OHIO MORTGAGE EDITION
KEEPING IN TOUCH — HOW TO STAY IN YOUR CLIENTS’ LIVES FOR THE LONG HAUL WHY DOESN'T TRAINING WORK FOR YOU?
COVER STORY
DAVID GRAY
NMLS#1034993 Nations Lending Corporation
HOW TO SEND SMARTER EMAILS LONG TERM GOAL SETTING VISION= PERSPECTIVE= BETTER DECISIONS
OHIO MORTGAGE EDITION
7
DAVID GRAY
CONTENTS 4) WHY DOESN'T TRAINING WORK FOR YOU?
19) LONG TERM GOAL SETTING: VISION= PERSPECTIVE=BETTER DECISIONS
13) KEEPING IN TOUCH — HOW TO STAY IN YOUR CLIENTS’ LIVES FOR THE LONG HAUL
22) HOW TO SEND SMARTER EMAILS
Phone 888-461-3930 | Fax 310-751-7068 mag@topagentmagazine.com | www.topagentmagazine.com No portion of this issue may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without prior consent of the publisher. Top Agent Magazine is published by Feature Publications GA, Inc. Although precautions are taken to ensure the accuracy of published materials, Top Agent Magazine cannot be held responsible for opinions expressed or facts supplied by its authors. To subscribe or change address, send inquiry to mag@topagentmagazine.com. Published in the U.S.
2
Top Agent Magazine
mailto:mag@topagentmagazine.com
Top Agent Magazine
3
Why Doesn’t Training Work for You? by Carla Cross
Why isn’t your training working for as a ‘performance art’, not a you? Every company says they ‘knowledge pursuit!’ ‘have training.’ Yet, whether you’ve been in business 2 days or 20 years, Big question for you: Think of your you’ve probably felt frustrated that last 3 trainings. What were you doing those hours spent in class—listening in class? Listening to the ‘expert’? to someone at the front (the Or, were you putting to work what ‘expert)—didn’t do you any good. you were learning—while in class, There’s one reason training doesn’t so you could get valuable feedback work—and here’s how to make it before you ‘practiced’ on real work for you, so you don’t waste people—your clients? precious hours in training rooms. What you need to be doing in class Training doesn’t work because it’s to assure you can do it ‘for real’: not taught right—and the people in the class aren’t doing what needs to • If it’s appropriate, you need to role be done for training to make a play (like answering objections, giving a listing presentation, etc.) difference in their lives. Here’s what training needs to help • If appropriate, you need to you every time you’re in class: differentiate (like finding mistakes in a purchase and sale agreement). Training must have action inside class to be effective for you. • If appropriate, you need to practice the actions in class and then What do I mean? go out and do it with a ‘real person’—the client—and come back I mean we have to look at real estate and tell how it went (practice a 4
Top Agent Magazine
listing presentation, do it ‘for real’, Real Estate: Performance Art and come back to class and refine it). or Knowledge Pursuit? None of these things happening in class? Make it work anyway. Take the ‘actionable’ items you learned in class and go do them—for real— within 3 days of going to class (otherwise we only remember 10% of what we heard!). Now you’ve made your own action plan. Trainers: I just videos showing training work. uTube channel. Top Agent Magazine
Let’s be honest: Do you know someone in your office who seems to know everything—but doesn’t sell a stick of real estate? Sure. That’s the problem with treating real estate as a ‘knowledge pursuit’. It has little to do with results. It’s a performance art. How you perform in the field—with real clients— did a series of 5 determines your success. how to make your See them on my Big question for you: Which kind of agent are you? A ‘performance art’ 5
How you perform in the field—with real clients—determines your success. agent or a ‘knowledge pursuit’ agent? Which is easier to become? Your Training Should Resemble a Piano Lesson
will ‘do it’ for you 3.Relying on ‘on demand’ video. Many large franchises are providing video on demand training. Brokers may be relieved that this is going to take training off their plates. I wish. Unfortunately, video training can provide very limited production results. Why? Because people don’t learn much by watching video. Yes, they learn a little. They observe someone else doing something; they get information. But, they don’t have to take action.
As a long-time pianist and teacher, I know intimately that, if you don’t practice, you can’t play (or you play badly)! Think of effective training like a piano lesson. You practice outside class. You come prepared. You get tips and modeling from your teacher. Then you practice in class with your ‘coach’ watching and listening. Then, you ‘go out in the field’ and practice. You come back When you’re ready to get results ready to perform for your coach from your training, you’ll be ready to treat your training like the power again. That’s effective training. tool it really can be. Here are 3 things that don’t work in training (and things for you to avoid): Carla Cross, CRB, MA, is an international 1.Listening for a long period of time and thinking you can do it (you already know that, from your experiences, right?) 2.Thinking most company training 6
speaker and president of Carla Cross Seminars, Inc. and Carla Cross Coaching. A former national Realtor Educator of the Year, Carla is known as one of the ‘go-to’ experts in her profession. She’s written training and coaching programs for most of the major real estate franchises. Contact Carla at 425-392-6914 or www.carlacross.com. Top Agent Magazine
DAVID GRAY
NMLS#1034993 Nations Lending Corporation
Top Agent Magazine
7
DAVID GRAY
NMLS#1034993 Senior Sales Manager Nations Lending Corporation “Mortgages can be very confusing. I really like breaking down the pieces and making it easy for people to understand.”
David Gray knew he possessed sales and people skills. But although he worked for some good companies during the first five years after college, he longed for a field in which he could make meaningful impacts on people’s lives. Fortunately, David learned of NLC Loans™ in Independence, OH, from some friends who worked there. “I immediately loved being able to help people and get them through a mortgage,” says David, who joined NLC Loans, a division of Nations Lending Corporation, in 2013. His passion for helping others paid off both for his clients and himself. “Mortgages can be very confusing. I really like 8 Copyright Top Agent Magazine
breaking down the pieces and making it easy for people to understand.” Within a year of joining NLC Loans, David was promoted to sales manager and began managing a team of loan officers who share his passion. Making things even better for everyone, David works for a company he respects. A direct lender, NLC Loans offers the largest variety of loan products including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, VA and USDA loans. “We handle loans from origination to processing, underwriting, and funding, all the way through servicing.” Top Agent Magazine
Among the NLC Loans products David appreciates most are loans for manufactured homes and loans for borrowers with less than optimal credit. Not only do those loans give David the satisfaction of helping people who never imagined owning a home, but they position him for new business. “While we certainly offer many loan types, we realized that many lenders don’t offer manufactured home loans or loans to those with less than optimal credit. Because of this, they’ve become niche products for us, allowing us to get potential homeowners approved for loans that other lenders cannot,” says David. “When I’m working to develop a relationship with a REALTOR® partner, I say right up front, ‘I’m not trying to take any lender relationship that you have, but I may be able to get you Top Agent Magazine
more business just by offering programs for manufactured homes, lower credit scores or USDA loans with no down payment.” He then makes only realistic promises, which help REALTORS® trust him. “Someone might have had a bankruptcy a couple of years ago and they haven’t been able to rebuild their credit,” he says. “Or maybe they fell on hard times; it happens. When they’re back on their feet, I say ‘Let’s get you approved for a mortgage and into a home.’” He also sets expectations with everyone involved. “I keep the borrowers’ expectations realistic – if there are any issues that could potentially create a delay, I’m upfront with both the buyer and the agents keeping them in the loop at all times.” Oftentimes, sellers’ agents are surprised to Copyright Top Agent Magazine 9
10Copyright Top Agent Magazine
Top Agent Magazine
hear from him, but he calls them during every loan process. “It’s little things that don’t take a lot of time, that go a long way.” Now Senior Sales Manager, David plans to reach some exciting goals in 2017. Among them, he wants to increase referral business by networking with REALTORS®, leveraging the loans unique to NLC Loans. More significantly, he recently began to take an interest in and a focus on NLC Loan’s dedicated purchase division. “I’ve always done refinance and purchase, but recently I’ve really begun to focus on building up our purchase division in preparation for a purchase market in 2017.” Licensed in 18 states, David can also help borrowers in multiple locations Top Agent Magazine
and hopes one day down the road to open his own branch. David wakes every morning planning to work hard on behalf of his clients and his family. “I love what I do,” says David. He and his wife, Karen, have four children – a six-year-old, twin four-year-olds and an infant. “I am incredibly grateful that Karen has put her own career as a nurse on hold to be at home with our young children,” he adds. “I can’t imagine advancing my career the way I have without Karen’s help.” The couple even finds time to help at their church teaching a class to third and fourth graders every Wednesday night. “Right now our lives are consumed with children!” he says, smiling. That, and making dreams come true. Copyright Top Agent Magazine11
To learn more about DAVID GRAY, Senior Sales Manager | NMLS#1034993 visit nlcloans.com, email david.gray@nlcloans.com or call 440.606.1092 www.
Division of: Nations Lending Corporation http://www.justingrable.com 4 Summit Park Drive, Suite 200, Independence, Ohio 44131 NMLS#32416 12Copyright Top Agent Magazine
Top Agent Magazine
g n i p Kee h c u in To
HOW TO STAY IN YOUR CLIENTS’ LIVES FOR THE LONG HAUL
One sign of a great real estate agent is there long list of loyal client following. Part of achieving a great referral base is being a great realtor during the transaction. But, that’s only half of the work. To truly be your client’s realtor for life and keep them coming back to you as well as referring others to you, you have to stay in their lives past the transaction. Keeping in touch with your past clients can be one of the most important parts of your business, and one that many realtors tend to push to the wayside. Do you stay in your client’s lives, or do you disappear? People refer people that they feel they know well and that they trust, people they consider friends. However, earning and keeping your client’s trust involves maintaining a delicate balance with how much you contact them. Experts recommend reaching out to your clients at least quarterly. But, it’s not just about how often you stay in touch. You also need to be mindful about how you are reaching out to them. Here are some tips on how to keep in touch with your clients for the long haul: Top Agent Magazine
Top Agent Magazine
13
INDIVIDUAL PERSONAL CONTACT One of the best ways to keep in touch with your clients is to simply give them a call every once in a while. Follow up and see how your clients are doing. Offer them assistance if they need it. Personalized contact helps to ensure that you remain as important to your clients long after the sale as you were during the transaction. Giving your clients a call on special occasions such as birthdays or holidays also makes for a great personal touch. Of course, nothing beats face-to-face contact. Stopping by to say hello can be a great way to keep in contact. An even better way to catch up and maintain that friendship is to set up a lunch or coffee date with past clients. Giving individual clients your undivided attention goes a long way towards maintaining that bond you formed during the transaction and earning your client’s loyalty and trust. Interactions like this make a lasting impression on your clients. Of course, many busy REALTORS® may not have time to follow up with every client oneon-one. A great way to still give personal attention to your clients without meeting each and every one for lunch is to throw a client appreciation party. This allows you to get in some face-to-face time with each client and make sure they all get your undivided attention and quality time to catch up with you, even if it’s only for a short time. Now, if you have a lot of past clients, this can be difficult to manage during one party. One way to get around the numbers problem is to organize smaller events based on client’s inter-
14
Top Agent Magazine
Top Agent Magazine
ests. Instead of throwing one giant party, host a pool party for the families with kids or a wine and cheese get together for single clients. Hosting special events like these ones goes a long way towards keeping your contact with past clients more personalized and setting you apart from those businesses that simply send them a calendar once a year.
PROVIDE CLIENTS WITH USEFUL NEWS PROVIDE CLIENTS WITH USEFUL NEWS One way that many REALTORSÂŽ keep in touch with their clients is by sending them newsletters. This form of contact can be a double-edged sword. You want to make sure you provide them with useful information that reminds them of your value as a real estate professional. Otherwise your communication will amount to nothing more than spam, and clients will think of you less as a trusted friend and more as a nuisance salesperson. Clients react much more positively to communication containing information that is pertinent to their lives. Update your clients on what is going on in their local community and housing market. Demonstrate your knowledge about the community and the things that are important to your clients. Include information about local cultural events, community news, housing statistics, information on the mortgage market, home maintenance advice, home design tips, and anything else that your clients will find personally useful. Your clients will always be interested in value.
SEND CLIENTS MEMORABLE AND PERSONAL CARDS Sending your clients cards related to important events in their lives and letting them know that you remember those events and care will go a long way towards building and maintaining a close personal relationship with them. You want to make sure your cards stand out, though. Sending popular holiday cards can be a mistake, as they will most likely get lost amongst all of your clients other holiday cards and will be quickly forgotten. Instead send something more personal such as: HOME ANNIVERSARY CARDS: Send cards to each client on the anniversary of the closing of their home.
CONGRATULATORY CARDS: Remember important events such as wedding anniversaries, graduations, new babies, etc.
SPECIAL BIRTHDAY CARDS: Instead of just sending your typical birthday card, add something special to yours that will stand out. Include a $1 scratch off ticket or a $5 gift certificate to Starbucks. Make sure to include a handwritten personal note. Top Agent Magazine
Top Agent Magazine
15
GIVE CLIENTS AN UNUSUAL GIFT Make sure the gifts you send your past clients stand out. Send your past clients an odd gift at the beginning of the year or on a holiday. Think outside the box and send things like funny magnets, customized mugs, a personalized piece of wall décor, and other fun and unusual items. A great way to make your gift stand out even more is to include a funny note with it that will catch their attention as well as make them think of you. For example, one cute idea is to send clients a bag of popcorn with the note, “Real estate is popping, give me a call.” You could send a bag of goldfish with a note attached that says, “I’m fishing for your referrals.” Get creative and have a little fun with it, your clients will notice and remember you for it.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SOCIAL NETWORKS
Social networking sites make staying in contact with past clients in a more informal and friendly basis much easier. Connect with your past clients on Facebook. This will help you stay up to date on the important things happening in your pact clients’ lives. In return, it provides you a great platform for keeping those past clients up to date with what is going on in your business as well as keep in contact in a more informal manner. Use Facebook to remind past clients to check their basement after a heavy rain or that they can contact you for help during tax time. 16
Top Agent Magazine
Top Agent Magazine
You can even organize your contacts on Facebook into customized lists such as “past clients,” “industry contacts,” etc. This will help you better manage your Facebook contacts. This will also allow you to view specific news feeds based on these lists and send messages to a particular list of contacts. Don’t forget about the many other social networking sites such as Twitter or LinkedIn either. Utilize this technology to drive personal contact with your clients.
STAY ORGANIZED
No matter how you choose to keep in contact with past clients, make sure to be consistent. Consistency will help you stay organized and diligent about reaching out to your past clients regularly. A tool used by many real estate professionals to stay organized is a customer relationship management solution. Whether you use one that is online or a computer software program, this will help you stay organized when managing your contacts and allow you to set notifications to alert you when you need to contact certain clients, send out gifts, plan a client appreciation event, and many other things throughout the year. Staying organized and consistent in your contact with past clients will help you continue to build and manage your referral base, as well as open the door to repeat and referral business. Top Agent Magazine
Top Agent Magazine
17
mailto:mag@topagentmagazine.com http://www.topagentmagazine.com
18
Top Agent Magazine
Long Term Goal Setting Vision=Perspective=Better Decisions By Barry Eisen
You’ve heard the saying, “The average person spends more time planning a vacation than planning the rest of their life.” It’s probably true because planning a pleasurable escape is easier and more comfortable than planning change, and whatever discomfort (fears?) may be associated with it. Top Agent Magazine
Most companies you’d consider investing in or working for have long term, short term and, in most cases, daily goals as benchmarks of performance. However, independent contractors associated with large focused corporations, usually don’t do the planning to create their own comfortable future. 19
The “whys?” don’t matter. The back story may be very interesting and compelling, but does “why?” solve the problem of an erratic business or personal life? Most all independent contractors either sit down with the owner/broker/ sale manager/boss at the beginning of the year or as solopreneurs, by themselves, and go over goals and business/game plans. But like New Year’s resolutions, by January 15th, they lose focus and end up playing a smaller and more chaotic game than anticipated. This is not just about the business of business, but it’s also about the personal areas of life, as well. And this is not just about business and personal lives, but ultimately about the way they see themselves (self image/self esteem) and create the lifestyle that matches that perception...self fulfilling prophesies.
There are so many ideas and systems about goal setting. Every speaker, sales manager and trainer has an approach. Know what? They all probably work, if the follow-through is committed to. Huge “IF” (I FEAR). Here’s my ofering at setting long term personal and business goals. The best way to predict the future is to create it.
1. Select a target year by which your long term (more than 1 year) goals will be completed. Giving a target date, even 3-5 years down the road, creates at least a small, but real, sense of urgency. Just the act of writing goals down starts a level The “whys?” don’t matter. The back of thought and commitment beyond story may be very interesting and having good intentions. Write the compelling, but does “why?” solve target year across the top of a blank the problem of an erratic business or piece of paper. personal life? The question, “What DO you want instead?” is a good 2. Along the left hand column, going starting point. Not what you Don’t down the page, write the categories want. Describing what you DON’T of your life that represents the want doesn’t give information as to balance and self image areas that actions to be taken to move forward. comprise all of our lives. In her book, Goals are not just targets, they’re Passages, Gail Sheehy lists Physical, guidelines. Financial, Emotional, Educational, 20
Top Agent Magazine
Family, Social and Spiritual. Unless you have something else---go with these.
makes sense to you... in a draw under your socks or underwear, taped to the back of a closet door etc.
3. On the right hand side of the page, opposite each of the categories, write down 2 or 3 goals for each category. If you choose to not set goals in all areas, great! Do what feels right for you. There are no rules.
5. Look at the list every once in a while (daily, weekly ???) and let it reinforce the actions that will bring you to those, down the road, purposes. Spaced repetition is how you learn most of what you do.
If you have difficulty looking ahead and projecting results, for a moment look back at your previous 3-5 years. What have you done in that time to move ahead in each of these 7 areas? “If you continue to do what you’ve been doing, you’ll continue to get what you’ve been getting.” The reality beyond that often used saying is that in the future, Mother Nature will smack us all around a little harder, gravity will tug on us all a little bit heavier, business slumps will become more pronounced, memory becomes more challenging and spiritual connections become even more distant, etc. What do you want instead?
6. Update your list periodically to reflect new directions and adjustments.
4. Put this goals list in a place that
Accomplishing longer term goals not only gives the rewards of whatever the goals are about, but on a higher level creates the positive self esteem and confidence of accomplishment. Confidence comes from creating victories. Those in therapy, or should be in therapy, experience control issues (usually a lack of control). When you’re in control of your life you generally make better decisions, feel more alive and healthy and usually become a more compelling figure to those around you. Copyright©, 2015 Barry Eisen. All rights reserved.
Barry Eisen teaches personal development seminars and coaches Southern California top producing rEAltorS®. “Your business will never grow more than you do” is the theme; self hypnosis and behavior modification are the tools for playing a bigger game. barryeisen.com, barryeisen@lA.twcbc.com 818-769-4300 Top Agent Magazine
21
How To Send
SMARTER EMAILS
Email is a great tool for agents to use when trying to stay in touch with their past clients, as well as for reaching out to prospective clients. However, used incorrectly it can make your attempts to reach out seem like spam. The secret to using email effectively is making sure that everything you send out does one thing: ensure that you remain relevant to your contacts. To do this you have to get personal. Personalization will go far to ensure that your contacts are actually clicking on your emails. This means that if you do reply on an automated drip email campaign to build business, you need to customize your content so that it delivers something meaningful to each individual recipient. Here are some steps that will help you do exactly that:
1. SEND A WELCOME EMAIL TO
NEW CLIENTS AND PROSPECTS Rather than simply add new contacts to your automated email drip campaign, make sure to send each new contact receives a warm welcome as well. Sending a welcome email along with adding new contacts to your drip campaign is proven to be 86 percent more effective at catching your contact’s attention. Let them know they are welcome and that you appreciate their interest. 22
2. NURTURE YOUR RELATIONSHIP
THROUGH YOUR EMAIL To let your potential client know that you are thinking about them by sending them useful content that relates to the process of buying or selling a house. Some great topics include credit score information, ways to save money, regular market updates, what buying in your market is like, information about the neighborhood, tips on how they can prepare their home for sale, and other relevant information. A great way to
Top Agent Magazine
Top Agent Magazine
add to these emails’ punch is to time them so that they coincide with what that individual is going through and dealing with at that time on their path through the buying or selling process.
3. CELEBRATE IMPORTANT DATES
Everyone loves to be noticed and appreciated. Schedule emails to go to each client that celebrate their purchase anniversary or birthday. Make sure you include a personal note and your own wishes that the year ahead goes well for them. If you’ve been a bit out of touch with your contacts, you might want to send them a friendly hello.
4.
MOBILE-FRIENDLY EMAILS With our phones being akin to mini computers, most people read their emails on their phone these days. So, it is particularly important to make sure that your emails are rendering well on the smaller screens. If you want to make any kind of impact, you have to run a mobile-friendly email campaign in today’s world. You are going to lose a lot of your audience if they can’t read your email on their phones.
5.
TRACK THE PERFORMANCE OF YOUR EMAILS AND ALTER ACCORDINGLY The best way to make sure your emails are being read and making the kind of impact you desire is to consistently monitor the analytics,
and see what your readers are actually clicking on and what elements are most popular with your contacts. Going forward you can alter different elements of your email campaign such as content, images, graphics, and even smaller elements like your subject line to draw in more clicks from your readers, and cater to what grabs their attention. You also want to follow a targeted email strategy. The best way to do this is segment your email list based on the data from your CRM and the demographics of your contacts. Different clients are going to be interested in different content. Long-time clients looking to buy a second home or possibly downsize are going to be interested in completely different content than your first-time buyers. A good way to filter your contacts is by looking at which ones are looking to buy or sell, how far along in the process they are, as well as other important information about them.
6.
DON’T SPAM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES You probably already know that flooding your clients’ emails is big no-no. However, different people have different ideas about what is too much contact. One great way to approach this problem is to ask your clients whether they would prefer weekly, monthly, or occasional emails from you. This way you can cater to each client’s preference.
The emails you send your clients can often be a double-edged sword when it comes to how well they work to bring in business. Following these simple rules will help your emails be as successful as they can possibly be, and will make your contacts much happier with you. So, don’t just send out emails without doing your homework about how to do it right. Your email campaigns can be a powerful tool if you know how to create and utilize them in the right manner. Top Agent Magazine
Top Agent Magazine
23
mailto:mag@topagentmagazine.com
24
Top Agent Magazine