Less than 5% of all agents actually have a written business plan. Interesting to note, the real estate business is quickly moving to a place where 5% of the agents are doing a large percentage of the business.

Take the time to do a business plan, act on it, and position yourself as a leading agent in the market.

Here are the basic elements of a business plan:

1. Measurable Results
   1. Number of closed transactions
   2. Average sales price
   3. Total sales volume
   4. Average commission percentage per transaction
   5. Total gross commission income
2. Strategies and Tactics
   1. Lead generation
   2. Lead management
   3. Lead follow-up
3. Budgeting
   1. Marketing budget
   2. Business Expenses
   3. Commission Split or Fees to Broker
4. A business plan is not about complexity, it’s about simplicity and clarity.
   1. What are your results going to be?
   2. How are you going to get there?
   3. What are the financial measurements?

What kind of system do you have in place to generate buyer leads and convert those leads into closings?

Here are a few tips to generate more buyer leads and convert those leads into sales:

1. Lead generation
   1. Internet
   2. Open House
   3. Referrals from past clients
   4. First time home buyer seminars
   5. Mailing campaign to renters
   6. Just Listed and Just Sold postcards
   7. Sign calls
   8. Ad calls
   9. Broker to broker referrals
   10. FSBO’s that don’t have a buyers agent for their purchase
2. Lead conversion
   1. A lead-management/lead follow-up system
   2. An email drip campaign
   3. Excellent telephone skills
   4. Stop selling and start qualifying and consulting
   5. Don’t information overload & listen to their wants and needs
   6. Provide neighborhood/community information and market data/statistics
   7. Make a commitment to your buyers and get a commitment from your buyers

If you would like to create a buyer system that gets results. Schedule a confidential appointment with us today.

Did you know that nearly 90% of all For Sale By Owners end up listing their property with a real estate agent?

Why are they trying to sell their home on their own?  Maybe to save money or maybe they’ve had a bad experience with a real estate agent in the past.  The bottom-line is they want to sell and that’s what you get paid to do!!

Before we get into what works, let’s talk about what doesn’t work.  Telling the seller they will never sell their home on their own isn’t going to get you the listing.  Telling the seller that buyers are going to write low-ball offers since there isn’t an agent involved, won’t get them signing on the dotted line today.

The only way you’re going to get that listing is by helping them sell their home themselves.  That’s right, consult with them and assist them in the home marketing process.  Why?  Because they will rarely sell the home and you will be their agent of choice when they decide to sell.

If you have followed up with them consistently and provided them useful information, it’s a no-brainer for them to list with you when they are frustrated by trying to do it on their own.

You’ve demonstrated your competency and skills by the information and advice you have provided them while they were trying to sell their home.

If you would like to get a complete FSBO system in place.

Do you currently have an online marketing strategy?  If so, what kind of results are you experiencing?

90% of buyers and sellers are now starting to do research 1-5 years before they actually make a decision to act.  Most of them are starting their research on the internet.

1. To survive in today’s market and serve the customer at the highest level, you must have a comprehensive and compelling website.  Here are the critical elements of a productive website:
   1. Property information
   2. Property photos
   3. Neighborhood and community information
   4. Financial calculators
   5. Market statistics
   6. Testimonials
   7. Content that causes people to take action
   8. Free Reports:  Buyer reports and seller reports
   9. Benefits, benefits, and more benefits of working with you
   10. Autoresponders
   11. Drip-Campaigns
2. What do you want your website to do for you?
   1. Generate leads
   2. Provide valuable information
   3. Engage the consumer
   4. Capture leads
   5. Incubate/Cultivate leads
   6. Convert leads
3. The most critical website mistake:
   1. A website that is ego-based and all about you.  Your website is all about the consumer and providing them with valuable information.

Do you want to build an online presence that will generate leads or evaluate your current online presence?

What is your most valuable asset?  Your database…everyone that has done business with you, will do business with you or will refer others to do business with you.

How are you currently managing that asset?  Do you have a system?  Without a system you will hit a capacity level that will restrict the growth of your business.  You can only manage so many people, but if you manage a system that manages people (your database) your business will grow continually.

Here are the critical elements of a database management/marketing system:

1. Email capability that is integrated with your contacts
2. Calendaring system that reminds you of the action steps you have to take on a daily basis
3. An action plan for each person
4. Email newsletter capabilities
5. Email drip campaign capabilities
6. Integration with your public website
7. Capability to document all conversations, attach all personal email exchange, track all drip campaign deliveries and document delivery of all email newsletters.

The most complex system is not important, the most functional system is.

If you would like to get a database management/marketing system in place immediately. Schedule a Confidential Appointment with us today.

Are you getting results with direct mail?  Do you have a direct mail strategy?

Offline marketing is just as critical as your online marketing, but only productive when done correctly.  Specifically, farming can be a great revenue piece to your business.  Here are the steps to creating a productive farming strategy:

1. Pick a neighborhood with high turnover
2. Pick a neighborhood that is not dominated by one agent or one company
3. Mail postcards once a month!
4. Design your postcards with community information and market statistics
5. Have a call to action on each postcard.  An offering of something valuable for free
6. Every time there is a new listing in the neighborhood, preview it
7. Personally visit every FSBO in the neighborhood
8. Contact every Expired Listing in your farm if permitted in your market
9. Hold open houses consistently when you get a listing in your farm
10. Hold another agent’s listing open in your farm if they will allow it and you don’t have any listings

Farming is a system that requires consistency.  If you would like to get a productive farming system in place.

Most agents aren’t successful at holding an open house.  An open house is only as productive as you are.  It all starts with preparation.  Do you realize there are agents that make a substantial income by focusing only on holding open houses?  They do it with a specific plan that starts the Monday before the open house, not flying out the door the day of the open house, trying to gather up enough open house signs and hoping a few people show up.

Why do you hold an open house?  To get appointments.

1. Preparation
   1. Make sure the property is priced right, in a good location and in good condition.  If possible, find a property that is close to new construction.  Builders spend thousands of dollars in marketing and advertising to generate buyer traffic.  Piggy-back on some of their marketing dollars and traffic by holding an open house close by.
   2. Preview all properties in the area and know the inventory.
   3. Place an ad.
   4. Place the open house announcement on the internet.
   5. Mail an open house invitation to all of the For Sale By Owners in the area.
   6. Mail an open house invitation to all recent expired listings in the area.
   7. Mail an open house invitation to your sphere of influence that live in the area.
   8. Mail an open house invitation to potential move-up buyers in the area.
   9. Mail 100 postcard invitations to the neighborhood.
   10. Call the entire neighborhood and invite them to the open house.
   11. Walk the neighborhood with an open house invitation flyer.
   12. Prepare a list of homes available in the area of your open house that you want to expose to potential buyers.
   13. Prepare an area market analysis so that you are up to date on current market values.
2. The Day of The Open House
   1. Place at least 10 open house directional signs in the area.
   2. Drive the sign path to be sure they are positioned appropriately.
   3. Be sure that the home is staged for showing.
   4. Leave the front door open at all times.
   5. Position yourself in the kitchen.
   6. Invite visitors in and let them look through the property on their own.  Don’t follow them around the house.  They need space from you so that they can take their time and discuss what they are experiencing during their home tour.
   7. Upon completion of their tour, ask them questions about the house and ask them questions about their current home tour.
   8. Get an appointment to show them property.

The above are the basic steps to a productive open house.  If you would like a complete plan of action so that you can experience great results from open houses.

What are the differences between working with buyers and working with sellers?

1. When you have a listing, everyone in the area knows you are selling the house because they see your sign.  When you are working with buyers, very few people know.
2. When you are working with buyers you are working for all the agents in the area to sell their listings.  When you are working with sellers all the agents are working for you to sell your listings.
3. Buyers take more time and sellers take less time.
4. Listings generate sign calls.
5. You can be out of town and sell a listing.  With buyer’s, you have to be there to make a sale.

To get more listings, you obviously have to do more prospecting. We will assume that you are prospecting on a consistent basis, but need support with your listing presentation.

Here are the key strategies to convert more listing presentations.

1. Be the best marketer with great marketing skills, negotiation skills and home staging skills.
2. Stop doing listing presentations and start doing listening presentations.
3. Don’t tell the seller how you work, ask them what they expect you to do to get their home sold.
4. Verbalize your value proposition based on their expectations.
5. Don’t sell, serve.  Be truthful and committed to what you do to get homes sold and let them know what you don’t do and why, especially if it’s something they feel is important.  You need to be sure that you’re on the same page.
6. Don’t set the price, let the seller set the price.
7. Have a complete marketing plan that is inclusive of what you will do and when.
8. Have a scheduled time that you will communicate progress consistently.
9. Don’t talk commission until they have agreed to market their property with you.

When was the last time you role-played your listing presentation?  Are there areas of your listing presentation that you would like to improve?  Do you have a pricing strategy that gets listings priced right? and I would be happy to support you with your listing presentation.