INDIANA 1-13-20

INDIANA EDITION

6 Ways to Get Your Client to Trust You

GOOGLE ADWORDS:

HOW TO MAKE GOOGLE DO THE WORK FOR YOU

FEATURED AGENTS

JESSICA TANSES & SHANNA SCHWEITZER COVER STORY

RAYMOND AILSTOCK

INDIANA EDITION

Tim & Laura James are proud to congratulate

JESSICA TANSES & SHANNA SCHWEITZER 6

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RAYMOND on being featured forTANSES the State of IndianaRAYMOND AILSTOCK JESSICA AILSTOCK in & Top Agent Magazine!

SHANNA SCHWEITZER

CONTENTS

Tim & Laura James, Franchise Owners 219-898-4357 TimJamesTeam@pillartopost.com TOpillartopost.com/timjames GET YOUR 17)

4) 6 WAYS CLIENT TO TRUST YOU www.

8) 6 THINGS YOU NEED TO DO TO BE A GREAT MENTOR

GOOGLE ADWORDS: HOW TO MAKE GOOGLE DO THE WORK FOR YOU 21) 6 METHODS FOR BUILDING BETTER EMAIL LISTS

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6 Ways to Get Your Client to Trust You The word “REALTOR®” can leave a sour taste in some people’s mouths. Many of today’s home buyers and sellers grew up during the 2009 recession. They are wary of anything 4

or anyone who comes off as too salesy, and they want to work with individuals who they can trust.

But how do you prove to someone you’ve likely never met that you can be trusted?

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Put Testimonials or Case Studies on Your Website

When something goes wrong, own up to your mistakes. Don’t hide bad news from your clients. Be upfront and responsive.

Testimonials and case studies are social proof that you have both the experience and the skills to do the job your clients are hiring you for. People often leave testimonials when they are either incredibly disappointed or extremely happy with the service they were provided, so they’re a good indication to prospective clients of the treatment they’ll receive.

Case studies, which you can post on your blog or website, have much of the same effect, but even more than testimonials, case studies demonstrate your real estate and finance expertise because they explain how you achieved a specific set of results.

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Be Responsive and Accessible

Can your clients reach you easily? That doesn’t mean you need to be available 24/7, but you should respond to your clients within a few hours of receiving their message. When agents don’t respond to their clients’ calls or emails for days on end or fail to provide them with a direct line of contact, their clients’ experience can quickly become frustrating.

Agents are busy but so are their clients. If you constantly show up late to or reschedule meetings, your clients won’t feel like their time is respected or their business is valued. Make sure you set a realistic schedule for yourself rather than spreading yourself too thin.

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Be Honest and Transparent

Sometimes you don’t have the answer to a client’s question. Be honest about your strengths, weaknesses, and the limits of your knowledge. A good response might be, “I don’t know, but I can find out.” Be transparent with your clients, and they’ll respect you for it.

You should always act in their best interest.

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Go the Extra Mile

If you do the bare minimum, that’s what your clients will remember. Their experience won’t be memorable, and they won’t gush about you in online testimonials or in real life to people they know who could use your services. It’s that simple.

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Put Yourself in Your Client’s Shoes

Clients understand that you need to earn money, but that doesn’t mean they want to feel like they’re just a dollar sign to you. Be empathetic to your client’s concerns, even if you’ve heard it all before. Your clients should know that you are there for them.

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Be Consistent

Being responsive, friendly, and knowledgeable shouldn’t be an act. If you “turn on” your personality for clients and then suddenly become a different person when they leave the room, it’s likely that the cracks in your mask will eventually become apparent.

But “faking it till you make it” is so common it’s become a cliché. When we are starting out, we don’t always have the systems or resources in place to create a smooth client journey, from onboarding to closing, so instead we constantly try to reinvent the wheel. Give yourself time to pause, slow down, and reevaluate your workflow. Creating systems creates

consistency, and those systems can and should be constantly updated.

Developing trust between you and your clients will take time, but doing these things can give you a running start.

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JESSICA TANSES & SHANNA SCHWEITZER Jessica Tanses and Shanna Schweitzer have a combined ten years of real estate experience, just under their thirteen years of being best friends, which makes them an inseparable team that works together to meet all their clients’ needs across Northwest Indiana.

That’s why a stunning 90% of Jessica and Shanna’s business comes from referrals. “We make sure our clients are taken care of,” says Jessica. “We don’t just let them buy anything and everything, and we’re very honest with them. We bring them to preferred lenders who do the right thing by them. We do more than just sell houses.”

“We’re always there by their sides,” says Shanna. “If something is tougher than anticipated we’ll figure out how to make it work no matter what. Even if it means losing the deal - we’re more concerned with our clients as people than as sales.”

As a team Jessica and Shanna bring their own strengths to the table. “My background is in behavioral health and I worked with teenage girls,” Jessica explains.

“So I’m good at dealing with people when they’re upset and anxious. Shanna’s background is in business management, and she is the most organized person I have ever met!”

“Jessica is really passionate about real estate,” says Shanna. “She eats, sleeps and breathes real estate - and she’s been a great mentor to me. It’s almost excessive… but in a good way! A healthy way.”

Jessica and Shanna don’t discriminate when it comes to properties - their price points range from $50,000 to $500,000, and they closed 70 deals last year with about $12 million in sales volume.

Because they’re so savvy with social media, many of the clients whose deals they closed in 2019 will remain friends in 2020 and likely refer them new business.

Working together gives these busy moms the chance to still spend time with their families. Jessica has three children while Shanna has two, and their work arrangement makes that possible. “It gives us the flexibility to be present in our kids’ lives while running a thriving business,” Jessica says. “And it’s fun to hang out with your best friend all day.”

Jessica and Shanna stay involved with the community, especially through their kids. “With our kids there are a lot of opportunities to give back by sponsoring teams,” Shanna says.

Having built a strong foundation of business in the past few years, Jessica and Shanna are ready to move forward. “Our plan is to expand outside our sphere,” says Shanna. “We’re comfortable in our sphere, and that’s not a bad thing, but it’s time to look at expansion.”

Jessica agrees. “While so much of our business is referral we know that if we want to grow we need to find new clients,” she says. “We’ve just started acquiring leads because our goal for 2020 is to be bigger… and even better!”

To find out more about Jessica Tanses & Shanna Schweitzer visit sjsoldsisters.com, call 219-252-8795 or email them at jessicatanses@gmail.com or shanschweitzer@outlook.com www.

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Tim & Laura James are proud to congratulate

JESSICA TANSES & SHANNA SCHWEITZER

on being featured for the State of Indiana in Top Agent Magazine!

Tim & Laura James, Franchise Owners 219-898-4357 TimJamesTeam@pillartopost.com pillartopost.com/timjames www.

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6 Things You Need to Do to Be a Great Mentor

Everyone reaches the point in their career where they feel they have gained enough experience and wisdom about business and what it takes to succeed, to actually help someone else achieve the same. Although you may have trained or given advice over the years, taking on the official status as a mentor to someone is a whole new ball game.

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Although mentorship is an unpaid endeavor, you’ll be surprised to find out how much you’ll gain from the experience. You’ll also grow as a business person through the process of teaching someone else. It’s also an endeavor that many will pay forward one day, creating a business atmosphere that is based more on mutual success than competition, which is better for everyone.

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If you were mentored, you may already have an idea of what it entails, and what you liked or didn’t like in your mentor/mentee relationship. Although it is a personal relationship that will need an individual approach, there are certain things that are key when it comes to being a great mentor: 1. Be a good listener

est about your own failures. It can be a huge relief to find out someone they look up to has gone through similar experiences and still managed to come out on top. As we all know, oftentimes the greatest lessons come from failures, which can be times when our character is truly tested. Building trust through mutual respect and honesty will make every aspect of your mentorship more effective.

You’re basically a sounding board who needs to hear your mentee’s ideas, plans and goals in order to advise them. Strong, constant and clear communication is key to any successful mentoring relationship.

Sometimes just letting them talk things out with you, will lead to them to discovering the solution they were looking for.

2. Set expectations and goals at the start When listening to your mentee in your first meeting about the potential relationship, it’s important to establish the parameters of what that relationship will be: What can you give them? What do they need or expect from you? Once the terms are agreed upon, you may want to set specific goals you’ll be working on together so that there’s a defined plan of action, timeline and result you can both expect.

3. Be honest This is important when it comes to offering them constructive criticism or tough love, but more importantly, you need to be honTop Agent Magazine

4. Get them to think, don’t make decisions for them Sometimes being a mentor is being a bit like a psychologist. By asking certain ques-

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tions you can lead your mentee to their own conclusions about their business dilemmas and strategies to reach their goals. Being a mentor is all about guidance. Build confidence by drawing out the best in your mentee rather than just presenting them with solutions.

5. Look at the situation objectively One of the key strengths you offer your mentee is a complete emotional detachment to their business. You have no sentimental attachment to doing things a certain way or working with an incompetent vendor because you ‘go way back’. Your only motive is what’s best for your mentee and their business. Although emotions cans still get in the way sometimes, having a detached perspective on hand to guide you is invaluable.

6. Don’t just offer constructive criticism, be supportive Yes, being a mentor is sometimes advising your mentee that he’s doing something ineffectively, but your main purpose is to alway approach everything like cheerleader.

You need to let them know that through it 10

all, you are a reliable support to them and have a complete belief in their abilities.

Make sure to always praise their accomplishments.

Remember: your job as a mentor is more about guidance than constant feedback.

Your goal is to help someone become the best they can be, not someone who just does everything the way you do it. You’re helping them build confidence in their own intuition, which will hopefully lead to a lifetime of success, and one day, they too might be a valuable resource to another mentee down the road.

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RAYMOND AILSTOCK Top Agent Raymond Ailstock’s motto is that he’s “Your Friend, Your Neighbor, Your REALTOR®,” and he means it — “I like meeting people, I like sitting down with them and hearing their vision.”

Raymond Ailstock got into real estate late, but it’s what he was always meant to do.

“In the third grade we took this test and it told me that I was fit for sales,” he recalls.

“But I ended up in hospitality and stayed there for twenty years. I knew I wanted to get into real estate, and when I was forty 12 Copyright Top Agent Magazine

I finally was able to step away to get my license and move forward with what I truly wanted to do. It’s been five years but it feels like I’ve been doing it forever.”

Ray serves Indianapolis, which he made his home 17 years ago. He has been visiting Top Agent Magazine

his sister and his nephew/godson there and had fallen in love with the city. Making the move from Toledo, Ohio, he knew only one thing was missing - his parents Ray Sr. and Kathy, and so he convinced them to move out as well, and he even set them up a few doors from his own home.

When he first got into real estate Raymond worked for one of the number one teams in Downtown Indianapolis; after that he Top Agent Magazine

went to a long-running Greenwood, Indiana office where he learned more about residential living and commercial properties before going out on his own last year. “I’m in heaven right now, being able to work for myself,” he says. “I love being my own brand, being able to take care of my own clients as if they were family – giving them the best.”

That move has been incredibly positive for him. “Each year has shown a significant 13 Copyright Top Agent Magazine

increase in sales and my abilities with helping others has spread further than just Downtown Indianapolis,” Raymond says of his volume. But more important than that is his outstanding return and referral business.

“When I first started in real estate I did an open house at a condo downtown,” he says. “I met several med students, current downtown neighbors and Eli Lilly employees that were looking. I ended up tripling my expected goal with these amazing buyers that first year. Since then, I have worked with several of them selling their homes, assisting with rentals and relocations.”

Raymond is able to build those relationships because he simply loves people. His motto is that he’s “Your Friend, Your Neighbor, Your REALTOR®,” and he means it. “I like meeting people,” he says. “I like sitting down with them and hearing their vision. I even like meeting the other agents, bouncing ideas off them. Nothing is better than sitting at the closing table and having all parties be happy.”

When he’s not working Raymond likes to give back, especially to the historic Downtown Indianapolis Cottage Home Neighborhood in Copyright Top Agent Magazine 14

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which he lives. “In 2018, I was the main sponsor of our block party,” he says.

“I had a tent where I sold homemade baked goods and proceeds went to the neighborhood.” Raymond and his partner are big animal lovers, living with five dogs, three rescue cats and even chickens, and they donate food to the FACE Animal Clinic as well as the Gleaners Food Bank.

When he’s not working or giving back Raymond loves to work in his backyard Top Agent Magazine

taking care of dogs, chickens and rabbits along with his large urban garden. He spends time with his parents and bike riding to local restaurants with partner John Feeney.

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“Family is important to me,” he says. “I put a lot of love into my family and my yard.”

Raymond started late, but he’s made up for lost time. “In 2020 I’m looking forward to growing my business and making new connections,” he

says. “I love to meet new people, to get these referrals, and to show my clients my appreciation for trusting me with their homes.”

Personal photos by Jes Nijjer Photography, property photos by The Addison Group.

To find out more about Raymond Ailstock visit his website at RealtorRay.com, call 317.416.5417 or email realtorray42@gmail.com www.

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Google AdWords:

How To Make Google Do the Work for You There is no denying that the internet is the first place a buyer begins looking for a new home in this digital age. Knowing how to put the powerful tools available on the internet to work for you can give you a decided advantage when it comes to attracting prospective buyers to your listings, as well as you as an agent. Google is easily one of the major superpowers of the internet, and they have one of the most powerful advertising tools available. Knowing how to utilize Google AdWords in the correct manner can make your internet advertising immensely powerful and possibly your best way to reach prospective buyers.

Google AdWords is also extremely cost-effective. This multifaceted tool gives you much more control over your advertising campaign than other more traditional methods. You can target specific audiences, choose the specific search terms, also known as keywords, that will bring up your ad in someone’s search results, and you can set a budget for each campaign that will dictate it’s reach and how long the campaign will run. Here are some tips for how to put Google AdWords to work for you.

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ent websites. You want to set yourself apart from every other real estate website users are viewing in their search for a house.

MAKE SURE YOUR ADS ARE GOING TO SEND USERS TO A SITE THAT WILL CAPTURE THEIR ATTENTION

You can spend an infinite amount of money on Google advertising campaigns, but if those ads don’t send users to a site that will capture and hold their interest, then you’ve just wasted all that money. Don’t put your cart before the horse. Make sure you are considering exactly where these ads are going to send users. To set up your website for success, at the very least you want to make sure users are greeted by clear call-to-action, such as a message that will encourage them to sign up for your newsletter or subscribe to your blog. You want to set up your website to maximize and capture the leads the ad campaign sends your way.

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BUILD CUSTOMIZED OR CUSTOM-MADE WEBSITES RATHER THAN TEMPLATE WEBSITES It is easy and tempting to use template websites, or to offer your agents template websites if you are a real estate manager or broker. While this offers a cost-effective solution to providing every agent with a website, it does little to set you or your agents apart and capture the attention of users that are used to seeing a wealth of differ-

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MAKE SURE YOU ARE OFFERING VALUE ON YOUR WEBSITE

Don’t simply use your website as a kind of brag sheet. Let users know what makes your particular services valuable to them. Highlight your expertise in a certain location through tools such as blog posts, providing market updates, or giving pertinent information on a unique type of property. This will ensure that your online advertising campaigns are much more successful.

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LOCATION IS EVERYTHING!

Location is everything in real estate, and the same holds true for Google AdWords. You can target specific locations in your ad campaign. While one approach is to focus on the area around your location, a more advanced approach would be to link AdWords campaigns to your Google My Business account. This is a Google service that includes your address in the ad, allowing people to then click on it and see exactly where you are located on a map.

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USE GOOGLE ADWORDS IN YOUR CAMPAIGN TO EXPAND YOUR BUSINESS IN GENERAL

Focus an AdWords campaign on expanding your business by incorporating specific zip codes and neighborhoods that will help you establish a presence in an area where you would like to increase your real estate business. Making sure that your ad appears in search results that are related to the real estate in a specific area will help shape the image and brand of your business as well as bring in new leads.

HARNESS THE POWER OF DATA

When you run a Google AdWords campaign Google Analytics captures a wealth of information about your target client demographic.

You can gain real insight into your online visitors, such as when they visit, what they do and look at on your site once they get there, and what search terms they use. You can use all of this information to grow your business. Use Google Analytics to determine which users (location, gender, age) are utilizing specific aspects of your site, such as looking at multiple listings, reading your blog, etc. You can then use this information to target these specific demographics in your AdWord campaigns, Gmail ads, the Google Display Network, and other advertising.

Using the internet to help advertise your business and your listings is one of the smartest moves you can make as an agent in this modern age. However, you don’t want to simply go into the process blind or you’re wasting a lot of potential resources and data that could make all the difference. To reap the benefits of Google AdWords, you must apply an intelligent strategy to using these campaigns.

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6 Methods for Building Better Email Lists

By Kendra Lee

Email lists can be a blessing or a curse. When they’re composed of real email addresses of people in your target micro-segment, and those people recognize you or your company by name, an email list is an invaluable lead generation resource. When the list is filled with contacts who don’t know of you or your company, i.e. a cold list, lead generation can be though – really tough. Likewise, if your list is populated with fake, inactive, or irrelevant accounts you’re at risk of being banned by your email software provider.

Not surprisingly, I hear from clients all the time asking how to build an email list that will get results for their campaigns.

Should they purchase? Should they attempt to build their own?

Remember that with email list building your goal is to build a list of people within your micro-segment, so quality is more important than quantity. The more similar the contacts, the easier it is to tailor your nurturing and lead generation content to their specific needs.

Here are six methods that will help you build a quality email list.

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1

Nurturing and lead generation activities: When you engage in social media, nurturing activities, SEO, and Adwords, those mediums provide forums for you to drive people to your website, start a conversation via a social channel, attend an event you’re hosting, and add people to your list. People who respond really do want to be part of your list.

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Membership organizations: Whether it’s through industry associations, mastermind groups, or networking events, these types of organizations provide an excellent means for collecting contact information. Generally, people will update or provide their own information because they want other members to have easy access to them so you know the data is current.

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Shared lists: By finding a peer who targets a similar microsegment with a non-competitive offering, you may be able to forge a partnership in which you promote to each other’s lists. This happens frequently within the high tech space, with consultants, and with professional services organization where they understand the value of collaboration.

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Research the web and build your own: Increasingly, we’re seeing companies comb LinkedIn, Zoominfo. com, InsideView.com, DiscoverOrg.com and other websites for contact information, and then follow-up with companies to confirm the validity of that information. This approach is time consuming, but it can be very effective. A client who we coached through this process recently got a 41% open rate on their email nurturing campaign. I really like DiscoverOrg for the detailed information they have if you’re selling in the IT or telecom industry.

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Purchase lists: There are numerous companies that sell email lists, but you need to be careful which vendor you buy from

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and how much you spend. Prices typically range from hundreds to several thousand dollars depending on list specificity and size.

One warning: Expect higher bounce rates with these lists and negotiate for that issue when you purchase. To avoid high bounce rates, look for a list company that validates the information. In this way I’ve been very pleased with ExchangeLeads for new lists and validation of current lists. If you don’t have any list, this may be the way to get started.

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Trade information for information: Sites like ExchangeLeads and Data.com community give you credit for providing contact information for companies you’ve worked with in the past. As you earn credit, you can use it to acquire lists for free. These services generally have a fee option as well, and the data integrity is dependent upon users keeping it current.

Again, look for companies that validate data to reduce bounce rates and wasted time. I really like ExchangeLeads for trading information as well as purchasing it.

Ultimately, my advice would be to focus as much on the organic list building methods (#s 1-4) as possible, and supplement with the purchased methods (#s 5 and 6) when necessary. If you start with a purchased list, plan to nurture it and build your recognition.

Don’t toss it away if you don’t get immediate results.

At the end of the day, you want to strive for list quality over list quantity. Pushing your messaging out to unwitting, uninterested, or unsuspecting prospects won’t do anything to help you close more deals.

Contact details for Kendra Lee: Phone: 303-741-6636 (Old fashioned, but very effective.) Email: Info@klagroup.com (Yes, I get every one of these personally.) Twitter: @KendraLeeKLA (And I do follow all direct messages on Twitter!) KLA Group is a sales consulting and training firm focused on helping clients get more customers in the Small and Midmarket Business (SMB) segment through lead generation, prospecting, hiring and onboarding strategies.

Copyright©, Kendra Lee. All rights reserved.

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