SALES CLINIC
Ralph Roberts diagnoses your selling maladies
Roberts, a nationally recognized expert on real estate sales and marketing, is the author of Walk Like a Giant, Sell Like a Madman and 52 Weeks of Sales Success (New York: Harper Business). He’s also the owner of Ralph R. Roberts Real Estate Inc., Warren, Mich.
Cold calls become passe
Turn Up the Heat on Your Prospecting
Also, dealing with a big direct mail job; staying in the business when your spouse gets transferred; and read this before you assume the broker's mantle
BY RALPH R. ROBERTS
Q:I've always heard that cold calling is the best way to market yourself. But I haven’t found it very productive even with intensive efforts. Could you give me some pointers?
Ariela Harel
Coldwell Banker
Boca Raton, Fla.
A: With the constantly increasing level of telemarketing in this country, cold calling is becoming less and less effective as a marketing tool. So it’s a good idea to lay off of it in favor of warm and hot calling.
Warm calling is marketing to people who’ve already been exposed to your name and face, either through advertising or direct mail. At my office, we have a FSBO program that’s an excellent example of warm calling. We track FSBOs in the marketplace and then send them a series of letters over the course of a month or so. Each mailing has my photo and explains who I am and what makes the Ralph Roberts team special. Once a week, members of my team call the FSBOs to make sure they’ve received the letters and to offer our assistance in the sale of their homes.
It builds goodwill, firmly plants my name and image in their minds, and results in additional listings from FSBOs, who finally have had their fill of going it alone.
While doing all of this prospecting, don’t forget to make your daily hot calls. These are the people you’ve been working with whom you believe are just about ready to list or buy. When prospects are on the edge like that, you have to make sure they hear from you every day—or even more than once a day. Forget about them for a day or two, and, the next time you call them, you can be sure that they’ll have “run into” another salesperson and “just happened” to make the decision to buy or sell at that time.
With buyers you can protect yourself somewhat from defections with buyer brokerage agreements, but that’s a topic for another time.
Q:I just relocated. I plan to mail to several geographic farms (2,000–3,000 homes) once a week for the first eight weeks, then two to three times each month thereafter.
How can I effectively deal with this massive and overwhelming task (handling, folding, stuffing, labeling, sorting, postage, and distribution) on a regular, consistent, and efficient basis?
Richard G. Seget, CRS®
Prudential Fox & Roach, REALTORS®
Exton, Pa.
A:You’re correct in realizing the importance of marketing. You’re also correct in realizing that trying to do the grunt work on your own isn’t feasible if you also plan to sell while the mailings are being put together. The easiest way to deal with such a massive amount of work of this nature is to hire a mailing house to handle it.
There are firms that can do everything you described and print all your materials as well. They usually charge on a per-piece-handled basis, which also covers postage.
A benefit of going this route is that often the mailing house can help you organize your mailing list to take advantage of lower-cost bulk-rate postage prices. If you don’t already have a well-organized list, this alone can save you enough money on a large mailing to pay for the labor the mailing house provides.
If you decide a direct mail house isn’t for you, consider hiring co-op students from local high schools or colleges. Check out local senior citizens groups for older people who are looking to keep busy. Also, you can often contract with sheltered workshops that employ people with disabilities for assembly line-type work. such as your mailings.
Q:My husband is in the U.S. Navy and plans to be in it for the next 20 years. As you probably know, the military lifestyle moves you all over the United States. I just received my real estate license in California, but now I'm moving to the Portsmouth, N.H., area. I figure I'll end up with four to five state licenses in the next three years.
Should I ask different states to grant reciprocal licenses for the California license I currently hold?
Laurie Bacon
Fresno, Calif.
laurie9973@aol.com
A: When you face a challenge, you can often find a solution by looking at things from a new perspective. In your situation I see great opportunity.
If your husband is moving from base to base, aren’t there also other military and civilian personnel doing the same thing? Who better to help them find a home in their new location than a real estate pro who knows exactly what they’re going through?
For that matter, every city in the country has people moving in and out all of the time. Your niche should be people who are moving in to or out of your area. Since buyers won’t know anyone in the area anyway, the fact that you won't have lived in an area as long as other salespeople won’t severely hurt your prospecting efforts. Plus, your experience with moving and your knowledge of different areas of the country could be a great marketing tool for securing listings.
Keep a database of all of the buyers you’ve sold homes to across the country. If you stay in regular contact with them, there’s no reason you can’t earn money by referring them to qualified practitioners in their area when they’re ready to list.
As for your licensing issues, there's reciprocity between some states, particularly adjoining states where practitioners’ market areas regularly cross state lines. Neither California nor New Hampshire has reciprocity at this time, but don't worry about it. I believe that going through the licensing process will provide you with a valuable education about the laws and regulations that will govern you in your new location.
