When the kids move out and mom and dad retire, the expense of that big house and all that property maintenance can start to feel like an expense they don’t really need. This is the mindset driving downsizing for many Baby Boomers. As an experienced broker with deep knowledge of your local market, you and your team are uniquely qualified to help them with this transition. And make no mistake, this is a transition, not just a buying or selling of a home for most Boomers. It represents a change of life, finishing one chapter and opening a chapter on the next part of their story. Your ability to facilitate an empathetic and informed approach to this market can be a highly rewarding and mutually beneficial endeavor.
Put Yourself in Their Shoes Whether you are a Boomer yourself, or a young broker/agent working with older clients, the first step to winning over the Boomer business is to put yourself in their shoes. Even more so than working with Millennials, Boomers have a story, a well-developed one, and your ability to relate to it in a real way is what they need to see before they will trust you with their business. Treat their home with great respect be it big or small. It is the place where their memories were carved. Let them tell you their story and if you win their business, remember it as you show them homes. Find common points of reference, but emphasize the excitement of the new. For Boomers, turning the page may be tinged with sadness, but your ability to be empathetic while emphasizing the positives of change, will make their transition much easier and leave you feeling good long after the deal is closed. Do this right and they will also become a great source of referrals for other Boomers in the same situation. Play Matchmaker with Your Boomer Leads Being the responsible broker that you are, you know it is important to take careful control of your inbound leads and care for them accordingly. As such you may want to consider that a lead opportunity with a Boomer, may merit some special considerations. For instance, Boomers who are downsizing often feel more comfortable working with agents who have similar interests. Pay careful consideration to match all of your Boomer leads with the type of agent that is best suited for their needs, best matches their life experience, or has a particularly positive personality. You Have to Be Where the Boomers Are One of the best ways to scale your business as a real estate broker is to network strategically and build meaningful relationships with referral partners. If you are striving to attract Baby Boomers, you would be wise to seek out valuable connections with other professionals that frequently work with this group. Home care providers, assisted living facility managers, estate planners, estate attorney’s and those working in finance are all excellent connections that could help to build your referral business. LinkedIn is great for forming these relationships, just as joining local networking groups like BNI or the chamber of commerce. Since you already have your thumb on the pulse of buyers and sellers, you know very well that they all want relationships with people they trust. When it comes to attracting downsizing Baby Boomers, credibility, trust and empathy will go a long way. Winning with Boomers Requires the Right Philosophy When Jim Weichert said, “People buy people before they buy your product or service,” he was describing all real estate business relationships, but this is even more true for today’s Baby Boomer generation. It’s this philosophy that drives all our processes and systems and is fundamental to success. Authenticity breeds success, that’s the Weichert way. If you are looking for solutions to get your brokerage on the path to growth, contact us to see how we can help. Go to https://www.weichert.com/ or call 877-567-3350. Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/how-to-appeal-to-downsizing-boomers/
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Brand is a powerful thing. Yet, many real estate brokerages underestimate its power in attracting consumers. A successful brand can be leveraged to establish trust, credibility, and ultimately, success. Many successful owners have worked hard to build a name for their company, which has helped lead them to where they are today. However, for many brokers, building a brand that people instantly trust and want to engage with, can be challenging. Where do you start? How do you compete? How do you make yourself memorable?
Customer Service: What Does It Really Mean? It is not news to anyone that customer service is a top priority to consumers, but in real estate, it’s all about customer service. So what exactly defines quality customer service for real estate agents and brokers? While many brokers agree on some key elements of this, it’s surprising how many different answers you get. According to NAR, buyers and sellers have named honesty, technology, and regular communication as their top priorities in terms of customer service. No matter how you define it, it’s what the customer values that’s important. Take a look at your company. How would you rate your brokerage and your agents in these areas? If they’ve not been a priority, make them priority in your operations. By focusing on these areas, you’ll be on the path to delivering the best service possible in your market. But consistency is also critical. Good brands deliver consistent experiences. It’s why customers keep going back. Define and post your unique definition of customer service for everyone to see and make sure your entire team trains on it and keeps it top of mind. When everyone defines service in the same way, using the same tools, that’s the beginning of building a real brand experience that means something to people. Effect on Lead Generation It’s a simple fact. The strength of your brand has a direct impact on your ability to generate inbound leads, which can directly affect the success of your company. As a broker, you want to ultimately build a brand that magnetically attracts buyers and sellers which you can hand-off to your agents. That makes you valuable in the eyes of your agents. The struggle for many independent brokers is that they simply can’t invest the kind of money in branding and lead generation that large, national real estate companies do. At Weichert, the lead generation challenge is one of the biggest reasons that independent brokers turn to us for help. The Weichert national lead generation strategy creates a constant stream of quality leads, by leveraging both digital marketing and technology. Not only does Weichert cultivate leads inside your market through our lead network, but it provides lead opportunities from our rental company, relocation company, and referrals from our network of over 500 offices across the country. Brand Touch Points A silent brand is no brand at all. You can’t build a brand that generates leads and recruits new agents without implementing a system of regularly reaching out and touching your community with events, ads, content, volunteering…and yes, even Open Houses. In fact, the more that you get your brand in front of consumers in your service area, the more brand recognition and credibility you will achieve. It is human nature to feel comfortable with things you are exposed to repeatedly, but make sure it looks consistent. These touch points create a connection and understanding with your brand that makes doing business easier down the line. The brokerages that are able to touch their community the most will be the one buyers and sellers think of when it’s time. As a broker your job is to use all your knowledge and skills and all the media and personal channels at your disposal to get your brand out in the world, and keep it there. Independent Broker Independence VS. Big Brand Many independent brokers feel like affiliation means giving up their identity, their independence, and everything they’ve built and learned over time. But what if that wasn’t true? What if you could maintain your independent operating style and culture, while plugging into the benefits of national branding, lead generation, recruiting systems, agent education systems, technology, coaching and more? What if someone could really show you how to do this in a proven way that has taken others like you to the next level of success? If that sounds like the kind of brand you’d like to be part of, give us a call today to find out more: 877-567-3350, or visit us at weichertfranchising.com. Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/the-power-of-brand/ As 2018 draws to an end, you and the rest of the real estate broker universe are actively thinking about how to make 2019 your best year yet. A big part of that plan is sure to be how you will attract more sales associates to your brokerage. If you’ve hit a plateau or feel like you need new tactics, it may be time to take a fresh approach to your recruiting strategy in the new year. Here are a few thoughts on recruiting strategies for 2019.
Get Serious About Instagram & Facebook Yes, you have heard for some time that Instagram and Facebook are important platforms for real estate professionals, but are you using them actively for something other than home sales? It turns out that these portals have a role to play in recruiting agents, as well as buyers and sellers, but unless you are consistent about staying active and engaged on each of them, you won’t see results. By having the right connections, and being active on these portals, agents will see your brand as dynamic and active and you will increase the number of touchpoints you have with other professionals. When using these portals for recruiting, here’s a few things to keep in mind.
The key here is to be helpful. Both your content and your comments should give people real and valuable information. What you give freely, you will receive in return tenfold. Get Yourself in Front of the Right People While there is no dispute that technology has earned its place in real estate recruiting, face-to-face connections will never lose their value. The more you can get yourself, your name, and your brand in front of interested recruits, the faster you will grow. One way in which Weichert affiliate brokerages have achieved recruiting success is hosting a weekly career night at their offices. With careful promotion and consistent scheduling, this activity helps each of our brokers shake hands with interested candidates and take that first step to bringing them onboard or into the industry. Get A Buzz Going One thing experienced agents will evaluate is what value your brokerage brings to their business. That can take many forms, one of which is lead gen. At Weichert for instance, we invest in a national lead network from generation to qualification to distribution, which is an extremely powerful recruiting tool. We cultivate leads from Weichert.com with over 3 million visitors a month, which supplements an agents’ own activity. Another is tools and resources. Weichert, for example offers one of the best Listing Presentation tools in the industry. Still another is your company culture. Creating an environment of support and open communication empowers agents to do their best. Agents talk to each other and if they love where they work, they talk about it. That kind of talk can ignite a fire of interest around your brokerage that will attract agents like moths to a flame. It’s these kinds of dynamics that makes working for a Weichert brokerage so popular. Recruiting Isn’t Easy, but Weichert Makes it Easier Have you done a check-up of your recruiting strategy lately? If there’s one story our brokers tell us over and over, it’s how much easier recruiting was once they affiliated with Weichert. Sustained agent recruiting is one of the keys to achieving your brokerage dream, and no one does more to give you the right recruiting tools and strategies than Weichert. If your brokerage could benefit from better recruiting systems, contact us to see how we can help. For more information about the Weichert system, go to https://www.weichertfranchise.com or call 877-567-3350. Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/recruiting-strategies-for-2019/ 11/27/2018 Franchise Success Spotlight: Weichert® Affiliate Brenda Elliott Weichert, Realtors® – The Space PlaceRead NowHuntsville, Alabama may be the one city in the country where the expression “it’s not rocket science” doesn’t apply. In Huntsville, it kind of is all about rocket science. It’s home to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, and the Army Aviation’s Space and Missile Command. Weichert Affiliate Brenda Elliott, owner of Weichert, Realtors® – The Space Place, is well acquainted with the ever-present missile, spacecraft and rocket themes that run deep throughout the city. Indeed, the word “Space” in her brokerage name isn’t just referring to square footage. Though now an Alabama native, she lived in Georgia most of her life and still calls it home, graduating from the University of Georgia with a BFA in interior design. Her husband Paul graduated Georgia Tech with a degree in Industrial Management and their three daughters went to Auburn University. Now a Huntsville resident for over 20 years, Brenda is intimately familiar with her local real estate market and her passion for real estate is clear. Life as an Independent Broker Brenda’s career in real estate actually started in Northern Virginia, in the early 90’s while Paul was stationed at the Pentagon. Brenda decided she wanted to know the real estate side of interior design and went to work for none other than Weichert, Realtors® in Burke, Virginia. The experience of working inside a Weichert Brokerage stayed with Brenda, even though she eventually started as an independent broker when her family moved back to Alabama. “My family and I were blessed with moving to Huntsville, Alabama in 1999, where I helped start the Executive Group Realtors, an independent real estate company, with three other partners,” notes Brenda. “As we got going, I actually modeled some of our processes after what I had seen at Weichert.” Brenda became the broker of record for the agency in 2002 and by 2005 helped build the agency to 56 agents working out of one office. Despite her success, with her increasing business responsibilities came the occasional desire for a partner who could provide guidance and help with the recruiting, branding, and lead generation challenges common to independent brokers. Still when Weichert approached Brenda’s team in 2005, she told them she was too busy to consider an affiliation. “But their follow up impressed me,” remembers Brenda. “After months of small conversations in fits and starts I agreed to go to New Jersey to hear the full pitch.” Deciding to Partner with Weichert For Brenda the decision to partner was not easy. Brenda and her team had concerns about affiliation with a national brand in general, as well as affiliation with Weichert specifically. What would that mean for her existing business and how would her agents react? Brenda and her team had heard all the positives about proven processes, coaching and support and lead generation, but frankly, not enough straight talk about the downside of becoming an affiliate. Brenda decided to make some calls. But rather than call the list of brokers the Weichert team in NJ gave her, Brenda called other Weichert brokers that she selected arbitrarily, from across the country. In fact, inside Weichert Corporate Offices, it is well known that Brenda set a record by calling 29 other Weichert brokers to try and find someone who would say something substantively negative about their Weichert affiliation. On the 29th call Brenda reached a Weichert Broker in Florida who finally gave Brenda what she needed to hear. He said, “The downside of becoming a Weichert Broker was realizing that I had wasted so much time and money by not doing this years ago.” Brenda was done. She began her affiliation with Weichert in 2006. Everyone’s Path to Success is Different Those who know Brenda, know she is all about her agents. According to Brenda “I didn’t sleep for about two weeks before the Weichert announcement.” Yet Brenda did not lose a single agent once she impacted. “I very quickly showed them the tools, training, and systems that were now at their disposal,” says Brenda. “Having this level of support for my team was great for me as well.” Consistent with the Weichert philosophy, Brenda was able to pick and choose the benefits that she wanted to roll out in her brokerage. The Weichert processes allowed her to craft a strategy that worked best for her brokerage and that respected her independent style. That meant that agents could continue using the existing methods that worked for them and implement Weichert tools and systems where they needed them. And everyone was able to benefit from the increased recognition that a brand like Weichert brought to the entire brokerage. During the market crash of 2008, Brenda watched other local brokers go out of business on a regular basis. Brenda credits her Weichert affiliation 100% for her agency survival. “Due to the advantages of being a recognized brand and having good systems and lead generation, we weathered the storm.” In 2011, Brenda finally bought out her business partners and made the decision to go all in on the Weichert Model. “We had been implementing parts of the Weichert Model, but when I became the sole owner, I felt the time was right to really be ALL IN on the Weichert Systems,” says Brenda. “We hired many new agents who fully embraced the model from day one, and that has made all the difference.” Weichert, Realtors® – The Space Place in 2018 Today Brenda’s team is firmly rooted in the methodology presented by Weichert, while still running things in a way that is appropriate for her local market. Weichert, Realtors® – The Space Places does a little commercial, a little relocation, some property management, but its primary focus is on residential sales. From one office and 38 agents in 2011, Brenda has grown her team to 3 offices and over 125 agents covering a good portion of northern Alabama. Brenda credits things like the Weichert DOORS™ listing presentation and their recruiting system, which includes “career nights”. Brenda sells at least 2-3 houses a month using their open house process and embraces the WeichertPro CRM for marketing campaigns, and more. “I especially love that while I get amazing support inside the Weichert model, I’m still free to build the systems that work in my area. This is an active and creative partnership with real experts at the other end.” The Weichert Model At Weichert Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., we exist to help you make the most of what you’ve already built and learned. Brenda is right about partnership we strive for with our affiliates. It’s the kind of partner support you won’t get from any other national real estate brand. When you affiliate, you become part of a supportive family where you’ll never have to wonder what to do next. For more information, contact the Weichert Affiliates team today at 877-567-3350 or visit weichertfranchise.com. Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/franchise-success-spotlight-weichert-affiliate-brenda-elliott-weichert-realtors-the-space-place/ 10/30/2018 Tech Is Great for Getting Them, But It’s Still Your Sales Skills That Close ThemRead NowWe live in a world of distractions. The media, news, entertainment, technology tools and social media are constantly bombarding us from all directions. It’s easy to get sucked in to all the cool, shiny new ways to attract leads. While tech is great for attracting leads, don’t become so distracted that you forget to practice the skills and habits that close them. In this highly connected world, it’s more important than ever to hone your relationships and your personal selling techniques. Lots of people can use the same lead technology, but there is only one you. Use that to set yourself apart.
Use Technology To Stay Connected Make sure you have a good CRM. This is the best way to keep your contacts organized and keep track of your communications with them so you don’t lose touch. If you stay out of touch too long, it opens the door for a client to become connected with someone else and call on them when they need something. A good CRM is the perfect example of a tech application that blends automation and good sales techniques. Use the automation and calendaring features to:
Successful business owners understand that it takes some effort to learn these tools, but they use them regularly and teach and encourage their agents to do the same. The use of these tools actually helps you automate your business and have more freedom to spend one-on-one time forging new connections. Use technology to replace functions of your business that give you and your team more time and opportunity to make great connections within the community. Use Technology That Showcases Your Personality It’s no secret. People want to do business with people they feel a connection with and can trust. That is especially true when it comes to one of their biggest assets – buying or selling their home. The best way to stand out is to utilize technology that allows your personality to shine. Use video to share real estate tips or your knowledge about the neighborhoods you work in. Post them on Facebook or use a video email service, such as BombBomb to communicate. This will help humanize you and make you more memorable than a static post or email. Don’t Forget Your Hustle Lead generation sources are focused on one thing…selling leads. And they are happy to sell the same lead to you and the 10 other agents in town if you are willing to buy them. Customers typically work with the first agent they speak with. So make sure that agent is you. This means picking up the phone when it rings and not waiting to respond to that email. Don’t be so busy that you don’t have time to be responsive. Yes, you may have to speak with a few frogs, but you never know when that awesome lead is going to come to you and you need to be ready. Be Smart About Lead Gen Options Make sure the lead gen options you choose are truly productive for your business. How qualified are the leads you are receiving? Do you have to pay for them up front? What is your close rate on the leads you do receive? If it’s not good or you don’t know, you may be spinning your wheels and wasting valuable time and money. This can distract you and make you unavailable when the quality leads do come to you. Make sure you are spending your time and money on the right things. Always Keep It Personal No matter what technology and lead sources you use, don’t lose sight of the personal touch. Don’t let the technology do all the work. Find ways to use it to reach your customers in personal ways or use those applications that allow your personality to shine through. You are your product and people can’t buy if they don’t know you. As Jim Weichert always says, “People buy people, before buying a product or service.” Conviction & Consistency Are King At Weichert, we believe that tech is critical, but must be complemented by proven and successful sales activities. From a technology and lead generation perspective, Weichert associates and affiliates are automatically provided with its proprietary CRM and can qualify to receive leads from its lead center. Weichert invests heavily to attract online leads that are then screened by its call center. This helps connect the most qualified prospects to its agents. Those leads feed automatically into the Weichert CRM. Additionally, Weichert provides a blueprint of best prospecting and sales practices, together with qualified suppliers to help its offices and agents stay connected with prospects. When you approach tech with the right frame of mind, stay true to your mission statement and core values and deliver value to your community, you will never have to worry about how fast tech changes or its impact on the industry. Don’t be concerned with change, as much as you are maintaining consistency and staying connected with your clients. For more information on how Weichert systems can set you up for technology and beyond, go to https://www.weichertfranchise.com or call 877-567-33350. Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/tech-is-great-for-getting-them-but-its-still-your-sales-skills-that-close-them/ In this, increasingly digital era, more and more real estate leads are acquired online. Managing all of those online leads, in addition to those coming in from more traditional sources has become the Achilles heel of real estate agents. If your agents are not automating their follow-up, your brokerage is at a disadvantage. Enter the real estate CRM. In recent years, real estate CRM’s have become a dime a dozen and while all promise to simplify the path to success, some may not be the best match for your needs. Brokers are busy and it’s hard to find time to hunt for that diamond-in- the-rough CRM to help their agents be more productive. Here are some ins and outs of selecting one that will help your agents make the most of their time and never miss an opportunity.
The Not So Obvious Value Of Real Estate CRM’s At this stage in your career, you realize that a CRM is invaluable when it comes to agents keeping track of leads, clients and referrals. You also expect that a CRM will help them manage their to-do list, calendar, and progress of their transactions. Obviously, this is all important because it helps prevent them from dropping the ball and losing business. What you may not realize is that the capabilities of a truly valuable real estate CRM will reach far beyond those basics. Here are some not so obvious benefits of an ideal CRM:
What To Look For In Your Real Estate CRM One of the biggest problems with real estate CRM’s is that there are so many of them out there with varying features and benefits. It can make choosing one a bit overwhelming! But investing time in selecting a CRM can pay off for your business in the end. To end up with a successful solution, it’s important that you study what they have to offer and how easy it will be to implement and use. Opt for a free trial if one is available and see if it can work in harmony with your business. But before you even start your search, develop a clear cut list of what you want to get out of the software. Here’s what capabilities we suggest you prioritize in your search:
Final Thoughts on Real Estate CRM’s Offering your agents a way to organize and manage their leads will help them be more productive and your brokerage be more successful. No time to vet them? A CRM is often one of the many benefits your brokerage receives by affiliating with a larger brand. When Weichert looked at the world of real estate CRM’s many years ago for its agents, for example, no one off-the-shelf CRM addressed all the follow-up processes and systems that Weichert felt its agents needed to be most productive. So it developed its own proprietary CRM, WeichertPro. Not only does it contain all of the capabilities mentioned above but goes a few steps further:
WeichertPro CRM is just one of the many tools offered to our affiliates that support their growth and success. If you’re interested in plugging your business into the suite of tools and resources that Weichert offers, contact our team at https://www.weichertfranchise.com or 877-746-2067. Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/real-estate-crm-options-making-your-head-spin-heres-how-to-choose/ As a dedicated broker with a desire to grow your team and increase their production, you can’t afford to ignore the importance of follow up. Whether a lead is purchased or organic, it will require prompt, consistent, and personalized follow up if it will ever transition from a contact to a client. In fact, statistics show that for every 100 leads that an agent acquires, only 1-5 of them convert to business. If you and your team of agents are ever going to reach your goals, every lead will need to be treated like a VIP.
The Value Of A Lead To really set the stage for how important follow up is, it helps to remember that a lead is so much more than just a lead; it is a lifetime opportunity. It is an opportunity to close multiple deals with that buyer or seller, and everyone that they refer to you. As a broker, you already understand that point because you have paid your dues and served your time as a real estate agent trying to build a business. You also know that it is far more expensive to find a fresh lead than it is to acquire deals from an existing client. For all these reasons and more, facilitating follow up by offering training, tactics and tools for your team, should be high on every broker’s priority list. The First Follow Up Should Be the Fastest In today’s fast paced world, it is more important than ever that a lead receives contact within 30 minutes of “raising their hand” by phone or online. It is not uncommon for qualified leads to fall through the cracks because they don’t receive the immediate and necessary attention they deserve from overwhelmed agents. In fact, a Harvard Business Review study concluded that nearly 71% of all qualified leads are never followed-up with because it can be so challenging to execute without the proper tools and systems in place. Yet, the fact remains that the faster they get a response, the more likely those leads are to become a client. For example, Weichert, understanding these lead dynamics invests in a highly sophisticated national lead processing center which screens all calls and web queries, then transfers qualified leads to local Weichert agents across the country within minutes. With so many agents competing for leads, it is this kind of turnaround and responsiveness that really maximizes the engagement rate within a brokerage. Keep Clients Close The commitment to consistent follow up should not waiver after the sale–or even if a sale is not made. To extract as much value as possible from each client engagement, there should be continued communication on birthdays and anniversaries, as well as, newsletters, market updates, and other valuable content. This is one place that a Client Relationship Management tool (CRM) can really be valuable. By using a CRM to keep track of these relationships and creating a schedule to maintain that consistent, regular contact, your agents will get in front of more and more deals without having to work harder than necessary. As an example, the WeichertPRO CRM empowers agents to achieve success by nurturing their leads with automated, yet personalized emails, easy advertising of new listings, Open Houses and more. All of this having the effect of reducing the number of potential sales that slip through the cracks. Regular promotion, planning, and timely follow up are all part of the WeichertPRO CRM’s wheelhouse, making it an invaluable tool for both agents and brokers alike. Strike a Balance Between Automation and Conversation. The founder of Weichert, Realtors®, Jim Weichert, will tell you that selling real estate is nothing if not personal. He is famous for saying that “people buy people before they buy your product or service” and it’s that people-first philosophy that pervades everything Weichert teaches their affiliates. So by all means, use the latest technology and real estate CRM systems to stay front of mind with your clients and to follow up with regularity. But making these automations as personalized as possible, and supplementing them with actual personal contact, is the key to effective follow up, and building your business for the long haul. A national call center and proprietary CRM are just two parts of a full suite of systems and programs available to Weichert affiliates. If you are looking for a blueprint for success that you can plug your business into, contact Weichert Real Estate Affiliates, Inc. at 877-746-2067 or go to weichertfranchise.com for more information. Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/never-miss-an-opportunity-again-to-lack-of-follow-up/ Relocation is a big business. Large companies relocate tens of thousands of employees each year, resulting in a similar number of real estate transactions in getting them from one place to another. These companies are generally operating on a timetable, so these transactions start and close quickly and they don’t necessarily fall within the traditional seasonal trends of the industry. Brokerages with a heavy corporate, government or military presence in their service area know that relocation is a huge revenue source year after year. Often you help the referred employee or executive purchase a home and a few years later list it when the employee or executive is transferred again. It’s a great supplemental lead source for a brokerage. Who wouldn’t want a piece of that business?
Know the Requirements Not just anyone can get into the relocation business. Corporate or government entities have high expectations of the brokerages they work with and it can be a challenge to even get in the door. You have to have the right training and the right contacts to make the cut. It takes perseverance and attention as sales tend to be more time intensive and move quickly. Flexibility and responsiveness is a must. In addition, you need to understand and meet the requirements of each company or government agency and understand any compliance issues to avoid costly mistakes. Certifications like “Certified Relocation Professional”, or “Military Relocation Professional” may be required by the companies you wish to approach, for example. But whatever those requirements are, the payoff of having the continuous lead flow from the relocation business can be tremendous. Get A Regional Start One way to start with relocation is to associate with statewide companies or government agencies who are more inclined to work with independent brokerages with a proven knowledge of their local area and a good track record. But just doing statewide corporate referrals limits your relocation lead generation. Build A National Presence National corporation/government/military companies however, typically want to work with brokerages who have a coast-to-coast business pipeline. Depending on your market, this can put independent or regional agencies right out of the running for lucrative corporate relo contracts. So how do you get in the door? One way is by affiliating with a company that already has inroads to this business. Take the story of Broker Steve Wilke of Weichert, Realtors – Triumph Group in Ohio, who ran a successful relo business as an independent, but saw more and more of his clients require brokerages with a national presence. After losing several lucrative relocation contracts, Steve was attracted to affiliation with Weichert particularly because of its established relocation division, Weichert Workforce Mobility. After his brokerage became a nationally branded Weichert Affiliate, not only did he get back almost every corporate relo client he lost, but he then gained dozens more with Qualified referrals from Weichert. Some very high profile companies placed executives in the Columbus Ohio area using Steve’s team. While relo work is certainly a possibility for the smart independent broker, this is one area where being part of a national brand entrenched in the business really helps. In addition, if you are new to the relocation business, being part of an organization that is familiar with the requirements can help show you the ropes and become a qualified brokerage for receiving these leads. Final Thoughts On Adding Relocation to your Brokerage The relocation business has a unique set of requirements and breaking into it can be tough going as an independent broker, especially when you are competing with national brands who already know the business. A brand like Weichert, with an established relocation division, already has a huge infrastructure of lead referrals and corporate contracts and you have the opportunity to access them as an affiliate. Weichert Workforce Mobility earned the highest net satisfaction score from relocated employees, according to the Twenty-Third Annual Nationwide Relocating Employee Survey conducted by Trippel Research & Survey. It is also the only company to win the “Relocation Management Company of the Year” honors at the Forum For Expatriate Management’s EMMA Awards for three consecutive years. If relocation is something you’re interested in for your brokerage, Weichert is a great resource to partner with and it’s just one of the many things you can plug into as an affiliate. Call a Weichert team member today at 877-746-2067 or go online to weichertfranchise.com to find out more. Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/real-estate-lead-generation/cracking-the-relocation-business-do-you-have-the-right-stuff/ 7/17/2018 Franchise Success Spotlight Profile: Weichert Affiliate Beth Dickens—Weichert, Realtors® – Team RealtyRead NowNot more than 25 miles northwest of Fort Worth sits the charming rural community of Springtown, Texas, where long time affiliate Beth Dickens runs Weichert Realtors – Team Realty. With a population of close to 4,000 and within commuting distance to downtown Fort Worth, Springtown has seen its fortunes rise slowly over its rich, 160 year history. Housing in Springtown and throughout Parker County represents a rural, farm and ranch lifestyle that Beth Dickens has called home since she was a child. “As a girl I had a doll house.” she remembers, “I would pretend to try and sell it to people. I guess I was born to be a real estate agent.” After years as an agent Beth and her business partner Lorene, finally opened Team Realty as independent brokers in 1998. The pair did moderately well, but Beth recalls the constant challenge of recruiting and keeping new agents. “We went from 5, to 10, then back to 5 again, we just couldn’t get to that next level and sustain it. It’s hard for an independent in a rural market with so many other well-known brands around.” Over the years Beth and Lorene had flirted with the idea of affiliation with a national real estate brand and had entertained pitches from RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker, Century 21, Keller Williams and others, but hadn’t really felt compelled to make a move. But in 2007, someone from Weichert® came knocking on their door. The Weichert story felt like something different. “The sophisticated Weichert internet presence and reach was quite amazing to us. There’s no way an independent can compete with that kind of investment and those kind of systems,” notes Beth. What appealed to her was the Weichert internet marketing approach that brings over 40 million visitors a year to their website from around the country. Leads are routed to their call center and calls are carefully screened by trained operators and sent to live agents typically in under 2 minutes. There was, however, another thing they both noticed in their dealings with Weichert that was equally appealing–their ethics. This was the first franchise team that really made Beth and Lorene feel like they cared about their success as a brokerage and as individuals. At the time of these discussions, they were actually on the verge of opening another office, but Weichert asked them not to. “This was Weichert walking away from money because they felt we needed to be more successful out of the one office we had before we started another one. That really impressed me”. Beth & Lorene had about 8 agents when they joined Weichert and Beth admits that some of them were worried about the affiliation. “A few people got hung up on the fees”, says Beth “but the great majority of them saw that it was better for them long term”. Getting Up To Speed With Weichert And so Beth and Lorene signed on with Weichert in 2007 and became Weichert, Realtors® – Team Realty. Joining the partnership was both a relief, and the beginning of exciting changes in their professional life. It was a relief in that the Weichert coaching team, and its proven systems had the answers to so many of the growth and business development challenges they had struggled with as an independent agency for years. It was also exciting as Beth and her husband bought Lorene out in 2008 and dove headlong into the Weichert training and systems. Almost immediately, they noticed an odd thing when they put the Weichert sign on the building. “Suddenly recruiting got a whole lot easier,” Beth recalls. Starting with about 6 agents, in 2007, Beth and her husband slowly built up their team, following the Weichert Methodology. Change is Good….Really. Beth and her team loved the training and coaching opportunities afforded by the new relationship and embraced things like Weichert University, Weichert Management Academy, and new Weichert systems and technology. Beth describes Weichert’s listing presentation system, “DOORS”, as a game changer. Not only is it automated online and easy to create, but it is homeowner centric not brokerage focused. Beth notes that the “price trend analysis” provided by Weichert is also so much better than the simple comparative market analysis they did previously. The combined effect of better training, better materials, better data, and a solid brand affiliation created a noticeable improvement in their closing rate. Another way in which Weichert was different is in their processes around running open houses. In an internet age where so many agents will tell you “open houses don’t work” or “they’re just for the seller”, the comprehensive Weichert process around running open houses really works. Everything from signage, to balloons, door knocking, and all the online and printed material that goes with it are covered by the proven Weichert open house management system. But the proof is in the results: Beth’s team sells at least one house per month from leads that come from her agents’ open houses. Results Weichert, Realtors® – Team Realty has just moved into their second decade as a Weichert Affiliate. Starting from their modest single office with 6 agents, Beth has indeed opened that second office, and boasts a staff of 28 agents serving the rural farm, ranch, and residential markets surrounding Fort Worth Texas. But most impressive is her top line growth. Beth has overseen the growth of Weichert, Realtors® – Team Realty to more than 20 times the revenue they had before they joined Weichert. To hear Beth tell it, “These folks have done for me everything they said they would do. If they told me I had to stand on my head to sell more houses, well I’d start yoga lessons tomorrow…” The Weichert Way Being a Weichert affiliate is a partnership, a collaboration, done with great respect for what you’ve already achieved and learned. After all, you’ve already built a successful business. We can help you do more For more information on becoming a Weichert Affiliate, call 1-(877) 746-2067 or visit www.weichertfranchise.com. Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/franchise-success-spotlight-profile-weichert-affiliate-beth-dickens-weichert-realtors-team-realty/ 4/10/2018 Franchise Success Spotlight: Weichert® Affiliate Steve Wilke – Weichert, Realtors® – Triumph GroupRead NowAs Weichert® Affiliate Steve Wilke stands out in front of the construction site where he will build the new 5,000 square foot home of Weichert, Realtors® – Triumph Group, he can’t help but reflect on how far his brokerage has come in such a short time.
“I’ve been a broker since 2002, but my most significant growth has happened only since 2016. That was the year I became a Weichert broker. Prior to that we didn’t even have an office; my agents and I worked out of our homes.” While Steve may seem like an overnight success story, his real estate career actually began when he was just a boy knocking around Dublin, Ohio. “I used to cut grass for a guy whose son was a big real estate success locally. He drove a fancy car and he always wore a suit and gave off an aura of success. I kind of liked that. When I started as an agent, he’s who I went to work for.” Dublin, Ohio is really a Columbus suburb, so relocation into this major city and surrounding areas is a big business driver. When Weichert found Steve in 2016, he was a broker running a team of about 20 agents out of his home, doing a fair amount of relocation work. Like many independent brokers, he was also still the top producer in his agency. “I wasn’t really trying to get listings, but they came to me due to the reputation I’d established over the years. Generally, these listings were from my sphere of influence.” But in 2012, one of their largest relocation clients left them. JP Morgan Chase, a major banking client with national relocation needs informed Steve that they could only offer Columbus relocation work to brokerages with a national presence. Almost overnight, Steve lost a major source of business and began to consider what being part of a respected national real estate brand would mean for his credibility in the marketplace. Steve had heard from Weichert in the past, but when they called again in early 2016, Steve was ready to listen. Through prior contacts with Weichert and personal observation, Steve already knew Weichert was the only real estate franchise he would consider affiliating with. In a few short months Steve was ready to sign, but only one small problem remained. Weichert requires affiliates to have an actual office address. So for the first time, Steve rented office space in a local building and moved himself and his team in. Finding His Way With Weichert Steve’s agent team welcomed the change to Weichert. The Weichert “Fast Track” training program and its methodology around the automated DOORS listing presentation really sealed the deal. In Steve’s words “As a broker for almost 15 years I thought ‘what are these guys going to teach me that I don’t already know?’, but the bottom line is that you don’t know what you don’t know. I learned a ton.” In short order, Steve got back the relocation work from Chase. Then he added relocation work for companies like Disney, Pepsico, Lowes, Black & Decker, Dupont, Scotts Lawn, etc., all referrals to his brokerage through Weichert Workforce Mobility, a national source of referrals for Weichert brokers who are operating in relocation markets. Getting Results In the almost 2 years Steve has been with Weichert, Steve grew his agent team from 20 to 52 agents following the Weichert strategies for recruitment and training. Steve attributes the growth primarily to the increased credibility that being part of the Weichert brand has brought him. His brokerage is the place to be and attracting and keeping agents has become much easier. But even more amazing is Steve’s top line growth. In his first year, sales rose a respectable 18%. Then as his team became experts in delivering the Weichert sales methodology, the Weichert Lead Network driving more business opportunities, and the DOORS listing presentation driving even more listings and closings, sales in his second year are up over 500%. And so, Steve finds himself looking at the grounds that will hold the beautiful new home of Weichert, Realtors® – Triumph Group, an office he is building from scratch. “I could rent, but I’m in this for the long haul. Having my own place from which to run the business is really a dream come true for me.” See what Steve has to say about Weichert’s strategies for recruiting agents. For more information on how Weichert helps put brokerages on the path to growth, call our team today at 877-567-3350 or visit our website weichertfranchise.com. Original content posted on https://www.weichertfranchise.com/blog/franchise-success-spotlight-weichert-affiliate-steve-wilke-weichert-realtors-triumph-group/ |
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