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[00:00:04] Well, hello, everyone. We’re so glad you joined us again today. My name is Kenny Thomas. For those of you who haven’t heard my voice yet. And welcome to this next session. I was calling you Beatty Carmichael. Beatty is the CEO of Master Grabber, the creator of Agent Dominator and one of the top marketing experts in the real estate field. Beatty, I’m excited. What are we going to be discussing today?

[00:00:29] Well, today we’re going to talk about how to increase referrals. That sounds like a interesting topic for real estate agents.

[00:00:37] Yes, I would say a very important one also.

[00:00:40] Absolutely, very important. In fact, I was at a convention. It was a a weekend convention, hundreds of real estate agents. And they had a bunch of breakout sessions on the Saturday event that agents could go and choose what topic they want to learn. And one breakout session, Drew, I think it was like two thirds or three fourths of all of the attendees and all the other breakout sessions. Some of them actually had no one attending because this other one drama. Can you. Can you think what that one topic might have been when they get referral?

[00:01:24] That’s right. How to increase referrals. Exactly. I was talking to another client of ours, and he’s a top producer down in Florida. He’s been coaching with a coach for a number of years. And the coach got all of his coaching clients together. It’s like 18 or 20 different, really strong top producing agents. And they went around the room actually as a conference call. So they went around the call and they were asking every single one last year, where did most of your business come from? Would you like to guess where all but one, my client, all the others who are the bulk of their business came from?

[00:02:09] Any idea?

[00:02:12] Referral, referrals and repeat from past clients. So this, if you do it right, can really sustain a business. And especially think about this, Penny, the real estate world is going into through some pretty dramatic shifts right now. Are you aware of some of those shifts taking place?

[00:02:36] I’ve been hearing a little bit, but I’d love for you to expand on that if you can.

[00:02:40] Well, there are shifts with what’s called a buyer’s Zillow’s moving more into an aggressive competitor. Amazon’s looking to get in.

[00:02:49] There’s this large class-action court case dealing with buyer commissions. And the bottom line is all these things are putting immense pressure on what’s going to happen in the real estate world as a profession. What do you think would be one the best thing someone could do to protect to get all these market shifts that could eat away at their business? Any idea?

[00:03:17] Obviously, increase increased their amount of sales to increase sales, but increase referrals and repeat sales from past clients. And so this is a huge topic because it really can help someone take their business and solidify it and be less susceptible to a range of market forces that they have no control over. And this is one thing that’s real interesting is I’ve worked with our clients. Penny, you have complete control over getting referrals and getting people to do business with you again. You don’t have much control over what the market does. So this is one area that you can really start to control your business. So let me ask you a question as we get into this.

[00:03:59] Let’s assume that you’re a home owner and a friend comes to you and says, hey, Penny, I’m thinking about selling a house or thinking about buying a house. Do you have anyone that you would recommend I talk to? So you’re going to make a referral, refer a friend to an agent. Here’s the question I have for you. Which agent are you most likely to refer? One, that you would choose yourself or one that you would not choose yourself?

[00:04:34] One that I would choose myself for sure.

[00:04:37] So then the question if we move into this topic. Why would you choose one agent over someone else? Okay, so now let me turn the tables just a little bit. Imagine for a moment that your real estate agent, what causes someone to choose you over another agent? If you were to try to figure that out, do you have any idea of what that might be?

[00:05:04] Well, off the top of my head, I would have to say my level of service and commitment to my client, how available I am and how relational I am. There needs first.

[00:05:17] Okay. Now, let me ask you a question. That person who has never done business with you before. How do you articulate these things that you’re talking about? How do you express to them what you just mentioned?

[00:05:36] Customer service being available for the client. Just getting to know them. Engaging with them. Phone calls, meetings, that kind of thing.

[00:05:48] Okay, so here’s the problem I want to pose. I, um, I actually sat down with three agents when we’re thinking about selling our home. And from top producing agents like the number two sales agent in our suburban city all the way down to good producers. And I asked him the question, why should I choose you over one of these other agents that’s really qualified? You know what they said?

[00:06:14] What? I don’t know.

[00:06:18] They could not give me a reason why I should choose them over someone else. So think about that. Now think about your answer to because what you shared with me is what most agents would say. Customer service, I’m available. I’m engaging with them. But how do you really quantify or measure that? But more importantly, how do you. What do you do to get someone to choose you? I’d like to suggest there’s a different reason people choose you than what you just gave. And here’s the point. Here’s the thing. What you gave is the reason all agents think people choose them.

[00:06:55] But when you really boil it down, the reason a homeowner chooses an agent either personally or to refer them is for something completely different. It ties in to what you mentioned, but it’s completely different. Until you know why they choose you. Does it make sense? It’s hard to get them to choose you.

[00:07:15] Yes.

[00:07:16] So if you want them to choose you, we got to go a little bit deeper. Peel back the onion a little bit more and say what the fundamental reasons they choose an agent. And once we know what that is. Then you’ve got a competitive advantage, because now you can start doing things that cause them to charge you more. So this is what working with clients. One of the things that has happened over the years is I’ll follow up I follow up with our clients and they just get started with us with Agent Dominator. Once they’ve been with us for a month or two and they’re starting to get their feet on the ground with us. And I cover this very same topic because this is the most important thing. My goal when I call them, is to ensure their success with us. And success is simple because success is a pattern. If you fail to do the pattern, you will fail the success. So here’s what I tell them. People two for three reasons. And all three of these reasons have to be present. It’s like a stool with three legs. If you take one leg off that stool. What happens to the stool? Okay. So unbeknownst to most agents, these are actually the three reasons people do business with you.

[00:08:38] And once you can clarify and quantify these, then you can start to act on improving them in the experience. Number one is they like you, right? Do you know a person that would choose you as an agent if they did not like you?

[00:08:54] Absolutely not.

[00:08:55] Okay. The more they like you. Is it likely the more they’re going to choose you? Yes. Okay. So liking you. By the way, I just want to. Does that have anything to do with customer service being available that been engaging? Or does it? Are all those different than simply disliking you?

[00:09:17] I think it all. I think they all tied together.

[00:09:19] They all tied together. But as a person, as a friend, I want to suggest that those qualities of what you do as a professional are separate from the qualities of why someone chooses to like you as a friend.

[00:09:38] Does that make sense? Yeah. This liking you starts initially at the very top level. Most powerful is that they really like you as a friend. If you have five real estate agents that you know and one of them is your best friend. Which of those five agents are you most likely to choose?

[00:09:57] My best friend. There you go. Relationship trumps everything else. So that’s number one. Number two, the third. First, they like you. Second, they trust your expertise. As a real estate agent, this is where your customer service. This is where you’re always available. This is where you are constantly staying on top of things. This is where you understand the contracts. You understand the process and negotiation. You understand what buyers want. You understand what sellers want. It is this professional level of expertise within your craft.

[00:10:37] The third reason they choose you is you happen to be top of mind at the time that they’re thinking about choosing an agent. If you’re not top of mind, then you’re never going to be chosen, right?

[00:10:54] Okay, so all of these kind of tie into each other to put them like circles on a page. They all kind of overlap to a degree, but they all have different functions. And I want to walk through. How do you do that? So let me ask you if I were to ask you, Penny. How do you get someone to like you?

[00:11:16] What would you tell me?

[00:11:22] Oh, gosh, that’s a really that’s a broad question. I think it depends on the person. I would have to get to know their needs and the things that make them feel white. Some people feel white when you buy them a gift. Some people feel liked when you spend time with them.

[00:11:41] Some people feel like when you do a service for them, some sort of act of service. You have to get to know the person first and kind of figure out what it is that makes them feel like, okay. I would probably from a business standpoint, I’d probably try to like them in that way.

[00:11:58] Okay, good, good, good. Now you’re married to Brian, right? Yes. When Brian was dating you, how did you.

[00:12:11] Grow to like him. Spending time with him. Lots of time.

[00:12:18] That’s just the simple answer, you just spend time with people, right? Yeah. Okay. If you wanted to get someone to trust your expertise.

[00:12:30] How do you do that?

[00:12:34] Let’s hear yes. Yes. No, no. Okay. Simple answer. But I think integrity has a lot to do with it.

[00:12:44] Okay. All right. How do you get someone to always remember you? Keep well, you top of mind with them.

[00:12:56] I would need to stay in contact with them in multiple ways, whether it’s a phone call or text message, email, planning to take them to coffee or something like that. I’m always on their mind.

[00:13:09] So here’s where I’m going with all of these simple questions. For someone to want to choose you or refer you, they have to like you, trust your expertise and you have to be top of mind.

[00:13:21] All you have to really do is ask your ask yourself this question is how do I get someone to like me? How do I get someone to trust me, not trust me as an individual? That’s important, but trust me as a professional in my trade of selling real estate, how do I get someone to always remember me? I’d like to go through just a real short synopsis of how to do all these things, because this is the key to getting referrals. If they like you a lot, if they trust your expertise a lot. And if you happen to be top of mind, does it does it make. Does it make sense that you’re absolutely going to be getting that referral? When when someone asked them, who should I use as a real estate agent?

[00:14:06] So it’s really not a mystery. It’s just stopping slowing down and saying. What’s really at play and how do we do it? So let me talk about liking you first. Okay. Okay. So ultimately everything you said about liking is absolutely correct. But I like to try to simplify a little bit more. Ultimately a relationship. Is all about. Do you truly value me as a person when you are spending time with Brian, did it. Was it clear that he valued you as a person? And the more he valued you, did that kind of make you value him more?

[00:14:48] Yes.

[00:14:51] So the question then is how do you go about just making people know that you value them? Let me let me suggest if I call you up, I’m a I’m a real estate agent, your friend. Hey, Penny, how’s it going? What do you say? All right. Oh, we’re doing fine. It’s a beautiful day. The kids are great. Are your kids home from college or high school?

[00:15:16] Yeah, I’m from high school, from high school.

[00:15:19] I know how that works. Hey, by the way, do you know anyone who’s thinking about buying or selling a home anytime soon?

[00:15:27] I do, actually, my neighbor.

[00:15:29] Okay. Pull out. Do I value you as an individual or as a sales prospect from that call?

[00:15:38] Both.

[00:15:41] Which way do you. When I finished hanging up the call and you were to ask yourself what was Betty’s motivation in calling me? What comes top of mind of my motivation? Personal or business? Business. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Here’s here’s the interesting thing about relationships. Relationships are fragile. All it takes is one inclusion. That is not an authentic relationship. And it turns the table on the entire experience. And takes away. From the authentic portion of that relationship, does that make sense to use the wording?

[00:16:23] No. Yeah, that makes perfect sense.

[00:16:25] So what happens in a relationship? It’s a sensitive situation. And if you want to get people to like you, your contact with them needs to be purely relational. Not business. Business will come if they like you. But if you ask for a business immediately, that engagement you had with them is perceived as entirely self-centered, self-motivated simply to get business. And it really had nothing to do with you as a person. Let’s role play that scenario one more time. Hey, Penny, it’s Brady. How’s it going?

[00:17:09] Hey, great. How are you guys?

[00:17:11] Oh, we’re doing super.

[00:17:12] The kids home from high school now they are getting ready for the holidays.

[00:17:17] Oh, I know. That’s wonderful. Tell me about them. You don’t have to go any further. But now the whole conversation is just about you, the kids. Husband, how life is. We share something. And then I say, hey, hey, I’ve got to run. I’ve got an appointment coming up. But I just want to give you a quick call. Hensala hadn’t spoken with you in awhile. Have a great day. Talk soon. Click hang up now a moment. You ask yourself, what was his motivation of that phone call? What comes to mind?

[00:17:46] Just checking on me, just saying hi and friendly.

[00:17:49] Does that make you feel good?

[00:17:51] Yes, absolutely.

[00:17:53] Does that make you feel that I value you as a person and as a friend?

[00:17:58] Yes. Is that tough to do?

[00:18:03] No, no, it’s not. Do most agents do that? No, no. So here is the key. The easiest thing you can do in the world. Most agents don’t do because they get too busy. Right. I feel led to ask this question. If your husband gets too busy. To value you as his wife. What does that do to your marriage?

[00:18:38] Not good things.

[00:18:39] Not good thing. You could actually lose a marriage by being too busy, by not focusing on the little things that are most important, because you get. See, that is the big things that are really the important things in life.

[00:18:52] And we lose out on the relationship. And I would like to suggest that what you do in building your real estate business is very much the same. It’s the little things you do. Just touching people. That’s the most important thing. So now let’s go a step further. Let’s take that same scenario. I call you up. We just have a little fun chat. It doesn’t last long, but I leave the phone call and you’re thinking, I really like Baity. He saw me. Now imagine the next day or two you get a note from me, Penny. It was so good talking and catching up with you. So excited about the kids. Hope you guys have a wonderful holiday season. And I sign it. What does that do to you, your feeling of my value to you at that point? Does it increase it?

[00:19:50] Do you start to start to want to reciprocate that relationship? Does it make you like me more?

[00:20:04] And the more you like me, more likely you’re going to choose me as an agent. More likely you’re going to refer me. Okay. So what I would like to suggest is to get someone to like you and to keep them like you even more. It’s just a periodic reach out. You could even do it by text. Hey, Penny, how’s it going? Just thinking about you. What’s up? Now a text is bad. The default to a phone call. But it’s a nice little touch. It has no ulterior motive behind it. But the phone call is the best because now you can interact, you can ask questions, you can share about you. They get to know you more. They get to you get to know them more is just catching up. And then if you’ll follow up with that with a handwritten note, I suggest that handwritten notice on your real estate stationery. In fact, if I were a real estate agent, I’d get a bunch of note cards printed with my name and my real estate brand and my real estate information. And I would hand write you a note on my real estate card if my note if my personal note comes to you on my real estate card. Does that detract, in your opinion, from the authentic ness of my note? In other words, plenty of so great talking with you. Love catching hope. You guys have a great holiday and I sign it. Does it detract at all if it’s coming from my personal stationery versus my business stationery?

[00:21:41] Actually, I would feel like it was more heartfelt if you actually read it, right.

[00:21:47] Okay. So I handwrite it, but I handwrite write it and it just happens to be on my work stationery. Does that cause any consternation on your end? If you were to get that.

[00:21:56] No, it doesn’t. Okay.

[00:21:59] Okay. Okay. So it may be imperceptible. It may be more. But here’s what I found when talking with one of our one of my friends who has been selling real estate for, gosh, 30 years now. He may actually made it, he said. I’ve never advertised for business. I’ve never spent any money to get business. I’ve always had as much business as I want, in fact, so much that I actually turned business down. And, you know, his number one thing that he does.

[00:22:35] Call people.

[00:22:36] That’s right. He just makes these simple phone calls and he writes them a short note on his business stationery. That’s it. Wow.

[00:22:44] And here’s what happens. They like him. And they remember that he is a real estate agent.

[00:22:54] Top of mind, they like him. Bye bye. Curiously, the fact that he’s in business so long, they trust that he probably has expertise. Unless he’s actually done business with them and then they know that he has expertise. So this is really, really, really powerful. And by putting that little thank you note on a personal on your business, stationery, real estate, it might have a slight detrimental effect. Slightly degrade the touch, the value that touch. I don’t think you’d be much, but what it does is it reinforces two things. I like you as a friend, but then you see me as a real estate agent as well. So that keeps that top of mind. Something else you can do. You mentioned this. Some people love gifts. If I were to drop by your house, even if you’re not there and I leave some cookies and brownies, hey, I was in the area. Normally night out this way. I was in the area. Drop by. I got some brownies for you guys. Hope you enjoy it.

[00:23:59] Does that make you feel good?

[00:24:01] Oh, gosh, yes.

[00:24:03] Does that increase my no pun intended? Does that increase my brownie points in your mind in terms of our relationship? Sure. Okay. Okay. So this is something else you can do, just a little drop by and just say even if you don’t have a gift. Hey, I was in the area showing a house over here to another client. I remember you were here. I just want to drop by and say hello. Does that make you feel good? Yeah. So these are the little things that go a long way. Now, let’s talk about being a little bit more strategic. Okay. So we got the relationship thing. Make sure people like you. They like you because you value their relationship and you demonstrate it because you reach out to them. And when you reach out to them, you mentioned nothing about real estate. Okay. Now it’s okay if you ask me. Hey, Beatty, how’s the house real estate going? Oh, man, it’s going really great. I share a little bit. That’s okay, because I did not volunteer it until you asked it. So it’s still a personal call, but it’s something you can do is take your list of friends, past clients, people you know, and identify those people who are a what I’ll call a connector role. Do you have any idea what a connector role might be?

[00:25:28] I guess I’m assuming it’s just people that like if I’m my neighbor, I have a connection with her and then she knows somebody else. That chain.

[00:25:39] Yep. So people who know other people. So let me give you an idea. Let me let me see if I can kind of lead this discussion just a little bit. You’ve got two people on your list. One person is a local Little League coach. And another person. Is a computer programmer who works from home. Which of those two people do you think would probably be more likely to be a connector to other people for you?

[00:26:14] The first one. Why is that?

[00:26:18] Outside the home, outside the home, I’d like to. There’s one more element. Can you figure out what that element is? Why is the first one the little the Little League coach more likely to become a good connector for you than to work at home? Programmer.

[00:26:35] He knows so many other people.

[00:26:38] That’s it. That’s exactly it. So if you go through your list and ask yourself who is likely to know a lot more people, a lot of times simply by nature of their job, you can determine that a hairdresser, a bank teller, a little league coach, the choir director, a pastor, a youth minister. I mean, I could kind of go down the list, but they all have one thing in common. Their job, their occupation involves working with a lot of people on an ongoing basis. Repeat people in the local area. Does that make sense? Yes. If you were to be friend. The programmer and friend, the literary coach. Which one do you think you would likely get more referrals from? Yeah, for sure. So that’s what I call a connector. And I suggest that you go through your list of people and you start to mark. Okay. First off, let’s make sure you have a list, right. You create a written list. Okay. And then you identify those people who are connectors by virtue of the fact of how many people they probably know locally. Okay. So this would be those people who would just lie for the party. They love people and they know everyone. They may not have a job that is a or type job, but that’s their personality. That’s who they are. My brother, by the way, is that one. He knows everyone in town. And then you, those who have the other jobs that constantly have a flow of people coming through, those people who are connectors, you want to be a lot more strategic with this relationship building.

[00:28:30] You want to pop by. You want to actually put it on sort of a schedule maybe every four to six weeks. Drop by. So let’s say that you work at the bank. You’re a bank teller. Okay. I’m going to swing by. Hey, Penny, I was in the area again, brought you some doughnuts. How are things now? I looked at all the tellers. Now y’all can eat any of these doughnuts without Penny’s permission. These are hers. Okay. All right. Okay. So you feel special, right? Well, now I’ve made you feel really special. The more I do that, when you hear someone coming through, they’re a little old lady or that or that someone coming through the tell tale teller slot and you’re engaging with them because they’re one of your normal clients types things and they’re starting to talk about they’re thinking about selling their home. Who’s the first person you’re likely going to think of referring them to you? Yeah. And when I swing by that date, bring you doughnuts, are you likely going to remember to say, oh, what did so-and-so call you? Because I was talking to so-and-so and they’re thinking about selling their house. You think you might actually. Yeah. So the connectors are going to have their ear to the ground. Because they were involved with all kinds of people all the time. And the stronger the relationship, the more you pursue that relationship, the more likely two things are going to happen. They’re going to refer you.

[00:30:02] And when you happen to pop by, then they’re going to bring back to remember it. Oh, you know what? You’re the real estate agent. This person was saying just a week ago they’re thinking about selling. And it’s going to remind you to tell me because I’m actually there. I can’t. In fact, I can’t tell you how many people have told me. So when they start using our services, we guarantee results. But one of the things that we require is one that we guarantee it is that you have to at least call your prospects. Couple of times a year. I can’t tell you how many times people have told me when I’m just on the phone and I’m talking to them, I’ll pick up a deal because I’ve been getting the postcards, they’re getting the emails, they’re being reminded of me. And now when I call them, it’s like, oh, you know what? A friend of mine is thinking about selling. You ought to call them engagement, interaction that prompts them to remember about the referral. So really, really powerful. So that’s getting them to like you. Back to the question, how do you get someone to like you? You like them back? That’s the easy answer. You do those things that let them know that you liked them. Second thing. So we go back to the store. Three reasons people choose you. They like you. They trust your expertise. And you happen to be top of mind when they’re thinking. So let’s talk about trusting your expertise. Here is the challenge in marketing, there’s a concept known as outside perception versus inside reality.

[00:31:39] Here’s what it means in real estate. Let’s say, Penny, that you are a real estate agent. And you want to market to a group of homeowners. That group could be people that, you know, there’s your personal list or that group could be people that are just in a neighborhood. By the way, let me ask you a question. Is there fundamentally any real difference between someone, you know, who lives in a home and someone you don’t know who lives in a home? In other words, no, there’s no difference, only differences. You have a relationship with one, but not with the other, but they generally have the same like same desires, same feelings. And what we find is this the typical homeowner believes that all real estate agents are the same, that all they do is take a sign in the yard, list a home in the MLS and wait for someone else to bring a buyer. Would you agree that that’s probably what most home owners believe to be true? So let’s say that you are a top notch. Dedicated real estate agent, you serve your clients better, far better than the typical real estate agent. But as long as those homeowners believe that you’re just like anyone else, are they more likely to choose you over someone else? They believe you’re just like everyone else. Are they going to choose you or are they going to choose someone else just as easily, just as easily they would pick someone else for sure.

[00:33:16] Yeah.

[00:33:17] So the implication, real simple, if all agents are the same, it doesn’t matter who I choose to sell my house, I won’t get the same result. Same price and the same amount of time with one agent over another. But let me ask a different question. Let’s assume that those people on that list, your personal list or that neighborhood, if they understood your skill and your expertise. And they understood it to the same degree that you understand it about yourself. Would they realistically choose any other agent besides you? No.

[00:33:50] Okay, so that’s what we call your inside reality there. Outside perception is you’re like everyone else. So there’s no reason to you, but you’re inside. Reality is there’s lots of reasons to choose you. If you could transfer your inside reality to them so they know as much about you as you know about yourself. Would that drive a lot more business? Do you think?

[00:34:18] Yes, absolutely. And fundamentally, why?

[00:34:27] Because there is a connection established.

[00:34:30] There’s a kind of a connection. They know more about you. Right. Let me go back to reason number two. If they understood you’re inside reality, then does that mean that now they are trusting your expertise?

[00:34:47] Yes.

[00:34:48] Because you’re inside, reality is your expertise. And if they don’t know your expertise, they can’t trust it, and therefore, on that stool with three legs, you’re missing one leg. So what do you think would be a simple way to help them trust your expertise?

[00:35:12] Guys, tell me.

[00:35:15] Guys say anything most. Most real estate agents say, oh, gosh, I have no idea. Okay. Because I’ve never thought about this. Let me tell you the easiest thing. Okay. So let me pose it as a question to you. You’re thinking five real estate agents. You’re going to be selling your home, you know, five real estate agents. And one of them you see all the time making another sale, listing another house, closing another sale all the time. Boom, boom, boom. Sold again and sold again and sold again. Just listed. Just listed. Sold again. Sold again. And the other four agents don’t say anything about them all.

[00:35:57] They’re real estate agents out of those five agents. Which one are you going to choose?

[00:36:01] The one that’s always selling for?

[00:36:05] Do you think you trust that they probably have greater expertise than the other four?

[00:36:11] Yes.

[00:36:13] And what was your reasoning behind that?

[00:36:20] The proof is in the pudding. All those things sold, sold, sold by the same person that I know, they’re actually selling houses.

[00:36:28] There you go. It isn’t that easy, isn’t it? That’s the first step. Is simply showing off your successes all the time.

[00:36:38] The way you transfer expertise as you get them to start to trust you more than someone else. And the first level of trust is, are you actually doing what you’re supposed to be doing? Are you selling homes? That’s the first level. But then there’s some things you can do to increase that level of trust. And they’re really simple. Any idea what you might be able to do to increase the trust? Just beyond showing off yourself.

[00:37:02] Probably you would need to offer something, some sort of guarantee.

[00:37:06] Maybe you could. That definitely helps. But before we get to that more complicated thing, let me ask you a question. You have you have those five real estate agents. Two of them you see are constantly selling. Three of them you don’t see anything. So now it’s a choice between those two. One of them, you see. So the other one you see sold for full price, sold in three days, sold for two thousand over asking price. Now, which one do you choose?

[00:37:38] That one. Because I’m getting more thinks about not only are they selling that, they’re selling for more and they’re selling faster.

[00:37:47] Bingo. Okay. So now we add a little bit more information that causes them to trust you more because you’re now telling a little bit more about why they should I sell this home in three days. That’s impressive. I sell this home for full price. That’s impressive. So the more you get to share the inside reality of that sale, the more they start to trust you that maybe you can do the same for them. Makes sense. Yes. OK. Now let’s take it a step further. What do you think? Before we get to a guarantee before you. What do you think? There’s something else I could do. To get someone to trust me even more than simply saying sold in three days or so for full price or something like that. Tell me I can share what I did to cause it to sell that fast. For example, before I put this home on the market. We pre marketed it for an entire week. Mailing to the neighborhood door-knocking, letting people know the home is about to come on the market, and if they have any friends that want to be in this area, let them know.

[00:39:12] We started to we went through the house and we made sure everything was absolutely perfect in order. No, no does. No, no burned-out light bulbs. If there is a room, there was a room that was kind of an awkward color. We had the owner change it back to a neutral color, took away everything that could have been a detriment that would cause someone to go. That’s just not quite a good feel. In other words, the level of preparation and the level of pre marketing I did. So this home faster. Now, if I were to tell you that, does that give you greater confidence in my expertise?

[00:39:47] Absolutely.

[00:39:48] Okay. Yes. And then I could even guarantee to sell it in next days or I pay you or I could do all kinds of things. But trusting your expertise starts with just showing them that you’re always selling. Then showing them what’s going on with those sales. Explaining some more information behind that shows what you did. What you did may be what every agent does, but the homeowner doesn’t know that because no way to tell them. So that’s the second leg. Okay, so back to why did someone why does someone chooses an agent? They like you, they trust you, your expertise. And then you happen to be top of mind. So on top of mind.

[00:40:34] Have you ever heard in selling the ABC of selling? Always be closing. Okay. Well, there’s an ABC in real estate. It’s always been contacting. Right. If you want to stay top of mind, you’re just always there. And this is where the automated remote touch systems are in place come into play. So if you think about this.

[00:41:02] Only you individually can get someone to like you. Your touches need to be personal. Hey, how’s it going? Just thinking about you. Hey, I was thinking about you last week. Hadn’t spoken with you in a while. Just want to call and say, hey. Only you can do those. Your assistant can’t do but everything else in terms of trusting your expertise and staying top of mind. You can now automate that. You can send those out in postcards. You can do an email campaign. You can do social media and constantly be posting, posting just lists at another home to Facebook. And so all your friends are seeing that they’re seeing that activity. You can share write a little explanation of what you did to sell this home in five days. All that can be done in an automated fashion, but you need to be consistent in doing that. But part of that is going to be your personal touches, because that’s another contact part of that’s going to be writing those will hand written notes or doing a pop by. But it’s more on top of mind is more than that. It’s doing all these other things. So now with that as a backdrop, I want to talk the last couple steps about how this realistically put this together. But before I go there, do you have any questions on any of this or how to do it or anything that’s cropped up as we’ve been talking on it?

[00:42:29] I don’t actually I’m interested here. Just this last little part and this thing top of mind and strategies for because I can I can see a lot of agents and I think the best way to stay of mind.

[00:42:44] Let me ask you a question before we get there. What do you think is the number one reason people agents aren’t consistently touching their personal contacts?

[00:42:54] I think for sure they’re too busy.

[00:42:58] Too busy, we don’t have time for that.

[00:43:03] They’re too busy. Don’t have time. And they’re not prepared. Are you? Are you a busy mom? Busy employee?

[00:43:12] Yes.

[00:43:13] Busy wife? Yes. Have you gotten more accomplished in all your roles by bringing structure and knowing what you need to do and having things prepared to do it? Absolutely.

[00:43:27] So here’s a simple thing. If most agents would just create a little bit of structure, then they can easily fit this in their day. The reason they don’t do it is they don’t have the structure in place and it doesn’t take that much effort. Let’s go through the action.

[00:43:48] So let’s put a little bit of structure in place that takes very little time. Number one, make a list. The easiest way to start making a list of who all your friends are.

[00:44:02] Just going through your phone contact, go through your phone contacts and go through your Facebook friends.

[00:44:09] Yeah, I mean, there’s a list right there. So write it down in one spot and then you go through it strategically, add contact in their phone number and what’s their mailing address. Okay. And if you don’t know their phone number or their mailing address or an email address, you probably don’t want Facebook to send a quick message updating my records. Can you give me your mailing address? You know, how many people would give you your mailing address? Their mailing address, if you ask for it? All of them ask for it. Okay. So you put your list together and then this is real important to you. Want to categorize your list by A, B and C.. Okay, everyone, you know. Okay, A, B and C, here’s a simple way of what I understand for this to be most effective as a real estate agent. Aides are going to be those people that you have the closest relationship with. The easy way to understand if you have a close relationship is if you know their spouses name and you know their children’s names and they know your spouse and your children’s name. In other words, the more you know about them, it’s going to be an A.

[00:45:26] Then the bees are going to be the people that you have a relationship with with them individually, but it doesn’t go much further. So this would be like your work relationships. You know, John, down down on the second floor, you see him a lot, but you really you’ve never met his wife. You don’t really know much about the kids. That’s a relationship. A C relationship would be someone that is you. No pun intended. You see them only once in a blue moon. Okay. But you don’t know much about them. So they bfc. Okay. So you start with your A’s and B’s and you then go through and list everyone that is going to be a connector. And if I have a, B or C, that is a connector, I want to move them to an A because that is the priority. And I want to build a relationship with them strategically because I I want that relationship now. So you’re gonna make the A’s B’s. And then depending on how big the list is, you narrowed only to the A’s or the B’s or you include some C’s.

[00:46:34] But generally speaking, like if we’re targeting when we work with real estate agents to help them market to their clients for 500 people is fine because so much of the marketing can be automated. But those that maybe they’re personally touching may only be like two hundred. Okay. So it depends on what you’re doing. But then the next step is once you make the list be strategic. An easy way to be strategic. If you don’t have a fancy system, you put it all on an Excel spreadsheet and you just get loaded to Google Docs. On Google Docs, you can access it from your phone and you can access it from your computer. Does that make sense?

[00:47:14] It does.

[00:47:15] Okay. And then all you do is you put a column on and Google Docs says Date last touched and you scroll through your list. I’ve got five minutes before an appointment. I’m out on the roads. I’m gonna pull up my phone. Go to Google Docs and find the next person on my list that I haven’t touched recently. Their phone number is going to be there and I want to reach out. Hey, pettiest Beatty. How you doing? Hadn’t thought spoken to you in a while. Just wanted to visit a couple minutes. Oh, my appointments here. Gotta run. Okay. So it’s a natural end of the conversation. But you like it. I’ve touched you. I’m gonna write you a handwritten note. Now I’ve got a system in place and it doesn’t really take much time. So structure that approach and working from the list means that now you can go through that list and touch everyone. So let’s go back. And I just want to review a couple of key things. Okay. That, too. Why did people choose you? They like you. They trust your expertise. You happen to be top of mind.

[00:48:16] Your personal touch 100 percent needs to be authentic. Relationship only mentioned nothing about your business unless they ask you don’t ask for a sale. Don’t ask for a referral unless they volunteer it or the conversation just naturally goes that way, but may give them no reason to believe that the motivation of that call was for business purposes. Okay. Now, let me put this back in perspective. So I’m reaching out. I’m touching you. We say hello and checking on the kids. I’ll write you a handwritten note. Couple of weeks later, I may say say hello again. A couple weeks later, I may call. Hey. Question Do you know anyone who’s thinking of buying or selling a home? Does that spoil the relationship that you and I built simply by asking that as a friend?

[00:49:13] Oh, God. That’s a great question.

[00:49:16] I don’t think it was shit. It shouldn’t be a trick question. You and I are friends. And I’ve demonstrated that over time and then I ask and say, hey, you know, anyone who’s thinking of buying or selling home the relationship?

[00:49:32] No. As long as you like. He said you have made that connection and stayed in contact with me on a regular basis. And it’s not like you’re just calling me out of the blue. That’s right.

[00:49:44] That’s right. So here’s the here’s the key. It’s okay to ask for business. But make sure you’ve established and nurture the friendship first and make sure you do it on a call that is strictly business related. Don’t try to make it a personal call and then throw business into it. So keep the personal calls completely separate. And then as a separate event, you can ask for business on another call. And it’s not going to spoil the relationship as long as the momentum of what you’re touches or as long as your touches are really focused. Generally speaking, on the relationship. But that’s your personal touch. Then your automated touches are rarely personal. This is where you get post-card set up. And by the way, as we’re putting the structure in place. Okay, so let’s talk about automation. Let me ask let me ask you, what do you think is more important content or technology?

[00:50:52] Content.

[00:50:53] Content. Exactly. Content is what you say, technology is how you deliver what you say. So don’t get caught up with, oh, I’ve got this real fancy super duper e-mail auto responder system with artificial intelligence in it. That doesn’t. That’s great. But it’s the content that’s most important. Don’t get caught up with. Well, I’ve got this automated postcard marketing system already. I just buy it off the shelf from this company. It’s the content, not the technology. So make sure you focus on the content. On the content. Couple things you really think you really want focus on the core message. You want them to always remember about you. What is that? That makes it unique, that makes you special. That gives them a reason to want to choose you. And you want to make sure that that content is always there. You also want to be on the receiving end of that content. Make sure. Is this something they really want to get for me? Like an email?

[00:51:59] Okay, if your if your email campaign is sending out an e-mail during springtime that says it’s springtime, it’s time to plant flowers. And that’s the whole focus of the e-mail that’s going to take your people off, because that’s just wasting my time to tell me the obvious. Okay. So make sure that what you’re putting out is good. And then the last thing and this is for a lot of agents, also fail. Years back when we started working with real estate agents and we were asking why are you doing business with us? And a lot of these are top producing agents that are doing business with us. And they gave me two answers. One is I need help. In making this happen, because I don’t know what to do the other in about 50 50. The other half says, I know what to do, but I keep starting it. And then something comes up and I stop it. And it’s a year or two before I remembered that I stopped it. Now I need to get back into it. And I’m just not consistent. Okay. So the way that you build that consistency is you create everything up front and then you have what I call lock and load and then you do put on autopilot. So you don’t have to do it if you have to touch it every single week to get another e-mail out, every single month to get another postcard out, you will fail because you will get busy. You’re going to it’s like a diet. You break the diet, you cheat on your diet one meal and it’s three or four months before you realize I’m off my diet because you just totally lost it. Does that make sense?

[00:53:38] Yes, it does. You got to create everything up front and lock and load and then put it on autopilot so you don’t have to touch it again. If you don’t do that, then you’re most likely going to be the yo yo person, you start it. You stop that, you start it. You stop in and it’s never really worked for you.

[00:54:00] So that can I put an unabashed plug for what we do with Agent Dominator? Absolutely. Okay. I know you would say that since your paycheck. Right. So everything we’re talking about here is what we built in to Agent Dominator. The reason it works is not because Agent Dominators Fest is a fabulous system. It is the reason it works is not because Agent Dominator does what most agents don’t do. It does. The reason it works is not because we have some fancy technology that no one else has. We do. But the reason it works is because it’s right down the middle of the best practices of what you ought to be doing anyway. If you can constantly personally touch, constantly educate them on what creates your true why they should trust you and constantly say top of mind, you don’t need any other system out there. Just like my friend I was sharing about earlier has more business and he can than he can handle. He turns it away and he’s never spent a dime in marketing because he stays on top of it. But most people don’t stay on top of it. Most people don’t really know how to do it. And what we do with Agent Dominator is we do it all for you.

[00:55:19] Okay. And as long as you’re willing to pick up the phone and call or write a handwritten note to your personal contacts, we actually guarantee your results. So I would just encourage you to check that out. Here’s something also were real cool because a lot of agents don’t know if you realize this, but especially the long term producers sell both residential and commercial. So if that’s actually one of you guys listening to this call, we do agent dominated with commercial as well on the investment properties because the folks who own investment properties are very similar to those who own houses. Right. If I own a little apartment building or a gas station also in my home, I’m not in an institutional investor. I just happen to have some real estate investment. And so finding listings there, getting them to choose you in the investment world is very similar to what you do in the residential world. So anyway, that’s our plug before we wrap this call completely up. Is there anything that comes to mind that you’d like to ask or comments that you’d like to share?

[00:56:38] I think I would just. And this is probably just me speaking from a personal standpoint, but I would encourage agents to offer above and beyond what other agents around them are offering. And I think that would be a great way for them to capitalize on referrals. It goes back to the trust buying and getting their name out there and really attracting business. I feel like they need to make themselves stand apart. That’s something that help us choose our agent offering something that other agents we’re not in addition to the fact that we always saw sold. So, you know, makes a difference.

[00:57:19] You bring up one thing. I I’m a myth because I totally forgot it. So let me add it now at the end. This is this is bonus material. Great. If you’re if you’re one material. If you’re one of my friends and you refer me a client and I send you a really special gift as a thank you note. What does that do to you? How do you respond? Does that make you feel special? Yes. Are you are you more likely to refer me again? Yes. Yes. So don’t go cheap on that referral gift and don’t give it only if that person that has been referred actually does business with you. The simple fact that, Penny, you referred someone to me, I’m going to woo you because I want more of that. Okay. That’s a bonus for today’s call.

[00:58:14] Great. All right. This is a great call. Thank you so much for your time and expertise today.

[00:58:21] Before we close out, do you have any last minute things that you want to share with our listeners?

[00:58:26] I really don’t. Unless you want more information about Agent Dominator, you can go to Agent Dominator dot com. There is a little forum there you can fill out. And if you love this type of teaching. Visit our website. Get sellers calling you dot com and you can find all kinds of other content there as well.

[00:58:45] Yes, absolutely. I wish everyone a great week and a successful time in their business, whatever they’re doing. Thanks for joining us, everybody. And we’ll see you guys on the next one. Thank you, Beatty.

[00:58:58] Thanks. Have a blessed day. All alrighty.

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