Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category
Filed Under ( Marketing) by admin on June-26-2008
Choose Your Clients – Choose Your Business
The path to failure is trying to please everyone you come into contact with. I believe that I was not put on this earth to help everyone buy and sell. I can’t help everyone, and I don’t want to. Too many Agents believe that they are forced to work with anyone who shows up. By excluding people, you will create better and more loyal clients.
Many of the people we meet are unreasonable and should not be clients of anyone. They don’t deserve the honor of any Agent’s time and attention. Our job is to recognize their low probability of ever becoming a quality client and to run away quickly.
The feeling of walking away from someone who would otherwise cause my staff and me great frustration was even better than that of getting a new listing. The look on that person’s face was always priceless. Most Agents never experience the thrill of doing business on their own terms. Most Agents compromise their philosophy and beliefs for dollars. Below are four different categories of people you will find yourself working with regularly.
Terrific Clients: Most salespeople are just looking for the sale. A professional salesperson is always on the lookout for terrific clients. Terrific clients respect people who are highly skilled at their professions. They listen to advice and guidance that is presented well and that has supporting documentation. They open up about their goals and desires for real estate and their expectation for service. You will always know where terrific clients stand; they don’t play “hide the ball.” You are not the enemy. You and the terrific clients will be on the same team, working toward a common goal. They also will be fantastic referral sources for your business.
No-Clue Clients: No-clue clients live in a dream world. It is difficult to get them to look at the facts and figures that might upset the fantasy world in which they live. These clients really don’t want to know the truth . . . that their home is worth 15% less than they think. Each one believes that he or she will land the one buyer who will pay dramatically above fair market value. Unless the no-clue client has extremely high motivation – job transfer, divorce, new children — you will have no sale. If the bottom line is that they have to move, you may be able to bring them to reality. In that case, the no-clue client could eventually make progress toward becoming a terrific client.
Information Service Clients: These people just want information and expertise from you. They have no intention of creating a relationship of trust; you are only there to provide your knowledge. The information-only client truly believes that this approach is justified. He or she also believes that if you are foolish enough to give your knowledge for free, then that’s your problem. These clients will take your knowledge; they will either use it to buy or sell on their own or will give it to a friend or family member who doesn’t have your skill level and put the business into that person’s hands.
Information-only clients will rarely answer direct questions. They are evasive. They will challenge your knowledge, beliefs, advice, fees, and services; these challenges will usually become their justification for not working with you. Sometimes they get offended at your questions. Their belief is that the expertise that they can get out of you is useful, but that their way is better.
Distrusts Everyone Clients: These clients believe that everyone is out to get them. They believe that everyone is trying to reach into their back pockets. They believe that every question you ask comes with its own hidden agenda . . . that what you are really looking for is the weak point that will allow you to destroy them. Even when, with a lot of care and attention, you manage to win these people over and make them your clients, they will be gone if you or your team make one honest error. They believe that whatever negative experiences happen to them it is all part of the big conspiracy against them.
Selecting and excluding people at the outset is the best way to ensure good client relations. Many problems with clients are caused, not by external events or deficiencies in our interpersonal skills, but by the perceptions and expectations of clients themselves. Some people just don’t make good clients. Create a strong interview process, so you can quickly and efficiently remove the problem prospects before they get inside your inner circle. The price you pay for letting them inside is wasted time, wasted energy, emotional drain for you and your staff, and certainly loss of revenue. Focus on working only with terrific clients. You’ll be amazed at the increased income and job satisfaction you will enjoy.
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Filed Under ( Marketing) by admin on June-26-2008
Create Immediate and Massive Exposure for Your Listing
Carlsbad, CA (PRWEB) June 12, 2008 — TheAgentMarketingTool.com has created a cost effective way for Real Estate Professionals to market their listings to other agents. Called Listing Flyers, the service offers agents immediate and massive exposure for their listings by targeting other agents in their local market or nationwide.
Agents can build email flyers and send out in under 10 minutes with just a few clicks of the mouse. It’s a simple process of selecting a template, adding the pictures and property details, selecting the target audience, submitting payment and clicking send. With the easy to use interface, agents are able to add pictures, text and content without any html or technical knowledge.
“I have used TheAgentMarketingTool to send out some listing flyers for my REOs,” said Ross Wiczer, Realty Force in Maryland. “Investors are starting to come back in my area and letting other agents know about my listings is a great way to create added exposure.”
All of TheAgentMarketingTool’s emails are compliant with the “No Spam” act. Every email sent is to a current real estate professional. If the information sent is not of interest, each recipient has the option to “opt out” of future mailings.
For a limited time, real estate agents can email Listing Flyers to up to 2,500 agents in their area for only $14.95. There are no other solutions that can get your listing in front of so many agents for the same cost.
Agents use this cost effective service to communicate with their current and past clients as well as area Realtors to announce new listings, broker previews, open houses, buyer bonuses, price reductions, etc.
About TheAgentMarketingTool.com
TheAgentMarketingTool allows agents to create professional listing flyers in just a few minutes. See website for more details at www.theagentmarketingtool.com
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Filed Under ( Marketing) by admin on February-28-2008
How to Be “The” Default Market Expert
In recent months a day hardly passes without mention of foreclosures, REO and a changing market. The burning question in the mind of many agents is: “How can I become the Default Expert in my market?”
While only a small percentage of the nation’s approximate 1.2 million Realtors currently work with defaulted properties, foreclosures, and REOs (real estate owned by lenders after foreclosure), many of the more savvy Realtors see the value in learning how to do just that, especially considering the current housing shift.
Three key elements are needed for success:
1. Know-how;
2. Effective Strategy;
3. Constant, up-to-the-minute information.
Hot topics to consider as you position yourself as the market expert include:
- Short Sales Made Simple
- REO Fundamentals from A to Z
- Marketing REO Properties
- Property Preservation
- Real Estate and the Government: Making It Work for You
Sources for education, certification and even industry designation are becoming available from increasing sources as agents look for ways to leverage this current market trend. One company leading the way is The Five Star Institute.
The Five Star Institute is an independent education and networking services provider that brings together the various mortgage lending and default servicing sectors to promote the effectiveness of default servicing professionals. The Five Star Institute’s goal is to address industry-wide needs and challenges and foster a solution-driven environment.
The Five Star Institute’s mission is to promote innovation, standardization, education, certification, and recognition in the default servicing industry. The Five Star Institute exists to further the betterment of the default servicing industry by working with lenders and servicers and its ancillary business sectors - such as legal and title providers, real estate brokerages, appraisers, property inspection and maintenance contractors, and technology systems firms. By offering innovative, responsive, top-quality education and networking opportunities, the Five Star Institute receives the highest possible levels of approval from the industry as a whole, which includes policy makers, regulators, ratings agencies, investors, and the knowledgeable public.
Education and training options are available on-line or live at content rich sessions from the Five Star Institute. The next regional training seminar is coming to Pasadena, CA March 13-15. For more information visit: http://www.fivestarinstitute.com/default.asp?page=8
This is for certain: the foreclosure and REO market is not going away soon. Now is the time to become the expert in your market.
As Abraham Lincoln wrote: “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”
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Filed Under ( Marketing) by admin on February-28-2008
How to Use Social Networks to Attract Clients
By Kate Kirby, HouseValues, Inc.
If you haven’t heard the term social networking, it’s time you did. Social networks are hot these days because they make it easy to build relationships on the Internet—and it’s fun and everyone’s doing it. As a real estate agent, social networking is a powerful and free way to build relationships that become transactions and commissions.
Unexpected Success
Often unconventional or “guerilla” marketing is more effective than conventional advertising in helping you win clients. Social networking is among the most powerful new types of guerilla marketing available, letting you showcase your expertise in a friendly and often receptive environment.
Social networking websites let folks connect with their friends and colleagues, share comments and questions, and more. That’s why they attract so many people—one in four Americans is an active MySpace user, for example. Many of these people want to buy a home or own a home, or know someone who does.
Tips to Make Social Networks Work for You
· Make sure your messages do not feel like sales pitches—offer advice and help instead.
· Start slow—there are a lot of social networks out there, and for them to be an effective business-building tool, you should spend time on them a couple of times a week at a minimum.
· Once you join a social network, invite everyone in your email address book—the more the merrier—to make the most potentially lucrative connections.
With a social network, you gain access to a whole new realm of potential clients. It can be fun and rewarding in every sense of the word. And did I mention it’s free?
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Filed Under ( Marketing) by admin on January-24-2008
The ABCs of CRM
By Kate Kirby, HouseValues, Inc.
In a new year that’s as ugly as this one is shaping up to be, you may be tempted to shove your real estate business into a dusty corner and watch reruns of “Flip This House” until the market gets better.
Unfortunately, that won’t pay the bills. So let’s get back to the basics: your ABCs.
A is for acceptance. It’s time to acknowledge the situation and find a better way to pay the bills. In down times, agents in denial will be looking for a new career in a couple of months. Wise agents, however, see these times as the opportunity to reinvigorate their business.
B is for bonds and building relationships. As a real estate professional, you know the most important thing you do is build relationships with people. Whether they’re first-time buyers, investors, sellers, past clients… it’s the relationships you build that lead these prospects to become your clients. To be truly successful, it’s essential that you build many of these relationships at the same time.
Without any tools, relationship building is time-consuming. But a customer relationship management (CRM) tool can support you and save time, enabling you to dramatically scale your business and income.
C is for CRM. What is CRM, you ask? According to Wikipedia, customer relationship management “covers concepts used by companies to manage their relationships with customers, including the capture, storage and analysis of customer, vendor, partner, and internal process information.” It’s what you do every day, but with a tool helping you.
With a CRM system, today’s downturn becomes manageable—and much less scary—because you have a pipeline of potential future business and an easy way to tap into it.
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Harness the Cyclone of a Changed Business
Harness the Cyclone of a Changed Business
Let’s face it – today’s market is different. Anyone who’s entered the business fifteen years or less ago has likely never seen a flat or down market. And it’s not just the real estate industry – many businesses today are off a significant percentage from their 2005 and 2006 banner years.
Things that worked well three years ago aren’t working now. And when you try to pinpoint only one thing, you find that your business has changed in more areas than just one. The inbound calls of yard signs have virtually dried up. Perhaps the Just Listed cards that used to generate “come list me” calls have lost their effectiveness as well. Open houses that used to generate scores of eager buyers now attract just a handful of lookers. You need help. And not with just one idea… with everything.
Take 30 minutes to analyze your business. What area is presenting the greatest challenge for you right now? Define at least one action you can take this week to improve your situation. One quick tip from the STAR POWER Stars: in a down market, it’s especially critical to be calling each and every past client and customer to strengthen relationships, look for change that might precipitate a move for them, and ask for the referral of their friends, family, and colleagues. How many calls a day are you willing to commit to?
As for everything else flying about your cyclone? We have good news – the help you need is out there. STAR POWER Systems’ Annual Conference covers everything from prospecting to find new business, to getting sellers to price realistically for a sale, to Web lead incubation, to strengthening your brand, and so very much more. The next Conference will be held July 23-26, 2008, in Orlando, Florida. Around 2,000 of the most success-minded agents in the country, from all franchises and independents, at all levels of production, will come together to learn from 170 of North America’s most successful and sharing top producers.
When asked about the value of the Conference, Cynthia Morgan from Naperville, Illinois, had this to say: “Since the STAR POWER Conference we are 32% above last year’s totals, and we’re working as a Team toward amazing goals! Our rainmaker keeps us fired up constantly. The “It’s My Pleasure” attitude permeates our office. Our morale is through the roof and we have No Doubt we will reach our Goals! THE TOOLS FROM STAR POWER HAVE TRULY GIVEN US THE POWER TO CHANGE OUR MINDSET AND CREATE RAVING FANS!”
A huge price break is available through November 30; take advantage of the tax write-off in 2007 by registering now. Call 1-800-635-6750 or visit www.gostarpower.com/Conference to get registered. And to get Conference-level help right now, order the Best Of Phoenix audio CDs, capturing the lion’s share of the 2007 Annual Conference just held in July. Scores of Stars and 28 sessions stand waiting to come to your aid.
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