George Philbeck is one of the most accomplished real estate agents in the world–he has been the top agent for Keller Williams WORLDWIDE and won every single award you can imagine. Having sold thousands of homes over his career, he understands how to operate in bull markets and bear markets alike. He does his best work by using his time well.
Right now, the market is crazy. 10-15 offers are made on almost every home these days and it’s tough to be an agent. So, George joined us for the Agent First Summit to share how to stand out in the market today, and have a long, prosperous career.
Time on Task Over Time Equals Goals!
Everything you do for lead generation will work–but not everything will be the best for you. Don’t chase after every tactic out there; chase after what you know will work for you personally. You need to value the time you must spend on each task and ensure that the tasks you spend time on are WORTH the time spent.
To get started, you need to pick from a “menu” of business generation strategies. You’ll need a base of 1 to 3 lead generation strategies. Then, when you have enough TIME and MONEY, you can add an expensive “extra.” So let’s start now by picking two to three from the list below:
- A Right Now Business as a base–these are basic lead generation tactics such as:
- Open houses
- Circle Prospecting
- FSBOs
- Expired/Withdrawn
- Door Knocking
- Sphere Marketing
- A Future Business–these are lead generation tactics such as:
- Farming
- Client Parties
- Social Media Marketing
- YouTube Channels
- Open Houses
- Company Referrals
- Network Meetings
- A Paid Business (an expensive add-on)–this might be:
- Zillow/Realtor.com
- Facebook Ads
- TV/Radio
- Sponsorship
- Direct Mail
- Billboards, etc.
- Pay-per-click Ads
To succeed, you must know what your focus is. You must know what your day is going to look like and what time you can spend on what tasks. Once you pick your top options from the “menu,” you need to devote your energy to those things above all else.
Don’t try to get value from everything on the list. Choose two you know you can do and would enjoy doing because it will be there that your time will be most productive.
Your FOCUS is the Most Important Thing
You have to focus on your top two choices. No matter what you choose, it’s like turning on a water faucet that’s just going to drip–you will get business if you start working, even if it takes a while.
Once you’ve mastered a couple top tactics, you can use YouTube and other tools to start building future business. When people see you often enough on social media or in similar spaces, they begin to feel they know you and want to work with you.
You need to use your skill set to build a source of income that works to get you clients and bring you joy. Whether you like YouTube, Facebook, or even calling people on the phone, make sure you use the skills you’ve built to engage with people in a way meaningful to both of you.
Just make sure that you’re always focused on what works. Don’t get distracted or you’ll fail. Keep your eyes on the prize and devote all your time and energy to the tactics that will work best for you.
Screw It Up
If you don’t make mistakes, you’ll never learn. Be willing to work hard and make a mess of things sometimes. Now of course, the message here is to take calculated risks. Don’t break laws, don’t put your family in financial peril. There’s a difference between being risky and foolish! Your intuition will kick in to help you identify each.
Build a CRM Database
Build on your database daily. If you don’t have a database right now, then sit down and write out every single person you can think of. The lack of a database means you don’t have a business.
Once you have a list of all of the people you can think of, then you have to narrow it down to your “sphere of influence.” To do this effectively, use the “grocery store test.”
If you see someone that you recognize in a grocery store’s food aisle and you feel compelled to go and say hi, then they belong in your sphere of influence. On the other hand, if you feel the urge to avoid that person at all costs, then they do NOT go into your database.
Maintain Relationships
Now that you have your list, you need a system to reach out to them every month. Say, for example, that you have about 90 people in your sphere of influence. Divide 90 by 30 (the average number of days in a month) and you only have to contact 3 people a day to reach them all in a month. It sounds intimidating if you have to reach out to 90 people a month, but if you have to reach out to 3 people a day, it sounds much more manageable.
Now, if you haven’t chatted with someone in your sphere of influence in a long time, there’s a simple way to start communication back up. Start out by telling them that you’ve kept seeing them pop up on your phone or social media recently and owe them an apology for not reaching out in a long time.
Let them know you appreciate them as a friend and that you saw what they’ve been up to on social media. Help them talk about themselves. Engage in a short, sweet, conversation that builds friendship. Then, keep up with them by regularly messaging or commenting on their social media pages.
Remember to always keep your conversations focused on them–then, once a month, send a short, minute-long video that updates these people on what’s going on in your life. In this way, you keep these people connected and in your life if they ever need you.
Getting and Keeping Prospects in Today’s Market
More than anything, you want to remember George’s two main points:
- Keep your focus on one to two main ways of finding clients.
- Maintain healthy and strong relationships with EVERYONE in your circle.
If you make sure you spend time on what’s most important (people) and build your skills to mastery, you will succeed in the real estate business, even in a volatile market like today’s.
Want to be the first to know about upcoming Agent First Summits so you can participate with us in REAL TIME? Save your seat now!