Do you have listings…or do you have inventory? How much does the word “inventory” affect your mentality toward your prospects and, therefore, your ability to truly connect with them?
Homes vs houses…treat them as homes and you will make your marq.
There are things we’re being taught on the corporate level about internet leads (i.e. keeping your distance OR being over-aggressive in too much of a Sherlock Holmes way) that are counterproductive, to put it mildly.
Yes, internet consumers want anonymity. Yes, you should respect their space.
No, that doesn’t mean “Hands Off” entirely.
The internet consumer is protecting themselves from the same person you protect yourself from as a consumer…that individual who obviously doesn’t care and has done a poor job memorizing a script to try to convince you that they do care.
For the internet consumer, they need to see evidence that you’re not one of those people. With that in mind, here are some points to keep in mind about as you deal with the internet consumer, which really is today’s consumer:
1. Internet consumers are tired of being sold. “It’s a great time to buy.” “It’s a great time to sell.” Do your homework. In many markets right now, it’s not a great time to sell but some people just have no choice. Don’t use “salespitch” lines…or if you do, make sure they’re truly accurate. Today’s consumer sees through that and it will hurt your reputation sooner or later. Shoot straight and speak the truth. There’s no better way to earn respect.
2. Internet consumers are scared. You’ve seen the news, you’ve read the paper…so have your prospects. People don’t know who to trust and, unfortunately, they’ve learned that not all professionals can be trusted. Click here for the Miami Herald article concerning 10,000 criminals being allowed to sell home loans in Florida alone since the year 2,000. Now I’m not into sensationalism, but there comes a point where we have to acknowledge the many reasons behind the current state of real estate. Real estate pros have more hoops to jump through today to earn the trust of prospects.
3. Remember you play the same games. Enough already! Almost every agent I’ve coached who has complained about a lead not giving their phone number or name has later admitted that they do the same things when they’re online. Hell, every agent I’ve spoken with who has complained about the Do-Not-Call list in their prospecting has later admitted that they themselves are on the Do-Not-Call list. If you fit into either or both of these catagories, then you can easily put yourself in the consumer’s shoes and take good care of them by following one simple guideline: Don’t be the person you’re both trying to avoid, and you’ll do fine.
4. Actions speak louder than words. People are just looking for someone they can trust, and all the verbage in the world isn’t going to prove it to them. It’s your actions. Do what you say you’re going to do. Hand deliver information when you can. In the long run, people aren’t going to love you for staying away and not even trying. Don’t be pushy, don’t be over aggressive…be human.
5. The nature of the internet allows consumers to make contact with you earlier in the process. If I hear the term “Looky-Lou” again, I think I’m going to vomit. That term is outdated anymore and is a cop out. If someone doesn’t need you now, there’s no excuse for not taking 60 seconds and assigning them to monthly long-term email touches in your system and keeping yourself on their radar. With today’s contact management systems, an individual can manage a larger database than an individual has ever been able to manage before. It’s up to you to create your own marketing microcosm.
The internet consumer wants to work with you.
They just want to be sure that it’s safe to work with you:)
Not that there are any mistakes you don’t want to avoid, but these are 5 big ones I came across in an article from IMedia Connection. I’ve listed them here and put in my two cents, while you can click on the link at the bottom of the page to read the entire article.
To linear business minds, social media equals nothing more than another mass email opportunity. The social and personal aspects mean nothing to them. They don’t care what that potential client had for dinner or where they went for vacation.
I’m going to let that sink in for a moment.
It is those kinds of things that allow you to truly get to know your clients and make a connection beyond mere dollars and cents. That is how you become a resource for life. Be attentive to the people who are investing in your mode of making a living:)
1. Putting tactics ahead of strategy. This is probably the most common issue I run into in my coaching and is the primary impetus behind my “Anti-Cookie Cutter” stance. The reasons behind the failures in the sales realm which have lead to our current economic condition as well as the state of the real estate business in general are, for the most part, an overall lack of solid personal training and coaching on the management level and an overabundance of agents/salespeople who exercise a cookie cutter system with no deep understanding of why they’re doing the things they’re doing (i.e. doing “what you’re supposed to do”). Know the reason (beyond the dollar signs) for every move you make with social media.
2. Dishonesty. C’mon…you know better. What’s more, there is no more transparent forum than social media. Take your clientele’s intelligence for granted and you are, in effect, blackballing yourself.
3. Commitment Issues. How can you expect someone to commit to you if you’re afraid to commit to them. Salespeople who are accountable are hard to find. Some years back when I was selling copiers, I was bothered by a seminar I attended where we were taught to say “Congratulations” as opposed to “Thank you for your business” when we closed a deal with a client. To this day I believe that’s just wrong. When I asked why we shouldn’t say “Thank you” my manager told me “That’s too personal.” Bothers me to this day. That’s okay, though. He wound up firing me anyway:)
4. Excessive AdSpeak. “Social media” does not equal “another mass email device.” If this is how you view social media, you’re missing the point and you’re taking your clientele’s intelligence for granted.
5. Trusting automation over human beings. You’ve gotta remember that the purpose of social media isn’t to avoid live contact…it’s a filtration process. Email drips and such are not a replacement for personal contact, but rather a qualifying precursor.
To see the article without my embellishments, please click here: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/23999.asp
I read a great article today on how to improve your credit score, written by Christine Van Tuyl and Margaret La Grange, an award-winning mother-daughter team with Prudential California Realty in Coronado.
Here is a quick rundown of what is covered in the article…click anywhere on the list below to read the entire article.
1. Review your current credit report for accuracy.
2. Repair credit report mistakes.
4. Increase the length of your credit history.
5. Keep credit card balances low.
6. Keep new credit requests to a minimum.
7. Be aware that paying off a collection account will not remove it from your credit report.
8. Pay off debt rather than moving it around.
9. Beware credit-repair scams.
It’s a great checklist…very timely, too. Think of all the people in your database that you can help with this information. Banks are tougher than ever when it comes to qualifying for a home loan, and who better than you to help aspiring homeowners get their credit in check?
Cheers!
Let’s get this out of the way first…you don’t get instant respect with the title of “Realtor” anymore.
Sad, but true.
Your prospects don’t care how many houses you’ve sold. In their world, that doesn’t matter. They only care about how you can help them, so as you begin preparing your business plan for 2010 make sure you take time to assess your contact methods and your results.
Are you focusing on your credentials when you’re trying to gain rapport…or are you focusing on your prospects’ needs? I cite car dealership commercials for an example of impersonal marketing that makes less and less sense in an economy like this. You know those “Sales Event” car commercials? The ones that say things like “We’re trying to set a sales record” or “Help make us the #1 dealership in (enter your state here).”
I’ve always had a big steaming plate of “Who Cares?” for those commercials. They offer nothing for me as a consumer. They’re asking me to go into debt so they can break some sales record…?!
We have been programmed for many, many years to focus on credentials…the impersonal part of our professional lives…when we market ourselves. At some point, your true intent and the extent to which you really care for people dictates your long-term success.
I recently had a call with an agent who gave me a perfect example…
She told me about two 4-year full time agents in the same market who are in two totally different places career-wise after 4 years. One works mostly off referrals while the other still has to add 15 prospects a day to her database. One still has to hustle like a brand new agent, while the other…well, you can figure that out.
Which one do you think is taking better care of his/her people?
How are you taking care of your people? Do you have a manageable database that allows you to maintain monthly email contact to augment your normal day-to-day and other marketing you do?
It is more imperitive than ever that you keep your name in front of your database on a monthly basis. As the winter approaches, make plans to scrutinize your database and your methods in your preparation for 2010.
Well written monthly email drip campaigns can do wonders for your long-term business in tandem with a strong day-to-day work ethic.
Some people get it and some people don’t.
And there’s just not enough good education available to help navigate those choppy waters known as today’s consumer.
With that in mind, I present to you the educational video below to put things in perspective. It comes from the 1987 comedy film “Amazon Women on the Moon” (some of you already know my sense of humor) and is a great example of how consumers now view salespeople in all realms…including real estate.
Think of Steve Guttenberg as the realtor/salesperson and Roseanna Arquette as today’s skeptical consumer…
Always remember that today’s consumer wants more information when they first meet you. Maybe your track record with your clients is good…even stellar. Just don’t lose sight of the fact that a new prospect meeting you for the first time is going to have questions…simply because they don’t know you.
It’s not about memorizing the right lines or finding a dialogue “formula”…it’s about sincerely caring enough about people to try to help them:)
Here recently I’ve found myself in more and more conversations with agents complaining about changes in their local MLS…most frequently I hear complaints about Prime Access.
Now I’ve never used Prime Access, so I can offer no educated opinion one way or the other…however, what I’m finding is a whole lot of unnecessary change in some areas of the real estate business. Some changes make sense while others don’t. To quote my good friend (and one of my favorite RE people) Grace Morioka, “The easiest people to sell to are salespeople.”
She’s right.
Again, sometimes change makes sense, but just as often these changes seem to happen more because someone in charge got sold. I’m not just talking about your local MLS…I’m talking about all aspects of business that affect you. I’m talking about your decision making…heck, I’m talking about my own decision making!
Every day I encounter people in all realms of business who make decisions to switch to a different CRM, different real estate company or some other tool because the one they’ve already invested in requires some effort. These people are constantly jumping from one system to another, never fully committing to a system long enough to even know if it works.
When you are considering making changes in any aspect of your business, ask yourself this simple question: Why?
Are you looking for an easy way out…or have you really found a better way of doing things? What personal experience are you basing your decision on? It’s not always the tools…it’s the way you use or don’t use the tools that can be the issue.
Take a look at these pictures:
They were all done by Don Marco, an Army Air Corp retiree…with Crayola crayons.
Yep.
Remember…your tools don’t necessarily have to be fancy. You just have to use them.
And thanks to my mom, Josephine Boyd, for sharing these pictures with me so I can in turn share them with you.
Cheers!
10/8/09There was a wonderful article from RISMedia in my inbox today called Online Marketing – 3 Rules to Help Make Every Lead Count by Mike Parker.
A very disturbing statement opens the article: “50% of agents call leads back within 54 hours; 50% of agents never call them back.”
In my marketing work with real estate professionals over the past few years, I cannot argue that point. Incidentally, that statistic comes from NAR.
How are you with your callbacks? Are you timely? Do you ignore them?
It’s easy to talk yourself out of calling someone back when “they don’t appear to be serious,” but the truth is you’ll never know for sure until you make the effort.
Today’s buyers and sellers are skeptical and for the most part don’t believe anyone really cares. Every call you ignore supports this belief, and the truth of the matter is that no quality or amount of marketing can overcome poor habits with people. If you spend a lot of money on marketing, but you don’t handle your contact with people well, then the result of your marketing is going to be that more people will know that you’re non-responsive.
Prove the negative consumer wrong. Show them that you care. After all, you’re helping them with what will probably be the largest sale or purchase of their life. Click on the link below to read the whole RISMedia article yourself…it’s well worth your time:)
Cheers!
10/8/09Special thanks to my friend Eric Lanspa for sharing this quote that has quickly become one of my very favorites ever:
You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them. – Malcolm Forbes
I’m reminded of this quote every time I hear a real estate pro use the line “I’m NOT a bank!” when referring to how they handle people coming to them to advice when they’re considering refinancing.
If you’re one of these agents, I ask you: What CAN you do to help them?
Always be in that mode of thinking when people with no immediate need for you ask you for help.
It takes no effort at all to tell them “Sorry, I can’t help you.” With just a little bit of effort, you can help point them in the direction of someone who can…and at the same time you’re giving them a reason to refer someone to you when the opportunity arises:)
