With Lee Woodward CEO Real Estate Academy
Success in real estate begins and ends with data. The best data in your database are your buyers and sellers. Once you have those you really start connecting the dots. There are many ways to capture data.
RP Data is very important and you will use it constantly. It is a database which collects information from the Land Titles Office so it has past and current sales information of settlements and exchange of property all over Australia. You use it to research and refine information about properties that you are appraising, so it’s like the Bible for real estate agents. If you need to know how much something is sold for, how long it’s been on the market for, who the owners are and their phone contacts - all that relevant data is contained in that website.
Inbound enquires that come through RealEstate.com.au and Domain.com.au receive an autoresponse reply. So for any emails from these portals or texts from signboards coming to your office your server will send back a Web Book link of that property with a message from the agent. This process enables you to capture the details for that person who has requested that information. You can then contact them a day or two later, and follow up in a subtle way. By providing information that’s relevant and current to a client, you make them want to engage with you.
Web Books showcase the property – with video, floor plans, contracts, inclusions, incentives - absolutely everything. At the early stage of the marketing process a Web Book enables you to communicate with people who have indicated that they would like to be contacted and provides them with critical information instantly. A Web Book can be updated at any time and posted on your Facebook page, which creates another point to capture data.
Door knocking is still a great way to find seller leads in your local marketplace. For new salespeople, door knocking is a great way to get out and into the area. It also helps build your own client list and database. It’s important to realise that in real estate you are a constant PR machine and getting out and about door knocking enables you to meet people, capture data and provide value which makes your business grow.
A successful approach is if you can go to the front door and engage the potential lead, very, very quickly, around them needing to help you, then you’re far more likely to be successful. You really just want to know if they’ve had any thoughts on selling or not. That’s our whole objective when we approach the door. On the day of an open home, door knock in the surrounding homes, just say, 'Hello, we’re open this Saturday at 10 o’clock. Love to see you there'.
The Price Drive Letter is a very effective tool in starting a relationship to capture data. Price Drive Letters can be the biggest source of new listings or new market appraisals. They can fill the gaps in the data you don’t have. A Price Drive Letter offers residents in a particular street or suburb, to have an appraisal completed on their home. It keeps residents up to date with values in their area and gives them an opportunity to update insurance policies or to perhaps buy an investment property, knowing the equity in their home.
Inspect Real Estate sits on RealEstate.com. au and Domain.com.au. As people make an enquiry, it captures it in the database, and then you can send out the actual web book, or whatever link you like, direct to their phone. It could be midnight, whatever time they enquire, but that instant service and the capturing of data is very exciting.
Social media demonstrates your market presence and if done correctly, you can add value to a client and attract interest to your business. It provides a great way to capture data and to make contact with friends and family of your existing clients who can become part of your inbound marketing strategy. With Facebook you can boost posts on a Just Listed campaign, which can garner thousands of views and feature Just Solds. LinkedIn is also a powerful tool for collecting data.
Orphan Data is one of the most underutilised resources that an agent can take advantage of. It’s a great opportunity for someone starting in the business to do some warm prospecting through those avenues, where they pick up an old open home book, and go through it, and make contact. And it’s really just a way for the data to be utilised for someone new coming into the industry to build a relationship with.
This is quite often a moment of truth. Open homes are the most important event of the week. If there’s ever a day in our industry when we’re on show, then the open home on a Saturday or a midweek evening is that day. It’s about showcasing your property, and showcasing your business as well. It’s an opportunity to meet a lot of people, and obviously neighbours, and build relationships with everybody that you meet. The key to a good open home is organisation.
Video can be a great communication platform for capturing buyers and sellers.
A charity auction is a great way of building your personal brand within the community to capture data. Sponsorships show that you are involved and work in the community, so some agencies help as many community groups and organisations as they can.
Retirement villages or lifestyle communities can also be a source of referrals and an opportunity to find new data.
All real estate businesses are built on referrals. People will come back to you if you do a great job. Building advocates saves 1,000 cold calls. Any referral is gold. Once you get a referral you know that you’ll automatically get the listing as well. It represents hours of work you don’t have to do – so value them.