Sep
29
The Two Most Productive Lead Generation Activities in Real Estate
Filed Under Real Estate Marketing, Real Estate Prospecting Ideas | 4 Comments
In June 2008, four Baylor University researchers discovered that referrals and IVR (Interactive Voice Response) technology rank as the top two most productive lead generation activities in real estate.
Researchers Pullig, Indergard, Blake and Simpson focused on lead generation as a three-step process:
- Lead generation. This step identified potentinal clients through efforts like direct contact, print advertising, list acquisition or referrals.
- Conversion of the lead to an appointment. This step established an appointment.
- Closure of the appointment to a transaction. The final step involved a listing with a seller or the buying of a property with the buyer.
What Real Estate Lead Generation Activities Really Worked
In addition to referrals and IVR technology, real estate agents in the survey rated seven other lead generation activites as significantly productive–that is, they had a higher return on investment than other activities.
- Repeat Business
- Open Houses
- FSBO Expired Leads
- Networking
- Signage
- Telemarketing
- Internet/Website
Where Do Agents Spend Their Money When Creating Leads?
The Baylor researchers identified 18 different sources that real estate agents invested their lead generation dollars into. The top nine sources for lead generation spending were:
- Direct Mail (23%)
- Internet/Website (17%)
- Print Advertising (14%)
- Referrals (10%)
- Signage (9%)
- Repeat Business (6%)
- Open Houses (5%)
- Interactive Voice Response (IVR) Technology (4.5%)
- Promotional Items (4.2%)
What Kinds of Leads and How Do Real Estate Agents Handle Them?
Five Characteristics of Successful Lead Generating Real Estate Agents
The Baylor researchers also discovered two things about those real estate agents who reported doing better or much better in their market. These real estate agents also reported:
- Significantly higher lead conversion rates to appointments
- Higher conversion rates from appointments to a transaction when compared to those who say they are not doing as well
Real estate agents who reported doing much better in their market tended to:
- Have higher lead and appointment conversion rates
- Spend less on open houses as a percentage of their total spending
- Spend less on promotional items as a percentage of their total spending
- Are more productive when using open houses
- Are more seeker oriented in their lead generation activities
The Not-So-Surprising Results of Faster Lead Conversion Follow Up
Characteristics of Successful Agents in Tough Markets
- Higher lead and appointment conversion rates
- Greater spending on Internet/Website as a percentage of total spending
- Greater spending on IVR Technology as a percentage of total spending
- Less spending on signage as a perentage of total spending
- Less spedning on open houses as a percentage of total spending
- More seek-oriented in their lead generation activities
In contrast, real estate agents in a healthy market tended to lean on attract-oriented lead generation strategies while agents in stable markets use a balance of both seek and attract-oriented activities.
What to Do Next
One way to approach this information is to use it as a baseline for your own lead generation investment.
Are you spending your lead generation dollars in the right places? More importantly, are you tracking, measuring and testing your lead generation activities?
Without question, IVR technology is the perfect tool for tracking and measuring the effectiveness of your lead generation activities. In fact, IVR technology can slach your advertising costs by 30% while raising the amount of leads you generate.
Second, determine which type of market you are in. Then, adopt one of the strategies pointed out above: seeker-oriented, attract-oriented or seeker/attract-oriented.
Third, develop an effective referral-generating system. Service-For-Life is a great, inexpensive tool.
Finally, if you are stumped on how to close more appointments into listings and more listings into transactions, seek help. Training by coaches like Bob Corcoran is priceless.
Did you find this article useful? If so, leave a comment. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
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Sep
18
Take Advantage of This Psychological Buyer Quirk to Sell Any Home Now
Filed Under Real Estate Listing Tips, Real Estate Marketing | 3 Comments
Once upon a time a seller could price her home with the promise that she would get the full price.
She would review each offer as it came in. She would work with her agent to make a careful and calculated decision about which offer she should take. Then, she would select her buyer–normally above or at full price.
Unfortunately, in most markets today, this doesn’t–or can’t–happen.
The Death of the Typical Bidding War
Hot markets meant buyers made absurd, exuberent offers for just about every home that was priced. That doesn’t happen anymore.
In a slow market, a typical bidding war begins–if it begins at all–with the marketing of a slightly undervalued home. That means selecting a price that is at the low end of the expected selling price range.
This may not please your seller one bit–but it may result in multiple offers. And naturally, multiple offers tend–no promise, though–to drive the selling price up.
However, if you choose a low-pricing strategy, make sure that the property is adequately exposed to the market before you entertain offers. (And make sure you use the seven natural laws of prospecting I wrote about in August.) That’s the key to taking advantage of the psychological buyer quirk I’m going to share with you in a minute.
The New, Slow-Market Approach to Pricing a Home
Typically, sellers using this approach wait 10 days to two weeks before they entertain offers. During this time there is a broker open house and one or two public open houses.
Without this exposure, your home could sell at the low end of the range because only a limited number of buyers will have seen the property.
But if all the pieces come together, you’ll have an environment for a multiple offer situation–which can be very lucrative.
How to Correct Pricing Misconceptions of a Home Seller
In addition to stressing the benefits of setting a lower price to your sellers during the pre-listing stage, this time also affords you the opportunity to correct sellers’ misconceptions on pricing.
Some sellers might be tempted to choose another salesperson who quotes them a higher asking price.
This shoud make you ask: “Does the salesperson want your success or a listing?” A salesperson who gives an unrealistically high price is making an empty promise.
Why Overpricing Doesn’t Work
Other sellers believe that overpricing will work to their advantage because it will give them ‘bargaining room.’
If you run into sellers who want to overprice their home, tell them that althouhg overpricing in a rising market may be appropriate, no one has ever had a successful client overprice in a falling market.
Leaving bargaining room isn’t as valuable a negotiating tool as bringing in a greater number of highly motivated buyers.
The Secret to Creating Irresistable Demand for a Home
How do you lure in the greatest number of motivated buyers? By setting a competitive price. Seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t know this.
Explain to your client that an attractively priced home pulls in buyers. This sometimes means a home below market value.
Tough sell. But remind them, more buyers equals more competition. And more competition means that the home will actually sell–which, in reality, is the most important thing to keep in mind.
Tap Into This Psychological Quirk of Buyers
Did you know that a home usually gets the most attention from buyers just after it’s put on the market? That’s right. Immediately after a home is listed, its flooded by buyers.
These are the buyer’s who are highly motivated. They have agents. They have instant notification via email and text when homes go on sale. They scour neighborhoods weekly. They’re primed.
And they flock to new homes on the market–ready to make a bid on the drop of a hat if necessary.
If you could view the number of times a home is seen during the first four weeks, what you’d see is a spike in activity in the first two weeks–then a sudden drop.
That’s why it’s necessary to encourage sellers to take full advantage of this phenomenon by showing their home in the best condition and…setting it at the best price during the first four weeks of the marketing efforts.
You want this home to be something buyer’s won’t forget–even if they’re not ready to buy just yet.
Here’s why.
Let’s say you did this for two weeks…but no takers. After your careful research, you and the sellers decided it’s still priced too high because you got plenty of activity…but zero offers.
If you use a tool like Showing Feedback, all you have to do is log into your Email Center on your account and send an email blast to all of the agents who have viewed the home. This includes every single person who was in the first wave of buyers.
If the home is priced accordingly, then there’s a good chance that you have laid the foundation for multiple offers.
What to Do Next
Now, if you find that you still don’t get the activity that you expected–lower the price even further.
You’ll eventually get to a point where the house is priced at an acceptable rate for the market. Send out another email blast…and kick back…and wait for the calls to come in.
Because they will. It never fails
Remember: There are enough people in this world who are interested in your client’s home. As long as you have chosen your clients carefully.
You just have to make sure the price gets to a point that they crave. Then they’ll come out of the woodwork.
Did you find this article useful? If so, leave a comment. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
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Sep
9
Marketing. What is it?
It’s not about tactics. Promotions. Or advertising.These things are useless without a sound foundation of research and analysis.
Marketing is about consumers.
It’s about understanding how they think, behave and talk. It’s about proper communication, segmenting and powerful distinctions.
Most importantly, its about understanding what works–and why. Without this last piece, everything else you do is simply blowing in the wind.
To help you understand this concept of marketing in real estate, lets look at four of the most popular and proven ways marketing shows up in real estate.
Social Media
It’s hard to argue with what is hot. Right now, social media is hot. But is there a payoff?
Becky Boomsma thinks so. She says “If you are interested in defining your expertise in specific geographic areas or on specific real estate topics, social media participation is extremely effective in developing and differentiating your expertise and brand.”
On the other hand, Redfin’s Glenn Kelman wonders if this is the best way to talk to his clients.
Glenn quotes a New York Times article by Clive Thomson called Brave New World of Digital Intimacy that suggests social media like Twitter or Facebook is at best creating an awareness of your actions–that’s best suited for people under 30.
For a business, it seems rather absurd.
That’s why I like to go back to stalwart advice from online experts Brian Clark and Jakob Nielson.
Jakob Nielson said in his article Web 2.0 Can Be Dangerous, “AJAX, rich Internet UIs, mashups, communities, and user-generated content often add more complexity than they’re worth. They also divert design resources and prove (once again) that what’s hyped is rarely what’s most profitable.”
And in his article Blogging Is Dead, Brian Clark said, “Blogs that provide true value by teaching, informing and offering unique perspective are thriving….Value will always be key.”
Mass Marketing
Is mass marketing dead? Good question.
Mass-marketing used to mean making one pair of black Nike shoes and getting the whole world to wear them–even if someone wanted a pink pair and another wanted a red pair.
Today, we’ve moved into the world of target marketing. Nike makes shoes in every color for every sport. Anyone is bound to find a shoe that’s perfect for them.
But target markets are very large. So, target marketing is nothing but camouflaged mass marketing.
How does this work in real estate marketing?
Segmenting your audience into specific needs. Seniors who want to buy an upscale second home. Young urbans who want to buy their first home condo downtown.
For you, this means finding a niche–and owning that niche.
While you may market mass amounts of email, postcards or phone calls to this niche, I think it still means that mass marketing is dead. You cannot make money throwing large amounts of mud at the wall. The same holds true for the next real estate marketing medium.
Branding
Will anyone recognize your brand? This is the question Steven Van Yoder asked in his article on real estate branding.
That’s an important question.
Why? Establishing a brand is equal to defining who you are. Establishing your brand requires determining who you are, what makes you different than everyone else and why anyone should trust you.
Establishing your brand helps you focus on your business. It helps you identify what you can offer consumers that no one else can offer. And it will help you grow.
But you can’t focus on branding alone. Branding is very difficult to monitor and measure. That’s why you need a predictable and proven marketing strategy like direct response.
Direct Response Marketing
What can direct-response marketing do that social, mass and brand marketing can’t do?
It can tell you what works and what doesn’t. Quickly.
Direct-response marketing is the bread and butter for marketers who want to not only survive, but thrive–in any economy.
Think Bill Jayme. QVC. Billy Mays.
Obnoxious, you say? Think twice, as the Direct Creative Blog argues:
I think few would say they “like” to watch a Billy Mays commercial. He’s considered obnoxious by many. But that’s irrelevant. Just as people say they dislike catalogs while continuing to place orders, they say they don’t like Mays’ in-your-face style while emptying the store shelves of the products he pitches.
The one thing you should learn about direct-response marketing is this: learn from what works–not from what you like.
Here’s What You Must Learn
Your best bet? Train yourself to think like a direct marketer–then test new marketing mediums like social media. Or experiment with target marketing.
That way you can avoid the over-hyped. You can avoid flushing money down the toilet. You can avoid trying to keep up with an overwhelming amount of stuff.
When you test everything, you are making decision based on facts. And, I think you’ll agree, that’s the best way to do business.
Did you find this article useful? If so, leave a comment. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
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Sep
5
What Every Real Estate Agent Should Know about Writing Headlines
Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Whether you are writing a sales letter, postcard or blog–you need to know how to make it stand out. This is critical to real estate marketing.
No bones about it: Writing is important. Everyone must do it.
Yet, you are competing in a ruthless and combative environment. You need every trick of the trade you can find so that you are not lost in the storm surge of advertisement.
That’s why it’s so important to test everything you do in real estate marketing. You need to experiment. Be bold. Rock your readers. Jilt them out of their slumber. Make them sit up and pay attention to you.
How do you do that? I thought you’d never ask. Here are a few headline writing techniques you may find helpful:
1. Ask a Question
Better yet, make sure it’s a question to which the reader wants to know the answer.
Before: “Do You Know What My Realty Company Accomplished Last Year?”
After: “What Do Successful Real Estate Agents Have That Failing Real Estate Agents Sometimes Lack?”
2. Use the Word “Why”
Adding the word “why” in front of a factual statement increases the reader’s curiosity.
Before: “95% of For Sale By Owners Fail.”
After: “Why 95% of For Sale By Owners Fail.”
3. Employ the Rule of 3
I’m not sure why this works, but it just does. Seems to do with our attraction to things that are bundled in 3. Father, mother and child. Judicial, legislative and executive branches of government. Body, soul and spirit.
How do you use it in a headline? Simply list three benefits.
Before: “Learn How to Work with More Clients and Make More Money.”
After: “Learn How to Work with More Clients, Sell More Homes and Make More Money.”
4. Write “Ignore It at Your Peril”
This works well when dealing with fear. Write “Ignore It at Your Peril” in a headline to emphasize its important.
Before: “The One Thing You Must Do to Avoid Foreclosure.
After: “The One Thing You Must Do to Avoid Foreclosure. Ignore It at Your Peril.”
5. Add a Question Mark to Your Headline
Making a statement that’s hard to believe? All you have to do to make it easier to swallow is question the claim yourself by adding a question mark to the end of the headline.
Before: 500% Profits from Selling Your Home
After: 500% Profits from Selling Your Home?
6. Mention Current Events and News
A news angle is especially effective when writing about the real estate market.
Why? Topics discussed on a daily basis typically affect the larger population. And people tend to be more in tune to these current events. So they’re receptive.
For example, say you’re searching for pre-foreclosures: “Stay One Step Ahead of Foreclosure Just Like Ed McMahon - But Without the Humiliation.”
7. Use the Words “New,” “Introducing,” or “Announcing”
Why does this work so well? It works because people are interested in what is new.
Example: “Introducing a Painless Way to Sell Your Home in a Weak Economy.”
8. Tell the Reader to Do Something
Example: “Call This Number to See How I Could Sell Your Home Fast.”
This is one of the ways we recommend clients use the 800 response hotline number.
When the reader follows the instructions in the headline–and called the number–they heard an audio tour of their very home.
Result? An instant on-the-spot demonstration proving the product works.
9. Promise the Reader Useful Information
Prospects are more likely to read your ad if they feel they can learn something useful by doing so.
Dale Carnegie sold more books when he said he could teach people “How to Win Friends and Influence People.”
Eugene Schwartz sold more course when he promised parents “How to Turn Your Child into a Classroom Wizard.”
10. Ask a “Who Else Wants…?” Question
This is a classic social proof strategy. It implies that a lot of people out there are already on board.
- Who Else Wants a Bigger, Safer Home?”
- Who Else Wants More Fun and Less Stress in a Home?
11. Suggest a Fast and Easy Solution
People love quick and easy when it comes to solving a nagging problem.
- Here’s a Quick Way to Get Out of Debt
- Here’s a Fast and Easy Way to Avoid Foreclosure
12. Challenge the Reader Through Curiosity
Big curiosity draw with this type of headline, and it acts almost as a challenge to the reader to go ahead and see if they are missing something.
- What Everybody Ought to Know About Adjustable Rate Mortgages
- What Everybody Ought to Know About the Housing Market
Did you find this article useful? If so, leave a comment. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
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Sep
2
How to Win (Almost) Every Listing Presentation
Filed Under Real Estate Listing Tips | Leave a Comment
Long ago I believed that winning listing presentations meant having a mental toolbox full of witty comebacks, sly counter objections and a persuasive delivery that would allow me to deflect arguments, shut down concerns and steamroll the prospect into signing with me.
But then I kept coming across successful agents who weren’t particularly well spoken and failing agents who rocked the crowds at the local Toastmasters. Obviously, something else was at work here.
After two decades of analyzing why some agents grow while others die–and why–I realized that surplus or scarcity thinking had more to do with how well agents do in listing presentations or negotiations than any training ever did.
Now, let me ask you a question: Are you a surplus or scarcity thinker? If you don’t know, make sure you know before you’re next listing presentation.
The Psychology Behind Success at Listing Presentations
We have 50,000 thoughts a day. That’s about 2 thoughts a second.
Most of them don’t matter, though. They’re of the this breed: “Message light blinking on phone,” “Air conditioner just started” and “Breeze is cool this morning.”
And because of the randomness of some of our thoughts, some of us don’t focus on any of our thoughts. And that’s a problem.
If we ignore all thoughts, we could miss out on great ideas when we have them. Like taking that much-needed vacation or placing an ad in that new homes magazine.
Worse, however, is when many of us do focus on our thoughts, but only on the negative ones. This can literally cripple us at the negotiating table.
My question for you, when approaching a selling situation is this: where are your thoughts pointing?
Are you thinking scarcity, such as…
- “I don’t deserve this listing when I’m going up against that agent.”
- “I bombed my last presentation, I’ll probably bomb this one.”
- “If I don’t get this seller, I’m sure to foreclose on my own house.”
Or are you thinking surplus…
- “I deserve this listing.”
- “I can’t wait to deliver a killer presentation!”
- “I love real estate and the thousands of opportunities to make thousands of dollars!”
As a rule, never believe your negative thinking…especially if it limits what you think is possible.
If you tend to be a scarcity thinker, stop right now and admit that your habit of thinking needs to be changed.
You’ll need to do this because just being aware of limiting beliefs and thoughts is a major step in the right direction. And awareness alone can be curative.
Then begin to work on affirmations like the ones above in the surplus category.
Also simply doing something different that counters limiting thoughts can work wonders. For instance, if you typically avoid or neglect selling situations, hunt them down. And throw yourself at them.
You’ll be amazed at the level of confidence you gain from simply doing something you’ve always dreaded. Even if your initial results are less than you expected. Practice makes perfect.
Only when we weed the limiting beliefs from our subconsciousness is it possible to plant the seeds of new beliefs.
And new beliefs are the pathway to prosperity. Abundance. Surplus.
To help you on your new journey, I recommend you pick up two classics:”Awaken the Giant Within” by Anthony Robbins and “Think and Grow Rich” by Napolean Hill.
Both can be read in a weekend. And both will have you climbing the walls, hungry to make big money.
Leave a comment if this post was helpful or if you have anything you’d like to add. And if you like what you read, subscribe to the Real Estate Marketing Blog.
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