ILLINOIS 5-16-22

ILLINOIS EDITION

CONCIERGE CARE: Services that Lure Clients and Transform Your Reputation

1 Billion-Plus Reasons Why You Should be Active on Facebook

How to Incorporate Current Events to Your Email Blasts and Stay Relevant COVER STORY

KATHRYN & KELLY MANGEL

ILLINOIS EDITION

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KATHRYN & KELLY KATHRYN & KELLY MANGEL

MANGEL

CONTENTS 4) CONCIERGE CARE: SERVICES THAT LURE CLIENTS AND TRANSFORM YOUR REPUTATION 6) HOW TO INCORPORATE CURRENT EVENTS TO YOUR EMAIL BLASTS AND STAY RELEVANT

15) 1 BILLION-PLUS REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD BE ACTIVE ON FACEBOOK 20) EMOTIONAL FLUENCY: HOW TO COMMUNICATE WITH CLIENTS WHEN TENSIONS ARE HIGH

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Concierge Care: Services that Lure Clients and Transform Your Reputation It’s a no-brainer: customer service is central to success in the real estate industry. While properties may be the product, this industry really revolves around people and the relationships you cultivate along the way. With that in mind, how would you describe the service you provide? If solid service is the baseline, then to set yourself apart you must deliver service that’s exceptional. But, how? Returning calls and displaying a friendly face won’t necessarily separate you from the pack. If you really want to take your customer service to the next level and build a reputation for white-glove, concierge-level courtesy, then keep a few of the following tips in mind as you create a professional style that’s completely bespoke.

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Make your communications matter For many agents, communication during and after a transaction are perfunctory affairs, with one-sizefits-all newsletters or promotional postcards that feel mass-produced. To really grab the attention of your clientele, you’ll want to build a recognizable brand. To accomplish this, begin by adding value to your regular communications. Clients are likely to bypass your communications if they think your only intent is to sell them something. Focus instead on creating content that’s compelling and dishes out value to your clientele. Just like a favorite blog you revisit again and again for its quality content, con-

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sider your communications as an extension of your brand and identity. A few popular ideas from which clients can derive value include: local restaurant guides, tax tips for homeowners, reports on home values and the marketplace, or highlighting home décor and landscaping trends. Make your communications readable and useful, and your clients past and present will think twice before skipping past your name.

Showcase the lifestyle Clients remember when you go the extra mile, and that additional effort distinguishes run-of-the-mill agents from high-powered professionals. Whether listing or buying, consider a property’s lifestyle.

First, think about a client’s everyday experience.

Where’s the best breakfast spot nearby? How’s access to public transportation or bike paths? Which outdoor recreational opportunities exist in the area?

Where might your client swing by for coffee?

Neighborhood guides that outline the livability of a home and its area not only boost value and highlight potential, but they also demonstrate your ability to think outside the box and connect on a personal level. After all, a home isn’t just a house; a home is all about the daily experience that unfolds within and beyond those four walls. With that in mind, do your homework and make yourself a local expert.

Your clients will feel they’re in good hands and will better envision their future unfolding, all thanks to your thorough legwork.

Customize your approach to clients As an agent, it’s only natural that you build your own daily routines and practices that keep your business running. While it’s necessary to create positive habitats that streamline your workflow, it’s also important to remain adaptable. For instance, Millennial clients may prefer to chat by text, instant Top Agent Magazine

message, or email, whereas older clientele may prefer face-to-face time or connecting by phone call.

Adapting your communication style is as simple as a brief discussion: ask your client how they prefer to communicate and adapt accordingly. While it may seem like a small matter, it provides clients with a sense of comfort and control. Again, the key here is communication. Talk with your clients about their preferred methodology. Maybe they prefer a marathon house-hunting trek on a weekend day, or perhaps they rather sift through listings online before making in-person visits to a narrowed list. It’s okay to encourage clients or fill them in on industry norms, but it’s important to create an experience that’s tailored to their style and personality.

Authentically seek feedback While it may feel uncomfortable, asking for feedback during and at the end of a transaction can dramatically improve your working style and professional blind-spots. It can also help you adapt your working style to better suit your respective clients.

Of course, it’s important to be open-minded and to quash the need to be defensive. Not all feedback will be useful, but you can incorporate the parts that are. This not only grows your skillset, but it also demonstrates to clients that you are open to constructive criticism and sincerely prioritize a job well done over personal praise. As a bonus, positive feedback can be parlayed into client testimonials, which are incredibly useful tools to boost your business on the whole.

It’s no secret that real estate is a busy, self-determined business. While your client care may feel all accounted for, there is always room to grow. Professionals at the top of their field know this and never stop building out their repertoire. If you want to take your business to the next level and create an imprint that’s synonymous with concierge care, then keep these ideas in mind as you build your relationships and your brand.

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How to Incorporate Current Events to Your Email Blasts and Stay Relevant Email marketing is a cost effective and straightforward method of getting your name and services in front of clients with just a few keystrokes. This tried-and-true approach to digital marketing is a favorite of many, and there are countless ways to customize (and maximize) your email blasts to reap superior results. Despite this, many real estate profes6

sionals are content to standardize their email advertising and take a broad, one-size-fits-all approach to capturing interest and leads. While an up-front sales pitch certainly has its uses and benefits, it doesn’t hurt to shake up your routine and refresh your email marketing approach by adding specifics that draw renewed interest from your audience.

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One way to accomplish this is by tying in current events and local happenings to your email blasts. After all, your sphere of influence likely receives countless marketing emails per day. To cut through the noise, sharpen your message with a few specifics that separate your communications from the pack. Not every email should be focused on closing a sale, or else your audience will learn to stop listening.

How do you build your brand, stay top of mind, and keep the lines of communication open with your clientele? Here are a few ideas to get you started.

against an old rival? Do they host themed fan days honoring veterans or catering to families? Tailoring your communications to a local sports franchise’s big news or next event can draw intrigue and provide added value for your clients. Remember, not every communication you send should be focused on pitching and closing a sale, otherwise your audience will tune out your emails altogether. Instead, incorporate fun, community-oriented content that lets readers know you’re a resource for much more than real estate.

Sports news makes a splash

Become a one-stop-shop for holiday fun and seasonal ideas.

People love to rally behind the home team.

Is a regional, local university, or professional sports team in your area headed to the playoffs or the championship? Are they facing off

From Mother’s Day to Thanksgiving, anyone can send an email wishing clients a happy holiday. While the sentiment is a good one, you’ll be one of dozens flooding inboxes with

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your well-wishes. Instead, go beyond the traditional greetings and good tidings and become a hyper-specific resource for clients. Create a gift guide for Mother’s Day, outline family-friendly local events occurring in your area around the holidays, or engage in a promotional partnership with a local business who’s offering a holiday special of their own. In other words, don’t settle for just saying hello during certain times of the year. Instead, up the value of your email blast by offering clients curated information that relates to their interests and area.

Doing so makes your emails a must-read, while demonstrating your ability to go the extra mile.

Pop culture serves as a fun and timely tie-in.

Is a new gaming app sweeping the nation? Have your social media feeds been flooded with the same viral video? Is everyone gossiping about the same TV show premiere? Pop culture tie-ins in your email marketing campaigns can be extremely effective, but in order to for

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them to work, you’ll need to move quickly and keep your focus on the phenomenon, rather than your service pitch. The goal behind pop culture marketing tie-ins is communicating the progressiveness and hip factor of your brand, while capturing timely, topical interest that’s at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be in on a running joke or trend, and if you leverage trending pop culture moments in your email marketing, you’ll be able to draw views and clicks from a wide audience.

Plenty of services offer standardized email marketing templates and content for today’s real estate professionals, and while the motivation behind marketing is transactional, your communications don’t have to be. The surest way to make an impact in your clients’ inboxes is to add original value and break apart from the pack. Consider updating some of your routines with these current events oriented techniques and your email audience is sure to take a second look.

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KATHRYN & KELLY MANGEL

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Top Agents Kathryn and Kelly Mangel are North Shore natives working with @properties. The Mangel Team primarily serve the North Shore suburbs of Chicago.

In business together for 15 years, Kathryn and Kelly Mangel are North Shore natives who combine a deep-seated knowledge of their local area with unparalleled dedication to the client experience. “Kathryn and I have a great relationship, and we take a team approach that differentiates us from a lot of other agents,” Kelly says. “We’ve been a team since before many 10 Copyright Top Agent Magazine

other teams came into play, and that together with our experience results in our working with many clients time and time again.”

With @properties, the Mangel Team primarily serve the North Shore suburbs of Chicago, an area near and dear to them both. “We both grew up here, and that gives us the advantage Top Agent Magazine

of not only selling houses but also selling the lifestyle here in the New Trier School District,” Kathryn explains. Kelly adds, “We work to understand our buyers’ needs and find out what they’re looking for in a house and a community. They rely on our extensive knowledge from our many years living in the area to help them find the best place to live.”

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Kathryn and Kelly take a concierge approach to assisting their clients, whether they are selling their house, moving from Chicago, or relocating from across the country. The Mangel Team are also finely attuned to current developments in the industry, which allows them to adapt to any situation. “We did not stop working during Covid,” Kathryn says. “We found ways to do 11 Copyright Top Agent Magazine

The Mangel Team take a concierge approach to assisting their clients, whether they are selling their house, moving from Chicago, or relocating from across the country. virtual showings and to have precautions in place that would allow us to continue providing housing solutions to people who were transitioning, which is our goal.”

In the marketing arena, Kathryn and Kelly set themselves apart by building up anticipation for their listings before they even go on the market. “We stage our listings before we put them on the market, making sure everything is Copyright Top Agent Magazine 12

perfect, because the first showing is online,” Kathryn says. “We do a digital media rollout even prior to listing the home. Our goal is to create the hype so that when a property goes to market, it’s not only one person who wants to buy it, it’s a lot of people. They see it online, fall in love with the photos, and they are already imagining their family living there.”

All this hard work pays off for the Mangel Team and their clients, and last year Kathryn Top Agent Magazine

and Kelly sold a combined $72 million in volume, a staggering feat for a team of only two agents.

Outside of real estate, Kathryn is actively involved with Rush Hospital and looks forward Top Agent Magazine

to co-chairing the upcoming Rush Auxiliary Board Cooks’ Tour, among many other community endeavors. Kelly is a Girl Scout leader and is involved with her daughter’s school.

“We love being present and active in our community,” Kathryn says. “We love what the Copyright Top Agent Magazine 13

community has done for us and for our children and families, and we love to give back.”

Looking toward the future, Kathryn and Kelly look forward to continued service to their clients and community. “Kathryn and I have worked

very hard to create a business model that is very client-centric, and we know what works,” Kelly says. “Our clients hire Team Mangel as trusted advisers because we have proven results in the area. They know they can count on us, from the very beginning all the way to the closing table.”

For more about Kathryn & Kelly Mangel, please call them at 847-881-6134, email k2@atproperties.com, or visit their website at teammangel.com http://

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1 Billion-Plus Reasons Why You Should Be Active on Facebook

By Bubba Mills

The number is staggering and potentially career ending for REALTORS® who ignore it: 1,440,000,000. That’s the total number of monthly active users on the social medium Facebook.

That number alone is reason enough to use it regularly in your real estate business. But Facebook can also help turn you into the expert in your community. Just by sharing knowledge and relevant events about the community you can become the go-to source for all things local – a perfect way to capture the attention of prospective buyers.

Plus, Facebook advertising also gives you tons of targeting layers like age, location, recent life events and interests. Plus, it constantly adds new targeting filters and functions that help you reach even more niche prospects who closely meet your customer criteria. Talk about pinpointing a target audience.

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Another Facebook real estate ad tool is Website Custom Audiences that lets you create Facebook ads that target users who have visited your website.

And several apps specifically for Facebook have emerged. Consider these: • Heyo.com: Helps you host contests, showcase promotions and high-

light special offers.

• Woobox.com: Let’s you easily create quizzes and other fun tools for engaging content.

• Pagemodo.com: Helps you make your Facebook business page both sleek and stylish and tabs allow for easy lead capture.

But the latest offering is just as cool. It’s called Facebook Live and it lets you stream live video on the internet. I recently wrote about Periscope, another live video streaming app, but when you use Facebook Live you’re automatically featured at the top of Facebook users’ news feed. What’s more, statistics show that live video is viewed more than recorded video.

How can REALTORS® use Facebook Live?

Open Houses: Broadcast a walk-through of a new listing

and highlight all the great features.

Webinars: Host live webinars targeted to buyers and sellers. They can sub-

mit questions just like a real-life seminar.

Real Estate Talk Show: Offer the latest news in the industry plus share lo-

cal events and your newest listings. In short, become the Lester Holt or Diane Sawyer of real estate in your town with your own “TV” show!

Facebook offers these tips for using Facebook Live: Promote: Tease upcoming Facebook Live broadcasts for more viewers.

Plan better: Take time to plan what you want to do in the video, whether

it’s a few key talking points or to have a few questions ready ahead of time in a Q&A, in case incoming comments slow down.

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Invest in some equipment: A shaky live stream turns off viewers so con-

sider a tripod or other stabilizing tools, especially if you’re taking viewers on a tour of an open house. And check the shot before going live.

Get the lighting right: If you’re indoors be sure you have plenty of good

lighting and avoid a lot of light directly behind you because it’ll wash you out.

Sound good: A common mistake for beginners is overlooking sound.

Consider an external microphone to make sure your viewers can actually hear you.

And if the live option makes you a little nervous, you can also stream pre-recorded videos. Hey, that has worked like a charm for TV for decades. Some businesses promote their web series to “air” on Facebook Live at a certain time like TV shows. After they are streamed, Facebook Live videos function as normal Facebook videos. Some business owners believe videos may perform better if they begin as live ones.

NowThis, a news company that publishes entirely on social platforms, experimented by streaming a 38-minute compilation of its favorite viral videos via Facebook Live. The stream received over 20,000 views and over 500 comments, according to Facebook’s counters.

Yes, all the new-fangled internet tools, apps and options for REALTORS® can be a bit overwhelming. Just take it one step at a time and you’ll slowly be right there in the business-winning mix. E-mail me today at Article@CorcoranCoaching.com and I’ll send you more free information about how technology can help your real estate business.

Copyright©, Bubba Mills. All rights reserved.

Bubba Mills is the CEO of Corcoran Consulting and Coaching Inc. (www.corcorancoaching.com/programs, 800-957-8353), an international Real Estate, Mortgage, and Small Business coaching company committed to helping clients balance success in business, while building value in life. Bubba Mills is a nationally recognized inspirational and education speaker, coach and mentor to the top real estate agents and mortgage companies. To find out more about Corcoran Consulting & Coaching, call 1-800-957-8353 or visit us at www.CorcoranCoaching.com.

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Emotional Fluency:

How to Communicate with Clients When Tensions are High Managing emotions, expectations, and personalities are central to a successful real estate career. After all, this is a business based on relationships and interpersonal communication. Likewise, real estate is built on one of life’s central milestones—homeownership. This means that stress, disappointment, excitement, and competition are inherently 20

involved in the process. As an agent, you take on the real estate world every day, but most of your clients aren’t well-versed in the norms of the industry and are likely riding an emotional roller coaster throughout.

Acknowledging this, how do you steer the ship when emotions and tensions are running high?

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For starters, it’s not always intuitive. Just like you add tools to your arsenal when it comes to marketing, social media, or lead generation, you also have to add emotional tools to your repertoire. Here are a few ways to diffuse tense situations and keep clients on an even keel—even during the ups and downs of the transactional process.

Create realistic expectations from the outset and reinforce them as you go As a seasoned agent, some aspects of the industry may seem run of the mill to you, but may come as a shock to your clients. That’s

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why communicating expectations from the beginning can help create reasonable touchpoints in the minds of your clients. In addition to talking through the steps of the transactional process with your clients, consider writing out a checklist or compiling a buyer’s guide that can serve as a resource for them throughout. Think of it like a security blanket, but one that’s built by facts, figures, and anecdotal experience. If you paint a clear picture of what to expect, clients are less likely to be taken by the surprise and react impulsively as a result. What’s more, reinforce next steps, expectations, and possible outcomes as you go. If your client is left to wonder or guess at what’s ahead or

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what will happen, they will either envision the worst-case scenario and panic, or they’ll misjudge the next step and be disappointed or left anxious as a result. Minimize surprises by communicating regularly, clearly, and with all options on the table.

When unveiling a problem, come to clients with potential solutions in hand Any agent worth his or her salt knows that bumps in the road are likely to occur along the way. You can’t promise a transaction free of stress or unforeseen issues, but you can minimize the ensuing stress by preparing you client in advance for any potential problems, and by addressing any problems

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clearly and with solutions already in hand.

Clients are likely to become agitated if a problem arises and they can’t understand why or what it means. That’s why slowing it down, talking it through, and offering potential avenues for recourse can quell fears and remind clients why they chose you to facilitate the transactional process. This means you’ll have to vigilant, proactive, and on the ball. Of course, it’s much easier to be an agent when everything is going great and flowing naturally. It’s when things take an unexpected or negative turn that true talent is really tested. Accordingly, show your clients that you are confident and in control by remaining adaptable, communicative, and clear in your problem-solving approach.

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Never underestimate the power of listening As an agent, you are probably well-versed in putting out fires and sourcing solutions. Sometimes, however, clients are really looking to you as a confidante and a listening ear. You’d be surprised how much nervousness you can resolve by simply offering a listening ear and offering reassurance. Sometimes it’s not about providing a band-aid or a practical solution; oftentimes, it’s all about listening. Clients need to feel like they’re being heard, even if you’ve heard it all before. By listening to their fears, acknowledging their perspective, and reiterating their goals—you display your empathy and understanding, which is often just what a client Top Agent Magazine

needs to feel better. In other words, you don’t have to break out the graphs and data each time a client airs his or her insecurity. First, slow down, listen, and interact on a personal level. You may stop an emotional upheaval in its tracks simply by putting your listening cap on.

Not all clients are alike. Some will require a little more hand-holding than others, but it’s your job to put yourself in their perspective, recognize the milestone at hand, and managing the personalities you’re working with. The next time you feel frustrated by a client’s unpredictable emotional energy, keep these insights in mind as you diffuse the situation, steer them to a place of comfort, and fortify your interpersonal skillset in the process.

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