There are two things we need to focus on:
1) staying social with our sphere.
2) building an asset for the future.
STAYING SOCIAL
- Masterminds
- Trivia Night
- Virtual Open Houses
- VIP Groups
- List of all restaurants open for carryout or delivery
- Promote restaurants on Instagram stories
- Flower share (or with Pizza)
- Watch Party
- House concert
- Virtual happy hour
- Book Club
- Personal hand-written notes
BUILD AN ASSET during these times
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
Limitations bring opportunity
You have two choices - (1) you can submit to the fear, freeze, and throw in the towel. Or (2) believe this gives me the opportunity to emerge as a leader, there are going to be an abundance of opportunities to do business virtually, and I’m gonna serve my community to the best of my ability.
Examples of opportunities that are arising thus far:
Ideas others are doing in their community:
Stephanie: “To keep a local florist afloat, members of my community are sending each other bouquets. Once you have a bouquet sent to you, you send a bouquet to another friend, and then they send a bouquet to someone else, and on and on.”
Riley in NYC: “Sauce Pizzeria is delivering free pizzas to hospitals every day, giving you the opportunity to donate a pizza and they'll match it.”
Perry in Reunion, CO: “A Facebook page was started in our community called ‘I Need This!’ It’s a place for community members to connect and help each other. Some people reached out because they need groceries, so there are others that go deliver what they need.”
Bridget in Portland, OR: “I want to give a shout out to Trophy Cupcakes in Seattle. If you order cupcakes for delivery to non-profits, underserved communities and others in need, they’ll pay it forward when they’re back on their feet.”
Pat in CA: “A neighbor printed a flyer and offered to bring food and supplies to seniors in the neighborhood. She put her two small children in a wagon and put the flyers in the mailboxes of her neighbors.”
This all came from a free email I receive every morning from a blog called the Morning Brew. Thanks for the tip Scott Hack! It’s a great read every morning. Subscribe here - https://link.morningbrew.com/click/19787127.1576454/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubW9ybmluZ2JyZXcuY29tL2RhaWx5L3IvP2tpZD1jNTc1ZTcwMA/5e624351639ec819664aa1f5B243f68bd
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
I have a dream to buy an RV and travel the country to give talks and coach agents in one city after another. (Crazy I know, but so real in my mind!)
Two weeks ago I booked a speaking engagement in Louisville, Kentucky. Jenny and I were on date night and I said, “wouldn’t it be great if we had the RV and could all go!?” Jenny then said, “why do we need the RV, let’s just GO WITH WHAT WE HAVE!”
She is so right! It was such a moment in our journey towards our vision. So with that...we are loading up the Honda Odyssey and hitting the road!
Have you ever done this? Like for example, you want to start producing videos for your business, but you don’t like the camera you have, the audio isn’t the best, I need better lights, or my backdrop doesn’t look good?
Ever been there?
Do you feel like you have to have it all together before you even get started?
If so, take Jenny’s advice and go with what you have!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
The other day I had an agent ask, “How do you keep the balance/focus/abundance and positive mindset when one lead after another go the other direction.” She said, “I’ve had 8 potential deals "new solid leads" buy/sell or just a sell and buy etc. and recently they all start to fizzle out. Excuses start to come "Oh we are going to keep renting, oh we have decided to move next year now, Oh we have decided to just keep our place for the time being. Just really weird things but how do you keep the mindset of "abundance, there is more, keep pushing, the next deal will come".
The percentage of lead to close ratio is less than you think.
Most agents think they close 80% or more the leads that are pre-approved and ready to go. When the truth is the number is actually closer to 20%.
Dream Phase Just Got Extended
You’ll find that most buyers will come back, it’s only because their dream phase was extended. Some buyers will buy in the beginning of a dream phase, and some will extend their dream phase. Regardless, you need to stick with them throughout this process.
Continue to MatchMake
The first report is not the last report. When someone says they want to take a break. Understand that they pretty much just want to stop wasting your time, they want to hit the pause button on looking, but deep down the dream remains alive. Continue to search for them. When you call them acknowledge they are taking a break, but say, “I found this one and thought of you. I understand you’re on the sidelines, but I couldn’t resist at least letting you know.” Just don’t make the mistake of checking them off, and waiting for them to call you to re-engage. You just never know when the right house will kick start their search again.
It’s all about relationships
In the end, you have to realize that someone that has reached out to you to buy or sell has taken a very big step in the relationship department. To many of us have taken this for granted. It’s important that you stick with them.
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
Are you in the middle of the winter grind and just feeling like you’re spinning your wheels? I get it. You might be like an agent I was just talking with where his cash has depleted. He is wasting a lot of time figuring out how he is going to navigate through the mess, what bills he’s going to pay and want ones he’s going to go delinquent on.
Real-life stuff here, right?
In this episode, I want to give you the courage to stay with it. I want to share three things you need to do to stay on the right track.
Working According to your vision, not according to your needs.
Often when we get stuck like this, we lose focus on our vision or our plans. In Agent Rise, we often talk about our three-pillar plan. When money gets tight, we often see a slip up with our mailings to our sphere, we stop our Facebook Ads, and some of us will freeze up. We can't do this, and instead, need to keep focused on our vision. I'll explain this and how to avoid it in this episode.
Don't get sucked into the shiny object syndrome.
When things are going your way, our first reaction is to make a change in our plan. This will veer you away from something that is about to work if you just stay consistent. By switching you will experience a switch cost that we talk about in detail in this episode.
The engine that needs to be running to dig you out of the hole you're in, all comes from MatchMaking.
You need to be diligent in finding your buyers the property they are looking for. Sitting back and waiting for it to happen will only keep you in this rut. Make it happen by finding the property for them. Anyone you are working to earn their business will see this, and chances are you'll compel them to work with you.
Getting a buyer’s criteria is only half of the equation—you also NEED inventory to matchmake them with. When there is very little inventory in the market for you to choose from it can be disheartening. You have to dig deeper and be creative with your search process. In this episode of Agent Rise, I’m going to share SIX ways you can source inventory to present to your buyers.
The first way you can source more inventory is by sending out a mailer in a neighborhood you know your client is interested in. It can be a letter directly from the family or you as the realtor. Attach your contact info, state you’re interested in a home in the area, and let them know they can give you a call.
Look at expired listings from 2012-2017 where the house sat on the market and didn’t sell. Send the owner a letter with the customer version of the MLS listing attached. Let them know you have an interested buyer and see if they’d be willing to let them see the house. They don’t have to list it, stage it, or get professional photos done—they just have to schedule a time the buyer can see it.
Everyone wants to avoid these because you have to negotiate for your commission. But Zillow, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace are crawling with FSBOs. When competition is tight in the market like it is now, taking advantage of FSBOs is a great way to leverage the market. Listen to the episode for more details!
There are a lot of homes out there available for rent. They’re listed on Marketplace, Craigslist, and even Airbnb. You can send them a message and find out if they’d be willing to entertain an offer to buy vs. a rental agreement.
Someone reaches out to you about a potential listing, but aren’t sure they want to deal with the process. Obviously, you want the listing—but what if you can let them know you might have an interested buyer? You may not get a formal listing with them, but you could end up with a transaction you wouldn’t otherwise have had (or even 3).
We’ve all been there when hosting an open house and nosy neighbors mosey over to see the place. They mention offhand that they’ve thought about selling their house but aren’t ready yet. Take the opportunity and view the conversation as a job interview. Neighbors are easy inventory for your buyers. If you let them know you have a potential buyer, they might go from “just thinking about it” to “ready to sell”.
Hopefully, these 6 options have given you some ideas to forge ahead and continue match-making for your buyers. Everyone is struggling with inventory right now, right? But whenever there is a limitation on a market there is always an opportunity available. Listen to the episode for the full details on each option!
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Do you find yourself throwing out excuses to avoid getting work done? Do you start the process of match-making, only to hope that your buyer isn’t available for a showing that weekend? I get it—we all want breaks. Sometimes it’s nice to have a free weekend where you aren’t showing houses. But it’s a HUGE problem if you find yourself avoiding work that is your job! It is how you make a living! In this episode, I share 3 strategies to help get you back on track and doing your job.
If you find yourself slacking on match-making and dreading your weekend because you’re scheduling showings—start setting boundaries! You don’t have to devote the whole weekend to showing houses. You could take Friday evening and Saturday off and only offer clients Sunday’s to show homes.
The key is that you set your availability. YOU tell them when you’re available and let them know when you’re not. Give yourself your 24 to do as you please and dedicate the remainder of your weekend to your clients. It’s the best of both worlds.
If you are busy matchmaking and finding homes to show clients but are short on time, consider hiring a showing assistant. Take a look at the roster in your company and reach out to an agent that you think would be interested in showing some houses for you. They can cover your showings when you need a day off or when you go on vacation.
Pay them a flat fee for showing properties—offer them $50 for the first showing and $25 for each additional. It’s a win-win for everyone involved. It doesn’t leave you bogged down and allows you to forge ahead with match-making. The assistant will make the whole process that much easier for everyone involved.
This next tip is a little outside of the box. If you don’t have the time to show houses, send your buyer to open houses without you. I recommend a few steps if you’re considering this:
I had some buyers who went to open houses on their own every weekend. They’d give me a heads up as to which ones they were going to and I’d get them registered. The process worked well and my clients were happy.
You need to take a step back and ask yourself some hard questions. Am I not putting in the work and doing matchmaking because I don’t want more work? Am I making excuses and laying blame elsewhere to avoid doing work? Do I simply want a free weekend?
Stop making excuses and admit it. Part of the battle is putting in the work. We all have moments when we don’t want to do what we need to do.
But you need to stop holding yourself back and preventing your own success. You have to work hard to get the results you want. Sometimes, that means working on the weekends. It means showing houses when you don’t feel like it.
But it’s when you break through and get work done that you begin to make a difference and work towards reaching your goals. Confront yourself, follow my outside-the-box tips, and move forward to reach your potential.
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
I’ve tried creating YouTube videos before and have always hit a dead end. I was never able to settle into a groove. Recently, I was inspired by Peter McKinnon and a concept he introduced in one of his videos. I put my daily routine for video production to good use and got to work creating content for my Agent Rise YouTube Channel. Hear all about my inspiration, upcoming video ideas—and more—in this episode of Agent Rise!
I LOVE to tinker with videos. I have all the tools I need to create high-quality video (a great camera and access to Final Cut Pro video editing software). I enjoy creating videos and I’ve wanted to start a channel for a while—but nothing ever stuck...until I was watching one of Peter McKinnon’s videos and had my Aha! Moment.
He was doing a tutorial inside of a vlog.
Now, I’ve done videos before. Some of my ‘I Love Madison’ videos fare quite well on YouTube. In the past, I’ve attempted to shoot videos of me coaching, but didn’t feel like they’d resonate. And it certainly wasn’t something people would be searching for. People want tutorials, but they want them to be fun and entertaining. This is where a vlog tutorial comes into play.
You don’t want to just be a talking head in a video. Even with the best editing and added touches it still comes across boring. But if you work a tutorial into a vlog, it’s far more engaging. So what could that look like? In the 1st video on my YouTube channel I bring you with me to an ‘I Love Madison’ meetup and I teach you how to run one yourself.
You could also shoot a video of what it takes to host an open house. You could start in your office, put out signs, and get B-roll during the open house. As you’re vlogging, you incorporate your “how-to” in a seamless and entertaining way. The goal is to teach something while you’re doing it.
I’ve talked about my dream to travel the country in an RV. Our goal is to do that this summer, but we don’t have the rig yet. My wife pointed out that we could still travel the US and vlog—but just do it in our car. So in March, we are traveling to the Real Estate Distilled conference in Louisville after which we are heading to Disney.
I’d love to meet up with anyone who is along this route (I’ll post it in the Facebook group). The goal is to vlog along our journey while delivering content that is relevant to realtors around the US. I also want to go to different parts of the country where agents are killing it. I’d love to interview them, find out what they’re doing and how they’re doing it, and share it with my viewers.
Whatever you decide to do, I want to encourage you to just go create. If you’re passionate about video and enjoy the process, give it a shot. Listen to the episode to hear how one of my ‘I Love Madison’ videos hit home.
I’ve already posted 3 videos on my YouTube channel and intend to post a video per week. All the while trying to keep in mind what consumers are searching for. It’s all about learning what people want to see and then providing the content. You want people to find you on YouTube and become a face they recognize and think of when they think about real estate.
Here are some video ideas that you’ll be seeing in my YouTube channel:
That’s just the start of what’s in store. But I’d love to know—what would you like to see on my YouTube channel?
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Last week we talked about daily routines and a day block system that works well for me. So many people have reached out asking how to make a day block system work for their schedule. So in this episode of Agent Rise, I’m going to backtrack and help you nail down what you need to know to develop a daily routine that works for YOU.
You want to reach your daily, weekly, monthly, and annual goals, right? The #1 way to do that is to delegate. How do you decide what to delegate? You need to calculate what your hourly rate is. Let’s say you want a projected annual income of $250,000. Take that number and divide it by 2,000—you get an hourly rate of $125.
If you are doing any task for your business that you could delegate out for less than your hourly rate, you need to let it go.
If you’re constantly doing activities in your business that you could pay someone $20 an hour to do you are wasting your time. You need to stop making the excuse that it’s something only you can do—because it’s not. Your time and attention need to be focused on what produces revenue.
If you’re hesitant to delegate something, what is holding you back? Is it the cost? If you can’t afford to outsource it, ask yourself if it’s necessary in the first place. Is it something you can let go? Remember that you need to simplify your business to amplify your results.
You must dig deep and decide if any given task is worth your time. Does it fit into your 3 pillars? If it does, can you outsource it to someone else for less than your hourly rate? Odds are the answer is yes. Delegate it.
I understand you don’t know where the next deal is going to come from. I get that it’s scary to pay someone else when you don’t have a steady income stream. But it is the only way your business will succeed and grow. It opens up your time to focus on what really matters.
To properly prioritize what you should outsource, I recommend using a method that I learned from the book E-myth Revisited: write out detailed descriptions for the roles that you will outsource. You’ll likely have to play these roles until you’re ready to hire someone—but at that point, you’ll know what role needs to be hired out first.
There are three “buckets” that tasks can be grouped into:
Once you calculate your hourly rate, learn to let go and delegate, and know the roles you can outsource—it is far easier to get into a daily routine. Sticking with your routine gives you more time with clients, more time matchmaking, and you’ll spend more time on revenue-producing activities.
It all comes back to this fact: you are wasting your time by not hiring someone.
You can’t keep doing things the same way you have been. Just like when a plants roots outgrow the pot it’s in, you’ll outgrow the activities that got you started. You need to move to a larger pot! Hiring people is the best way to support your growth and the growth of your business. It will save you money in the long run.
To hear what my team looked like in 2005 versus what it looks like now, listen to the whole episode of Agent Rise!
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Implementing a daily routine is one of the best ways to become more productive—and make this year better than the last one. It helps you get in a groove and get things done. I believe you can’t work consistently towards your goals if you don’t have a plan in place. So in this episode of Agent Rise, I’ll share two strategies with you: the day block strategy that I use and a bonus strategy for those of you who produce weekly videos. If you’re ready to up your productivity game, don’t miss this episode!
I’m going to lay out exactly what I do Monday through Friday to give you a roadmap for success:
For all my creative people who shoot videos for their attraction pillar, I’ve got a great daily strategy for you to stay consistent weekly.
That’s it! It’s an easy daily routine to help you stay consistent with your goal of producing a weekly video for the next year.
No matter how you decide to implement a weekly routine—if you use my routine or not—you NEED to be matching clients to homes all-day, every-day. When you find clients the perfect home, they will spread the word. You’ll create raving fans who send their friends and family your way.
What about you? Do you have a daily routine? Head on over to the Facebook group and let me know if you’ll be embracing a daily routine!
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Are you ready to find a way to set yourself up for success and achieve your goals for 2020? Everyone sets goals for the new year and start the year excited. Reaching our goals is no easy task and by the time you reach March, we’re often off track and feel ready to give up. In this episode of Agent Rise, I'll share a strategy I learned for achieving goals and making this year better than the last!
The only person you want to be better than is the person you were yesterday. You can’t play the comparison game. When you start comparing yourself to others, it gets in your head, hurts you, and derails your progress. It doesn’t matter what other agents are achieving. It doesn’t matter if a newer agent is closing more sales. All you need to focus on is what you’re doing.
Mike Zilli first introduced me to this strategy, and I KNEW I needed to share it with my listeners. You start by taking a piece of paper (or use a whiteboard, excel spreadsheet, etc.) and you separate it into two sides. On the left-hand side, write out each month of the year and how many houses you closed each month. On the right-hand side, leave blank space for what you will accomplish this year.
The goal is to simply achieve more than last year. Do you want to sell 5 more homes? Then 5 months this year you need to close on an extra home. You want to stay as consistent at reaching your monthly goals as possible. But if you have an off month, this strategy allows you to add another month and get back on track.
You must set a realistic goal (25%+ increase) and map out what needs to be done monthly. Even if you win 9 months and lose 3, that’s still 6 more transactions than your previous year. THAT is goal achievement—with the added bonus of not throwing your goals out the window.
So what is the easiest way to start reaching some of those goals? You need to work backward from your goal and clarify the metrics—the building blocks to hit each goal.
Here’s an example from a recent coaching session:
This particular gal does open-houses for her chase pillar. We looked at how many leads she needed (search criteria she needed to fulfill) to reach her projected income goal. This helped determine how many open houses were necessary. It’s an easy way to simplify the process and make it less daunting.
Don’t allow yourself to get defeated. Simply work on being better than last year and always remember you’re only competing against yourself.
What do you think of these strategies? Head on over to the Facebook page and let me know your thoughts!
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
It’s time to nail down your social media content strategy for 2020. What platforms do you want to focus on? What kind of content do you create for each of them? In this episode of Agent Rise, I’m going to layout the platforms I recommend and some content you can run with. I’ll also fill you in on the tone needed and what to avoid. If you’re ready to up your content game, listen now!
Content on Facebook needs to be engaging. You want to get people excited to interact with you. Make it irresistible. Always ask a question where they can answer easily with a yes or no answer, a number, or something they’re passionate about.
Make it entertaining—take a position for or against something and share your reasoning. Then, ask if anyone else has had a similar (or different) experience. Facebook Live is all about interaction. It is NOT the place for market reports full of boring and dry numbers.
Another idea I use is “Madison’s Best”. For example, I’ll jump on Facebook Live and ask where the best cheese curds are.
Keep it simple for Facebook Live—lay out your idea with a few bullet points and talk for 3-5 minutes. Doing this a couple of times a week will greatly contribute to growing an engaged audience.
YouTube is great for tutorial style videos. Take some time to record a how-to video and tell a story to keep the viewer interested. This is even the platform for a market report video—but don’t make it try and boring. Don’t add numbers and figures. Instead, tell a story about a recent sale and how it was affected by the market.
Another great idea you can run with is the “Million-Dollar Listing”. Work with the listing agent to do a recorded tour of the most expensive listing in your area. The owners get free publicity and your viewers get to see a pretty cool crib on your Youtube channel.
I have a couple of other suggestions—listen to the whole episode to find out what they are!
Instagram is a great platform to post video content if you’re just getting started and want to dip your toes in the water. Stories allow you to document your day in short-yet-engaging bursts. You need to implement posts as well that can be anything from a summary of your day to an announcement of your latest content that’s available.
With the launch of IGTV, you can now create episode-style videos for viewers to watch. IGTV is a great crossover for content that you’d also put on Facebook or YouTube. It isn’t as searchable as YouTube, but I assume they’ll move the direction of adding that functionality.
Just like the other platforms, you want your content to maximize the entertainment factor. Incorporate story-telling and find ways to make it entertaining.
LinkedIn is about connectivity. The reach and connections you can make are unbelievable. But for LinkedIn, you don’t want to repurpose content from other channels. Instead, you could post an opinion about a book you recently finished. Share your recommendation and ask others to give you suggestions for your next read. You can ask business-related questions to foster real and engaging conversations.
LinkedIn content needs to be business-minded, inspirational, motivational, educational, with a touch of entertainment thrown in.
I highly recommend getting involved with a LinkedIn Local meetup. Not only is it amazing networking, but it allows you to snap a group photo and share it on LinkedIn. I am more connected in real-life with people I’ve met on LinkedIn vs. any other platform. You NEED to make a LinkedIn strategy part of your business.
Make sure to check out the resources below for a few people who I follow who have mastered content strategy!
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
This episode of Agent Rise is a mashup of some important things that will help you gain clarity in your business strategy for 2020. I’ll talk about the difference between being taught and being coached and why each has its place. I’ll talk about the sphere, chase, and attraction pillars you build your business on. I spend some time on the attraction pillar—which I rarely delve deep on, so be sure to check out this episode!
When you are being taught, you are learning from a teacher. You’re going to seminars or watching webinars. You’re reading books or listening to podcasts. You are actively learning—but sometimes it’s information overload. It is hard to process all of the incoming information if you are not doing what you’re learning.
That’s where coaching is different. You are putting into action the different strategies you have learned. You’re implementing them in your business, with someone coming alongside you to help you through the process. A good coach watches your business and helps you grow it.
Listen as I walk through some analogies that will help you better understand the difference between the two and why coaching is so important for your business.
Your sphere of influence is something I talk about a lot because it is so important. 80% or more of your business comes from your sphere of influence. Let that fact sink in. If you’re not sending out monthly mailings or running an email campaign to your sphere, you’re neglecting them.
You NEED to do client events. You NEED to call your sphere and connect with them.
If you don’t have a dedicated sphere of influence, the #1 thing you must do is start building a database. Referrals, partnerships, and relationships are what build your business and sustain it. It’s time to level up! I talk about a nifty way you can run a VIP Facebook group and keep your members engaged with you—so keep listening!
While you are chasing clients and buyers—they are chasing a house. They aren’t looking for a killer agent, they’re looking for someone who is the bridge to their future home. Your goal as an agent is to connect with people, then give them what they want. There are 4 areas you can focus on with your chase pillar: open houses, Facebook ads, online leads, and FSBO’s and expired leads.
Here are a couple of ways you can up your game as you focus on your chase pillar:
The chase pillar is what drives your business at the beginning of the year. So invest time in it and always remember that the end goal isn’t landing a new client, but matching them with their perfect home.
You know that I rarely talk about the attraction pillar because I believe it can develop into more of a distraction. But I can see the value of developing an engaged following. Engagement is key.
So where do I think you should invest your time with the attraction pillar? Here are some options:
The attraction pillar can be a distraction if you let it be. But it can also be a wonderful tool to connect with people and stay in their line of sight, so when they are looking for a home they remember and connect with you.
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
It’s Time to Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable - Episode #223
You read that right—you need to get comfortable being uncomfortable. I recently heard this phrase listening to Jen Sincero’s book “You Are a Badass at Making Money” and found it inspiring. What are you doing in your business that is preventing you from breaking through because you aren’t moving outside of your comfort zone? Listen to this episode of Agent Rise as I break down how to break through your discomfort.
I often talk about how you need to be playing to your strengths in your business. But always playing to your strengths doesn’t help you grow. Doing things that push you out of your comfort zone will. For many agents, following up with leads is something they hate.
Throwing an open house and meeting with people is easy. The conversation is easy.
But following up on the lead leaves many agents uncomfortable because it’s awkward. They don’t connect with them the next day and feel like they’ve missed their moment. I don’t want you to let embarrassment or discomfort get in the way of doing what you’re good at. So how do you remove the discomfort?
There are two things you need to consider about a potential client:
Stop overthinking things! Make the uncomfortable comfortable by removing the parameters you have set. There is no magical timeline that you HAVE to follow.
Another common thing agents find uncomfortable is calling their sphere of influence. The friends, family, business owners, clients, etc. that are important to you. You may feel you have nothing to say, so it’s uncomfortable making that call. There are a couple of ways to remedy that.
Firstly, you can follow an “A-Z” method. The first week, you call everyone on your contact list under the A’s, then call the B’s the following week and so forth. In this way, you’ll call everyone in your sphere of influence twice in one year.
My favorite method is to call your sphere of influence when you put on an event. For example, I enjoy hosting “I love Madison” events. I’ll call up my sphere of influence and invite them. If you host an appreciation event a couple of times a year and invite your sphere of influence, you knock out something that makes you uncomfortable!
Keep listening to hear my advice on some other scenarios that make you uncomfortable, and how to overcome them.
I believe you won’t truly find abundance until you start doing things that make you uncomfortable. Some part of what you excel at will always be a little uncomfortable, right? I want you to make it part of your goals in 2020—
What is making you uncomfortable? What can you do to get comfortable being uncomfortable?
Is it something you can let go of? Is it something that makes you nervous, such as launching a YouTube channel or a podcast? I want you to think about what is preventing you from having a breakthrough moment in your business.
Then head on over to the Agent Rise Facebook group and let me know—what is making you uncomfortable? Let’s talk about it.
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
If you don’t set boundaries in your business, your clients will walk all over you. It’s a simple truth and one that I’ve learned all too well. If you begin to implement boundaries, your clients will start to respect you. They’ll sing your praises and you’ll start to get referrals. So how do you begin to set boundaries with clients if you haven’t from day one? Listen to this episode of Agent Rise and I’ll give you some strategic ways you can set boundaries with your clients.
I had been taking some Sundays off here and there, but I wasn’t being consistent. If something came up with a client I would go running. One Sunday I was tucking my daughter into bed and she thanked me and said we had such a great day together.
When I said goodnight, she said: “See you next Sunday”.
The weight of her words sunk in like a punch to the stomach. I had become so immersed in work that I had neglected my family. My daughter only expected to see me one day a week. I knew at that moment something needed to change.
I started implementing boundaries in 2011 and it changed everything for me. I’d meet with a potential client and at the end of the conversation I’d phrase it like this:
My family is very important to me and to spend time with them I will not be able to show homes on Sundays and most weekday evenings. I want to make sure that will work for you?
I’ve only had one instance in the last nine years where a client said he only had availability on Sunday to see homes. So I referred him to another agent I knew worked weekends.
Unfortunately, she said he was the worst client she’s worked with. He was demanding and disrespectful of her time—because she didn’t set boundaries. He had zero reason to respect her.
So what do you do if you’re already working with a chunk of clients? How do you break the news that you need to begin focusing on what’s important—your family? Call every single one of your clients, now.
Let them know that in 2020, you’ll only be available at specific times, and that evenings and weekends will be devoted to your family. The majority of your clients will respect your decision and think more highly of you.
Keep listening for some other tips to set boundaries with people who aren’t even your clients yet.
People are often worried that setting boundaries in their business means they will lose clients. They worry about what people will think of them. Guys—let go of the disease to please. Focus on your family and what matters most.
When you do, I firmly believe that you will get busier. People respect men and women who set boundaries and know where their priorities lie. It builds respect and trust, and those people will send you referrals. And the referrals will send you referrals.
You’ll gain a reputation as someone who is trustworthy and stands by their beliefs. It won’t be easy at first, but it is 100% worth it.
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
What matters most in your business? How do you regain focus? As we are nearing the end of the year and entrenched in “shiny object season” it’s easy to lose sight of where you’re supposed to be. In this episode of Agent Rise, I lay out 3 strategies to help you focus on what matters most.
Are you so worried about what everyone else thinks that it leaves you paralyzed? Are you operating every day out of fear? If you can’t function because you’re afraid of what other people are thinking, stop now.
The enemy is trying to rob you of joy. Fight it!
Eliminate the disease to please. What matters most is the ability to push through and let go of the fear. Change your mindset from one of fear to one of freedom. I used to worry about every little thing, but I’ve learned how beautiful freedom is.
Claim it: I will no longer be held captive by the disease to please.
Your vision is your clear plan. Where are you going? How are you going to get there? When you start working towards your vision, your needs will be met. It’s a little scary, right?
On the flip side, if you’re working according to your needs, you begin to spiral. You start doing things you shouldn’t be doing and experience switch cost.
Ditch your needs. They will be met as you stay focused on your vision.
A clear and simple plan always begins by focusing on the basics of your business. Make three calls a day to new leads, your sphere of influence, and more. Focus on your attraction, chase, and sphere of influence pillars and what you’re doing for each. If you don’t have a plan, you won’t know what to say ‘no’ to. Remove shiny object syndrome—make it a thing of the past!
We have let so many things matter more than what matters most. Gaining clarity on that can be difficult. Are you ready to narrow down what truly matters? If you don’t have a clear plan or vision for your business, head on over to AgentOnTheRise.com and check out my masterclass. My goal is to help you simplify your business to amplify your results!
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Selling homes in the winter is a difficult beast to overcome. It’s typically cold, and no one wants to move when there is snow on the ground. So how should you utilize the slow season? How do you combat shiny object syndrome? This episode of Agent Rise is all about answering YOUR questions about the slow season in Real Estate.
What do you do when everyone wants to start looking for a home in the Spring? Here’s my three-step plan to reel in the hesitant home-buyer:
You need to respect their schedule and timeline while providing value. But if you can show them the house of their dreams, odds are they will move up their timeline.
Preparing for the holidays can leave you completely distracted. I get it. So what can you do to combat the seasons? Get back to the basics (which I talk about in detail in this episode). Keep it simple and make three calls a day. If it’s three calls more than you’re already making, then it’s a win.
Make Match-making calls. Call someone in your sphere of influence and wish them happy holidays! Call someone and let them know you’re thankful for them in this season. These conversations may drum up some referrals. But more than that, it keeps you moving forward.
Don’t let winter drag you down!
I cannot emphasize this enough: stay the course. If your chase pillar is open-houses, don’t change your strategy because you’re in a slow season. You may not get a lot of visitors to your open houses, but you may get some unrepresented buyers. Perhaps the neighbors will come by and you can get to know them.
It also allows you to have better conversations with the people that do come by. Take advantage of the time you wouldn’t normally get and connect with buyers. Even if the house you’re selling isn’t their perfect match, maybe you can help them find the right one!
Don’t be discouraged. Seasons come and go. Take the slow season to get back to the basics, and prepare for the busy spring season to come.
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
We’ve been talking about trimming distractions from your business and getting back to the basics. But what does that mean? How can you move from spinning your wheels to moving forward? If you find yourself doing things that aren’t moving your business in the right direction, it’s time to take a step back, re-evaluate, and get back to the basics.
During the off-season, most sports implement a sort of spring training (or training camp). It’s all about getting back to the core of the game and practicing the basics.
In baseball, they have batting practice as well as working on stopping ground balls, fly balls, etc. In football, they run plays, focus on weight-lifting and conditioning, and prepare for the next season.
So why shouldn’t it be the same for agents? It’s important to take a step back, look at the big picture, and focus on perfecting the basics of the game. So what does that look like? Keep listening!
Making three calls a day is a simple way to begin building promise momentum. You make a simple promise to yourself, then keep that promise to yourself. If you’re spinning your wheels and you feel like your dignity has taken a nose-dive this is a great way to get back on track.
Make 3 phone calls 5 days a week.
It can be as simple as calling a friend to catch up. Call a potential client with a lead. Work on match-making and call someone with a home that fits the criteria they were looking for. You can even call an influencer in your community and make a connection.
Do you have a back-log of leads that have piled up that you haven’t had the time to follow-up on? So often, agents lose sight of what’s already in front of them. Reach out to the leads that you haven’t touched, or didn’t devote enough time to.
If you have 100 leads, send them an email simply asking if they’re interested in buying a house in the new year. Even if you get a 5% response rate, and only 3 of those people are interested—those are 3 cold leads that are now promising!
Keep listening as I talk about a few other ways you can connect with old leads and create new ones!
80% of your business will come from your sphere of influence, so it is imperative you stay connected with them. Send a mailer to them once a month. Call them at least twice a year. Invite them to happy hours or appreciation events. Continue to cultivate the relationships you have.
If you’re stuck, focus on choosing a chase pillar: open houses, running Facebook ads, hunting down FSBO’s, and more. Doing all of the above will work, but I advocate choosing one as your main focus. Then you can begin to perfect your craft and move towards excellence in that pillar. You don’t want to be a jack of all trades, but master of none.
To hear my thoughts on the attraction pillar and why it doesn’t need to be your focus, listen to the whole episode now!
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Strategic decision making means taking an objective look at your business and making cuts where necessary. Are you spread too thin? Did you branch out and try too many new ideas in 2019? I want to challenge you to take a deep look at your business and make the decision to cut something that keeping you from reaching your goals!
It feels really strange to take a step back and stop making things about the hustle. We are always looking to add more, do more, achieve more. But at what point is the hustle distracting you from your goals? Are you spending time focusing on things that you really hate in the name of “hustling”?
If you’re building four different bridges and none of them are reaching the other side, you are scattered and losing focus. It’s more powerful to simplify, build and complete one bridge. You’ll meet your goals faster and more efficiently.
How do you eliminate a process/procedure/task from your business? A friend of mine used the illustration that when you’re in the business, it’s like you’re stuck in a bottle trying to read the label that’s on the outside. You need to remove yourself from that bottle and read the label from the outside to understand what’s going on. Take a step back and look at your business objectively. It allows you to see things in a whole new light and gives you a high-level view of what’s working—and what’s not.
Are you doing things because you believe you have to? But instead of pushing you towards success those things are just distracting you?
Are you trying to use Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube because everyone else is doing it?
There are so many ways to find success, but you need to focus on what is working for you—and eliminate what’s not. It’s fine to test the waters here and there, but you need to be sure your attraction pillar isn’t detracting from your chase. Put your energy towards what is working, cut what isn’t, and move forward.
We are smack in the middle of what I like to call shiny object season. It’s a slower season and you find yourself with more down-time. Usually, that’s invested into conferences, training, business meetings, and day-dreaming about what else you can do. AKA, getting distracted.
But I believe you should also spend this time getting back to the basics.
What does that mean? Call people just to say thank you for buying a house through you. Send thank you cards. Cultivate leads, focus on matchmaking, work on conversions. Get back to the basics of what does work and make the strategic decision to simplify and eliminate distractions.
Now, go to the Facebook group and let me know what you’ve decided to cut in 2020!
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
It is so easy to overcomplicate this business and lose focus on what is really important. It’s quite simple: you need to understand what consumers want and give it to them. You can simplify and structure your business in a way that does just that. If you want to learn my key tips, listen to this episode of the Agent Rise Podcast!
It is as simple as buyers wanna buy, sellers wanna sell. One of my biggest pet peeves is when agents call buyers with nothing of value to offer. They just want to “stay in the loop”. What a waste of the buyers’ time! They don’t want to see your phone call and be let down because you just wanted to check-in.
They want to pick up the phone and hear you say “I’ve found what you’ve been looking for”.
Do you know what you need to do that? Their search criteria. If you take the time to connect with them about what they’re looking for and listen, you can deliver what they actually want. You do not want to fall into the category of wasted time.
The basics of StoryBrand marketing is this: Your client is the hero of the epic. They are the most important part of their story. Many agents are too focused on touting their abilities. “I’m the best at _______” OR “No other agency can offer you ______”.
Stop making this about you!
You're not the hero—you are the guide. You are the person they’re hiring to guide them through the process and help them find their dream home. Learn to position yourself correctly, or you’ll continue to find potential clients choosing someone else over you.
Guess what? The buying process can be scary. As an agent, you need to learn to be empathetic to a buyer’s feelings. Some of the questions that could be going through a buyers mind include:
What if I don’t get this house?
What if I don’t get approved for a loan or mortgage?
What if something is found in the inspection that’s a deal-breaker?
You need to ask more questions, understand where their concerns lie and empathize with them. Recommend a great lender who will make the process easy. Let them know what the inspection process looks like. Find ways to ease their fear.
If something goes terribly wrong, remind them that you’ll work through it with them.
I’m sure you’ve heard this principle before. It’s all about simplifying the process, not overcomplicating it. Remember that it’s not all about you. Unfortunately,I see this a lot in agent presentations. Instead of finding out what a seller is looking for, they brag about their services.
“WE have the best high-end photography. WE will provide impeccable drone video. WE throw the best open houses”
Guess what? Your seller may not want anything you have to offer. Stop assuming what they want—and ask! My favorite question is “Have you seen marketing on another listing that you really appreciated?” Simple, easy, and client-focused.
Want to learn more? Listen to this episode of the Agent Rise Podcast now!
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Creating a vivid vision statement is a practice I believe is necessary both personally and professionally. What do you want your future to look like? What will it take to get you there? Dreaming about your future is powerful. I walk through the steps to take in this episode of Agent Rise. Don’t miss it!
I define a vision statement as what it’s going to look like when you arrive where you want to go. This is where you get to dream big. Sit down in a quiet place and write down what you want your future to look like. Do you want to travel? Pay off debt? What do you want your business to look like?
I have a dream of publishing a book and buying an RV to travel the country with my family doing book signings. Note that I said these are dreams—but dreams that I believe will become reality. If you find yourself doubting that your dreams will come true, note it, and move on. You’re going to overcome those limiting beliefs.
Once you have a dream in place, write out step-by-step goals you can work towards and a timeline to complete them by. As you reach these goals, you are moving one step closer to the vision you’ve set for your future. I have a clear vision with a clear date in sight: By July 15th, 2020 my family and I will be traveling the country in an RV.
Once you have clear goals in place to reach your vision, you must focus on simplifying. What does that mean? Learn how to say no to the things that don’t help you achieve those goals. It will allow you to march towards milestones.
Once you’ve simplified, it allows you to amplify the things that will propel you forward. What do you excel at? Put your time into your sphere of influence, and chase and attraction pillars. You need to clarify the “do’s and don’ts” to find direction.
Get systems in place, delegate where you can, and find accountability with a coach. Build one bridge—don’t split your focus into multiple areas. You don’t want a bunch of half-built bridges and never reach where you’re trying to get.
What is your vivid vision statement for 2020?
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
I just wrapped up the Agent Rise Summit and my goal was to help agents find clarity—simplify your business to amplify your results. I wanted to give you a short overview of how the summit went, what we unpacked, and give you some key takeaways.
Lisa Robb, of Raining Glitter Coaching, was the first guest speaker we had the opportunity to hear from. She spoke on the topic of confidence. So many agents leave the business because they lack confidence in themselves and their ability to do their job. So many of us strive to be the best at everything we do, and when we fall short, it can break us.
Lisa poignantly stated, “You don’t have to be the strongest and the fastest, you just have to be strong and fast”.
Confidence is a muscle, and just like weight training, it takes consistency and training to grow that muscle. You aren’t born with it. You are capable of building up your confidence. By focusing on the abilities that you can grow you can become strong and fast. You don’t have to be the best at everything to succeed.
This conference was meant to bring clarity to agents. To help you clarify what goals you want to reach, learn to simplify the process to amplify your success as well as to just have fun and grow with each other. My buddy Dustin Brohm—after delivering a great talk retargeting ads—brought us some comedic relief.
For his Q & A slide, he meant to imply that there are no dumb questions. But he wrote, “there are no wrong answers”. Let’s just say no one is letting that go soon, and it sparked a hashtag movement—#NoWrongAnswers. But wait, there’s more! There may even be some apparel coming out soon. Stay tuned.
Jerry Potter spoke on the topic of engagement and social media. He said something that left us all questioning if we had heard correctly: focus on one social media platform to master. He truly believes that if you focus your time and energy on mastering one platform you’ll see results.
Think about it. What would it look like if you did just focus on one platform?
I get the most traffic and engagement from LinkedIn. If I solely focused on that, how would it impact my business? He gave us all some food for thought, especially because it’s so easy to over diversify instead of simplifying.
I formed a panel that consisted of Chantel Soumis, Jared Wiese, and Carrie Bohlig to speak about LinkedIn. When you think of social media, your mind probably doesn’t jump to LinkedIn. It hasn’t always been viewed as the powerhouse that is. But when you Google a name or person, what do you usually get at the top of the search results? LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is well optimized so that it comes up in the search results.
So it’s time to start taking advantage of that. Beef up your LinkedIn profile to make it pop. Pour into the community with videos and resources. Make it speak to people so that they will go check out your website or reach out to you. Don’t miss out on the opportunity that it gives you!
Go to AgentRiseSummit.com to purchase access to the recordings of the summit! They’ll be available for a limited amount of time—don’t miss out!
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
Are you ready to eliminate distractions that are negatively affecting your productivity? Are you bogged down and feeling defeated? Unable to focus? In this episode of Agent Rise, I’m going to give you simple tools to help increase your efficiency and eliminate distractions.
Kelly Shipp, one of my ‘Risers of the Month’, introduced me to this analogy. She said she felt like she was a phone, and had all of these apps running in the background that were bogging her down and distracting her, leaving her feeling defeated.
You don’t have to feel like this.
Feeling defeated and overwhelmed will keep you from performing at your best. You need to begin to eliminate the things that are distracting you—so what does that look like?
One of the easiest things you can do to delegate distractions? Hire a transaction coordinator. I’m not advocating hiring a friend, family member, or someone inexperienced. Hire up. Hire someone who knows the field, has systems and processes in place and does the job better than you.
It’s much easier to hand off the work to someone who knows what they’re doing.
The right person for the job will help ease your stress and workload and improve efficiency. It is an investment for your clients and will make a night and day difference. Keep listening as I talk about my personal experience hiring a transaction coordinator and the other things you can begin to delegate.
Do you deal with stress and anxiety related to performance? Are you constantly feeling like a failure if you can’t deliver what a client is looking for? If you worry that a client will never use you again or won’t refer people to you—let it go. You’ve done your best and you need to be confident in that.
You can’t let other people dictate the way you feel about yourself.
I had a client who made it his personal business to make my life a living hell. I worked my tail off for him—I even sold their house for more than they asked for. I could never figure out why he decided to attack me. But it deeply hurt me and I felt so defeated.
What did I do to overcome the anxiety and feeling of defeat that the client dredged up? Listen to find out!
Sometimes, the issue that is running in the background goes deeper than distracting tasks. Have you been deeply wounded? Is there something in your past that you need to overcome? Past hurt that you’ve buried doesn’t stay buried, and it will affect your life.
Is something in your life preventing you from being the person God designed you to be?
I would love to chat with you. You are capable of so much more when you let go of your struggles. It’s time to overcome the lies you’re letting yourself believe. Get down to the root of your distractions and focus.
What apps are running in your background? What do you need to do to turn them off?
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
To become a successful real estate agent you have to put in some hard work. There’s no working around that fact. I’m going to share 5 steps in this episode of Agent Rise that will help you overcome the “I will do it eventually” mentality and move to the “I did it” category. This is for anyone who feels stuck, need to face some hard truths, or simply don’t have a starting place.
You need to build a list of people (your sphere of influence) that you send mail to every month. Who makes up your sphere of influence? The type of people that you would invite to your wedding. Most agents set up a drip campaign, which is fine—but anyone can do it.
So why snail mail?
Any given individual’s email inbox is inundated with emails. Your email will likely get lost in the shuffle, ignored and unopened. For example, I am the proud owner of 58,073 unopened emails. Anyone getting a personalized envelope in their mailbox is going to open it, most likely read it, and even share it with their spouse. Email can’t get you that conversion rate.
There are a lot of options out there for your chase pillar. Open houses, Facebook ads, online leads (such as Zillow), FSBO’s and expired leads. 90% of my students choose to do open houses. Why? Because you automatically get a face-to-face with buyers.
There’s a lot of power behind that first meeting. Being face-to-face gives you opportunities that a phone call or an email doesn’t. It’s much harder to get to know someone over email. You can’t gauge body language over the phone.
But In-person, you can chat about the latest football game because you saw them wearing fan apparel. You can have a conversation about the house you’re showing, and find out what their search criteria is. It’s a much easier opening for a follow-up conversation.
Most agents KNOW they need to be doing this daily. Most know how to do it. And most don’t. You can make all of the excuses in the world. It’s time-consuming, sure. But you need to do it because it is the #1 way to compel buyers to work with you.
But why don’t you take it to the next level?
I’ll be honest, those who are crushing it with matchmaking are doing more than my minimum suggestion of one hour a day. To find success, you need to start keeping promises to yourself and step up your game.
Obviously, I’m a real estate coach. I don’t care if you hire someone else, but you need a coach. You may have all of the information in front of you. You know what you need to do and are probably doing it to some extent—but a coach is valuable in so many ways:
A good coach will keep you accountable.
A good coach will correct you along the way.
A good coach will find your blind spots and help you find a way out.
A great coach will get you a return on your investment. Having someone to answer to and keep you accountable will help bring you to the next level. Even when you run into problems or reach a moment of complete breakdown, it means your breakthrough is around the corner.
For in-depth details on my 5 steps and some great resources, listen to the whole episode of Agent Rise!
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)
If you’re doing everything right you should be getting plenty of leads—lead-conversion is a far more difficult process. Nobody likes following up on leads, leaving voicemails, and endlessly getting no return phone-call. This episode of Agent Rise is all about helping you reframe the way you look at lead conversion while giving you practical strategies to utilize.
Everyone—buyers and agents alike—hate follow up calls. You end up leaving a voicemail saying “Hey, just following up on such-and-such, please call me back and keep me in the loop about where you’re at in the process”. Click. Usually, you’re left with no response. It’s frustrating and seems like a waste of time.
But what if you stopped leaving the world’s lamest message and offered them something of value?
Wouldn’t that call be so much better if you took the time to research houses and left them a message saying “Hey, after we talked at the open house last week, I’ve kept my eyes open and I think I found your perfect house! Call me back and we will schedule a time to see it!”.
All-of-the-sudden, you start getting calls back. Why? Because you gave them what they were looking for. You’re starting to speak their language. With a little effort on your part, you’re one step closer to converting a lead.
Many buyers go through a dreaming process. They’re looking at available homes, daydreaming about what they want, and just barely dipping their toes in the water. You could connect with them and find out they’re not ready to buy until next year. Don’t simply shrug and move on! A real estate purchase is probably the one thing in their life that they dream about the longest.
They can take months or years to make a decision. That’s just life.
Even if they’re simply dreaming, you can still get the process rolling. Offer to meet with them and talk about what they’re looking for. Connect them with a lender to make sure financing is in place. Reassure them that you know they’re not ready, but that you’re available when they are. Just being available and giving keeps you at the forefront of their mind—and sometimes can speed up their timeline, too.
The #1 thing you can do to make sure you’re not letting leads slip through your fingers is to get a system in place. It doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, my system consists of two phone calls.
You are consistently offering them something of value. You aren’t working to convince them to work with you. Eventually, with the effort that you’re putting in, you will compel them to work with you.
If you’ve listened to the last two episodes you know we’ve been talking about keeping the promises you make to yourself and the impact it has. Consistency in keeping those promises builds integrity and brings you dignity. Too many agents I’ve worked with have the systems they need and I have provided. They know the system works—and works well.
But for some reason, they’re not implementing the system. Those agents are lacking personal integrity.
It’s blunt, but it’s true. You need to claim that you’ll implement a system and then do it. Keep making those follow-up phone calls. You will eventually get your call back—even if it’s to tell you to stop calling. You have to try if you want to get any results. Even if the results are lessons. Remember that consistency leads to mastery and that you can do anything.
So practice being consistent. Get a lead-conversion system in place, start following-up, and start offering something of value. Then connect with me and let me know how it’s going!
Recommended Resources
Connect with Neil!
And connect with me on ANY of the following social channels. I LOVE social!
And finally, if you would be so kind - leave a rating and review for the Agent Rise podcast on Apple Podcasts (formerly iTunes)