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Take 5–and Trust Your Email Marketing

admin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:02:37 +0000

Take 5 – and Trust Your Email Marketing

HouseValues is your one source for exclusive buyer and seller leads plus the tools, training and coaching you need to attract more clients, make more money, and enjoy more free time! With your custom HouseValues marketing package you’ll learn to: Increase Your Productivity, Boost Closed Sales, Win More Listing Presentations, Sell Your Listings for Top Dollar and much more! Get started today by visiting our website or for faster service call HouseValues toll-free at 877-732-9412.

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Take 5 – and Trust Your Email Marketing

Getting to know potential home buyers and sellers is one of the best things that you can do to grow your business. That’s a no-brainer. And the Internet—including email—is an essential way to communicate with prospective buyers and sellers. Again, a no-brainer. Where many agents get stuck, though, is how they use email.

Be Proactive

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Since nearly 3 out of 4 people think hitting the “This is Spam” button in their email is the way to unsubscribe, it’s wise to prevent complaints about you in the first place. Otherwise you may end up on an ISP’s list of suspected spammers. That’s right: spammers aren’t just big businesses. Even you could be listed as a spammer if you’re not careful with your email.

Here are 5 tips to take so you can trust that your email marketing is doing its work:

If one out of five postcards you sent wasn’t seen by its intended recipient, what would you do? You’d find out what went wrong, because you care about your marketing investment. You’d ask, “Did I forget the stamp? Did I have a legitimate address?” It’s important to pay just as much attention to your email marketing.

As real estate agents, we use every tool available to build relationships with prospective buyers and sellers. That’s how we grow our business. Today’s buyers and sellers use computers—so it makes sense for you to use the Internet and email to keep in touch. When you track effectiveness properly maintain your email communications, you can relax, because your online marketing stands the best possible chance for success.

1. Tell ’em what it’s about. Let people know what they can expect from your email by linking to a recent example of your newsletter on your sign-up page. Once they’ve subscribed, send a welcome email that reminds them of your newsletter frequency. Encourage them to add your email to their address book.

2. No means no. If a person requests to unsubscribe, immediately stop sending email. However, many wise agents use the unsubscribe to get in touch personally. Call and ask why they unsubscribed. I’ve heard stories of agents doing this—they find out that the “unsubscriber” only wanted to stop the emails temporarily while on vacation. Leverage this personal contact into an in-person meeting.

3. More is not always better. Yes, it’s essential to keep in touch. However, too much email contact is annoying. Email with an appropriate frequency, then send postcards and make calls from time to time.

4. Beware spam triggers. Certain combinations of words or layouts can trigger spam filters: “Dear friend” for example, or writing in ALL CAPS, using fonts bigger than 14 or bold and red. Avoid unusual fonts—Arial and Verdana common, safe fonts. You may get away with a few triggers, but the more triggers in your email, the more likely it will be filtered. Use a testing program before sending to check for triggers.

5. Watch trends. Establish email delivery benchmarks. Do you know the received rate and open rate for your last email? If you don’t, it’s time to find out and work to improve them. Study any complaints and unsubscribes, looking for patterns. Did you see a spike? When was it—after you sent an email that wasn’t about real estate? Are the unsubscribers new people? If so, maybe you’re not meeting the expectations you set when they signed up.

Choose Your Clients–Choose Your Business

admin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:01:59 +0000

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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How to Create Immediate and Massive Exposure for Your Listing

admin — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:01:32 +0000

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

10 Steps to Effective Time Management

admin — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:10:09 +0000

Smart time management is the secret to a thriving real estate business. Here are the top 10 ways to take control of your schedule so you can close more transactions:

1. Set goals: Create a yearly business plan, then break it down into the goals you’ll need to accomplish each month. This will ensure that you’re motivated to succeed!

2. Prioritize: Determine the tasks needed to accomplish each goal, then make a daily to-do list according to their importance.

3. Stop procrastinating: Today! When you have a prioritized to-do list, do the items in the order they appear—no cheating, no rationalizations. Period.

4. End perfectionism: Know when to stop! It’s tempting to keep fussing with a flyer or follow-up email, but there comes a point where the time spent working on a task is greater than the benefit of your efforts. That’s when you need to stop and move on to the next task.

5. Say no: If you feel a request is unreasonable, takes too much time, or prevents you from accomplishing your goals, politely refuse. If this is difficult for you, practice your refusal aloud to a friend or mirror.

6. Take a break: If you’re burned out or exhausted, you’re wasting your time and money. Better to take a few days of uninterrupted time off than drag on for weeks working half-heartedly.

7. Invest in your skills: Take a seminar, find a coach, read a book. Learning something new can save you time and make you more effective in your business.

8. Focus: Don’t let your mind wander. When you’re working on a task, put all your energy into it. This will help you finish the task more quickly so you can move on to the next one.

9. Ask questions: One of the biggest time-stealers is miscommunication. Make sure you have all the information you need to complete the task before you start.

10. Use technology tools: Spend your time on the face-to-face tasks that earn money. For everything else—such as finding new prospects or sending follow-up emails—use a full-service prospect capture and management system. HouseValues delivers a steady flow of motivated home buyers and sellers plus automated follow-up tools to help you close more business in less time.

When you use these tips to help you manage your schedule, you can achieve the success you want in no time!

Helping more than 10,000 agents across North America manage their time, HouseValues puts agents in touch with exclusive prospective home buyers and sellers, and even helps them manage their contacts, automatically keep in touch with prospects, and enhance their real estate sales and business skills. To find out more (and to get your FREE 2008 Agent Business Plan) go to www.REAgentBusinessPlan.com.

How to Get More Gen X and Gen Y Buyers Signed

admin — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:09:52 +0000

Home Warranty of Americas new product, the GreenPlus is an agent’s dream come true for buyer signing and new listing sales tool-kit for younger buyers. Gen X and gen Y buyers want to live Green and GreenPlus has Perfect appeal to their lifestyle desires.

Take a minute to learn how GreenPlus Home Warranty can benefit you and your clients. You can increase your sales opportunity, you’re income and help save our environment! Green Agent!

GreenPlus:

Replacing Key Appliances and Systems with ENERGY STAR Rated Products

Home Warranty of America announced today the availability of the first-ever Green Home Warranty Option in the Nation.* Real Estate Professionals can now offer their buyers a comprehensive home warranty from HWA^TM with the option to purchase GreenPlus. This new Option provides replacement of the appliances and systems shown below with ENERGY STAR rated products, if the unit cannot be repaired.

Dishwasher
Refrigerator
Clothes Washer
Heating System (with 90% efficiency)
Water Heater (with a tankless water heater)
Oven, Range, Cook Top

“This is an incredible breakthrough in the home warranty business. It means that many of the thousands of replacements we handle each year for our customers with these appliances and systems will upgrade to much more energy efficient units, helping to save money for our customers. It will also reduce energy consumption and positively impact the environment through less greenhouse gases” said David Sobel, V.P. of Sales, Home Warranty of America.

“We know from ENERGY STAR that if just one in 10 homes used ENERGY STAR qualified appliances, the change would be like planting 1.7 million acres of trees. We believe Real Estate Professionals and Consumers want this and so do we. It can only be a win-win for all of us” said Marc Roth, President & CEO of Home Warranty of America.

*GreenPlus is now available to Real Estate Professionals in Texas, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. It will be available nationally by April 1, 2008.

Another new Home Warranty of America Product Takes Away the challenge of Covering the Unknown in the home being bought or Sold

OrangePlus:

Takes Away the Challenge of Covering Unknown, Pre-existing Conditions and Improperly Matched Systems with the OrangePlus Option

The OrangePlus Option is now available through Home Warranty of America (HWA^TM) and offers Real Estate Professionals and their clients even more peace-of-mind in a home purchase.* This new HWA^TMOption covers or increases*

unknown, pre-existing conditions
improperly matched or installed systems
removal of defective equipment
professional series appliances to $2500
toilet replacements to $600
code violations/permits up to $350

“We’re known for surveying our clients and the marketplace to develop innovative solutions in the home warranty industry that meet their needs and make it easier to buy and sell homes” says David Sobel, V.P. of Sales.

“This year we even placed some of this coverage right into our contracts offering our real estate clients more choice in programs and options and making OrangePlus flexible to the marketplaces we both serve” added Marc Roth, President & CEO.

HWA offers OrangePlus nationally to Real Estate Professionals through their HWA Sales Representatives, on-line at https://www.hwahomewarranty.com/YourRealtyInsider.htm and via Customer Service Representatives at the toll-free telephone number 1-888-492-7359.

*Check your contract for complete details. OrangePlus is now available to Real Estate Professionals in Texas, California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. It will be available nationally by April 1, 2008.

For more information, please visit HWA’s web site. https://www.hwahomewarranty.com/YourRealtyInsider.htm

Be Effective in Sales by Understanding People

admin — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:09:32 +0000

Be Effective in Sales by Understanding People

To be an effective salesperson, you have to understand people. You have to understand that people buy and sell for a set of reasons. They also make decisions on whom they do that with based on their reasons, not ours. Being able to read people and ask the right questions is essential to success. Let me share the rules of reading people.

1. People are egocentric: This means they are self-focused. They are clearly fixated on what’s in it for them. If we don’t know what they want and link that with the benefits of doing business with us, we will stumble in sales. We all look at the world based on how a given situation or opportunity relates to us personally. When we fail to connect the dots personally with our customers, we are rendered less effective.

2. People make decisions emotionally: Most of us decide quickly. Some of us gather our facts and information previous to making a decision. Once we gather the necessary data, we move to the decision. Even the most analytical person will make decisions based on a feeling, need, or emotion. These people’s sales cycles are longer than others. Your job is to identify the longer sales cycles and be there at the appropriate time. We must also send all the data beforehand to be digested by the customer before they meet with us.

3. People will justify their decisions with reasons: As salespeople, we have to give the prospect sufficient reason to do business with us. This frees them to move forward in the purchase based on the emotional impulse they feel. They want to move forward but are looking for a little security to justify their decision. We must provide a compelling reason for their movement forward now!

4. People delay making decisions: The longer the customer postpones making the decision, the lower probability the decision will ever be made. As salespeople, our objective is to provide the customer with enough reasons to get them to attach benefit to our service. Our other objective is to encourage them and direct them to act on it now once they have the information. The sooner we can provoke a decision by the customer, the higher the probability that it will be in our favor. The longer the time between when you make your presentation and when the customer decides, the lower the probability of success. We must focus to shorten our sales cycles.

5. People fear losing something: The fear of loss is one of the most powerful motivators for action. People will move more quickly to a decision if they stand to lose something than if they are positioned to gain something. As salespeople, we need to put our compelling reasons for action now in terms of potential losses to our clients. There are two types of fear of loss.

A. Losing something you have

B. Losing the chance to have something you want

Both of these are forefront in your customer’s thoughts.

To be effective in sales, we really need to master understanding people and what makes them tick. We have to use a full complement of techniques to help our prospects and clients make the right decisions for their success.

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