by Christy Crouch
In this article I will talk more about the challenges Realtors face as mentioned in my previous article where I promised to share my experiences and those of the agents I’ve coached across the United States of what has worked for us in challenging areas.
Before I begin, I just want to acknowledge that there are many different ways of selling and handling Real Estate. My way is by far not the only way. I am simply sharing what has worked for me and the agents I coach, what I practice and teach may or may not be for you.
I am not an agent who has bought my way into the business, had a bunch of new construction to get my name in the marketplace, tons of relocation or company referrals. I am an agent that actually went out there and made it happen. I worked my way to the top with the help of my coaches and mentors. I started in a brand new town where I didn’t know anyone, 6 months pregnant, no income, living with family until my home where I moved from sold.
I moved to the new area with experience in all aspects of the business. I started my career in real estate in Richmond, Virginia as a receptionist for a local firm. From there I gained experience as an assistant to a top producing agent who sold in excess of 100 homes a year. After that I became a director of operations for a top firm, a Relocation Director, a Development Manger, and a marketing manager for a new construction community.
When I moved to Roanoke, Virginia 11 years ago I came with a vast knowledge of the industry. However as I mentioned above, I had no contacts here, no money to buy business, no new construction sites to sit in, and was 6 months pregnant. I mention the pregnant part because it was an objection I had to overcome when competing on listing appointments. This was in addition to the fears and reservations I had about being new to the area, having no business, and not even knowing how to get to the grocery store and back. While I was going up against seasoned top agents in the area I had to overcome the objection of the sellers concerns about my being out when the baby was born.
My career here started in January and that June after having my baby at the end of May, I can remember sitting in my home office with my son beside of me in his bassinet while I juggled handling 19 closings for the month of June. That first year I was able to sell 39 homes and from there grew my business up to 140 deals a year and to a team of seven.
Throughout the 20 years of being in the business I have studied, researched, practiced, coached, and taught others how to sell in high volume, how to powerfully handle any objection or question we could ever face, how to take excellent care of customers and clients. I’ve learned and taught others how to create an organized, efficient, office with systems in place that allow for the growth of a team and a schedule that keeps you from working 24/7.
My intention is to simply share what I’ve learned and experienced in hopes that it will help some of you out there.
So the first challenge I mentioned in my previous article was how to get business.
There are many ways an agent can go about getting business and some of them I’ve already mentioned above. I’ll list some now.
1. You can buy your way into the business by advertising yourself. This is effective but takes time to brand yourself and can be very expensive.
2. Landing new construction to sit in open houses. This allows you to get your name out there and meet tons of people in most cases. Studies have shown that more consumers visit new construction open houses than resale property open houses. If you can get this opportunity this is a solid way of building your pipeline.
3. You can become a relocation specialist where your company and relocation companies refer business to you. Some agents have this as a small portion of their business and some specialize in it. This is effective but very time consuming with all the paperwork that’s involved, and the time it takes most relocating buyers to finally purchase, not to mention the referral fee of upwards of 30% in today’s market.
4. You can do open houses and floor duty. This is also effective but is a “by chance” type of thing and also takes time to build your pipeline.
5. You can farm certain areas and strive to become that area / neighborhood specialist. This again is effective but takes time and money to get established as that neighborhood expert.
6. You can work and utilize the internet with effective websites and search engines. This has become more and more effective and as long as you are consistently following up with the leads you get, it can create a wealth of business for you.
7. You can go out and find the business. This can be immediate business and doesn’t cost a thing. This is the area I chose to focus on and have become and expert at.
I will share with you what I did as a brand new agent and what I’m doing now. When I first began that January obviously I had nothing to do so I spent my days prospecting. Calling people to see if I could find someone looking to buy or sell that I could be of support to.
I pulled expired listings daily, looked up their phone numbers and simply called and asked if they were considering interviewing a different agent for the job of helping them sell their home.
I looked up FSBO listings in the paper, looked for signs as I drove around, and got online to find advertisements there as well. I simply called them and asked if on the outside chance they decide to hire an agent, could I have the opportunity to interview with them and apply for the job of helping them.
I called around new listings and sales of my company, just letting the neighbors know we had a home for sale in their area in case they ran across someone looking to move into the neighborhood. On the sold’s I simply called to let them know we sold their neighbors home, how much it sold for, and asked them to help welcome their new neighbor.
I mailed a package of information to all leads that I produced with a brief outline of my marketing plan, experience in real estate, and a magnet business card. I mailed just listed and just sold post cards after calling those as well.
I created an effective lead follow up system so if I didn’t set the appointment on the first call. I would follow up with them again in a few days and then again several more times. The most important part of your business is in the lead follow up. I can’t tell you the number of clients I talk to that say, “I had calls or mailings from other agents but no one followed up the way you did”. Studies have shown that it can take 5+ times in follow up calls to actually make the sale or set an appointment in sales situations.
As I grew my business that first year I created a database to keep track of past clients and of people that I developed rapport with when prospecting but weren’t ready to buy or sell right then. I called them and mailed to them four times a year from then on, so they were hearing from me 8 times a year.
What you say and how you say it makes the difference when communicating for business both over the phone and in person. You have to gain rapport with the client within the first few minutes, or you’ve lost the opportunity. Gaining rapport is not about having things in common with the person, it’s about having strong communication and sales skills with unparalleled confidence.
If you are interested in learning more about the systems, scripts, communication skills, and how to grow your business, please call or email me to talk about the coaching and courses that we offer.
I look forward to sharing more with you about the challenges Realtors face in my future articles.
I hope you are on track to making 2013 YOUR year!
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