| By: Kaitlyn Miller Calendars have come a long way from just materials reminding us of the date, holidays and special days. Calendars have evolved to become important tools for any business’ marketing arsenal. Even if you’re engaged in the real estate business, your calendar printing project can be a worthwhile marketing strategy to help you promote your products and services to your prospective clients. So why should you use your calendar printing project to market your real estate business? Here are several of the benefits you can get with your calendar printing project: You should use your calendar printing project because calendars have sales power. In addition to helping your target clients remember important dates, your calendar printing project can help you market your real estate business to your prospective clients. Studies have shown that 85% of homes and 83% of businesses buy products and avail of services from companies that give them calendars. You know why? Because calendars are put on table tops and posted on walls, that everybody can see them every moment and every hour of everyday. Hence, the more likely that you will be exposed to your prospective clients’ vision and awareness. When the time comes when your target clients are in need of the type of products and services you offer, who would you think they’ll call? You should use your calendar printing project for your real estate business because calendars are economical. As the business owner, you know how many and how much you need for your calendar printing project. You control the number of calendar printing pieces that your real estate agency would send out. You should use your calendar printing project because 90% of those who receive calendars remember the advertisement written on it. You should use your calendar printing project for your real estate business because calendars are personal. They become part of the daily surroundings and personal routine of your target clients. Statistics show that more than half of those who receive their calendars use them for keeping tabs of their appointments, special dates, and even records. You should use your calendar printing project for your real estate business because calendars are appreciated. Many business owners have proven that most calendar printing pieces are appreciated by most recipients, and that they often encourage the exchange of goodwill between you and your target clients. Finally, use your calendar printing pieces to promote your real estate business because calendars are simply necessities in anybody’s lives. You can have your calendar printing project become part of your prospective clients’ regular days, as well as give you the opportunity to be a daily routine. This would mean more exposure for your real estate business, and more importantly, enhanced business awareness from your prospective customers.
| ||
Back to the Basics Pt. 1
By: Ashley Lichty
Sometimes even the best real estate agents and brokers need a reminder of the basics when turning real estate leads into clients. Though the basics seem like simple skills on the surface, they are the building blocks of a strong business.(Visit http://www.getmyhomesvalue.com/
real_estate_leads/ for more information on real estate leads.)
Rory Wilfong, co-founder of GetMyHomesValue and real estate trainer often comes across agents who lack these simple building blocks. “I am often surprised how many agents don't have an effective plan for acquiring real estate leads, following up with their real estate leads and then nurturing their real estate leads to become future clients. Too many agents are simply stumbling over real estate leads and crossing their fingers in hopes that the lead will pick them for representation with their future real estate transactions.”
With the dramatic increase of licensed real estate agents in the past few years, it is more important that ever that real estate agents are memorable to their real estate leads. According to the National Association of Realtors, their membership increased from 766,560 in 2000 to 1,265,367 last year. And that is just Realtors. You do not have to register with NAR in order to be a real estate agent, only to get the designation of Realtor. These numbers are enough to prove that if and agent wants to get anywhere with their real estate leads, they better stand out in the crowd. The best way to do this? Effective and creative follow-up! It goes back to learning applying the relatively simple skills involved in sales, marketing and customer service and adding your own creative flair to get your real estate leads to notice you.
Let's get back to the basics and thing about what really defines the term 'real estate leads.' According to Wilfong, the definition of a lead is a consumer that is interested in possibly using your services either now or in the future. It's as simple as that. There are different types of real estate leads of course, buyers, sellers, for sale by owners, refinancing, etc. Real estate leads can come from various sources, direct mailing, contact through your website, from an open house.
Another way to think of your real estate leads are as clients. Start your follow up with the mindset that the lead WILL be your client. Real estate leads are clients until they become contractually obligated to another agent or sales person providing the same service as you are.
Many agents rate their real estate leads as cold, warm or hot, depending how far into the real estate process they are. It is important to keep in mind that at one point, even a hot lead was kind of cold, even if you didn't know about it! Cold real estate leads lead to hot real estate leads. Of course, many agents cast off hundreds of real estate leads a year because they consider them “bogus.” As Wilfong states, “Like many agents, in the past I encountered my fair share of Mickey Mouse leads and I often use this as an example of agents. What would you do if you received a lead from Mickey Mouse?”In Wilfong's experience, many agents say they cast many real estate leads with odd names off as 'bogus.'. He believes that driving to a home to present your information to Micky Mouse himself is a GREAT way to break the ice with the people actually living in the house. The lead will remember your humor, more than likely tell his friends about the incident, which of course leads to more real estate leads for an agent! Even a call to Mickey Mouse, if handled humorously, can get a positive response and build instant rapport.
If nothing else, real estate leads will almost always give a current address along with the fake name they may leave, simply because that is the property they need information on. You can't be afraid to do a little detective work and dig a little deeper if you want to be constantly converting your real estate leads into contracted clients.
Real Estate Leads 101: Back to the Basics Pt. 2
In our last Real Estate Leads 101 course, we went over the basics of real estate leads: what they are, and why they're the lifeblood of real estate. Now it is time to go over what an agent should be doing constantly with their real estate leads or every time they get a lead. In other words, let's go over a basic follow up system and what your real estate leads expect. (Visit http://www.getmyhomesvalue.com/
real_estate_leads for more information on leads.)
As mentioned in the previous article, real estate leads are clients in training – and they are a client till they buy or die – in other works, until they are contracted with another agent, they are your client. Every lead should be treated with the same attention and respect an agent would provide to their top clients. Sometimes it can take months and years to contract your real estate leads, sometimes it takes a week. The most successful agents start each of their real estate leads with the belief that it is the beginning of a long-term relationship.
It is important to follow up IMMEDIATELY when you receive real estate leads, whether it's from your website, through a lead generation company, or contact form from an open house somebody filled out. Start contacting them right away. Real estate leads will take notice of how responsive an agent it even before they commit to anything. If an agent can impress a lead with their commitment, they may have just turned them into a client.
The United States has long been in an “instant gratification” state of mind, an the prevalence and advances of the Internet have only increased that mind set. The majority of people who wind up buying or selling a home go online to begin the real estate process. They expect immediate response to their inquiries – in other words, instant gratification. These are real estate leads just WAITING to be farmed!
Disturbingly, the California Association of Realtors conducted their annual study of Internet buyers and sellers and found that 48% of Internet real estate leads are being ignored. Nearly HALF of all real estate leads submitted online are ignored by real estate agents! It is possible that many are considered “bogus” by the agents who receive them and are scrapped. It's also likely that many agents who have been in the business for decades just aren't willing to learn the technology needed to be a power head in the real estate game in 2007. Your cell phone, PDA, email and Internet are the basic marketing tools of today.
Real estate leads expect immediate response from the Internet, and it's up to you to provide it and be available to them. The best case scenario of follow-up when real estate leads are received: the agent is driving to the lead's house while using their cellphone to call for an appointment as your assistant at the office is e-mailing the lead your contact info and working on a letter of interest for their business.
Of course that scenario isn't always possible, but you should always be doing as much as you can to get a hold of your real estate leads the first day you receive them. The ultimate goal is to get an appointment. The more time that elapses, the less likely you are to secure the lead. Maybe another agent contacts them, maybe they change their mind about listing, maybe they decide to go with their brother in law as an agent. Whatever the case may be, if you are the first agent to reach the real estate leads, your chances of converting them to clients just skyrocketed!
Get more information on real estate leads by visiting GetMyHomesValue.com. Ashley Lichty is a webmaster and the resident SEO of Web Xtreme, Inc. She has a background in real estate and marketing with an emphasis in writing. Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com |