Monday, November 11, 2024

Testimonials

    The following are three ways to ensure you get the biggest bang for your buck after generating some real estate leads.

    We’ll call them the three “T”s of lead conversion.

    1. Trust

    As you can imagine, confidence is a trust-builder. However, the opportunity to show off this confidence to a prospect may not appear. So, how else can you build trust? Testimonials.

    There is just no substitute for a glowing review of your services, especially if it highlights your knowledge of all things real estate.

    Think again about possible challenges that may be causing your prospect to hesitate jumping into the market:

    • The need to sell a home before buying
    • Closing date challenges
    • Showing challenges
    • Equity challenges
    • Problems with the home, neighborhood, etc.

    Testimonials that address these common challenges and how you dealt with them are like gold.

    Use them on your website, in your email signature, on your business card, and on every direct mail piece you send.


    Convert MORE leads into listings with the Famous Market Quotes Series. To see more designs Click Here.


    2. Time

    This is a lesson for agents who hope to convert more leads than their competition: be the first person to return calls.

    NAR studies show that 75% of real estate consumers sign up with the first agent they interview.

    Did you know, the average first call response time of all companies that responded by phone is 40 hours and 56 minutes (Xant Research Lead Response Report).

    Nearly 41 hours doesn’t seem hard to beat, right?

    How about five minutes? Studies show that’s the sweet spot. Conversion rates are 8X higher if contact is made within 5 minutes.

    “Measure your response times in seconds and minutes, not hours and days,” cautions Dan Sincavage, co-founder of Tenfold.

    That lightning-fast first touch and an automated recurring postcard campaign will help convert prospects the rest of the way: into full-fledged clients.

    3. Tenacity

    When you plant a seed, does it immediately spring from the soil in full bloom? Of course not. 

    By the same token, do we dig up seeds to ensure that they’re germinating? Nope. For some reason, we have faith that the seed will sprout. 

    We also have faith that if we nurture the seedling, it will grow, and we’ll realize a return for all our time spent on it.

    Yet, when it comes to prospects, so many agents tend to give up after a short nurturing period; the results weren’t immediate.

    “The average incubation period of a lead is 6 to 24 months,” according to coach Kevin Ward

    Knowing this should give you the patience to hang on, with faith, that many of them will convert to clients.


    PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

    1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

    Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

    Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card!Click Here


    2. The Free 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 and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

    3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

    The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes but is also a business-building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

    4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

    The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

    5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

    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

    6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

    Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here


      When real estate consumers visit your website they are typically searching for three things:

      • Listings
      • Knowledge of the selling/buying process
      • Information about what it’s like to work with you

      The latter includes answers to certain burning questions common among these visitors, such as will you sell their house for what it’s worth and in the time frame they desire? Will you make the process smooth and easy for them? 

      Oh, you may be thinking, “so all I have to do is fill my website with my sales stats, my tenure in the business, and brag about community expertise.”

      Nope. It’s not that easy

      We live in a world where consumers are overly bombarded with sales pitches and have learned to not only tune them out but to distrust them.  

      Tell them until the cows come home that you’re the “neighborhood expert” or the king or queen of local real estate and they may or, more likely may not, believe you.

      Steer them to a website full of helpful information that shows your expertise and provides a sprinkling of strategically placed client testimonials that prove your real estate chops, and now we’re talking.

      How to choose testimonials that will attract buyers

      It’s easy to get carried away when posting testimonials to your website. Many agents post all of their positive reviews, which results in a TLDR (too long, didn’t read) situation. The visitor becomes overwhelmed and, if they read any of them, it will most likely be the first three or four listed.

      Many visitors won’t read any of them.


      Real Estate Times Series is shown above. To see more, Click Here.

      If you’re wondering which of your testimonials have the most power with consumers, take a look at these takeaways from NAR’s Homebuyers and Sellers Generational Trends study:

      • “… an agent who is honest and trustworthy” is the most important criterion used when homebuyers choose their agent.
      • When working with a buyers’ agent, helping them understand the buying process “… was most beneficial to buyers 30 years and younger at 84 percent and for buyers 31 to 40 years at 71 percent.”
      • When asked about the most important benefits their agent provided, 61% said that their agents “Pointed out unnoticed features/faults with the property.” Slightly less than half appreciated their agent’s ability to negotiate “… better sales contract terms.” 

      You can find NAR’s entire study at nar.realtor.

      Now, go through your buyer testimonials and select only those that mention the aforementioned. For instance: “Jack helped us understand the entire process, from start to finish.” 

      Testimonials to attract sellers

      Now you’ll want to do the same with your testimonials from sellers. 

      When choosing an agent, homeowners look at the agent’s reputation, evidence of honesty and integrity, and the agent’s knowledge of the seller’s neighborhood.

      Once they choose a listing agent, they expect the following: 

      • the agent to get the home sold within the client’s timeframe
      • their agent to suggest an appropriate and competitive listing price
      • the agent to aggressively market the home to buyers

      Finally, go through all of your testimonials to find the very best, either buyer or seller. This is the one you’ll want to place, prominently, above-the-fold on the home page of your website.

      The rest can be sprinkled on your other pages.

      Sure, there’s a time and place for self-promotion, but when every page of your website is devoted to describing your accomplishments you become the Selfie King or Queen of real estate.

      Skip the self-hype and let your past clients speak for you.


      PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

      1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

      Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine, with rich, full-color content, and a sharp, professional esthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts, combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

      Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and, it costs less than sending a greeting card!Click Here


      2. The Free 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 Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

      3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

      The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks all of these boxes, but it is a business building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

      4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

      The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

      5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

      This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

      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

      6. The Take a Listing Today Podcast

      Watch the ProspectsPLUS!, Take a Listing Today Podcast for actionable content to help you get more listings. – Click Here