One Of The Greatest Benefits Of Using Call Capture In Your Business Today

I use call capture in all my marketing, and I mean ALL my marketing.

With the call capture system that I use, I have a 1-800 number, and one thousand extensions. But more importantly, my call capture system allows me to track where I am receiving my business from.

In other words, I can track the success of each marketing piece that I put out. This system is absolutely vital within my business today. It allows me to gauge the success of each marketing dollar that I spend.

For example, if I decide to send out 100 postcards, 100 letters, place a weekly ad in the newspaper and advertise in the Homes Magazine, I can put my 1-800 number with a different extension number for each marketing source. The last digit on the extension indicates where I have advertised – e.g. postcard might be 1 at the end of the extension 2001. This then allows me to monitor how many calls I received from the postcards, how many calls from the letters, how many from the newspaper ad and how many calls came in from the Home Magazine ad.

The reason that is so vital to me is that if the newspaper ad costs me $200 and gets me 10 calls, yet the 100 postcards cost me $48 and resulted in 20 calls then I am going to stop spending marketing dollars on the newspaper ad and move it over to sending postcards - $200 can pay for 416 postcards which could result in 83 calls.

Do you see now why the call capture system is such an important part of any successful real estate business model?

So How Do You Become A Successful Real Estate Agent In Today’s Tough Market?

The answer to the above question consists of several main components which are quite simple and straightforward. In brief, the things you simply must do to ensure success are as follows:

1. Realtor = Business Owner - Treat your real estate practice as a business – you are running a business – never forget that!

2. Time Management - Due to the workload and possible chaos involved with our business, you must master Time Management.

3. Automate Everything - To assist you with your time management and to keep on top of all the tasks and activities involved in real estate transactions, you must automate everything where possible.

4. Prospecting - You must train yourself to prospect at least 2 hours per day (every day that your real estate practice is open for business).

5. Lead Generation is the lifeline of your business. You must have a system that generates good quality leads and plenty of them. And this system should be automatic – working for you 24/7, even while you are sleeping.

6. Testimonials - You must use testimonials with all of your real estate marketing – this includes your real estate postcards, your realtor business cards, any and all sales copy, your real estate website, your listing presentations, and even, if you can, include it when you advertise your homes for sale.

7. Referrals – you must have a system for getting referrals. We, as consumers, will prefer to do business with someone we know or with someone who has been referred to us by someone we know. So, every time you are talking to someone you know (whether in person, on the phone or via email) ask them this question: “As you know I am in real estate, I need you to think for a minute – who do you think are the next 3 people you know that might be considering buying or a selling a home.”

8. Professionalism & Personality – Finally, dress professionally every minute of each day that you are practicing real estate. Be likeable – it is a proven fact that consumers do business with people that they like. More importantly in today’s economy, be upbeat and positive. No-one wants to be around a real agent who is full of doom and gloom about the housing market – I know I don’t!

My opinion has always been “Why reinvent the wheel?” At my Real-Estate-Success.org site you’ll learn the best, most inexpensive practices and systems for your real estate business. Over the years, I have bought them all, subscribed to them all, reviewed them, tried and tested them, used them, and when necessary, dumped them in the garbage.

With Real-Estate-Success.org there are no strings, no fees. Nothing but solid, real estate information and advice.

So take a visit and learn what you’ve been missing.

Don’t reinvent the wheel – SAVE YOUR MONEY - I have it all done for you!

John Mc Kenna

john@real-estate-success.org

What's Happening in the Housing Market

Hey, we all made a lot of money as homeowners over the past few years as the RE bubble continued to expand until it blew up and gummed up the credit markets.

Lenders are no longer giving zero-down loans. You'll need at least 20-30% down payment to buy that house and, are you ready for this: lenders want to see a 700 credit score. That's Bill Gates level, so chances are, money is going to be hard to come buy for mortgages - at least for a while.

I recommend to my clients that they use local banks as their initial stop on the mortgage search. These small town banks didn't go nuts when the housing market was booming. They'll still want a good credit score, but small, commercial lenders like to be able to drive by the property, call your place of employment and pull credit reports from the three major credit agencies; Equifax, TansUnion and Experian.

Pull your credit scores before heading off to talk to ol' Jim at the local bank's mortgage department. If the numbers don't add up, there are plenty of alternatives to traditional lenders.

You may have to get creative with your financing but at least you and your family are home.

Call a pro. They have a variety of lender options to get you and the family settled in a home you can afford without worry.

John McKenna

john@real-estate-success.org

How To Tell Sellers to Clean Up Their Act

We all know that a clean home sells faster than a messy one. That sparkling curb able and pristine interior are clear indicators of a well-maintained property and, as we've heard, 'You only get one chance to make a good first impression'.

So you pull up to a new listing and see a rusting washing machine and an old boat rotting on the front lawn. This is NOT going to be an easy sale.

After politely greeting the owners with your most hopeful smile, you step inside and get hit smack in the face with the smell of a litter box that hasn't been cleaned this millennium. Man, it hurts to breathe.

Now, the home owners (your clients) are nice people. Just not the neatest folks you've come across moving homes. And amazingly, you actually get used to the smell of that solid wall of ammonia you hit walking in. So how do you tell these nice folks to, ummm, clean up their act without insulting them.

I come at this problem straight on. It's the simplest, it doesn't hurt feelings and it puts more money into the pockets of the sellers.

Simply explain that they can increase the value of their home (and therefore pocket more cash) if they do a few simple things. Explain that it's money well invested; money that will more than pay for itself.

Then I go further. Over the years I've created business relationships with house cleaners, house painters, guys with dump trucks who clean out basements, power sprayers, asphalt layers - you name the need and I've got the solution in my Rolodex or organizer. And in most cases, I carry business cards for my team, so I make it easy for the owners to throw a little money at a big problem to recoup a much better profit on their home.

Finally, encourage the buyers NOT to list their homes until these fix-its have been made. If they list before clean-up, they miss that initial surge of buyers that occurs when a property first hits the MLS.

By putting it in "dollars and cents" terms, you avoid insulting the sellers, you provide your contacts with business AND you get a higher price for the property.

Now, who do I call to get rid of that smell...

John McKenna
john@real-estate-success.org

Welcome to Realtor Success

Hello and welcome RE pros. You're home now, among friends.


The real estate industry is always in flux and tactics for lead generation, call capture and other routine tasks have been developed to allow you more time to sell homes, fulfill a few dreams and pocket Top Producer revenues right out of the blocks. And this is the site to show you how to do it.

My name is John McKenna and I sell houses. Lots of them. And I can show you how to use your time to best advantage - showing homes to prospective buyers. That's what leads to the closing table and commission checks.


My goal is always the satisfaction of my clients because (1) repeat business runs in a five-year buy-sell cycle so I know those buyers will be back when it's time to sell and (2) happy buyers are the best marketing tool an independent realtor has. These folks will recommend you and that brings business through the door.


This blog is your space - your place to post your thoughts, your opinions, to rant a little and maybe even offer the competition a tip or two. So do come back often to keep up with the latest trends and tools for improving our productivity, aka, commissions.


All are welcome


John McKenna

john@real-estate-success.org