Trails are a tool you can use to build that first contact into a tangible relationship where clients only want you as their agent.
Someone who has embraced trails completely is Jed Wood from Sanders Property Agents. Trails have enabled him to set up systems around his activity so there’s no more lying in bed late at night trying to remember what must be done the next day. Scheduled tasks have already been allocated, so all he needs to do is act on those every morning when he arrives at the office and keep building those relationships.
After using trails for a number of years, Mr Wood has developed a series of systems for each type of contact with prospects utilising multiple forms of communication, including phone, email, SMS or in person. “I’ve figured out how to do a little bit of a self qualification when I might be dealing with an enquiry, for instance, from a prospective purchaser. I send them an SMS thanking them for their call, assuring them I will do my best to help,” he explained.
This SMS would be followed up with an email asking a series of questions such as criteria, time frame, destination and if Mr Wood can send a destination report. If people respond to that email, it’s going to help me help them. It helps me to qualify them and then be able to place another trail on them as being hot, cold, potential seller,” Mr Wood added.
Day 1 – phone conversation where he asks a series of questions to qualify them
Day 1 – immediately follow up with a text message thanking them for their call
Day 1 – send an email
Day 3 – assistant sends a ‘Guide to Purchasing’ email
Day 7 – call the buyer to get more information or confirm they received his email.
Day 7 – phone call role play Jed Wood: G’day Lee, it's Jed from Sanders. How are you today? Lee Woodward: Good thanks, Jed.
JW: Lee, I just wanted to call and thank you for replying to my email a few days ago. It’s great to be able to know what it is you’re after and I think that we should be able to find a property that suits your needs.
LW : Jed, oh that’s fine and thanks for your SMS. I’ve got all your details. You’ve been very thorough in your follow up.
JW: Lee, I’ve got a couple of properties that I think might suit your criteria. I was wondering if you might have an opportunity to see some homes during the week?
LW : Yeah, I can get Thursday afternoon off.
JW: All right tremendous. You mentioned on your email that you’d be interested in receiving one of our destination reports. Perhaps I could make an appointment with you for Thursday afternoon between 4pm and 5pm and bring that suburb report with me. How does that sound?
LW : Yeah that would be good. What is a destination report?
JW: Well Lee, you’re living in Jannali at the present time; you mentioned you’d like to go towards Oyster Bay where there’re some waterfront homes and I’d like to be able to show you what those properties have been selling for, just so that you’ve got a bit of background information on the next suburb your looking to move to.
LW : Jed, that sounds really good. Now if you want to pop over, I’d appreciate you going through that with me; that would be great.
JW: Tremendous. I look forward to it. I’ll meet you at 4pm.
“Once I’ve spoken to that client on the seventh day, they are assigned either to be a hot buyer or a cold buyer,” Mr Wood explained.
A hot buyer is someone who lives locally, has a home to sell and wants to move locally. “I want to be able to make a real impression that when they are looking to buy in the local area, I’m the person that will be able to find them something and, of course, when they’re looking to sell in the local area, I’m the active agent,” he said, adding these buyers received a call every Wednesday afternoon to update them on any new properties in the area that suited their criteria.
A cold buyer will receive a monthly follow up phone call, 60 day SMS and a 90 day email confirming their criteria and asking them to contact Mr Wood if anything changes.
Day 1 – phone conversation where he asks pre-listing questions and permission to send a pre-listing information pack Day 1 – send SMS thanking them for their call and confirming listing meeting Day 1 – assistant organises pre-listing letter and information pack; pack is delivered within the hour Appointment day – call an hour before appointment to confirm Appointment day – after meeting call assistant with price expectation to prepare commitment letter; sets up SMS Appointment day – send an SMS straight after appointment finishes Appointment day – assistant drops off commitment letter and introduces herself 24 hours after appointment – follow up call Day 7 – send ‘unsigned appraisal’ letter with testimonials Day 10 – follow up call Day 11 – send letter thanking them for their time on the phone the day before Day 17 – follow up call Day 21 – send a letter Day 90 – send a letter explaining it has been three months since their initial contact
While this trail can continue for three months, it is the first day where Mr Wood ensures he shines. “Game on, this is the super impressive time. I’ve asked for permission to have it [information pack] delivered there within an hour; I don’t want it there in an hour and ten minutes; I want it there within the hour,” he said, explaining the precise timing.
One of the most important tools when using trails is taking notes of what people are saying. Information such as their wedding anniversary or children finishing university can be noted and brought up later, showing you are taking an interest and will further build the relationship.
Trails are managed electronically to ensure nothing is missed. “There’s so much information going in and out of your skull, you just need to be able to leave it to a computer system to manage that. It allows me to focus on the day-to-day running of the real estate business. The relationship is managed by time; there’re actions that are created as part of the trail. All I’ve got to do is put the plan in place, do the actions and results just filter through,” Mr Wood said.
Systemising his trails in this way has enabled Mr Wood to free himself up to concentrate on the “dollar-productive activity” of building relationships, while everything runs like clockwork in the office. He is now looking to hire a cadet who can add more to his business.