Stop wondering how you’ll get business in 2020 – Get serious about your database

Sep 16, 2019

Imagine what life would be like if you could stop cold calling, door knocking or chasing after FSBOs – or at least cut down on those activities.

Ditching the more distasteful aspects of your real estate lead generation routine is possible, if you vow, right now, to chase after referrals, and get serious about your database.

Warm calls are so much more pleasant and knocking on doors where people are happy to see you beats the alternative.

Make building better relationships with people you already know, the center of your 2020 marketing plan.

How’s your sphere of influence?

Agents who have been in the business for more than a minute tell horror stories about friends and even family members who “forgot” that they were in real estate and listed their homes with another agent.

In fact, NAR statistics say that “The typical REALTOR® earned 13 percent of their business from repeat clients and 17 percent from referrals from past clients and customers.” (The study doesn’t explain what they mean by “customers.”)

Look at those numbers – they’re pathetic, aren’t they? Especially when NAR surveys say that nearly 90 percent of real estate consumers say they would use their agent again in the future.

Past clients know you and, hopefully, they like and trust you. Shouldn’t agents be getting more than 17 percent of their business from referrals from them?

We get it. Agents have a ton of irons in the fire during the typical work week and keeping in contact with their SOI typically ends up as a low priority.

What would happen, though, if you moved it up on the list? Made those warm contacts (instead of contacting strangers) a priority? You’ll end up top-of-mind with your sphere when someone mentions buying or selling a home.

The Barking postcard is available in the postcard section under the from the Sphere/Farm Animal II Series.

Step 1 to get your real estate business on the referral track

Organize your database. Yeah, doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun, but it’s necessary to keep you on track.

If you already have an organizational method, you’re one step ahead. If not, let’s create a simple one.

Start by grouping your contacts. There are many ways to group them, so choose labels that make sense to you. Some suggestions include:

Hot leads (people you don’t know yet)
Cold leads (again, people you don’t know)
Sphere (or “family,” “friends” “ladies I play tennis with” “past clients”)
Vendors

Feel free to create subgroups, if it will help you to stay organized. Some of these may include:

Immediate family members
Extended family
Closest friends
Acquaintances
Neighbors
People you met through your kids

The All Ears postcards is available in the postcard section under the Sphere/Farm Animal II Series.

Thanks to the folks at TopProTraining.com for some of those ideas. Check out their list for more.

Kim Hughes at KimHughes.com suggests that the next step in setting up your database to help you succeed should be to go through all of the leads, checking the information you have on them and adding anything that comes to mind.

At a minimum, Hughes says you should have the contact’s full name and the name of immediate family members. Naturally, you won’t have family member info for some contacts, such as leads.

Pick up the phone and start calling people. Start with folks you know, like past clients, relatives and friends.

Tell them you’re updating your database and want to ensure you have their correct contact information:

Verify that the addresses, both snail and email, are current.
Best phone number to contact them.
Birth date is an important one (folks LOVE getting birthday greetings). The birthdate might be a tough one to ask, but tell them you like to reach out to people on their birthdays. You don’t need a year, so that may make the question “Hey, when is your birthday?” a bit easier to ask.

Get ideas for these conversations at TheRealEstateTrainer.com.

Listen carefully to their end of the conversation for any tidbits you can add to their spot in your database – “something such as an upcoming surgery, new baby or vacation,” Hughes suggests.

Then schedule a follow-up call, or a reminder to send a gift or flowers, depending on what they’ve told you.

This is a project that, although it needs to get done sooner, rather than later, is one that can be done in chunks. Hughes brilliantly recommends starting the organization process with your past clients.

But do schedule those time chunks and vow to stick by the schedule. Before you know it, you’ll have an organized, clean database, making your real estate lead generation a snap.

The Fall Maintenance postcard is available in the postcard section under the Content Card Series.

Send out the Fall Maintenance postcard from the Content Card Series to your Sphere and Farm.

Need help targeting the perfect niche of buyers or sellers? Use our mailing list too l 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 Free killer tools to help your success this year!

1. Become a Listing Legend Free eBook

Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

2. “Get More Listings” Free Online Webinar

“Get MORE Listings & Begin to Dominate Your Market!” Free online webinar. Learn the 3-7-27 strategy for explosive growth, why 95% of agents have less than 20% market share, and how to become the agent everyone competes against. – 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, Get More Listings, Geographic Farming, and Sphere of Influence. –Click Here

4. The Free One-Page 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

5. 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

More Referrals the Easy Way

Referrals

Jun 12, 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.

2. The Free Online ROI Calculator.

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