You probably heard that most new agents won’t make it in real estate. According to Tom Ferry and based on data from NAR, 87% of new licensees fail within 5 years. I’ve always been wondering if there’s a correlation between your personality and your chance to succeed.
So, I researched personality styles and found this
statistic. It shows the distribution of DISC styles among the US population.
Only 11% of Americans are Drivers.
Drivers are natural business builders. They get things done and don’t get distracted easily. They do whatever it takes to succeed. They are most likely to make it in real estate.
What about the other 89%? Are they doomed to fail?
I believe there is a correlation between your personality
type and your chance of succeeding as a Realtor.
But you shouldn’t use it as an excuse to accept failure.
Use it as a guide to compensate for the weaknesses that come
with your dominant social style.
What’s Your Dominant Social Style?
There are 4 personality types or social styles, corresponding to the four quadrants of the graphic below. It shows how assertive you are and whether you are more focused on the task at hand or the people with whom you are working.
You can learn more about the different social styles when
you click on the graphic!
DISC personalities are similar like social styles. Here’s
how they relate:
D: Dominant = Driver
I: Inspiring = Expressive
S: Supportive = Amiable
C: Cautious = Analytical
You can find your personality type with this simple worksheet or one of the free, online DISC tests.
Note: Don’t try to manipulate the test to get a desired result. That won’t help you identify your strengths and weaknesses.
How to Succeed If You Are Not a Driver
If Drivers are business builders, how can the other
personality types succeed?
Expressives are natural sales people. They won’t have any problem drumming up business. This is a perfect quality for a Realtor. Expressives are not very detail oriented and may need help creating systems to structure their business.
Amiables are great with customers. They are good at building relationships. They want to be liked. This is also their greatest weakness, because all too often they don’t close the deal. Amiables should practice scripts to learn how to ask for the sale.
Analytical Agents tend to over-analyze every system before they put it in place. This can be a real problem with implementing marketing campaigns, as Analyticals are too cautious to pull the trigger. However, these agents are very detail oriented and able to create great structure to their business.
Determine your personality style before you create a
business plan for the next 6 to 12 months. Then select the marketing strategies
that complement your style. You will find they are much easier to implement
consistently.
If you need help developing a marketing plan that fits your personality, click here to schedule a confidential meeting!
Today I’m going to reveal our personal home sales data for
the first half of 2019. You will find out where our leads came from and how
much we spent on marketing.
Where Are Closings Coming From?
This is the most important question you must be able to answer if you want to create a predictable business.
For your business to be predictable you need to understand the exact lead sources that result in closings and how much money you have to invest in marketing to earn your desired income.
Lead Sources for Closings since the Start of the Year
This pie chart shows the lead sources for all 31
transactions Susanne closed in the first 6 months of 2019. 32% of her leads
came from previous clients, 19% were referrals.
Geographic farming is huge for our business. We generated 23% of all transactions from farming, both sellers and buyers.
The blue segments in the chart represent online lead sources, such as Zillow, Trulia, and Facebook.
Chime is an online lead service we use for buyer leads. They
advertise on Google and generate around 60 leads a month.
What’s an Original Lead Source?
Most leads don’t convert right away. Many of our clients
came from marketing we did 12 or even 24 months ago.
Often a referral can be traced back to a previous client who
came to us through an online lead 2 years ago. That’s the original lead source.
As you can see below, farming and online marketing are major foundations of our real estate business. They yield immediate clients as well as future referrals and repeat customers.
Tracing our Original Lead Sources
This chart shows the original lead sources for 2019
closings:
1/3 of our business can be traced back to farming (red)
1/3 of all sales come from online lead sources (blue), and
1/3 are referrals or previous clients (green).
What does this mean?
If we would not have invested in online marketing and
geographic farming, our business would only be a third of its current size.
That’s Why You Must Invest in Marketing
Our results confirm that you can’t exclusively rely on your
sphere. You have to invest in marketing if you want to grow your business.
How much do we spend on marketing?
Currently, we spend 8% of our gross commission income. That’s low. You will probably have to invest more if you are getting started and want to grow your business.
Why Your Broker Won’t Reveal These Numbers
Your broker probably does not have these stats, because
most brokers are more/less employees who don’t sell.
Do owners have these numbers and should they share?
The owners of many brokerages are also the leaders of the largest teams. They don’t want to share their marketing secrets with you – not even if you are on their team – because they are afraid, you’ll compete against them or split off from the team.
We are different. We believe we can help agents build a
successful business if they copy what we use, because it works.
Are you with a brokerage where the owners compete against
you?
Fortunately, you have options. Question is … are you
ready to take advantage of them or keep suffering in your current situation.
Click here to schedule a confidential strategy session and find out if RE/MAX 24/7 would be a better fit for you!
If tomorrow all the things were gone I worked for all my life And I had to start again With just my children and my wife
I thank my lucky stars To be living here today 'Cause the flag still stands for freedom And they can't take that away
We are blessed to live in a country where you have the
freedom to start any business you like. Believe me, there’s less regulation in
the US than in any other place I know.
If you would have to start again, would you become a
Realtor?
Selling real estate is one of the least expensive businesses you could start. There’s no inventory, no overhead, free training – it just takes commitment and hard work to succeed.
So, as you celebrate this Independence Day and listen to Lee Greenwood sing God Bless the USA (video below), be grateful for the freedoms you enjoy as a real estate agent.
Are You on Track to Reach Your Goals?
Today’s the first day of the second half of 2019 – time to
reflect on the past 6 months.
Did you achieve your goals?
Do you even have written goals?
Are you on track to make 2019 your best year ever?
Use this Holiday week to write down your goals and the
actions you will take to finish the second half of the year strong!
If you need help click here to schedule a free strategy session! I’d love to help you become more successful!
I wish you and your family a Happy Independence Day!
What’s the least expensive way to get new leads and
establish yourself as the go-to agent in your neighborhood?
Open Houses!!
If you don’t host open houses, because you believe only nosy
neighbors and buyers who already have agents will come, you need to keep
reading.
Let me give you a few strategies to supercharge your open
houses and dominate your neighborhood.
What are the Objectives of Hosting an Open House?
Finding a buyer for the listing may be the obvious answer.
With a little extra effort, you should accomplish much more.
Building your database should be your #1 goal. Collect names, emails and phone numbers of visitors, because your database is your most important asset.
Meeting neighbors who may want to sell or may know someone who wants to buy or sell. We get frequent calls from neighbors who were impressed by our marketing at an open house. So they decided to list with us.
Building your brand. If you are already farming a neighborhood and invest money in mailing postcards an open house event will substantially improve your brand recognition. It’s part of your multi-channel marketing approach to become the go-to agent in that neighborhood.
Meeting buyers who are house hunting is important whether they are represented by an agent or not. If their agent is not very proactive, call her to say that her buyers liked your listing and want to write an offer.
7 Steps to Supercharge Your “Mega” Open House
I learned about Mega Open Houses from Tom Ferry. There are different ways to run them. The key is to make your open house a neighborhood event – in stark contrast to the boring old open houses the average agent hosts.
Here are 7 steps to stand out:
Record a video in front of the property and announce the open house. Email it to your database and post it all over social media. Ask your seller to share it with their friends on Facebook.
Door knock nearby homes (at least 10 on each side and 20 across the street) to personally invite neighbors to a preview.
Send out invitations to everyone in the neighborhood. If they look like wedding invitations, they will get opened.
Set up as many directional signs as you can – 20 at the minimum. It’s not just to find the house. If neighbors see your signs everywhere it will enhance your personal brand.
Host a Seller’s luncheon, for neighbors only, from 11:30 am to 1 pm. The seller should be there to introduce you to the neighbors.
Hold the public open house from 1 to 4 pm. You may want to use a helper to register visitors at the door. Use an iPad, not a paper sign-in sheet.
Schedule time to follow up with all visitors the same evening. Send out a video thanking them for coming and mail a handwritten note.
Watch How Kyle Whissel Runs Open Houses
Kyle is a top producing agent in Southern California and a
Tom Ferry client. Here’s an interview with Bill Pipes where Kyle explains
exactly how his team is hosting open house parties.
Who’s Helping You Implement these Strategies?
Do you like the marketing strategies and scripts I explained
over the past few weeks?
Who’s helping you implement these strategies? And who is
holding you accountable to do what you need to do, even if you don’t like to do
it?
Stop hoping for the phone to ring, for new leads to magically arrive in your inbox.
That’s not going to happen. You have to take action!
Your best bet is to click here and schedule a free strategy session so I can show you how we generate $15 million in sales every year.
Last week I told you how Tom Ferry’s Sales Edge changed my opinion on the importance of scripts. Communication is one of the most important skills you need to master as a Realtor, because “Knowing what to say, matters“.
Why You Need to Master Good Scripts
The objective of scripts is to automatically say the right
words when certain situations arise … and, to say them with confidence.
Let me give you an example: One of the most common questions you are asked as a Realtor is “How’s the Market?“
Do you have an answer that will lead to an appointment or
yield a referral?
Or, do you just say, “The market is great!” and
miss out on an opportunity to grow your business?
Here’s the answer Tom Ferry teaches:
How to Practice Scripts Effectively
Practicing a script takes time. You won’t be able to present
it with confidence in a single day. You have to make an effort to memorize,
rehearse, and internalize the script.
Here are 5 steps:
Stand up and read the script out loud 10x in a row each day for a month.
Hand-write the script on a notepad twice a day for a month.
Record the script on your phone and listen to it when you drive.
Role-play the script with another agent in your office, your coach, your spouse or anyone who wants to help you become a better agent.
Make it your own. Present it in a conversational way. Watch your body language, smile, and say it with confidence.
Where Do You Find Good Scripts?
Many real estate coaches publish scripts on their websites.
Unfortunately, not all are good.
Some scripts are outdated and don’t apply in today’s market. Other scripts sound awkward and make you feel uncomfortable. So, pick scripts that fit your personality.
I like Tom Ferry’s scripts, because they are up-to-date and
tested by thousands of coaching members.
Click here for some of the scripts we learned at Sales Edge.
Defending Your Commission
You’ve probably been asked by a seller to lower your
commission. Here’s a short script to handle this situation – recorded at Sales
Edge.
Bill Pipes role-plays with Candace Decker as she defends her listing commission. Candice is one of Bill’s coaching clients. She said it took her 30 days of practice to present this dialog in a confident manner.
The key to successful scripts is practice and accountability.
Who’s helping you find the best scripts? Do you have an accountability partner or coach to practice?
If your sales skills are not as effective as you want them to be – as evidenced by a lack of leads – you should explore how joining RE/MAX 24/7 could improve your business.
Our agents have full access to a proprietary marketing
system which results in $15 million in sales each year.
We use the same lead gen strategies as top-producing Tom Ferry teams, and you get personal coaching from me and Susanne.
