Last month I wrote a post about "What's Next? Five Trends For The Real Estate Consumer".

One of the predictions was that we will see more salaried real estate agents in the future.

One of the commenters on that post was the fantastic blogger Teresa Boardman of the St Paul Real Estate Blog:

"Salaried agents? Can't imagine how that would work. So many of us gravitate toward the business in part because we love being self employed. If I had a boss, other than my clients of course, it would just suck the joy out of my job. :)"

Teresa has a great point. Many agents become agents because they like the freedom to work for themselves. There are also a lot of agents who in reality are unemployed or selling houses part-time while doing something else.

I don't see salaried agents being a dominant part of the future anytime soon.

Here is why: Starting a real estate brokerage is comparatively speaking fairly cheap. And recruiting agents on commissions keep fixed costs low. Nationwide companies are primarily franchises and don't have the business model in place to support salaried agents.

But there will be more of them. And you will see them in companies that have the following in common:

1. They are great marketers.

2. They generate a lot of leads on a corporate level.

3. They value a consistent and high-quality experience for the end client.

4. The company will be the primary brand - not the agent.

Some of them will be newer companies that we have not yet seen. Or it could be a remake of a long-established luxury brand in the industry.

So to answer Teresa Boardman's question... how would it work?

It would work like any sales-oriented organization. You would get compensated with a base pay and a bonus depending on your performance.

If you're starting out you will likely work on inside sales and have more of a customer service oriented role. More agents will work in call centers in the future. That's just the nature of where the industry is heading. Team work will be more common than in the past.

More experienced agents will of course do high-end sales and manage teams and would get a higher compensation.

Would most agents like to trade their commission based income against a regular paycheck? I would not be surprised, especially in a tougher market environment.

Are you an agent? Would you like a paycheck?

All the best.

-Ola

P.S. Teresa... Big congrats to being mentioned at Realtor.org for your blogging results! Keep up the great work!

Posted by Ola Edvardsson at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

2007 is here. Let's make it a fantastic year shall we?

This year will likely turn out to be one of the defining years in the real estate and mortgage industries.
With a current slowdown in progress, generating leads and converting them into clients and closings
will be even more important.

Let's have a look at three keys to real estate marketing success in 2007.

1. Be remarkable. And make sure you tell your story

We touched upon this earlier in the post
"Calling all real estate agents: Why should anyone do business with you?"

You really need to give prospective clients a good reason to do business with you.

And the stakes are getting higher and higher. Today's consumers are not looking for a "me-too" experience. They are looking for companies that will make them go "wow!".

Don't settle for anything less than being truly remarkable.

2. Track and analyze the returns of your media spend

"I can't afford to advertise or spend more on advertising". It's very common that
people tell me this.

This normally tells me one thing: Your advertising is not really working.

When your advertising is working you're making money. And your goal is to invest
that money into more advertising and referral systems to make more money. That is how businesses grow.

Would you spend $500 to make $1,000? If you knew for sure, then of course you would.
You might say to your self... sounds simple, but it isn't that easy!

The concept really is. It gets a little bit more difficult in the execution.

The problem most business owners face is the lack of tracking of the return of their investments.

The key is to being able to test and track your media spend, down to the initial request and all
the way to the closing.

You can't guess if the ad you're running will work or not. You need to know.

How?

In a small-scale environment it can be done simple by attaching a special code to each ad you run.
In radio spots you have dedicated 800 numbers. In print ads you have special coupon
codes for the special offers.

And on the Internet you can just put a tag on each ad or lead. That's one of the reasons I got started in the Internet marketing industry 10 years ago. The ability to track and get quick data. Any direct marketers dream.

3. Implement or improve your follow-up systems

It's truly one of the "secret sauce" elements of the real estate marketing world. The company with the best follow-up system wins.

It's a very rare occasion when a user do something on the first contact. You always need to follow-up. It can take up to 20 contacts and 12 months before a lead is ready to do business with you.

This means that you're not only in the lead generation business... you're also in the follow-up business.

You need to touch your clients and prospect through multiple channels such as email, direct mail and phone. They have extremely short memory so you need to be there for them helping them and reminding them to do business with you.

All the best.

-Ola

P.S. What topics are you interested in reading about in 2007? Let me know at editor(at) realtio.com

Posted by Ola Edvardsson at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Since it is 2007 calendar and greeting card season (you haven't got yours out yet?) in the real estate world I thought it would be appropriate to talk about customer retention.

What about calendars? A 2007 calendar might get used and keep your name in front of your prospects but many just throw them out. How is yours working out? Please comment and let us know.

A hand written simple thank you note is still one of the most powerful marketing messages a business can use.

You want to stand out among the holiday mail? Handwrite a holiday greeting to your customers if you can and just thank them for their business. Make it personal. It should read like you are writing a short letter to one of your friends. The envelope should also be handwritten.

If you really would like to stand out and also do some good here is another idea:

Let your client know that instead of sending them a calendar, chocolate box or fruit basket you decided to donate a sum of money to the less fortunate in their name.

If you can... do it individually for each client. Your clients will then receive a notice from the charity that you made a gift on their behalf.

It will make you feel good. It will make your clients feel good. It will deepen your relationship.

And it will change the world a tiny little bit.

All the best.

-Ola

Posted by Ola Edvardsson at 01:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The main problem with all advertising and lead generation in the real estate industry is this: The long sales cycle.

This can of course be very frustrating since most professionals are compensated on commission. And when you're hungry... your entire focus is on feeding yourself for the day.

That means that most agents and brokers are focused on "the next deal" (and hopefully one that close soon!)

So when you buy or generate leads you want people who are ready to buy or sell in the next 30-60 days. On average that is probably about 10-20% of the leads captured on most sites. The other leads are a little bit colder. They will become warmer but it might take 3-12 months.

The result is that 80-90% of all online real estate leads are wasted.

So what's the solution?

1. Your real estate marketing has to be a long-term effort. The couple who sign up on your site today might not buy or list a house until six months from now. (I know, it's no fun.)

2. Repetition and follow-up not only works. It's necessary. You need a follow-up system.

3. And when you follow-up... make sure you give your new potential client a reason to take action and call you.

Even if they don't want to buy a home you want to encourage interaction to keep the lead warm. It could be as simple as a review of their buying criteria (it always changes) and update them on what's going on the market. Every time you get a contact you have strengthened the relationship tremendously.

And never forget... that successful real estate marketing is long-term.

Now... as an agent... do you really enjoy doing your own marketing and lead generation? Let me know.

All the best.

-Ola

P.S. If you haven't signed up for our email newsletter and mailing list I highly recommend you to. Subscribers get weekly updates of blog posts and exclusive content and updates only available by email. Get on the list here.

Posted by Ola Edvardsson at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you're a real estate agent or mortgage broker, then I have a simple question for you:

Why should anyone do business with you?

I call this: "Reason Why Marketing".

If you don't give the client at least one good "reason why", then you are losing a lot of potential business.

I find the real estate industry very interesting. No other industry has these many independent contractors all in business for themselves. And the vast majority of them are also tasked with the assignment of branding themselves.

When I say branding you might think I am talking about slogans. No, I am not going to dig up agent slogans for this entry. Let's just say there are good ones and maybe not so good ones.

Instead you need to start thinking about what separates you from your competition.

What do you bring to the client that no-one else does? Or if you don't have anything special, maybe you do something better than the rest of the agents in your market? It's all about educating the prospect.

In a buyers market two different positioning ideas comes to mind:

1. If you're working with buyers a reward that locks them in and give them an easy to understand "reason why" is very powerful. It could be a rebate or gift at closing. The 1% cash back at closing is becoming increasingly popular throughout the country among agents.

2. If you're focused on listings then marketing and negotiation skills are great for positioning. Be sure to be able to quantify and explain very clearly why you're better than the other agents. Can you make a guarantee that provides value to the client? Can you show marketing skills that other agents don't?

Service levels are also great. Explain very clearly why your service level is so exceptional. If you have testimonials to back it up it will create a powerful message.

This is a great time to start refining your message for 2007. And the basic process is simple.

Answer this question: Why should anyone do business with you?
Write down your answer. Read it out loud.

Then ask yourself this follow up question: So what? Continue questioning yourself until
you feel you have something that you truly believe in.

I would love if you would be so kind to post your answer to the question as a comment to this post.
Thanks in advance!

All the best.

-Ola

Posted by Ola Edvardsson at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)