You’re new to real estate sales. You have a million and one things coming at you so organization is certainly a challenge. Surely, it’s easy to forget to action or follow up on key tasks and ensure you’re starting out in the best way possible.
If you’re a real estate novice, there’s also a good chance that you’re unsure of the best way to get new clients. What effective strategies and tactics are out there, you might ask, that will help me build a loyal client base? How can I stand out from the crowd and differentiate myself and my services?
You know that you need to market yourself and the importance of real estate marketing, but you just don’t know where to start. The idea of creating a marketing plan might seem daunting and if you have no experience or education in business or marketing, the concept might be clear as mud.
As a rookie REALTOR®, this is where Activity Plans will help out tremendously. A good real estate CRM system will include pre-built Activity Plans and allow you to assign these plans to groups of contacts in your database. But… What are Activity Plans and how will they help me?
An Activity Plan is a series of communications or steps that you would follow to achieve a goal. This goal could be listing a home, closing a home, marketing to a prospective buyer or seller, or nurturing contacts in your sphere of influence (SOI). Essentially, there are two different sets of plans: marketing plans and listing or closing plans.
Following pre-designed marketing plans are highly beneficial for a new REALTOR® because they a) take away the uncertainty that comes with not knowing how to create an effective marketing plan and b) automate marketing communications which frees up time and ensures no key parts of the puzzle, or key elements to achieving a goal, are missed.
Many Activity Plans for marketing have built-in drip email (drip marketing) tied to them. These Activity Plans also come with professionally written emails. Let me give you an example. On day seven, an automatic follow-up email would go to the prospect providing them with an overview of your services. On day 37, another professionally written email would go out to the prospect providing them with information about what kind of mortgage they may be able to get. These emails are fully customizable, of course.
Activity Plans for marketing to prospects are not just a series of automatic emails though. On day 67 (let’s say it’s a two-year plan), your real estate CRM system would prompt you to make a phone call to the prospect to offer to help figure out what kind of mortgage they qualify for. This ensures that the personal touch is there and you have the opportunity to personally connect.
I don’t want to neglect to discuss the significance of listing and closing plans in addition to marketing plans. As opposed to having drip email built into the plans, listing and closing plans are simply a series of “to-do’s.” A listing plan, for instance, will remind you to enter the listing on MLS, install a lockbox, schedule a virtual tour, and more. You’re guided at every step of the way. As a professional new to real estate sales, I’m sure you can see how important and beneficial this is.
As a new REALTOR®, you need a system in place to ensure you’re staying organized, generating a steady stream of income, and making certain that nothing falls through the cracks. The sting of missing that great opportunity for a potential sale is especially painful when you’re new to the business and trying to establish yourself. The system that you need in place is a real estate CRM. And it should be clear from reading this article that one of the most useful features in your real estate CRM will be Activity Plans.
Make sure that whichever real estate CRM you choose, it includes an Activity Plan functionality like I’ve discussed above. Make sure you’re provided with pre-built email and letter templates that you can use as is or customize.
IXACT Contact is a great real estate software choice. It’s a web-based CRM that’s easy to use and learn, and it’s perfect for new REALTORS®. We’ve also launched an exciting ROOKIE REALTOR® program at IXACT Contact where WE take care of the first six monthly payments for those of you in your first year of real estate sales.
If you’re a new real estate agent, simply sign up for a free 5-week trial of IXACT Contact HERE and email or fax us a copy of your real estate license. We’ll then change your 5-week free trial to 6 months free.
If you’re not new to real estate sales, I still encourage you to sign up for the free 5-week trial of IXACT Contact HERE.
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