In a shrinking market that’s fuelled and challenged by technology, it can be easy to get distracted. But, if you want to get to the next level this year, says Eddie Cetin, go back to basics and adopt these four key success habits.
In a market where fewer, more effective real estate operators are doing more, it’s critical to go back to basics, developing a foundation of consistency underpinned by database power habits. Leading agents will already have developed a clean database that is suited to their business; now they’ll be looking to build a ‘marketing machine’, created to offer each agent greater rewards and more listing opportunities with less effort.
In anticipation of a record-breaking 2017, here are the database fundamentals to focus on to get back to basics. Don’t be underwhelmed by the apparent simplicity of these habits. They might seem intuitive, but they encompass many areas where sales agents struggle to maintain consistency. Poor database habits show up as poor sales results, so don’t become a statistic!
DATABASE SUCCESS HABIT 1
POWER CALLING
Pump up your Spotify prospecting playlist, then follow these steps in your power calling sessions for max results.
- Create a prospecting list (for example, buyers, prospective vendors, vendors, past clients)
- Make the phone call
- Make detailed call notes
- Create a future task or reminder
- Take action
- Update contact details; their email, related contacts, address, relevant anniversaries and requirements are key.
- Send email, SMS or letter as appropriate
- Repeat on next prospect.
Director tip: Help your sales agents embrace these database success habits by setting KPIs for the number of prospect notes made, number of tasks created and number of contacts added or modified per week. Running reports on these database items regularly can ensure you are continually building a database asset that delivers. Having a cloud-based CRM makes this routine easy to manage, saving you hours of admin.
DATABASE SUCCESS HABIT 2
BULK SMS
It’s increasingly difficult to reach people on the phone and, whilst email is important, only 20 per cent of emails are opened – which means you are rarely reaching your prospects.
Currently, SMS is the most powerful tool agents have at their disposal. The open rate is a whopping 95 percent within minutes of sending.
It’s short, sharp and allows prospects to respond immediately. The SMS success habits leading agents maintain are:
- Sending an SMS post-inspection, thanking prospects for attendance.
- Sending an SMS after an offer has been made to buyers with interest in the property.
- Sending an SMS pre-market alert to hot buyers relevant to the listed property.
Your CRM should allow you to do this easily, even from your phone. It will log these SMS contacts against every prospect, allowing you to see a history of communication.
DATABASE SUCCESS HABIT 3
REGULAR VENDOR REPORTS
Great agents are great influencers. Providing regular, comprehensive vendor reports will certainly help you to achieve better results in 2017. Unfortunately, many agents skip vendor reports, citing the amount of time necessary to put one together. Some agents just send web reports from the main real estate portal, providing only part of the market picture to a vendor.
A good CRM will enable you to create a tailored, effective vendor report within five minutes, including everything from statistics to detailed comments from buyers. A vendor report can also be a valuable listing tool – a juicy carrot dangling in front of a prospective vendor as you show them lists of hot buyers ready to buy a home just like theirs.
DATABASE SUCCESS HABIT 4
EMAIL MARKETING
Consider ways you can be more helpful to your community this year. While emails are the most cost-effective form of communication, they are also the most abused with generic and irrelevant messaging.
At the core of great email marketing are two things: the accuracy of your list through contact categories, and the email subject title and message. Share your knowledge of what’s occurring within your area of expertise, how the market is faring locally and advice for people to make common property-related decisions.
In this market the most helpful and attentive agent will win. Your database habits will help you focus where it counts.
