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Monday, June 18, 2018

Dean Jackson (the consummate real estate marketing guru) has done it again. He’s developed a way to automate the process of getting referrals and answered the question, “ If all referrals happen as a result of a conversation, how can we use that knowledge to orchestrate referrals?” Dean Jackson is the founder of GoGoAgent and Listing Agent Lifestyle. 

The Referral Myth

To begin, let’s clear up a misunderstanding about referrals and why they happen. People do not refer a company or product to someone as a favor to the company. Even if they like the person who owns the company.

People refer for one primary reason – to make themselves feel good. Because when their friend tells them of the “great experience they had” based on their referral it’s personally rewarding.

On a primal level, a successful referral or well-received piece of advice raises our status. And we’re all wired subconsciously with this need for approval and status. When we introduce something to somebody that makes a positive impact on their life we feel good receiving our “thank you” back from them.

So how do we begin the process of orchestrating the referrals, that our clients want to offer, so that they no longer happen by chance?

How referrals happen

For a referral to happen, there are three things that must fall into place.

1. First, the person has to NOTICE that the conversation is about real estate.

2. Then, they have to THINK about you.

3. Finally, they have to INTRODUCE you into the conversation.

Your clients and sphere are surrounded by conversations everywhere they go. We are a conversational society. So the odds are high in the next 30 days every person you know is going to encounter a conversation about real estate.

However, your clients may not even notice the conversation is about real estate or just not think of you at that moment.

Therefore, how can you use the power of suggestion with your clients to stimulate an awareness of real estate conversations? And once they are aware, trigger the right response from them?

Communication is key. And keeping in touch with your sphere on an ongoing basis is pretty easy. You just need to raise their awareness regarding conversations to look out for and what to do when they hear them.

But how do you ensure they’ll follow through? How do you communicate in a way that’s interesting and engaging for them so they stay tuned? And at the same time plant the seed that will help them become the referral “champ” earning rewarding “thank you’s” from everyone they know?

After in-depth research and trial and error, I came up with the perfect, effective solution. This is where my idea for The World’s Most Interesting Postcard came to be.

Orchestrating the referral

The World’s Most Interesting Postcard is a strategic combination of a great client newsletter and a direct response “referral getter”.

The front of the postcard is packed with really interesting, fun and entertaining facts. It includes things that are easy to read and engage in. People love them and look forward to receiving them.

The back of the postcard contains wording meant to stimulate your sphere’s awareness of a specific conversation. It prompts them to look out for this topic and tells them exactly what to do if they hear it.

For example, a postcard back may mention, “what to do when they hear someone talk about selling their home”. Then the card proceeds to state exactly what we want them to do.

The suggestion includes advising your client to call you to make you aware of the referral. This method is more successful because your client already knows you, likes you and trusts you and will have no reluctance calling you.

And when they do, you can offer them a report to pass on to their friend.

Of course, when you hear from your clients regarding a referral, you can figure out the best way for you and their friend to connect. The real purpose of this method is to get them to call you instead of just passing on your name.

After just a few months of this pattern, your clients will really start to notice these conversations. And they’ll know exactly what to do when they hear them.

A targeted referral

Another effective area of the back side of this postcard is a small dialogue box above your photo. Use this space to ask for exactly the kind of referral that you would like right now. Yes, you can even orchestrate a targeted referral.

Maybe you’re working with some buyers who are looking for a particular type of home. Or you’re having a homebuyer workshop and you want to spread the word. Be sure to target something specific that will likely stimulate a quick call from your clients.

How to get The Worlds Most Interesting Postcard

I know with the creativity and ambition that agents possess, many of you are already brainstorming ideas for your own Worlds Most Interesting Postcard.  However, I also understand just how incredibly busy you are and often even the best ideas just won’t get executed simply due to lack of time.

Therefore, I currently design and produce this postcard and all of its contents every month for agents short on time but excited about the opportunity to automate their referrals process.

I also provide a format that you can edit to include your contact information, photo and company logo. You can either print and mail these cards yourself or you can print and mail them through ProspectsPLUS!

Ready to automate your referrals? Send the Worlds Most Interesting postcard to your top 100 clients. Learn more, Here.
To learn more about the other incredible tools and resources Dean has available for agents go to GoGoAgent.com  and ListingAgentLifestyle.com.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of sellers or buyers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are 3 free ways we can help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. The Free 2018 Real Estate Business Plan.

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan  – Click Here

2. The Free Online ROI Calculator. 

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan.

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here  – Click Here

Also…check out these cool tools 🙂

 Three Click Postcards – Just snap a home photo & create a postcard all from your mobile phone

MLSmailings.com – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

Time For a Head-to-Head Comparison

When it comes to marketing for leads, diversifying across more than one advertising medium is never a bad idea. One form of marketing piggybacks on another creating a more powerful impact on your target audience.

However, with a limited budget, understanding which form of lead generation will provide you the best bang for your buck is just smart business sense.

With the continued growth of online lead generation companies, a new and seemingly endless supply of leads are now being made available for the busy agent.

However, agent reviews tell a different story. Many complain of bogus leads and feeling scammed, yet other agents sing their praises.

With good marketing dollars at stake, what’s an agent to believe? Time to take a deeper look at online lead generation versus the long-standing favorite direct mail lead generation. Let’s see if we can figure this out. 

Online Lead Generation

Online lead sites typically generate leads by using various forms of digital marketing to drive traffic to landing pages and websites. When new leads funnel in they’re pushed out to the paying agents.

The average monthly cost for these services starts at around $500. Now let’s look at what you are getting for this investment.

The upside: You’re putting your marketing dollars and more importantly your “time investment” in another’s hands. It is now their job to try and target the right audience, develop ads, launch campaigns and maintain them. You have just saved yourself a significant amount of time and effort (hurray!).

The downside: You are also effectively putting your “marketing message” in the hands of a third party. And hoping “their” message represents you in the right way to your potential audience. You’ve saved time, but you have also lost control over how your audience is marketed and what their user experience is like.

In addition, if a lead they furnish you has a bad experience with them, this bad experience is now attached to you as well (yikes!). Their reputation becomes your reputation through association.

Furthermore, you have no idea what journey your “lead” has been on up until the point they were handed to you. Which may be why many agent reviews about online leads convey such a degree of frustration and disappointment. When they actually reach out to the lead, they’re often confused about why they are calling or angry to receive a call from another agent.

Now let’s take the same $500 per month investment and spend it on a targeted direct mail campaign. 

Direct Mail Lead Generation

Let’s say your goal is to generate more listing inventory. So you select a specific, target market that you want to pursue – we’ll call it your “dream audience”. Now you create a targeted mailing list. This list includes a certain neighborhood zip code, specific home values, and maybe even years of ownership or possibly just renters.

Upside: For 100 targeted homes, your “dream audience” mailing list will be an investment of approximately $8.00, at 8 cents per record (yippy!).

Furthermore, you actually know where your lead came from (no 3rd party mystery). And you know that the people who “really want and need your help” are more likely to exist within this targeted group.

Now you choose a postcard to send your “dream audience” from a series that have been proven effective for “generating listing inventory” (designed by an advertising team with years of experience in real estate marketing). The investment to send 100 of these postcards to your “dream” mailing list is $95.00 (double yippy!).

Continued upside: For a total investment of $103 you put yourself in front of 100 of your potential “dream” clients. And you’ve given them powerful, compelling information about you that they can hold in their hand, put up on their refrigerator, or save for future reference. Hey, and guess what? You still have $397 dollars of your $500 monthly budget leftover.

Now that is powerful marketing!

But what about some facts?

Direct mail marketing sure sounds good based on the above analysis. However, as my mother used to say, “The proof is in the pudding” (meaning the proof is in the actual results).

Here are some statistics from the professionals who make a living out of scientifically studying marketing, the DMA (data and Marketing Association), InfoTrends, and International Communications Research.

  • Direct mail marketing outperforms digital marketing response rates by more than 700%.
  • The average ROI for direct mail is 15 -17%.
  • 62% of consumers who responded to direct mail in the past three months made a purchase.
  • 59% of U.S. respondents agreed with the following statement, “I enjoy getting postal mail from brands about new products.”
  • 73% of consumers actually prefer snail mail over other advertising methods.
  • 40% of consumers try new businesses after receiving direct mail.
  • People read postcards in greater numbers with a 3.9% year-over-year increase per a USPS Household Diary Study.

Conclusion

By actively controlling your marketing dollars and knowing the history of the potential client “lead” that you have paid hard-earned money to generate, you are comfortably situated in the driver’s seat.

Which, based on the above evidence, appears to be the right place for the best outcome. Outsourcing various tasks that are a part of your business so you have time to focus on what’s important is smart business.

However, there is nothing more important than making the right first impression with the right targeted audience.

And there is no one who can do that better than – YOU!

The time to get in the driver’s seat and take control of your marketing starts now.
Send the More Buyers Than Listings postcard from the Listing Inventory Series to 100 prospects in an area where you want more listings.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of sellers or buyers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list (it’s easy) or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are 3 free ways we can help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. The Free 2018 Real Estate Business Plan.

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan  – Click Here

2. The Free Online ROI Calculator. 

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan.

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here  – Click Here

Also…check out these cool tools 🙂

Three Click Postcards – Just snap a home photo & create a postcard all from your mobile phone

MLSmailings.com – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

The 3 May Contest Winners Revealed Below!

Thank you for the wonderful and thoughtful reviews we received in May! We really appreciate you taking the time to give us your feedback.

Remember, if your name isn’t announced in this month’s contest, a new contest starts in June with new opportunities to win!

Our First Winner of the $100 ProspectsPLUS! Gift Card is  – Tanzania Daniel

Tanzania’s shared her experience using ProspectsPLUS! with the following feedback.

“I love how easy it is to design a postcard on ProspectsPLUS and send it out to your clients or potential clients.”

“I really appreciate the option to send out as many or as few postcards as I would like. I’m not strong-armed into ordering a certain amount when I do wish to place an order.”

“This company also gives back to its consumers by offering different discount codes and promotions. You can’t beat that!”

Tanzania’s Latest Marketing Purchases – Listing Inventory Series, Market Quote Series, Fence Sitter Series, Just Sold Series.
Our Second Winner of Our $100 ProspectsPLUS! Gift Card is – Kathryn Marshall

Kathryn shared her experience using ProspectsPLUS! with the following feedback.

“The ONLY company I trust with my marketing materials.”

“I have been using Prospects Plus mainly for postcards for almost 3 years now, and I have received at least 15 sales from their products.”

“They have a quick turn around time, and tons of options to suit your needs.”

Kathryn’s Latest Marketing Purchases – Just Sold Series postcards.

Our Third Winner of Our $100 ProspectsPLUS! Gift Card is – Henry Schubel

Henry’s shared his experience using ProspectsPLUS! with the following feedback.

“I’ve become a bit fan of ProspectsPLUS too. No fuss, no muss, no bs.”

“I can design a flyer in a half hour with all my doodling and changes, lasso the specific area I want to target, then launch the order.”

“I get feedback when the order goes to processing, when it leaves their hands, and when it arrives at the local post office. A terrific tool for a busy Realtor !”

Henrys Latest Marketing Purchases – Just Listed, Just Sold Series, and Upload Your Own Design Postcards. 

Take the lead from Tanzania, Kathryn & Henry and send Just Listed/Just Sold Postcards to the areas around your current & sold listings. Start the process of declaring yourself the neighborhood expert now!

Need help targeting the perfect niche of sellers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

In the words of the ultimate real estate marketer, Dean Jackson, “If you have one listing, you actually have an opportunity for at least five transactions.” Dean Jackson is the founder of GoGoAgent and Listing Agent Lifestyle. The following is his breakdown of how to turn one listing into 5 or more transactions using his listing multiplier method.

The Listing Multiplier Index

To understand your current ability to multiply your listings you need a measurement tool that defines where you stand and what you are leaving on the table. Enter the Listing Multiplier Index, a tool created just for this purpose.

Before you figure out where you stand, let’s review the 5 transactions available to you that all stem from that one, initial listing.

Listing Opportunity Number One:

Of course, your first opportunity is to actually get your initial listing sold which is where most agents focus their attention, right? You follow the three Ps, price it right, put it in the MLS, put up a sign, and pray it sells (ok four Ps). And, usually, it does.

You did your job, you launched a property and got it out there, a buyer came along and purchased the property, and now everybody celebrates. You walk away smiling content with your commission.

Listing Opportunity Number Two:

Hold on, don’t walk away so happy. You missed the opportunity to find the buyer. The person who actually buys the house you listed.

You have a chance to double-end your listing if you’re in an area where that works for you. It’s a wonderful way to make twice as much money from every transaction – find the buyer who’s going to buy the house you list.

Listing Opportunity Number Three:

So you are now on the hunt for the perfect buyer for your listing, guess what, you have just opened up another opportunity. That buyer you find, if not interested in your listing, may buy another house through you, cha-ching, that’s the sound of opportunity number three.

Listing Opportunity Number Four:

Because of the marketing that you are doing in the neighborhood of your original listing, if you play your cards right (and market right), you now have an opportunity to get another listing in this same neighborhood. Time to make sure everyone knows who that neighborhood’s expert agent is.

Listing Opportunity Number Five:

The most important opportunity to orchestrate at the time you are setting up your initial listing is your referral from the seller. Do not leave your chances for a referral sitting passively in the realm of  “wing and a prayer”. Start to plant this seed early on with your seller, so it is a natural occurrence for them to provide you with referrals by the end of their experience, if not before.

Time to check your score.

To determine your score, use the last 10 listings that you have had. You get one point for selling your listing, one for finding the buyer, one for finding additional buyers to work with, one for getting another listing in the neighborhood, and one for your referral. You have the ability to achieve 50 points total, that’s 5 points (transactions available) for each of the 10 listings.

How many points out of 50 did you have? The score I find most agents fall into is between 8 and 15. Maybe you ended up with 10 points total, meaning all of your listings sold, but nothing more.

You achieved those 10 listings because your current “system” is set up to get a property on the MLS, stage it, price it right, promote it to other agents and get the property sold quickly.

In the past, you may have celebrated your average 7 to 10 days on market or your 98% of the asking price or 99% or 102% or whatever it is. But the reality is you likely lost a lot of money as well.

Money left on the table

Let’s take another look at your initial listing and say that each side of those transactions is worth $10,000. If you’re in an area of $300,000 homes or $350,000 homes, you’re looking at a $10,000 commission times 10 listings, which means you would have made $100,000. But what you missed out on was the $400,000 that you could have had if you had created a systematic way of multiplying your listings.

Just focusing on this fact can make a difference for you going forward. Even simple awareness can change things. Knowing that you’ve lost $400,000 on the last 10 listings that you had, that’s an interesting place to start over from.

Your listing index number

So to complete this picture let’s use the Index. Take the score you ended up with above we’ll use 10 for our example, and divide it by 10 to get an index. If you had 10 listings and we divide that by 10, it gives you an index of 1.0. If you had 15, you would have an index of 1.5.

What this translates to is with your current system every listing that you take is worth one transaction or 1.5 transactions, depending on your index score. This means your missing out on three or more possible transactions from that listing.

Now you can see why becoming focused on taking the ” listing multiplier” approach is the answer. Rather than the approach that you don’t need to do Just Listed/Just Sold cards, infoboxes, or open houses because all of your listings sell so quickly.

All of those things that you currently may feel “you don’t need to do,” are costing you money when you think of it in this context. Specifically, if your goal is to maximize the dollars you get out of every listing you touch.

Your business’ future

By focusing on the above method, I’ve seen agents go from a 1 on the Listing Multiplier Index to a 3.5, with some simple changes and attention to detail. They went from making $10,000 in commission to  $35,000 from one initial listing! That’s working smarter at its finest.

Imagine what it will be like to turn every listing that you take into multiple transactions. Imagine what kind of effect that will have if every time you take a listing, instead of getting one transaction, you get three or more.

What kind of impact will that have on your business going forward?

To learn more about the incredible tools and resources Dean has available for agents go to GoGoAgent.com and ListingAgentLifestyle.com.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of sellers or buyers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are 3 free ways we can help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. The Free 2018 Real Estate Business Plan.

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan  – Click Here

2. The Free Online ROI Calculator. 

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan.

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here  – Click Here

Also…check out these cool tools 🙂

 Three Click Postcards – Just snap a home photo & create a postcard all from your mobile phone

MLSmailings.com – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

Most agent website problems are easy fixes. Let’s take a look at the three most common agent website problems and see if we can get them fixed for you.

 1. Lack of focus

Many agent websites seem to reflect a common agent mindset: “I am a jack of all trades and master at none.” When agents are trying to reach every, last conceivable prospect, their websites end up with a vague and meaningless focus.

No, “Buyers” and “Sellers” aren’t target audiences – at least not in a way that sets you apart from every other agent in town. If you truly want these two, overly-broad groups as a target, create two websites, one for each.

Your buyer’s site can then be narrowed down even further. Are you looking to work with first-time buyers? Condo buyers? Move up buyers? Retirement buyers? Luxury or ranch home buyers?

The same holds true for the seller-focused site: first-time sellers, downsizers, selling the luxury or waterfront home, for instance.

“One of the biggest marketing mistakes is to attempt to appeal to everyone at once.”

Suggests Tom Hallissey at Fat Guy Media. “The most-efficient way to reach more qualified consumers is to target smaller, more specific groups.”

We once worked with a woman who specialized in mobile home buyers. Sure, one mobile home here and there seems hardly worth the effort, but this lady specialized and marketed herself as the expert. She made a killing in the mobile home market and, her website was one of her best lead generation tools.

2. Overly-focused on the wrong things

Real estate prospecting is all about building relationships and each visitor to your site is a prospect. What happens then when visitors are immediately bombarded by how great you are, how many homes you’ve sold and how much money you make?

Is the braggadocio the person you would want to build a relationship with? Of course not. Self-important bragging is unattractive and doesn’t tell your website visitor one thing about “what is in it for them”.

So, skip the hype about you and, instead, make your website client-focused. If your ideal prospects visit your website, what do they want to know? How can you help them find it? Use your knowledge of and experience in real estate to demonstrate why you are the agent they should hire.

3. Wait … isn’t real estate all about location?

We recently read a Facebook post from an agent who was complaining that, after six months, his website just wasn’t “working.” He was blaming the website company.

Yet, one look at his site points the finger right back at the agent. The only mention of his market – his geographic location – was in his email address, posted at the bottom of the page.

He bought a template website and did nothing to customize it, except to plaster his own name all over it. This, despite there being numerous opportunities on the home page alone to stick in at least the name of his town.

His neighborhood pages consisted of his IDX for the area. That’s it.

According to NAR’s 2017 study, Real Estate in the Digital Age, nearly half of homebuyers using the internet are interested in neighborhood information.

Many agents ignore this section (if they even have one) of their websites, and it’s a pity. What’s it like living in a particular community? What are the good points? Why would I – as a first-time buyer, a move-up buyer, a commuter, retirement buyer, someone with a family or any other type of buyer want to live there?

Use your website to show pictures, discuss local news and events in your blog posts and anything else that captures why this neighborhood is a great place to live.

If your website isn’t converting as you hoped it would consider tweaking it to be more consumer-focused and offer the information they’re craving.

Start providing your farm with the neighborhood information they crave today.
Send at least 100 Neighborhood Update postcards to your farm or an area where you want more listings.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of sellers or buyers? Use our mailing list tool to create the ideal list or call our support team for assistance at 866.405.3638!

PLUS: When you have time…here are 3 free ways we can help you CRUSH IT in 2018!

1. The Free 2018 Real Estate Business Plan.

Treat your business like a business it is vital to long-term success in this industry. Some agents may put together elaborate business plans, yet there’s something powerful about keeping it simple. Check out our one page Online Real Estate Business Plan  – Click Here

2. The Free Online ROI Calculator. 

Consistency and automation are the keys to success. Discover how effective direct mail marketing can dramatically increase your bottom line. Enter your statistics in our Free online ROI Calculator and click the ‘CALCULATE MY ROI’ button to see your results instantly! – Click Here

3. The 12 Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan.

The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do when. Four key market segments are included, Niche Marketing, Listing Inventory, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence – Click Here  – Click Here

Also…check out these cool tools 🙂

 Three Click Postcards – Just snap a home photo & create a postcard all from your mobile phone

MLSmailings.com – Automated Just Listed, Just Sold Postcards

Market Dominator System – Become a neighborhood brand

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