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Today my colleagues and I took our first trip to the new Hooters that opened just last week (the first Hooters in Montana!). While there we were talking to our lovely waitress and making conversation asked where we worked. On Monday, we hired a new member for our sales team. This gave him the chance to give his first live spiel about Goomzee and what we do. HE DID SO GREAT! As Lon explained, "we provide the ability for consumers (house hunters, renters, etc.) to send a text message to learn more information about a property. Basically, if she drove by a house for sale or rent, saw a Goomzee sign and sent a text message containing that property ID code, she would receive a text back with information about the house." Her eyes opened wide and she said "That is such a cool idea! A few weeks ago my friends and I were looking for a house to rent for the upcoming semester. Mind you, we needed something with five bedrooms and definitely more than one bathroom since it's five girls living together. We drove around for about two days and called and left messages for the agents and companies to find out more info on the houses and apartments we saw and hardly any of them called us back prudently. It took forever for us to find a house, although finally we did. It would have been so much more helpful and less time consuming to be able to find out the information right away, than having to call all the places, wait for them to call us back, come to find out they only had 2 or 3 bedrooms! Not only that, if they did have something we were possibly interested in, by the time they called us, we couldn't remember where the heck that particular house was since all of us are from out of town. Having the information right away would have saved us a ton of time. Not to mention we are obsessed with text messaging and of course I always have my phone with me!" I sat there smiling as I related to everything she was saying. It brought back my frustrations of house hunting as a college kid (not that long ago folks - only 3 years !). I am still a renter so I'm always looking for a better deal on apartments or better apartments in an area I like. Well, that and I know all about obsession with text messaging! By the way, the food was great, the girls were beautiful and the service was awesome! I won't be seen working there anytime soon, however - I don't look so good in orange! Renters are future home buyers. The sooner you get in front of them, the longer you'll have them as a client! Goomzee provides that ability to connect with them early on. Also, keep in mind that not only does a service like Goomzee provide your consumers with instant property information, it saves THEM time, it saves YOU time and also provides you the contact information for a potential Hooters girl. :) hehe. Okay, I suppose only the guys will appreciate that! Erika
Last week, over 40 contestants were submitted for the contest as the industries premier pacesetters; companies who are leading our industry towards change. I'm PROUD to announce that GOOMZEE.com has been chosen as one of the 8 final contestants!! Among the 8 contestants, we currently are listed in Lane #5! Now is our chance to make our move and to be nominated as Gold (preferrably), Silver or Bronze. All votes are submitted by the Inman community. Please take a moment to check out the final contestants. I highly recommend you check out the contestants, there is a great diversity of challenge among the final 8. I'm sure you will be seeing much more of them (if you haven't already) in the very near future! Here is a list of the finalists and a link to the Inman blog. 1. Obeo 2. Roost 3. Condo Domain 4. Agent Sheild 5. Goomzee 6. eShowings 7. Bug Realty Best of luck to all the participants!! Erika
It's important to clarify your professional schedule with your clients, immediately. Let them know exactly when you are available for receiving and returning phone calls, emails, text messages and appointments. Breaking your own rules can lead to the following: 1. If you communicate with a client outside of the schedule you initially gave them (or didn't give them for that matter), they may expect you to be available at all times. People become comfortable with routines. If even once you communicate business with a client outside of your set schedule, it can set the expectation that it's acceptable for them to continue that and builds a routine for them. When routines are broken, people often become frustrated and discouraged. 2. If clients make a special request for time outside of your set schedule, clarify with them that although you normally don't make appointments during that time, you would be happy to do so in this particular circumstance. Although it may sound a bit harsh at first, if you word it the right way, your clients will respect your time and know that you are going above and beyond your duties. 3. Giving clients "optional times" to meet, similar to as a Dr's office would do, gives them the feeling you are busy; aka successful. This can be a struggle to manage. If your schedule is perceived to be TOO full, they may think you aren't giving them enough attention and you are spreading yourself too thin among other clients. 3. Telling clients your schedule is "wide-open", gives them the perception you may be desperate, have no other clients to deal with and you are at their beck and call. Maybe your schedule isn't so full right now, but remember, you need to make yourself time to do some prospecting and listing presentations as well! Imagine if you were to drive past two restaurants every day; although never have been to either. Every day Restaurant A is packed with cars; whereas Restaurant B never has more than 2 cars in the parking lot. You feel like stopping for a nice meal on your way home from work one day. Are you going to choose Restaurant A or Restaurant B? Restaurant A; you might have to wait a while, but obviously people like it a lot more than Restaurant B! This also goes back to rule #2. It may cause clients to expect you to return their correspondence much faster, since you obviously have nothing else to do. 4. Feel free to tell your clients you may be checking emails while on vacation, but also tell them you may not get back to them until you return. As your clients are your business, you do have to work at a time that fits for them, but that doesn't mean ALL the time. It can burn you out and give you a negative perception on your job, ultimately driving your will to work into the ground. After all, that's why you're on vacation! You know those "Out of the Office Notifications", they work a charm :) Be sure to tell your clients ahead of time you will not be available, but you have found a person to fill your shoes while you are out. 5. Don't pack your schedule so full that you don't have a minute to spare. Let's face it, things happen and get in the way or take longer than expected. Give yourself some time between appointments. It's better to have a few extra minutes in a day than show up a half hour late to an appointment! Make yourself block off a couple of hours here and there that you DON'T make public to your clients but that you still consider work hours. It gives you time to catch up if you have gotten a bit behind in paperwork; the fun stuff that can sometimes lead into all hours of the night. If you have an unexpected client emergency, this is a great time to help them out without interrupting something else. Everyone has a personal life. Keeping it real with your clients can only lead to gaining their respect for you managing such a demanding, yet efficient schedule. How do you manage your professional and personal schedules? Erika
I've noticed politicians making an extra effort to reach-out to more young adults with campaigns such as the get out and vote programs by companies like MTV. Other sources for news, information and events have been implemented this year, and if you haven't already heard, one of the biggest has been text-messaging. People can sign up to receive the latest news from their favorite politicians to keep in touch and updated. This morning I was catching up with some wireless industry news, and according to Wireless Week Obama will be announcing his VP running mate thought his text messaging campaigning during the Democratic Convention in Denver in just a couple of weeks. That's HUGE NEWS! === Here is a snap shot of the news release: "Obama to Break VP News by Text By Rhonda Wickham WirelessWeek - August 11, 2008 The 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign is turning into the election year that mainstreamed wireless technology. Barack Obama’s campaign has announced its intention to let texters know who his running mate will be in the days leading up to the Democratic convention Aug. 25-28 in Denver. According to Obama website, voters can be the “first to know” who Obama’s vice president will be by going online and providing a cell phone number (or e-mail address), or by texting VP to 62262 to receive a text message with the breaking announcement. Obama's campaign has used wireless and Internet technology to build more of a grass roots campaign. Since announcing his plan to run for president last summer, Obama has employed roughly 25 text campaigns to supporters." === Do you think that text messaging is a good way to increase communication reach? I most definitely do! Not only for young adults, but for everyone. Think about today's fast-paced lifestyles: some people are just too busy to listen to the news at night, and search the internet for news. (Those are people like me!) If they are able to receive a text message, it takes them literally just a few seconds to open their phone and check out. If you haven't already, you should really try and implement text messaging into your communication line between you and your potential or current customers. Suggest to them you are open to this way. Chances are, they will be THRILLED their agent is so tech savvy, even if they'd rather receive a phone call or email, they'll be grateful you offered. And for those who just don't have the time, they'll LOVE receiving updates from you. There are many great ways and unique systems for adding text messaging to your real estate career and the best part is that it's affordable. It's not just another teenage fad, this will stick with us for a long time! Side note #1: While writing this blog post, I received a text message from my aunt in Eastern Montana. I said - "WHOA, I have never gotten a text from you!" Her response? "I need to somehow keep up with Dara!" (her 16 year old daughter!) It was so great! We just made weekend plans in a matter of minutes. Side note #2: I was in Denver over the weekend and the town was buzzing with news of the Democratic Convention. Signs, banners and whispers of what was giong to happen everywhere we went. Happy communicating, Erika Beede
You've worked long, hard hours to make real estate your career. Lately, I have heard whispers of agents talking about their "fall back" money making jobs or considering one if they don't already have one. I understand, I have a second job/hobby myself; it's an at-home business selling lotions, and potions and make-up... OH MY. However, the money I make I definitely don't rely on, because I never know how much time I will actually have to put in to it. It's actually more of a "fun account". I know that if I started depending on that money, then my focus would be skewed from my career at hand and therefore, begin to fail. I'm sure your mamma always told you, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket". I know, because my mum told me the same thing! BUT, in this case, maybe that is the best way to go. A business needs time, nurturing, energy and strength. If you don't put all the ingrediants into it, the recipe will flop! If you want to make the most of your real estate business, but still need the extra cash through another source, here is my suggestion: Create a To-Do list of every day tasks for your real estate business. Once you've completed those tasks, THEN move on to your next venture. Otherwise, you'll get behind and it will take you even more time, nurturing, energy and strength to bring it back. Keep up with your customers, remind them that you LOVE referrals and you can't wait to work with them again. The market is how you perceive it. Keep it positive! I see gas has just dropped below $4.00 a gallon for us in Montana. Hopefully it's doing the same everywhere; that should put a few more bucks in your pocket when you fill up! Keep up the good work and stay POSITIVE! Erika
As we all know, technology continues to evolve by leaps and bounds, and the role it plays in the real estate industry is a vital one. We, Goomzee, was recently invited to attend an event that's premise was meant to motivate customers and keep their marketing minds going. As we continue to hear of the market downturn, although we may not necessarily all agree with it nor be affected by it, we need to have a way to keep motivated. How can we keep selling our properties? What tools are available and which of those will best fit my marketing portfolio? I want to share a recent event that we experienced and the benefit it can play for you. The Keller William’s Northwest Market Center (NWMC) in Austin, Texas recognizes the value-add of technology tools, and recently took initiative to enhance their agents’ education in the field of technology. The KW Geek Affair stems from the motivation to bring not just ideas, but actual business tools directly to agents for review. Agents at the KW office called upon us at Goomzee to help them get their agents' blood flowing again with real estate excitement. Roland Castillo, the Career Development Coach at the NWMC, and Michael Brandt of United Lending were the real innovators. They brainstormed the idea for the event in May, which took place in June. Its premise: bring together real estate technology vendors to help agents learn more about technology readily available to enhance their real estate business. Not only was this just an idea, but an idea that had turned into a reality for many of the KW agents in Austin. Roland and Michael's excitement for this event was contagious, and many agents arrived to see what the fuss was all about. Participants at the event were able to see Goomzee in action, among several other real estate vendors. A hands-on approach to presenting the product allowed agents to experience products first hand. Events like these allow you to experience new tools, know that it's not just another gimmick to sell your properties. Talk to your colleagues, find out what they want to learn more about and hold a mini-tech fair. The beauty of the smaller shows is that you get the ability to talk one on one with vendors. They can answer the questions directly for you, rather than you receiving short-answers because they are bombarded with so many real estate agents. Even if you are unable to hold a show, take initiative to find out from your other agents what tools they want to learn more about. Try this; at your next team meeting, poll the agents about what vendors they have heard of but just haven't taken the time to find out more about. Come back with information at the next meeting, and they will appreciate you more than you know! Your leadership will rub off on others and bring them back to that happy place :) Good luck! Erika
If you are reading this blog, chances are you are just like me and MISSING OUT on all the great information available at the Inman Conference! I have a co-worker who is attending and has been keeping in contact and sending me text messages (rubbing it in that I'm not there), letting me know all the of the industry names who he's mingled with. He sure knows how to make a person jealous! He just informed me that he's off to begin the day again to meet some more! I spoke with a client of ours, Vicki Lloyd, yesterday and she was completely bummed to be missing out on such an awesome party. I guess the good thing about her missing was she was headed out the door to show a house - something definitely not to complain about! She said next year there are no excuses for the both of us not to attend :) Here's just a few from his list! There are many, many more, but he was running out the door as he was letting me know these names off the top of his head! Bug Realty Realogy Wolfnet Technologies Inman News (I'd hope so!) Rain City Guide HAR.com vFlyer ChaseNation.com If you are there and still have a moment to let us know who you've met, feel free to share!!! Happy Networking, Erika
"It's all about whatever my seller wants to hear." Recently I've read some interesting comments in some of the blog posts about agents adopting new marketing tactics - or not adopting them for that matter. What stands out in my mind the most is a comment that read, "It's all about whatever my seller wants to hear." Stop there. Isn't it also about the buyer? These comments triggered an irritation that just needed to be scratched. So here we go. Ultimately, yes, if you want to win listings, pleasing the seller is what needs to happen. But as an agent, you also have the responsibilty to educate your sellers as well on what their potential buyers want. Chances are, they don't know the consumer profile like you do. They probably do not know the response rates you are receiving on your web site as compared to your newspaper ads. They know people are looking at their flyers in front of the house, because they seem to disappear almost faster than the boxes get refilled! But they hired you to sell it because they either don't know how or don't have the time! Analyze their home and potential buyer profile. When you are presenting to your potential clients, tell them what you are using and why as well as what you aren't using, and why. Tell them who their consumers are for their property, how they are finding out about homes for sale, and how you are going to attract them to their property! If you are throwing money into the wind on newspaper ads, tell your clients the ROI on them just isn't as great as it used to be; the cost is sky high and you aren't actually receiving leads from them unless the buyers call you! You're budget can be best spent elsewhere.
Example of a listing tool and explaining why. So, you've found a new technology that makes up for that lack of response. You put all these ingredients together and decide that this could be a great tool to attract buyers to their property. Text message marketing. WHAT?! Be careful, new + technology may scare some people if they aren't comfortable with it! But also, it may surprise you to know that your sellers LOVE your idea. They didn't know it existed and they are excited to see that an agent is trying something new. LISTING WON! Why it will work. If they are still unsure why you've chosen this specific tool (it's for young people, they don't know how to text so neither does anyone else, etc - I've heard it all folks!), remind them that 75% of consumers send and receive text messages and no, it's not just people age 25 and under! It's all ages. 58% are 25-34; 43% are 35-44; 33% are 55-64 and 19% are 65+. WOW FACTOR! Now you've answered these questions for them.
These NEW marketing tools weren't designed because they are "cool". They have been designed becuase there are needs to be fulfilled in the real estate market to help you satisfy consumers, generate leads, measure your marketing reach and most importantly help you SELL MORE HOMES. Rant conclusion. When you are presenting to your potential clients, analyze their home, the potential buyer profile and tell them WHY you are using the tools you've chosen to sell it. It's your job and they hired you because they trust your opinion! Fun side note. My father, who just turned 60 ( I love you Dad! No one would never guess it!) found the greatest thing on his phone recently. PHOTO messaging. One snowy day in June, I received about ten picture messages of his house covered with three inches of snow. I LOVED IT!!! Who would have thought? ME! Although since then I do know that I'm not his #1 photo texter - that goes to my 4 year old niece and 2 year old nephew who have become the light in his life. Seeing a picture of them everyday just warms his heart. My family and friends know that the quickest way to get a hold of me is by sending me a text. I don't listen to voicemails, it takes too much time. If they do leave a voicemail, I generally just send a text message back telling them I'm busy but asking them what they want. I take my phone everywhere and it takes me 1 second to look at a text. Open phone, open message, read, respond. Okay a total of ten seconds and we've communicated! Happy Presenting! Erika
Sometimes you get caught up in the hustle and bustle of all your daily tasks (Hey - we all do!) which makes it easy to forget one very important thing: CHECK TO MAKE SURE THE ADS YOU'VE PAID FOR ARE PLACED! Last week I bought an ad package through our newspaper. Today, I double checked to make sure our ad was placed on all the sites listed in the package and one was missing! I contacted the sales person to make sure and he said I was correct - our ad had not been placed correctly. He verified and made sure our ad would be placed the following day. Just a reminder to make sure your marketing dollars are getting what you paid for! It would be terrible if your ads were being surpassed. Happy Marketing! Erika
Some things in life seem so different; but when you break them down to the core, they end up being much more alike than you'd ever have imagined. There seems to be a similar cycle in many of life's challenges and feats. I got to thinking today about comparing a marketing plan to the Weight Watchers diet. Sound strange? Hear me out here and then let me know what you think. --- Goals WW: You want to lose weight and eat healthier. You decide what your goal weight is and now you need to define the best path to get you there. MKTG: You decide who your target market is. You decide what you want your ultimate goal to be with your marketing and now need to decide how to do that. --- Getting started WW: You weigh yourself in and find out how many points you are allowed: You gather information on your gender, height, current weight, age and physical activity. MKTG: You line out your ad budget for the year and find out what the max is you can spend. First you need to know who your consumer is, what they are buying, where they are buying and where they are getting their information. --- The necessities WW: You analyze the most important foods that you have to have in your diet; fibers, dairy, carbohydrates, proteins, fats and decide the best way to incorporate them all, making sure you are getting enough of each category - all the while staying within the allowed points. MKTG: You decide which marketing tactics are a necessity. Classifieds, tv/radio media, online, billboards, lead generation tools, flyers, brochures; but you have to remember you have a budget to stick to. --- Take the extra and splurge WW: Besides the daily alloted points, you are also granted extra points to dispurse at your leisure throughout the week. You don't have to spend them, but if you don't, you might get burned out on this diet faster than you'd hoped. You pick what you want to spend them on and enjoy every minute of it. MKTG: You leave a little bit of marketing budget to try something new; something designed to fit with the changing of the overall market and your consumers. You don't have to spend the extra money, but if you don't take the chance, you may be losing leads and customers you could have gotten by spending it. --- Focus WW: To stay on top of your results, you keep records of the foods your eating and on a weekly basis you measure your weight to see your results. You make sure you are staying within your guidelines, but you continue to change things around for variety and see what combination works best. MKTG: No marketing program is going to work without putting at least a little bit of effort into it; but if you really want to make your dollars worth it, you make sure you are using all your tactics to their fullest potential and following up with every single lead. On a periodical basis, you measure your marketing return and end up changing it around just a bit; if you have one tactic gaining better results than the other, you take a little money from the lesser tactic and inject it into the better one. --- Maintain your goal WW: Once you've reached your ultimate goal, you set new goals to maintain the weight you've reached. You continue to monitor your diet and exercise. You make sure to keep your diet exciting by adding new foods, trying new things and exercising through various activities. MKTG: Once you've established your best marketing tactics, you continue to push forth with them at full throttle, meanwhile continuing to analyze their results to see if the time you are spending is worthwhile. If your showing a slow of results, it's time to pull off a bit on and put your money into something else. --- It's important to make the most out of your marketing budget. Use your tactics to their maximum potential, then analyze them to see their value. If it's working great for you, keep it up; but if you think there is something better out there, don't be afraid of change. Taking a chance could be your best tactic yet! Now every time you think of your marketing plan, are you going to think of Weight Watchers? :) Happy Marketing Erika
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Erika Beede - www.goomzee.com Missoula, MT More about me… Goomzee Corporation Office Phone: (406) 542-9955 Cell Phone: (406) 531-3904 Email Me ;) Links;) Tags (Tag Cloud);) Archives
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In light of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a member of Inman put together a Real Estate Olympics competition; "Real Estate Pacesetters 2008".
As a real estate professional you have an important task of keeping your clients satisfied. One of the key factors in keeping your clients satisfied requires you to be available to your client when they are available. After all, they've chosen you to work for them. (I know, I should be nicknamed "Captain Obvious"!) However, there is a fine line that can be crossed, and that's the line between your personal and professional life. When that line is crossed, it can eventually cause small sparks that lead to a fire in the relationship between you and your clients down the road.
So things may not be looking so bright and shiny in the real estate industry as they once were, nor may your wallet be as thick. BUT, does that mean it's time to give up? NO WAY!
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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