13 minute read
5 TIPS TO GET
from TEXAS 4-13-20
5 Tips to Get New Clients
If you’ve been in the industry for a while, you’ve probably built up a healthy percentage of repeat and referral business. Although it can be tempting to just maintain those relationships rather than generating new business, there’s something to be said for staying on top of your game by never resting on your laurels. Actively pursuing new clients is not only a way to generate more business, but depending on how you do it, it could even lead to a profitable new niche. Here are just a few ways to build up your new client base.
1Become a referral partner with industry peers
Everyone from mortgage lenders, to financial planners, to insurance agents, can be potentially lucrative referral partners for a Realtor ® . You may already have great relationships with some that just need to be more formalized. But, you don’t just want to partner with anyone, make sure these are people you also feel completely comfortable referring your clients to - people who share your values and work ethic. Another avenue to consider is divorce attorneys – yes, you heard that correctly. Helping people go through this difficult period actually requires a very specific skill set. You need to be able to handle the legal aspects, as well as the emotional ones. There are numerous training courses you can take if you decide to take this route, which could end up being a lucrative and much-needed specialty.
2Cold Call Expired and FSBO Listings
This is a route a lot of agents take when they are just starting out, that usually leads to great success. You probably haven’t cold called since you started out, and this is a great skill to build up again. It will not only sharpen your sales skills, but could generate a lot more business.
People with For Sale By Owners (FSBOs) and expired listings, are usually very motivated to sell. This is a great chance for you to really hone in on why they need to hire you. Do you offer innovative marketing plans? Access to a large sphere of influence? Expired listing clients are looking for ways to sell a property that seems impossible to move. With FSBOs, you need to show them how you can get them more money in their pocket, even
with paying you a commission. Pursuing both will really engage your mind to think outside of the box, which will not only get you more business, but make you better at what you do.
This is another niche market that you can really capitalize on if you want to pursue a new specialty. But, it is a specialty, so getting educated on the process will help you generate the business you want. It’s a complicated area of real estate, you’ll often times be helping to facilitate dual transactions, as you try and secure a property at the same time you are helping your relocation client sell their previous home. This specialty is becoming an in-demand skill in areas that have major corporate headquarters. 3 Partner up with a Relocation Company
4Become a Builder’s Realtor ® of choice
This can be a real score for any Realtor ® . The competition might be fierce to land a client like this, but there are numerous ways to make yourself stand out from the rest. Gain certifications and become knowledgeable about the construction process. Be wellversed on what trendy materials, features, and finishes will add value to a property.
Get the builder on board with you by offering to take just a segment of the subdivision then wow them with your marketing skills. Take on properties they haven’t been able to sell. You can even offer to throw an open
house for them. This is another way to show them the level of service they can expect from you. These clients might be harder to land, but the payoff will be enormous.
Perhaps the most useful way of getting contact information for people looking to sell is by adding a home valuation feature to your website. When people are first considering selling their home, finding out how much it is worth is one of the first questions they want answered. By becoming a resource to potential clients (and current clients!), you just might be the first person that comes to mind when they’re actually looking to sell. 5 Create a Website that Offers Real Value to Potential Clients
STACEY FELTMAN
STACEY FELTMAN
Top Agent Stacey Feltman leads an award-winning group of ten agents with a combined 75 years of experience serving the
Stacey Feltman started her career as the office manager of a real estate group. She soon found she had a passion for the business and studied for and received her license. She started as a solo agent at Ebby Halliday Realtors, and a year later she began to grow her own team. She now leads an award-winning group of 10 agents with a combined 75 years of experience serving the North Dallas area, including Frisco, Prosper, and
Plano. Although she has received countless awards, Stacey measures her success on the quality of relationships rather than the quantity of transactions.
Stacey’s success comes from her total dedication to customer service. She takes the time to get to know her clients so that she understands their goals and needs, and she responds quickly to their questions and concerns. She talks them through every step of the process and uses her expertise and strong negotiating skills to advocate on their behalf to reach the closing table. She and her team members’ number one focus is their clients’ happiness and satisfaction with the entire process. Her clients are eager to rave about the excellent service received, and as a result, an impressive 95% of Stacey’s business comes from repeat and referral clients.
When it comes time to market listings, Stacey understands that in today’s market, most buyers start their search for a home online. She uses AI technologies, as well as traditional marketing methods such as digital print and social media to ensure her listing and brand has a vast reach. The average price of her listings is around $500K and the homes she sells are often under contract within days. To stay in touch with
past clients, Stacey reaches out by phone to say hello or wish clients happy birthday, and she drops off holiday gifts. “I am constantly connecting with them so that they know I don’t forget about them after we reach the closing table,” she says.
clients means the world to me.” Stacey and her team support the Frisco Independent School District and the Frisco YMCA. Most Friday evenings, to give back to the community, Stacey invites her entire team and their families over to spend time together and celebrate the success within the week. Stacey’s “why” is to support her
clients, but also to shape her own children’s futures showing a strong work ethic. “I do this all for them,” she says with a smile. In the years to come, Stacey plans to grow
her business while keeping her team at its current size so that they can continue to provide the same high quality, boutique level of service.
To find out more about Stacey Feltman, please email staceyfeltman@ebby.com
call (214)356-8368, or visit
www.staceyfeltmangroup.com
3 Easy At-Home DIY Projects to Increase Property Value
Most homeowners have a lengthy list of chores and bit projects they intend to accomplish around the house. Oftentimes, those to-do items are completed piecemeal over a long stretch of time, or else sometimes not at all. However, when it comes time to prepare a home for market, all those tasks begin to pile-up and overwhelm. The list of things to do before the photographer comes or the first open house is held might seem endless, but not if you tackle just a few things here and there as you go. These sorts of projects—easy, DIY, at-home tasks you can accomplish in a few hours or less, with tools you most likely have on hand— go a long way with marginal effort.
Complete a quick rehab of closets and storage areas
Many agents advise clients to declutter and depersonalize their spaces ahead of professional photography and home showings. The idea is to provide prospective buyers with a neutral palette. Not only does this allow them to imagine their own lives unfolding within those four walls, but it also helps make a home’s square footage stand out. One way to add visual space to your home without calling in the contractor is to declutter common storage areas and closets. When buyers can get a complete look at a closet’s capacity, or a pantry’s depth, or the garage’s full functional potential, they get a better sense of a home’s potential and thus, its value. In that vein, consider decluttering and cleaning your high-traffic storage spaces: the garage, pantries, closets, attics, and basements. Besides, organizing and discarding unwanted items help you prep for a move anyway, while giving potential buyers a peak at how spacious your home really is.
Add easy curb appeal with a bit of sweat equity
Sure, curb appeal can arrive in the form of a new mailbox, pathway lighting, or updated house numbers, but it can also come cheaper than that. Curb extends to the upkeep of your lawn, landscaping, and home’s façade, and there are plenty of ways
you can give these zones a refresh without spending anything but time. Keeping your front and back yard green and uniform adds a lux layer to exterior square footage. Likewise, polishing the outside of your windows, trimming hedges, and sweeping the walkway can make a tidy and wellcared for first impression. There are other measures you can take too. Planting wildflower seeds in empty beds, or collecting some landscaping rocks to frame mulched areas can add a bit of character to your residence. Repainting the front door, ensuring trees are trimmed, and keeping back patios
neat and uncluttered also underscore a home at its finest, which is ripe for buyers to snatch up.
Transform tiled spaces into sparkling clean surfaces.
Bathrooms and kitchens are where sellers can stand to add plenty of value in the process of selling a home. While pricey renovations might be out of the question for some, there are still affordable and time-effective ways you can transform for these spaces for the better. Cleaning,
bleaching, or redoing your tile grout—in either kitchens, bathrooms, or other tiled spaces—can give these high-trafficked areas a new lease on life. Ensuring windows, mirrors, stainless steel appliances and backsplashes are streak-free and polished also demonstrate to buyers that your home is well-cared for and practically move-in ready. Sometimes, the devil is in the details. You might consider relining drawers, changing out knobs and fixtures,
or else decluttering cabinets and shelves for a fresher look.
No matter the challenges ahead as you prepare your home for sale, completing a few small tasks every weekend or so can put you miles ahead of the competition. Without spending a dime, you can add serious value to your home’s bottom line, setting you up for success as you begin your own home-shopping adventure.
MISTY TITTLE
Misty Tittle – of Keller Williams Realty Rockwall in Rockwall, Texas – is that rare Realtor who truly goes above and beyond for each of her clients, ensuring that their best interests remain paramount during the entire transaction process. Having built her business on a solid foundation of honesty, integrity, and faith, Misty’s personalized and empathetic approach – coupled with her vast reservoir of industry knowledge – has elevated her to Top Agent status.
“I started out as a Transaction Coordinator for a top producing agent who then became a Broker,” recalls Misty, when asked how she began her real estate career. “I then became her Compliance Officer for more than ninety agents. At a certain point I realized that I had turned over ten transactions in one year to my boss, and that I had developed quite a large sphere of influence. That’s when I decided to get my license and strike out on my own.”
Since then, Misty has built a stellar business based on a desire to treat each and every client with respect, and as if they were her only client. This has translated, impressively, into a customer base that is almost entirely the result of referrals and positive word of mouth, perhaps the most accurate barometer of excellent customer service in the highly competitive real estate world.
“I’m truly a people person,” says Misty, explaining how she manages to inspire such great levels of trust and loyalty amongst her buyers and sellers. “”I truly care about others, and I don’t focus on the money part of my job; I’m a firm believer that if I go out and be God’s hands and feet and help my clients to the best of my ability, the business will follow naturally.” In addition to faith, empathy has also informed Misty’s approach. “In 2008, during the market crash, my family lost everything,” she says. “I know what it’s like to be uniformed as a buyer, so I love working with first-time home buyers, and making certain that they are educated about every step of the process, from beginning to end. I also really enjoy helping people get a second chance at owning a home.”
There are many other factors that have played a role in Misty’s ever-growing success story, and chief among them would be her marketing strategies that are bolstered by Keller Williams’ vast resources, including achieving internet prominence and social media utilization, which result in quick sales for top dollar, not to mention happy clients.
When she’s not working, Misty loves nothing more than spending time with her two children, and is deeply involved with their school sports activities, including sponsorship of both their football and Little League programs. She is also active in her church, helping other women through her bible study group.
Misty’s plans for the future are to grow her business, and to grow a team consisting of like-minded agents who are similarly motivated by the desire to help people, rather than focusing on their paycheck. Above all, however, is her desire to continuing offering the exceptional, personalized and committed customer service that has become synonymous with her name.
For more information about Misty Tittle, please call 903-348-5323 or email mistytittlerealestate@gmail.com
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