Lead Acquisition

How do you generate your leads, and what are your costs for each lead generated? In my Coaching Tip this week I’ll tell you how your approach to lead acquisition determines whether you’re working in the best, most cost-effective way.

You can spend thousands of dollars on lead generation websites and social media just to generate one lead. In reality, the best agents understand some easy ways to generate lots of leads, and we cover those in the 10-step process that we train.

One way to get your lead generation on fire is to remember your past clients sitting in your database. It’s about looking at the people you already know who can refer you to others that they know.

Think about people who know lots of people. Get to know business owners, restauranteurs, and others who engage with large numbers of people. Also look at demographics of people in transition, like elderly people who are downsizing, and growing families who are expanding.

There are really only around 10 customer scenarios we work with. The real secret to lead acquisition and marketing is to know where those people hang out before they need you, so you can be where you need to be when they’re ready. Limit your marketing funds and direct those funds toward generating leads.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Ep 161 – David Tyrrell on Building a Database

Our High Performance Podcast Special Edition series continues with Josh Phegan and David Tyrrell talking about building a database when you work in someone else’s business. David tells how he does it through buyer work, and how his team’s open database works. They present the issue of over-servicing a client and ways to avoid that happening, and David outlines how he builds his sellers pipeline and hitlist. They discuss taking a long view and setting targets, especially prior to taking a holiday, and the satisfaction of coming back to active listings in progress.

David details what a Saturday looks like for him and how the day ends with direct feedback to Alex. Josh advises always working independently to generate your own leads, and notes how Alex leads his team to become fully-fledged agents.

Listing Well

If you’re having trouble selling properties then maybe you’re not fixing the right problems. In my Coaching Tip this week I’ll explain why listing well is the easiest and best way to sell a property.

A business that does well is well planned. Focus on the fundamentals of listing. You want exclusive authority, the right fee, the right marketing, the right pricing, a motivated seller, and the right location. Of these 7 desired pre-qualifiers every listing should have at least five. That way if any one thing is out of kilter, the rest will keep things in line and still make things happen.

Even more important is getting clear on what you’re doing inside of the listing presentation. I’ll tell you how to inform the customer about changing dynamics in the current marketplace. They need to have confidence in your market knowledge and the ability to sell their property. I’ll also give you some dialogue that will help you win the listing.

What you must do as an individual agent is to know your market. Break it down, understand it fully, and be an absolute student of the game. Know what’s being listed and sold, and how that impacts your clients. We’ll also discuss bargaining strength and the factors that influence your ability to negotiate for the best price point.

There is no magic dialogue to fix the right problems. Listing well is about starting with the listing, being truly interested in your marketplace, and keeping your owners informed right the way through the campaign. Fix the problems that are worth solving and then watch how many others disappear.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

How to get your team writing a Million

Every single person inside of your business is capable of writing a million – so why aren’t they? My Growth, Leadership, and Management Tip this month will show you how to get the team writing a million by giving them what they need to do it.

As a business leader you have to understand why your team isn’t reaching its potential. Maybe they need knowledge because they simply don’t know how. They may need skills to apply that knowledge. Maybe they need more of a routine and an environment for success.

Desire is a big driver to make them want to grow and make key things happen. And they may need more resources than they’ve got to get there. You may think you’ve got all of those elements in place, but there’s a reason your team just isn’t engaged enough.

The best thing you can do is give them a report card. Talk to them about what you and they are going to intentionally do to increase results. Make sure everybody knows what they need to know so they can do what needs to be done.

When you minimise the number of activities, you maximise the outcomes because you get really good at what you do. It’s your job as the business leader to know how to get the team writing a million. Ask them a simple question: “What’s next for you?” Once you’re clear about what’s next for your people you can help them go out and achieve it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s Growth, Leadership, and Management Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next month.

Ep 160 – Building Trust with Owners with David Tyrrell

As our High Performance Podcast Special Edition series continues Josh Phegan talks with David Tyrrell of Phillips Pantzer Donnelley about building trust with owners. David tells how he gains the owner’s trust when he takes over their campaign start to finish. He notes the importance of keeping everyone on the team, including Alex, updated what’s happening during the campaign. They discuss Alex’s level of involvement depending on price point, and David describes his career development process. They also discuss how lead generation works within a team.

David tells how exciting it is to watch clients progress from buyers to sellers over time and adds the importance of proactively staying in touch with past clients, and Josh explains how being aa co-agent let you build your own client base as you grow as an agent.

Team Dynamics

If you want to do more transactions, reduce stress, and have the ability to go on holiday, then you’re going to have to build a team. That’s why my Coaching Tip this week is all about team dynamics based on what you want from your people and what they want from you.

Your role as an agent is to set the vision so people will want to join your team. When you employ someone you also bring their network along with them, so you want to attract great people who can also generate great leads.

I employ people based on two things: What they bring to the team from a cultural perspective, and what they bring in terms of outcomes achieved. I’m not interested in activities; I’m interested in outcomes and that’s what we train for.

You also need to avoid setting up a leader-follower model that requires your team members to ask you about everything. Strive for a leader-leader model that enables your people to take more initiative and action on their own.

In a healthy team, team dynamics is also about recognition of those people who may not be on the front line of sales, but they’re at the core of your administrative operations. Give them some time and let them know that what they do inside of the organisation is important and appreciated.

So get clear around having the right people on your team and ensure that everyone is growing, learning and earning. Help them achieve great things in their lives and they’ll become better people by working for you.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Why you need a leadership vision

Let go to grow. It’s easy to write but hard to do. If you want to scale your business, it’s critical that you let people play in their space. To do that you need a system for growth.

The only reason a goal isn’t achieved is that you don’t have a system for it. Intent matters in business, what do you intend to do? How do you want to grow?

The bigger the dream, the more important the team. As a leader, you want to create a leader, leader model. Most businesses are leader-follower, where everyone in the business has to seek permission, or even worse they are given autonomy, but then undermined in the decisions made. Once that happens you’ll never have trust, and the ability for others to lead is lost.

A leader, the leader model, is where you back people in. What would you do if I wasn’t here? When they present the solution, you reply ‘that’s great; you don’t need to ask me about that situation again, trust your instinct, go all in’.

What that produces is organisational clarity, where everyone knows who’s who, who can make the decisions and what impact each role can have on the business.

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That then leads to training technical competence. What are the essential skills that need to be mastered in each area of the business and how do we teach them? We work on using the circle of competence, where every time someone gains a skill we write it in the circle. It builds confidence and clarity for the individual.

The challenge for too many leaders is that they are looking for unicorns – these magical new employees who get it. When the truth is what you need to do is build a business that’s built on systems, systems that are so good your people don’t have to be.

Work the systems, and watch your leadership capability scale. People resist change when it happens to them, but they love change when they are apart of it.

For leadership to truly exist in your business, you need to set the vision which is made up of your purpose (the why of what you do), the mission (critical milestones) and values (the rules of the game). When you have these in play, every decision get’s easier.

Our purpose is to inspire estate agents to achieve their potential and financial freedom. It’s in everything we do, and it forces absolute clarity about the activities we undertake.

To shift the dial on your results to learn to ask better leadership questions of your people. My favourite, what’s next for you? If I wasn’t here what would you do? If you became the CEO tomorrow, what would you do then?

They force leadership thinking, which translates into a better day to day actions. Most want to focus on accountability; I prefer responsibility. If someone is responsible, I don’t need accountability.

Leadership happens in every moment, whether you step in, or help someone else to step up and step in. It’s a choice, and it’s the difference between a chaotic, dysfunctional workplace and one where people are empowered to pursue their dreams.

This article first appeared in Elite Agent: https://eliteagent.com/why-you-need-a-leadership-vision/

Ep 159 – Great buyer work during a campaign with David Tyrrell

Your job as an agent is to take control of the campaign during the sales process, help the vendor make the right decisions and get their properties sold and get the best results for your owners. Your client needs you to really work with them – stay present and consistent with communication and advice. What’s really important is that you’re clear about your specific recommendations for marketing, sale method, pricing, timing, and approach to working with buyers.

Growth Drivers

There’s an incredible level of stress when total volume or average sale prices in your marketplace suddenly drop. In my Coaching Tip this week we’ll talk about growth drivers that affect your business, like average sale price, total number of transactions, your average fee, and how many annual leave days you take.

You might be surprised that annual leave is a growth driver because if you can take those days off and still write the same or more income, that indicates you’re more efficient in your office time, or you’ve scaled with a team that can list for you whilst you’re away.

You can grow regardless of market conditions if your marketplace is big enough for your aspirations. And markets are neither good nor bad, they’re just markets. You need to adapt and change with them quickly with a higher average sale price or a higher fee.

Think of your fee as simply the amount you charge for your services. Then you can adjust the fee according to the services you provide, and give your client a choice of level of service. Ultimately what the client will remember is the quality of service you provided and not the price point they paid for it.

The customer experience you provide is critical to your ability to get a better fee, but the customer has to see that experience first. We’re in the retail business that way because the customer’s first encounters with you at an open home or on the phone is their first experience of what it’s like to deal with you as an agent.

I want you to really consider that customer experience is one of your biggest growth drivers and you have to improve that experience in order to grow. Get this right and everything changes. Lead acquisition prices go down, you get better customers, and everyone will want to work with you.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s Coaching Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next week.

Ep 158 – Pru Kelly on Planning Ahead

Our High Performance Podcast Special Edition series continues with Josh Phegan and Pru Kelly on going the distance throughout the year. Pru explains the importance of perceiving what happens over the course of a year and planning ahead by breaking it down in team meetings. She tells how alternating periods of intensity and rest helps their team sustain high energy throughout the year. Pru notes that part of team management is keeping an eye on the staff and giving someone a break if they need it. She notes that observation includes Alex, and tells how part of her role is to assume control to help him get back on target.

Josh summarises how Pru manages Alex and the team, takes action right away if they’re off, and helps effect a reset when needed, and he notes that your part as an agent is to maintain emotional management and work to the rhythm of the year.