Provided By Realty Times
When I think of a Champion Agent, I think of a Champion Salesperson. That's someone who understands, accepts, and embraces the fact that sales and sales skills are the name of the game. The essence of selling in real estate is to create leads that you convert to clients and then to commission checks.
I often ask Agents, "If you had to choose to be exceptional in one of two areas of your business, and those two areas were creating clients or keeping clients, which one would you choose?" More than 75% of them will tell me keeping clients. Before I go any further, I want to state clearly that I think you have to do both well to be a Champion Agent. You have to be able to create and serve with success, but the question was worded "if you could only do one" for a reason. One is really a sales function: creating clients. One is customer service: keeping clients.
Most salespeople select the wrong one when given the choice between the two. The correct answer is creating clients. Again, I am not advocating such a narrow-minded approach, but we do need to establish priorities as businesspeople. We need to work on these strategic skills that will create the greatest return for us. The truth is you won’t have anyone to serve if you aren’t able to create clients with regularity and consistency. You can’t serve clients if you don’t create clients in the first place. Client service excellence is the direct result of a client’s service experience, so client creation is a necessary prerequisite to outstanding client service.
Client creation is harder than client servicing. It requires sales skills, consistency, and persistent prospecting for clients. We must acquire a level of sales skill and confidence to pick up the phone and call people we know and people we don’t know to ask them for the opportunity to do business with them. We also need to ask them to refer us to others who might benefit from our service. Selling is really the name of the game.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
10 Ways to Win Clients with Video
Provided By KW Blog
According to an article on Mashable.com, 73% of homeowners are more likely to list with a realtor using video, yet only 12% of agents have a YouTube channel. If you haven’t already, there is still a huge opportunity to bring video into your business and use it to get your unfair share of the market. Here are 10 tips to get you started:
TIP #1: Know Your Goal
You can essentially do 5 broad types of video in your real estate business:
• Branding videos – Show your Unique Value Prop, Client Testimonials, etc.
• Buyer Videos – use video to show house to remote clients, use to shed light on inspection issue
• Seller/Listing Videos – market the house; virtual tour on steroids
• News/Industry Videos – Real estate how to’s, hot topics, tips for buyers/sellers
• Community/Lifestyle Videos – Offer info on neighborhood, community, niche that you specialize in serving
TIP #2: Know Your Brand – video will bring your brand to life; know your colors, style, tone before you start filming; you don’t have to use beautiful or expensive graphics; keep it simple and supportive of your brand.
TIP #3: Don’t just make a commercial – people want value on the web, not advertising; at least offer a valuable tip or testimonial if you do a “commercial”
TIP #4: Provide Value – Give the viewer something they can use immediately or answer a question/pain/fear they have; make it topical, timely, applicable
TIP #5: Keep it short and sweet – most web videos should be 3 min or less. And video is shareable, don’t ever be negative. It’s out there forever, even if you take the video down.
TIP #6: Learn and Use YouTube – there are a variety of solutions designed for real estate agents but YouTube is a great, and more importantly FREE, place to start.
TIP #7: Tag and Embed your videos – this will help with SEO and getting your video seen (see #6)
TIP #8: Interact with your viewers – video is social media so comment and share with your fans; You can use video to ask great questions or get a dialogue started on Facebook or Twitter.
TIP #9: Get Your Clients involved – have your favorite clients offer a buyer/seller tip on video and give a testimonial at the same time. Document your reputation through video – NAR stats prove year after year that the agents local reputation matters most to homeowners – film these at the closing table, don’t “fake it”.
TIP #10: Keep it simple and cheap – don’t spend money until the videos are making you money; just like any other technology, video can get expensive quickly; hold your money/effort accountable to bringing you business.
Tip #11: We added one in for good measure. The Kodak PlayTouch is an affordable handheld camera that makes your video and sound look professional! Just be sure to purchase the microphone accessory to pin to people you’re filming – the sound quality is excellent.
According to an article on Mashable.com, 73% of homeowners are more likely to list with a realtor using video, yet only 12% of agents have a YouTube channel. If you haven’t already, there is still a huge opportunity to bring video into your business and use it to get your unfair share of the market. Here are 10 tips to get you started:
TIP #1: Know Your Goal
You can essentially do 5 broad types of video in your real estate business:
• Branding videos – Show your Unique Value Prop, Client Testimonials, etc.
• Buyer Videos – use video to show house to remote clients, use to shed light on inspection issue
• Seller/Listing Videos – market the house; virtual tour on steroids
• News/Industry Videos – Real estate how to’s, hot topics, tips for buyers/sellers
• Community/Lifestyle Videos – Offer info on neighborhood, community, niche that you specialize in serving
TIP #2: Know Your Brand – video will bring your brand to life; know your colors, style, tone before you start filming; you don’t have to use beautiful or expensive graphics; keep it simple and supportive of your brand.
TIP #3: Don’t just make a commercial – people want value on the web, not advertising; at least offer a valuable tip or testimonial if you do a “commercial”
TIP #4: Provide Value – Give the viewer something they can use immediately or answer a question/pain/fear they have; make it topical, timely, applicable
TIP #5: Keep it short and sweet – most web videos should be 3 min or less. And video is shareable, don’t ever be negative. It’s out there forever, even if you take the video down.
TIP #6: Learn and Use YouTube – there are a variety of solutions designed for real estate agents but YouTube is a great, and more importantly FREE, place to start.
TIP #7: Tag and Embed your videos – this will help with SEO and getting your video seen (see #6)
TIP #8: Interact with your viewers – video is social media so comment and share with your fans; You can use video to ask great questions or get a dialogue started on Facebook or Twitter.
TIP #9: Get Your Clients involved – have your favorite clients offer a buyer/seller tip on video and give a testimonial at the same time. Document your reputation through video – NAR stats prove year after year that the agents local reputation matters most to homeowners – film these at the closing table, don’t “fake it”.
TIP #10: Keep it simple and cheap – don’t spend money until the videos are making you money; just like any other technology, video can get expensive quickly; hold your money/effort accountable to bringing you business.
Tip #11: We added one in for good measure. The Kodak PlayTouch is an affordable handheld camera that makes your video and sound look professional! Just be sure to purchase the microphone accessory to pin to people you’re filming – the sound quality is excellent.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Should you care about Google+
Provided By KW Blog
“Toto, I have a feeling we‘re not in Kansas anymore”
Whenever I login to Google+ I feel a little like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Upon entering, Google’s new social space has the feeling of a familiar world but things around me are suddenly different.
I’m intrigued. I’m curious. And frankly, I’m also a little confused. Hrm.
Why am I here? Where should I go next? Who should I take with me? What the heck does it mean to +1 something?
What’s great about Google+ is that it is new and different, yet reminiscent of our general social interactions. What’s challenging about Google+ is that it’s new, different and adds a whole new layer of complication to our online, socially-driven lives.
What we need here is a Google+ Yellow Brick Road! Let’s get skipping friends. (And put the Wizard of Oz allusion to rest).
WHAT IS Google+?
For those of you who have been stuck in Kansas (you thought I was done!) for the past month, Google+ – also known as Google Plus, or G+ – is Google’s largest attempt at a social networking site. It integrates with other social services such as Google Profiles and Google Buzz and incorporates several new services within the platform including:
1.+Circles – Enable you to organize contacts into groups for sharing across various Google products and services.
2.+Hangouts – Used to facilitate group chat (with a maximum of 10 people participating in a single Hangout
3.+Sparks – Enables users to identify topics they might be interested in sharing with others. “Featured Interests” Sparks are also available, based on topics others globally find interesting.
4.+Huddles – A group messaging feature available within the Google+ mobile app. Rather than sending text messages to each person in a circle the user sends Huddle messages to the group.
Google+ is also the search engine giant’s attempt to rival Facebook and its 750 million users.
STAT-TASTIC
Here are the big numbers you should know:
Of the 25 million, the U.S. leads in Google+ usage with about 6.44 million unique visitors. 63% of its users are male compared to 37% female. The biggest age group using Google+ is 25-34 with 35%, followed by 18-23 with 23%. The top Google+ markets in the U.S. are Austin, Texas, the Bay Area and Minneapolis-St. Paul. As of August 3, comScore was reporting that the number of users on Google+ had reached 25 million.
WHY SHOULD REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS CARE?
These numbers make Google+ the fastest to reach 25 million users among top social networking sites – a possible indication that this Google product has legs and will soon become part of your online real estate marketing mix … maybe. It truly remains to be seen if and when the greater public (your clients) will latch on, but at the rate its growing and the improvements Google is making, many techies are betting on its success.
PERFECT CIRCLES
Circles is arguably Google+’s greatest strength. They’ve essentially taken a fundamental element of Facebook and for lack of a better word, Plus-ed it! Circles are simply Google’s way of letting you bucket your network into different groups and it’s incredibly simple!
As a real estate agent, you might create buckets for Friends, Family, Co-op Agents, Past Clients, and Buyers and Sellers. When you add someone to the Circle they are notified that they belong to one of your Circles (and conveniently they don’t know which one – Genius!)
Creating smart Circles will allow you to target your messages, photos, updates, videos and favorite articles to specific groups of people.
SEO-CENTRIC
If Circles help you reach the right audience with the right message then the Stream, Sparks and +1 features help people find information that is relevant to them and their search and put their stamp of approval on it.
There’s been quite a bit of buzz lately on whether Google+ will start influencing Page Rank (meaning, if a link shared on G+ is weighted more than others improving your placement in certain search results). If it does, then the SEO benefits become a powerful reason to add Google+ to your social media arsenal.
The bottom line is this: these days, public endorsement and word of mouth are far more effective at generating business than traditional advertising – assuming you make an effort to consistently keep your brand in front of your audience.
THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: IS IT WORTH YOUR TIME?
Jay Papasan, Vice President of Publishing at Keller Williams Realty and coauthor of Soci@l, said it well, “Unless your clients happen to be early-adopting, tech-savvy men between the age of 25 and 34, then you might want to wait to go ‘all in’ on Google+. The large majority of your clients may not be there yet. Just keep an eye on it while you invest your time and energy in more proven lead sources.”
At the very least, get on, get started building your profile and creating Circles (more on all of these next week). Then continue to master LinkedIN, Facebook and Twitter as your online lead generators until the masses make it to G+.
Already on Google+ – Come find us: Jay Papasan Laura Price
Not there yet, but want to be? The first 20 people to post this on either Facebook or Twitter (and tell me about it) will get a Google+ invite. Just comment on the blog or send me an email to laura.price1@kw.com to let me know you posted it and claim your entry.
“Toto, I have a feeling we‘re not in Kansas anymore”
Whenever I login to Google+ I feel a little like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Upon entering, Google’s new social space has the feeling of a familiar world but things around me are suddenly different.
I’m intrigued. I’m curious. And frankly, I’m also a little confused. Hrm.
Why am I here? Where should I go next? Who should I take with me? What the heck does it mean to +1 something?
What’s great about Google+ is that it is new and different, yet reminiscent of our general social interactions. What’s challenging about Google+ is that it’s new, different and adds a whole new layer of complication to our online, socially-driven lives.
What we need here is a Google+ Yellow Brick Road! Let’s get skipping friends. (And put the Wizard of Oz allusion to rest).
WHAT IS Google+?
For those of you who have been stuck in Kansas (you thought I was done!) for the past month, Google+ – also known as Google Plus, or G+ – is Google’s largest attempt at a social networking site. It integrates with other social services such as Google Profiles and Google Buzz and incorporates several new services within the platform including:
1.+Circles – Enable you to organize contacts into groups for sharing across various Google products and services.
2.+Hangouts – Used to facilitate group chat (with a maximum of 10 people participating in a single Hangout
3.+Sparks – Enables users to identify topics they might be interested in sharing with others. “Featured Interests” Sparks are also available, based on topics others globally find interesting.
4.+Huddles – A group messaging feature available within the Google+ mobile app. Rather than sending text messages to each person in a circle the user sends Huddle messages to the group.
Google+ is also the search engine giant’s attempt to rival Facebook and its 750 million users.
STAT-TASTIC
Here are the big numbers you should know:
Of the 25 million, the U.S. leads in Google+ usage with about 6.44 million unique visitors. 63% of its users are male compared to 37% female. The biggest age group using Google+ is 25-34 with 35%, followed by 18-23 with 23%. The top Google+ markets in the U.S. are Austin, Texas, the Bay Area and Minneapolis-St. Paul. As of August 3, comScore was reporting that the number of users on Google+ had reached 25 million.
WHY SHOULD REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS CARE?
These numbers make Google+ the fastest to reach 25 million users among top social networking sites – a possible indication that this Google product has legs and will soon become part of your online real estate marketing mix … maybe. It truly remains to be seen if and when the greater public (your clients) will latch on, but at the rate its growing and the improvements Google is making, many techies are betting on its success.
PERFECT CIRCLES
Circles is arguably Google+’s greatest strength. They’ve essentially taken a fundamental element of Facebook and for lack of a better word, Plus-ed it! Circles are simply Google’s way of letting you bucket your network into different groups and it’s incredibly simple!
As a real estate agent, you might create buckets for Friends, Family, Co-op Agents, Past Clients, and Buyers and Sellers. When you add someone to the Circle they are notified that they belong to one of your Circles (and conveniently they don’t know which one – Genius!)
Creating smart Circles will allow you to target your messages, photos, updates, videos and favorite articles to specific groups of people.
SEO-CENTRIC
If Circles help you reach the right audience with the right message then the Stream, Sparks and +1 features help people find information that is relevant to them and their search and put their stamp of approval on it.
There’s been quite a bit of buzz lately on whether Google+ will start influencing Page Rank (meaning, if a link shared on G+ is weighted more than others improving your placement in certain search results). If it does, then the SEO benefits become a powerful reason to add Google+ to your social media arsenal.
The bottom line is this: these days, public endorsement and word of mouth are far more effective at generating business than traditional advertising – assuming you make an effort to consistently keep your brand in front of your audience.
THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: IS IT WORTH YOUR TIME?
Jay Papasan, Vice President of Publishing at Keller Williams Realty and coauthor of Soci@l, said it well, “Unless your clients happen to be early-adopting, tech-savvy men between the age of 25 and 34, then you might want to wait to go ‘all in’ on Google+. The large majority of your clients may not be there yet. Just keep an eye on it while you invest your time and energy in more proven lead sources.”
At the very least, get on, get started building your profile and creating Circles (more on all of these next week). Then continue to master LinkedIN, Facebook and Twitter as your online lead generators until the masses make it to G+.
Already on Google+ – Come find us: Jay Papasan Laura Price
Not there yet, but want to be? The first 20 people to post this on either Facebook or Twitter (and tell me about it) will get a Google+ invite. Just comment on the blog or send me an email to laura.price1@kw.com to let me know you posted it and claim your entry.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Pulling Back the Curtain on Success
Provided By Realty Times
The truth is most Agents want to share with you how they achieved success; they passionately share their techniques and the mentors, coaches, or speakers who helped them. I caution you – more than 95% truly have no idea or can’t quantify their success for you. They don’t really know how they got there or what it cost to produce it. They heard a great idea in their mind, put it into place, but haven’t tracked it according to really know the ROI (Return on Investment).
In the movie The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion were all scared of the great and powerful Oz. They shook with fear at the shear intensity and volume of his voice. Toto was the one to reveal that Oz was a little man behind the curtain using a sound system to produce the illusion of greatness and power. Too often, the great Oz is a parallel to the great Realtor. We need to pull back the curtain to make sure what we are seeing is real.
Too often, Agents are mesmerized by the promotional gimmicks and marketing strategies that other Agents say “work like magic”. There is nothing wrong with marketing, provided you are doing the real work of pulling the prospecting levers behind the scenes. Prospecting makes it’s own magic over the short and long run. Again, prospecting can just be calling past clients and your sphere. It doesn’t have to be all the other activities that most Agents don’t want to do.
The big challenge is how do we pull back the curtain? How do we find out the real truth? We have to ask the right questions, so we can gain the answers that reveal the truth. If someone approaches you with great and powerful business-generating techniques, ask these types of questions:
What is the conversion ratio on this technique?
What percentage of your business comes from this approach?
How many transactions dos this technique generate for you annually?
How much does it cost you to use this marketing service to generate leads?
How many Sellers have you gained?
How many Buyers have you gained from this approach?
How much time do you need to invest to set this technique up and maintain it?
Have you included the value of your time in that equation?
What is your net profit from this activity after all your costs are subtracted?
I have found from asking these types of questions for over thirteen years that most people don’t have the answers. I began asking these questions about my third year in the real estate business. I did this because I was the type of person who wanted to do better. I would listen to these so called superstar Agents and how they did business. In many cases, I would implement their strategy exactly and not get anywhere near the results the Agent claimed. I developed this list of questions and discovered that very few Agents could actually answer them. They just liked the ego boost of being a panelist, star, or whatever you want to call them. There are many Speakers and Trainers who fell into this category as well. Be careful! Some did know the answers, however, and those are the people I respect even today.
The truth is most Agents want to share with you how they achieved success; they passionately share their techniques and the mentors, coaches, or speakers who helped them. I caution you – more than 95% truly have no idea or can’t quantify their success for you. They don’t really know how they got there or what it cost to produce it. They heard a great idea in their mind, put it into place, but haven’t tracked it according to really know the ROI (Return on Investment).
In the movie The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion were all scared of the great and powerful Oz. They shook with fear at the shear intensity and volume of his voice. Toto was the one to reveal that Oz was a little man behind the curtain using a sound system to produce the illusion of greatness and power. Too often, the great Oz is a parallel to the great Realtor. We need to pull back the curtain to make sure what we are seeing is real.
Too often, Agents are mesmerized by the promotional gimmicks and marketing strategies that other Agents say “work like magic”. There is nothing wrong with marketing, provided you are doing the real work of pulling the prospecting levers behind the scenes. Prospecting makes it’s own magic over the short and long run. Again, prospecting can just be calling past clients and your sphere. It doesn’t have to be all the other activities that most Agents don’t want to do.
The big challenge is how do we pull back the curtain? How do we find out the real truth? We have to ask the right questions, so we can gain the answers that reveal the truth. If someone approaches you with great and powerful business-generating techniques, ask these types of questions:
What is the conversion ratio on this technique?
What percentage of your business comes from this approach?
How many transactions dos this technique generate for you annually?
How much does it cost you to use this marketing service to generate leads?
How many Sellers have you gained?
How many Buyers have you gained from this approach?
How much time do you need to invest to set this technique up and maintain it?
Have you included the value of your time in that equation?
What is your net profit from this activity after all your costs are subtracted?
I have found from asking these types of questions for over thirteen years that most people don’t have the answers. I began asking these questions about my third year in the real estate business. I did this because I was the type of person who wanted to do better. I would listen to these so called superstar Agents and how they did business. In many cases, I would implement their strategy exactly and not get anywhere near the results the Agent claimed. I developed this list of questions and discovered that very few Agents could actually answer them. They just liked the ego boost of being a panelist, star, or whatever you want to call them. There are many Speakers and Trainers who fell into this category as well. Be careful! Some did know the answers, however, and those are the people I respect even today.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Let's Party With a Purpose!
Provided By KW Cares
It is getting to be that time of the year again and the biggest party of the year is just around the corner! Party With a Purpose will be held at the Hilton Austin on Tuesday, September 20 from 5:30 - 8:30 pm during Mega Camp. This don't miss event features the zany 80s stylings of the sensational Spazmatics! Our action packed live auction and silent auction will be back with amazing new items. This is time for food, family and Mega Fun to raise money for KW Cares so that we can continue to help our KW family members in need. Click here to order your ticket now! Do not be left out of what is sure to be the talk of the night!
It is getting to be that time of the year again and the biggest party of the year is just around the corner! Party With a Purpose will be held at the Hilton Austin on Tuesday, September 20 from 5:30 - 8:30 pm during Mega Camp. This don't miss event features the zany 80s stylings of the sensational Spazmatics! Our action packed live auction and silent auction will be back with amazing new items. This is time for food, family and Mega Fun to raise money for KW Cares so that we can continue to help our KW family members in need. Click here to order your ticket now! Do not be left out of what is sure to be the talk of the night!
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