The Ultimate Prospecting Plan
Your Step by Step Guide to Attract and Maintain Prospects
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Prospecting Plan #1: Traditional Prospecting Plan Using Cold Calling and Door Knocking Techniques Traditional prospecting has proven to be a consistent way to achieve real estate success. As with the other approaches in this program, for this system to yield the best results, personal connection is the key. Traditional prospecting still is, however, a numbers game. Every 100 contacts should yield 1 or 2 solid leads. The challenge with this model is how well the agent handles rejection. A second stumbling block is follow-up. The agent generates a lead, but they do not follow up on a consistent basis and the lead ends up doing business with another agent. Re- member, research shows that when people are ready to list or buy real estate, they are most likely to contact the agent with whom they have had the most recent personal contact. If you happen to knock on the prospect’s door the day they have decided to list or buy a property, they’re much more likely to select you rather than someone who has been mailing or E-mailing them. To build your business through traditional prospecting strategies, set schedule for each day on how many calls you are going to make. Remember to record the date you complete each item in the space provided.
Insert date completed next to each item. 1. Evaluate your current lead generation activities using the guidelines in the section entitled: “Lead Generation and Conversion Ratios.” 2. List how many transactions you would like to close in the next 12 months in the space below: # of trans _________________________
This is the number of people you will need to talk to about real estate each week using traditional prospecting methods. 3. Check off what days you will be prospecting and what times. If at all possible, prospect on Saturday mornings because this usually yields the best results. To firmly establish the habit, plan on prospecting five days a week for the next four weeks. Sunday
Thursday
Monday
Friday
Tuesday
Saturday
Wednesday
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For the next 30 days, prospect at these times. Do NOT schedule listing appointments, buyer appointments, etc. in these time slots. The only reason to cancel your prospecting time is to handle a transaction problem or a personal emergency great enough that you would have canceled a listing presentation under the same circumstances. Your goal is to create a habit that will sustain you throughout the year, much as attending your weekly office meeting does. If you do miss a prospecting appointment, reschedule it as soon as possible. REMEMBER: Every 100 Contacts will generate 1-2 viable leads or “aces” and 98-99 discards.” 4. Choose a script that you will master for cold calling success. 5. Examine the following list of prospecting strategies. Put a check mark by the three approaches you feel you can implement in your business. a. Cold calling for Just Listed and Just Solds b. Door knocking for Just Listed and Just Solds c. Cold calling to invite neighbors to an open house d. Door-knocking to invite neighbors to an open house e. Prospecting garage sales f.
Cold calling tenants to see if they want to become homeowners
g. Door knocking tenants to see if they want to become homeowners h. Cold calling investment owners about buying or selling i.
Door knocking investment owners about buying or selling
j.
Cold calling to offer contacts an opportunity to obtain a coupon, an annual report of what has sold in your area, or some other item of value.
k. Door knocking to offer contacts an opportunity to obtain a coupon, an annual report of what has sold in your area, or some other item of value. l.
Deliver at least 500 branded door hangers into your target area each week
6. Now, rank order these three items. For the next month, work only on the first item until you have it completely integrated into your business. Then you can go on to items two and three. Remember, your goal is to find an activity that is sustainable over time and that you will feel motivated to do on a regular basis. 7. Write out a script for each of the three areas where you will be prospecting. Practice with this script out loud until you can say it normally without looking at your notes.
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8. Get into action. Some agents find it’s easiest to sit down and make all their calls or door knocks in extended periods of 2-4 hours. Others find it easier to commit to 30- 60 minutes at a time. Start with works for you and track where and at what times you get the best results. In the space below, write down what two-hour period during the day generated the most leads during the first week of your prospecting activities. ________________________________________________________________________ Also, write down on what two days you made the maximum number of contacts. ________________________________________________________________________
9. For each lead you receive, follow-up with a copy of your Annual Report, Email newsletter, a handwritten thank-you note, or a coupon from a local vendor. 10. For each lead you generate, determine which of the following strategies you will use to make a minimum of five additional contacts that are necessary to have that person do business with you in the future. a. In-person contact at the door or by telephone. b. Subscribe to E-mail newsletter. c. Drop off coupons or other items of value in person. d. Email coupons of other items of value. e. If seller lead, drop off list of monthly comparable sales in person. f.
If seller lead, Email list of monthly comparable sales.
g. Subscribe to traditional newsletter (i.e. U.S. Mail). h. If buyer lead, update regularly by phone interest rates and sales. i.
If buyer lead, Email update of interest rates and sales.
j.
If relocation lead, update regularly with comparable sales and general information in their new location in person.
k. If relocation lead, update regularly with comparable sales and general information in by phone or Email.
11. At the end of the first month, evaluate how many attempts, contacts, and leads you developed. For the second month, concentrate on the strategies that produced the greatest results.
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12. At the end of month two, evaluate your prospecting results and make adjustments to the time and days you prospect based upon the results from the previous month. 13. Repeat the process of evaluating your results each month. Remember, markets shift and change, so watch your MLS to see where the activity is the greatest. For example, if you’re in a buyer’s market where there are lots of listings and few buyers, focusing on first time buyers is an excellent idea. This means you will be prospecting tenants. In a seller’s market, focus on obtaining listings. Again, look what is selling the most rapidly (it’s usually the lower priced properties) and focus your efforts there. By paying attention to these changes and altering your prospecting efforts to fit the market, you’ll keep your income strong.
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Prospecting Plan #2: Open House Want to appear as if you are doing lots of business in an area? If so, putting up lots of directional signs every Saturday or Sunday to your open house creates that impression. More importantly, open houses give you an opportunity to prospect by inviting people to attend to the open house either through door-knocking or by mailing them invitations. “Open House� works well as a supplement to a traditional prospecting program as well as most farming or mailing programs. Here are the steps to follow in strengthening your use of this valuable tool. Write in the dates when you complete each item on the checklist.
Insert date completed next to each item. 1. Identify the best potential open houses based upon location, curb appeal, and how many times they have been held open in the past. Remember, new listings with good curb appeal and that are easy to flag are the best candidates. 2. Check off which of the techniques below you will use to generate traffic to your open house besides directional signs, newspaper or Internet advertising.
a. Door-knock to invite neighbors to the open house b. Send handwritten invitations to neighbors inviting them to the open house and follow-up with a phone call. c. Door-knock move-up areas to invite them to the open house. d. Send hand-written invitations to neighbors inviting them to the open house and follow-up with a phone call. e. Contact your existing database via Email or telephone to invite them to the open house.
3. Set the theme for your open house and purchase what you need to implement the theme at least two days prior to the open. Write down the theme you will be using this month in the space below: 4. Decide on the strategies listed above and below that you will implement. Hold yourself accountable to performing those tasks. 5. Print out the open house guest register and the sign asking visitors to sign the guest book. 6. Prepare your Open House Kit and make sure it is regularly stocked with all the forms and other materials you will need to write an offer or take a listing.
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7. Determine what you will offer (a drawing for movie tickets, a gift basket, lottery tickets, etc.) to get good names and telephone numbers from open house visitors. Write down what you will be offering in the space below: ___________________________________________________________________________
8. Once you have determined what strategies you will be using on the open house, master a minimum of three of the scripts listed below. a. The “You’re invited to an open house” prospecting script. b. “Would you please sign the guest register” script. c. “Would you like to enter our drawing” (for movie tickets, lottery tickets, gift basket etc.) script or subscribe to my Email Newsletter. d. At least one “follow-up script” by telephone.
9. Make a list of your “switches” for your open house at least two days prior to the open. (A good “switch” list will have at least 5 or 6 properties). 10. Determine your follow-up plan for your open house. Will it be Email or by telephone? 11. Hold your open house and follow your plan. 12. After holding your first four open houses, determine how many viable leads you have generated. Look for patterns and focus on what works. Make changes as necessary based upon market conditions and results obtained.
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Prospecting Plan #3: Prospecting Expired Listings and For-Sale-by-Owners Of all the “traditional” prospecting techniques, calling on expired listings and “For Sale-byOwners” is a consistent source of “right now business.” For properly trained agents, prospecting expireds and FSBOs yields a 10-20% return in contrast to the 1-2% return from cold calling or knocking on cold doors. This system yields the best results when the focus is on personal connection. A common myth that creates unrealistic expectations in agents is that sellers will sign a listing after only one contact with the agent. In most cases, it takes six contacts before the FSBO will do business with you. When working in these two areas, but especially when working with FSBOs, consistent lead follow-up is the key to success. Remember, research shows that when people are ready to list or buy real estate, they are most likely to contact the agent with whom they have had the most recent personal contact. A second key point is to stay focused on what is best for the seller, not on capturing their business. When you approach the business from this point, there’s less resistance to listing with you as compared to agents who are too pushy. REMEMBER: Record the date you complete each item in the space provided.
Prospecting Expired Listings - Insert date completed next to each item. 1. Evaluate your current lead generation activities 2. List how many transactions you would like to close in the next 12 months in the space below: ____________. This is the number of Expired Listings you will have to talk to each week to achieve this goal. 3. Check off the days and times you will be prospecting. If you’re prospecting expireds in person, the best time to reach them is in the morning. You can call later in the day, but try to avoid dinner time. To firmly establish the prospecting for expired listings habit, plan on prospecting five days per week for the next four weeks. Write down the times you will prospect next to the days on which you plan to prospect this week. Sunday _______ Monday _______ Tuesday _______ Wednesday _______ Thursday _______ Friday _______ Saturday _______ For the next 30 days, prospect at these times. Do NOT schedule listing appointments, buyer appointments, etc. in these time slots. The only reason to cancel your prospecting time is to handle a transaction problem or a personal emergency great enough that you would have canceled a listing presentation under the same circumstances. Your goal is to create a habit that will sustain you throughout the year, much as attending your weekly office meeting does. If you do miss a prospecting appointment, reschedule it as soon as possible. Find Your Freedom
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REMEMBER: Every 100 Contacts will generate 10-20 viable leads or “aces” and 80-90 “discards.” 4. Which of the following strategies will you use to contact expired listings during the next 30 days? a. Door knock morning the listing expired. b. Call by phone the morning the listing expired. c. Door knock later in the day the listing expired. d. Call by phone later in the day the listing expired. e. Send an expired listing package via overnight mail. f.
Send an expired listing by regular US mail.
g. Prospect expired listings in person that are at least 60 days old. h. Prospect expired listings by phone that are at least 60 days old. i.
Prospect expired listings via Email or mail that are at least 60 days old.
5. Choose a script you want to use. Put a check mark beside the script you will feel most comfortable using. a. “Are you still interviewing agents for the job of selling your home”? b. “My company has helped other sellers just like you…”. c. If door knocking, “Hello I wanted to introduce myself to you…”. d. Create your own that fits your personality.
Once you have decided on the script, you can fill in the date for this item when you have memorized the script and can recall it without any difficulty. 6. List three things you will include in your expired listing package.
7. Review the questions you could ask the expired listing as you walk through their home. Identify the four you would feel most comfortable asking and when you can recall them easily from memory, fill in the date. 8. Master the script that answers the question, “Where were you when I had this place listed with Competitor Realty?” Find Your Freedom
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9. Customize a Ninety-Day Marketing Plan so it fits how you conduct your business. 10. Customize a Seller Services Guarantee so it fits how you do your business. 11. Prepare a “generic” version of your Expired Listing package. This includes a Rate of Absorption sheet if possible, a CMA, the Ninety-Day Marketing Plan, and a Seller Services Guarantee. 12. Fill in the date once you have mastered each of the following objections. a. How come I had virtually no showings when I was listed before and now every agent in town is calling me? b. I don’t want to list with anyone, but if you have a buyer, you can bring them by. c. I want to wait until before I list my house. d. My agent told me how bad the market is—Perhaps I should wait to list my property.
13. Check the public records for owners of expired listings who live outside the market (It’s especially smart to check for expireds that are at least 90 days old). Identify at least five who have not re-listed their property. Do a Rate of Absorption analysis for each property and mail the Expired Letter and the other items in your package to the owner. Follow-up with a phone call if at all possible or put the owner in your regular mailing program.
Prospecting For Sale by Owners - Insert date completed next to each item. REMEMBER: When prospecting FSBOs is at least 80% of all FSBOs do ultimately list their homes with an agent. 1. Evaluate your current lead generation activities 2. List how many transactions you would like to close in the next 12 months in the space below: This is the number of FSBOs you will have to talk to each week to achieve this goal. 3. Check off what days you will be prospecting for FSBOs and what times. If you’re prospecting FSBOs in person, the best time to see them is generally during the week when they don’t have as much traffic. Calling on FSBOs when there is a prospect previewing the property is generally a bad idea. Your goal is to catch the FSBO when they are relaxed and have time to have a conversation with you. To firmly establish the FSBO prospecting habit, plan on doing this five days a week for at least four weeks. Sunday _______ Monday _______ Tuesday _______ Wednesday _______ Thursday _______ Friday _______ Saturday _______
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For the next 30 days, prospect at these times. Do NOT schedule listing appointments, buyer appointments, etc. in these time slots. The only reason to cancel your prospecting time is to handle a transaction problem or a personal emergency great enough that you would have canceled a listing presentation under the same circumstances. Your goal is to create a habit that will sustain you throughout the year, much as attending your weekly office meeting does. If you do miss a prospecting appointment, reschedule it as soon as possible. REMEMBER: Every 100 Contacts will generate 10-20 viable leads or “aces” and 80-90 “discards.” 4. Put a check mark by the strategies you will use to locate FSBOs. a. Drive a different route to the office each day looking for FSBO signs. b. Search the newspapers for FSBOs c. Check the Internet for FSBO leads (use Google.com and type in your area and the words “For Sale by Owner” Real Estate). 5. Memorize a telephone script for contacting the FSBOs that tells them why you want to see
their home and that promises them you will never ask them for the listing on their property. 6. Memorize how to overcome the objection when the FSBO seems suspicious of your motivation for wanting to see their home. 7. Memorize what you will say at the property including at least two questions you can ask the seller as you walk through the property. 8. Memorize how to use the “Oh by the Way Script.” 9. Prepare your “Oh by the Way Package” using a minimum of four items from the list in this manual. Place a check mark by the two items you would feel most comfortable giving to the seller. a. Required Disclosure Statements (Remember to scrawl “SAMPLE” in big letters across the form). b. A list of web sites that provide FSBOs with required forms. c. A checklist of all forms required in your local area (Federal, State, and Local) to close a transaction. d. Environmental hazards information such as mold, earthquake, toxic waste, asbestos, etc. e. Complimentary FSBO signs with your name and number painted on the back. f.
How to Qualify Your Buyer.
g. Important Questions to Answer Before You Sell Your Home. h. Prepare Your Home for Market. Find Your Freedom
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i.
Pricing Your Home to Sell.
j.
Blank Open House Register.
k. Information on interest rates.
10. Be able to overcome the objection, “Why are you being so helpful”? 11. Memorize a script to Prospect FSBOs as future buyers. 12. Memorize a script to Prospect Buyers for Relocation business. 13. Once you have memorized the telephone contact script and have your “Oh by the Way Kit” prepared, begin prospecting for FSBOs. To make sure you build this habit adequately, follow the same prospecting schedule for the next 30 days. 14. Evaluate your results. If you have more success with a certain type of property or price range, concentrate your efforts there. If you’re uncomfortable knocking on doors, you could prospect out of area owners by mail, Email, and telephone. Adjust your prospecting plan accordingly. REMEMBER: It takes a minimum of seven contacts in most cases before a prospect will feel comfortable enough with you to do business.
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Prospecting Plan #4: Referral Network Whether you are brand new or experienced, building a strong referral network can be one of the quickest ways to build a sustainable business. The key to making this system work is personal connection. Just sending postcards and hoping the person will remember to call you is not enough. You need to talk to each person in your referral database by phone a minimum of once every two months. You also need to contact them by mail or Email monthly as well as having face-to-face contact with them at least three or four times per year. Remember, research shows that when people are ready to list or buy real estate, they are most likely to contact the agent with whom they have had the most recent personal contact. The key is to make sure that person is you. To build your personal referral network, complete each exercise in the order given. Remember to record the date you complete each item in the space provided.
Insert date completed next to each item. 1. Prepare a list of people who you know and you share with both friends and existing clients. These are generally strengths upon which to build your business. 2. Complete a list of people who you do know but do not connect with on regular basis. 3. Rank each individual you identified in the so you can prioritize who to contact first. 4. If you’re new in the business, select your announcements and send them out to the people in your sphere of influence. 5. Select a telephone scripts to use to contact your referral database by phone. Master the script. 6. Contact the first five people who are the easiest to talk to and ask them to become part of your referral database. 7. Immediately follow-up with a handwritten thank-you note to each person who agrees to help you. 8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 every day for the next two weeks until you have contacted a minimum of 50 people from your sphere of influence. Your ultimate goal is to have a minimum of 100 people in your referral database. 9. Determine your follow-up strategy using the guidelines below. (Fill in the date when you have send out your first mailing piece, have posted your first coupon to your web site, or have personally thanked members of your database).
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a. I will be sending out 12 postcards per year to my referral database. b. I will be sending out 12 letters per year to my referral database. c. I will be sending out ____ postcards and ____ letters to my referral database this year. If so, identify which months you will be using the REC postcards and which months you will be using the REC letters. d. I will be sending out an Email newsletter monthly. e. I will be offering E-coupons or other web offers once quarterly to my referral database. f. My strategy for thanking the members of my referral database this year includes the four following activities: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
g. My strategy for thanking my “angels” (i.e. the people who send me referrals or more than one referral”) is: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ h. My theme for this year’s “Client Appreciation Event” is: ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 10. What are two examples of connection builders that you could see yourself using in your business? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
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11. What is the script you would use when you "stopped by" to drop off a connection builder? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 12. Choose at least three ways you would feel comfortable in implementing a strategy to build a larger referral network to aid the growth of your business. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 13. When I do receive a referral, this is how I will express my gratitude. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 14. My strategy for keeping the person who sent me the referral updated is to: a. b. c. d.
Call them weekly. Update them via Email. Update them with a handwritten note. Update them in person.
15. Check off this box when your referral database reaches 100. 16. In future months, as you add new people, weed out those who have not sent you a referral or who you feel are unlikely to send you a referral. “Weed” your database at least every year. Even if you don’t have 100 people, do not wait much longer than one year to do this for the first time. Regularly upgrading your database is an important aspect of making the referral system work. Record the date when you do your first “weeding.” 17. How long do you plan to keep a person in your database without receiving a referral from them? Write the length of time in the space below: __________________________________________________________________________ 18. Once your database reaches 100 people who regularly refer you business, the next step is when you add a new person, you will need to ask yourself if there is someone you need to weed out. If so, drop them immediately.
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Prospecting Plan #5: Geographical Farming and Mailing Programs Whether you are prospecting by mailing to a specific geographical farm or a niche such as probate, estates, or new homes, your goal in mailing is to be keep your name in front of your database so that you’re the first person the they think of when they need a Realtor. Caveat: Just mailing without personal follow-up takes longer to work. A combination of personal follow ups along with mailing works best but will still take 6-24 months of regularly mailing to be effective. This approach works better when it’s coupled with the “By Referral” program or a traditional door-knocking program in which you make a personal, face-to-face connection with the prospect. Place a check mark beside each item as you launch the program. Go to http://www.ureintranet.com/ to log into our company store which will take you to a wide variety of products from United’s preferred vendors. Also for more generic mailings which offers a discount on postage go to www.usps.com/eddmtool to learn more about areas covered by saturation mailing. 1. Determine which of the following mailing programs you will be using for your mailing program: a. b. c. d.
First-time buyer postcard program for renters. Geographical farm postcards from. Geographical farm letter program. Geographical farm letter/postcard combination.
2. Determine the size of your mailing list. If you’re using a geographical farm, most agents start with a minimum of 250-500 homes. 3. Lay out your mailing program for the next 7 months. Select the postcards and/or letters you would like to use from the materials. An excellent opening offer to your geographical farm is to send them a letter that says: Free Annual Report of sales in your area! or: Are you paying too much in property taxes? Call me at (list your phone number) for a Free Annual Report. Determine what your property is worth today!
This can be repeated twice a year as a mailing piece. 4. Order your postcards for the six months. 5. Investigate bulk rate mailing if you will be doing the mailing yourself. A better option is to have the postcard company send out the cards for you. See Intranet for printing options. 6. Send the postcard company your mailing list and make arrangements to mail your first cards. Remember, if you’re using bulk mail, it can take 2-4 weeks for the material to be mailed out. Plan accordingly. Find Your Freedom
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7. An excellent first piece is to make an offer of a Free Annual Report. (The annual report is a CMA for the area where you are prospecting. A good strategy is to send this offer out to your sphere of influence as well. People must either call you to receive the report or visit your web site and register to receive the free report via Email. 8. Send out your first mailing piece. 9. Follow up each month on the first of the month with the next postcard or letter in the sequence. 10. Decide how you will make personal connections with people in your farm area. Open houses and door knocking are the two easiest ways to make face-to-face contacts with people in your geographical farm. REMEMBER: It takes 6-36 months to have a farm that yields leads from just mailing. Consequently, it’s important to remember you must couple mailing with face-to-face contact. 11. For each lead you generate, determine which of the following strategies you will use to make a minimum of five additional contacts that are necessary to have that person do business with you in the future. a. In-person contact at the door or by telephone b. Subscribe to Email newsletter c. Drop off coupons or other items of value in person d. Email coupons of other items of value e. If seller lead, drop off list of monthly comparable sales in person f. If seller lead, Email list of monthly comparable sales g. Subscribe to traditional newsletter (i.e. U.S. Mail) h. If buyer lead, update regularly by phone interest rates and sales i.
If buyer lead, Email update of interest rates and sales
j.
If relocation lead, update regularly with comparable sales and general information in their new location in person.
k. If relocation lead, update regularly with comparable sales and general information in by phone or Email. 12. Just Listed/Just sold program. For each home you list or sell you mail out a postcard to the surrounding neighbors highlighting your participation of that sale. A minimum of 250 homes should be selected. This combined with other mailer programs is very successful in demonstrating your ability to get results for homeowners in that area. Sign into www.UREIntranet.com and view the Company Store to start this program. Find Your Freedom
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Prospecting Plan #6: Web Prospecting Web prospecting is the future of the real estate business. The goal in web prospecting is to use traditional prospecting strategies to drive buyers and sellers to your web site and specialty niche marketing to gain a presence on the search engines. Thus, if you currently conduct a traditional mailing campaign, part of your marketing strategy will be to use your mailers to have people visit your web site. Response time to prospects is key to success. What type of phone are you using and are emails getting to you no matter where you are located? To build your business through web prospecting, make sure you have completed the webinars on how to maximize your United Real Estate website. Whether you are a top producer or a brand new agent, however, the web is the great equalizer unless you know how to use it. Mastering the plan below will put you in the elite 1% of all agents who truly understand how powerful web prospecting actually is. To implement web prospecting in your business, follow the steps below.
Insert date completed next to each item. 1. Optimize your performance by keeping up with the latest in computer’s technology, mobile phone devices and other devices that will allow you to communicate with the customer how they want to communicate. 2. Upgrade to a professional quality email address. If you have a Hotmail or AOL account, you are more likely to have trouble with attachments and long documents. These companies portray a “personal” rather than a “professional” image. Your appearance of “professionalism” will strongly influence what type of clients you will attract. 3. Select your domain name using the guidelines in the material. Be sure to obtain a “dot-com” address. Your web address will be the most effective if you brand by location and niche rather than using your name. Write your domain name here: ________________________________ 4. Have your business cards, sign riders, and all print advertising changed to include your web address. 5. If you regularly hold open house, start your E-marketing efforts using Email. To do this, have open house visitors sign in for a drawing. You can then follow-up four times with each open house visitor prior to calling them after the fourth contact. Determine what you will offer (a drawing for movie tickets, a gift basket, lottery tickets, etc.) to obtain Email addresses from open house visitors. Write it the space below: ___________________________________________________________________________
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6. If you currently have not optimized your web site, take the time to personalize it to your target audience. 7. Create your own personal Email Newsletter by copying the one of letters in our Peak Performance software, pasting it into an Email along with the comparable sales, and then Email it to your sphere of influence, past clients, or anyone else who has opted- in to your services. a. If you struggle with doing this, a number of companies provide this service for a minimal fee. b. A second alternative is to hire a “Virtual Assistant” from www.AssistU.com or from www.IVAA.org to handle your web prospecting for you. c. Inman News Features (www.Inman.com) provides news content for the major media. The fee to use their content in your newsletter or on your web site (they change the information daily). Check their web site for exact pricing.
8. Decide which of the following types of services you would like to use to drive people to your web site. (You can alternate these or use the same ones. Alternating usually provides the best results). a. Email Newsletter b. Annual Report c. Free Reports d. VIP club e. E-coupons from national firms f.
Drawings for movie tickets or lottery tickets
g. Online coupons from local merchants who become your affiliates Open house from the comfort of your home (This would consist of posting five or more “virtual tours” of properties in specific price ranges.)
9. If your web page is about you rather than the customer, modify its contents using the guidelines below. Put a check mark beside each one of the items you will include on your web site: a. Current Listings and Sales b. Reports c. Mapping function d. Updated real estate news feed from Inman.com e. Link to Chamber of Commerce Information f.
What’s My Property Worth? Free Report
g. Free Annual Report h. VIP Club i.
Drawings for movie tickets or other promotions
j.
Links to other useful web sites
k. Free Email Newsletter Find Your Freedom
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10. Decide what strategies you are going to use to achieve high web placement. Also, if you follow the guidelines about branding discussed in this program, you will greatly enhance your web site positioning. Put a check mark by each way you will work to increase your web placement: a. Look at SEO terms that are very targeted that you can place on your page b. Hire a virtual assistant to handle this for me. c. Hire a web company who assists with placement for a fee. d. Purchase the listing enhancement package from Realtor.com e. Use Social Media, Craigslist, LinkedIn, video, twitter, and neighborhood blogs 11. If you have a sophisticated web site strategy and are interested in doing multiple campaigns using your web site, decide what your other URL’s will be and point them to your site.
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Four Steps to Creating a Personal Brand that Works 1. Include what you do and where you do it. Your brand must reference words that show that you’re in the real estate business. Some examples are: “real estate”, “homes”, “estates”, “condos”, “relocation”, or “probate.” List at least two or three words or phrases you could use to show your business is real estate. ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Your brand must also reference the specific geographical areas you service. This will make it easier to sell your book at business at a future date. For example, LABuyers.com: Brent- woodcondos.com, or StoneridgeHomes.com a. Even if you’re in a large city, you can still brand your business with the city’s name and the type of properties you represent. For example, Atlanta Historical Homes by Susan Cross or Chicago Lake Homes by John Smith. If your web site uses those two pieces of information in your web address, that is the city’s name and the type of properties you represent, people will be able to find you on the web, even if they don’t remember your name. b. Even if you have a memorable name, use your geographical location and the words that reference real estate as your primary source of branding. You can add your name only if it makes these other two factors more memorable. For example, if your last name was “Sells” you could brand your business by using your first name in a phrase like this: “Bernice Sells Austin Real Estate” or “When you need to sell, Bernice Sells Austin Real Estate.” c. List two or three phrases to describe your business in terms of the area where you live and/or the properties you represent. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 3. The next step in creating your personal brand is to identify something unique about your- self that would lend itself to marketing to a specific segment of the market. This could be your name, a hobby, or anything else that differentiates you and makes you more "memorable." If you love to golf, use golfing in your branding. You can have your marketing pictures include a shot of you on the course or standing in front of the club house. This is particularly effective if one of your niches is selling houses on this particular golf course. Remember, psychological research has demonstrated people are attracted to others who are like them in some way. Creating a marketing campaign based upon common recreational interests is one of the best ways to expand your business and enjoy yourself in the process. Identify three things unique about yourself that could be used to market your real estate practice. ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ Find Your Freedom
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4. The best branding strategy is to combine your geographical location with the specific market segments you service. In each of the following examples, there is a reference to a specific niche as well as a specific geographical location. “Dallas Probate Sales”; “Scottsdale First Time Buyers”; “Jonestown Foreclosure Properties; Lake Hills Horse Properties; Westwood Estate Properties; Fort Bragg Military Relocation Services. What are three market segments you serve that could be used with a specific geographical location you service? ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________
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Ways to Get Rich in a Niche For most agents, the geographical area to choose is pretty obvious. A much more difficult question is what niche should you choose? If you’re experiencing a challenge in this area, here are eleven great places to consider building your personal niche. When you reach the end of this section, take the time to write down at least three potential areas where you could develop a niche for your business. Remember, your niche should make you feel happy and energized—if it doesn’t, you haven’t found the right fit. 1. Work with people who participate in the same activities you love such as golf, skiing, gardening, or biking. One of the most difficult things about prospecting and marketing is being able to do it on a consistent basis. Consequently, if you don’t enjoy the activities you select, sooner or later you’re going to give up because you’re simply not motivated. In contrast, when you prospect by doing something you enjoy, it’s easier and the results are also more sustainable. What are two activities that you do that could be potential niches? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 2. Create a niche representing people who still work in your former career. For example, if you used to be a teacher, market to other teachers. If you’ve been a stay at home mom, consider making stay at home moms your niche. In each case, market yourself based upon the fact that you were "once one of them" and understand their specific needs. 3. A hot new niche is home-based business. To take advantage of this major trend, become an expert on the best properties to convert to home offices. Line up a team of professionals who can help the people in your "niche" transform the extra bedroom into the high-tech office they want and need. For example, you will need reliable contractors to do the remodeling, a good electrician to install special wiring, as well as resources for the best buys for home office equipment. An additional way to help people in this niche would be to have your own referral list of other professionals they will need for their business such as printers, travel agents, computer technicians, etc. Name some types of professional you could put on your referral list for your niches. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 4. As the Baby Boomers transition from their 40's into their 50's, another hot niche is couples down-sizing from big family homes. Once the kids are out of school, many will want an elegant, but scaled down home. Become the expert on how to help people who need to transition from the big house and family into a great retirement lifestyle. 5. If you are over 50, become the "real estate expert" for your local AARP chapter. You may not only get Grandpa and Grandma as your clients, you may get the kids and grandkids as well. Also, within the "over fifty" niche you will find many widows/widowers who have no grasp of the real estate business. These people can truly benefit from the services of someone who has Find Your Freedom
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honesty, integrity, and places their client’s best interest at heart. In most cases, the seniors are a pretty tightly knit community. They travel together, they meet for lunch regularly, and most importantly, they talk to each other all the time. If you gain a reputation as being their resource for real estate related trust or probate issues, you’ll have plenty of business until you decide to retire and join them. 6. Serve couples in transition. For example, if you would like to create a niche with newly married couples consider including the following on your web site: caterers, hotels, stationers, calligraphers, bridal salons, tux rentals, travel agents, etc. In exchange for being posted on your web site, ask the proprietors of these businesses to pass out your business card to their prospective clients. The goal is to provide "one-stop shopping" for their wedding and new life together. 7. If you are near a military base, become an expert on the special financing available to people in the service. Career military people tend to move about once every three years. Consequently, they are an excellent source of repeat business. Also, since people in the military are paid every two weeks, you may want to locate lenders who will let them pay their mortgage every two weeks. This gives them an extra payment per year and greatly improves the probability they will have some equity when they move to the next base. 8. Another great way to develop a niche is to specialize in specific types of transactions such as foreclosures, HUD, or bankruptcy/ trust properties. To do this, you will have to develop excellent presentation skills because you will be dealing with bank presidents, attorneys, CPAs, and other court appointed officials. 9. The next way to develop a niche is to select something that reflects your current lifestyle. For example, if you're single, become an expert in properties attractive to singles. If you have young children, develop a niche serving the special needs of young families. If you are divorced, you can assist people who will be going through that process. 10. You’ve probably heard the rule about never discussing religion or politics with your clients. On the other hand, there’s no rule that says that you can’t discuss real estate with those who share your religious or political beliefs. If anything, the fact you share a belief system makes you a much better candidate to do business with them. Another excellent resource many agents have used to build a very profitable business is by being actively involved in charitable fund raising. In either case, whether it’s through religious, political, or charitable activities, these niches will yield absolutely no results if you’re what is known as a “secret agent.” If you don’t let people know you’re in the real estate business, then you’re wasting your time if you are hoping these well meaning people will magically remember you’re the person to call when they need the services of a Realtor. 11. This is the most important niche of all and it’s one most Realtors simply aren’t prepared to deal with. Based upon the present birth statistics, census data, and the current ratios of people buying homes, in the year 2010 approximately 65% of all first-time home buyers will either be immigrants or minorities. Becoming the agent of choice for just one of these groups can bring you a steady stream of income for years to come. If you already speak another language fluently, have you thought about directly marketing to potential clients who also speak the Find Your Freedom
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same language? Many agents have become successful by marketing to people who spoke a language other than English. To do this in your business, print your marketing pieces in the second language. If you really want to get ahead of the curve, post your web site in both English and the other languages in which you are proficient. Once you gain trust from these clients and you deliver excellent service, a steady stream of referrals is almost a certainty. 12. First time home buyers. In recent years, over 30% of buyers have been first time home buyers. This segment will always make up a large percentage of the buying population. Because of the recent conditions of real estate marketing, they are in need of education about the positive aspects of home ownership. Target them in rental communities, do first time home buyers seminars with mortgage companies and title companies, build your website features to focus on the buying process. 13. Select at least two areas for your personal niches and write them below. _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________
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