What does your database look like?

Your database is one of the most vital elements inside of your business. Whether you have been in the industry for 30 years or are just starting out, understanding how to categorise and evaluate your lists of buyers, sellers and clients can really maximize the growth of your business.

The largest category in your database is Buyers. This includes buyers who are also property owners. Some of them are likely landlords of properties you manage. You want to use your database to regularly keep in touch with these people. In order to make that process most efficient, you want to maintain a current database, which means maintaining only currently active buyers in that Buyers category. But you don’t want to lose track of those people completely. Instead, buyers who are not actively buying need to be moved to a different category.

When a buyer completes their real estate transaction they can usually be entered into a new category inside your database called Potential Sellers, which also includes all the people who attend your open for inspections and who own property in your areas. Your long-term goal is to get to know all of the potential sellers in your marketplace. Potential sellers will eventually move into a new category called Market Appraisals once you actually meet with them, see their property, and build enough of a relationship with them to know something about their reasons for selling. From there these people can become your Current Clients.

You need to know how many current clients you can comfortably and effectively work with without overloading your capacities. One way to gauge this is by average days on market. If your days on market tend to be longer, then you can carry more stock at a time. If you turn over properties more quickly, then you can afford to carry less stock. In either case, you always want to list more stock than you sell.

The final category inside of your database is Past Clients. These are the people you have actually bought and sold property with. They can be the most valuable people in your database because they become clients for life. Your Past Clients category is one that you want to keep growing year after year.

You will use all these database categories to measure your progress because the success of your business is reflected in the size and quality of your database. It’s a good idea to review the numbers of buyers, potential sellers, market appraisals, current clients and past clients every week and compare those numbers with the past week to keep up with what is happening with the growth of your business. It all comes down to the simple fact that working with those people is what turns them into your buyers, sellers, and clients for life.

Secrets of Agent Marketing with Matt Hayson

There are actually two kinds of marketing you need to know how to do well: property marketing and agent marketing. In today’s Coaching Tip video, Josh Phegan will be talking with Matt Hayson of Cobden & Hayson about getting results with both.

Most agents already know how to do effective property marketing, which focuses on presenting the property itself in an attractive manner. This includes photography, video, floor plans and written copy that involves the customer personally and emotionally with the property. Agent marketing should also be part of your property marketing as it is actually more important to your business overall.

Agent marketing is about promoting your business as a brand. You may be presenting a specific property, but also include an emphasis on your agency’s handling of it. You should also be directly presenting your agency regularly and consistently throughout the marketing calendar to keep your name and business fresh in clients’ minds. Consider that past appraisals and clients are not often targeted for continued marketing, but they have been proven to be a valuable source of new business for you. Also look beyond traditional email distribution to options such as direct mail newsletters and online videos that demonstrate your knowledge and effectiveness as well as offering accessible information to previous and potential customers.

It is consistency and currency, plus a solid marketing plan for both property and agent marketing, which will put you in the forefront with your real estate business.

What works better for you?

Prospecting is basic to your business, so it is important to know the best approach to take with it. There are two different kinds of prospecting: relationship-based prospecting and geographic-based prospecting.

With geographic-based prospecting you start by targeting an area of properties where you think you want to work. You get contact information for everyone who lives or owns property in that geographic area and you send a copy of your market report to as many of them as possible. Hopefully from this offering you will be able to book a few market appraisals, proceed to some listing presentations and end up with property listings.

Relationship-based prospecting focuses on contacting all the people you already know, working with them wherever their properties may be, and in the process forming new relationships with them and through them to expand your possibilities. What you hope will happen is that you are able to sell a high-level property to someone who then has a property you can sell in another market at another price point, then sell that buyer’s property elsewhere at yet another price point, and so on. In short, the more people you meet with trade-ins, the more of both buyers and sellers who are market-ready you will meet, and thus the more business you can do.

Which approach is better – geographic-based prospecting or relationship-based prospecting? The industry tends to use the geographic approach more often. However, building upon relationships with as many people as you know and can meet does in fact expand your possibilities, and is not limited by the boundaries of a given area or market. Every person you meet is a buyer or tenant, a seller or landlord, and they all have to live somewhere. Their status expands your opportunities, whether now or in the future.

Thank you for joining us for today’s Coaching Tip, and we hope to see you again next week.

Prospecting With Recency

Here is a prospecting exercise I learned from a highly successful Potts Point real estate agent named Jason Boon.

Get a pen and paper. Write the numbers 1 through 30. Now list 30 people you know you need to talk with next. We call this technique “Recency” because those 30 people are potential clients you probably met fairly recently and need to start prospecting right away. Jason does this every morning, and follows up by making phone calls and appointments around his list.

Part of this process is about actual prospecting, but another function of the procedure is to weed out all those other people you have met, but that you probably won’t be able to do business with for various reasons. Making a list of people who are most likely to be buying or selling real estate in the next few months helps you to focus on actual prospects instead of wasting time pursuing dead ends. The people you want to connect with are the ones who have registered to bid at auction – who have showed up for a second appointment on a property – and people who have returned your phone calls. These prospects are already active and most likely to buy or sell property within the next 3 months. And if these people have come to you they are already attracted to your business. It’s your move now to complete that connection. Don’t waste those opportunities – if you want to succeed in this business, work these Recency lists every day.

Thanks for joining us for today’s Coaching Tip, and watch for more every week.

The key elements for a successful auction

Selling by auction can be stressful, but there are several things you can do before auction day to alleviate some of the stress. Mostly you want to make sure your buyers will be fully prepared to bid and buy property. Having buyers who are qualified and confident will help assure that properties receive the very best sell price possible.

Communication with your buyers and sellers is vitally important, and you need to dialog with them well before the auction. You can help buyers decide how much to bid by making current pricing information available to them. In many states and countries there is legislation in place that limits what you can and cannot quote, and you need to know what your local legislation involves, but you can certainly show buyers examples of properties currently on the market and what they are selling for.

You can also explain the auction process, make sure buyers know what is required of them before they can purchase, and help them through the steps they need to take in order to be financially ready before auction day. That would include seeing their mortgage broker, having their deposit in place, knowing the terms of the deal they are interested in, and being registered to bid if that is required.

Another bit of information you can use yourself is to find out who has requested copies of contracts to be sent to a solicitor for review. As this involves a substantial fee, you know a buyer is interested in a property if they have made this request. Overall, if you know your buyers are fully prepared, then you can feel confident that they are serious and will actually show up and bid on property.

One decision you have to make is when to actually sell the property. Sometimes it is in the best interest of the customer to sell before the auction depending on offers you may receive on the property. If no one is showing interest in a given property prior to the auction, then it might be best to put the property on the market. Then again, if you know there will be multiple bidders for the property it might be best to let it go to auction. Your own experience can help you judge how quickly you think you could sell that property in the marketplace, and whether sending it to auction might result in a faster sale. And you can always consult with a specialist to help you make that decision if you are unsure.

Thank you for joining us for today’s Coaching Tip. We hope to see you here again next week!

Stay Ahead by Prospecting Daily

You may not realize it, but if you want to be doing a successful business next season, you need to be working on that right now. How far in advance are you prospecting for potential leads now so that you can move on them when they become available?

You should be working 3 to 4 months in advance at all times, collecting leads, prospecting daily so that you have a steady pipeline of new opportunities coming in to you at all times. Find the people who are ready to come to market now. Find the people, too, who are thinking about selling so that when they decide to move you will be ready to move with them. Some of the best people to check up on are market appraisals you have done, not just within the last three months, but anytime in the past. Prospecting is a continuous process – you should be doing at least one core session a day, three if possible, with people in a position to take their property to market and sell it.

When you have properties working it makes a difference not only in the way your business works, but in how you feel about the work you are doing – and that success is projected to your potential customers in the way you present yourself, even the way you interact on the phone. So always be prospecting, always be working on something new, stay ahead of the curve and your positive actions will attract more customers.

We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip and will join us again next week.

Critical Skills for Your Success

There are three critical skills you need to have a handle on inside your business: Prospecting, finding and winning potential sellers, and selling the properties. It is important for you to do an audit of your business in order to discover the critical components you have in place, and identify those you need to cultivate.

The details that are covered by prospecting for sellers, selling yourself to your customers, and delivering a successful presentation are interconnected and dependent on each other to make the whole process work. Included in the mix are buyer work, vendor work, leverage, understanding your financials – not to mention building in time for yourself!

You need to know what your lead sources are and how to work them, and have a source for potential sellers that you can bring to the marketplace.

You also need to be able to communicate with customers about fees, marketing, pricing, terms, and method of sale. You have to make the initial contact and talk with the vendor before meeting with them. When you arrive at the property you will discuss why they are selling and what their personal needs are, pitch to those needs, then cover marketing and the selling method, discuss pricing the property, discuss your fees, and then close with the customer comfortably. All the while you must sell yourself and your brand.

One of the best ways for you to approach your business audit is to have a quiet, thoughtful look at all of the skills you know you have inside your business right now. When you have that picture, then you can think about areas where you need to spend time to improve your performance in the marketplace. For example, if your listing presentation needs work then you have to bring that up to par so that you can prospect more. And you will prospect more once you are confident that you can win that business with your listing presentation.

We hope you’ve enjoyed today’s coaching tip, and look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Asking powerful questions and why using trial closes are so important

One of the most important elements inside of a listing presentation is tactics. One key tactic is the “trial closure” because it allows you to test how ready your customer is to enter the market with you. You do this by simply asking some important questions.

Know beforehand the kinds of questions you want to ask according to the structure of your overall listing presentation to an individual customer. You will be able to weigh their level of engagement not only by the answers they give you, but also by their level of involvement and interest in the process. Are they also asking questions of you? Are they talking actively? Is it clear they understand what you have been discussing with them?

You can use trial closures in several instances, the first being their selection of an agent. Ask them if they would be ready to appoint an agent today if everything else was signed off on to start. If they say “yes”, then you have a good indication that they are on board with you. This is much better than reaching the end of the listing presentation and still not knowing if they want you to represent them or not.

Next you want to see if they understand your recommended sales method and agree with it. So ask them when an auction would work for them, or when an open for inspection would be convenient. If they respond with dates and times without hesitation, then you have another indication that they are comfortable with the sale method and with you.

Your next trial closure can be about marketing. Ask your customers when it would be best to send the photographer and videographer through the house, when they think the sign should go up, where they think the property should be marketed first, etc. Then ask them if they have a spare key. If they hand you the key then you can have even more confidence that they will be signing with you.

A final trial closure question could be about pricing. Simply ask them how they feel about a specific price. Would they need to see a higher price before moving forward?

Trial closures are all about leading up to an endpoint with enough information to actually do business. They have to be done throughout the listing presentation, though – you can’t wait until the end of your presentation and then throw out a random trial closure. You have to use trial closures tactically and consistently to know that you are building the right relationship with your customer. Engagement is your greatest tool for making the connection that will win customers, and there are four simple questions you need to ask your customer:

  1. How would you like to see things perceived?
  2. What would you like to see happen from here?
  3. What do you need to know from me?
  4. How can we best work together?

These four questions should really bring your listing presentation to a powerful closure.

We hope you enjoyed today’s coaching tip and look forward to seeing you again next week!

How to structure a winning listing presentation

We have spoken before about the importance of creating a winning listing presentation. Today we’re going to discuss how to achieve that.

The listing presentation, as you know, is your opportunity to explain your sales process and approach to a customer in a way that will persuade them to choose you to represent them as their real estate agent. You need to be able to communicate with them in a way that they will understand and appreciate.

Unfortunately, what often happens is that we tend to pitch to a customer from our own point of view, and present aspects of the selling process that we find most important, instead of speaking with them about their values, needs, and selfish desires.

The most engaging listing presentations are tactical in the approach to the customer. There is a definite structure to the process the customer is about to embark upon, so there should be a similar structure to your presentation. Also, using visuals – such as charts, listings, photographs, and some of the forms they will be using – really helps to involve the customer in the process, and is a very effective way to connect and achieve greater understanding.

You must know what the customer needs from you in this process, beginning with the need to feel “safe.” They want to feel secure with you – that you know what you are doing and you have their best interests at heart. You need to be the agent who can sell their property at the best possible price while keeping their marketing costs to a minimum. So you need to address those concerns with them in detail, with confidence and expertise.

As real estate agents, we are often more focused on features whilst the customer is more interested in benefits. Here’s a phrase you should use often: “which means.” This will help you to bring those features and benefits together, and define more clearly what your customer needs to comprehend. For example, you might say, “We will bring up some buyers from our database, which means that they can come look at the property before we take it live to the market – which means we could save you some money on marketing if any of those customers want to buy.”

An example of visuals you can use in your presentation are records of your previous sales, such as your open for inspection register, your auction bidding record, or a list of your last 20 to 100 sales. This demonstrates your ability to close a sale and deliver a great price for a given property, which shows your client that they can trust your advice. This is also an effective way to pitch a certain type of sale you want your customers to consider.

Your open for inspections list is also effective in showing the number of buyers who have actually come through the properties you have on the market. All of this serves to turn the conversation into real, tactical evidence and what it actually means for that particular customer.

One more suggestion is to show your customer an open for inspection register from one property you have had on the market recently. Show the number of buyers that you had through the property, then point out the number of second round open for inspections that you did. Next, show the number of 10-day callbacks and just sold calls. This will give your customer a much clearer view of how the real estate business really works, and demonstrate your expertise even further

Showing actual documentation of your success with a variety of properties is a powerful way to influence your customers to choose you as their agent over your competitors. Always keep in mind that the amount of time you spend with your customer in your listing presentation is not important; the most important quality is the time you spend in addressing your customer’s needs, concerns, and selfish desires.

I hope you benefited from today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week!

Listing Presentations that Win

Knowing how best to execute your listing presentation and making sure that you are really comfortable with it are vital to getting and retaining customers.

Inside of the listing presentation, the opener and the closer are critically important. The opener sets the tone for the presentation and allows you to pitch towards the selfish desires of the customer. The closer allows you to work powerfully with the customer through clear communication. When they feel confident that they know exactly what you are telling them, they will most likely choose to select you as their agent.

My approach is to think in terms of pitching to the customer because there is a difference between what the customer thinks they want versus what they actually need. The customer may think they want a cheap agent, maybe they don’t want to pay for marketing, and they probably want the very best price in the marketplace, well above every other home that has actually ever sold. But of course, what the customer needs is the best possible price that is realistically achievable in the marketplace today. They need an agent who represents good market value; most importantly, they need effective marketing to get buyers to the property.

By pitching to the selfish desires of the customer we use the opener and the opener, which is a very simple conversation with your customer about pricing. What price were they thinking they want, and what price can they realistically hope to get? So let’s talk about price in terms of how an owner determines the price they want, how an agent determines the price they can expect, and how the buyer finally determines the price they will accept, with the understanding that you want to get your customer the very best price possible for their home.

The second component you want to help the customer understand is the importance of marketing. As you know, marketing is how you get the buyers to the property. The more buyers you can attract to the home, the better price you can expect to get for it. In addition to that, talk with the customer about the sell method. Do they have a preference between auction and for sale?

Of course, you will have to discuss your fee with the customer. Basic fees currently in the marketplace for agents are between 2% and 3.5%. Tell your customer that your fees are certainly not the most expensive, but you are also not the cheapest, and explain to them why you will offer them the best value. Tell them your customer exactly why they should choose you. This is your pitch to the selfish desires of the customer.

The order you present this information to your customer may vary with the situation, so don’t make this a formula approach. The point is to pitch directly to the customer’s individual needs, which means you will pitch to the customer in the order they to hear it, according to their situation. Selecting an agent, selling method, marketing, pricing, and any other steps that take you to final close, need to be discussed at the proper time for your customer.

Now, the steps to final close – called the summation or the summary close – are critically important. First, you want to summarize all of the key points that you have already spoken to the customer about, such as agreement on where the property’s value is likely to fall, the marketing strategy you have decided to follow, selling method, and payment for your fees. The summary close can be very powerful, so give this presentation the time it deserves to be effective. That could be 30 to 45 minutes, or even an hour spent working with the customer. You want to make sure you summarize all the most important points, that your customer is comfortable in knowing exactly what you have actually discussed, and that they are clear about the next steps they need to take in order to move forward in the marketplace.

As you develop your own approach to the listing presentation, make sure you’ve got a winning opener, a thorough closer, and most importantly, create an appropriate structure to influence each customer to choose you as their agent. Never ever underestimate the importance of follow through with your listing presentation, which means to be consistent until you have the property listed. The more you can socially prove yourself and the more you can demonstrate your ability to work in the marketplace, the more confidence your customers will have in you. Consider shooting a testimonial video where your past customers talk about their good experience with you and describe what you did with them during the sales process.