First impressions are almost always irreversible, and can make or break your connection in a matter of seconds. How you connect on and offline will determine whether you will win or lose.
What can you do differently from what you have been doing? Are you relying on the same old things, systems, and habits? Or, even more concerning, are you doing the same things your competitors are doing?
Today’s savvy consumer knows what they want, and they are not willing to pay for services that do not meet their needs. The largest buying segment of housing is GenX, and they are especially good at finding another professional who is willing to do it “their way,” and fast!
So, how about a tune-up for your presentation program? Whether you are presenting to a buyer or seller, creativity, expertise, and delivery will boost or beat your chances.
Here are three key tips on how to fine tune your connection.
1) Speed of response: How fast are you responding to your lead requests? If you don’t have systems in place to respond in a nanosecond, your prospects are moving on to the next agent who does have a method to respond in real time with targeted information. That is what it takes to make a first WOW impression!
2) When you are meeting face-to-face, have you revamped how you personally “go to market”? Are you “market” presentable? Are you fully focused on your client? Have you anticipated their every need?
Before your meeting, are you equipped with a deep needs analysis, pre-written questionnaire that demonstrates you are prepared, interested, and focused to authentically discover and fulfill their real objectives?
Unfortunately, this is an area where many of us have slacked off. Having left a fast and furious marketplace, we didn’t have the luxury of time or the need to build trust bridges with our prospects.
A slower market is loaded with multiple opportunities to engage, connect, and earn the right to provide our services to those in need, and it’s a great time to demonstrate strong differentiation from our competitors. As an example, if you are still running a paper CMA from your local MLS and showing up with a worn-out, one-size-fits-all presentation, you might need to start looking for another job!
NAR reports that in 2009, 34% of the properties sold were purchased by GenX. Translated, that means they are driven by their own core values and preferences. Those preferences include real-time responses, deep expertise, and real accountability. Think about investing some time in a marketing makeover, and don’t wait another minute to re-design how you go to market, while you still can! NAR’s Learning Library offers some free and inexpensive online webinars to help you do just that. Check them out at (http://budurl.com/MurphyMktgMakeover).
3) Get rid of the old tools and get good at using the NEW ones! You are right to be confused, frustrated, and downright stubborn about trying to figure out what’s in what’s out; what’s hot and what is not, but that is no excuse.
You might be able to connect with prospects, but keeping all the updates consistent and valuable takes help from techno tools. Set aside some time, or ask the experts what tools are recommended to help you service clients and prospects 24/7 without actually working all of those hours.
Learn how virtual tours like OBEO.com will do the reporting on activity to the seller automatically for you and engage an interested prospect with interactivity on the tour.
Your time is your money, so employing automated, customized drip systems that offer opt-in/opt-out options integrated with your IDX information is the only way to provide real-time information as it is listed to prospective buyers or sellers who are considering marketing their home.
NAR reports that approximately 98.9% of prospects search for properties on the Internet BEFORE engaging an agent. Surprisingly only 60% of agents even have a website! Do the basics, but do them right. Get a full web marketing website that does the work for you. Check out www.RealProSystems.com and get the whole enchilada, Podcasts, blogs, drip systems, automated campaigns, back-end training, etc. You can’t afford to be the jack of all trades, so figure out what systems can best support your goals, and go for the gold.
We’ve all heard that if you keep on doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always gotten, and that’s just not true anymore! We know that we can no longer do what we’ve always done to stay even with what we’ve generated in the past! If you are truly serious about making money by leveraging your time and expertise, get with the program. Very few customers or clients say, “I don’t want to work with that professional because they are too good at what they do, too eager to help me get exactly what I want, and too much of an expert at their craft.” Just ask them!
