The dreaded “Goober Call”…just the thought of it makes me squirm like a child waiting in the dentist’s office. Some of you may be asking, “What the heck is a goober call?” We Realtors have ALL experienced the goober call on many occasions, some more often than others. A goober call, my fellow Realtors, is when a Seller calls and asks you things like, ”Hey, why isn’t my house selling?”, “How come I haven’t received any feedback on that last showing?”, or – god forbid – “Just what the heck are you doing for all those commission dollars I’m paying you?”

Actually, a goober call is almost every call the Seller makes to you. The reason I say that is because most of the time the call doesn’t start out as a goober call, but turns out like that. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t mean that I think the Seller is a goober, I just think that the conversation is a goober call, and honestly, the goober is usually the Realtor if they get that kind of call. Why am I dissing my peeps, my colleagues, my own Realtors? Simple: if you get a goober call, it’s usually your fault. These types of calls can be prevented with a little effort and strategic planning.

“Terry, how can we avoid goober calls?” I’m glad you asked! The first way to prevent goober calls is to ALWAYS do a listing presentation using proper presentation software (like PowerPoint). Yes, I said ALWAYS. A good listing presentation is invaluable to you as a Realtor. First, it should set out all the parameters with regards to marketing efforts, advertising, communication and feedback systems, and how your client will use your systems. You must explain your processes, commissions and any other ancillary services you may offer. The key is to never over-promise and under-deliver. If you say you’ll communicate feedback from every showing, you’d better darn well do it.

Another strategy I use in my business is to send the Sellers a `Stats Update’ letter every two weeks. This letter should explain to them what the current market conditions are, what comparable homes have recently sold or been listed, and how many web hits MLS and your website have generated. By giving the Seller this information BEFORE they ask for it or even want it you eliminate the goober call. On opposite weeks to the stats update letter, send a marketing update letter and include PDF`s of any ad or marketing piece. Let them know where and when their home will be exposed to the market. Also, send them all the listing and selling documents via email so they have the ability to answer their own questions before they call you, and the conversation turns into a goober call.

This approach has helped me greatly in my business. I’ve sold 100 homes every year for the past 12 years with NO buyers agent, only an admin person. And, I did it working only the odd weeknight, and hardly ever on weekends. That, my fellow Realtors, is what happens when you eliminate the goober call.

Note: This post was also published on www.lisamayhuby.com

As more and more businesses gravitate to the high reach-low investment medium of social media, I find there are far too many jumping in with both feet that really don’t have any business even dabbling their toes in it.

MLMers, real estate agents posting “another hot listing” or endless Facebook fan pages of nothing but listings, get-rich-quick gurus, and newbies that expect instant results after 2 Tweets about how great their product or service is: none of these have any place in social networking, and all will have a negative experience using it.

You want a good – no, great – experience? As in, a ‘pretty-darn-good-results-for-not-a-whole-lotta-time-invested’ type experience? Follow these tips:

1. Stop whatever social media stuff it is you’re doing RIGHT NOW. Just stop everything. Halt. Arrêt. Now, think of what you want to get out of your efforts. Better yet, write it down. The list should be point-form, one goal per line, a singular idea. If you’ve got the word “and” in one of the goals, that’s two ideas. Separate them. Next, review your list and remove the unicorns and rainbows. That includes any idea that makes you gaze wistfully into the distance, like the ‘generate X leads’ goals, ‘get X followers’, connections goals, and so on. Hopefully what you’re left with is real, measurable, and attainable.
2. Social networking is about just that – networking. And it works great when it complements your other marketing efforts. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it until people finally get it: social media is a tool. A tactic. Something you use in conjunction with something else. Your teeth are tools with which you chew food and begin the digestive process. Social media is the tool with which you share bite-sized bits of information to help begin the lead generation process.
3. Stop being part of the “hey, look at me!” crowd, mindlessly echoing others’ thoughts and ideas to try and position yourself as an ‘expert’, and really engage with people. Stand out. Be selective with whom you engage. Don’t choose only the people that might be able to promote whatever it is you’re selling. Go on, be different from the millions of online minions fighting for attention.
4. Be consistent with your engagement. Whether it’s once a day or once a week, be consistent and reliable.
5. Evolve. Figure out how to move social media to the next level. As Lisa Barone of Outspoken Media says, “We have to grow up because not only does the same old crap not work anymore, but now it (and you) is just annoying.” (Incidentally, it’s just a coincidence that my post has 5 tips and hers has 5 tips. Really. Besides, they’re different tips.)

I always advise clients that you’ll discover what works best for you, and that’s absolutely true if you put some thought and planning behind it. Social media doesn’t and probably never will work for everyone in every business. If you’ve taken the plunge and are trying to use it for your business, help make it a more enjoyable (and hopefully profitable) experience for everyone.

It’s your web, keep it beautiful.

Lisa-May Huby, Director of Marketing

On his blog, WebInkNow, David Meerman Scott wrote about the U.S. Department of Defense’s social media strategy, engaging in heavy-duty SM activities, from blogging and Facebook, to videos and photo sharing. Essentially, the DoD’s putting a human face on the military.

Numerous methods are being implemented in a multi-channel effort, each with their own focus on the different areas of the military. From The Pentagon Channel’s website, Facebook and Twitter streams, the U.S. Army’s ArmyLive blog and You Tube channel, to the U.S. Air Force’s “Counter-Blog” strategy.

What can you take away from the U.S. military’s strategy for developing a simple social media campaign for your business, and become a “social media rockstar” in your own right? Take a look:

This just gives you an idea of the potential. As you can see, it’s pretty simple, and you can tailor your strategy to fit your life, making it as complex as you like. Start small to get your feet wet, and work from there.

The main thing is that you open yourself to new ways of communicating with clients and colleagues, for both outgoing and incoming messages, and use these tools to your advantage.

Lisa-May Huby, Director of Marketing

As John Lennon so eloquently penned, “It’s another year over and a new one just begun…”, but now what? For starters, let’s all hope the economy continues to improve so we can enjoy a prosperous New Year. These are great words of inspiration and, quite possibly, just wishful thinking – unless you actually have an action plan to implement what’s necessary to make 2010 prosperous.

I can’t tell you how many friends and associates have told me they’re “cautiously optimistic” about the financial forecast for 2010, and I always ask them, “what are you going to do to improve your personal financial situation?”

One thing you can do TODAY, to guarantee more success this year than last is to embrace technology. I realize my message may sound self-serving, so don’t ask me why it’s vital to success in today’s market, ask one of our clients. They’ll tell you just how RSP has helped them grow and actually increase their business, despite the economic challenges we’ve faced over the last 18 months, how easy it is to use, and how much time they’ve saved by putting this technology to use.

There is something to be said about working smarter, not harder, and that’s why RealtySites PLUS™ is garnering so much attention. We know you’re in the business to sell homes, and maintaining a website can be a time-consuming and daunting task for anyone, especially if you don’t consider yourself to be “tech savvy”.

Let RSP do the work for you!

Create an online experience that will drive consumers to your website and keep them coming back. Plus, save time and effort with RSP’s automated features, keeping your clients and leads in the loop so you don’t have to.

Let’s hope that 2010 is a great year for Real Estate. You can help ensure it’s a good year for you by improving your online presence and consumer experience with the RealtySites PLUS™ technology: it’s there, use it.

Rob Matton, Director of Sales

Previous Real Estate 2.0 posts discussed conversation, communication, and transparency. This final instalment will cover information. Instant information, that is.

Providing instant information should be a priority when you’ve got a captive audience on your website. You need to give your online visitors easy access to information they want, without making them meander thru your site viewing page after page.

You literally have just seconds to captivate online consumers before they bolt from your site, so this MUST be a priority. Adding something simple, like pdf downloads of moving checklists or tips for adding curb appeal provides helpful information for visitors quickly and easily. To make it easier to search your listings, try creating unique ID numbers for each listing, and add a search function on every page of your website so visitors can get to the exact property listing they’re looking for.

With RealtySites PLUS™, you have lots of options that will get information in your online visitors’ hands instantly (or, in some cases, almost instantly). Customize your menu items to include pdf downloads or articles visitors can read online, and don’t forget about automating notices. You’ll blow your clients’ minds when they receive a note or instant message (IM) from you advising them of an upcoming open house for a property they viewed online.

TLC

So far we’ve covered communication and conversation in my discussion about Web 2.0. The next point I’d like to cover is transparency.

Transparency is a term that’s been loosely thrown around for some time now in the real estate tech world. Basically, what it means is you’re not hiding anything from anyone, especially consumers. When you engage in social media and networking, you’re adding a transparent element to your business. You’re letting people see a bit of the “real” you, including your business practices, how you deal with consumers, and your personal life.

It’s this new element that fills many with trepidation, and keeps them from committing to social media. If you’ve got nothing to hide and are ethically conducting business and personal dealings, then what’s the problem? You have nothing to lose and lots to gain.

Another way of looking at transparency could be eliminating barriers to information, like having to supply a name and email address before accessing a special report – a point that’s currently hotly debated by marketers in every industry.

Being the gatekeepers to all of your Sellers’ listing information is not what Web 2.0 is all about. It’s about creating deep, rich, robust content and giving the online user the ability and flexibility to sift thru the information and use or absorb what they feel is pertinent.

That said, most Realtors® make the huge mistake of giving too much away without capturing any information, making it impossible to communicate with and incubate leads. There’s a fine line between transparency and gatekeeping, but by taking the time to find that balance you’ll realize there’s a wonderful, abundant world of quality leads just waiting for your nurturing.

To experience how lead generation and transparency have collided, attend an online webinar hosted by yours truly. Sign up now at www.RealtySitesPLUS.com/webinar. You’ll be glad you did!

TLC

In my last post on Web 2.0 conversation, I talked about how Web 3.0 has come and slapped us upside the head. I mean, we’re just getting used to Web 2.0 – aren’t we?

Moving on to the next in my short series, communication takes the spotlight.

Communication comes in many forms. We can use the telephone, meet face-to-face, or we can implement a strategy where technology is used. I personally like the 80-10-10 rule: 80 percent of the time I use technology, 10 percent of the time I use the other two.

The key to successful communication with clients is that you should always give them information before they ask for it or want it. For example, how hard is it to write one letter every two weeks describing what the local real estate market conditions are like, and what you foresee happening in the very near future? Once a library of letters is composed, you’ll find you can re-use the same letters with some slight changes. When you have the letter composed, add in a few stats that support your point.

RealtySites PLUS™ has a sophisticated lead/online consumer tracking system that tracks public/private views on your website. Sending a client letter every two weeks with specific stats that includes local market conditions will increase your value with the client, and eliminate those client goober calls that inundate you daily. RealtySites PLUS™ also offers an automated showing feedback request system where agents who showed your listing are emailed a feedback form.

If you want to blow your clients’ mind with current, up-to-date communication, start doing some of these simple tactics, and increase your value proposition.

TLC

Since using our amazing new Realty Sites Plus web software, I’ve begun very specifically studying where my audience and leads are being generated from.  I use Google Anayltics which helps me find out how people are finding our website.  I can track many different attributes of my audience including what they typed in to the google seach engine to find us, what country they are coming from, what language they speak, what service provider they use (ie. Rogers, Bell), and even the average amount of time people spend on our site, and what pages they visit.

Now, of course the reason behind my studying these patterns is to learn more about my audience and try to build and grow this group.  So for me, knowing if they came from Google or just typed in our web address directly helps me to market appropriately.  One thing I found quite interesting was that so many people are coming from places like Facebook.  We created a group on Facebook which helps Consumers learn about market trends and our listings.  What we didn’t realize is the number of people that then go from our Facebook group to our website.

I had no idea that places like Facebook would bring such large audiences.  I recently found this excerpt from www.CIO.com.

“On Facebook, millions of people declare themselves as fans of performers, products, even the president. The number-one fan page on Facebook is dedicated to the late Michael Jackson, with 10.3 million members. President Obama is next with 6.8 million. Starbucks is the biggest retail brand with 4.8 million fans. But becoming a fan of something is the equivalent of wearing a logo T-shirt. It doesn’t bring M.J. back to life, reform healthcare or sell more coffee. 1-800-Flowers intends to find out whether social networkers are also social shoppers. In July, the $714 million flower delivery company launched the first Facebook storefront. Collectively, Facebook’s 300 million active members spend eight billion minutes per day on the site, according to the company. An Experian survey found that dwell time for an adult visiting a social network is 19 minutes and 32 seconds. Meanwhile, 35 percent of adults who had been on a social network in the past month had also bought something online in that time period, the survey found—a ripe demographic.”

I found this amazing.  Although I do spend some time online checking what my friends pictures and chatting, I had no idea I was joined by such a large group that would ultimately help drive even more people to our website.

Happy Surfing!

June & Rock Belanger, Prudential LeClair & Associates Realty

Wow, how did this happen? It seems I just learned about Web 2.0, and now the so-called gurus are talking about Web 3.0!

Okay, here’s my take on Web 2.0 and how it affects us as Realtors: web 2.0 is about conversation, communication, transparency and instant information. As realtors we need to learn how to implement these strategies into our web initiatives, marketing campaigns and advertising.

Now, let’s break each one of these Web 2.0 strategies down a bit. In the interest of keeping this information digestible, I’m going to cover my points in 4 separate blog posts.

Conversation: As Realtors, we need to create cutting-edge techniques to captivate the online consumer through conversation. We can do this by giving the Seller a voice when it comes to promoting their listing. There is software out there that has some great technology that allows the Seller to post comments on their own listing, creating a dialogue with the online buyer.

With a new web solution on the market, the prospective Buyer also has the ability to converse with the Seller through an innovative rating system that allows them to rate the property out of 10 stars, and leave anonymous comments if they like, again creating conversation. Notice that conversation doesn’t necessarily need to be two-way.

By giving Buyers and Sellers a voice to communicate with each other, we give them the ability to become more connected to the sales process, and of course more connected to the Realtor.

Opening the door to an online dialogue like this has many advantages. First, it gives the Seller an opportunity to share the warm and fuzzies about their property that aren’t included anywhere else, giving you a little added help with the listing. Second, by allowing online prospects to rate a listing and provide anonymous feedback, it gives you a sneak peek at potential objections, and the opportunity to make changes in the listing as you need to (like removing a photo that’s raised concerns).

I know that many of you reading this are shuddering at the thought of seeing less-than-desirable comments and remarks on your listings (or getting spammed), but don’t be concerned. There’s always the option of turning comments on or off, or intercepting comments before they’re posted, much like many blog applications.

Don’t let fear of spam or abuse hold you back from using technology to your advantage.

Stay tuned for my next post that will outline more effective ways of communicating with clients and prospects.

TLC