A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Rally

I didn’t get there.  I’m talking about the Help-U-Sell Rally in Oakland which starts in . . . five minutes.  I was so sick for the meeting in Orange County (head cold), I couldn’t make myself get on the plane to N. CA and decided to let John Powell and Ron McCoy handle the program there.  I’m sure they will be fine.

The meeting in Orange County, like the one in Phoenix, was excellent.  I was struck by how interactive it was:  lots of sharing.  It was much more a conversation than a presentation.

We worked through John’s Blueprint for growth, which got everyone thinking; got back to basics with the Five Pillars of Help-U-Sell and then got excited with new programs:  The Help-U-Sell Homebuyer Stimulus Program, The new Short Sale prospecting program, and the Help-U-Sell website.  But, like last week’s Wednesday Broker Roundtable call, what seemed to resonate the loudest was this:

The importance of Buyer and Seller Data Sheets and the Leads Management program that accompanies it.

John’s Blueprint includes triggers for when it’s time to hire and they are based on closed sides and leads flow.  There’s no way you could do it without knowing how many inquiries you’re getting, what’s generating them and how they are being handled.

Growth involves recruiting and the Buyer Pool book — which is made up of the same Buyer Data Sheets — is the agent Value Proposition.  If you don’t have it, you have nothing to offer.

High productivity is dependent on Broker control and accountability.  If you’re not tracking every lead that comes in the door, you can bet your conversion rates are suffering.

We are a marketing company.  Whether we’re doing low cost/no cost marketing, optimizing our websites or sending thousands of pieces of direct mail, we are marketing and cultivating leads.  To spend the energy and money it takes to create inquiries and then not record and track them is crazy.  I bet, when you take your overhead and divide it by the total number of leads coming into your office, you’ll discover that each inquiry costs between $75 and $100 to generate.  Not tracking, and not insisting everyone track is throwing your marketing money out the window.

The ideal situation is to grow your business to the point that you have a licensed assistant answering all inquiries and gathering contact data before passing them on to agents.  The assistant’s log becomes the basis for the Broker to followup with the agents, asking:  ‘What happened with this one?  Where are you with that one?’  But even if you have not grown your office to that point, the discipline of leads management can be installed.

I talked with Ken Kopcho this morning about this.  He has run a contest in this office from time to time:  each completed data sheet is good for $1 at the last sales meeting of the month.  It’s not a huge amount of money, but it does create a competition around improving performance in this key area.  He’s also toyed with the idea of giving lottery tickets instead of dollars and I think that’s a good idea.  Leads Management and the collection of leads data becomes everyone’s job and while the contest is good for those who do well, can you imagine how naked the poor performers feel when they have to stand up and say they got . . . one or . . . two or . . . none.

There are great electronic tools for leads management.  Our current system is built in Excel and it will become part of the Help-U-Sell OMS at some point in the future.  However, the basic Buyer and Seller Data sheets are paper and should stay that way.  You can’t have an impressive Buyer Pool Book without paper Data Sheets.  Plus, if there is a stack of each at each phone in the office and in every briefcase, there’s no excuse for not completing them!

You’ll find the Data Sheets (there are several versions) and a complete leads tracking system in the Download Library under Operational Tools/Leads Management Forms.  You’ll also find the University Module on Leads Management there.

Phoenix Rally

Great rally!  Not heavy on the Rah-Rah, but I think we delivered value in spades.  John’s opening — The Help-U-Sell Blueprint, was simple and pregnant with meaning.  He has the ability to communicate the basic, even the obvious in a way that causes you to see a bigger truth.  He reminded us that the goal is always GROWTH and helped us see that, even in this market, that is possible.

I enjoyed doing the Pillars of Help-U-Sell because it enabled me to address some of the awful twisting of the Help-U-Sell operating system that occurred in our recent past.  I mean:  how can you call yourself a Set Fee Real Estate Company when your fee reverts to a percentage commission under certain circumstances?  It was clarifying.

I think the excitement came from some of the new initiatives we’ve instigated:  The Help-U-Sell Homebuyer Stimulus Program, courtesy of Ken Kopcho.  The new alliance with Synergy Data that enables our brokers to get access to contact information on homeowners who are late on their payments but not technically in default.  And a new twist on Short-Code Marketing that enables the broker to tie the prospective buyer to him, much as Listingbook does.

The biggest eye-opener, as usual, was the Help-U-Sell website.  This team knows it, but loved seeing how the thing can be optimized and customized.

Everyone left Phoenix, smiling.  And I guess that’s the best goal we could have.  On to Orange County!

It’s Rally Time!

Help-U-Sell rallies kick off this week in Phoenix, with Southern California, Northern California and Baltimore to follow.  The agenda is packed this time.

  • We’ll be looking at five key elements that make Help-U-Sell work.  If any of the five are missing or implemented improperly, the system fails.  It should be an eye-opener.
  • As promised, we’ll be working through the Help-U-Sell Blueprint for office growth.  If you are at 50 transactions, how do you get to 100?  If you’re at 100, how to you get to 150?  And so on.  It’s a very logical progression of decisions.
  • We’ll get an update on our Internet presence, with real examples of brokers who have taken their websites to the next level with customization and optimization.  We’ll also talk a bit about using Facebook and social media to build your client base.
  • We’ll be introducing the Help-U-Sell $8,000 Homebuyer Credit Extension, a program designed to boost buyer interest in Help-U-Sell listings.
  • And we’ll be showcasing the redesign of Help-U-Sell core marketing materials which will be available through our approved vendors shortly.

You really don’t want to miss this!  Here’s the schedule:

Phoenix Area
Friday, June 4
Bank of America Home Loans Chandler Branch
3100 W. Ray Road, Suite 100
Chandler, AZ 85226

 

Southern California
Monday June 7
Courtyard by Marriott at John Wayne Airport
2701 Main Street
Irvine, CA 92614

 

Northern California
Wednesday June 9
Bank of America Home Loans
180 Grand Ave.  Suite 1000
Oakland, CA  94612

 

Baltimore
Tuesday June 15
Bank of America Home Loans
10320 Little Patuxent Pkwy.  Suite 701
Columbia, MD  21044

 

The rallies start at 9am and continue until 3pm.  Lunch will be provided and there is no charge to attend.  Brokers, assistants, and salespeople are all welcome to attend.  Please make your reservation via the link that will arrive in your email or by calling Lori Warnelo at (941) 951-7707 ext. 3002 (it’s very important we get an accurate count so that we have enough food!).

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