[vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”80px”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” css_animation=””][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]

Welcome Realtors, and Referral Partners. Below are articles intended to help you grow your business, and find success in a competitive industry. I work diligently to make sure your clients are well taken care of, and I intend to do the same for you.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/6″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”80px”][vc_accordion active_tab=”false” collapsible=”yes” style=”toggle”][vc_accordion_tab title=”Aligning with Complimentary Professionals”][vc_column_text]

Overview of the Strategy

One of the most effective, cost-efficient, and grass roots ways of building referral business is by looking to align yourself with other professionals that are in complimentary industries to your own. This will allow you to establish a relationship and potentially begin providing potential referrals to one another in the near future. Most Realtors don’t realize that there are over 75 complimentary industries that you can align with that offer great relationship and referral sources

Examples of markets aligning together that are complimentary

• Mortgage Broker and Realtor
• Realtor and Professional Organizer
• Realtor and Accountant

How you can start implementing this Strategy into your Business

Step 1

You want to align yourself with a minimum of 10 Complimentary Referral Partners! The Ultimate goal is to have 10 referrals partners who give you at least 1 referral each per month.

Step 2

As a Realtor I think the following categories would be a good alignment for you:

• Financial Planner
• Divorce Lawyer
• Interior/Exterior Painter
• Professional Organizer

Look to compile at least 10 markets that you want to align with, and then find 2 professionals in each market and connect with them about working together to build business. It is a numbers game BUT don’t think you need to have relationships with every painting company look for one or two that you seem to have rapport with and build from there.

Step 3

As Cold-Calling is not an efficient way of opening up a relationship start with an introduction email and then we place a follow up call a few days later to see if the prospect may be open to chatting. Such as:

Hi Name, my name is {Your Name Here} and I am a Realtor based here in the Lower Mainland. I wanted to drop you a quick email instead of interrupting you over the phone. The reason for my email is because I came across your website and think that we are very complimentary to each other as I see you work in the residential market – which I also provide my services to. I know that we do not know each other but was wondering if you might be open to having a quick chat over the phone? I am always looking for professionals that are complimentary to me to see if there is a way that we might work together to build some business. I also think it would be beneficial for me to have someone like you in my network that I can refer my clients to if needed.

I promise I will not be giving you a Sales pitch just a chance to learn more about each other and potential ways we may do some work together.

Please know I take NO as easily as YES

Kind Regards,

Step 4

Once you have sent your emails make a note to place follow up phone calls to your potential complimentary professionals. Once you have a chance to connect some of the questions you may ask them can include:

• How do you currently market your business?
• Do you have any other professionals that you have aligned with?
• How can I help you right now? Can I make any introductions for you?

[/vc_column_text][/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”How to ‘work a room’ at a Networking event”][vc_column_text]Attending networking events is great for two reasons:

1. You can meet potential complimentary referral partners
2. You can meet potential prospects for your business

Some of the biggest issues when working a Networking event:

• Not having the time to make enough connections with people
• Not getting any quality connections
• Speaking with a number of people that you don’t feel is a good fit

Here are 3 Golden Strategies that you should be using at the next networking event:

1) Have a Strategy – Have a list of industry types that you would like to connect with before you get to the event

Many Realtors will simply head to a networking event with any plan or strategy of the types of people that you want to meet when you arrive. By having a plan of the best types of people you want to connect with you will have a much greater chance of making the event worthwhile. Remember that time is your only limited resource. Use it wisely!

2) Pre-Contact people you know will be attending before you get to the event

Many events know have an RSVP list where you can see who will be attending the networking events. Go through the list of contacts, find the industries that you want to take the time to meet with (see point #1 up top!) and make a connection before you get to the event.

3) Leverage the people in the Room

One of the best ways to work a room at a networking event is to have people brought to you. The next networking event you attend I want you to choose 6-9 different industries that you are looking to connect with: i.e. Lawyer, Professional Organizer, Landscaper, Plumber, etc.

When you introduce yourself to someone here is how the conversation should go:

YOU: Hi, my name is Bob, what do you do?

THEM: My name is Mike I am a Social Media Consultant. What about you Bob?

YOU: I am a Realtor. Say, Mike I was wondering if you might be able to help me out. Do you know if there are any Lawyers, Professional Organizers, or Landscapers in the room tonight? I am looking at making a connection with them to add to my network of providers.

At this point Mike is going to do one of three things:

1. He is going to say Yes and go off to find that person and bring them back to introduce them to you
2. He is going to say I am not sure and will keep an eye out for you – as soon as he comes across that person he will bring them to you
3. He won’t know or meet anyone in the room that night but he has a colleague who is a Landscaper / Professional Organizer / Lawyer and will look to connect you after the event

If you look to do this with each person you chat with (switching up the industries as you speak to people) they will work the room for you. Pretty soon you will have more than enough contacts wanting to speak with you and you will have more connections to get you more listings or referral partners!

[/vc_column_text][/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”Follow up script to get a meeting from a networking event”][vc_column_text]“Hi Name, it was great to meet you at the {Insert Event Name} last night. I just wanted to follow up and let you know how much I enjoyed meeting you and I am sorry that we didn’t have a chance to chat further. Would you be interested in grabbing a quick coffee or having a quick chat over the phone in the near future?

Even from our brief conversation that we had last night I think we had some great professional rapport and would like to learn more about what you do and chat with you more about what I do. I promise you I will not be giving you a Sales pitch just an opportunity to learn more about each other.”

Remember! The only goal of this follow up email is to get you to that next touch point with the prospect. Don’t try to re-introduce and sell your services in a follow up![/vc_column_text][/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”Review your Prospects for the past 12 Months that expressed an interest in working with you”][vc_column_text]Review your prospects for the past 12 months that expressed an interest but for some reason you were never able to connect with, or didn’t hear back from.

Eighty percent of your appointments will come from lead follow up. That is massive! Remember, if you are not following up with the people you are talking to, another Realtor will. Knowing that most listings and prospect appointments come from you following up you need to commit to a solid follow up process and system.

Don’t let Leads slip through the cracks! Has there ever been a time when you forgot to follow up with a lead, and then when you finally did, you found out that another agent contacted them and got the listing? Never let happen again, commit to being that “Follow up Guru” and get the business!

How you can start implementing this Strategy into your Business:

Step 1

Go through the previous 12 months of contacts. You should review all the ways that prospects can contact you and expressed an interest (even just a slight interest):

• Look through your emails from prospects
• Prospects that have phoned you
• Business Cards of people you met at Networking and Social Events
• Messages to you from Facebook, Twitter, and other Social Media sources
• Go through your Customer Relationship Management system or whatever you use to track your prospects
• Go through your paper files or notes

Step 2

Once you have compiled your list of prospects and contacts you will want to reconnect with them either by an Email or Phone call.

Sample Email Script to Reconnect with Contacts

“Hi {First Name}, my goodness how time flies! I just wanted to drop you a quick follow up and see how you are doing? I can’t believe how quickly the time seems to go. Back in {Insert Month they contacted you} you had emailed with a few questions and I just wanted to see how you are doing. Are you still in the process of looking for a home?

{First Name}, I would love the opportunity to re-connect. Do you have time for a quick coffee or chat over the phone?

I hope all is well and will follow up in a few days just to make sure you received my email.

Cheers,”

Step 3

If you are not already doing so. Make sure you have a good way of tracking your prospects and contacts that you make so that Once you have compiled your list of prospects and contacts you will want to reconnect with them either by an Email or Phone call.

80% of Realtor Business comes from follow-up

20% comes from direct contact[/vc_column_text][/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”Creating a Target Market: How to engage Divorce Lawyers”][vc_column_text]Besides the local “farming” that you do in a specific geographic region you should also be looking to develop a minimum of two (2) target markets in your Real Estate practice.

One Target Market that you may consider is Divorce Lawyers. As people are getting divorced there will usually be a need to sell an existing house and potential purchase of a new house so it can be an EXCELLENT market for you.

How you can start implementing this Strategy into your Business

Step 1

Your first step is to locate Divorce lawyers to engage with. There are a number of sources to locate them:

• Networking Events
• Industry Association Events
• Asking your Existing contacts if they know of any Divorce Lawyers
• Internet Research
• Through the BC Law Firm Association

Step 2

Your second step is to introduce yourself BUT not sell them. As Cold-Calling is not an efficient way of opening up a relationship start with an introduction email and then we place a follow up call a few days later to see if the prospect may be open to chatting. A sample email you could send:

Sample Email for Divorce Lawyers

Hi Name, my name is {Your Name Here} and I am a Realtor based here in the Lower Mainland. I wanted to drop you a quick email instead of interrupting you over the phone. The reason for my email is because I came across your website and think that we are very complimentary to each other as I see you work with families who are taking the step to end their marriages.

Name, I know that we do not know each other but was wondering if you might be open to having a quick chat over the phone? I am always looking for professionals that are complimentary to me to see if there is a way that we might work together to build some business. I also think it would be beneficial for me to have someone like yourself in my network that I can refer my clients to if needed.

I promise I will not be giving you a Sales pitch just a chance to learn more about each other and potential ways we may do some work together.

Please know I take NO as easily as YES

Kind Regards,

Step 3

Once you have sent your emails make a note to place follow up phone calls to your potential Divorce Lawyers. You are not making a Cold call you are simply following up to make sure they received your email. Once you have a chance to connect some of the questions you may ask them can include:

• How do you currently market your business?
• Do you have any other professionals that you have aligned with?
• How can I help you right now? Can I make any introductions for you?

[/vc_column_text][/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”How to deal with the two most common objections that Realtors receive (and win the business!)”][vc_column_text]Objections are apart of the game. You need to know how to address some of the most common objections in order to land the deal.

“I have a friend / I know someone in the business”

“Mr. Prospect I can appreciate that everyone knows someone who is in Real Estate. Have you had a chance to sit down with your friend and interview them on exactly what they can do for you in terms of marketing and attracting attention to sell your house? (I will be seeing her next Tuesday evening) – Fantastic! I am glad you have taken that step – Why don’t I come over after you have met with her and I can talk to you about what I offer and what I can do to sell your house – and at that point you will have all the information you need to make an informed decision. Does that sound fair?”

“I don’t want to pay the high commission fees”

This objection usually follows a poor presentation on the part of the agent. The prospect will look to see what they can get out of you by putting up the objection.

Mr Prospect, I appreciate your concern and I know that you want the best for you. I believe the agents who are willing to cut their fees are desperate, if they are willing to cut their fee they usually are the first ones who also cut the price of your home when negotiating.  I don’t do either of those.

I work in Real Estate full time and work long days to find the right buyers and negotiate the absolute best deal for you.  I don’t de-value my service, and I certainly don’t sell your house short.

That’s the kind of agent you want in your corner, isn’t it?”

(If Yes):  “Fantastic let’s get started”
(If No): “I appreciate your time. If your house doesn’t sell, or if you’re not happy with the results, please give me a call. Good Luck!

Broker Name |  HYPERLINK “mailto:[email protected]” [email protected] | 604-290-8915
      Suite 114 – 13030 76th Avenue, Surrey, BC V3W 1A3[/vc_column_text][/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”Getting to know your Target markets”][vc_column_text]It is always best if you choose some target markets that you have a connection to whether it is a hobby, a passion, a previous job etc.

Questions to ask yourself:

• What are my hobbies?
• What am I passionate about?
• What previous jobs have I held?
• Are you apart of any civic/religious/association groups?
• What are my business strengthens and weaknesses?
• Are there services that my competitors are not providing for their customers that I could provide?
• What could you create, explain, demonstrate or research that might be of interest to others?
• What do you know how to do particularly well?
• What are my skills? (List all your skills)
• What comes naturally to me?

Target Market Examples for Realtors

• Senior Markets
• Outside Investors (Washington State)
• Condominiums in a specific city

[/vc_column_text][/vc_accordion_tab][vc_accordion_tab title=”How to increase your Income Sources for your business”][vc_column_text]It is common for most Realtors to receive business from a few different areas. The geographic location that they choose to farm, friends and family, and existing clients.

To increase the amount of referrals, prospects, and clients you need to have at least 6 income sources flowing in your business at a minimum!

Income Sources are:

• The “Everyone” market (this is your general market)
• Target Market #1
• Target Market #2
• Your Love Network (Family and Friends)
• Existing Clients
  Your Geographic Farm

Let’s talk about Target Markets. A target market is a narrowly focused and well defined segment of the market. Picture a Dart Board. The entire dart board is everyone who is looking to buy or sell Real estate. Think of your target market as the Bull’s-eye. The more focused target market(s) you can define the more defined you can make your marketing strategies to “resonate” with that market. This makes it easier for you to become the “expert realtor” in that market

There are literally hundreds of target markets with an under-served market for you to go after.

Sample Target Markets

• Divorce Lawyers
• Realtors in areas outside of your location i.e Clients from Washington looking to invest in Canadian Real Estate
• Professional Women in Vancouver
• For Sale By Owner (in specific cities)
• Senior Citizens
• How you can start implementing this Strategy into your Business

Step 1

Start by defining Two Target Markets that you would like to go after. The reason you want two Target markets is because you don’t want to put all of your eggs in one basket.

Step 2

Once you know the Target Markets that you would like to go after you will want to do some research to learn more about those targets and how to best to begin penetrating them.

For each market you will want to:

• Research to see what competition is in the market and what they offer
• Look up any Networking or Industry association events you can attend
• Read Trade Magazines, Newspapers, Articles, and documents to learn about the industry
• Look to see what complimentary professionals service that market
• Find out how big the market is

Step 3

Now that you know who you want to target and you have researched the industry you will want to develop 3 – 4 marketing strategies to begin engaging the prospects within the market.

• i.e. Look to hold seminars / webinars
• Develop relationships with all the complimentary professionals in the market
• Look to attend Industry Association Events, Conferences etc.

Getting to know your Target markets

It is always best if you choose some target markets that you have a connection to whether it is a hobby, a passion, a previous job etc.

Questions to ask yourself:

• What are my hobbies?
• What am I passionate about?
• What previous jobs have I held?
• Are you apart of any civic/religious/association groups?
• What are my business strengthens and weaknesses?
• Are there services that my competitors are not providing for their customers that I could provide?
• What could you create, explain, demonstrate or research that might be of interest to others?
• What do you know how to do particularly well?
• What are my skills? (List all your skills)
• What comes naturally to me?

Target Market Examples for Realtors

• Senior Markets
• Outside Investors (Washington State)
• Condominiums in a specific city

[/vc_column_text][/vc_accordion_tab][/vc_accordion][vc_empty_space height=”80px”][/vc_column][/vc_row]