I got this email today… and it made me sad. 🙁
Here’s the thing:
We’ve all be there. Everyone.
Million dollar producers. Top agents. Every successful business person in the world… Ryan even talks about feeling that way in this interview.
Heck, I partially felt that way last week when a project didn’t go as planned.
So, this blog post is for you, Marie. Here is the exact play-by-play game plan I’d use to grow your business.
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What’s the biggest difference between a million dollar agent & a bottom level producer?
It’s this:
Here are the top 6 ways you can be sure you’re in category #1 & NOT category #2…
(Note: This is not a get-rich quick scheme. All of these 6 items take time to build up. BUT if you focus on them, you will have a more successful business.)
:: 1 – The Plan ::
You need two plans.
- Long-term plan that tracks numbers
- Daily plan that keeps you focused
The first part of your plan is calculating the income you want and figuring out how many leads it takes to get there.
To do that, use this free commission calculator.
…I’ll wait while you figure out how many leads you need.
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OK: Do you know how many leads you need to hit your income goal?
Great.
Next comes the daily schedule.
Here’s mine:
You can grab your copy here for free.
Your daily schedule should only be filled up with the activities that help you generate and support the leads you need to hit your goal.
That’s it.
Daily schedule = Only things that hit your goal
What you’ll find after you start using it, is that your planned day rarely reflects your real day.
You get a text…and that turns into an hour of ‘goofing off.’
And now you’ve lost an hour of business building. You can NEVER get that hour back.
Use these two tools to make sure you’re only working on the things talked about on this blog post….
:: 2 – Your Database ::
If you listened to the “In The Lead Show” above, you’ll notice that Wade has an interesting approach.
He says, “Pick the CRM you’ll use daily.”
That is really the key when it comes to CRMs. There are always going to be ‘bells & whistles.’ But the thing that really matters is you making the calls and writing the emails.
I’ve reviewed a bunch of CRMs here. They are all great. Or, you can use a spreadsheet to track your calls and emails for now.
Here are the three databases you’ll need to do build out:
- Your Sphere Of Influence
- Agent-to-Agent Marketing
- Your Leads
The goal of each of these databases is to provide value to everyone on those lists. You need to provide more value than you ask for in every relationship.
Wade uses the example of his January mailers in the podcast.
Another great way to provide value is through educational blog posts. You can use the web to create free information that engages your sphere.
In terms of lead followup, you must be persistent. I recommend following up 2-3 times on the first day the lead comes in. And then once per day for a week after that. Then you should put the lead in a light touch followup system that is more long-term in nature.
Tools To Help You With This:
- Breakup email template
- Streak – A CRM That lives in Gmail
- HubSpot’s SideKick – An email tracking system
The key with followup is to not worry about being annoying.
So many times, agents simply fail to call their leads back often enough. People aren’t upset at you for calling them. They are just busy people too. (This assumes you’re calling legit leads, that opted into your website.)
You need to build systems that have you calling and following up with leads for months.
Why? Because most leads are shopping around for homes months before they are ready to speak with an agent.
:: 3 – Systems ::
Everyone reading this blog post should also read the book called E-Myth. It’s one of the better business books I have read.
Here’s why you need systems:
System = efficiency; clarity; ability to grow your team; getting more done; sending more emails; making more calls; prospecting more often; blogging more often; becoming a better agent; executing more marketing ideas; and more.
Basically, if you do something in your business, turn it into a system.
But how?
At Easy Agent Pro, we use SlimWiki.
Here’s what it looks like:
Basically, a developer at Easy Agent Pro can watch the training videos on this wiki and then build a LeadSite on their first day.
We post the training videos as “Private” on YouTube. And then put the links and any text we need on the wiki…like this:
Why’s this important? Here’s why:
Meet Sean & Chris – 2 awesome people I get to work with everyday on the EAP team
Systems are what makes this possible. If you don’t document how do to things, you’ll never be able to grow to where you want to go!
I really recommend using videos to document your processes. They work 200%-1000% better than written word.
:: 4 – Scripts & Dialogues ::
Ok, so the next topic is learning what to say on the phone and in person.
This post is about building your systems and making your business better. So, I’m not going to give you actual scripts here.
What I recommend it this:
- Create a folder in Google Drive:
- Create text docs in there for every type of script
- Copy/Paste all the scripts I’ve linked up below & you ever find ever into those documents
- Practice.Practice.Practice.
Why is this important?
Because scripts are living and breathing documents. You want to share that folder with everyone on your team. And constantly be improving what you say. The co-editing environment of Google Docs is second to none!
Here are various scripts you can find on the web:
:: 5 – Converting The Appointment ::
We talked about this extensively in our “Listing Appointment Tips Roundup Post” here.
Click here for the best tips on converting your appointment:
:: 6 – Lead Generation ::
Top producers have at least 10 and probably closer to 20+ lead generation sources.
Middle level producers have around 6 lead generation sources.
You need to focus on building these out. Here are some of my favorite articles on Lead Generation:
Here’s a video of how Ryan used his website to build a lead generating funnel: