Building a Salable Business

Jun 26, 2017

by Julie Escobar

Do you know the biggest difference between the agents who not only survived but thrived during the market downturn? They had a book of business. A solid one. A database of people that they consistently connected with month-after-month. Year-after-year. Why does that make such a difference? Because we know that statistically one in twelve of those people — the ones who already know you, trust you, and like you — will send business your way each year. So, it SHOULD be on the top of every agent’s to do list – but it is not.

First, build it! If you’ve not yet put your sphere of influence database together, there’s no time like the present to start.

Include every one of your past buyers or sellers. (Unless there are people you would truly never want to work with again, and we’ve all had those!) This is a top tier in your book of business.
Add friends, family and colleagues.
Get creative! Start adding all the people that you connect with on a regular basis such as your children’s coaches, doctors, dentists, optometrist, car salesman, insurance salesman, hairdresser, mechanic, electrician, plumber, etc. Anyone you do business with, is a great candidate for referrals. You can find a list of the 250 people who should be in your sphere here.

Next, grow it! As we head into a new month, remember to make an appointment with yourself every month to review for at least one hour where you are in terms of your book of business. Ask yourself these four questions:

How many past clients will I contact this month?
What is my focus?
Who can I add to my database?
What’s working and what’s not?

Lastly, nurture it! Some of the best ways to nurture your list are…

Send: monthly postcards or newsletters. Our Community News is very popular and agents love the done-for-you content. The Content Cards and Listing Inventory Series are also top performers.
Call: Connect with everyone in your book of business twice a year. Most agents break their lists down into weekly and daily increments, then hit the phones as part of their daily to-do list.
See: Host a customer appreciation event once a year. An end-of-summer picnic might be perfect for getting face-to-face with past customers and thanking them for their business (and referrals).

Building your book of business, for some, isn’t the exciting part of the business. But when your get the 20-year value of everyone on that list, you can start to see it as a priority! Look to our Master Marketing Calendar for some fun reasons to stay connected with your sphere and keep your conversations interesting!

You may also want to check out our Specials page which changes monthly as we add new content, tools and budget-saving promo codes!

Need help? Contact our team today at 866.405.3638!

One Way to Generate New Listings

Jun 26, 2017

Start by Answering the Questions Already in the Minds of Consumers

By Julie Escobar

A new month – and a new marketing season are straight ahead — and both buyers and sellers in our markets have been inundated with information regarding the economy and the housing industry on television, in print and on the internet. Some good information – some misinterpreted, and some just flat out wrong.

What consumers need more than ever is a RELIABLE, TRUSTWORTHY resource to help them best understand how market changes affect them most. What’s my home worth today? What if I wait a year to sell? What are interest rates going to do? Should they sell? Should they buy? Should they move up to the next size home or is that a risk?

The questions are many – and the answers are yours for the giving – IF you can capture (and keep) the top-of-mind attention of the folks in your area.

One direct response series that is getting great response for agents is our Free Offer Series. Sending three over the course of 2-3 months can certainly help you create the top-of-mind awareness and show potential sellers that you are the agent to ask when they have questions.

Consider kicking off this campaign starting with the Market Analysis postcard. This allows you to spotlight your ability to deliver the information sellers are looking for in a professional way and tap into today’s consumers’ natural desire to search out ‘free’ offers and trusted resources.

Step one: Login to your free ProspectsPLUS.com account. (Or easily create an account and profile in a matter of minutes. Once your profile is ready – the system will automatically populate your information into all of the 680+ marketing tools on the site.)

Step two: Select the Market Analysis Postcard. You can leave as is or customize to suit your marketing style. Click here to watch a video on how to select a postcard series.

Step three: Add your mailing list or use our mapping tools to create a mailing list. If you need help with mailing lists – call our support team at 866.405.3638 or click here to see all of our comprehensive mailing list solutions.

Step four: Place your order then track it. It’s that easy! Click here to watch a video on tracking your postcard order.

Making your job easier is our goal. That’s why we’ve re-engineered the Master Marketing Schedule to offer strategic and creative solutions for building your business faster, easier, more affordable and with way less headaches. In fact, if you’re following the Schedule – this week is a great time to get out in those geo farms and start making real connections. Our Free Offer Door hangers are a great compliment to the Free Offer postcards and the perfect leave behind when you’re door knocking in the market area you most want to dominate.

Putting systems for staying in touch in place don’t have to be tough – or time consuming. Most of our top customers schedule 15-30 minutes at the beginning or end of every month to focus on what marketing tools they want to go out. When they choose a campaign, it’s easy — they simply pick the next one in the series, order and get back to their high priority tasks. Some even delegate a member of their team to make it their priority that something is always being sent to their sphere and farm so top of mind awareness is always there.

Kudos to the agents that are working their systems and are willing to share their experiences with others. We so appreciate you all. For example, Cozett shared with us on ResellerRatings, “I like how ProspectsPLUS! puts marketing at my fingertips and then handles the time consuming work of mailing and distributing materials if I need them too.” Or Jeremy who wrote on our Google+ page, “ProspectPLUS! is a real lifesaver for me. I have been looking around on how to keep in contact with my sellers. I needed more than just a phone call. The postcards are a highlight to my business now. This has also allowed me to start farming a few neighborhoods that I drive through with a more personal touch.” Or Bradley who wrote on our Facebook Page, “ProspectsPLUS makes it so easy for me to market to not only my sphere but also to my farming areas. In less than 5 minutes I can have all of my postcards ordered and off my plate so I can work on what I do best…selling homes!”

We’d love to hear from you too! In fact, give us a shout out with a review now on our Google+ Page and you’ll be entered to win one of our monthly prizes! Wait until you see what’s in store for July!

Have questions or need help developing the marketing plan that’s right for you? Call us today at 866.405.3638 or email us at pmc@prospectsplus.com. We’re here to assist!

201 Days

Jun 12, 2017

Left in the Year — How Will You Spend Them?

by Julie Escobar

We are more than halfway through the year. Just better than two hundred days left. What you do now will determine what kind of holidays you’ll have. Whether you’ll hit those goals you set in January. Whether you’ll finish strong and kick off the new year with ease. So, what’s it going to be? Let’s take a look at some ways you can get back on track or keep on track:

Review your SMART goals weekly. Create a means to measure where you are in relation to your goal. Use a chart, a checklist, or an integrity partnership to review your progress. When you wait months or an entire year to review – it’s impossible to know whether you are on track or off. Top agents always know their numbers, always have a visual of the goals that they are passionate about and are always re-calibrating their time, tools, training and activities to ensure they achieve the goals they set.
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time bound
Get out of stealth mode. The idea that the business will just come to you in today’s market is false. There is considerable competition so get out from behind the desk or computer and get out into the markets in which you want to build market share. Knock on doors. Meet the neighbors. Leave branded collateral pieces at local professional offices and waiting rooms where possible. (Think doctor’s offices, car dealerships, etc.) Host events. Ask questions. Sponsor sports teams. Donate the bounce house at the neighborhood event. Show that you are the face of real estate in your area.
Reach out to your sphere. If you’re not touching base with everyone in your sphere at least twice a year, then you are leaving money on the table. We know statistically that one in twelve will result in business or referral every year. But NOT if you don’t stay in touch. Many agents use holiday cards every month with a message on the back to keep connected. Others choose newsletters or content cards as a monthly “touch”. Whatever you choose, be sure you are consistent. It’s one of the best things you can do to build and grow your referral base.
Never neglect your neighborhood farm. Your competition won’t be and they’ll take market share wherever they can find it. If you’ve got an area that you want to dominate in, consider our Market Dominator system, or using the Listing Inventory Series to stay in touch every month. Top of mind awareness is crucial in today’s market. Attend every neighborhood function and be sure you are walking your farm with content-rich collateral at least twice per year.
Add at least five people to your marketing list per week. Always be in networking mode and always look for ways to grow your database and sphere. Committing to adding five people per week means you’ll add 260 to your sphere. To help you put that in context, I used our SOI calculator to show you what that looks like. I entered $200,000 as an annual goal, and an average commission of $6,000 – which told me that to realize that goal I’d need 33 transactions. Using the national stats that 66% of business comes from an agent’s SOI, I calculated that I needed 264 people in my SOI to realize my goal. You can calculate how many you need here.
Be consistent. I can’t stress this one enough. One and done marketing has never, ever earned anyone a good living. If you’re not touching base monthly or at least quarterly, you are leaving the door open for your competition to create the top of mind awareness that you could be earning. That’s like handing away future commissions to other agents. To succeed at high levels, you’ve got to stay on top of your marketing game and stay present in your market place. Using smart time management and done-for-you marketing tools can help.

Remember we are here to help. Our company is steeped in real estate experience and we train our marketing team to know exactly what agents just like you need to succeed and excel. We want to help you make the most of the last 200 days of the year — and every day after that as well. Visit www.prospectsplus.com today or call our team at 866.405.3638 to learn more.

Five Ways to Use Done-for-You CONTENT

Jun 7, 2017

To Drive Credibility and Customers

By Julie Escobar

Now with 65 different card choices, agents can’t seem to get enough of our powerful Content Card series. There are so many versatile ways of using them. And in a world where ‘content is king’ – sometimes it’s just really nice to NOT have to come up with your own-right?

Here are five ways you can use the content cards to drive more customer leads, increase your credibility, and present yourself as the turn-to agent to call:

Send one per month to your sphere or farm (or both) to easily stay in touch and brand yourself as an information specialist.
Choose several of your favorites and have them printed and shipped to you to use as leave-behinds in local businesses, as open house collateral, or as fair trade offers when prospecting.
Purchase as a PDF and use as a downloadable item of value on your website. This allows you to build your email database.
Each one of these is popular subject matter for consumers. Why not channel your inner Toast Master and create some local real estate workshops that you can present to area consumers? Print and ship the card with the topic of your choice to hand out at your event.
Share on social media. For many agents figuring out WHAT to say on social media leaves them stumped. These tools are perfect – with titles like ‘4 keys”, “5 ways”, “5 factors” – you can share one a day during the work week and invite followers to email you for the whole list (and you can send them the pdf you’ve downloaded!

Get started today and kick your fall marketing into high gear! See our Content Cards, choose your favorites and start driving credibility and new customers! Oh, and click here to get our latest promo codes and save 10% on your order!

As always, if you need help, contact us at 866.405.3638 – that’s what we’re here for!

Happy listing!

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