Isn't that the question we'd all love the answer to? Over the years I have been to countless half day seminars sponsored by some local vendor that promises the attendees a whole new business and a whole new life simply by coming to hear a national speaker tout his wares. I have yet to walk away from one of those seminars with a revolutionary idea or concept that I either (a) couldn't live without, or (b) didn't know already. Hopefully I at least discovered one or two nuggets that could add to my reportoire. That is the beauty of this business. There is NO magic bullet.
The simple truth is that real estate is a contact sport. Those that succeed make more contacts with more people and, if armed with the proper scripts and dialogues, make more money. In order to succeed you must make more contacts and generate more leads. The only question becomes how do I spend my time and/or my money to most effectively get appointments that will eventually turn to exclusive buyer/seller listing agreements that will eventually turn into closed transactions.
Do I cold call? What about a 100% by referral business? What about using a lead re-seller to send me business for a referral fee? Maybe I should spend thousands on an amazing website of my own?
Well, I've seen a lot of people obtain moderate success a lot of ways over my 13 years in the business, but those who I've seen sell 100+ homes a year do not rely on a magic bullet. They use an arsenal of strategies whose primary focus is to drive names, numbers, and addresses into their database management program so they may consistently follow up and burn their brand into the minds of those contacts. A good friend of mine in the midwest who sells over 150 homes per year once told me, "Success in real estate is about mastering the mundane." It is not always glitz and glam...it is sometimes spent in the trenches. 79% of sellers still only interview one agent when listing their home, and 65% of buyers still only interview one agent(according to NAR survey). I guess the message of todays blog is if you aren't using a database that has automatic follow up programs in it and if you aren't focused on growing that database, your income will become limited due to lack of follow up, dropped leads, or someone else capturing the mind share of your potential clients. It is no longer adequate to simply send everyone you know an annual holiday card.
Real Estate is a simple business. All you need to do is know your conversion rate, how much money you want to make, what your average commission is, and then go make sure you reach enough people, enough times per year, with your message to get the appropriate number of transactions.
I would love to hear from any of you that feel as if you are using an excellent database program and what your favorite feature is. I would also love to hear feedback from coastal markets to see how the shift has affected your conversion rate from number of appointments needed to listings taken to closed deals.
Have a fabulous week!
Jeff Bonham
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