature that mentions that you work in real estate. Everywhere you go, find a way to send the message that you’re an agent.
Instead of wasting money on Facebook advertising, as everyone else does, go to a place with less competition. The best way to get free leads is to meet with people face to face or make calls. Subscribing to a list of expireds makes it easier for you to persuade the person on the other end of the call because they already showed interest in selling a home. A dialer can help you in your prospecting efforts as well.
Guest Bio
Jordan Sibley is a residential Realtor and the lead Buyer Specialist at The Sibley Group. Her background in marketing enabled her to gain a better understanding of generating leads, both online and offline, for her team. Jordan is currently active in Slidell and Metairie, Louisiana.
Many rental property owners have tenants because they failed to sell the property. But what happens when you run into an investor? Why is it important to start the conversation with questions about why the home didn’t sell? And how many contacts do you need per day to succeed at prospecting? In this episode, we take a tour at REDEX and talk about the success principles of top prospectors.
In the marketing world, what we love doing is building trust with potential customers. -Justin Zimmerman
Three Things We Learned
How you can build trust with rental property owners
Many owners of rental properties wanted to sell but couldn’t and now they have a property and a tenant that they have to manage by themselves. As an agent, you can bring value even if you just help them determine the right price for the rent. When your prospects figure out how little they know about rental properties and how much money they lose by not knowing what to do, they will be more likely to work with you.
How asking questions reveals pain points
Ask questions instead of starting a monologue about how great your services are. When you ask questions, you get to know all of their pain points that you need to overcome. It’s easier to persuade someone when you come up with a specific solution to their problem.
How to flip the script when a rental property owner isn’t looking to sell
Don’t close the conversation if you hear that a rental property owner isn’t looking to sell. If they aren’t looking to sell, it means they’re looking to expand their rental property business, which means they’re always looking to buy.
Top prospectors keep track of their appointments and how many contacts they need to set an appointment. On average, it’s anywhere between 35 to 50 contacts per day, but keep in mind that a contact isn’t just a phone number. A contact is someone you have a meaningful conversation with. If you call a number and the person on the other side doesn’t want to talk with you at all, you shouldn’t count them as a contact.
Guest Bio
Justin Zimmerman is the director of content development at REDX and a content strategist with a background in real estate.
He started off in real estate at 24 and built a software that took local MLS housing data and transformed it into a format easy to understand both by buyers and sellers. This helped him gain a competitive advantage in a profession where the average age was 47.
His software was so successful that he started training other agents to become Certified Market Advisors and went from being a simple agent to managing 51 people.
Today, he uses his real estate and marketing knowledge to help agents create content that eliminates the need for prospecting and builds a strong database.
Gene Volpe is the founder of GVI Media and has over 10 years of experience in real estate marketing. With over 200 transactions under his belt, Gene is known as an authority in his field and is often invited to speak at events. You can find more about Gene at http://www.genevolpe.com/about-gene/#.
During market shifts is when the creativity of agents is put to the test. How can we stand out at times when the market experiences a slowdown? Are face-to-face conversations still effective for generating leads? Why shouldn't we hide ourselves behind social media advertising? In this episode, we talk about creative, random ways to generate leads.
The most random lead generation tactic is saying hi to other people. -Greg McDaniel
Three Things We Learned
Facebook and LinkedIn groups
Local Facebook and LinkedIn groups can serve as a good opportunity for you to get known by other members of your community and establish yourself as “the agent” in the area. You can do so by sharing news or updates about what’s happens in your neighborhood without delving too much into real estate.
Make it a part of your routine to have conversations with people
The less personal your way of communicating, the more time and people you have to connect with. As a result, the most powerful way to connect with others is face-to-face. No amount of social media advertising can replace genuine human connections. Look around you, strike conversations more often, and always carry a business card.
Offer something of value with your brand on it
Having a white label book with your name on it, an ebook, or even a brochure that has information of interest for your leads serves as good introduction. Having something that’s deliverable is your opportunity to establish yourself as an expert and impress.
The most successful business owners aren’t reactive when it comes to lead generation. They look at who they want to work with and get proactive about finding ways to connect with them. Don’t wait for a third-party service to offer you leads. Put together a routine with a goal low enough so you can be motivated to do it every day and become more proactive about your lead generation tactics. For some it may be conversations, while for others it may be door knocking. Find what suits your personality best and chase the people you would like to work with.
Many agents fear getting on camera, not to mention live videos where there’s plenty of room for mistakes. Do mistakes make you look more human and approachable? What type of topics should you choose to speak about on video? Why is it important to have a call-to-action in your videos? In this episode, Ross Brand talks about how you can use live video to engage with your audience.
Live streaming takes video to the next level because people can actually communicate with you through a live chat. -Ross Brand
Three Things We Learned
Timeless content is easier to monetize
When you talk about topics that will remain the same even a year from now, you’re more likely to generate leads than when speaking about real estate trends. An excellent way to find evergreen topics for your live videos is to take a look at popular blog posts and put your own spin on them.
Add a call-to-action at the end of the video
Your viewers don’t want to feel like you’re selling to them, but they do want to find out what you do for a living. A good way to mention your real estate business is to put a call-to-action at the end of the video and let people know you’re available. You might not get warm leads right away, but after you build trust, your viewers will think of you when they need to buy or sell a property.
Focus on the lifestyle people have in certain areas, not about the listing
Most agents choose to use live videos for listings, but only a very small percentage of your audience is interested in buying a house right now. Instead of focusing on a a very niche audience, you can expand it by talking about the lifestyle in the neighborhoods where you’re active. For example, you speak about fun things to do during the weekend or the best restaurants in the area.
Don’t just recycle content on social media. When you re-post your live stream on social media, the content has a relatively short shelf life. Create a website or a social media page where people can browse through your videos and interact with your content. This way, your content is easier to find and will serve your branding efforts months and maybe even years after it was published the first time.
Guest Bio
Ross Brand is a livestream strategist, podcast host, speaker, and On-AIR personality. He was named the number #1 Live Streaming Expert by Klout and was selected as one of the “5 Live Video Experts to Follow” by Switcher Studio. In the present, Ross creates content for podcasts and Alexa Flash Briefings and is the founder of Livestream Universe. You can find out more about him here.
Making radical changes to your routine might sound tempting, but in most cases this tactic leads to burnout. How can you make noticeable progress without going on and off your routine? Why is it important to get an idea of what you’re currently doing on a daily basis? How can you keep yourself motivated with a routine that takes time to see its fruits? In this episode, we talk about the compound effect and why small, consistent choices offer the fastest path to success.
The dip between taking consistent action and getting consistent results is going to be 6 months, and half the battle is just knowing that. -Matt Johnson
Three Things We Learned
Track and measure your productivity and habits
You can’t improve what you don’t understand entirely. Track your behaviors for one week, as this gives you a starting point and a better understanding about what makes you unproductive and what brings clients.
Consistent actions are more effective than radical changes
Find daily actions that can be done even if you have to deal with the unexpected. This way, you get consistent with your work and increase your chances of sticking to a work routine that might remain the same for years, as opposed to making radical chances that will lead to burnout and you quitting a few weeks later.
Celebrate your wins
Radical changes to your routine might sound tempting, but the small changes are the ones that are more likely to stick with you. And because small tweaks take time to pay off, you have to remind yourself daily that you’re one step closer to your goals. You can do so by emailing your daily report to an accountability partner or just write down all of the tasks you completed on that day.
Don’t let yourself believe that small changes aren’t enough to change the big picture. Over time, the small tweaks we make are more likely to bring results because we’re more likely to stick to a relaxed routine compared to a work schedule that we hate. But a relaxed schedule isn’t the only thing that make us more likely to stick with something in the long run. The people we work with have the same effect as well. We’re more likely to feel energetic and motivated if we get more picky about those we allow into our lives.
Networking events are challenging and the room is often filled with people who try too hard to make a sale. How can we stand out and avoid being salesy? Should we have as many conversations as possible, or should we focus on a smaller group of people? What’s the best way to follow up with potential clients? In this episode, Jeremy DeMerchant talks about successful networking.
My secret to networking is being everywhere. -Jeremy DeMerchant
Three Things We Learned
Focus on quality not quantity
When it comes to networking, there are two paths you can take: have a large number of superficial conversations or a small number of meaningful ones. The latter is always the approach that brings the most business.
Schedule the follow-up via phone to avoid wasting time
Don’t set up a meeting at a coffee shop. Instead, set up a call. This way, you’ll find out in the first 10 minutes of the call if you’re a good fit for your lead. It’s harder to leave a meeting early without putting yourself in a awkward situation, but there’s nothing awkward about a short phone call.
Control the experience they have with you from start to finish
Send all the people you want to connect with to one place. For example, send all of your leads to your website or put them in an email drip campaign where you share links to your content. This way, you control the type of information they consume. This is also a good tactic to warm up leads. The more they read about you, the higher the probability they start liking and trusting you.
Constantly fill the funnel. Not everyone has to be a sale today or tomorrow. It could be a sale 2-3 years down the road. Be patient with the people you meet and work on increasing your exposure, making a good impression, and engaging with the people that you would like to work with. Last but not least, be everywhere. The more networking events you go to, the higher the chances people remember you.
Guest Bio
Jeremy DeMerchant is the CEO of Permission To Sell and has over 20 years of experience in the sales arena. His mission is to help coaches, business owners, and professionals increase their sales and revenue. If you want to find out more about sales tactics or want to network with small business owners and sales professionals, join the Permission To Sell Group. Jeremy is also the author of 5 C's of Successful Sales Conversations, a sales cheat sheet that you can download for free here.