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.
I hope you had a great Memorial Day and took a few minutes
to remember the ones who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
For Realtors, Memorial Day means an end to the busy spring selling season. School will be out in a week or two. Homeowners who planned to move to a new school district are probably in contract by now. And many people are leaving for vacations.
Are You Drifting into a Summer Slow Down?
Many agents experience a slow down over the summer. If you
do, you should take this opportunity to re-energize and create a marketing plan
to finish the year strong.
I have the perfect guy to help you with that …
Travis Robertson’s 6 Figure Marketing Strategy
If you never heard of Travis go here. He is a national real estate coach whose clients earn more than half a million dollars GCI in average.
Travis promotes inbound marketing. He even dares to attack the “sacred cow” of real estate marketing: building your business by referrals only.
Why You Should Not Rely on Referrals
You cannot grow your real estate business exclusively from
referrals and repeat clients.
Referrals don’t provide a consistent flow of leads. You are
at the mercy of your database. And referrals are the first lead source to dry
up in a down market.
We are employing many of the concepts Travis explains in the
video below. It has been very successful.
My wife Susanne has been selling $15 million worth of real
estate every year since 2014. Less than 70% are referrals or repeat clients.
To learn how these strategies work, watch this video. It
lasts about 1 hour. I recommend you take lots of notes.
Of course, you could hire Travis Robertson as your coach. I
am sure this would be a smart investment.
Another option is to join our brokerage. If you join RE/MAX
24/7 you will get full access to our proprietary marketing system which has
consistently generated $15 million in sales per year.
Click here and schedule a meeting to find out how we can help you become a better marketer!
Marketing is a critical part of any real estate business.
Great marketing will supply you with a steady stream of fresh leads and new
customers. A well thought out marketing plan will help you win more listing
presentations.
Unfortunately, many agents struggle with marketing.
Here’s a possible reason: Realtors don’t know the difference
between Marketing and Branding.
To understand why you need to focus on Marketing and not Branding, watch this video by Donald Miller. He’s the author of Building a Storybrand – Clarify your Message so Customers will Listen.
Focus on Marketing NOT Building a Brand
As a small business owner, you don’t have enough money or
time to create your own brand.
This is the opposite of what most gurus tell you. If you listen to the hype you should be on social media all day documenting your life and building your personal brand.
There are more than 8,000 Realtors in Columbus, all trying
to brand themselves on Facebook.
Do you really think you can set yourself apart by posting
pictures of listings, open houses, and happy buyers at the closing?
What Makes Your Marketing GREAT?
Let’s go back to Donald Miller. Here’s a simple tip that
will make your marketing great …
Lessons Learned
3 rules to help you become a better marketer:
Spend at least 80% of your budget and time on marketing instead of branding. Posting pictures on Facebook may create emotions, but there’s no reason for the reader to contact you.
Don’t confuse your customer with a clever or cute message. Explain the problem you solve and give them clear instructions on how to contact you.
Always include a strong call-to-action. It’s not enough to put your name and phone number on a postcard. Tell them exactly why they should call or text you.
How to Become a Better Marketer
I can help you master the marketing game to get more leads,
close more sales and earn higher commissions.
Agents who join our brokerage get full access to our
proprietary marketing system which has consistently generated $15 million in
sales per year.
Click here and schedule a confidential meeting to find out how you can join and become an expert marketer.
While I was preparing for the class, I reviewed the lead sources for our own real estate sales business.
Here’s what I found …
The pie chart shows the lead sources of all transactions closed or in contract in 2018.
I was not surprised that geographic farming works well, and that online leads produce buyers and listings. Repeat customers are a major source of our business, but referrals have been slow this year.
During the Marketing Masterclass I will reveal exactly what we do to attract these leads and how we convert them into clients.
Will You Learn “Secret” Marketing Tactics?
Most agents believe there is a “secret”… something that only top producers know, that magically generates an unlimited number of motivated leads.
Wouldn’t such a “secret” change your business for the better?
The reality is, there is no secret. There’s only hard work, and there are systems that yield predictable results if you implement them consistently.
The top agents in your brokerage may not share how they are generating their leads.
I will show you the marketing systems we have been using in our business for the past 5 years that resulted in $15 million in sales in a single year without a team.
Implementing Inbound Marketing Strategies
I am a big believer in inbound marketing to attract motivated buyers and sellers. That’s what most top producing Realtors do.
If you want to copy our marketing systems please join me for the Marketing Masterclass on November 14, 2018 at Columbus Realtors.
There seems to be a lot of confusion about inbound and outbound marketing. You may wonder which of these strategies is easier to implement to generate more business.
Outbound marketing is often called prospecting. That’s when you actively reach out to people to win business.
Inbound marketing refers to strategies that involve advertising to get potential clients call you.
Here are my thoughts on these strategies and tips on which one’s best for you …
Outbound Marketing
When you started in real estate your broker probably told you to prospect. That’s outbound marketing. You pick up the phone, reach out to people, and ask them for business or referrals.
Most agents believe that outbound marketing is free. That’s not completely true. If you call prospects you may have to buy a list of phone numbers (e.g. expireds, FSBO’s), a dialer to speed things up, and, of course, your cell phone.
Most importantly, outbound marketing takes time. And time is invaluable as you can’t get it back.
Typical outbound strategies include tele-marketing, door knocking, and networking events. It’s easier for an outgoing personality than an introvert.
Pros of Outbound Marketing
It’s low cost, it only takes time
It’s direct and personal
You can create business quickly
Cons of Outbound Marketing
It’s difficult to do consistently
You have to love the process
There’s a high level of rejection
Inbound Marketing
When you practice inbound marketing, you send out advertising that entices prospects to contact you.
Many brokerages don’t teach inbound marketing. Brokers claim it’s too expensive and only experienced agents can afford it.
It certainly costs more to mail out postcards and letters or advertise online. However, once the system is set up, it runs by itself. That’s why some people refer to it as passive marketing.
It takes less time than outbound marketing, and it’s much easier to do consistently.
Inbound strategies include direct response mail, including postcards and letters, and some types of online advertising.
Pros of Inbound Marketing
It can be automated.
It’s not very time consuming.
People who call you are more motivated.
It gives you leverage.
Cons of Inbound Marketing
You need to invest money upfront
It can become expensive
It will take some time and testing before you get any leads
Online Leads
Based on what I said above online leads are considered inbound marketing. When you subscribe to a marketing service leads are coming in quickly.
With so many online services capturing buyer leads their quality and motivation are low. An online lead is merely a name and an email. The person may not really be interested in your service. They are just curious.
So, to convert online leads you will need to do a lot of outbound marketing, i.e. make follow up calls, send emails and texts to convert them into a real customer.
Which Strategy Is Best for You?
Whether you use inbound or outbound marketing, the key is to do it consistently.
Determine your marketing budget first. Then decide which niches you want to pursue, e.g. buyers, sellers, expireds, FSBO’s, and how you can reach them most effectively.
For instance, you can market to expired with inbound or outbound strategies. When you knock on their door or call them, it’s an outbound strategy. If you send them a letter it’s inbound.
I believe you need a combination of inbound and outbound marketing to be successful. Your personality will determine which one’s best for you. If you hate what you are doing, I guarantee you won’t do it consistently.
Remember Mythbusters, the super popular show that brought science into our living rooms by debunking common assumptions on how things work?
I remember how our kids were glued to the screen when the show came on, because most of their experiments involved blowing things up.
You probably heard all kinds of myths about RE/MAX and wonder if they are true. Today I am going to debunk some of the myths and let you in on the secret why RE/MAX agents are so successful.
Myth 1: RE/MAX is too Expensive
I can almost guarantee that the fees and commission splits you would pay at RE/MAX are less than at any other national brand.
We charge a fixed monthly fee so agents can keep most of their commissions. If you close a deal a month the fee is not a problem.
This money is put to good use, as RE/MAX invests in national advertising, world class technology, and top-notch training for our agents.
RE/MAX is not too expensive – it’s an investment with an exceptional ROI.
Myth 2: Who Needs a Brand Anyway?
The RE/MAX balloon is an iconic brand – the most recognized name in real estate anywhere in the world.
Every business needs a brand and so does every Realtor. Personal branding is one of the favorite topics of social media experts.
Imagine how easy it would be to boost your personal brand if you have the #1 real estate brand behind you?
Adding the RE/MAX balloon to your business gives you instant credibility. Consumers associate RE/MAX with high quality of service.
A new agent earned $8,000 in commissions in his first month because a buyer wanted to hire a RE/MAX agent.
One of Susanne’s clients told her last week that he will only hire RE/MAX agents, because the other national brands have too many part timers.
An agent who left RE/MAX at the beginning of the year told me that his production is down by 6 deals because clients don’t recognize the name of his new brokerage.
Myth 3: There’s No Training
This one’s easy to bust: long before the Internet RE/MAX had its very own satellite network to broadcast training to brokerages. It evolved into RE/MAX University.
At our office we focus on comprehensive agent development. This means we look at your business, have a one-on-one consultation and figure out exactly what prevents you from reaching your goals. Then we coach you to take action and hold you accountable.
Every Tuesday RE/MAX 24/7 offers agent masterminds where we jointly develop solutions to everyone’s business challenges.
The classroom training most brokers offer is basically entertainment that makes agents feel good.
Did your broker tell you that you are not good enough for RE/MAX?
We stress quality over quantity. RE/MAX 24/7 is not a body-shop brokerage. We don’t take everyone. We are not right for every licensed agent.
However, we are a good fit for you if you are an entrepreneur, if you want to grow your business, if you close $2 million a year or more, and if you consider real estate your full-time career.
At RE/MAX 24/7 you are working with motivated, professional Realtors, not part timers and inexperienced hobby agents who bug you with basic questions every day.
Remember, you are the average of the 10 people you spend the most time with (Jim Rohn).
Myth 5: Every RE/MAX Office is the Same
RE/MAX offices are independently owned and operated. There’s a difference in how owners run their brokerages.
RE/MAX gives each franchise office complete freedom to run their business as they see fit.
We don’t tell agents how to run their business either, but we are here to support them 24/7 when they need help.
