Real Estate

confidence

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💪Leading With Confidence During Unsettling Times

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Whether it is a bombshell NAR settlement agreement, market fluctuations, regulatory shifts, or a global pandemic the landscape we navigate can be tumultuous and ever-shifting. Since change is the only constant, it is crucial that we not only adapt to these changes but also lead with confidence and resilience to develop our businesses so that they can withstand any conditions. Use the strategies below to ensure you provide effective leadership to those who count on you when they need it the most.

📰 Stay Informed, Stay Ahead
Dedicate time weekly to learn about the latest industry trends, market conditions, and regulatory changes. By staying informed, you can anticipate potential challenges and proactively develop strategies to address them. As RuPaul says, “You don’t have to get ready if you stay ready.”

📱 Communicate Transparently, Early, and Often
When things seem uncertain, open and transparent communication is paramount. Communicate with your team early, even if you don’t have all of the information to fully form a path forward. When you don’t communicate, it’s common for those you lead to fill in that absence with their thoughts and guesses as to what is going on and they will often assume the worst.

Stay ahead of this by offering town hall-style meetings where your team has a forum to express their thoughts and concerns openly. If you don’t feel comfortable yet answering their questions: let them feel heard, document their thoughts, and share your response with the entire team once you’ve had a chance to marinate on the new information. If it is a sensitive topic, create a path for them to anonymously have their questions asked and answered.

Being transparent and forthcoming with information will also help you navigate big shifts and retain your talent. If your team is lacking information and clarity, they will turn to outside sources for leadership and their trust in you will erode.

⚖️ Focus on Core Values
Remind your team of the values that unite you and reinforce the importance of staying true to those principles. Upholding integrity, professionalism, and a commitment to excellence can instill confidence and trust in your leadership. 

🧘‍♀️ Embrace Flexibility
Encourage and coach a mindset of adaptability among your team members. Empower them to embrace change and seek innovative solutions regularly so that when circumstances demand it of you, it will be muscle memory and not a new strategy to learn on top of everything else. By fostering this culture of flexibility, you are positioning everyone to thrive regardless of the environment.

👔 Lead by Example
Oh, man, this is so important. Demonstrating confidence, calm, and resilience in the face of adversity is a must for leadership. Your team is looking to you for guidance and inspiration and if you don’t practice what you preach you won’t be able to instill and cultivate these qualities in others. If one of your core values is honesty and your staff regularly catches you lying, they aren’t going to respect you…or stick around. You’ve got to walk the talk and practicing this in all areas of your life will give you a huge leg up in developing your leadership skills.

👩‍🏫 Don’t react, Respond
This one is a game-changer. When you receive information, it’s best to assume that you know less than half of the complete story. Instead of jumping to a decision, ask for a recap of what happened from the other parties, and look at records or research yourself on the situation or topic. Then, after you have a more complete view, respond with your opinion or a directive on what should be done next. I promise you, it can wait until you have more information.

❤️ Foster a Supportive Community
Encouraging collaboration, mutual support, and camaraderie will help your team to feel comfortable expressing their suggestions and concerns. While no one likes to hear complaints, learning about others’ points of view is a fantastic way to learn. Embrace this to build a strong support network within your team and the sense of stability and reassurance they will receive will ensure that your business thrives for years and years to come.

spam

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☎️Strategies to Prevent Your Phone Number from Being Marked as Spam

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It’s the worst feeling to hear that your phone number is coming up as spam. You aren’t spam, you’re calling because you’re the best person available to help this person buy or sell their home in a 100-mile radius! How dare they do that to you?! Well, they dare and they are doing it to the best of us right and left!
While there is no way to completely eliminate this challenge, and if I’m wrong please reply to this and share with me so I can learn, there are some strategies you can use to reduce your chances of getting the big S on your number.

📱 Avoid cold-texting or cold-calling leads. Ensure that they have opted in to receive these types of communications from you.

📱 If someone has opted in for texts, send them your contact information right out of the gate by way of introduction, including your phone number. Their phone’s technology will likely pick up that information to be someone they may know rather than something it should block as spam.
For example: “Hey! I just received your message about my listing at 123 Beach Street. I’ll be happy to send you more information on that home and others like it! – Kris McDonagh, Amplified Real Estate, 555-555-5555”

📱 Add the number you use to prospect to your phone’s v-card, your email signature, social media, and website. By having your phone number readily available online when searched you will improve the credibility of its connection to you, a real person, and one hell of a real estate agent. 

📱 Request for your new contact to save your contact information to their phone. Most will, just in case you turn out to be somebody they do need, and it will increase the chances that they will answer the phone the next time you call to help them further.

📱 Check the reporting within Follow Up Boss to check for red flags that signal to carriers that you are spam. You want to avoid having too many calls that don’t connect, unanswered texts, and a high number of opt-out responses. Reflect on your prospecting efforts and adjust so that your efforts are resulting in longer quality calls and responses to your texts.
To find this: Click Reporting in the top bar, then Calls and filter from there.

📱Research and test any new phone number you get before you order anything with the number printed on it or begin using it widely in case it was used previously for something you don’t want to be associated with or it has already been marked as Spam.


📱 To clear the spam flag from your Follow Up Boss number, visit https://www.freecallerregistry.com/fcr/#submitform and fill out the form.
You can include your team’s numbers on the form and submit it once for the whole team as well. 
 
When the form asks for the “Service Provider,” type “Twilio.”
Once you submit the form, the carriers will review it and reset the Spam label for any numbers that were flagged. Each carrier’s spam provider will email them as they respond to the form. It’s worth noting that numbers can be flagged as spam again after being cleared, so be sure you are following FUB’s calling and texting best practices to avoid being flagged as spam again.  

Example:

  • Phone Number: Enter FUB number
  • Click Send Verification Code.
  • I believe my calls are: Real Estate
  • Contact Name: First Last
  • Company Phone: (555) 555-5555
  • Email: name@business.com
    • Note: the verification code will go to this email
  • Calling Company Name: Your Business Name, LLC
  • Calling Company Address: 123 Main Street, Anywhere, US 12345
  • Calling Company URL: www.businessname.com/
  • Service Provider(s): Twilio

If you have any other tips that you’d like to share with the community, reply to this email and we will add them to our guide and give you credit!

The good news is that you are having this challenge because you are doing the work and calling the leads! Keep going, continuity is the secret to success.

Sales-Meeting

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👩‍🏫 Your Guide to Better Sales Meetings

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I’ve been in sales for the past twenty-two years (“Gasp! How could that be? She looks so young!” they all whisper,) …and you would be surprised how many sales meetings I’ve sat in where “sales” is never mentioned, let alone the discussion of sales strategies.
It’s an insane number of them. But as I grew into leadership roles I saw how easy it was to get caught up in the red tape of everything (waves hands) and use the meeting time for housekeeping and reminding of policies and procedures and discussion of upcoming events instead of the things that we all needed to do to grow the business. 

Sales meetings aren’t typically something our agents and staff get excited about and for good reason: They believe that it’s a waste of their time.

If you want to retain and grow the talent that you have, you’re going to want to put a very intentional effort into making your sales meetings more engaging and truly help your agents learn how to develop and grow their book of business. 

Teaching them how to practice real estate is what they came to you for and to keep them working with you, it’s wise to take action on fulfilling that promise. Making a plan for your sales meetings is a perfect way to do this and greatly impact those you are mentoring through this wild world of real estate sales.

Click the button below to download your free guide and perform a check on the current structure of your sales meetings. Shift things around so that you are spending your precious in-person time in a way that is going to benefit everyone in the organization. You’re going to be so glad you did!

Free Guide to Better Sales Meetings
Onboarding

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🛳️ Guide to Nailing Your Onboarding

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Onboarding your new agents smoothly is not only a key piece of your recruiting puzzle, it’s crucial to create a healthy, growing team or brokerage.

This process is the agent’s first impression of how the organization works and you want to do everything you can for it to go smoothly to show them what a professional, organized, and committed-to-their-success place this is.

In a lot of cases, those new agents are scared. They’ve left salaried positions with benefits or a brokerage that they know inside-and-out and have taken a leap of faith to try something new. Especially those who are new to a commission-only pay structure, this can be a really intimidating thing.

The goal with onboarding is to have them land with you confidently on their feet. If they were to show up on that first day and you say, “Oh, great! Uhh…I didn’t know that you were starting today! Uh…here’s some information for you to read, here’s the wifi password, and here’s some things to read that I just slapped together just now,” that’s going to cause your new rockstar agent to have some immediate job-change remorse. Worse, if mistakes happen down the line, they will say, “I knew it from the first day that this was a bad decision!”

So how do you accomplish this soft yet ready-to-go landing for your new agents? Give yourself a runway of time to prepare. 48 business hours should be sufficient, depending on your process. This way, you and anyone else assisting you with onboarding has plenty of time to get everything prepared before they walk in the door. Agents are READY. TO. GO. and they will become frustrated in having to wait on their basic needs to work.

Create an onboarding checklist to ensure that each item you have identified that an agent needs when they begin is prepared for them. Similar to the results of having a transaction or closing checklist for your clients, you want the process of working with you to be the same for your agents: consistent, thorough, and positive.

Use our guide below (make a copy and save it to edit,) and add every single thing that you do when you onboard someone new. Yes, even the small stuff. As you grow and bring on multiple people at once it will be harder and harder to remember each detail. 

Once you’re done, save another copy and name it “Exit Checklist” and update it so that you are turning off and performing all the tasks needed when an agent leaves and nothing is missed on that end as well.

This is all about consistency. If you need to do something to onboard or exit one agent, you will likely need to do it for all of them. Building systems around the regular actions that you take means that nothing will be forgotten, the organization is working efficiently, and there are fewer items to remember and decisions to be made around recurring events, freeing you up to spend time and energy on the business building activities instead.

Click Here for Your Free Onboarding Checklist Template
biz-plan-image

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Guide to Creating a Team Business Plan

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If you’re going to run your team (or brokerage!) and get results, you need a plan. Setting aside time to think about and map out our businesses is something that we all need to do more often rather than getting stuck doing the work and caught up in the weeds of everyday happenings.

Blocking off time regularly with no distractions to think about ways to improve your business is a great first step, but creating a clear actionable plan is the key to seeing results.

Watch our guide to creating a team (or brokerage!) business plan and use the accompanying workbook to make a plan that you can execute and take your business to the next level.

Click Here to Get Your Free Creating a Team Business Plan Workbook
email:spam

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Strategies for the Never-Ending Fight Against Spam

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Effective communication is key in any business, but especially so in real estate as this element can make or break your transactions and growth. Email remains a primary channel for connecting with clients, colleagues, and prospects however, the constant battle against spam filters can hinder the delivery of crucial messages. By understanding the nuances of spam filters and implementing proactive measures, you can ensure messages reach the intended recipients, fostering stronger relationships and enhancing your overall success.

No one wants their inbox junked up and major email providers are putting in place efforts to help protect us from spam. Still, if you don’t approach your marketing in a strategic, meaningful way, you’ll end up right alongside that nice Prince who can’t seem to find anybody to take his millions off his hands.

Here are some strategies you can implement to prevent your emails from landing in the dreaded spam folder:

💌 Establish Credibility
Building trust with clients and the public is the foundation of a secure business. When your emails consistently end up in spam folders, it can erode the credibility you’ve worked hard to establish. By taking preventive measures, you ensure that your messages are seen by the right people at the right time.

💌 Authenticate your Custom Domain to Improve Email Deliverability
Our besties at Follow Up Boss have created a way for you to authenticate your domain so that you can set your marketing emails up for the best chance of landing in the hands of future business. Use this link and follow the steps to further protect your efforts!

💌 Understand Spam Filters
Before diving into prevention strategies, it’s essential to understand how spam filters operate. These filters use complex algorithms to analyze various aspects of an email, such as content, sender reputation, and engagement metrics. By staying informed about these factors, real estate professionals can tailor their communication to align with spam filter criteria. Research the filters that you encounter during your everyday business to learn more about how they work and how you can structure your messaging to not get flagged.

💌 Craft Relevant Content
One of the primary triggers for spam filters is irrelevant or suspicious content. Focus on writing emails that are informative, personalized, and directly related to your recipient’s interests. Avoiding excessive use of promotional language and ensuring the content adds value can significantly reduce the chances of triggering spam filters. 

💌 Maintain a Healthy Sender Reputation
Your sender reputation plays a crucial role in email deliverability and consistently sending emails that are marked as spam will harm your reputation. To maintain a positive sender reputation, regularly clean your email list, promptly handle unsubscribe requests, and encourage recipients to mark your emails as ‘not spam’ if they find them valuable.

💌 Use Authentication Protocols
Implementing email authentication protocols like SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds an extra layer of security to your emails. This helps verify your legitimacy, making it less likely for spam filters to flag.

💌 Encourage Engagement
Spam filters often take user engagement into account. You can encourage recipients to interact with your emails by including clear calls-to-action, relevant links, and interactive content. Higher engagement rates signal to spam filters that your emails are desired and legitimate.

💌 Regularly Monitor Deliverability Metrics
Regularly monitor key deliverability metrics, such as open rates, click-through rates, and bounce rates. Analyzing these metrics provides insights into the effectiveness of your email campaigns and allows for adjustments to be made to improve deliverability.

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The Missing Element of Your Recruiting Strategy

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It’s retention. How’s that for cutting right to the chase?

I’ve heard my entire real estate career that agents only stay at a brokerage for an average of three years. And while that is certainly true in some cases, I have had the pleasure to work closely with and see under the hood of brokerages all over the US and Canada and I’m here to tell you…it definitely doesn’t have to be that way.

Retaining your existing agents is not only a heck of a lot easier than recruiting, it saves you money and time as well. And aren’t they really one in the same? According to the website edume.com (I don’t know, it looked legit…) the average cost per hire is around $4,000 between the actual cost, HR time, and training efforts. That’s also not including the cost of your recruiting efforts per hire. A lack of effort on your part to retain, nurture, and grow this investment would be just poor business sense.

Your success as a team hinges on your ability to acquire top talent but also to retain it. A stable, committed team will boost productivity across the entire organization while also enhancing the reputation and profitability of the entire team and brokerage. Retaining experienced agents ensures that your client relationships have continuity, as clients often seek the guidance of familiar faces when it comes to large transactions like buying or selling a home. Longer-term relationships build trust, which also generates repeat business and referrals.

When agents work together for an extended period of time, they develop a deep understanding of each other’s strengths to work as a team and create a synergy that significantly impacts your overall team performance. They’ll know that Mike may not be the best at social media, but he’s going to win at the listing table every. single. time. and he’s willing to coach you up before your appointment. And they will know to go to Amber because she’s the social media guru and loves to give you tips on how to grow your audience.

Now, retention isn’t easy. It takes a lot of effort to maintain a long-term relationship and you can’t be everything to everyone. Yes, despite your best efforts, life will take some agents elsewhere or out of the industry completely. But by giving taking care of your people a good honest try, you will be well on your way to developing a team that wants to stick around and grow together.
 

Here are some suggestions to consider as you work to improve your agent retention efforts:

👩‍🏫 Invest in Professional Development

Provide ongoing training and development opportunities to keep your team engaged and motivated. Encourage them to grow and expand their skill set, stay updated on industry trends, and pursue certifications that can help them grow their book of business.

😊 Establish a Positive Work Environment

Foster a positive and inclusive workplace culture where agents feel valued and supported. Establish regular team-building activities, open communication channels, and recognition of achievements and things done right to contribute to a sense of belonging.

🏃‍♂️ Competitive Compensation and Incentives

Your compensation structure should be competitive within the industry and consider implementing performance-based incentives to reward your top performers as well. If you create an environment where it’s easy to sell a lot of houses but your agents HAVE to sell a lot of houses in order to make a decent living, retention will remain a challenge for your organization. Recognizing and appreciating your team’s hard work help them to feel acknowledged and motivated to continue delivering exceptional results for both the team and your clients. Take care to show them this appreciation year-round, not just at the end-of-year awards ceremony!

🏡 Flexible Work Arrangements

Life-work balance isn’t a myth and by leading with flexibility to allow agents to perform their duties well at work and at home will make it easier for people to stay and not have to leave for family reasons. Offering flexible work arrangements and staying in tune to the needs of your team will demonstrate that you understand and respect their individual circumstances and responsibilities outside of real estate.

👔 Help Your Team Identify Career Pathways

Assist your agents in creating a business plan for this year and a five year plan so that they have a clear understanding of their advancement opportunities both within the team and as a real estate professional. This gives your team a sense of direction and purpose which motivates them to stay committed to their roles. Taking the time to know and understand the motivation and goals of your agents will help you support them in reaching those goals. Not everyone wants to create their own team or brokerage, for some making a great living and having more time with their family is the driver.

📚 Provide Training and Support Systems

None of this works if the internal systems of your business are not strong and in place. Strong onboarding, training systems, support during transactions, mentorship opportunities, SOPs for how to work leads, hold open houses and all other real estate activities are all things that you should have in place and easily accessible to your agents. Reviewing these resources regularly at your team meetings and pouring into your folks to teach them everything you can will also result in higher retention rates.

Other companies are recruiting your people as you read this, making a concerted effort to retain or re-recruit your own agents will create an environment and culture so strong and nurturing that they won’t even entertain the conversation. You can do it, just get started and chip away at the things you need to do and the systems you need to create. Keep going, continuity is the secret to success!

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