What can one accomplish with only his phone?

Question

So I have been ordered by the Doc to stay home for an extended period of time. I can't stand sitting around. I am a sales guy used to doing business over the phone and I need to stay productive.  What are some ideas one could stay busy in real estate if all he has is time and a phone?

Catherine Emert · Answer

Xan,

I have been in your place so many times. I think that there are a lot of ways that you can really take advantage of this down time.

1. Social Media - connect with as many people as you can

2. Cold calling - I get at least 1 yes out of every no - I have a spreadsheet that I track them all on so that I know just how much all those no's make me (I give the money to the no's so I can stay motivated to keep calling until I get a yes.

3. Emails - I send over 2000 emails a day keeping in contact with everyone of our brokers' leads, cold leads, current clients and so on.

4. Blogging - Write about what you know. Share this with people that will want to interact with you and refer people to you.

5. Make lasting connections - don't do this to sell - do this so everyone that knows you and talks to you wants to refer everyone to you. I keep track of birthdays, anniversaries, etc and send hand written cards to each and every single person.

6. Plan your Christmas cards early, write genuine notes in them so that your people feel special, I send about 1000 cards each year and I make sure they are all personalized and handwritten, everyone gets so much junk and bills in the mail I find they feel special when they get a card or a hand written thank you note.

I could go on but I am sure I am boring you....I work from home so this is my life everyday. I really enjoy the connections I make.

Catherine Emert · Answer

@Cameron Riley I have an amazing CRM that I use. I don't have anyone set up to receive an email automatically though as I like to add personal touches and conversations to each email that I send. Once a month I sit down and write email templates that start my emails for me. I have my system set up to make sure everyone is contacted once a week. I can long in as each of my brokers and send emails as if it were coming from them. I make sure that this system is followed every day. I work about 16 hour days (not ideal for most people but I love to be busy).

Account Closed  I use a lot of different systems for my cold calling. I first go back to listings that never sold (I do more than 6 months as most other brokers have given up on these listings and only go back a month). A lot of times the previous listing broker inserts their clients phone numbers in to our MLS system (I don't do this as I like to keep all my client information private). I also use Zillow's Make Me Move and all for sale by owner sites. I make sure before I call any of those that I have a buyer (or one of my brokers has a buyer) that fits the home I am calling on. I try to set up an appointment to preview the home prior to the buyers viewing it, this give me (or my broker) an opportunity to meet with the owner and get a feel for what they need from a broker and why they are selling FSBO. A lot of times people think brokers aren't going to give them the attention they need so they may as well do it themselves. I provide that attention and communication. Another thing I do is I call local professionals, I am big on cross marketing. I enjoy helping other local businesses get their name out there. I now have large companies (like plumbers, electricians, lenders) that send all of their friends and family to me because I make these calls.  And yes, most of the time when I find a solid lead for a listing or a buyer wanting to see a property I connect them quickly to one of my brokers, otherwise, I put on that hat and go do what needs to be done.

The opportunities really truly are limitless. You just have to find creative ways to meet people. I may also be a bit of a queen at multi-tasking and honestly while writing this I have sent out over 100 emails and taken two listing calls. You just need to find your limit and make that work for you. Find what works and do it over and over and over again.

Account Closed · Answer

@Catherine Emert Got it. Thank You!

Account Closed · Answer

@Catherine Emert I am working Zillow other for sale by owner sites. I also found a cool deal with craigslist and IFTTT to send leads to my inbox. I had a question about the 6-month-old MLS leads. Is that something fairly easy to pull? And would that be something a realtor would be willing to do? I know you can ask to be put on their email list for new listings. I just wanted to make sure before I start calling around.

Account Closed · Answer

@Catherine Emert

Thanks! This is all helpful information!

Account Closed · Answer

@Catherine Emert

Thank you for the suggestions! I didn't even think about the letter.

Also, how have you set up the cold calling in the deal process? Is someone out tracking down leads then you are calling?

Once you have an opportunity from cold calling do you pass it off to an agent how can go see the property?

I am trying to figure out the best way to structure the process and make it a win for everyone.

Catherine Emert · Answer

Xan,

If you are willing to compensate a broker a lot of them will set you up to receive the same information for expired listings. Some times I have clients ask for it simply to run their own comps in a neighborhood to prepare an offer they feel is fair.

Cameron Riley · Answer

@Catherine Emert

Hey!

How do you successfully push out that many emails? Are some of them AUTOMATED messages?

What can one accomplish with only his phone?

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