The Hunter and the Farmer

Jun 12, 2017

How to Add Ten Extra Transactions Per Year

By Todd Robertson

We know that for a lot of agents, prospecting is PAINFUL. It’s also the one factor that will keep so many from succeeding. Why? They fear it rather than embracing that prospecting is just part of the process. Every “no” brings you that much closer to a yes. Every conversation brings you that much more involved in building a relationship with the people in your sphere and farm.

That brings us to the point of today’s article. Hunting and farming. There are really three ways you can drive business in real estate:

Wait for it. How many agents do you know who are waiting for the phone to ring? Someone to walk through the door? Or a call from a sign or ad? Certainly the least pro-active means of getting business and one that will never take you far in this business.
Buy it. Some agents choose to buy the business, using internet leads, ads, and billboards – then WAITING for them to generate interest.
Put a system in place and actively prospecting. In a competitive market such as we have now, this is the only sure way to generate consistent results and income.

The best agents in the world want to get to the point where they do three things extraordinarily well and delegate most of the rest to others. Those two things are prospecting, going on appointments or presenting, and closing. They also know to get to the top in their markets and stay there they have to be BOTH hunter and farmer.

Hunters aggressively, consistently seek new business and generate leads. They know how many contacts they have to make each and every day to hit the numbers that will take them closer to their goal. For some it might be five live connects with people per day. For others the number may be closer to ten or twenty. That’s actively reaching out to people such as:

FSBOs
Expireds
Sphere of Influence
Business network

Farmers, by contrast, let a system do the work and consistently “touch” the folks in their geographic farm, as well as their sphere with timely, direct response marketing tools every 21-45 days. When that happens month after month after month, you create the kind of top-of-mind awareness that keeps your name at the forefront with people so that when someone IS ready to buy or sell or knows someone who is, it’s YOUR name they know to call.

What happens when you put a campaign in place, a system in place and never waiver from it, you create opportunities for additional business. You also have a better life, because you know you’ll have business and referrals coming in.

I know agents who are strictly hunters. They are always chasing new business and have never taken the time to cultivate a farm area. I can tell you for a fact that they lead more stressful lives. They have no idea where the next deal is coming from, or when the next closing will be. That’s a hard way to go and a tough way to earn a living. Farmers can count on business coming in. And top agents? They know that their marketing engine, coupled with their hunting skills will generate the number of transactions they need to hit their goals.

The truth is less than 5% of agents own a 20% market share in their areas. LESS than 5%! What that should mean to you is that there is a lot of opportunity in some geographic areas, or neighborhoods in your market that you should absolutely systematically reach out to starting now if you want to be the agent in your area to defy that statistic.

They key is to have a consistent system in place. That’s why agents love the Market Dominator system. They don’t have to think about it, worry about it, or do anything. It’s all done for them. They know every month a 12×15 marketing piece is sent out using Every Door Direct Mail, so that it literally gets in every single door in the geographic area they want to saturate and earn that 20% market share. Knowing that their marketing is working on their behalf, generating that top of mind awareness, branding them in the market place, and creating opportunities for new business takes the stress off of them. They put that piece of their business equation in our capable hands so they can then focus on doing those three things we talked about earlier – prospecting, presenting, and closing.

I’ll give you an example. I got a call last week from a young lady who called and said, “Todd, I get it, I get it!” I wasn’t sure what she was talking about until she explained that three months ago she got a Market Dominator in the mail and said she thought at the time – WOW, this agent is stepping up the game. She didn’t think much of it though she shared, because most agents are “one and done” marketers. Then she got another one. Then this month she got a third. She said, “That’s it – where do I sign up? This guy is taking my market share!”

The thing is that the Market Dominator is exclusive to the agent based on carrier routes. So that agent will continue to take market share as long as they stay in the system. She of course, chose another route and is on her way now to dominate a geo farm of her own. We had another agent call as well who was farming an area, then stopped. Another agent swept in, claimed that same farm area and started a consistent campaign and started, of course, generating the listings in that area. The agent that quit was upset to lose ground, but realized that if he had stayed with it – those listings would have been his. The truth is that results don’t usually ever come from the first “touch”. They happen when you consistently stay in the game, and usually well after the 5^th, 6^th, or even 10^th contact. That’s why it’s important to have a campaign and system that you can count on to not lose momentum. Left to our own devices sometimes, we get busy right? We shift our focus. And the ball gets dropped. Market Dominator customers don’t have to worry about that. We do the heavy lifting. They focus on prospecting, presenting and closing.

If you’re ready to have a better life – I challenge you to be BOTH hunter and farmer. As a hunter, make those weekly phone calls, reaching out to the folks in your market that can help you generate quick leads and listing opportunities.

As a farmer, I encourage you to put a system in place like the Market Dominator so that you are cultivating a geographic farm that will, in time, allow you to own a 20% or more market share that will indeed be worth five, ten, or more additional transactions to you per year.

If you want to learn more, give me a call at 702-683-1967 or email us today.

Need help building your collateral materials, sending Just Listed/Just Sold postcards, finding the right free reports for your buyers and sellers, or building a better brand for yourself?

Visit us online at www.prospectsplus.com or give us a call today at 866.405.3638.

Cultivating Influence

Oct 31, 2016

Building a Book of Business

By Brian Fox, Benutech

Loyal supporters are important for any business not only survive but to also thrive. Be it Coca-Cola or Pepsi, each brand has their loyal returning supporters. Ford vs. Chevy, for years parents all across the U.S. have raised their kids on one side or the other of the “truck fence”. Think Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins. New York Yankees or Los Angeles Dodgers. For my English football fans… is it Manchester United or Liverpool FC for you? These brands initially attracted our interest, then kept us by providing us with identity, entertainment, and valuable life moments. And at the end of the day – it doesn’t matter what brands or teams you support, the IMPORTANT part for whom you support, is that you SUPPORT. Dallas Cowboy fans purchase Cowboy gear, game tickets, and spend money at the Stadium which makes the Dallas Cowboys significant revenue.

So as real estate agents, how do we develop loyal followers and that highly desired significant revenue that comes from a loyal group of supporters? When looking at the root of loyal support, the brand or team being supported is delivering an image or something of value to their supporters. The more they deliver that value, the more supporters they receive. So what can we deliver that will create followers that support and build a large referral book of business?

Let’s assume the position of the typical homeowner…
Access to MLS? No.
Access to assessor, loan/transaction history, sales comparables? No.
Understanding of what to consider before down-sizing? No.
To build our Investor supporters… The location of distressed homes that may sell soon? No.

I think all too often, real estate agents take for granted all we know, and all we have access to in this industry. One of the most valuable assets you have as an Agent is your knowledge about real estate itself, real estate terminology, real estate transactions and the real estate market around you. All of which is super valuable to homeowners. Be their resource and they will support you and your business – no different than Coke, Starbucks, or DirecTv.

Think about it: Homeowners are constantly doing calculations on “What do I owe?” vs. “What’s my home worth?” The difference represents “money in the bank”. Zillow and similar sites have developed a poor reputation for delivering those answers. Homeowners don’t like paying property taxes – can you provide them knowledge on what an assessment is, and how to possibly lower their taxable assessments? Can you offer homeowners insight on what steps go into purchasing a second home or investment property? You are the real estate expert, Mr. Homeowner is not, and so you can better answer questions like these. And best yet, these opportunities represents the chance to meet homeowners so that you can get to know them. On your next postcard mailing… think about using a message like… “What’s your home worth?” – “I know, and I would love to help answer that for you”. “Considering Purchasing a Second Home? “Let me help you with understanding costs and qualifications”. “Property Taxes Too High?” “Let’s evaluate your assessed value vs. market value and see if we can lower them.” Important questions for homeowners, and valuable answers that you are best qualified to provide. ProspectsPLUS! does a great job of providing the tools you can easily customize and send to get your message out such as their Call to Action series and their Neighborhood Update Series.

To build a supporting group of Investor clients… What causes homeowners sell quickly with less desire to make top dollar in the sale of the home? For starters: Death, Divorce, Mortgage and tax defaults all lead to quick sales. And many times, they are distressed sales. When a homeowner passes away, the heirs tend to be more concerned with quick money from the sale of the home, more so than top dollar. Oh, and they don’t want to do home improvements prior to listing the home for sale – which add to the perfect opportunity for investor clients. Mortgage or tax defaults are similar… The default is an issue that creates a “quick sale” scenario that is way more important than receiving the highest price available in the sale. The result is the perfect opportunity for you and your investor supporters. These types of “life event” information (death, divorce, defaults) tied to property is not easy to locate – but for the agents that do, the opportunities are endless. Think about this in your next mailing… “Looking for off-market properties that have a high chance of selling quickly?” – I know where they are located. Next question: Who do you mail these types of postcards to? The mailing addresses of the investors that already own investment property in the immediate area. These folks already own investment property – so what better pool of folks to get to know with this valuable data that only you have?

ProspectsPLUS! makes this messaging easy for you with their Life Events postcards that correspond to our data mining tools.

Hopefully I am not the first to tell you…. when looking to deliver “items of value” to create a loyal group of supporters, it’s not a “hot cooking recipe” or “note pad” with your mug shot on it. Those are simply items that remind the homeowner you exist – but they don’t provide anything of significant value. I have never entertained making the “Spiced Rum Cake” that came in the mail from a Realtor – have you? But if you could help me locate an off-market property that I have a better chance of acquiring at a less than market price or if you could confidently tell me how much money I have in my “housing piggy bank” (equity) – I start to become your follower, your supporter, and I help you build your supporters via recommendations and referrals.

As your loyal group of supporters builds… regular valuable information will be the key to keeping their support. Offer them pricing updates on their home, information on market trends based upon recent sales and recent listings – all information they want to know. Offer them off-market opportunities (from new “life events”) as new ones pop-up. It’s interesting and it’s valuable, and if they are interested in finding a great deal on another home – they will support you as their agent.

As an Agent, you have access to some really great sets of information – use it.

Brian Fox is Vice President of Business Development for Benutech, Inc.. Benutech is the creator of the award-winning ReboGateway property data product that identifies which properties across the Nation have divorce, mortgage defaults, tax defaults, death affidavits, probate filings, bankruptcy filings, FSBO, estate sales, or empty nester scenarios present. This valuable information allows agents to quickly identify which properties have the best chance of listing/selling soon. Work smarter, not harder. (www.ReboGateway.com)

Need help using the postcard tools referenced in today’s post? Call our team at 866.405.3638 or visit our site today at www.prospectsplus.com.

It Comes Down to Commitment

Oct 24, 2016

Inspired Insights from World-Class Real Estate Speaker and Coach Darryl Davis

by Julie Escobar

When you are looking for straight-talk strategies for building not just a business — but a successful book of business, it’s always a good idea to go to someone who not only knows how to help agents succeed at exceptional levels — but one who just tells it like it is. For that? I reached out to my old friend Darryl Davis. He’s an author, speaker, trainer, coach — and one of the funniest guys you can talk to. His analogies and ability to weave a story into a message are epic. It’s part of what makes him such an effective speaker – it’s also why I wanted to interview him for this topic!

Q: Hey Darryl, thanks for sharing your insights with us again for this edition. Our focus this time around is really building a strong business base. Can you share some thoughts on that?

A: Building a business? You know I’m a FSBO/Expired guy – but when we are talking about building a business foundation? Know that there are two types of contacts to focus on.

First there is your geographic farm. These folks don’t know you yet, so it’s your job to help them with that. For this group, you’ve got to stay in touch monthly. Your name, your face, your brand, your results each and every month. Of course, you guys make that easy for them with products like the…

You’re building trust and establishing yourself as the agent to call.

Secondly, there’s your sphere – or those folks that know your name, face, what you do, and trust you enough to do business with. This breaks into people you haven’t worked with before, (family, friends, acquaintances) and those you have (past sellers or buyers). For these folks to remember you, remember that you’re in real estate and that well, you know, they should call YOU before the guy down the street when they have a real estate question or need or an amazing referral, you need to stay in touch. I usually recommend at least 4-6 times per year with this crowd with things like:

I’ll give you a great tip: Every single January I’d send a copy of the HUD statement to everyone who has every purchased a home through me in the last year with a note saying, “Congratulations on owning a home! I’ve taken the liberty of making a copy of your HUD statement so you have it handy to give to your
accountant. Hope things are going great! I’d love to hear from you if you need anything.” Wow – see you just saved them time and stress and made a contact that personal to them. Win-win-win.

For every other client/customer of mine? At the first of the year I would send an updated market analysis to with a note that said something like, “Just as you would check your stock portfolio, 401K, etc., it’s also a good idea to do a check in on the market analysis of your home investment. As always, I’m here to help if you have any real estate questions or needs!”

Stay top of mind with these folks by sending them something to help them stay connected to you and recognize that you’re there as a resource. And don’t be shy about picking up the phone and saying hello and asking if people need anything a couple times per year. Or creating opportunities to see them in person.

Q: Darryl, I loved your message in our last magazine where you talked about listing INVENTORY being the name of the game, not just listings. Can you share a little more about that?

A: What I’ve been teaching is that agents need to look at their business as if they were running a store. With a store, you’ve got a location, employees, and you’ve got to stock and manage your inventory. So, say you were selling candy? You must have enough candy on the shelves when customers come in right? Otherwise people are going to buy their candy somewhere else! So if you’re a real estate agent your inventory is real estate. I tell agents to make a chart January-December on the bottom and the numbers 0-20 on the left side. Next, plot it out. Say your goal is to get four listings per month and build your inventory. Now you have get four listings in January, but you sell two. You know you need to replace those two, plus get four more for February and so on. Creating a visual to see whether your graph is going up (the right direction) or down (further from your goals) helps you think like a business person. And that? Is a big key to success. Because there are a LOT of agents running around with a fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants approach to their real estate career – which is fine if you want to always wonder where your next commission is coming from or if burn out is your thing. But top agents who want to be at this a long time and have a lot to show for it, understand that applying true business practices and mindsets is the win-win they need.

Q: You hit the nail on the head. One topic that seems to come up a lot with agents is the idea that they just don’t have the time to focus on databases and marketing and details! What would your advice be in terms of time management?

A: First, I would tell them to be crystal clear on their priorities. In real estate, it’s easy to get distracted with things that don’t forward your business. I’ll tell you a little story. There’s a woman named Rachel Lust who is a Hula Hooper. If you look her up on YouTube, you’ll see she has hundreds of thousands of views and likes. She did the halftime show for the Chicago Bulls. She is the most famous person in the world of hula hooping. She’s got a line of videos, hoops, clothes, you name it. Do you know what Rachel does for two hours a day, six days a week, no matter what? Yep. She Hula Hoops. Why? Because literally NOTHING else matters if she’s not good at her trade. It’s the same with agents. If you aren’t prospecting, looking for listing inventory, and taking new listings – the rest doesn’t matter.

I’ll give you another example. I ran the NYC Marathon. Now here’s what you might not know about me: I HATE exercise. Hate it. Five days a week, I had to get up in the morning and run, and one day a week I had to cross train. For five months, I had to do this. Didn’t want to do it. Didn’t feel like doing it. It was uncomfortable. For me to meet this commitment I made, and log in the two hours of running every day, I had to get up two hours earlier to make it work. Here’s the thing: I couldn’t fit running into my life, I had to fit my life around the commitment to run.

That’s how you’ve got to look at what it takes to make it at high levels in this business. You see the agents that say, “I’ll get to prospecting after I check my Facebook, and my emails, and my this or that.” Time management is not the problem there. Commitment is the problem. Everything you need to do lines up behind the commitment.

Say you’re having a party. That means there’s cooking, cleaning, preparing all that has to be done. But you’re running late–right? Now you say you’ve got two hours of work to do in just thirty minutes. Do you do it? YES! That? Is a BREAKTHROUGH. Because when you REALLY have to get something done you do it. Manage your activities, and what dictates those activities is your commitment. People who are passionate about commitment don’t have time management issues. They are focused, clear, and committed. They don’t just do commitments – they are commitment.

Q: What additional advice do you have for agents who want to really knock it out of the park this year in real estate?

A: That one is easy. Systemize your business. Run it like a business. Think like Rachel Lust. She has moves that she has absolutely mastered with that Hula Hoop. Then she masters another, and another. It’s like dancing. If you only know five dance steps – you don’t look so good out there on the floor-right? In real estate there are definitely some dance moves to master. Moves like…

Prospecting
Listing Appointments
Customer Service
Working (playing) with Buyers (I call this a break from real work)
Negotiating offers
Use of metaphors and analogies (these are what set you apart – give you distinction)

All of these moves take commitment, solid commitment. Figure out what you real commitment is. What you really want to accomplish, then let everything else line up behind that goal. I just caution you to make it more about the people – the lives you help – rather than the money. When you do it right and your passion is for the people you can help, the money comes.

Awesome stuff Darryl. Thanks for sharing. If you’d like to learn more about Darryl’s training courses and products, please visit www.DarrylSpeaks.com – and read his bio below.

About Darryl Davis

Darryl became a real estate agent at the age of 19 and quickly climbed the ladder to become a top producer, averaging six transactions a month. He became a licensed broker and manager of a new office that became the #1 listing and selling branch within its first 6 months of operation. He’s been named one of the highest-rated speakers at the National Association of REALTORS® convention for the past several years and is the ONLY real estate speaker who is a best-selling author with McGraw-Hill Publishing for his book, How to Become a Power Agent in Real Estate. He is the founder of The POWER Program®, a yearlong real estate coaching program that has proven results of agents doubling their income over their previous year. He’s also the creator of the nationally acclaimed three-day program S.U.R.E. Results, where agents generate an average of $33,504.82 over their previous year. And as creator of the nationally recognized term “Next Level^®,” Darryl strives to bring his students and attendees to their “Next Level^®” of success by training them on how to have more fun and less stress in their business and personal lives. To learn more about Darryl and his training tools and services, visit www.DarrylSpeaks.com, or contact him at 1-800-395-3905.

To learn more about staying in consistent touch with your sphere and farm (as Darryl teaches), visit www.prospectsplus.com, or call our support team at 866.405.3638 today.

Know Before You Go

Mar 21, 2016

A Guest Post from Our Friends at ReboGateway

Brian Fox, VP Business Development, Benutech, Inc.

We live in a world today where we know where we are going before we even get there – and life is easier and better because of it. The best restaurants, stores, and shops can be located online, reviewed on various sites such as Yelp, viewed on a map, and if we want we can even see the front of the location using a street view before we arrive. In other words, there are very few mysteries in area of direction in today’s world… we can very easily know before we go and for the most part, it’s how we roll.

Yet for some odd reason, this know before you go mentality has not been used in real estate as often as it should. Most Realtors, seem to market into geographic areas or to family and friends… as in the people closest to where they live, or closest to where they work. It’s random, it’s best known as the “shotgun approach” to marketing, and it’s like heading to a new spot in your city without reviews, maps, or direction. It was how it was done in the 1980’s but why so today?

Real estate coaches throughout the U.S. seem to be on board with the know before you go mentality. Seems every coach I have ever read or heard, is focused on finding areas that are selling (areas of 7% turnover rate or higher per year), and then coach their students to market into those areas for better marketing results. Turnover rates or other “reasons to sell” such as divorce, mortgage default, or empty-nester status are all available… and easily accessible. So why in 2016 should we market from Front St., to Market St., between Main St. and South St. when we could be marketing to owners that have reasons to sell their property?

To illustrate this point, let’s take a quick look at the wonderful city of McKinney, TX. It happens to be the city that CNN Money named in 2014 First Place for “Best Places to live in the U.S.” The U.S. Census Bureau also named it the fastest growing city from 2000 – 2003 and again in 2006. The Realtors in McKinney obviously have a lot of selling points for their fine city and the sellers in McKinney should be in a good position to profit from these accolades if they choose to sell.

But let’s use data to take a closer look at the city… There are 15,187 rooftops in McKinney, most of which are single family residences. For most Realtors, it’s not possible to market to all 15,187 of those residences. There are just too many rooftops in McKinney, not enough funds in the marketing budget, and not enough time to accomplish marketing to each of those residences once per month. So rather than marketing to all residences, or just the residences nearest you… can we find the needles in the McKinney haystack? In other words, can we find the folks that have a higher probability of selling their homes in McKinney this year or next? The answer is: Yes.

Homes in McKinney traditionally sell at rate of about 3.3% per year. In the most recent couple of years, homes have been selling at better than 10% per year with the added popularity of McKinney. But newly sold homes rarely go back on the market and sell in the upcoming few years… so today, how do we find the most probable sellers for 2016 & 2017 in McKinney? The same way you use your phone to find the best lunch spot in McKinney. You leverage information to know, before you go.

All Realtors can think back to listings they have taken and sold in the past and why they were able to acquire them. A homeowner filed for divorce, and then they listed and sold their home to make an equitable split. A mortgage default occurred at a property, you got the listing. An owner passed away, then you got the listing. Preceding most sales is a “life event” of some sort… and the life event may simply be the increasing age of the homeowner that then leads to their property selling.

Most life events are available to the general public. Divorce, eviction, probate, bankruptcy, and mortgage or tax default filings are all made public by courts. When matched to owned property, it creates a database of homeowners that are much more likely to sell in coming years than their neighbors. When homeowners decide to go FSBO, or have an Estate Sale to sell personal belongings prior to a move – they post the information online to drive traffic to the event. Again, knowing these addresses provides a timing advantage to the Realtors that find them and market to them.

Let’s now get back to McKinney. We have already discussed that there are 15,187 rooftops in the McKinney haystack. A closer look at available information on “life events” in McKinney reveals the following: There are 87 homeowners that have filed for divorce in the past 12 months that have not yet sold their homes. These folks may be going from 2 incomes to 1, and may need to sell. They may have more equity in their property than money in the bank. Either of those reasons could lead to the equity being liquidated by property sale in order to facilitate a fair split between the owners. Statistically, 22.1% of couples that file for divorce sell their homes in the first 12 months after filing. A good Realtor is going to be an important piece of that puzzle.

Also in McKinney, there are 32 homes with mortgage default filings in the past 6 months. Better than 50% of these will result in property sale within 12 months. Eight homeowners have filed bankruptcy in the past 6 months. Fourteen homes are trying to “For Sale by Owner”, but have not yet sold. Seven homes are in Probate. There are also 1,498 homes with approved “Senior (Property) Tax Exemptions”. Of those, 570 of them also have 4 bedrooms or more (large homes). These are your classic “Empty-Nesters”, and they sell property for many reasons. The home may be too big for them now, the stairs are no longer a good idea, they may soon need an elderly care facility, or their passing may facilitate the home sale.

In each of these situations, it has been statistically proven that when these types of events occur, the properties associated to them sell more frequently. There is no way of knowing that these events are occurring by looking at the street address or by staring at the outside of the home. Life event data has to be matched to owned property, and when that match occurs, the results are eye opening.

ReboGateway, a product by Benutech, Inc., identifies and matches these types of life events and more to owned property. ReboGateway allows Realtors to quickly identify probable sellers by “life events” so that they can be smarter about whom they market to and when to market to them.

So the next time you are in McKinney, TX or in your hometown, don’t just stop at any lunch spot. Use select data to know before you go. In case you were wondering, in a state known for its barbecue, the best BBQ in McKinney, TX is Hutchin’s BBQ and Grill. It is ranked the 2^nd best restaurant in the city and 356 reviews say it’s a “must go” as the “Best BBQ in North Texas”. Similarly, the next time you choose to make yourself known to homeowners with your focus on acquiring new listings… find the addresses that are more likely to sell, and market consistently to those addresses. The correct select data matched to a consistent marketing plan is how it should be done today and in doing so; Once again, life is easier and better because of it.

To learn more about using Life Event trigger data from ReboGateway to market in your area, watch our webinar on demand at blog.prospectsplus.com/rebogateway-prospectsplus-webinar-on-demand/.

If you’d like to learn more about how Brian and his team are helping real estate pros across North America use technology and systems to grow their businesses more efficiently and effectively, join us April 7^th at 1pm Eastern for a powerful new webinar – Everything You Wanted to Know About Every Door Direct Mail!