From digital marketing tactics, to door knocking, every agent chases the same thing- the listing. But how can you stand out when the competition is fierce and often times more experienced? How do you attract buyers before the home hits the market and how can you stand out at a listing presentation? In this episode, bestselling author and top agent, Ray Wood, shares his tactics for winning listings.
The gestation time when somebody thinks about selling and until they actually get the market is give or take, the average time, 12 months.- Ray Wood
Three Things We Learned
Use direct mail to let attract buyers
Send out mail asking if someone is interested in buying a certain house before it even hits the market. This will not only help you get buyers easily but also show people who want to sell in the future how active you are in the area.
Go door knocking if you want to crack a new area
Door knocking works even against experienced agents as long as you come with news and information that others will find useful. Don’t be aggressive about it, just inform everyone about the average home prices of the market, ask them if they want to find the value of their home and so on.
Don’t go only after the sale
Many agents pay attention only to seller who want to sell now. But what about the home owners who want to sell one year from now? The gestation time from thinking about selling your property to actually getting it on the market is around 12 months. So if someone is coming on the market in 12 months why you wouldn’t want to give them any attention?
If you are just entering the house of the homeowner and getting to look around and give them an estimate, you won’t stand out. They will decide if they want to work with your based on your commission only. Have a talk with the seller before you start looking around the house. Ask them directly what are the things an agent can do to serve them better. What are their motivations? Also, make sure you provide free value to get tap into the law of reciprocity as well. It could be in the form of a free professional photo shooting of their home or a free estimate of repairments that need to be done from a professional.
Guest Bio
Ray Wood is a 4th generation of real estate agents, an serial entrepreneur, bestselling author and podcast host. He is currently involved in Jigglar ( a creative marketing tool for real estate agents), LockenOn.com ( real estate software) and Online Real Estate Coach. Go to http://onlinerealestatecoach.com/downloads to get some great content.
Your business is just a small part of a bigger puzzle. The way you think about life, about your own potential and capacities, is all expressed in the way you handle your business as well. But what do you when your own mind stands in the way of succeeding? What happens when you don’t really know what you want, what your goals are, and how to reach them? Is criticism and loneliness at times part of the journey? In this episode, Kathleen Black shares the tactics she uses on her coaching clients to help them succeed.
Sacrificing for success is usually not one of the things that we think that are bad for us. It’s giving up the good in favor of the great. -Matt Johnson
Three Things We Learned
Write down your goals as detailed as possible
The purpose of writing down your goals is to find two things: your own idea of success and the roadmap to get there. You will be surprised how many roads lead to the accomplishment of your goal. Experiment and find what works for you.
Sacrifice the good to achieve the great
One of the biggest mental roadblocks is the idea that sacrifice is deprivation. When you don’t feel deprived, there is nothing to sacrifice. But the truth is that you often will have to sacrifice the good, your comfort zone, to achieve the great.
Be ready to face criticism and loneliness
Whether we like it or not, some people don’t want us to succeed. This would be only a reminder for them that they settled for less. Many times you will face criticism from your family and friends for not taking the “traditional” route, the route they took. Using positive affirmations and reviewing your goals daily will help you cope and focus on the things that matter to you.
What if you could travel into the future and see yourself succeeding? Letter of the future is a visualization process for an ideal future. You write a letter back to yourself as if it happened the way you wanted and encourage your present self to keep on going. Depending on your goals, you can write letters like this with 1, 5 or 10 years of vision statements. Seal the letter and read it when after 1 to 5 years, depending on how you determine your vision for the future. The goal of this exercise is to give you a taste of your own success and to keep you motivated to reach it.
Guest Bio
Kathleen Black is a top coach and team leader. Over 80% of her agents are in top 1% nationally. She was featured on Entrepreneur magazine, ABC , NBC and Fox News. You can find more about her at https://kathleenspeaks.com/
Building a team is more than giving them leads and the access to technology. How do you help your team stay on top of things and continue to be productive? What happens when you find out that a small majority does all the work? What do you think should be the selling point of a leader who is looking to hire more agents? In this episode, Lee Barrison shares his experience and tactics that helped him build and nurture a superstar team.
If an agent has call reluctance, one of the first things I tell them to do is to call 5 people that like you, know you, trust you, and want to do business with you. - Lee Barrison
Three Things We Learned
Don’t leave your agents wondering what they should do next
Create a curriculum for new agents. Make them memorize the scripts and learn the systems. Next, give them an everyday schedule organized by hours. Don’t leave them wondering what they should do next, as it wastes time and scatters their efforts.
Keep only the agents that bring value
At some point, any teams end up having 20% of their agents doing 80% of the work. When this happens, identify the underachievers and have a talk with them. Look for their strengths and weaknesses, and find out their fears. Give them a 30 day learning plan to improve. If they don’t stick to the plan and fail to make at least one sale per month, let them go.
Providing leads shouldn’t be your selling point
Many agents are attracted to the idea that a team leader will bring them leads. But this creates a relationship of codependency. If the team leader gets out of the business, the agents are doomed. They don’t know how to generate lead sources by themselves. Don’t make leads your selling point. Anyone can provide leads. Give them the coaching necessary to make it in any setting without leads coming from you.
Many team leaders are afraid of sharing all of their knowledge with their agents. But if they avoid doing so, everyone has to lose. If you provide your team with leads only, you will always have to be there, monitoring everyone. But if you train them to become leaders themselves, you can step out of production at some point, simply because you created a system that can function in your absence. Agents won’t leave you as long as you provide the tools and culture anyone would love to be part of.
Guest Bio
Lee Barrison has over 11 years of experience and has closed over 600 transactions during his career. He is currently the Owner and lead coach at Intero Commercial in Bakersfield. If you if you want to join his team, you can contact Lee on his Facebook or via email at levonbarrison@gmail.com
The real estate market is very competitive at the moment and it’s hard to get your foot in the door by yourself. How do you prepare yourself for a meeting with a seller when you don’t have experience in that area? How do you build a positive reputation for yourself, and how do you show others you know what you are talking about? In this episode, we answer questions on building an online platform and getting started as a new agent.
You are not necessarily the best person to advise them on the sale of their home if you’ve never done it before. Go get help. Go find a mentor agent. -Matt Johnson
Three Things We Learned
You can avoid questions about your experience
If you are just starting out, you have two choices: You either bring a more experienced agent to the meeting with the seller (a mentor that you split the commision with) or you come out with data analytics that will make you stand out and leave the impression that you know the market well.
Give without expecting anything back
Many agents try hard to convince seller they are different. But what if you actually work towards showing others that what you do is not only work, but it’s also your passion. Helping others for free might not make you rich in the moment, but it will make people trust you and refer you. Plus, you will never have to worry about not being known or not being recognized as a integer agent anymore.
The power of a platform
You don’t have to build a huge platform. You can build your business by having a local podcast or blog. The goal is to be where your audience hangs out most of the time. Your message and personality will build connections with people you’ve never even met.
Building an online platform is one of the strongest tactics when it comes to brand building, getting more referrals, and becoming an authority in your field. Online platforms give you the ability to share your knowledge and get yourself in front of people you haven’t even met yet.
There are many ways you can connect with your audience online. It can be via social media, blogs, podcasts, you name it. Choose what suits your personality.
Guest Bio
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/#
Low achievers ask themselves what can they change about themselves to make their work better. High achievers ask themselves how the job requirements can be changed so they can work on what they are best at. Does having awareness of your own strengths mean there is no place for adjustments? How can a sales agent identify personality types and use communication to speak on the language of his clients? On this episode, Jay Niblick, the CEO of Wize Hire, speaks about the D.I.S.C profile and how agents and team leaders can take advantage of this knowledge, both in their business and personal life.
It’s not that you shouldn’t try to grow; it’s not that you shouldn’t always try to improve, but what are the raw materials that you have? -Jay Niblick
Three Things We Learned
Read feedback and mirror the communication style of your clients
Understand how you process things and how you prefer to communicate, and then move on understanding others as well. Your job as an agent is to walk the client all the way through and speak their language. Find out what makes them most comfortable and mirror their communication style, even if is not like yours. You don’t have to change as a person, but you have to understand that in sales it’s all about by reading feedback and being on the same wavelength.
The myth of being capable of doing anything
We work with our raw materials. Being optimistic and driven is excellent, but you are better off not pushing your limits in areas that don’t use your natural talents. You might be able do do it, which is quite rare, but you are going to hate the process anyway You don’t have to be good at everything in order to succeed. Just work on improving the areas in which you have some raw talents.
The jacks of all trades
There is a category of people who are more flexible. They can fit into a larger variety of roles because they don’t score high on anything. They are somewhere in the middle, and it’s easier for them to be flexible about it.
A common theme found in low performers is looking inside when something is not going as expected on the job. They ask themselves how they can improve and what is wrong with them. This not only channels all of their energy towards their weaknesses, but it also puts them in a negative mindset, the idea that there is something broken about them. On the other hand, high performers ask themselves how the job requirements can be changed to allow them to use their raw talents. They don’t blame themselves. Instead, they try to find out what they are best at and ignore the tasks they know they can’t do properly.
Guest Bio
Jay Niblick is the founder of Wize Hire, a real estate recruiting software with a data-driven approach to the hiring process. He matches companies with the perfect candidate based on behaviour, communication style, and values. If you want to find out more about your own D.I.S.C profile, what kind of roles suit you, and what your values and communication are, you can take a free personality test at https://wizehire.com/#disc-ebook-signup
As you step into the digital realm, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. There are so many ways you can promote your business. It’s easy to get buried in tasks you shouldn’t be doing yourself. How do you handle your online presence without taking all of your free time? Is productivity an issue for you? Did you try building a system before making your last hire? In this episode, social media expert Gene Volpe talks about what cases you may need someone to help you with your online presence and what cases you don’t.
Real estate is insanely boring if you don’t need it right now. People won’t engage with your open house. -Gene Volpe
Resources + Links
RockstarLiveVideo.com - Featuring our favorite scripts, tutorials and quickstart guides to marketing strategies like Facebook Live, door-knocking, remarketing advertising, open houses and referrals. Get actionable ideas and tactics you can use in your career right NOW.
For more free tips on digital marketing, check http://www.genevolpe.com/
Organize your emails by topic and content for free using a Folio, an application that has a free version and can be installed directly in your browser.
Three Things We Learned
Let your audience know who you really are
Real estate can be boring for your audience, unless they need help right away. People don’t engage because of your talks about open houses. They pay attention to who you are as a person. They can find agents who are knowledgeable and can help them out everywhere. But if you create a connection with them via video or interactions on social media, they will choose you, simply because they know more about you than they know about some other agent.
Social media will take the place of sales
You don’t have to convince your prospects that you are the best anymore. You don’t have to sell them on why you are the best, because they already know who you are if they follow you on social media. Hire someone (if you don’t have the time to do it yourself) to post content regularly. The more content you post, the more you get rewarded by the algorithm.
Before you decide you are too busy, maximize your performance and build systems
Sometimes we spend hours on some tasks that should take way less if we would be more focused. There is a progression to how you build a service. First, you maximize your own performance. Second, you build a system. Third, you hire someone to free up your plate.
Many agents jump on hiring an assistant, but the first step is to find out whether you maximize your productivity, and then you need to build systems to help you out. Only when when these two steps fail to help you handle your clients, should you look for someone to help. You should also be careful with how many leads you want to attract. Even if you decided that you will hire more people, the process of training and hiring someone takes some time.
Guest Bio
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/#
RockstarLiveVideo.com - Featuring our favorite scripts, tutorials and quickstart guides to marketing strategies like Facebook Live, door-knocking, remarketing advertising, open houses and referrals. Get actionable ideas and tactics you can use in your career right NOW.
You may already be trying to build up an online image for your business, but how consistent are your efforts? Are you using the right lead generation tools tailored to your business size? What do you use to weed out people who are curious about the price of homes in their neighborhoods vs potential customers? In this episode, Matt Johnson and Greg McDaniel answer questions on promoting yourself online, lead generation, and AI.
If you want to appear bigger than you really are, it’s very, very easy. Hop on Facebook live and Instagram stories and just start broadcasting live and share what you are learning -Matt Johnson
Three Things We Learned
Consistent marketing efforts increases your authority and credibility
Publishing content consistently makes you look authoritative. People remember you. It doesn’t take much to make a few videos each week and send them to your database on social media.
This kind of consistency shows people how committed and professional you are, and it helps build relationships with the people who watch your videos.
Single vs. team leaders lead generation sources
Single agents should not copy big team leaders. They have a bigger budget and a team that deals with lead generation, follow-up, etc. If you don’t have those kind of resources, stay away from digital marketing as a lead source and focus on leveraging your database.
Use AI to weed out “lookers” from leads
Invest in softwares that send automated messages to save you time and money when dealing with people who may or may not be interested in working with you. When they do reply, call them or text them personally.
Single agents are better off strengthening their relationships with their sphere instead of trying to invest in SEO or online advertising. These tactics take time to work. Plus, you need a bigger budget and a team to do a proper follow-up with your leads. Being active on social media and publishing videos and educational content will let people in your sphere and database know what you are all about. As a result, they will contact you when they are in need for help.
Technology opens new doors for agents and creates shortcuts when it comes to discovering the value of a property and how we do lead generation. How do you use technology to make yourself look more professional in front of both sellers and buyers? Will technology replace face-to-face meetings? In this episode, Bernice Ross will share how technology disrupts the real estate market and what aspects of real estate will remain unchanged.
The average person knows 12 different realtors, and they hire the person they’ve seen most recently, so this means you need to be face to face. -Bernice Ross
Three Things We Learned
Share in-depth reports with your customers
You can set yourself apart by giving detailed information to both sellers and buyers using online services that give free reports such as http://blog.narrpr.com/rpr/. This will show you a 30-page report on weather risks, sex offenders in the area, and everything you need to know about a property and its surroundings.
Keep track of where open houses perform the best
Send out all the information necessary to the people who walk into the open house. There are many softwares out there that can help you not only share a report about the property but also build a profile that shows you in what areas open houses bring the most sales.
Face-to-face meetings beat online lead generation
The average person knows around 12 realtors, and they contact the realtor they’ve seen most recently. Online generation tools are yet to beat in-person experiences and open houses when it comes to lead generation.
Agents make the mistake of confusing responders with leads. Just because someone completed a form online that will allow them to see a home doesn’t mean that they are interested in buying right now. Putting more respondents in touch with AI instead of being contacted by an agent, weeds out the people who are simply looking from those who want to make a move right now. Consumers will benefit from it as well since they will be contacted only when they show more interest in buying a home.
Guest Bio
Bernice L. Ross is the CEO of Real Estate Coach, author, speaker, and coach in the real estate industry for over 30 years. She also hold a Phd. in Psychology, authored numerous best-selling books, and has over 1,000 published articles.
You can subscribe to her free newsletter to get expert advice at http://realestatecoach.com/newsletter/.
Many team leaders and top agents don’t even think about sharing their knowledge for free. But giving without expecting anything in return has unexpected “side effects.” When you are reaching out to people, is pain your selling point? How do you use content to share your knowledge and build credibility? On this episode, we are joined by hosts of the The Grind podcast Jason Harmon & Joey Torkildson.
You have to figure out what you want to sell. Then you figure out what kind of marketing you want to get. -Matt Johnson
Three Things We Learned
Don’t make easing pain your selling point
Many coaches complain that they attract people who wait for too long before they want to invest in their education. They only attract people who are desperate because their lives are falling apart due to their business. The problem arises when coaches don’t figure out how to attract and warn people of the consequences of not being informed enough and not acting sooner.
Recycle the content you already have
For example, if you have a podcast episode, you can break down the episodes into different sections and discuss each one of them individually in blog posts and articles. Creating consistent content might not be the fastest way to get clients, but it helps you grow in the eyes of your database and establish yourself as an expert.
Help people out without expecting anything in return
Helping someone at the right moment with a piece of advice can change the course of their career. There are many ways you can benefit from helping others that go beyond the financial gains, from being remembered and referred to actually becoming their clients months, and even years, after you’ve helped them.
Use two channels to send your message to your audience. These include one that is focused on problem solving and pain points and another that gives a taste of your services without focusing on business-changing strategies. The theory behind this is to attract the attention of both crowds. The first one that is currently facing problems in their business and they trust you to help solve them, and the second crowd that isn’t sure if you have the right answers to their questions but they would like to buy something from you of a smaller value to get an idea of what you are offering.
Guest Bio
Jason Harmon has over 15 years of experience in the real estate industry. He is part of the board of directors at Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Red River Valley. He is also the team leader at FM Team of Keller Williams Inspire Realty and the host of Grind Podcast.
Joey Torkildson is one of the host at the Grind Podcast, where he shares his real estate knowledge and gives advice to his listeners. He is also the CEO of Herg Group North Suburban and a team leader that stays in top 20% of all realtors in Minnesota.
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/#
Most agents tend to copy the same strategies that big players use in online lead generation, and they fail simply because they don’t have the same budget. But is there a way to run a well-oiled lead generation machine for under $1000? What do you do when you need leads as soon as possible and you are on a budget as well? In this episode, Nick Sakkis, shares how you can build a system based on sales funnels that will bring you all the leads you need, faster and at a smaller price compared with “traditional” strategies.
Let’s make an online washing machine, not our personal time of picking up the phone only to make 150 calls to close one deal. -Matt Johnson
Three Things We Learned
A group is your mini country
Social media groups are mini countries where you make the rules. You can use these groups to grow your brand and build a community around your business. People are sick of being bombarded with ads, but when they get invited to join a group, you give them freedom of choice, and the ones who accept your invitation are more likely to work with you compared with someone who sees your ad.
The golden era of Facebook advertising is about to end
If you are not able to run ads in Facebook’s golden era, in 3 months, or in 6 months when that third-party data is gone, you need to find a better way to advertise yourself. Because of the scandal that Facebook is involved right now, they will be forced to tweak the way they extract information from their users and sell it to advertisers like you.
Outbound tactics are no longer as efficient
Cold calling is no longer as efficient as it used to be. Most of us have a defense mechanism when we hear someone trying to sell us a product or a service. Technology changed the way we make purchases, and marketers are adding more steps from the moment someone showed interest to the call, simply because they want to filter out those who are less likely to buy.
You don’t need a big budget to succeed online. Most agents spend around $500 on online advertising. But when you spend only $500, you treat each like is gold. SEO might seem like a good idea, and it does work but the problem is that it takes a long time to work, and hungry agents needs sales the quickly. The only way you can get more sales for under $1000 and have immediate results is to build a sales funnel with a landing page.
Guest Bio
Nick Sakkis is the co founder of the Sakkis group and a digital marketing whizz.
He used social media groups to generate leads for his business and he teaches other agents how they can create lead generation machines on a bootstrapped budget at Funnelstoleads.com
Buyers can be a hassle at times, especially when they come with unrealistic expectations towards prices and the market. Is there a way to keep buyers grounded in the reality of the market? What about staying in touch with potential customers without being pushy? In this episode, we talk about how to be prepared to deal with the many challenges that come up with working with buyers.
Those people should know what you do. The best way to do that is Facebook live, like what we are doing right now. -Matt Johnson
Three Things We Learned
How to stay in touch with potential buyers
The best way to associate yourself with a positive experience and stay in touch with potential buyers is to give something of value to them. It could be a giftcard or a prize in money after they win a small contest. This will take care of the resistance and make them more willing to open up to you.
The cheating script
This script will not only help you bring negative experiences from your customer’s past to create empathy and keep them loyal to you, but it will also help you determine if you should work for them or not. Explain how you make your money and the time you invest. Ask them if “They wouldn’t want to cheat on you” in the context of working with another agent, and observe their reactions.
Buyers looking for a bargain
Don’t price yourself too low. You will gain a reputation for yourself. In the end, all sellers think they sell for too little and buyers buy two expensive. For example, if someone is searching for a home in a price range that is not realistic for the market, ask them if they ever considered not buying right now, since at the moment the sellers hold the power, not the buyers.
Looking for a home without an agent is like representing yourself in court just because you are addicted to law TV show. Use this as your selling point when you are dealing with buyers who think they don’t need an agent. Show them stats and how well you know the market. You aren’t lending them only your time, but also your negotiation skills and real estate experience.
Technological advancements not only impact the real estate industry but also how younger generations choose to communicate with agents. But what are the the things you should focus on as technology is always changing? Does technology simplify the process? How can you keep yourself playing the long game for long-term success? In this episode, Gene Volpe and Dan Trinidad speak about the impact of technology, procrastination, and taking action.
Most people go through life with no sense of urgency because in the moment they feel like they have so much time. -Matt Johnson
Three Things We Learned
Younger generations prefer to avoid face-to-face interactions
Technology changed the way the younger generations communicate. They are less willing to meet you in person. This kind of shift should make agents ask themselves what kind of tools they have to reduce face to face interactions as much as possible.
Technology doesn’t simplify the process
Both sellers and buyers still use agents regardless of technological changes due to how complicated the whole process is. If there are 10 steps to purchasing a home, tell them you can do nine of them and they will be convinced to work with you.
Focus on timeless mental models
In this stage, where everything is moving at such a fast pace, the best approach is not focusing on how to use as many tools as possible, but to learn timeless principles and models that withstand change. Real estate will always be a people to people business. But YouTube might disappear five or 10 years from now.
Everyone is excited about how they will be in the future, including the changes they will make. But they don’t start working on working on becoming the person they want to be 10 years from now. Procrastination is a major problem and it’s often caused by a lack of urgency. Time flies by quickly anyway, so why not make it worth it? Maybe a few years from now you could have x, y, and z instead of having the same things you have right now.
Guests' Bios
Dan Trinidad is the CEO and President of Partners Mortgage and the founder of
“Partners For a Cure,” which he used to raise $1 Million Dollars for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. A tragic event in Dan’s life changed his view completely and gave him a new sense of purpose and urgency to living his life to the fullest. Today, he teaches others not only to become better at running a business but also living in the present despite life’s hurdles.
You can contact Dan at dantrinidad10@gmail.com
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/#
Starting out as a complete beginner in a competitive industry like real estate can be quite challenging. Is there a way you can both work on your real estate agent and work towards becoming a team leader? Should you start a business right away or join a team first? How do you pick the people you should have on your team if you decide to build one? On this episode, Al Stasek shares how he went from being a long-haul trucker to becoming a top real estate agent and a team leader.
If you don’t know how to do it, it’s impossible to teach someone else how to do it -Al Stasek
Three Things We Learned
Join a team
Starting a business as a new agent is a tempting yet dangerous endeavor. Filling the pipeline as a new agent is difficult. Plus, there are a bunch expenses that need to be covered. If you have the chops for sales and you want to get experience in real estate, it’s far easier to be part of a team where you get mentorship for free.
Test out potential candidates
Some people aren’t made to be in sales, and team leaders make the mistake of hiring based on referrals or experience. Someone experienced might bring in revenue, but they might not be a fit for your core values, and someone inexperienced might not have the personality for sales.
Use positive coaching
Eight hours on the phone is stressful for anyone involved, both new agents and trainers.
Don’t try to keep your agents accountable in a militant way. Try creating a fun, positive environment. Also, ask yourself if you have the time to get the agents through the process of training and putting them out there. If your time is better spent elsewhere, let a coaching company do it for you.
Joining a team or a system where free coaching is provided, is one of the safest paths to success. As a new agent, learning as much as possible should be one of your top priorities, and the team setting is perfect in this situation. Getting new listings and building a team right away can be a daunting task, but under the right guidance and with a framework already put in place, it’s much easier to grow.
Guest Bio
Al Stasek has over 21 years of experience in the real estate industry. He is the owner of the Stasek group in Cleveland powered by EXP Realty, where he strives to give a unique customer experience through a closing departement, professional photography, and high-quality marketing services.
Getting new listings can be daunting if you don’t have a system in place to make sure you tap into several lead sources. But how can you add new lead sources to your business? Is social media a viable solution? Should you partner up with someone more experienced, or find a mentor instead? On this episode, Aaron Wittenstein shares his strategy to getting more listings in a tough market.
I would look at what already brought you the business that you have and double down on that. -Matt Johnson
Three Things We Learned
Build a referral machine on social media
Invest time in building relationships with the people in your friend’s list. You can start by simply saying “hi” and bringing up a recent post of theirs, or you can offer them a coupon to a local restaurant. No matter what you do in the beginning, make sure you don’t ask for referrals right away.
Know your numbers
In order to grow your business, you should know how many calls you need to make and how many leads you convert, and then increase your workload. The best way to grow is to identity your main source of revenue and double down your efforts on that.
Join a team or find a mentor who has experience with expired listings
Partnering up with someone is too much of a responsibility. Instead, try finding someone in your circle who already made it big and ask for their mentorship. Joining a team where coaching is involved is another good way to learn more about the industry, get more leads, and sharpen your skills.
When approaching expired listings, always ask questions about why they want to sell or why they no longer want to sell and rent out instead. Many homeowners are disenchanted by the fact they couldn’t sell their home the first time and they turn to renting as a plan B. But if you start a conversation about how complicated renting can be and the risks it might present, they may rethink their decision and give you a chance with their listing.
Guest Bio
Aaron Wittenstein is a realtor at Keller Williams NY Realty and has 13 years of experience in the real estate industry. You will find Aaron invested in all of the aspects of selling and buying properties, from analysing data and being on the phone to meeting with sellers and buyers.
Our point of view is the lens through which we see our lives. However, often times we take mindsets as they are. We don’t question them. But what happens when out past attitudes get in the way and we no longer perform like we used to? Should you question every piece of advice you received? Does being busy equal being productive? Are you blinded by the shiny side of success? On this episode, Gene Volpe and Andy Scherer share their growth stories and mistakes they’ve made along the way.
What a lot of people fail to understand is that you are negotiating for time every single day. -Andy Scherer
Three Things We Learned
Being busy instead of being productive
One of the biggest mistakes we make is staying busy instead of being productive. To fix this, you have to be aware of how much time you actually spend working and what external factors impact your work. Keeping a time journal can shed some light on what you actually do with your time.
Don’t be fooled by the shiny side of success
Most of us love reading success stories. If he or she can do it, it means I can do it too. The problem with this is that most of those stories don’t show the grind, the missed holidays, and the early mornings and late nights spent working. As a society, we tend to gravitate around our comfort zones, and anything that breaks that line is seen as unpleasant. The truth is that in order to see massive results, you need to take massive action.
Question why you do the things you do
We often see ourselves pressured to do certain things without even questioning them. And often times the actions we take don’t make any sense because of it. It could be a coaching program, or it could be a marketing plan. Don’t just take it. Instead, question it. Ask yourself if it’s the best thing for you and your business.
Because of the low entry barrier, many agents seem to forget that selling homes is a career path, and like anything else, it needs professional practice. You can’t afford to avoid spending at least 30 minutes per day listening to a podcast, audiobook, or reading a book relevant to your work. The rise of technology increased the rate at which the industry is changing, and as new tools appear, there is always something new to learn about.
Guest Bio
Andy is a coach at Pillar 9 Coaching. As leader and change agent, he has been able to successfully implement communication strategies, operations management, social program design, marketing integration, community collaborations, and engagement initiatives. Get in touch andy@pillar9coaching.com , call 203.257.5279 or find him on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ascherer83.
Gene Volpe is the founder of GVI Media , speaker and local marketing expert. He has over 9 years of experience in the marketing arena. He is also well versed in the real estate field including buying, selling, renting, marketing and consulting on over 200 real estate transactions. He is an expert in brand establishment and elevation and remains on the cutting edge of real estate marketing with a hard focus on video and social media. Go to http://www.genevolpe.com/ for more information.
Getting listings in tough markets requires creativity, not compromise. Is it a good idea to make big promises over the phone? What about being on the same wavelength with the sellers, are they all motivated by the financial aspect of the transaction? What strategies can be used in tough markets to get people to talk with you? On this episode, Don Cunningham shares his approach to getting more listings.
FSBOs tend to be extremely overpriced. They don’t have the unbiased opinion that we realtors come to the table with. -Don Cunningham
Three Things We Learned
Don’t discuss commissions over the phone
You can’t make promises before you actually see the property. Home sellers are biased when it comes to estimating the value of their home. You might not even know if you want the listing if you don’t see the property and the neighborhood first.
Find the motivation behind the seller
Ask questions about what’s most important to the seller, waiting for the market to change and selling at the best price possible or selling right away. It’s wrong to assume that all sellers are motivated by financial gains. Some want to move as fast as possible due to a new job or simply because they want a bigger house.
Tough markets ask for creativity
Print out t-shirts that say you are realtor. Share coupons on social media that can be printed. Message friends in your social media. Tap into the law of reciprocity with a discount for a restaurant or coffee shop, and ask them if they can have lunch with you. The secret is to think outside the box, add value, and avoid going for the kill right way.
Don’t ask for the listing right away when you are contacting a homeowner. Instead, make them an offer they can’t refuse: a free service. Ask them if you can make a short video of their house and post it online. Also, add that you will do all the heavy lifting of the process (sorting out the potential buyers, promoting the video, etc.). All they need to do is say yes, and if you can’t find a buyer, they don’t lose a dime. This kind of initiative, even if it doesn’t end up in you finding a buyer, will impress the homeowner.
Guest Bio
Don Cunningham is the founder of Fidelity Coaching Inc. He is a real estate expert and a business development consultant who helps realtors, lenders, sales executives, and small business owners fulfil their dreams through classes, one-on-one coaching, group coaching, and more.
You can reach out to Don at 619-405-9698.
Knowing who you really are can help you figure you out what you’re best at. But how does this translate to the real estate industry? Do certain personality types do better in certain roles than others? Should you focus on fixing your weaknesses or polishing your skills? On this episode, Jay Niblick shares his view on how you can build a better team and sell more by identifying personality types.
Your customers will buy in their natural state. If they have to adapt, the further away out of the comfort zone they are, the further away conversion is. -Jay Niblick
Three Things We Learned
There are no “unfit” personality types for real estate
A lot of agents get discouraged after they take a personality test and realize they don’t have a certain personality. While there are definitely trends, there are no absolutes, and to make a team work, you need different personality types.The rainmaker of the team will most definitely be a type A personality, but most team leaders are actually a type C personality because of their analytical nature.
Build the team around your weaknesses
The worst piece of advice you can follow is to focus on fixing your weaknesses instead of sharpening your skills. There’s something out there that works for everyone. You don’t have to emulate somebody else's personality to succeed. Even if it works, you’ll be miserable while focusing on learning the skills you don’t wanna learn instead of doing what you love. Your weakness is somebody else's strength. Hire the people who are strong in an area where you’re weak.
Change your pitch based on your prospect’s personality
When you know what your prospects are interested in, you’re more likely to speak to their needs and filter out properties they wouldn't be interested in. Some are driven by saving money on a purchase, while some look at the utility of the property. Others put more value on the aesthetics.
One of the best ways to find out what personality type your prospects are is to ask questions about why they’re selling/buying the house, how they would like to be contacted, and so on.
The closer you are with your approach to what their personality type is, the higher the chance for conversion. For example, late adopters want to be assured that they aren’t taking any risks, while early adopters want to be part of something innovative and exciting.The secret is communicate in a way that puts them in their comfort zone.
Guest Bio
Jay Niblick is the founder of Wize Hire, a real estate recruiting software with a data-driven approach to the hiring process. You can take the personality test mentioned on this episode at https://wizehire.com/#disc-ebook-signup
Your time is your most important resource. But how is your time different when you make the switch from being a 9-5 employee to being a business owner? Can your emotional resilience, or lack thereof, make you lose weeks or even months on over analyzing your defeats? Is owning a real estate business a sprint or a marathon? On this episode, we share our experience with time management.
Emotional resilience is one of the key traits to become a successful person in general, but definitely being a business. -Matt Johnson
Three Things We Learned
When planning take into the equation your energy not only time
Often times, we see ourselves using our time doing what we want, not what needs to be done. But not only do we put excitement over responsibility, we also take the employee mindset with us. For a business owner, it’s harder to sit 8-10 hours working every day compared to an employee who doesn’t have the pressure of maintaining the business. Business owners not only sit down and get the work done but they also do most of the problem-solving. This usually impacts their energy levels, because you can only have so much mental energy.
Stay emotionally resilient
When you make a mistake as an employee, it’s easier to deal with it. The project is not yours. You just happen to be the one who works on it. But as a business owner, the blows hit closer to home. Don’t set goals that you’re emotionally attached to, as this will only lead to self-sabotage.
Take the hit, but don’t let it govern you. Emotional resilience is what makes business owners perseverent and happy with themselves and the success of others.
It’s a marathon, not a sprint
Prioritizing is more important than throwing all the balls in the game, simply because there are tasks that should be done urgently and goals that you don’t have the resources to reach right away. While you may be tempted to do everything faster, the one factor that usually pushes things the most is the focus—and focus is a finite resource. And since it’s so finite, there’s only so much so many sprints you can take in a business before you collapse.
Don’t mistake being competitive for discounting yourself. Lowering your commissions a little bit in the beginning is fine. But when your entire selling point gravitates around a low price point and not around providing value, you cause harm to both your wallet and clients. You can only do so much for you and your clients if you’re working on a very limited budget, which will make you, and the seller, go home with less money.
Referrals are one the best ways to get a steady stream of income without making a large investment. But how can you get people to talk about you? How can you build a referral machine both online and offline? And how should you keep in touch with your database? On this episode, we answer these questions with Elite Real Systems leader, Jeff Cohn.
If you have a 5-year goal and you do every single thing you believe you need to do to reach that 5-year goal, you will probably get there in 2-3 years. -Jeff Cohn
Three Things We Learned
Create unique content
One of the best ways to make people talk about you is to create unique content for each neighborhood you’re in charge of. Make videos of the neighborhoods. Take as many photos as possible, and bring information to the table that can’t be found in the listing.
Build your own Google
Instead of constantly searching for new people, use Excel or a CRM to create your own database. Make sure you tell everyone you meet how you can help them, and get their contact info. Send your database occasional emails and text messages on the value of their property, as well as how many properties are being sold nearby and if there are any bargains on the market.
Cold calls still matter
No matter how intense your branding efforts are, cold calls still matter. You should make at least 20 phone calls per day and spend at least 20 hours on the phone per week in order to get results. But make sure you always bring something of value when you give a call. It could be an update of what’s happening on the real estate market, the fact that you have buyers in a certain areas, etc.
The secret to expanding your referral machine is to add more people to your team. Share everything you know with them, and after they become experts at what they do, provide them with resources, technology, and incentives they can’t find anyone else. If you choose to do everything by yourself, you will soon find yourself limited. But if you create a system, your business can expand indefinitely,
Follow-up is one of the most time-consuming tasks. Often, agents pour too much energy into the wrong leads. How can you weed out the curious from those with a solid buyer intent? Is there a way to make door knocking a pleasurable experience for property owners? How can you keep in touch with potential buyers in your database? On this Q&A, we answer your questions on following up the right way.
The next thing to watch out for is narrowing that funnel and making people jump through some hoops before they get an agent. -Matt Johnson
Three Things We Learned
Use coupons when going door knocking
Don’t just be the agent who goes door knocking. Make them look forward to seeing you. Bring them information about the neighborhood, your success stories, and the state of the local market.
You can also bring coupons for dinner or lunch, or whatever will make you stand out and show them that you’re interested in their well-being first instead of just getting a listing.
The orphan program
The orphan program consists of buyers that agents forget about. These could be buyers who say they will come with a follow-up but never do. Make the first step and show them you’re still available. Send them a anniversary card or give them a phone call instead of expecting them to remember you.
Automated follow-up weeds out the curious from leads
Following up on a constant basis and keeping track of all your leads can be quite daunting at times. Instead of doing everything manually, set up a system like Agent Legend that helps you record your voicemail and sent out messages and emails. This process will weed out those who are just interested in finding out more info from those who are actually interested in selling or buying property.
Many agents spend way too much time on the phone with people who express interest but don’t have a buying intent. To avoid this, create a system that weeds out the curious from the solid leads before you jump on a call with them. Automated follow-ups, funnels, and chatbots are all useful when it comes to lead selection.
Having a network to tap into for leads is one of the biggest sources of income for realtors. But how do you reach key people? How can you leverage social media to build your brand? How long does it take? On this episode, Sarah Johnston shares how she used Instagram to get the connections she needed to increase her sales.
If I look right now, 50% of my sales are from people I either know or referred to me on Instagram. -Sarah Johnston
Three Things We Learned
Branding opens doors
Realtors are often limited by the connections they have and the local market.
When you’re just starting out, it’s hard to present yourself as a trustworthy persona. This is exactly what branding does. It puts you in front of people. Instead of handing your prospects your business card, social media allows you to give them some far more important. They receive little bits about your life and work ethic that they otherwise wouldn’t know about. These types of interactions are far more memorable than anything else, and often times they’re client sources.
Practice patience
In the real estate industry,vanity metrics don't count. The interactions do. Don’t follow people for the sake of creating an impressing friend list. Instead, search for people who might need your help and start interacting with them. Social media marketing done this way requires some time to take off. But when it does, the people in your list become the hidden helpers behind your business.
Don’t leave anything to chance
Motivation is wonderful but fleeting. Instead of trying to keep yourself motivated, make a schedule that involves discipline. There will always be uncomfortable tasks that need to be done. There’s no way around that. After a while, you will be on autopilot and won’t need to search for motivation to get things done.
Philanthropy is one of the best ways to get in line with your audience’s beliefs. Volunteering and giving back to your community say a lot about your character and who you are as a person. Not everyone will agree with your actions. But those who do will respect you even more simply because you stand for what they stand for.
Guest Bio
Sarah Johnston is the director of Calgary Real Estate Board, speaker, and a realtor at MaxWell Realty Canada for over 10 years. She shares her experiences and stories online on her website at http://www.maxwellrealty.ca/agents/sarah-johnston/ and on her Instagram at @adventuresinrealestateyyc
When it comes to hiring, most people separate it from all their other marketing efforts. Why is this a huge mistake? How can you use content marketing to make your recruiting easier? How do you go about finding people who will be a great fit on your team? On this episode, we are joined by Gene Volpe and out guest, hiring expert, author and consultant, Jay Niblick to answer these important questions.
Stop segmenting hiring talent and finding buyers and sellers, it’s one of the most critical mistakes we see. -Jay Niblick
Three Things We Learned
Finding clients and finding recruits should be treated as the same process
Don't make the mistake of thinking that your hiring efforts are in some way different to everything else you’re doing to get clients. There should be no difference between the two. If you want great talent you should always be marketing for it.
Add agent focused content to your marketing
It’s so important to have content that is aimed at other agents. Your content shouldn’t just be about why buyers or sellers should work with, you it should also show people what you’re like as a boss.
Interviews are important in determining if you should hire someone but they aren’t the only thing
Interviews are very important, but the problem with just interviewing on gut is personalities dictate that the more like you they are, the more you like them in their interview.
Teams and brokerages would save themselves a lot of time and effort if they marketed to get recruits the same way they market to get clients. Those two processes are actually the same and should be treated as such. When you put content out into the market, also put out content that targets agents. If you approach hiring in transactional mode, you won’t attract quality recruits who will really fit. If your content shows that your team offers strong mentoring, leads and backend support, you will attract talent and you won’t have to chase it as much.
Guest Bio
Jay Niblick is the Founder and CEO of Innermetrix Incorporated. Go to www.innermetrix.com/team/ for more information.
Wherever you are in the world, successful people share certain habits and traits. How does hard work and dedication draw opportunities closer to you? What is the truth about the grind it takes to be successful? On this episode, our good friend Glenn Twiddle joins us to talk about the biggest takeaways from the Million-Dollar Agent Summit and the differences and similarities between top high producing multi-millionaire Australian agents vs the mega producers in the States.
If something’s worth doing it’s worth doing badly to start and then improving. -Glenn Twiddle
Three Things We Learned
You won’t start out doing something well, it takes time
No one gets something perfectly done when they are new to it, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on it. If something’s worth doing, it’s worth being crap at it at first because no-one starts doing anything well. You can always work to improve.
A good foundation attracts good things
When you have something like hard work, dedication, grind and really great content as the foundation of everything you do - it attracts opportunity, people and profit. Those foundational virtues are magnets that pull people towards you.
There’s nothing wrong with choosing to grind and go hard
A lot of people look at people who are on the grind to build their business like they are doing too much. The truth is, some people would be happier to choose work-life balance over the grind and that’s okay. The key thing is not to criticize the grinders.
Success will always leave clues behind it, and the top producers all understand the necessity of all the outbursts of effort towards their goals. When it comes to really going after what you want, there will be seasons where you really need to grind it out. But the truth is, there are few successful people who look back at those years of grinding and going hard with regrets because it does pay off.
Building a team with agents who choose to work with you even after becoming authorities in real estate is a rarity. How can you create a work environment your agents enjoy? What can you offer them that they can’t find somewhere else? On this episode, Dan Beer shares his secrets to building a team any skilled agent would like to be part of.
As long as we are turning every outcome into a learning opportunity over time we will win more than we will fail. -Dan Beer
Use every win and loss as a learning opportunity
Detach yourself emotionally from every win and loss you have and learn from both.The real problem is a lack of self-analysis, not the performance itself, which can be easily fixed. There are many experienced agents who repeat the first year in the real estate industry over and over again simply because they never took the time to learn anything from their past experiences.
Give the team incentives
The best way to keep the team motivated is to always give them a new mountain to climb, a new set of goals that need to be reach. You can do so by building a number of levels that offer bigger and bigger incentives as they move on to the next level. This way, they will feel both valued and motivated to walk the extra mile.
Build a culture your team identifies with
Build your business around core values that you want your team members to adhere to. This will sort out the kind of agents you want to work with and the kind of agents you don’t want in your team. High retention isn’t only caused by money. It also has to do with the culture of your business, and whether your team resonates with your core values. They'll happily stick to a work environment they fit well into.
Lead and splits are not a competitive advantage. In due time, anyone can learn how to generate leads or there is always someone with a better split. Instead build a system impossible to replicate even by top performers. Give them best tools on the market, a support system and unmatched marketing opportunities and connections within the industry.
Guest Bio
Dan Beer is the Owner of Beer Home Team of eXp Realty of California and the founder of AgentAcademy.com, where he shares his knowledge on team building and scaling real estate businesses.
You gotta get people’s attention, you gotta hit that that sweet spot and get the emotions flowing. -Greg McDaniel
The real estate arena is changing. What are the newest lead generation strategies you should give a try? Where should you invest your time and money? How can you stand out in a competitive market? On this episode, Jay Kinder speaks about the doors technology opens and how you can use them in your benefit.
Use social media to find what buyers want in a home
There are many niches you can tap into, and social media can give you a clue about what your potential buyers want to see in a home. Some like the vintage look, while others dream of a home on the beach. Find out what they want and focus on showing them the homes that fit that picture.
Pour your personality into your branding efforts
There are many ways you can share your knowledge in the digital world, but the real challenge is to share it in a way that makes people listen.
Don’t be afraid to be more than just an agent. Build your brand around your core values and share bits from your life that will make your audience relate to you.
Know your market inside-out
There are many shortcuts that only knowledgeable and skilled agents know about that you can bring up in conversations with your leads. For example, there are special loans offered to your clients in the healthcare space or benefits they probably don’t even know about.
Conversations with your audience are one of the most powerful lead generation tools, and your online presence is key. Consistency is vital in marketing and putting yourself out there through paid traffic or advertising campaigns on social media is cheaper than ever. The more you invest in your online persona, the higher the chances of people seeing you and giving you a call.
Guest Bio
Jay Kinder is the owner of Real K Estate Experts, CEO of National Association of Expert Advisors, growth coach, and public speaker. Jay’s been working in the real estate industry for 18 years and describes himself as suffering of “productive paranoia.”
You can drop him a line on his Facebook account or check his website at Jaykinder.com.