February 18, 2010

What Are Top Producers Thinking?

Filed under: Marketing — Sam Prochazka @ 10:06 pm

Have you ever wondered what top producers are thinking? Me too; so I asked…

I speak to hundreds of Realtors™ every month and I’m privileged to know some of the top producing Realtors™ in North America. I’ve based the info in this article on top producers who:

  • carry at least 15 listings, even during slow times
  • close at least 1 deal per week averaged throughout the year
  • are talked about jealously by other Realtors™ in their offices
  • are on a first name basis with some board or association officials
  • have been in the industry for five or more years (usually 10 plus)

Straight to The Point

Here are three words I hear constantly from conversations with top producers:

  • Committed
  • Consistent
  • Investment

If you’re a top producer you’re probably nodding your head. These words define the foundation of EVERY successful Realtor™ and business person alike.

“Ok sure - committed, consistent, investment… what does that mean anyway?”

I’ve asked them the same question and here’s what they told me:

Committed:

Commitment is a state of mind. Being committed means:

  • knowing that you offer more value to your existing and prospective customers than any of your competitors
  • defining and focusing on what needs to get done everyday
  • being disciplined about work hours, punctuality, etc.
  • raising the standard of your business all the time

Consistent:

A business cannot be successful without being consistent. Being consistent means:

  • Meticulously, and realistically planning all marketing
  • Methodically implementing daily, weekly, monthly and yearly plans
  • Completing and following-through on all scheduled activities, without fail

Investment:

Top producers follow this rule: every moment and every dollar spent on business should generate a return. That means:

  • Not wasting time on low return mediums - in my experience most top producers don’t use Twitter and don’t spend their time creating facebook pages (sorry all you social networkers out there, but that’s the reality). They are out with customers, face-to-face, showing homes, meeting people at the members-only gym, and constantly collecting contact information.
  • Spending proper dollars where they count - believe it or not, many of the top producers I know still use mailbox flyers! Lots are also sniping with google adwords, and most have assistants who manage their contact databases.

The bottom line

It’s not superior sales skill or personality that separate top-producers from the pack, it’s a consistent, committed investment of time and money.

February 2, 2010

3 Reasons Why Paging Services Kill Business

Filed under: Marketing, Technology — Sam Prochazka @ 12:52 pm

It’s a competitive market out there, and what your paging service isn’t (or is) doing might be costing you thousands in lost business. Here are the three biggest reasons why paging services are killing your business:

1. Paging Services are Out-Dated

Sure, paging services served their purpose by providing a real voice at the end of the line in an industry where it would otherwise be impossible, but times changed long ago with the advent of mobile phones.

These days customers perceive paging services as just another barrier between them and the information they need. The added step of calling a paging service, then waiting for a call back can be a frustrating and often futile experience. At least leaving a voice mail gets it to the doorstep of the right person - a page could end up just about anywhere.

2. Paging Services are Unreliable

It’s happened to all of us - we’ve sent text messages that haven’t gone through as expected. The same is true for paging services, and unless you’re willing to check the paging report thoroughly every month, be prepared to lose some business from incorrectly paged leads.

Not only that, but what if the paging receptionist (who’s making minimum wage) makes a typo in the phone number from that inbound lead? Goodbye commission cheque.

3. Paging Services are Unprofessional

Here’s one of the most irritating voice mail greetings a Realtor can have:

“Hi, you’ve reached the voice mail for Sam Prochazka, Realtor serving the Greater Calgary area. I’m currently serving other customers, but please leave a message and I’ll return your call at my earliest convenience. If your call is urgent, please page me through my office at 123-456-789…”

So - I can leave a message, or I can call another number, potentially hold for several minutes, have them send my Realtor a text message that may or may not get through, then have it end up at the exact place I’ve just called? I’ll go elsewhere, thanks.

What Top Producers Do

The bottom line is that top producers realize that every “service” between them and their customers is a barrier. They realize that EVERY phone call, from inquiry to motivated seller, is a potential commission and should be treated as professionally as a listing presentation.

Top Producers I’ve spoken to do the following:

  1. They make sure their office paging service gives out their cell-phone number (even the evening services)
  2. They work at a brokerage that has extended hours
  3. They advertise their cell phone numbers
  4. They present realistic callback times in their cell phone voice mail greetings

How Many Websites Should A Realtor Have?

Filed under: Marketing, Real Estate Websites — Sam Prochazka @ 10:48 am

Lots of Realtors® have more than one website, but is it really worth it?

The More the Better, Right?

Web designers looking to sell more product will say that multiple websites will:

  • give more places for leads to visit
  • create better niche targeting
  • allow different websites for different customers/property types/etc.
  • provide a wider net to catch business with

“Yes, but these are all good reasons to get multiple websites, right?”

No. The truth is that having more than one website will:

  • force a Realtor’s® to be spread his/her resources proportionally (and thinly) over all websites
  • confuse visitors looking for everything under one “roof”
  • weigh the Realtor® down with more technical issues such as complex interlinking, website maintenance, etc.
  • cost MUCH more

One website is best

The fact is that one well-designed website is best, period. Having one website allows:

  • the Realtor® to focus all his/her resources on promoting one domain name/brand
  • the Realtor® to be specific, focusing on perfecting one single website rather than several
  • the Realtor® to offer one focal point for ALL activities (MLS® searching, blogging, brand-building, etc.)

Conclusion

The bottom line: more money, more fun, and more time off are all better… but having more than one website isn’t.

January 4, 2010

Most Important New Year’s Resolution for Realtors

Filed under: Marketing — Sam Prochazka @ 10:48 am

Making more cold calls? Doing more advertising? Becoming more internet savvy? Though these are good resolutions, they are all dwarfed by the most important, and easiest resolution of all: confirming contact information.

Why is this so important?

Okay - this is obvious; the more important question is whether this is a good use of your time. We conducted a survey of 30 random Realtors® and discovered that over 80% had incorrect contact information somewhere in their advertising sphere (and yes, this included Top Producers)! We strongly recommend that ALL Realtors® perform an annual confirmation of their contact information.

Where should I confirm contact information?

Everywhere. It’s vital that anywhere you put personal contact information, it is correct. Here’s a quick checklist:

  • Realtor.com (US)
  • Realtor.org (US)
  • Realtor.ca (Canada)
  • Your personal website
  • Your business card
  • Your office website
  • Your office reception
  • Your office paging company
  • Your business partner
  • Your receptionist
  • Your MLS® and Realtor® Association
  • All advertising (flyers, billboards, bus benches, listing feature sheets, etc.)

What information to confirm

RealPageMaker suggests that Realtors® provide as much contact information as possible wherever they can (check this article for examples). As such, make sure to confirm the following (in order of importance):

  • Full name
  • Cell phone number
  • Website URL
  • Email address
  • Office phone number
  • Fax number
  • Postal address

December 31, 2009

3 Biggest Myths About Real Estate Leads

Filed under: Marketing, Prospecting — Sam Prochazka @ 11:02 am

Think you’re doing everything right with your leads? Think again. What you believe to be true might be costing you thousands every month, and 5 years of relaxed, rich retirement…

Myth 1: Most leads won’t convert

If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard this one I would’ve retired years ago! The truth is that everyone in the world needs a place to live, and the vast majority of people you speak to will buy one or more homes during their lifetimes. Check out these statistics about home ownership in the developed world (number of households who own their home):

  • Ireland: 83%
  • Italy:     78%
  • Australia: 69%
  • United Kingdom: 69%
  • Canada: 67%
  • Finland: 67%
  • United States: 65%
  • Belgium: 65%
  • Japan: 60%
  • Sweden: 60%
  • France: 54%
  • Denmark: 53%
  • Netherlands: 49%
  • Germany: 43%

The only truth to this myth is that most leads won’t convert right away. Top Producers take advantage of this by collecting contact information and staying in touch with a huge number of people and closing multiple deals with them over a period of years and decades. Of course doing this properly isn’t necessarily common-sense, which leads us to myth 2…

Myth 2: Realtors® don’t need a CRM (Customer Relationship Manager)

“Huh? What’s a Customer Relationship Manager?”

A Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) is a type of software that ALL successful Realtors® (and businesses) use to keep track of their Spheres of Influence. A good CRM allows a Realtor® to keep track of (and keep in touch with) thousands of leads and past customers. A Realtor® without a CRM will always be living from deal-to-deal.

One of the most important aspects of a good CRM is often overlooked: retirement nest egg. Imagine the Top Producer in your office standing up at the next Monday-morning-meeting and announcing that he/she is retiring, and selling his/her book of business to the highest bidder… Guess what? He/She will be able to retire 5 years earlier!

Myth 3: Closing deals is an art, not a science

Sure, closing a deal involves a degree of artistic finesse, but improving conversion rates and decreasing conversion times requires strict application of the scientific process.

A quick review (from our junior high science fairs) of the scientific process (source):

  1. Define the question
  2. Gather information and resources (observe)
  3. Form hypothesis
  4. Perform experiment and collect data
  5. Analyze data
  6. Interpret data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothesis

Most Realtors® think they know how to close deals because they manage to do just that from time-to-time. The truth is that regimented trial and error with documentation and analysis is the only way to improve.

Conclusion

The most successful Realtors® I know understand that their professions operate according to the same rules as all other businesses. They take care to keep in touch with people, invest as much time in maintaining a customer base as they do building it, and they look at each process scientifically.

November 9, 2009

Biggest Mistake 30% of Realtors Make Online

Filed under: Buyers, Marketing, Prospecting, Sellers — Sam Prochazka @ 2:39 pm

We recently completed a survey of 50 Realtors® and discovered that the most common mistake they make with their websites is not calling their leads!

“Wow - that’s ridiculous. But it can’t be many of them can it?”

Our survey revealed that a whopping 30% of Realtors® don’t call leads generated from their websites!!

“What do you mean, not calling? Surely the Realtors® emailed them or did some other type of follow-up??”

This is what we’d thought, but after further questioning we discovered that these leads had simply been forgotten, missed, or just not followed-up with at all.

Why?

In most cases (66%), Realtors® ignored emails coming from their websites. In other cases (20%) Realtors® assumed the customers would not immediately convert. The remaining Realtors® reported a host of other reasons including (but not limited to) untrained/low-quality assistants, not enough time, etc.

Other things to be aware of

In addition to almost a third of Realtors® not calling their leads at all, a further 30% waited upwards of 24 hours before responding to their email/website inquiries! Any current or future top producer knows that even an hour, let alone a full day, can mean the difference between getting business or not.

When a lead was called, what happened?

Of the 70% who reported that they’d called their leads back, the vast majority (over 75%) reported that they’d made one or more sales from those leads during the prior year. Almost 10% reported that they’d made one or more sales within the prior month!

Our conclusion

By our estimates, Realtors® can increase website lead conversion two-fold by making the following two changes:

  1. Call or email ALL leads that approach you through your website
  2. Make sure your website sends leads directly to your cell phone or mobile device so you can call or email ALL leads immediately

What You’ve Forgotten on Your Listing Information

Filed under: Marketing — Sam Prochazka @ 11:02 am

We conducted a recent survey of 100 random listings from the web and found that a whopping 45% of ALL listings have invalid, non-functioning, or incomplete contact information…

Typical Example

Here are two screen-shots showing exactly what we mean (taken from random Calgary listings on Realtor.ca):

Realtor Contact Information

Realtor Contact Information

Notice that the contact information on the left is incomplete - the visitor can either visit the Realtor’s® website or send them an email. The contact info on the right, however, gives the visitor 5 contact options (direct, office, email, website, fax). Which Realtor® is missing out?

What Contact Information to Include

Include it ALL! Top Producers know that the more ways customers can contact them the better. They also make sure that:

  • They include their direct line on everything
  • They have the ability to check email/website inquires on the road (mobile device)
  • They respond to all inquiries within minutes, not hours or days
  • They do frequent checks to make sure their contact information is correct

October 19, 2009

Free Google Advertising (with video)

Filed under: Marketing, Prospecting, Real Estate Websites — Sam Prochazka @ 4:35 pm

Ever wanted to get free exposure on Google? Now you can!

Google has a service called the Local Business Center, which allows you to add and edit a listing for your business so that it’ll appear in some search results and on Google Maps.

Here’s the deal:

You can access this service at: www.google.com/lbc. If you’re in Canada make sure to use the SMS verification process as the phone verification doesn’t seem to work.

This will work best for those who sign up first. Make sure to get on it!!

UPDATE: Similar services provided on Yahoo and Bing:

September 15, 2009

Step-By-Step: Keeping Visitors Coming Back

Filed under: Marketing, Real Estate Websites, SEO — Sam Prochazka @ 8:41 am

Most agents think of their websites as a single-use tool, capable of delivering value only once to each visitor. The key to being successful is keeping the website useful so that visitors keep coming back. Here’s how to do it, step-by-step.

Step 1: Determine your niche

Every successful Realtor® has self-reflected and chosen their particular area of specialty. Here are some common niches:

  • Rental property sales
  • Multi-family building sales
  • Land parcel sales to developers
  • etc.

Successful Realtors® will only choose a niche that meets the following criteria:

  • There is a big enough niche demand
  • it is not over-filled with competition
  • it has entrance barriers (connections, training, experience) that will prevent competitors from entering
  • it can be easily advertised (doesn’t require long explanations)

Step 2: Profile your customer

With a niche in chosen, it’s now much simpler to zero-in on potential customers. To profile a niche customer, begin by asking the following questions:

  • What is the customer’s income?
  • What is the customer’s age?
  • What are the customer’s extra-curricular interests?
  • Where does the customer spend his/her time?
  • What does the customer search for on Google?

Successful Realtors® take their time with this - and are often be surprised what they come up with.

Step 3: Target your customer

One of the most successful Realtors® I know targets doctors who like golf. He’s from humble means, and needed to save up for over a year to pay the $15k membership fee at an exclusive central golf club. It took a few months and a little networking, but he managed to work his way into their circles and sold several large, centrally-located houses to some of the most exclusive customers in the city.

This is an excellent example effective customer targeting.

Step 4: Provide a point of reference

When you enter your niche, you’ll be amazed at how referrals start coming to you. It’s at this point that your website begins to play a critical role as a point of reference for this inbound business. Make sure your website achieves the following:

  • Ranks at the #1 spot on Google for your name
  • Provides your niche information on your front page
  • Provide hot-links to other key sections of your website (MLS® Search, contact page, blog, etc.

Step 5: Give them a reason to return

A good website is one with fresh information. Here are the must-haves on a good, up-to-date website:

  • Latest MLS® data
  • Market statistics
  • Market news

Visitors MUST be able to consider your website as the gospel about your niche. Make sure to invest adequate time in keeping your information current, and relevant.

September 14, 2009

Top 4 Listing Detail No-Nos…

Filed under: Marketing, Real Estate Websites — Sam Prochazka @ 4:44 pm

Even the slightest difference in wording can turn a killer listing description into a wet noodle. Here are the top 4 mistakes you can’t afford to make:

1. Being Bland

Check out this lack-luster description:

“Good 1 bedroom apartment on the second floor, new kitchen, new fridge and dishwasher, hardwood floor, new paint, ceramic tile in kitchen and bathroom…”

Have you ever bought something that’s, “Good,” if there’s something right next door that’s, “Great?” Maybe, but only if it was $10k less.

Words like, “Excellent,” “Great,” and, “Fantastic,” will attract more buyers and showcase your listing better.

2. Too Short

Having a description like,

“Great condo on Howe Street, appliances, view, secure building. Shows beautifully.”

will frustrate potential purchasers and tell sellers they’re not worth more than one line. Make sure to include the details people are looking for - bedrooms, bathrooms, exposure, view, amenities, back yard, area.

3. Too Long

Long descriptions bore readers and increase the possibility of spelling or grammatical errors. Keeping descriptions between 80 and 140 words will ensure the perfect balance of enticement and brevity.

4. Spelling and Grammar Mistakes

Spelling and grammar mistakes are by far the biggest mistake Realtors® make when writing listing descriptions. Such mistakes are inexcuseable in this age of spelling and grammar checking software. For an excellent, completely free wordprocesser and office suite, check out OpenOffice.

Older Posts »
Careers | Privacy Policy
© Copyright 2010 RealPageMaker ® | making you money. saving you time. simple. | websites for real estate. All rights reserved