6 Tips for Securing Referrals Daily

Mar 16, 2023 | Real Estate Agent Information

Local economies can present a stern challenge to many real estate agents. This is the primary reason why agents should take measures that can help them keep a competitive edge in the market. For example, getting solid referrals is one measure that can help any agent get consistent commissions throughout the entire year. Marketing your services is a critical component of being a successful real estate agent, but you must also secure new referrals daily.

Let’s examine six invaluable tips that can help you get more business.

1.  Offer a Unique Service
There are hundreds of agents competing for business in your area. Offering an unique service is one easy way of getting maximum exposure in your target area. It will help you generate more leads. What is your specialty? Do you specialize in single family homes or multifamily housing? Are you working with an experienced mortgage lender who has access to flexible conventional funding sources and special government home loans? Are you willing to work on a reduced commission? Your specialty can separate you from the competition. Create a brochure or flyer that features your unique service. Handing out this flyer or brochure at open houses will inform prospects about your unique service. Your prospects will be more inclined to discuss their needs with you and if they have family or friends with similar circumstances they may share your information with them too.

2.  Retain Relationships with Past Clients
Retaining relationships with past clients is one simple method of getting referrals, but generally overlooked. Your past clients are always in contact with others who are in need of your services. They will be more than happy to give you new leads if you provided them with exceptional service. Periodical phone calls or emails will help you stay in position to get new business. Your past clients will be more than happy to give you referrals if you simply ask.

3.  Cultivate Relationships with Colleagues in Your Industry
Building productive relationships with colleagues can help you expand your business. Attending real estate network marketing events throughout the entire year and distributing your business card will give you a golden opportunity to work with other agents. Building relationships with other agents can lead to agent referrals.

4.  Use Written Reminders
Including a written reminder at the bottom of your emails and business letters can stimulate readers to be proactive with sharing referrals.

Use one of the following examples below or create your own:

• A good referral is an excellent way of thanking me for my services.
• Please tell your friends about me!

5.  Social Media Channels
Taking advantage of social media channels on the Internet can also make it easy for you to get new referrals. The new digital age of communication has taken the real estate industry to another level. Popular social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter help you build your personal brand. Building your brand can easily be accomplished by befriending people in these social media channels. Tell your new social networking contacts about your business. Ask your new contacts to tell their associates about your business. Participating in the social media arena can help you get a considerable amount of referrals throughout the year.

6.  Become an Expert
Becoming an expert can help you get tons of leads every year. You can become an expert by staying abreast of trends taking place in the industry. You can share your knowledge with prospects by hosting monthly seminars. Your seminars should center on sharing real estate information and cultivating new leads for your business. Seminars give you a chance to showcase your talent so potential clients know why they should work with you. If you encourage prospects to tell others about your monthly seminars your attendance can grow and stimulate your sales funnel with more clients.

Time for Review
Even if the economy is making it difficult for real estate agents, you can take action by implementing a few strategies to avoid any meltdown. Getting more referrals on a daily basis will help you build a strong business so you reach your full potential. Review the steps you take to secure referrals daily and if you’re not meeting your quota than determine the steps you must take starting today!

Why I Won’t Lower My Commission, Even for You!

Mar 16, 2023 | Real Estate Agent Information

You’re sitting across from a prospect, just about to pop the question. You take a deep breath as he looks over the paperwork. Silently, you curl your toes under the desk as you do everything in your power to appear calm and collected; the client must not know how much this listing means to your family. As if in slow motion, just before the words, “Are you ready to sign,” can form themselves in a nonchalant manner and burst from your lips, it happens. Mr. Quibble stabs at the contract, placing the tip of his fountain pen on your listed rate of commission. “Now, let me ask you this,” he blusters authoritatively. “Are you willing to come down from your rate of commission to make this deal?” Pause the tape.

This one question is the deal-breaker. Answer it correctly, and you win; not only at this particular contract table, but also at the entire real estate game. Answer it wrong, and you can kiss your dreams of success as a real estate agent goodbye. So, let’s cut to the chase. What is the correct answer? It is, and almost ALWAYS shall be, “No, that’s a flat rate. Do you have any other questions?” Trouble is, in this case, you are dealing with Mr. Al Dicker N. Quibble, the cheapest, most argumentative haggler ever to darken the doors of a business establishment. It’s not just you; Mr. Quibble likes to find a deal where ever he goes. Wal-mart clerks groan when they see him approaching, anxious to prove why he deserves a discount on fountain pens. Car salesmen dissolve into tears over their vanished commission checks after he leaves the car lot grinning triumphantly. Now he’s staring you down, sizing you up, and searching for the tiniest crack in your resolve.

Can you stick to your guns? You can. You must; not only for your own sake, but also for Mr. Quibble. If he asks, “Why?” Here are six good reasons. 7 “Because I am a professional, not a street market vendor.” Do professionals allow clients to haggle over the costs of their services? Don’t try it with your attorney or physician. As a professional real estate agent, you should be working to build expertise and quality service. If you are, then you shouldn’t allow your business to be treated like a used car lot. Commission negotiation should be a nonissue. “Because if I do, selling your home will become less of a priority.” It’s just human nature: if you have two listings, one of them discounted and one at full commission, when your mortgage and car payments come due, it’s only natural you’ll show the home that’s listed at full commission. “Because success for both of us hinges on my staying upbeat.” In the real estate game, enthusiasm and confidence are indispensable.

There’s nothing as discouraging as losing big on an important deal, especially when it has the potential to set a precedent. If you ever open the door to cutting commission, it will be twice as hard to stand firm the next time you go up against a tough customer. Consider it practice for negotiating the best deal for Mr. Quibble from the buyer. If you can’t even negotiate your own rate, how can the client expect you to swing him a deal at the negotiating table? “Because I don’t have time to evaluate my rates on a case-by-case basis.” Once you begin allowing certain clients lower commission rates, each prospective client becomes a potential recipient of your “generosity” should you be so persuaded. Even if you only lower your rates for friends and “hard luck” cases, the bottom line is that now you must decide which clients deserve a lower rate. What happens when your annoying cousin thinks you’ll lower her cost like you did for her brother, but instead you choose to charge full commission?

The added stress over strained relationships due to your perceived partiality is not worth it. “Because you need me to set the pace.” When you give in to a client’s request to come off your set commission, you are putting him in the driver’s seat. Now, he’s much less likely to yield to your caution about overpricing his house. That translates into longer time sitting on the market. “Because I’m not THAT desperate.” If you regularly work at lead generation, you won’t be at the mercy of “Mr. Quibble” types. So what if Mr. Quibble doesn’t sign? Do you really think a cut-rate commission could be worth trying to placate his every whim? Spend your time generating quality leads. Don’t stress over your commission. Use your energy developing your expertise, and let the Quibbles and chips fall where they may.

6 Ways to Keep in Touch with Past, Current and Future Clients

Mar 16, 2023 | Real Estate Agent Information

A real estate agent needs to maintain a strong communications network in order to be truly successful. As a result, it is important to build a relationship and regularly keep in touch with past and current clients, as well as plan to create ties with clients in the future. This personal bond with each client will make them more likely to remember you and your excellent services, rely on you in the future, and recommend you to their family and friends. The key to keeping in touch with clients is to determine if they want a relationship and then to contact them in a way that they prefer that still manages to be memorable.

1.  Provide Memorable Gifts to Past Clients These gifts can be very small and unobtrusive, but also useful. They ought to have your contact information on them and be designed to be used in a prominent place. This way, if a client needs you, they will have your number close at hand to call. Some examples of unusual gifts that still manage to be completely useful are magnets that label the dishwasher as dirty and clean, thereby stopping anyone from putting away dirty dishes or rewashing clean ones. Sending small gifts of food that have a clever slogan is also an excellent way to keep yourself in the forefront of a past client’s mind and make him or her more likely to recommend you to family and friends. 7 Sending free movie passes, packets of seeds for flowers that are easy to grow, and entertaining stickers are all great, easy gifts to send to maintain contact with clients.

2.  Personal Cards Many real estate agents send cards to their clients around the holidays, but there is a better way to stand out in the crowd. Remembering important dates in the lives of the clients, such as when they first signed the deed to the house, their birthdays, wedding anniversaries, and graduations. By sending cards that commemorate one of these days, it will show the client that you care about their lives. Handwriting the cards is a nice touch that is well worth the time and effort.

3.  Use Customer Feedback Surveys Another excellent way to maintain contact is to use customer feedback surveys that assess how satisfied customers were with the services and show that their input is important. Most people recommend that the surveys be sent to the customers about two or three weeks after the sale of the home has been closed. This also allows you to solidify contact information with past clients.

4.  Provide Organization When it is time for all of the taxes to be filed, a client can feel overwhelmed with the amount of paperwork that needs to be collected in order to accurately pay their taxes. One easy way to help a client and catapult yourself to high esteem is to take all of the forms and paperwork that were generated throughout the entire process and put them in a binder with marked tabs. The forms that could be included are warranties, any statements of settlement, HUD documents, and appraisals. All of this helps with homeowners filing their taxes and feeling confident that they have been done correctly. It also increases your usefulness, even after the sale has been closed.

5.  Call Them If a client seems to be receptive to phone calls, a few days after they have moved into their new home, call them. This is an extremely effective tactic because it not only shows you care about how your clients are doing, but also shows that you are willing to be contacted after the sale has closed. Calling clients makes it easier for the client to call you if he or she is having a problem or wants advice. Using a service such as SlyDial allows you to call a client as unobtrusively as possible, performing the call without even disrupting a current call that might be going on.

6.  Provide Useful Advice Providing helpful advice isn’t considered invasive. This advice could be in the form of tips for decorating a home for different seasons, ideas for home improvement projects, and advice with regards to maintaining the home. Past clients will appreciate these ideas for making their home worth more.

By using some of these methods, it will be possible for you to keep in contact with your clients and build relationships that will last for years and produce referrals regularly.

Real Estate Marketing Without A Huge Budget

Mar 12, 2023 | Real Estate Agent Information

There was a time when marketing was as simple as taking out a newspaper ad, sponsoring a radio program or putting up a billboard in a highly visible area. These times are gone, and marketing is now one of the most complex issues that a budding real estate agent will come across. Fortunately, the amount of potential marketing tools out there does offer one distinct advantage: potential cost savings. And in the world of real estate, these low-cost marketing techniques can make all of the difference in the world. Even implementing a few of these methods can really be a game changer.

Video is Worth a Thousand Pictures They say that pictures are worth a thousand words, and if this is true, then videos are worth a thousand pictures. Whether this video is a walk-through of the newest residential property in your portfolio or a four-minute video on the best ways to buy a home, the point is to get video content out to the world. The reason video marketing is such a great tool is that it increases conversion rates. In fact, statistics show that a potential consumer is 64 percent more likely to make a purchase after watching a video on a product. This single statistic is enough to make it apparent that you should be using video marketing, and if you’re not, now is the time. Many real estate agents, though, will dismiss the idea of video marketing because they don’t think they have to ability. In reality, though, great quality videos now require little more than a smartphone and tripod. 5 With this powerful marketing tool being so simple to utilize, it doesn’t make much sense if you’re not using it.

Reach Out a Congratulatory Hand Being involved in real estate is far different from any other type of business endeavor you could undertake. Every budding entrepreneur needs to become established within their community, but real estate agents need to make honest interpersonal relationships with everyone, including notable figures, in their area. One way that a variety of agents do this is by keeping tab with the local news. This used to require spending a dollar on a daily newspaper, but now it’s as simple as checking local news sites to see what’s happening in the community. Once you spot a “feel good” story, you have your opening. Simply take the time to sit down and jot a congratulatory note for the individual featured in the story. Whether this is a simple “Congratulations on your new store” or “Great job on saving those geese,” the point is to make an impact on the individual. Include your business card in this note, and when they or a friend needs real estate help, you’ll likely be who they turn to. Be the News Some real estate agents often overlook the power of a local newspaper, but they fail to realize that, even in the Age of the Internet, local news sources are still an invaluable source. In fact, even print sources usually have their own corner on the World Wide Web. Knowing this, it’s surprising that more real estate agents don’t send out weekly press releases to the media sources in their local community.

These releases don’t even necessarily need to be big news; many local news organizations will print anything from purchasing tips to the opening of a new office in the area. Another surefire way to get promoted by local news sources is to piggyback off of other important stories. Are there new property taxes set to be implemented? Do a press release on what this means for the housing market. New road work projects on the horizon? Write out information on what this could do to home values in the area.

Take a close look at all the stories in a local newspaper. It should quickly become obvious that not all “news” is really news. Never Overlook Social Media While it seems like one of the most obvious low-cost marketing methods, around 16% of real estate agents use no form of social media. This is simply astounding considering running a social media profile is absolutely free. When compared to other businesses, real estate agents use both Facebook and YouTube social media at higher rates than others. In fact, nearly 80 percent of all real estate agents use Facebook. Doing this is as simple as posting those local articles and videos you’ve created through the aforementioned marketing tactics. In the end, the success of your real estate business will rest upon your ability to get your name out there. Fortunately, this doesn’t require a huge marketing budget. Through the use of the aforementioned low-cost methods, you can become a success.