Posts Tagged ‘pipeline’

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One thing that we have continually preached at RECR is lead follow-up.

Speed. Timing. Quality. It is all part of the same deal.  And, it is quite possibly one of the most important aspects of a real estate agent’s job.

And, I’m not the only one that thinks this….Dirk Zeller of Real Estate Champions agrees with me…

LEAD CONVERSION AND FOLLOW-UP by Dirk Zeller

The first step to higher lead conversion is developing a better definition of what a lead is.  What’s the criterion of a lead for you?  Is it a specific time frame or level of motivation?  Is this a subjective or a pre-determined scale you use?  For most Agents, a lead is defined as any human being who can fog a mirror when held up to their mouth.  It’s basically anybody and everybody.  That definition is much too broad for us to ever reach the Champion Agent level.

Too many of us are investing our time and money trying to convince any and every lead to turn into a good lead.  We, in effect, say, “Oh, please, Mister lead, if I work with you long enough, won’t you turn into a good lead; because I really don’t want to have to prospect, and I need to make my mortgage payment next month.”  Are you trying to turn bad leads into good leads, or are you looking for good leads?  It’s almost as if we are trying to water dead plants in hopes of resurrecting them from the dead.  They are dead . . . move on!  What is the quality of your leads right now?  What would someone pay you to buy your leads?  If the answer is not much . . . Houston, we have a problem.

Champion Rule: The leads you have in your database are in other Agents’ databases as well.  Whoever calls them and meets with them first wins the game.

This, my friends, is the truth of our business.  For some reason, many Agents haven’t come to grips with this concept.  We think somehow we are the only Agent who knows about this prospect’s desire to buy or sell.  This is particularly true of Agents who work exclusively by referral.  You are making a huge mistake in today’s competitive market if you feel that you have the inside track or non-competition track.  Couldn’t another friend have referred them to someone else?  Isn’t it possible that they searched the Internet a little and got information from other Agents?  Could they have been out to an open house?  When a lead appears, we need to take action toward a face-to-face appointment immediately.

Effective lead follow-up is like threshing wheat at harvest in ancient times.  Threshing is, essentially, separating the wheat from the chaff.  The good kernels of wheat would be removed and used for food, while the chaff would be blown away in the wind.  If we aren’t actively threshing our leads, we will become complacent.  Too many leads can cause lead complacency.  Too many leads can be a bad thing.  You did read that right.  Too many leads can be bad!

An overabundance of leads can lead to complacency in your prospecting.  You can stop or slow the flow of new leads by reducing your prospecting because you feel comfortable because you have a certain number of leads (50, 100, 1000, or whatever the number may be).  You may feel that you don’t need to prospect today because you have enough.  What if what you have left has a high percentage of chaff in it that you haven’t found out yet?  It’s going to take a lot of effort to find that out.

When I started working with a particular client a few years ago, I asked him how many leads he had who wanted to buy and sell in the next six months.  He said he had 247 that fit into that category.  He was proud of himself, yet I found out he had not talked with them in a while, and he hadn’t been prospecting because of this volume of leads.  His attitude was “I don’t need to; I have 247 leads”.  I asked him to call all 247 in the next two weeks and ask for an appointment.  If they were not ready to list or buy, he was to set an appointment with them anyway to move the relationship along, so he could secure them as future clients.  Two weeks later, the first thing out of his mouth before hello was, “I have fifty-nine leads.”  He dumped over 182 leads that were junk.  He realized he needed to prospect to create new leads every day.

Dirk Zeller is a sought out speaker, celebrated author and CEO of Real Estate Champions.
His company trains more than 350,000 Agents worldwide each year through live events,
online training, self-study programs, and newsletters.  The Real Estate community has
embraced and praised his six best-selling books;  Your First Year in Real Estate,
Success as a Real Estate Agent for Dummies®, The Champion Real Estate Agent,
The Champion Real Estate Team, Telephone Sales for Dummies®,
Successful Time Management for Dummies®, and over 300 articles in print.

To learn more, please visit: http://realestatechampions.com/closingthesale/

Real Estate Client Referrals Uses Social Media, Too!

RECR has always tried to stay on the cutting edge of lead generation. And, one avenue that has come about recently is the advent of social media and the power that it can give real estate agents in lead generation. It only makes sense that we have a presence there considering how many are tapping into that power.

And, the fascinating thing about it is the reasoning behind why it is so popular. This is one of the best examples I have ever found as to why social media exists, why it works, and why so many are turning towards it to help build their businesses!!

Into social media? Follow Clint on Twitter…and fan us on Facebook! You can also subscribe to our channels on YouTube and Slideshare.

The road to buying a foreclosure is loaded with potholes and potential pitfalls.

Sure, buying a foreclosure can be a very wise investment indeed. But, it can also be a one way ticket to a money-pit. Knowing what to look for from the very start can save you thousands of dollars in the long run.

Interested in learning more? Contact Clint at 800-977-7058 or follow him on Twitter. Be sure to fan us on Facebook!

A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client.

He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the Lawyer three months to track down. After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply:

“Upon review of your letter adjoining your client’s loan application, we note that the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out that you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803. Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin.”

Annoyed, the lawyer responded as follows:

“Your letter regarding title in Case No. 189156 has been received. I note that you wish to have title extended further than the 194 years covered by the present application. I was unaware that any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know that Louisiana was purchased, by the U.S., from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our application. For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U.S. ownership was obtained from France, which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land came into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Isabella. The good queen, Isabella, being a pious woman and almost as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus’ expedition. Now the Pope, as I’m sure you may know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God,it is commonly accepted, created this world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume that God also made that part of the world called Louisiana.

God, therefore, would be the owner of origin and His origins date back, to before the beginning of time, the world as we know it AND the FHA. I hope you find God’s original claim to be satisfactory. Now, may we have our loan?”

The loan was approved.

With so many people doing their best to set themselves up for a better year in 2010, I thought I would share a post I wrote a while back that seems to be more pertinent now…

I recently read an article that really sparked my interest.  The article was simply a basic list of the ways that someone could re-invent themselves by investing time and effort into the one asset that all agents have – Themselves.

The key principle to this article was the fact that, despite this uncertain market, there are people that appear to be striving to make their own abilities better and five ways to do so.  Below is the list that was in the article…and a good healthy dose of my own explanations as to why this is so important in this uncertain market.

IMAGE: You chose a career in real estate to be an independent business person.  So, do you carry yourself in a professional manner?  Do you “look the part”? Do you have your business cards on you?  Are you showing that you are proud of whom you work for or what you do?  Whether you want to believe it or not, your image IS your first impression.  Make sure that the impression you are making is the on that you actually want to make.  There are some places where you can get away with blue jeans and a nice shirt.  There are other places where a suit is more appropriate.  Dress the part! Maintain your personal image.  Get your hair cut or styled.  Ladies…get your nails done.  Guys…shave every day.  (Believe me, I realize that sucks …I’m a guy…I understand.  But, its 2 or 3 minutes…and it makes a ton of difference to those around you.)  I actually know of one agent that wears a tuxedo to all of his closings.  That is part of his image.  It is what sets him apart from the rest.  (His name is Todd Waller out of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and he works for RealEstateOne.  But, you can get more info on him and his Team366 at www.blog.team366.net.)

TRAINING: Aside from the mandatory requirements involved, you should try to find as many different options to better your ability as you can.  Take the time to sit down with your broker to discuss some in-house training options.  If you know of any free options for training, jump on it.  Any training you involve yourself in will only re-emphasize the skill set you already have developed.  So, it will not be wasted time or effort.  You never know, you may learn something.  (Also, anything that you can learn about social networking…that is a must!  Trust me on this…this is a skill that does require some time to master, but you will not regret it!)

NETWORKING: Making yourself known in the community by getting involved with community events is a great way of networking with some of the more influential people in your market.  Get involved with the community. Start working with the Chamber of Commerce.  Go to PTA meetings.  Join Toastmasters.  Get involved in your local neighborhood activities.  Surrounding yourself with such innovative, like-minded people will help you with both your image and your over-all success.  Most people do business with people that they know on a social level.  So, networking like this is a key to success in a troubled market.

MENTORING: They say that the teacher will always learn something from the student.  Become a mentor for younger agents.  Help them be successful.  This will cause you to make sure that what you are doing is what you SHOULD be doing.  It will help you cross your ‘T’s and dot your ‘I’s, as it were.  Besides…there are times when you can actually team up and work together for the success of each.

YOU: Seems weird that I have to add this since this entire post is about you.  But, if you are not taking good care of yourself, you will not have the energy or the will to commit to the rest of this list.  Take care of your own body and mind. Get sleep.  It is probably more important than anything else you can do for yourself.  Make sure you get some exercise.  (In this industry with showing property and running from one location to another, that usually isn’t hard…but you should do 30 minutes of cardio every day.)  Eat right.  (Did you know that eating an apple will actually wake you up better than a cup of coffee??)  Bring fresh fruits with you on your appointments and eat them when you can.  Avoid the drive-thrus.  If you don’t know where else to start in your investments in you…look in the mirror and start there.

If you would like information on how to get more clients, please contact Clint at 800-977-7058.  Or, visit www.recr.com.  Or, follow Clint on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TheRealClint.