RISMEDIA, January 29, 2009-Bailout. Credit crunch. Foreclosure. Despite these words permeating the headlines and airwaves, there are companies out there moving forward - even in real estate. Keller Williams® Realty Inc., the fourth largest real estate company in North America, announced that it outpaced the market in 2008, while remaining free of debt, and gave back more than $30 million in profits to its agents.
“Our strategy is no secret. We faithfully follow the sound financial model of leading with revenue - the same model our market centers follow,” said Mark Willis, CEO of Keller Williams Realty Inc. “As we watch companies throughout the country take on billions of dollars of debt, we are proud to say that our company has not one dollar of financing debt and we remain strong and financially sound. It is our joy to be able to give back to our agents during these times.”
Despite pervasive downward trends in the real estate industry, Keller Williams Realty continues to outperform the industry. For the first 11 months of 2008, existing home sales for the United States fell 17% when compared to the same period the year before. By comparison, Keller Williams Realty is poised to outdo those numbers by 10 percentage points, and in addition, the company experienced a much smaller contraction in its agent base compared to the National Association of REALTORS®, who saw a 10% decline in membership.
“Keller Williams was founded 25 years ago during one of the toughest markets on record - when interest rates were higher than 18 percent. We continue to urge our agents to zero in on lead generation and reducing expenses so they can thrive during this market,” said Mary Tennant, president and COO of Keller Williams Realty Inc. “We admire our agents’ spirit, tenacity, and dedication to their businesses. They just keep powering forward.”
Throughout 2008 Keller Williams Realty launched new products and services specifically to boost its agents’ businesses, including two new books: Your First Home: The Proven Path to Home Ownership for first-time home buyers, and SHIFT: How Top Real Estate Agents Tackle Tough Times. Both books are written by Gary Keller, co-founder and chairman of the board of Keller Williams Realty, who also authored national best sellers The Millionaire Real Estate Agent and The Millionaire Real Estate Investor.
For more information, visit www.kw.com.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
How Effective Are You At Developing New Business?
Recently, I was listening to a series of cassette tapes published by direct response marketing legend Dan Kennedy. While there were a great many valuable lessons that I learned while listening to the tapes, one particular story caught my attention as being something that applies to a great number of real estate agents in our industry.
Dan talked about a chiropractor who found a niche by moving from town to town, setting up new chiropractic practices, then selling each practice once it's generating more than $1,000,000 a year in income. This chiropractor's goal along the way is to generate 72 new patients a month for each of his new chiropractic businesses.
When giving a talk to other chiropractors about how to successfully build their practices, an audience member asked this man, "What's the one thing I can do that will generate 72 new patients a month for my business?" And the man responded by saying, "I can't tell you the one thing to do that will generate 72 new patients a month for your practice. But I can tell you 72 things to do that will generate one new patient. And I can also tell you that I do all 72 of them."
This reminded me of what I sometimes experience when talking with real estate agents who are looking for one simple, magic activity they can do that will have them become incredibly successful in our industry. And when I come across agents like these, what they're looking to find speaks volumes about what their underlying attitude is...one of "I don't want to do what's normally necessary to become successful. I really just want to do what's easier." And I can tell you from experience that the agents who normally think this way are often the ones who struggle at being successful in our industry.
The chiropractor in the example above developed his system of doing many different approaches simultaneously in order to find new clients. And in every city he moves to, the results are basically the same. He develops one more chiropractic practice that he sells, to another doctor, for a handsome profit.
So in reading this story, what are all the activities you could be doing right now to develop more business for you in your real estate career? And in helping you to better know what these are, and assist you in staying on track in getting them done, I also have an exercise that I'd like you to do.
Get a stack of 100 or more 3" X 5" index cards and a pen, and go somewhere quiet where you won't be disturbed. This means you'll definitely want to turn your cell phone off too. You may want to go to a library, a park, the beach, or just somewhere where it's quiet for you. And in doing this, I highly recommend that you do it someplace other than in your home or in your office.
What you want to do is brainstorm and write down every idea you can think of for developing new real estate business. Write one idea down on each index card, then move onto the next index card with a new idea. If you need to write down a phrase or a few sentences to clarify your ideas on one or more of your index cards please feel free to do so.
The truth is, you've probably had many ideas about activities you can do to develop new business for yourself, but many of these ideas may just remain fleeting thoughts that come into your mind from time to time and then disappear. This process will enable you to write down each and every business development idea you can think of, and then have all them in one place to look at, review, and continually take action on, in your real estate business.
There's probably no shortage of new ideas to utilize in developing your real estate business at a higher level. The shortage, if it exists, is probably in the follow-through of actually remembering these ideas and then implementing them.
This exercise, like the chiropractor story above, also came from Dan Kennedy. When I first heard him describe the exercise I thought to myself, "Why do I need to do all of this on index cards? I can just make a list of these activities on my computer instead." But there is a real difference in taking the time to write these ideas down on individual index cards, hold them in your hands, flip through them one by one, and be able to physically have a wealth of ideas on these cards available to you at all times. It's a very different feeling and a much more powerful process to do it this way. In addition, you may want to have a special box that you keep all these ideas in, as they truly represent your greatest marketing opportunities in the weeks, months, and years ahead, and they should be treated appropriately.
So if you're thinking you'd like to come up with, and implement, more strategies to take your real estate business to the next level, I highly recommend that you do this exercise. When you do so you'll probably feel refreshed and excited about all the new opportunities you've written down for yourself, and you'll probably also feel that achieving the next level of success in your real estate business is now much closer to you.
Dan talked about a chiropractor who found a niche by moving from town to town, setting up new chiropractic practices, then selling each practice once it's generating more than $1,000,000 a year in income. This chiropractor's goal along the way is to generate 72 new patients a month for each of his new chiropractic businesses.
When giving a talk to other chiropractors about how to successfully build their practices, an audience member asked this man, "What's the one thing I can do that will generate 72 new patients a month for my business?" And the man responded by saying, "I can't tell you the one thing to do that will generate 72 new patients a month for your practice. But I can tell you 72 things to do that will generate one new patient. And I can also tell you that I do all 72 of them."
This reminded me of what I sometimes experience when talking with real estate agents who are looking for one simple, magic activity they can do that will have them become incredibly successful in our industry. And when I come across agents like these, what they're looking to find speaks volumes about what their underlying attitude is...one of "I don't want to do what's normally necessary to become successful. I really just want to do what's easier." And I can tell you from experience that the agents who normally think this way are often the ones who struggle at being successful in our industry.
The chiropractor in the example above developed his system of doing many different approaches simultaneously in order to find new clients. And in every city he moves to, the results are basically the same. He develops one more chiropractic practice that he sells, to another doctor, for a handsome profit.
So in reading this story, what are all the activities you could be doing right now to develop more business for you in your real estate career? And in helping you to better know what these are, and assist you in staying on track in getting them done, I also have an exercise that I'd like you to do.
Get a stack of 100 or more 3" X 5" index cards and a pen, and go somewhere quiet where you won't be disturbed. This means you'll definitely want to turn your cell phone off too. You may want to go to a library, a park, the beach, or just somewhere where it's quiet for you. And in doing this, I highly recommend that you do it someplace other than in your home or in your office.
What you want to do is brainstorm and write down every idea you can think of for developing new real estate business. Write one idea down on each index card, then move onto the next index card with a new idea. If you need to write down a phrase or a few sentences to clarify your ideas on one or more of your index cards please feel free to do so.
The truth is, you've probably had many ideas about activities you can do to develop new business for yourself, but many of these ideas may just remain fleeting thoughts that come into your mind from time to time and then disappear. This process will enable you to write down each and every business development idea you can think of, and then have all them in one place to look at, review, and continually take action on, in your real estate business.
There's probably no shortage of new ideas to utilize in developing your real estate business at a higher level. The shortage, if it exists, is probably in the follow-through of actually remembering these ideas and then implementing them.
This exercise, like the chiropractor story above, also came from Dan Kennedy. When I first heard him describe the exercise I thought to myself, "Why do I need to do all of this on index cards? I can just make a list of these activities on my computer instead." But there is a real difference in taking the time to write these ideas down on individual index cards, hold them in your hands, flip through them one by one, and be able to physically have a wealth of ideas on these cards available to you at all times. It's a very different feeling and a much more powerful process to do it this way. In addition, you may want to have a special box that you keep all these ideas in, as they truly represent your greatest marketing opportunities in the weeks, months, and years ahead, and they should be treated appropriately.
So if you're thinking you'd like to come up with, and implement, more strategies to take your real estate business to the next level, I highly recommend that you do this exercise. When you do so you'll probably feel refreshed and excited about all the new opportunities you've written down for yourself, and you'll probably also feel that achieving the next level of success in your real estate business is now much closer to you.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Marketing without Money
There's an old saying, "If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door." That's just not true anymore. There are plenty of wonderful mousetraps out there that no one will ever buy because nobody knows they exist.
And you don't have to mount some expensive marketing campaign to get the word out. The truth is there are plenty of ways to market that mousetrap even if the only thing in your pocket is lint.
1. Free Publicity
The world's appetite for news is insatiable. With 24-hour TV news networks, online newspaper coverage and all-news radio stations, media outlets have created a beast that needs constant feeding.
Don't wait to be discovered. Ask yourself a couple of simple questions: "What is my story and who is going to tell it?" You already built the mousetrap, but forget about catching mice for a minute. It's time to catch the attention of the right reporter.
Study your local news. Who's writing about home sales with the paper? Is there a business reporter with one of the local TV stations who would care about the latest sales trend? Pick up the phone and call them. Tell them why their readers or viewers need to know what you are seeing on the frontline. And if the reporter passes on the story, it's no big deal. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and call another one.
2. Public Speaking
Every service club and Chamber of Commerce on the planet needs speakers. In fact, most Lions, Rotary and Kiwanis clubs need 52 speakers a year. It's an audition for dozens of new customers and yet many clubs struggle to find a speaker each week.
Even Even if you don't think you're a gifted speaker, most people will do just fine if they're talking about something they're passionate about. Come up with a 15-minute talk about "Giving Great Customer Service" or "How to Make a Home Sell Faster" and tell your story. Talk about what you do to make sure the "Sold" sign goes up in a matter of weeks rather than months or what you do to thrill your customers so much that they end up becoming your biggest word-of-mouth marketers.
3. Email Newsletters
If you aren't collecting email addresses and keeping in touch with your customers, you're leaving money on the table. No longer do you have to lick stamps to send out a newsletter. These online newsletters known as "ezines" cost nothing to send. But be careful not to become just another piece of spam.
Send your customers a weekly or monthly email with a valuable tip that will make their life easier. Don't create a long boring newsletter. People won't read it. A brief business tip or life lesson is all you need. It's just a nice way of keeping in touch so that if someone happens to need a new mousetrap or knows of someone else who does; your mousetraps are top of mind. And if your information is valuable, your old customers will help you find new ones by forwarding your email. Many people have created email lists of tens of thousands of names reaching more readers than many newspapers.
Those are just three simple ways you can jumpstart your marketing efforts without spending a dime. Just try one idea. What do you have to lose other than perhaps your anonymity? And if you're marketing that mousetrap effectively, you'll find a long line of customers beating a path to your door ready to take the bait.
By: Jeff Crilley
And you don't have to mount some expensive marketing campaign to get the word out. The truth is there are plenty of ways to market that mousetrap even if the only thing in your pocket is lint.
1. Free Publicity
The world's appetite for news is insatiable. With 24-hour TV news networks, online newspaper coverage and all-news radio stations, media outlets have created a beast that needs constant feeding.
Don't wait to be discovered. Ask yourself a couple of simple questions: "What is my story and who is going to tell it?" You already built the mousetrap, but forget about catching mice for a minute. It's time to catch the attention of the right reporter.
Study your local news. Who's writing about home sales with the paper? Is there a business reporter with one of the local TV stations who would care about the latest sales trend? Pick up the phone and call them. Tell them why their readers or viewers need to know what you are seeing on the frontline. And if the reporter passes on the story, it's no big deal. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and call another one.
2. Public Speaking
Every service club and Chamber of Commerce on the planet needs speakers. In fact, most Lions, Rotary and Kiwanis clubs need 52 speakers a year. It's an audition for dozens of new customers and yet many clubs struggle to find a speaker each week.
Even Even if you don't think you're a gifted speaker, most people will do just fine if they're talking about something they're passionate about. Come up with a 15-minute talk about "Giving Great Customer Service" or "How to Make a Home Sell Faster" and tell your story. Talk about what you do to make sure the "Sold" sign goes up in a matter of weeks rather than months or what you do to thrill your customers so much that they end up becoming your biggest word-of-mouth marketers.
3. Email Newsletters
If you aren't collecting email addresses and keeping in touch with your customers, you're leaving money on the table. No longer do you have to lick stamps to send out a newsletter. These online newsletters known as "ezines" cost nothing to send. But be careful not to become just another piece of spam.
Send your customers a weekly or monthly email with a valuable tip that will make their life easier. Don't create a long boring newsletter. People won't read it. A brief business tip or life lesson is all you need. It's just a nice way of keeping in touch so that if someone happens to need a new mousetrap or knows of someone else who does; your mousetraps are top of mind. And if your information is valuable, your old customers will help you find new ones by forwarding your email. Many people have created email lists of tens of thousands of names reaching more readers than many newspapers.
Those are just three simple ways you can jumpstart your marketing efforts without spending a dime. Just try one idea. What do you have to lose other than perhaps your anonymity? And if you're marketing that mousetrap effectively, you'll find a long line of customers beating a path to your door ready to take the bait.
By: Jeff Crilley
Friday, February 13, 2009
Train Your Sphere Of Influence To Be Your Personal Sales Force
Everyone is attracted to success. Have you ever noticed that powerful people attract other powerful people? People love to be around others that share a passion for excellence, they also love to see others succeed. Your sphere of influence should be viewed as an extension of your own business, your own personal sales force.Your salespeople actually have a very easy job, all they have to do is keep their ear to the ground, and if they hear of anyone considering buying or selling real estate, they send you a referral. Believe it or not, your sphere of influence is ready, willing and able to send you referrals. So, why aren't they right now?
As any great sales manager (which is what you have become) will tell you, great salespeople are not born, they are created! How? Through training! You have to train, or condition, your sphere of influence to send you referrals. They don't know how to do it, or why they should do it, unless you explain it to them.
This training program is a long term project. It's not just one letter, one postcard, or one phone call, it's ongoing. You should be continually training your sphere to send you referrals over the long haul.
Now believe me when I say this -- There is a right way to do this and a very wrong way. I think you can easily imagine the wrong way, which is calling your sphere of influence every other week and asking them -- "Who do you know that is ready to buy or sell today?" How would you feel about that call after about three phone calls? Not good, right?
Instead, when creating a marketing strategy you must always ask the WIFM question -- What's In It For Me? Because that is exactly what your clients will do when you ask them for anything. The bottom line is that members of your sphere of influence are just like any other client, they want something before they give you something.
For some it may just be a thank you, or the presence of your company, for others it may be to be kept up to date on the progress of the referral, for others it may keeping an eye out for who you may be able to refer to their business. I call this their key. Every person has a different key.
What if you took the time to identify each of your clients unique set of keys. Imagine the size of your key ring! But consider the doors that these figurative keys might unlock. The opportunities are endless!
One way to do this, lead with a clients needs. By asking the client a simple question, for instance -- "Listen, I would love to earn your referrals, is there anything I can do help you with any of your projects?" You may find clients will have a need you can help to fill.
Give and you shall receive. The law of reciprocity is a powerful one that can reap huge rewards. So put that personal sales force to work today and starting asking for more referrals!
Realtytimes.com by Jim Remley
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
How Does a New Agent Get Listings?
The short answer is to build a database, so you can use contact software to maintain a relationship with people you know and meet online. Frequent and steady contact lets them know you take your business seriously and you want them as your clients, which is flattering to anyone.The long answer is much more complex:
How do you want to work?
Who is an appropriate prospect?
What is an appropriate method of contacting this person?
How can you get your value as an agent across to that person?
The first thing to do is to focus on acquiring clients, rather than listings. Here are some ways to focus your business: Decide what kind of business you want to build.
A common mistake many agents make, especially in a big city like Dallas, is spreading yourself too thin. You've already stated that you want listings, so let's start there. Ask yourself if there is a way to narrow your search for clients with listings. Most agents accomplish this by choosing a neighborhood to farm such as the area where they live, or by specializing in a certain type of home such as new homes in master-planned communities or older homes of historical interest, or condos and townhomes. Is there an area or type of home that interests you? This way you can become known as the expert.
Don't be afraid that you will miss business by not becoming a general agent. You have to keep your time, advertising costs and other limiting factors in mind. If you are going to farm a neighborhood, hanging fliers, mailers and knocking on doors and introducing yourself is a good way to start. You will find your contacts will take you around the city without having to go to the expense of farming the entire city.
Appropriate contacts are everyone you meet.
Appropriate contacts are people you want to do business with, but have an open mind as to where you can develop these potential customers. While many agents start with family and friends, don't stop there. Remember that people like your dry cleaner, barber, fitness trainer and others you have daily contact with have already met you. It is a lot easier to do business with people who know and like you.
Include groups of people in your database you don't see often, like former school chums, club and church members, sports acquaintances, business networking coffee groups, and neighbors. You'll be surprised how many people you know.
Ask each person for their contact information, especially email, and tell them you want to send them some information about what you're doing and that you hope to help them one day with a move. The worst that can happen is they say no, and the best is that they give you the information that one day leads to a sale.
Ask permission to contact prospects.
They appreciate it. Ask the people you know and meet how they prefer to be contacted -- by email, business phone, cell phone, and if it would be all right for you to keep them posted about the marketplace. You can do this with email newsletters, postcards, phone calls, and other means.
Your efforts will be appreciated. There isn't a renter who isn't wondering if now is the time to buy. You can keep renters informed about new building projects in their neighborhood, or good deals in affordable properties, and how prices are changing from month to month. People are interested in opportunities, so that's what you want to keep in front of them. So you mix in a few buyers while you're trying to get listings... it's all business.
Most of your contacts, however, will be homeowners. There isn't a homeowner who isn't interested in how well their home is doing compared to the open market. Even if they have no immediate plans to sell, they enjoy knowing that their home is worth X amount more than what they paid. They also enjoy knowing local market conditions that affect the value of homes. Who knows? You might send them a piece of information that encourages them to make a move.
Even though you don't have a lot of experience, you can make yourself sound more expert by paying attention to what is happening locally -- all by reading the local paper and staying in touch with your local chamber of commerce or visitor's bureau to find out what's happening. Your local association should also have meetings and special information for their members so you will know if big deals such as new housing developments are happening or a new company is transferring employees to town.
You have value even if you are new to the industry.
Don't worry about being new to the industry -- there is plenty of support for new agents if you know where to look for it. Don't be afraid to quote your local association or MLS when it has homebuying statistics or news to report. Attend association meetings and listen to what the guest appraisers, developers, and city planners have to say. Join a networking group. Keep building your online skills.
Your previous career and school experiences can be valuable to homebuyers and sellers. Use it! If you have ever rented a home, bought a home, worked with numbers, managed or worked with people, decorated a room, bought a boat, scaled up or down in residence, you have valuable insights for your prospects.
You have powers of observation.
Listen carefully when people talk, and you'll soon hear those tell-tale signs that they might be considering a change. Drive your neighborhood, and note which houses are looking improved. You'll get a feel for which neighbors to chat up -- is the one putting up a new roof thinking of selling?
People appreciate enthusiasm and are inclined to give new people a chance. If you don't have the answer, say so, but you can immediately follow up by saying you know where to get it.
Get help if you need it. Trail or offer to help a top producer with an open house, so you can watch a pro in action. Don't be afraid to partner with another agent on a listing until you learn the ropes. Take advantage of every training session your broker or association provides.
Don't lose hope. Getting your name out there is the hardest part, and if you follow these suggestions, coupled with a willingness to serve your clients' needs, you'll soon have enough business to keep you busy.
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