Course Objectives: Too many agents and brokers manage their relationships and their transactions by the seat of their pants. This worked for many when our relationships were confined to the people in our communities and our contracts were 4 pages long. Today these methods are increasingly impractical and the result is far more agents struggling to survive and more clients receiving subpar service and representation. While today’s business environment is completely different, our tools to help us manage have also evolved. In this course we will explore the nature of the changes in our business, our client's expectations and the technology that has transformed so many aspects of our lives. With this clear understanding of where we are, today, we will explore the tools and techniques that will allow us to deliver true value to our clients and agents. We will: 1. Review how our business is consuming 2. Examine the paradigm of our business in the past 3. Contrast this with our present day paradigm and explore its challenges to the agent and brokerage/team 4. Understand the stress points for any agent/team operating with the old tools and methods in the new paradigm 5. Explore resistance to using a CRM and how to overcome it 6. Discuss online lead generation and how this differs from traditional leads. 7. Understand that collecting data for people, properties and transactions in one platform exponentially leverages the usefulness of ​
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data. 8. Explore the concept of workflows or templated transaction plans 9. Review real life applications of workflows Learner Outcomes: The goal of this course is to showcase how far from the old fashioned Rolodex our modern day CRM’s have become. At the end of this course the Learner will have a clear idea of how powerful a tool the CRM can be in managing and improving your backend operation and manage/develop staff and agents. The Learner shall also walk away with solid tasks and ideas that they can implement immediately to improve their organization and processes. The Learner will: 1. Have ideas on how to encourage CRM use 2. Have specific ideas on how to organize data 3. Have specific ideas on how to leverage the data 4. Receive actionable tips and best practices on effective lead follow up 5. Understand why internet leads need different follow up systems 6. Understand the power of automation 7. Have specific ideas on how to automate 8. Understand the leverage automation has in managing and developing staff and agents 9. Receive specific ideas on how to leverage specific points in the transaction to create repeat and referral business. 10. Review an entire workflow concept from contact to listing to contract to close. What we REALLY want to learn. ● Manage your business. ● Grow Relationships. ● Hold Your People Accountable. ● Make Money. Where we’ve been and what needs to change The hunger for systemizing our business has never been greater. What has changed? ● Real Estate is Consuming ○ Create the Clients ■ Prospecting ■ Networking ■ Social media ■ Marketing ■ Follow up ○ Do the business ■ Appointments ■ Paperwork ■ Follow up ■ Negotiations ■ Coordinate and manage vendors ○ Manage the business ■ Find and hire the staff ■ Train the staff ■ Manage the staff ■ Pay the bills ■ Manage the budget ○ Repeat and Referral Business ■ Stay relevant ■ Stay in touch ■ Be of value ■ Don’t spam ■ Be real ● In the Past ○ fewer details required ○ process was simpler ■ I remember when there were no home inspections ■ Contract was 4 pages ○
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■ The only disclosure was the TDS Clients less educated ■ They trusted our expertise ■ They didn’t crowd source their decisions ■ They went more with gut then heavily researched opinions World was a lot smaller ■ you database was your Rotary Club ■ in my case it was a tiny pile of 3x5 cards Everyone had the same option­ the Rolodex ■ no competitive advantages in that Today ○ Crushing detail ○ More people involved, increased complexity ■ home inspection, ■ photographer ■ NHD ■ TRID, Reg Z, CFPB, TDS, SPQ and host of other scary initials ■ chimney scope ■ sewer scope ■ home warranty ■ short sales ○ And what about the people in our own business? ■ Assistants ■ Transaction Coordinators ■ Marketing ■ Listing Specialists ■ Buyer Specialists ■ Team Leaders ■ CEO’s or Operations Managers ■ Technology Consultants ■ How do we manage and hold these people accountable? ○ And if we don’t do it, perfectly, we might get sued ○ we coordinate the work ■ painter ■ stager ■ cleaning ■ landscape ■ hauling ■ fix it guy ○ we do a lot more deals. ■ Successful agents are no longer a phenomenon if they sell 50 homes in a year. ■ The larger agents and teams do HUNDREDS ●
■ That is a LOT to manage. ■ Many teams are mini brokerages ○ We have exponentially more leads ■ Realtor.com, Zillow, lead gen companies like Boomtown and Kunversion…. ■ There are leads generated by blogging, your own website and IDX... ■ The larger urban areas often see 50 ­ 100 parties through an open house ■ And then there are all the connections on Social Media... ■ That is a LOT of people to track. ○ Our clients expect more ­ Social Media changed everything! ■ More explanation ■ More service ■ More responsiveness and more of our time ■ More convenience ■ More expertise and knowledge ■ More individualized attention­ the mass message no longer resonates. ● Too much noise ■ More marketing ■ And, they are more confused about our value ○ And then there are reviews ■ Neighborhood gossip about you has leapt over the backyard fence and into the Town Crier via social media and client reviews ■ Everything we do, good and bad, is amplified as never before. How Do We Cut Through This Noise?!! ○ The old methods no longer work ■ tracking it in our heads ■ Post it notes ■ Scribbled notes ■ Mimeographed lists ■ The Rolodex ○ Even the “new” methods are not great ■ Google contacts. ■ Our phones ■ Databases like Outlook or ACT or Goldmine ○ Our data is scattered in a bunch of different places ■ phone ■ file folders ■ scattered notes ■ binders ■ piles ■ various computers ○ Our Staff works differently ■ One assistant who stays a life time vs ■
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● Revolving door of staff and assistants More people are involved Leader in the office managing a supervising vs ● A leader out in the field, recruiting or selling What does all this change this mean? ● Amatuer Hour is OVER ○ Amateurs can’t avoid the brick wall of consequence ■ Collateral damage ■ Reputation damage ■ They talk about bad experience ○ Professionals see the wall, know how to avoid the wall ■ Clients feel better ■ They talk about good experience ● Never mistake Activity for Achievement
○ Types of Activity ■ Productive ■ Non Productive ○ Typical Agent ■ 75% Non­Productive Activity ■ 25% Productive ○ What is Non productive? ■ Client assurance ■ Problem solving ■ Paperwork ■ Inspection ■ Book keeping ■ Prep for presentations ■ training/Managing ■ Logistics with vendors ○ Why do we do Non Productive work? ■ We want to be a Super Hero ○ The Ideal Agent ■ 70% Productive Activity ■ 30% non­ productive ○ What is Productive Activity? ■ Prospecting ■ Negotiations ■ Listing appointments ■ Showing appointments ○ How do these agents DO that? ■ Systems ■
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Delegation Accountability We Need a Revolution Failing to plan is planning to fail so….. We need a plan ● Keep the contact data AND the history ● Intelligently remind to contact ● Make it easy and automatic to contact ● Ironclad transaction management ● Track and manage dates and deadlines ● Delegate and hold accountable ● Run a team and help me coach them It starts with Relationships Majority of the agents business comes from repeat and referral business but all the attention is on generating online leads. What about making it easier and faster to grow relationships right within the database? ● Data Entry ○ Agents don’t see the value ■ Don’t see the power beyond the Rolodex ■ Don’t have faith in the concept ■ Afraid they can’t figure it out ■ Afraid it is a time suck ■ Afraid the effort will be wasted ○ What do agents do now? ■ Phone ■ email client (gmail, outlook, yahoo or AOL) ■ paper based address book ■ random bits of paper ○ But they are PETRIFIED they are missing out! LET’S HELP THEM ● API’s, synchronized accounts and “bridge” services like Zapier and IFFFT make data entry automatic and magic. ● Organization ○ Tags ■ Buyers ■ Sellers ■ Past Clients ■ SOI ■ Agents ○
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Purpose tags is to tailor your communication so it is valuable and relevant. Consumers are deaf to the One Size Fits all style of mass emails and bulk mailings. Send just listed to buyers, Just sold to sellers, look at how we are growing to past clients and SOI and We Need messages to agents. ■ I once got a New In Your Neighborhood email from an agent I didn’t know. I wanted to know who had taken a listing in my neighborhood, so I opened it. It was for a listing in a completely different county!!!! I was so mad, I unsubscribed immediately. That is BAD. Examples ■ tag “open house” for all oh guests. send open house invites ■ tag “soccer mom”. send just listed for large yard homes ■ tag “local realtor”. send “looking for new offer” if deal is about to go south ■ tag “baby boomer”. send just listed for one story remodeled homes ■ tag “investor”. send just listed for fixer uppers Prioritize ■ ABCD method. ● Think of it like a heat map of your current prospects ■ Super Simple and visual way to KIT with the leads that matter Workflows Template of tasks tailored to unique needs of the source ■ emails (templates or libraries) ■ valuable content ■ text ■ call ■ scheduled market reports or updated CMA ■ Video email ■ Workflows “work” ● Helps avoid lead overwhelm. Know where each lead is in the communication life cycle. Persistent reminders to stay in touch. Each lead gets what they need­ sellers get CMA updates and market reports, Buyers get open house invites. ● Example Workflows ○ open house lead ○ invite to future open house, into to your lender, article on tips and tricks to multiple offers and link to your mobile app ○ zillow lead ○ aggressive and persistent phone calls, intro to lender and teaser listing emails ○ seller lead ○ marketing plan, updated cma reports, list of trusted vendors, just sold and tips on relocation ○ Capture as much data about the client and about their connections as possible No Lead Left Behind ■
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With priority ratings, tagging and workflows no lead is ever left behind. You know who to touch and when. Beyond the phone number... ○ Relationships ■ spouse, kids, referrals ○ Social Media ○ Personal facts ○ Properties ○ Transactions ○ Personal facts­ interests, clubs, groups ○ Emails, texts, and visits Speak TO the client not AT the client ○ Speaking at ■ Newspaper ads ■ Postcards ■ Email blasts ■ General blog or Facbook posts ○ This is NOISE ○ Speaking TO ■ Craft messages for small groups with like interests ■ Send messages interesting to them, not what interests you (Just Sold) ○ This is being RELEVANT ○ The goal is to efficiently and automatically communicate with people in a relevant and valuable way. Or, to put it bluntly­ don’t spam. EXAMPLES ○ Example of the open house invite­ send to all vs send to people who visited a similar house ○ Example­ list a house with olympic pool send invite to all on synchronized swimmer team ○ Send messages about neighborhood to people who live in neighborhood Be Valuable ○ In the past we were limited. We could only send one message in the newspaper. Now we can tailor the message for the consumer AND THEY EXPECT IT. It isn’t about you anymore. It is about the consumer Online lead generation Lead generation portals are growing, and Online leads need to be treated differently than relationship based leads. ○ It is REALLY not about you. It is about the information ■ Speed ● 15 min or less, 5 min is ideal ■ Relevance ●
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They are calling/email anything that catches their eye you must know what they are calling about ● They also need to know where you are calling from, for example, Realtor.com ■ Persistence ● Multiple attempts to contact are necessary to establish relationship ■ Volume ● There is a huge difference in the volume of online “leads” and F2F leads. ■ Urgency ● Often much further away from the ZMOT than a face to face buyer Auto Responder ■ Avoid pop­tart agent syndrome ■ Tells lead when to expect answer ■ Best Practice ● Use call text AND email ● Reference the lead platform, not you or your company Distribution ■ Round robin­ automatic, fair and transparent ■ Agent on duty ■ Best Practice ● Lead distributor­ ISA or broker/team lead ● Give responding agent as much info on lead as possible Great metrics and reports on each agent ■ Response times ■ Consistency of follow up ■ Conversion rates ■ Conversion time Great Metrics for the Team/Brokerage ■ Conversions by lead source ■ Conversion time by lead source ■ ROI ■ Predictive analytics Beyond People­ Transaction Management We don’t collect data on just people. We also collect mountains of data on the properties and transactions associated with our people. ● Where’s Your List? ○ Many agents just work on instinct and reaction ○ They recreate each deal from scratch, every time ● If you have one, it is probably linear ● That’s not reality!!! This is what reality looks like! ○ Each deal can branch and flow in unique ways. ●
Every deal is unique ○ Just the right to’dos ○ Just in time to do’s ○ Just the right tools to­do ○ Just the right person to­do ○ Automated to­do’s ● Why do we have to type information over and over? ○ Enter the data once ○ Use it for ALL operations ● The ideal transaction ○ Complete set of tasks ○ Delegation based on role ○ Perfectly timed task reminders ○ Pre­written communications ■ Quality control ■ Brand control ○ Multiple communication platforms ○ Collected data used multiple ways ● Better than ideal ○ Include all the bonus points you know will work but you rarely have time for ■ Involve the referral source ■ Back up offer communications ■ Client expectation communications ■ Post close relationships ● Manage your staff ○ See what they do and when they do it ○ Ability to reassign tasks ○ Finely tuned tasks­ relevant and actionable ○ Templates and workflows ensure quality ● Manage your agents ○ Workflows help agents do what you teach ○ Templates help agent utilize your deliverables ○ Tags make it easy for agents to send valuable messages ○ You can monitor their ability to accomplish tasks ○ Use the information for coaching moments SHOW ME A WORKFLOW ● Listing appointment can go three ways ○ Get it (yay!) ○ Didn’t get it (boo!) ○ No decision ● Didn’t Get it ○ Drink­​
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No Decision ○ Apply Seller Drip or Listing Appt Follow up Workflow ■ Pre written letters, ■ Scheduled calls ■ Scheduled CMA updates Got it ○ Apply the listing marketing workflow ■ Standard Operating Procedure ● Pictures ● Doc compliance ● Client expectation letters ● Order inspections and reports ■ Situational Activities ● City requirements ● HOA ● Agent referrals ● Non Agent Referrals No offer ○ Apply listing maintenance workflow ■ Social Sharing ■ Marketing ■ Communications ■ Open House Offer! ○ Do the Dance of Happy!! ○ Escrow Standard operating procedure ■ Client expectation letters ■ Text reminders ■ Document compliance ■ Deadline Reminders ■ Assign tasks ■ Auto calculate dates ○ Special Circumstances ■ Referrals ● Auto updates at critical points in transaction ● Remind to manage referral agreement ● Thank you letters ■ Loan ● Manage appraisal ● Track loan approval timing ● Track loan document timing ■ HOA ● Order and track HOA Docs ■
Back Up offer ● Automatic updates and critical points in transaction WORKFLOW IDEAS ● Listing Escrow ● Buying Escrow ● Lease Marketing and “escrow” ● Listing Marketing ● Contact Follow up ● Lead Generation response ● Seller Lead Follow Up ● Keep In Touch after close Smaller Workflows ● Referral updates ● Ask for reviews ● Multiple offers ● Listing Maintenance ● Price Adjustment ● Relaunch a listing ● Expiring Listing WORKFLOWS­ Contact to Close ● Contact ○ Follow up 1x a week Workflow ○ Follow up 2x month Workflow ● Client ○ Buyer ■ Show Property ■ Make Offers ■ Buyer Escrow Workflow ● Ask for Review WF ■ CLOSE ○ Seller ■ Listing Appointment Workflow ● Get Listing! ■ Listing Marketing Workflow ● No offers! ○ Listing Maintenance Workflow ■ Update CMA ■ Client Communication ● Relaunch Listing WF ● Price Adjustment WF ● Expiring Listing WF ● Offers!! ○
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Multiple Offers WF Listing Escrow Workflow ■ Ask for review WF ■ CLOSE