FLORIDA 10-17-22

FLORIDA EDITION

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REASONS WHY YOUR PROSPECTS AREN'T TURNING INTO CLIENTS FEATURED AGENT

ELIN O'DONNELL

CONCIERGE CARE: SERVICES THAT LURE CLIENTS AND TRANSFORM YOUR REPUTATION

MAKE SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING YOUR CALLING CARD DEVELOPING YOUR PRICING PHILOSOPHY COVER STORY

Area Specialist

KRISTEN COMSTOCK

FLORIDA EDITION

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ELIN O'DO

Elin O’Donnell’s l and real estate star A California nati up helping her condos in Montr She has always h KRISTEN COMSTOCK ELIN O'DONNELL flair for interior effectively stagin to help them sell.

CONTENTS Area Specialist ago, Elin completed her real estate licens her18) design experience 4) 7 REASONS WHY MAKE SOCIAL and construction KRISTEN YOUR PROSPECTS AREN'T MARKETING intoMEDIA a full-time career as an agent and bro TURNING INTO CLIENTS YOUR CALLING CARD COMSTOCK Today, Elin works with the award-winn Team RE/MAX Community, a family 14) CONCIERGE CARE: 20)atDEVELOPING YOUR kerage basedPHILOSOPHY in Stuart, Florida that cons SERVICES THAT LURE PRICING among the top 1% in the nation and is kno CLIENTS AND TRANSFORM YOUR REPUTATION Real Estate Team on Florida’s Treasure C

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Elin covers a geographic area on the A Phone 310-734-1440 | Fax 310-734-1440 of Florida concentrated on the area fro mag@topagentmagazine.com | www.topagentmagazine.com West Palm Beach, including Martin and No portion of this issue may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior consent of the publisher. Top Agent Magazine is published by Feature Publications GA, Inc. Although precautions are taken to ensure the accuracy of published as materials, Counties and stretching farTopsouth as Agent Magazine cannot be held responsible for opinions expressed or facts supplied by its authors. stunning South Florida Coast features end To subscribe or change address, send inquiry to mag@topagentmagazine.com.

Published in the U.S. dunes, and charming coastal communitie works in all price points, she excels in th Top Agent Magazine high-end market. She also specializes in clients since she is fluent in both English

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7 Reasons Why Your Prospects Aren’t Turning Into Clients Real estate experts suggest prospecting daily so that your sales pipeline never runs dry.

But sometimes all that effort doesn’t translate into results. If your prospects aren’t becoming clients, there’s a reason, which is better than it sounds because that means you can fix the problem.

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1. You’re Too Slow The Association of Real Estate License Law Officials estimates that there are about 2 million active real estate licensees in the United States alone. Of course, not all these individuals are working in the same markets. Nonetheless, that

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If your prospects aren’t becoming clients, there’s a reason, which is better than it sounds because that means you can fix the problem.

means that realtors face a lot of competition. If you are slow to respond to messages from prospective clients, someone else is sure to beat you to it. As a rule of thumb, it’s best to return calls and emails within 24 hours.

If you’re too busy working with active clients to return the phone calls and emails of prospective clients, consider hiring a real estate assistant who can help take administrative or marketing tasks off your plate.

2. They Don’t Trust You There are different reasons why a client might not trust you, some of which overlap with others on this list. When a client asks you a question, do you answer it directly or do you sidestep it?

Do you have testimonials and reviews from happy clients publicly available? Do you have an online presence? Social proof of your skills and knowledge is key.

3. You Don’t Seem Knowledgeable Enough Is your client constantly coming to you with new listings or marketing ideas rather than the Top Agent Magazine

other way around? Do they mention real estate and finance terms you’ve never heard of or ask you questions you’ve never thought to ask yourself? Every agent starts somewhere, but if this seems to be a pattern, it’s one clients will pick up on too.

Your clients want to know that you will add value to their home buying or selling experience, and part of that value is your expertise and passion.

4. You Have No Web Presence It’s not enough to be on Zillow or have a Facebook page. There are clients who don’t use these platforms, and at the end of the day, you don’t own the content or your access to it. Both platforms could suddenly go out of business and any following you’ve gained could be lost.

It doesn’t cost much to create and maintain a website today. If customization matters little to you, sometimes you can even get up and running for free. At the very least, it’s a good idea to invest in a domain name because yourwebsite. wordpress.com looks a lot less professional than yourwebsite.com.

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5. You Don’t Seem to Care When clients don’t think you care, it usually means they don’t feel like you are listening.

You may have systems, processes, and a proven marketing strategy. You may like to get right down to business, but to your client, this isn’t just business—it’s their life and their family’s livelihood.

When your client tells you what’s important to them, they want to make sure that you really hear them. Make sure your body language conveys that. Slow down. Shut your office door.

Make eye contact, nod your head, and pause before you speak so that they understand that you’ve put thought into your words—that they aren’t simply lines from a script.

6. You Use Too Much Jargon Remember that your clients don’t speak real estate. At most, they might buy or sell a home once every few years. They hired you to be their advocate and may even expect you to be a bit of a teacher too. Use layman’s terms so that your

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client fully understands how the two of you will work together.

7. Your Target Audience Is Everyone Your clients are home buyers and sellers, yes, but who is your ideal client? Some specialties you might consider are college students and recent graduates, working professionals, military families, seniors, CEOs, or other high-profile clients.

As a newer agent, your target audience might be anyone who will hire you, but over time, you might find that you click more with certain clients, that their lifestyle is similar to yours, or that their goals align with your mission. Whatever the reason, marketing your business to this “ideal client” rather than every potential client will make selling your services easier.

Remember: It’s within your power to alleviate your client’s concerns, but understanding why your prospects aren’t turning into clients is a good start.

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Area Specialist

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KRISTEN COMSTOCK

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AREA SPECIALIST KRISTEN COMSTOCK

Leading a team called Comstock Home Group, Top Agent Kristen Comstock makes every buyer and seller feel as if they are the only ones she is assisting.

The greater Tampa Bay region is consistently ranked as one of the best places to live for quality of life and job opportunities. White sand beaches line its coast, and residents enjoy a mixture of major 8

metropolitan city vibes and a tight-knit community feel. Kristen Comstock is a top real estate agent serving this region, and understands just how exciting it is to call it home. “There is just so much to Top Agent Magazine

do,” she explains. “We have easy access to amazing cruises, great beaches, championship sports teams, and more.” Some of her favorite areas include Winter Garden, a picturesque town with streets rivaling a Hallmark movie, as well as the stunning city of Sarasota. Kristen loves Top Agent Magazine

to help people achieve their real estate goals here. She entered the industry after serving in the Marine Corps and moving to Florida from Japan. Her husband remained in Japan on active duty, and Kristen helped find and purchase their first home. “It was a terrible experience,” 9

she explains. After settling into the house, Kristen knew it didn’t have to be like that for everyone looking to buy or sell. So she set out to earn her real estate license, on a mission to provide unparalleled support and guidance to each and every person she served.

“I never want my clients to feel like they are just a number,” she explains.

“When my husband and I purchased our first home, we were young, and were totally starting from scratch. We didn’t know anything about the area and had no

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connections here.” Now leading a team called Comstock Home Group, Kristen makes every buyer and seller feel as if they are the only ones she is assisting. The group works almost entirely with repeat customers, referrals, and their sphere of influence, as those who hire them receive a white glove experience. “We treat them like VIPs,” Kristen says. Throughout their journeys together, Kristen makes sure they know what to expect, answers every question, and continually updates them. This exceptional service carries on after the transaction, with Kristen often surprising past clients with extravagant Top Agent Magazine

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gifts. “We’ve given out Tampa Bay Lightning tickets, hosted appreciation events, and popped by with holiday presents,” she explains.

Community plays an important role in Kristen’s work and life. She is active in her churches and several nearby nonprofits. Kristen also recently launched a podcast, Now What? with Kristen Comstock, which has garnered much local attention. “We cover a range of topics that affect women, especially ones that aren’t talked about,” she says. “The goal is to get people discussing these things and help women know they are not alone.”

When Kristen has free time, she loves relaxing with her husband and tending to her animals. They live on several acres of land and enjoy being outside.

In the coming months, Kristen hopes to grow her team and reach more people. She is committed to making real estate a fun and thrilling experience, and is eager to see what the future holds.

For more information about Kristen Comstock, please call 910-388-8010 or email kristen@comstockhomegroup.com

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Concierge Care: Services that Lure Clients and Transform Your Reputation It’s a no-brainer: customer service is central to success in the real estate industry. While properties may be the product, this industry really revolves around people and the relationships you cultivate along the way. With that in mind, how would you describe the service you provide? If solid service is the baseline, then to set yourself apart you must deliver service that’s exceptional. But, how? Returning calls and displaying a friendly face won’t necessarily separate you from the pack. If you really want to take your customer service to the next level and build a reputation for white-glove, concierge-level courtesy, then keep a few of the following tips in mind as you create a professional style that’s completely bespoke.

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Make your communications matter For many agents, communication during and after a transaction are perfunctory affairs, with one-sizefits-all newsletters or promotional postcards that feel mass-produced. To really grab the attention of your clientele, you’ll want to build a recognizable brand. To accomplish this, begin by adding value to your regular communications. Clients are likely to bypass your communications if they think your only intent is to sell them something. Focus instead on creating content that’s compelling and dishes out value to your clientele. Just like a favorite blog you revisit again and again for its quality content, con-

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sider your communications as an extension of your brand and identity. A few popular ideas from which clients can derive value include: local restaurant guides, tax tips for homeowners, reports on home values and the marketplace, or highlighting home décor and landscaping trends. Make your communications readable and useful, and your clients past and present will think twice before skipping past your name.

Showcase the lifestyle Clients remember when you go the extra mile, and that additional effort distinguishes run-of-the-mill agents from high-powered professionals. Whether listing or buying, consider a property’s lifestyle.

First, think about a client’s everyday experience.

Where’s the best breakfast spot nearby? How’s access to public transportation or bike paths? Which outdoor recreational opportunities exist in the area?

Where might your client swing by for coffee?

Neighborhood guides that outline the livability of a home and its area not only boost value and highlight potential, but they also demonstrate your ability to think outside the box and connect on a personal level. After all, a home isn’t just a house; a home is all about the daily experience that unfolds within and beyond those four walls. With that in mind, do your homework and make yourself a local expert.

Your clients will feel they’re in good hands and will better envision their future unfolding, all thanks to your thorough legwork.

Customize your approach to clients As an agent, it’s only natural that you build your own daily routines and practices that keep your business running. While it’s necessary to create positive habitats that streamline your workflow, it’s also important to remain adaptable. For instance, Millennial clients may prefer to chat by text, instant Top Agent Magazine

message, or email, whereas older clientele may prefer face-to-face time or connecting by phone call.

Adapting your communication style is as simple as a brief discussion: ask your client how they prefer to communicate and adapt accordingly. While it may seem like a small matter, it provides clients with a sense of comfort and control. Again, the key here is communication. Talk with your clients about their preferred methodology. Maybe they prefer a marathon house-hunting trek on a weekend day, or perhaps they rather sift through listings online before making in-person visits to a narrowed list. It’s okay to encourage clients or fill them in on industry norms, but it’s important to create an experience that’s tailored to their style and personality.

Authentically seek feedback While it may feel uncomfortable, asking for feedback during and at the end of a transaction can dramatically improve your working style and professional blind-spots. It can also help you adapt your working style to better suit your respective clients.

Of course, it’s important to be open-minded and to quash the need to be defensive. Not all feedback will be useful, but you can incorporate the parts that are. This not only grows your skillset, but it also demonstrates to clients that you are open to constructive criticism and sincerely prioritize a job well done over personal praise. As a bonus, positive feedback can be parlayed into client testimonials, which are incredibly useful tools to boost your business on the whole.

It’s no secret that real estate is a busy, self-determined business. While your client care may feel all accounted for, there is always room to grow. Professionals at the top of their field know this and never stop building out their repertoire. If you want to take your business to the next level and create an imprint that’s synonymous with concierge care, then keep these ideas in mind as you build your relationships and your brand.

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ELIN O'DONNELL Elin O’Donnell’s love of design and real estate started long ago!

A California native, she grew up helping her mother flip condos in Montreal, Canada.

She has always had a natural flair for interior design and effectively staging properties to help them sell. Seven years ago, Elin completed her real estate license and turned her design experience and construction background into a full-time career as an agent and broker associate.

Today, Elin works with the award-winning Stracuzzi Team at RE/MAX Community, a family-owned brokerage based in Stuart, Florida that consistently ranks among the top 1% in the nation and is known as the #1 Real Estate Team on Florida’s Treasure Coast.

Elin covers a geographic area on the Atlantic Coast of Florida concentrated on the area from Stuart to West Palm Beach, including Martin and Palm Beach Counties and stretching as far south as Miami. The stunning South Florida Coast features endless beaches, dunes, and charming coastal communities. While Elin works in all price points, she excels in the luxury and high-end market. She also specializes in international clients since she is fluent in both English and French.

The Stracuzzi Team achieved sales of $120 million last year with Elin selling over $20 million individually.

With 30-years of success in the local market, The Stracuzzi Team enjoys a good reputation and strong repeat and referral business. Elin says the team takes pride in being the best, staying relatable and down to earth, and helping people. Being ethical and kind in their business and focusing on their clients’ needs comes first and from there, the money flows in. The team has a strong work ethic and focus on gratitude inspired by founder Patrick Stracuzzi’s own story.

Years ago, Patrick lost everything in the wake of a serious accident; he started over from scratch and built the multi-million dollar business he owns today.

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Elin’s team uses social media and word of mouth for most of their business. “We have the best listings, the best team, and the absolute best clients,” Elin says.

They stay in personal contact with past clients and are actively involved in the community through various philanthropic and fundraising efforts. One charity drive the team sponsors is a children’s Christmas drive where they host a big party and even make snow (in Florida!).

When she’s not working, Elin spends as much time as possible with her husband and two young daughters. “My children motivate me, I want to be the best possible example to them and show them how to be independent, strong, and happy, ” Elin says. She hits the gym multiple times per week to stay focused. She also loves bringing people together and is always planning the next gathering, event, or party. Elin’s husband Lance is a luxury residential builder and together they established their own company, Brookeside Builders in 2019. They enjoy traveling and recently visited Sweden where Elin’s family is from. Elin plans to continue growing her business and increasing her annual sales to $30 million plus in 2022. She looks forward to closing her first Palm Beach deal this year. She believes that working hard while you’re young and full of energy and being dedicated to what you do are keys to success.

To learn more about Elin call 561.695.8641, email elin.toprealtor@gmail.com or visit the Stracuzzi Team website: stracuzzi.com http://

2895 SE Ocean Blvd., Stuart FL 34996. 772-283-9991

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Make Social Media Marketing Your Calling Card These days, it’s no secret that buyers begin their home search online. As the industry continues to take a digital turn, Realtors in the know must learn to utilize a whole new range of tools available to them—and for good reason. Social media is a dynamic hybrid of personal contact and targeted marketing. To make the most of this new medium, agents can’t settle for the occasional post and expect results.

Instead, let’s consider a few techniques that will make your social media presence 18

interactive, unmissable, and effective in generating business.

Your Profile is a Portal Ideally, you’ll have profiles across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and otherwise—but no matter what portal you’re utilizing, make sure your profile page is up-todate, well-curated, and easily navigated.

Consider your profile a landing page.

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Your photo, location, contact information, homepage, and a brief bio should all be readily visible so that potential clients can get an immediate sense for who you are and what your voice is. If a client wants to connect with you, it should be obvious how to do so. You might also incorporate a few savvier tools that make your profile more engaging—like hashtags. These searchable tags can help you lure potential clientele and give your audience a chance to explore deeper. #DreamHome #JustListed and #HomeInspiration are popular, existing tags to choose from, but you can cultivate your own hashtag by consistently tagging posts, which gives clients an extensive thread to comb through.

Interacting with Your Audience Posting regularly is great way to appear in feeds, but engaging with your audience is just as important—and it helps you reach a new audience in the process. It’s a positive start to like your audience’s posts, pictures, and statuses, but commenting takes your engagement a step further and separates you from typical respondents. It’s also important that you diversify your engagements. In other words, don’t center every communication around your business, propositioning your services, or trying to sell. If applicable, present your value-add, but otherwise steer your engagement towards the personal. Let your clients know that you’re there, you’re human, and Top Agent Magazine

ready to work at their pace. Which leads us to our next point...

Blending the Professional with the Personal Engaging with your audience is one thing, but what about generating original content?

How do you strike the right balance between a Call to Action, industry updates, and a personal touch? Think of it this way: any post you create should provide a point of connection for your audience.

Sometimes, you might be sharing a family photo, or commenting on some unifying current event—like the Super Bowl! Other times, you may be sharing a Coming Soon listing, or providing tips to spruce up a home for spring. Regardless, you should focus on quality. Is your copywriting engaging? Does it express your unique voice and personality, while maintaining clarity? Are you giving your audience something to connect with, even if you are sharing property photos or advertising an open house? Instill some fun and some personalization to every piece of content you make, so that clients can picture the voice and person behind the post.

Things are always changing on the social media frontier, but some rules never shift.

Adding clarity, consistency, and personality to your online presence are three surefire ways to grow your business and make social media second nature.

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Developing Your Pricing Philosophy

By Dirk Zeller

Ask a dozen agents to explain their home pricing philosophy, and you’ll

hear a dozen different approaches. And if the talk reveals frank responses, you’ll also learn that the most common pricing strategy is no strategy at all.

Here’s my advice: Break out of the ranks by establishing and following a specific strategy for arriving at the ideal selling price for each home.

Adopt the philosophy that, in real estate sales, price is king. Price trumps all other factors—including marketing approaches, home condition, market competitiveness, and sales approach. I believe that, in the end, marketing and condition of the property are controlled by the price.

The alternative, advocated by many agents, most sellers, and even some sales trainers, is to emphasize marketing over pricing. Rather than working to set the ideal price, they believe success will come from optimizing the home’s condition and presentation and then marketing it with skill and savvy.

I take the opposite belief, based on years of experience working with sellers who wanted unrealistic prices for their homes and who experienced firsttime sales failures as a result.

Over my sales career, I resurrected and re-listed more than 600 expired listings—nearly 75 a year. Among all those transactions, I never met an owner with an expired listing who thought that an unreasonable price had anything to do with the home’s failure to sell. They all blamed the previous Copyright Top Agent Magazine 20

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agent and that person’s approach to marketing. Each sought some magic marketing strategy to change the reality of the law of supply and demand.

There is a magic strategy: Price the home correctly.

Price is the only factor that can overcome sales obstacles, compensate for a home’s deficiencies, and motivate a purchaser even if the condition of the property and your marketing approach is less than perfect.

Getting the listing at any cost Does this scenario sound familiar? An agent (usually a newer agent) is short on business or maybe even desperate for the chance to stake a sign in someone’s yard. The agent wants a listing at any price – even if the chance Top Agent Magazine

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to seal a deal erodes the likelihood of selling the property. To gain a seller’s nod of approval, the agent makes a flatteringly high pricing recommendation, throwing out a number the client wants to hear and then hoping something good will result from the bad situation.

I can think of few examples, if any, where this philosophy works. Hope isn’t a successful pricing strategy. Worse, the please-the-client mindset is a hard one to abandon. Agents who achieve listings with unrealistic prices find it hard to later counsel their clients honestly.

If you take and price a good listing competitively, it will sell. You can’t keep a good price a secret!

The pitfalls of a “please the buyer” approach are many and significant. By overpricing, you can practically count on a reduction in your productivity, profitability, and salability, and here’s why: It’s impossible to keep your productivity high when your time is spent in conversations with an unsuccessful seller who lacks motivation to take corrective action. The seller’s negativity, concerns, and phone calls will only increase with each week or month the house remains on the market.

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As time goes on, you’ll devote more and more time unsuccessfully trying to create a sale not only for your seller but also for yourself. This will pull you away from activities that are more likely to deliver income. The ensuing frustration will de-motivate you and stunt your ability to secure better appointments that create other income opportunities.

An unsold, overpriced listing negatively impacts your profitability because it costs you time and money to service while it delivers no revenue to your business. And the situation only gets worse the longer the listing languishes on the market. You’ll end up deducting the expenses of this in-limbo listing from the proceeds generated by any revenue-producing deals you manage to close in the meantime, reducing your net profit and business success.

Unsold homes that linger on the market seriously diminish your salability, which is the term that describes your sales success track. Your salability is based on such key statistics as your average ratio of listing price compared to sale price and the average number of days your listings are on the market.

Obviously, these statistics, which prospects rely on when choosing one agent over another, can be crushed by a “get the listings at any cost” philosophy. They’re also harmed by the “start high and reduce later” tactic.

If you take and price a good listing competitively, it will sell. You can’t keep a good price a secret!

Dirk Zeller is an Agent, an Investor, and the President and CEO of Real Estate Champions. Copyright©, Dirk Zeller. All rights reserved.

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