Let’s face it, real estate can be confusing. Real estate can be frustrating. Real estate can be overwhelming. And, real estate can even be a little bit of a headache. That’s why many people in America, those who could afford to purchase a home but don’t, wind up renting for years longer than they want to… all because they don’t know what they don’t know. Some of them might struggle with wanting to get married or start a family, maybe they think they are too young, or perhaps they think that with their current level of income, they would never qualify for a mortgage. That’s where you, the real estate expert, comes into play… Your primary job when working with this type of buyer, the one who is “just looking”, is to reassure them that you are the expert in your area and are working for them, as a part of their team. Especially since NAR’s most recent Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers breaks down the first-time homebuyers in these categories… % of all FT Buyers Household Income Median Age All FT Buyers 100% $75,000 32 Married Couple 57% $87,100 32 Single Female 18% $54,000 35 Unmarried Couple 16% $77,300 30 Single Male 7% $59,600 31…Read More
We’ve all been there. On the other end of the phone, “dialing for dollars”. Either manually, dialing by hand for hours at a time. Or, stuck to the other end of a one, two, or three-line dialer — just hoping someone will pickup the phone. Begging lady luck to smile upon us and let someone — anyone — answer the phone. But, what if I told you that there was a few secrets to converting phone appointments? Getting into the Mindset of Your Lead: The Prescreen What do you normally do when someone calls you from a phone number that you don’t recognize? Do you pick it up, eagerly anticipating the phone call? Or, do you do what most people do, including the leads that you’re trying to get in touch with, and screen your calls? Do you let your voicemail do all the dirty work of figuring out who the caller is? That’s exactly what you’re leads are doing. When you call someone, especially when cold calling, and they’re not expecting your call — you’re going to be hard pressed to get them to pick up their phone on the first call. That’s why most professional Inside Sales Agents will use a series of local phone…Read More
“A coach is someone who can give correction without resentment.” – Coach John Wooden Do you have an Inside Sales Agent? Who’s coaching them? Do you have an ISA Coach? If not, you could be limiting the effectiveness and success of your Inside Sales Agent (ISA). That’s because coaches help you identify and focus on what’s important, which accelerates your success. According to coaches.com, good coaches: Create a safe environment in which people see themselves more clearly; Identify gaps between where the client is and where the client needs or wants to be Ask for more intentional thought, action and behavior changes than the client would have asked of him or herself Guide the building of the structure, accountability, and support necessary to ensure sustained commitment Successful athletes obviously understand the power of coaching. The United Kingdom Coaching Strategy describes the role of the sports coach as one that “enables the athlete to achieve levels of performance to a degree that may not have been possible if left to his/her own endeavours.” The top real estate teams and brokerages understand that ISA coaching can help increase the performance and output at of their ISA. ISA coaching can have a massive impact on an organization’s financial performance; according to an ICF…Read More
The reality is that ISAs are becoming a bigger part of profitable real estate teams. And it’s 100% true. Back in 2004, Gary Keller’s book, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, described the role of inside sales agents as mere “telemarketers.” Today, the ISA’s role has progressed to the point where organizations have entire departments dedicated to inside sales or they outsource their ISA efforts to companies who engage and qualify leads for their teams. The Millionaire Real Estate Agent 2 is to be released soon and shifts its outlook on the ISA by introducing it as a “Key Role” that should be introduced as early as possible in the team building process. ISA’s are all in all fairly new to the real estate space. It was a natural evolution from glorified “receptionist” to “lead qualifier” to full blown commissioned sales positions. The ISA role has become much more than simple “lead scrubbing”. What is an ISA? The basic job function of an ISA (Inside Sales Agent), whether they are virtual or in-house, is to usually be the first “human” contact made with a new lead. They progress a lead up to the “qualified appointment set” step but stop short of going on listing or buyer appointments, and…Read More
What are buyers and sellers looking for when it comes to trusting someone that’s going to help them make their dream of owning a home a reality? How do they know if they’ve found the right agent? The most important characteristic that buyers and sellers are looking for in an agent is someone who is going to take the time to really educate them on the choices available to them and their ability to buy in today’s market. As the financial guru Dave Ramsey advises consumers: “When getting help with money, whether it’s insurance, real estate or investments, you should always look for someone with the heart of a teacher, not the heart of a salesman.” They will do their research. They’ll ask their friends and family for recommendations of professionals they’ve worked with in the past and have had good experiences with. They are going to look for an agent who will be honest and trustworthy; after all, they’ll be trusting you to help them make one of the biggest financial decisions of their life. Whether this is their first or fifth time buying a home, they want to make sure that they have an agent who is going to have the tough conversations with them,…Read More
We’ve seen the increased engagement of video take off over the past 7 years with innovations in technologies that make it easier and easier to engage with your audience. As more and more businesses are using video to engage with consumers, consumers are becoming increasingly more particular about what they watch and what they expect. In 2012, the National Association of Realtors found in a study that 85% percent of buyers and sellers “prefer to work with an agent who uses video marketing,”. Ok, that was in 2012, it’s now 2018. Since then, video consumption has become more and more the “standard” in lead/consumer engagement. As many other agents have made the shift to video, there’s now another level of video engagement that a few savvy agents are leveraging. If you want to stand out from the noise of videos your audience is seeing every single day, you need to create a targeted video. What is targeted video? It’s a video that’s not made for any potential client, but a specific client. That’s right. It’s specific content made for a specific audience. For example, if you’re targeting first time home buyers, you need to create a video that speaks directly to a first time home buyer in…Read More