Productivity in Balance

Eight Parts to an Effective Marketing Strategy

1.  A targeted market:  Will you target your sphere of influence (SOI), first time home buyers, a geographic farm, investors, adult communities?

2.  A primary marketing and advertising vehicle:  Direct mail, internet, print advertising?

3.  A marketing and advertising calendar with budget:  Frequency, how much will you spend (try to stay less than 10% of your monthly gross commissions).  Don't forget the smaller items like open house hand-outs, annual calendars, etc.  They all add up to your total marketing expense. 

4.  A contact management system like Wise Agent, Top Producer, AgentOffice, etc.  Many have excellent modules for managing your contacts, tracking listings, tracking sales, etc. 

5.  An attractive, professional graphic look:  Design your marketing materials to reflect quality.  Don't skimp on this one; it's a personal reflection of you. 

6.  A call to action:  Always "call the question" with every marketing and advertising piece you do.  What's in it for them to buy or sell through you?  What sets you apart?  What can you do for them that no other agent can do?  Will you save them money, time, stress? 

7.  Have your "Message Match the Market":  What's relevant in today's market?  What are buyers and sellers looking for right now?  Know the opportunity in the market today. 

8.  Stay consistent with repetition and saturation to your targeted market:  You want to position yourself to be upper-most in the minds of your buyers and sellers so when that moment comes that they're thinking real estate, they think of you. 

Now is the time to capture market share!

A friend of mine in the business said that most agents take a "holi-month" instead of a holiday.  That's good news for you.  As a lot of folks take their foot off of the lead generation accelerator, you can capture market share. 

Clients who choose to do business this time of year are serious.  I, myself, bought my current home on Christmas Eve two years ago.  A lot of listings hit the market the first of January.  So the listing inquiries and appointments are taking place now. 

Let people know you're working.  1.  Continue to make your daily sphere of influence calls (there is never an easier script... Happy Holidays!) 2.  continue to sit open houses (but do more than just put a sign out front - see Page 71 of SHIFT), 3.  post on Facebook when you're sitting an open house - even if your friends don't come out to see you, they'll see you're working 4.  call on expireds and FSBO's  5.  follow up on internet leads within minutes of inquiries  6.  practice your scripts for sign call conversion. 

The secret to a strong 2010 is having a strong 4th quarter 2009!  Don't lose your momentum.  Remember, you get paid today for your activities 90 days ago.  What will your paycheck look like in 90 days?  And, are you ok with that? 

Happy HoliDAYS!

Tools to lead your team to success & tips for extreme accountability.

~Everything I Learned at Coaching Skills Camp~

Tools to lead your team to success and tips for extreme accountability!

 Please join me from 10:30am to 12:00pm on Wednesday, November 18th.  I'd love to share with you some of the incredible tools I learned at the MAPS Coaching Skills Camp last month.  It was an extremely powerful class.  As a matter of fact, I believe it was the BEST Keller Williams workshop/seminar I have ever attended!  More than that, it ranked right up with with any of the Star Power University courses I've attended or any other class for that matter! (Yeah, seriously, THAT good!)

 Please feel free to invite any other Rainmaker (Team Manager) you'd like.  My goal is to talk in depth about your team's success and the personal growth of your team members.      

 If you have any questions about the class, please don't hesitate to contact me.  And please - forward this email to any other Rainmaker you'd like!  

 

Date: Wed., November 18th

Time: 10:30-12:00

Location: Keller Williams Legacy One

3910 S. Alma School Rd., Ste. 1

Chandler,  AZ  85248

RSVP:  rj.myers@cox.net or 480-444-7217

 

4th Quarter, Here We Come!

Wow, this year is flying by.  I don't know about you and your team, but I have so much to plan and accomplish by the end of the year so that 2010 is even better than 2009!  As the Team Leader for Keller Williams Legacy One Realty, my job is a lot like any Rainmaker on a Team.  I just have a larger team - but all of the same fundamentals apply! 

Here's my To-Do List for today... see if any of these items need to be on yours:

1.  Prepare to teach my "team" how to use Contact Types in their database (I'm teaching this class on Friday)  Rainmakers have to do this every time they hire a new team member and then spot check to be sure its being done consistently - If you don't know about contact types, please come to my class on Friday - or email me and I'll send you my power point.

2.  Start to plan my ALC Retreat for October - this is like your Team Advance.  If you don't know what a team advance is, please look for an earlier blog that I posted.  This is a critical event! 

3.  Plan for our Goal Planning Clinic in November.  We're bringing in an instructor from Texas.  I have found that when you're doing a team advance or any type of goal planning clinic, it's best to have a 3rd party facilitate. 

4.  Start to plan to implement the BOLD Program for our agents to ramp up so that productivity is high going into 2010.   This is going to be FABULOUS!  Here's what our agents will learn:

• Overcome your limiting beliefs
• Set BOLD goals
• Learn how to deliver powerful scripts that naturally influence people to work with you
• Build an abundance of leads into your business
• Incorporate time-saving strategies and techniques that will take your business to the highest levels
• Discover the benefits of a life by design!

And BOLD gets results. The 18 agents participating in the pilot program made 295 appointments, got 128 listings and closed 93 deals during the seven-week program. 

5.  Build a course to teach Rainmakers how to hold a Team Advance so that they can either do it themselves, or at least be highly prepared when they hire someone else to do it for them. 

And then I have some other items to plan for team building and morale, such as:  dinner for the my group of agents who won the Survivor Challenge (lead generation game we played), our self-defense class on Saturday because September is REALTOR safety month, signing birthday and anniversary cards, and planing a special event for my board of directors (my Agent Leadership Council). 

I'd love to know what you have going on through the end of the year! 

All the best!

Finding Time to Blog

So, like you, sometimes I have a hard time finding the time to sit down and write.  A friend of mine chided me today (thanks, Jon).  :-)  It got me thinking... what's the best way to handle this? 

Like Gary Keller says in the SHIFT book, make your message match the market.  AKA:  talk about what's current.  It's not that difficult to get ideas.  Just hop on over to Activerain.com to see what everyone is talking about and commenting on.   Although, I will tell you that one of my agents who has only posted her third blog said that it made the first page of google (searching "Arizona Public Reports").  Check it out at http://newhomessection.com/arizona-real-estate/blog/.    She said she chose the topic of public reports because no one else was talking about it!  Interesting idea!  Bravo Kevin and Teresa Dempsey!

Time blocking is always the key.  If it's part of your weekly calendar, you'll blog.  If it's no where on your plan for that week, you probably won't.  That reminds me of a favorite quote:  The secret to your future is hidden in your daily routine (author unknown). 

I coach with agents each week.  We talk about what they accomplished the previous week, what didn't get done, and what they would like to be accountable for completing by the next week.  I'm not threatening to hit them over the head - its just verbalizing their intention and talking about what's going to have the biggest impact on their business. 

How holds you accountable?  How do you hold your team accountable?  More on that later...

June - Half Time Analysis

Here we are at mid-year!  Where did the time go?  Its time to step back and ask yourself a tough question.  If you're not getting the results you want, ask yourself, why not? 

Maybe that's not the case!  Perhaps your business has picked up and you want to do even more!  Bravo if you're in this group. 

Either way, it's time to take a look at where you are and compare it to your business plan.  How do you do that?

First of all, what are your numbers?  Hopefully, you've been tracking your leads, appointments, listings, contracts, closings, and expenses at a minimum.  Days on market, list price to sales price ratio, and a P&L would be even better to name a few! 

Once you compare where you are with where you planned to be, step back and analyze your strengths and weaknesses in the current market (which in Phoenix has changed since Jan. 09).  If you know how to do a SWOT analysis, this is a great time to do another one.  Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. 

Next, ask yourself what you need to grow (or have more free time).  What has to happen to get you where you need to be?  Maybe its education, maybe it's leverage, usually its more lead generation. 

Just a note on making changes for growth... when you're considering what you need to do, pay special attention to the ones that scare you!  If you're not uncomfortable, you're not growing!  

Now you're ready to re-work the numbers on your business plan and re-establish your goals for the rest of the year! 

If you feel tempted to skip this mid-year analysis, don't!  It's time to be accountable to your business. 

I wish you much success! 

Rj

"Touching" Your SOI versus "Impressing" them...

“Touching” Your Sphere of Influence versus “Impressing” them, an article from Realty Times, examines the difference between "touching" and "impressing" your clients.  The author recommends combining a volume "touching" campaign with a concerted effort to make a good impression on people when you have the opportunity - the Power of One.  The goal is to make the person you just interacted with walk away feeling a little bit (or a whole lot) better than he did before.  Go out of your way for someone, and they'll feel good about you for months, maybe even years - far longer than the impression of a farming postcard, drip marketing or quarterly newsletter. 
http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20090611_sphere.htm

Life After REO's

Many agents have had the good luck or they did the hard work to be granted REO accounts.  I have observed in a lot of cases the agent becomes so busy trying to handle a much larger supply of listing inventory, that they cease to prospect for any other type of business. 

What happens when the well runs dry?  Sure, the REO market could go strong for years, but this market will shift again.  And then what?  Are you going to be in a position to replace your full listing inventory the good old fashion way?  

We can never stop doing the fundamentals of lead generation. 

Where do agents commonly miss the mark?  Here are just a few to think about:

1.  Missing the boat on buyer leads.  Not only are they losing money now, but they fail to "adopt the orphan buyers".  The biggest complaint from the consumer is still lack of communication/follow up from their agent.  By not capturing the buyers, the agent loses future business as well as now money. 

2.  Agents completely ignore the regular ol' residential resale side of the market.  This is easy to do because the bulk of the business today is lender involved.  However, there is a reason that successful businesses are built in a down market!  In a down market, agents must master the basics and do enough of the right things (lead generation activities) to stay alive.  They must do MORE of these activities than ever before, thus the mastery.  

3.  Agents are so busy scrambling that they do not work on their systems.  They let their database go.  They don't have time to bring talent into their life for leverage.  Basically, they don't build their business to take them to the next level.   

These are very common examples.  What to do?  Get your business plan out (if you "had time" to work on your business plan), and make sure you are doing more than putting all your eggs in the REO basket. 

Recession Marketing Do's and Don'ts

Recession Marketing Do’s and Don’ts, an article from RISMedia.com, offers some do's and don'ts for marketing during a recession.  1) DO send out an e-mail newsletter.  Be sure to collect email addresses from everyone within your sphere.  2) DO try your hand at online public relations.  Write an informative press release that references your Web site.  3) DO hold teleconferences (a.k.a. teleseminars).  Pick a current topic such as short sales or purchasing your first home.  4) DO use pay-per-click (PPC) ads.  PPC ads allow you to target your ads to specific geographic areas.  5) DON'T overplan.  6) DON'T overspend.  7) DON'T fall in love with your ideas.  In other words, if one of your marketing strategies doesn't work, be willing to try something different.
http://rismedia.com/2009-03-30/recession-marketing-dos-and-donts/

SEO and PPC for Traffic - and More for Success...

SEO and PPC for Traffic - And More for Success, an article from RISMedia.com, examines how you can stand out and get found online.  All of your signage - yard signs, decals and magnetic vehicle signs - should display your website address.  Business cards should display your email address and website address.  Sometimes people prefer to get information from a website, rather than calling.  All printed materials - letterhead, signature blocks on emails, newspaper ads, homes magazine ads and promotional items - should include your website address.  Social and business networking present additional opportunities to promote your website.  While MySpace tends to attract the younger set, it's a great place to connect with first-time homebuyers.  Facebook not only attracts consumers, but lots of business people as well.  For LinkedIn, business is the main focus.  Twitter, on the other hand, started out to be just "here's where I am or what I'm doing" posts.  However, businesses have learned how to effectively using Twitter as well.  Read more here: 
http://rismedia.com/2009-03-09/seo-and-ppc-for-traffic-and-more-for-success/