R EF INE . R ESE T. R E B O OT.
10 Steps To A Better Database By Nicole Rideout
HELLO W ELCOM E TO O U R DATA BAS E R ESE T CO U RS E My main goal is to create a program that is manageable and exciting for you to interact with consistently and repeat as needed. This eBook will lay out a map for a repeatable process for keeping your database healthy. We all know that our database is our business, our most valuable asset, yet how many keep it pruned to grow big and healthy? Not enough. In this eBook, I will provide you with a proven 10 step process to get your database in great shape with a series of simple tasks. Follow along at your own pace and repeat as often as needed! Join our exclusive Facebook group to let us know how you’re doing and to ask questions from the hundreds of agents who have already completed this program, multiple times! Have fun! Nicole Rideout
10 STEPS TO R EF IN E YO U R DATA BAS E
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Prep Your Database
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Step 1 - Establish Your Baseline
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Step 2 - Quality Data
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Step 3 - GMAIL Contacts
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Step 4 - MLS Contacts
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Step 5 - Catch Up
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Step 6 - Social Media Contacts
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Step 7 - CRM
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Step 8 - Clean It Up!
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Step 9 - Schedule Maintenance & Reflection
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Step 10 - Network Assets
LET’S GET PREPPED FIRST OFF, THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL NEED FOR THIS PROGRAM: ɑ
A notebook (a clean one if possible, or if you are digital, start a doc that you can add to every day)
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Probably a coffee
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A timer— each step should take about 45 minutes. If you are like me and get carried away, a timer will help you stay on track!
If you do not have an existing CRM or contact database template, you can use the spreadsheet template I created for this program. Download your copy here.
We are all going to be starting and ending in a different place. 1.
Some of you may not have a database. If so, start with the Database Template above!
2.
You do have an existing list but you don’t have all of these fields (columns) included. Please add them and don’t worry about the missing information for now.
P R E PWO R K OVE R As you start to review your prep work from today, try and think about how it will feel to have your database and contacts refined at the end of these 10 steps. Think about what that may look like for you and your biggest goals in terms of utilizing it! Also, have you joined our facebook group yet? Why don’t you hop on and share what your end goal is!
“The greater our sphere of influence, the greater the responsibility.” — RADHANATH SWAMI
STEP ONE
E S TA B L I S H Y O U R BASELINE This is where the work begins, but don’t worry, it will all be painless. With great work comes great results. As real estate professionals, our network assets are most critical in defining our business. Our database is so incredibly important but often does not get updated due to lack of time and because the task seeming daunting and ambiguous. Over this eBook, I will break this daunting task down into 30-45 minutes steps that will leave you with a refined database that you can effectively utilize. The goal here is quality not quantity.
Note: Start this program with a fresh notebook. If you prefer digital, get a dedicated document going to keep all of your notes in one place.
STEP ONE
5 TA S K S The time each step should take is at the end of the description for those that like to work off of a timer. 1.
Create your database spreadsheet. Use the spreadsheet linked here for my recommended fields to include. You can copy and paste them to begin your own. If you already have your database on a spreadsheet, great! Think about incorporating these columns so that your data will be complete. Store this somewhere accessible, you will be working with it daily for the next 10 steps.
2.
Pick a number. Establish whether you are going to work with 50 or 200 contacts. Do this by taking a quick inventory of your database. If you don’t have any stored database right now, I’d recommend aiming for 50. It can and will grow. If you have a well established database saved with complete and quality data, let’s aim for 200. I understand some of you may have more, these can also remain in your database but we want to establish your quality baseline. I do not recommend having more than 1,000. (3 minutes)
3.
Reflect. Give me 2-5 minutes (or more if you’d like) of writing here. Jot down in your notebook what you want your database to look like and feel like at the end of this. As I mentioned, it is your most valuable asset in that it’s a compilation of all of your hard work, meaningful relationships and all of your potential business. It should excite you to see it and work with it. Tell me your goals. It shouldn’t be to have more volume but to have more quality and be able to interact naturally and simply with your refined network assets. (5 minutes)
4.
TOP 10 - Don’t overthink this. Jot down your top 10 contacts. Those that are your closest relationships and most likely to refer you or impact your business. If you are starting from scratch with your spreadsheet, these should be the only names filled in at this point. If you have an existing spreadsheet, highlight your top 10. All of these should have all fields filled in if they are truly close contacts. This is your baseline. (10 minutes)
5.
Touch your top 5. Try to make at least 3 of them phone calls. Other ways are sending a text, email or handwritten note. Truly just to check in and see how people are doing. These shouldn’t necessarily be real estate related check-ins at all. These interactions should feel natural and normal if they are within your core 10. Jot down notes in your spreadsheet on some of the conversations. Take the last 2-3 minutes to make a note to yourself in your day 1 notes about how good it felt to do this or maybe something that made you uncomfortable. This is going to help us establish our baseline for bringing our network assets to life and interacting with them in a way that’s most effective for us. That will look different for everyone. (20 minutes)
STEP TWO
Q U A L I T Y D ATA Today we are going to refine and organize what we have without adding anything new. This will further establish our baseline. This is going to be a two step process that will vary based on where you are currently with your database in terms of both volume and how complete your information is.
STEP TWO
2 TA S K S The time each step should take is at the end of the description for those that like to work off of a timer.
1.
Choose One Option The magic number today is 25. A)
If you started from scratch yesterday with 10. Make sure those are all complete and THEN add complete data for your next 10-20.
B) If you started with a big overwhelming database, comb through your top 25 and work on completing as much of that data as you can, start with compiling what you have access to but is not stored in the file. If you can go beyond the 25, great! C) If your stored contacts are extremely thorough, scan for any missing information if you have none, you have a short day today! (5 - 20 minutes)
2.
Touch 5. Get creative here, if you are missing a cell, email or mailing address for someone and feel comfortable reaching out, see if you can gather some of that information through these calls. Focus still on just connecting with these core clients. Don’t forget to note your conversations in your notes column and take a few minutes to reflect on the wins and discomforts of any of your conversations today. (20 Minutes)
If you are someone that loves this type of work and you have more free time today, I encourage you to keep combing through and updating your information.
STEP THREE
G M A I L C O N TA C T S Today we have ONE task: Download your GMAIL contacts. I have included a PDF reference as to how to do that here.
THERE ISN’T ANYTHING SEXY ABOUT TODAY, WE JUST NEED TO GET THIS DONE. This task is simple in concept but intimidating in practice for some. It’s also labor intensive to go through everything but we need to do it every few months to be up to date. Some of these contacts will naturally be duplicates. Some will be contacts you do not want to include in your database. Some will need more information. Follow the steps to download the contacts. Copy and paste them into your spreadsheet. Sort alphabetically to delete duplicates. Spend some time here refining the data you just inputted. Now touch three people from the list you just inputted today.
STEP FOUR
M L S C O N TA C T S Two more steps of data download then we get to do the fun stuff, it will all be worth it at the end of this program. Instructions to download your MLS clients or FLEX MLS. If you use another MLS you will need to find the instructions for your specific MLS but that will fit into your 45 minutes! After the contacts are downloaded, copy and paste them into your spreadsheet. Follow the same instructions as yesterday, delete duplicates and complete data where you can. Don’t forget to delete any clients you no longer consider as a part of your sphere. Everyone left on the list should excite you as potential business. Also! Do include in the notes column what they bought with you and an up to date status.
STEP FIVE
C AT C H U P Let’s make today about prepping and regrouping! Still log in your 30-45 minutes even if you feel caught up! Take this step to re-read the first five steps and complete/refine anything you might not have gotten to, and get ready for the next 5 steps. Basically, just get yourself ready to launch into the second half which is about building.
2 TA S K S Can take 45 minutes, but probably less
1.
Check all other miscellaneous places your contacts may live especially within tools like Spacio, Realscout etc. complete these contacts and add any that were missing.
2.
Clean those contacts up and add any missing information, take your extra time to clean up what you have so you are in a good place for tomorrow!
STEP SIX
SOCIAL MEDIA C O N TA C T S Today we are going to focus on our social media accounts that we use to garner business. We won’t be getting into any social media strategy, that will come after this program is done! The idea here is to make sure we are using our social media to fill our pipeline and keep our sphere active. We want our database to be consistent throughout all of our channels. Today is a three step day.
3 TA S K S 1.
Go into your social media and choose 10-20 people who are your most engaged every time you post something regarding business. It’s OK if this is your sister or cousin, that person can and probably does refer you business. Make sure they’re in your database. Your sphere should be consistent throughout all channels.
2.
Go to your top 25 (or more) in your current database and make sure you are friends with or following them on social media. Again, the consistency matters and while you may not be friends with everyone in your database you should be comfortable even if your page is personal interacting with the top 25 on your list.
3.
POST something in place of your touches today. There is so much information out there right now that people will appreciate. Make note of who interacts with you and be sure to always respond!
STEP SEVEN
CRM CUSTOMER RELATION MANAGER Some of you have been eagerly awaiting this and some are dreading it. Let’s just make progress from wherever you are starting! Many of you will be in different places regarding your CRM whether you have one, want one or have been avoiding one. Let’s take our 30-45 minutes to refine that during this step. Below you will find three options depending on where you currently are with your CRM or lack thereof.
Option One You have a CRM, you love it and and you use it regularly! If you have a CRM you love and use regularly, add these new contacts and take some time today to make sure you’re all set up in there! (30 mins)
STEP SEVEN If you fall into the next two options: I suggest taking 5 minutes to jot down what you want to get out of a CRM. I think sometimes we overcomplicate because of the options. Let’s keep in mind, keeping our refined list up to date and warm. This may help you simplify.
Option Two You have a CRM you don’t use. If you have a CRM you don’t use, decide if you are going to give it a try and commit to starting today and add your updated list in now! If you aren’t using it Take your 45 minutes today to explore other options and decide the route you want to go. (30 mins) You don’t have a CRM and you want one. Do some homework! We have explored and recommend Cloze or Levitate. I also love the monday.com as a CRM. This can work for those that don’t need all of the bells and whistles of automation. It’s a step up from a regular spreadsheet but something you could get into daily and comfortably update. (30 mins)
Option Two You don’t have a CRM and you want one. Do some homework! We have explored and recommend Cloze or Levitate. I also love the monday.com as a CRM. This can work for those that don’t need all of the bells and whistles of automation. It’s a step up from a regular spreadsheet but something you could get into daily and comfortably update. (30 mins)
For Everyone For all: Wherever you are, schedule at least 15-30 minutes a day to dedicate to your CRM/Database. This should include daily reach outs and some organization. I suggest scheduling it in the morning! It will start to take the place of the time you’ve taken for this program. Make it a habit and put it on your calendar! Last 15 minutes: Touch three people from your CRM today or just three you haven’t talked to since the program started.
STEP EIGHT
CLEAN IT UP This step is another “grab a cup of coffee� step and log your 45 minutes to move the needle on your organized database. We have gone through a LOT of compilation of contacts. I am sure a lot of you have a few parts to go back to, maybe take a few minutes to do that now. Complete some missing information! Step 8 is a simple task that will make a big difference. (45 minutes) Go through your list and remove anyone that is not truly in your sphere of influence. Some of us have databases that span back 30-40+ years. Some of these people may be very outdated. Volume in your database is not something to strive for as much as quality, warm contacts. Take today scan through what is in front of you, think about the number you established at the beginning (between 50-200)... clean it up! It will feel really good to have your refined list of contacts you truly know and are in touch with. This makes increases the value of our database exponentially.
Pro Tip Do NOT delete these without making a list of who you removed. You will need this to update your list in Mailchimp or whatever platform you are using for email marketing. I suggest highlighting the row in red or black or copying and pasting to a removed tab in the same spreadsheet.
STEP NINE
SCHEDULE MAINTENANCE & REFLECTION We are one step away from the program being complete! How do you feel? Need more work? On what? What do you feel good about that was done in the last 10 days? Remember that Facebook group from page 1? Go there and tell me! Good news! This is an ongoing thing. The goal should be to start with the solid foundation you can continue to build upon and refine.
STEP NINE
3 TA S K S 1.
Reflect on where you are with your database from where you came from and where you wanted to land. If you aren’t where you wanted to be, don’t stress. This will continue to be a work in progress. It is a good exercise right now to jot down the progress you’ve made and the things you still need to do. Please share with me and/or on the Facebook group your big win of the last 10 days as well as one thing that was a struggle.
2.
What didn’t you do that you could have? Take some time to do it now if it’s a quick task, go back to an email you skipped and check that one off. Or put it on your calendar for next week. What didn’t you do because of a technical issue or just a general hurdle?
3.
Schedule two things: A)
Your daily 15-45 minutes. Use this to interact with your sphere and your database. Schedule it on your calendar daily. ɘ
Call people
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Send notes
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Organize your contacts
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Utilize your CRM if you have it
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Interact with your sphere
B) Schedule a quarterly data pull and clean up. Put on your calendar every quarter to pull new contacts and clean up what you have. This will be less of an undertaking if you use your daily time once a week to do a clean up instead of reach outs.
STEP TEN
REFINED N E TWO R K ASS E TS We are on the final day of the database refine and reboot! I hope everyone made progress and will continue to chip away with one goal in mind for your network assets:
Q U A L I T Y OV E R Q U A N T I T Y Thank you all for joining the program, if nothing else I hope you took some time daily to make progress in refining your database, a most vital asset to your business. I would love if you could take a few minutes to provide feedback! Please take a few minutes to fill out a 5 question survey here.