Sean has been a Realtor for 15 years. He works in a large area with a wide variety of people, including both residential and commercial clients. Sean previously recorded a video and spoke with our team, and we wanted to check in on his success. You can read what he said before and watch his video here. Read on for an update on what’s happened since we last spoke with him.
“There's consistency there, and there's reasons why there's consistency. I would just say it's because I follow up, literally, until they buy or die…or sell or die.”
Along with follow-ups, Sean believes face-to-face interactions are key, and that the books play an important role.
“You’ve got to get in front of them. You’ve got to get the face-to-face meeting, and then, you've got to do really good follow-up. I think the book is a tool in that process. It's definitely different than what other people are using. I mean, there's not a lot of other people that are either willing to spend the money or going to spend the money, so you've got an advantage that I think other people don't have.”
He also says people really do read the books, and he gets great feedback.
“Many of them have come back to me and said, ‘Oh, I read your book.’ You could tell it was all, over and over, they had definitely read the book, and they said that, ‘You know, and I agreed with this, and it was great that you point out this,’ and they'll point out different parts of it that were important to them.”
Sean uses both the business card and expired books. He says there are at least three expireds where the book was the clincher. In addition, Sean plans on ordering more books so his team can use them when they go door-knocking. These books will be co-branded—both he and his team member will be featured.
For agents who are struggling, Sean’s got this great advice:
“Follow up, follow up, follow up…80% of people are gonna require at least 12 follow-ups or more, and only 4% of agents follow-up more than three times. So if you can put yourself in the bracket where you follow up more than three times, and understand that people are gonna need probably at least 12 follow-ups, if you have that mindset, then you'll do business.”
#1. Sean gets a lot of his clients through advertising. Because he’s working with people he doesn’t know and across both commercial and residential real estate, he needs to be versatile in his services and advertising.
#2. Sean has a diverse marketing plan, including Facebook and Instagram advertising, mailing to a farm, and door-knocking. Whenever he goes door-knocking, he always takes his books.
#3. He prefers to give the books away when he meets people because just mailing them out hasn’t been as effective for him. That’s why if he talks to someone on the phone and they’re not ready to list, he’ll tell them he’s got a free gift he’d like to give to them — a book he wrote that will help them, as well as tell them more about him and how he can help. Then, he stops by and drops the book off.
#4. Sean follows up with the potential clients after leaving his book. That’s when they tell him what they like about it. This also gives them a chance to ask any questions they have.
#5. If the potential clients aren’t ready to list with him just yet, Sean stays in touch with them, never forgetting that “12 or more follow-ups” rule.
Smart Agents: Okay, great. Well, first of all thank you so much for agreeing to do this, we really appreciate it.
Sean: No problem.
Smart Agents: My first question is, how long have you been a Realtor? And the follow-up is, do you have any specialties?
Sean: I've been a Realtor for 15 years, and I would say my specialty is that I work in a very large area, so I'm able to be in conversations with lots of different people. I work with a lot of people I don't know, so it's not they're referrals. They're people that I've come across through advertising. It gives me the ability to be really versatile for my clients both working in residential and commercial with them as well.
Smart Agents: Great. How many books have you given away, do you know?
Sean: I've probably given away, at this point, probably about 100.
Smart Agents: Wow. Do you know how many listings the books have helped you get?
Sean: Probably between 5 and 10. I can't attribute ... I can give away, kind of, as the business card book I'll give it away, if I'm on the phone with an expired then I send a lot of those away to the clients. I haven't had a lot of success when mailing them. I've had more success with giving them to people I've met, and then once I've met them and they ... I can tell, many of them have come back to me and said, "Oh, I read your book." You could tell it was all, over and over, they had definitely read the book, and they said that, "You know, and I agreed with this, and it was great that you point out this," and they'll point out different parts of it that were important to them.
Smart Agents: That's awesome.
You said you give them more to people you've met, so I'm wondering how you go about doing that?
Sean: I talk to them on the phone, and in some of the situations, it's where I've talked to them on the phone, and they wouldn't agree to list with me but I've said to them, "Well, I've got a free little gift I'd like to give you. I wrote you a book and I'd like to share it with you, and it just gives you insight on what I do different or what makes me different than other Realtors," and then I'll just pop by and give them the book, and then after follow-up, when I get in the door is when they tell me that, "Oh," they've read the book and they point out what they like or what they have questions about.
Sean: It works as a way in the door to get that first meet-and-greet, and then if you do good follow-up you're able to ... It'll give you good credibility, like it's supposed to.
Smart Agents: Cool. What kind of leads are you giving these books to, so you said expireds, you said you're using-
Sean: Expireds.
Smart Agents: ... the business cards books, too.
Sean: The business card book I give to, sometimes they're buyers that I give them too, so they're not just one thing. But then I think there's been at least three expireds that I'll, for sure, attribute that the book really was the difference maker.
Smart Agents: Awesome. Do you think these books have increased your conversion rates?
Sean: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. It's just something different that other Realtors are not spending money on, that gives you instant credibility.
Smart Agents: Would you say that credibility is the biggest benefit that comes from using the books?
Sean: Yes.
Smart Agents: Have there been any surprises since you've started using the books?
Sean: Any surprises?
Smart Agents: Yeah. Surprises, breakthroughs?
Sean: No. No, I wish I had more money to be able to utilize the landing page more. I've tried driving traffic to it using Facebook ads, and I do get some leads, but it was just expensive, so I've had to cut that back a little bit, so I want to start doing that again.
Smart Agents: What other kind of marketing do you for yourself?
Sean: I do Facebook advertising, Instagram advertising, I mail to a farm, I door knock. I bring books with me to door knock, so if I have a good conversation I can give them a book, as well. I'm considering ordering 1000 of them to be able to give to my farm.
Smart Agents: Cool. Is there ... Let's see. What have you found for you to be the best ways to get the clients in to close those deals? Whether it's with the books, without the books, I'm just curious in general your approach?
Sean: You got to get in front of them. You got to get the face-to-face meeting, and then you've got to do really good follow-up. I think the book is a tool in that process. It's definitely different than what other people are using. I mean, there's not a lot of other people that are either willing to spend the money or going to spend the money, so you've got an advantage that I think other people don't have.
Sean: But you definitely have to get the face-to-face. That's why I think door knocking expireds with the book is probably better — in fact, I'm having people on my team do it. We're a co-brand of books. We have my face on it, as well as their face. That way they can utilize the book, as well.
Smart Agents: That's great. Is it that both of your faces are on them, or everybody has their own books?
Sean: Oh, we haven't done that yet. To make it worthwhile that I'm gonna spend the money on it, I'm gonna put both of our faces on it.
Smart Agents: No, that's a great idea. It shows the teamwork, which I think people appreciate too. They know they've got even more people helping them out, which is nice.
Sean: Right. Right.
Smart Agents: I'm curious what you might say to someone who's really struggling to get listings, it could even be their first listing, nothing’s working — do you have any advice for people in that situation?
Sean: I'd say nothing is working because you're probably not following up, so you've got to follow up, follow up, follow up. I think the sales statistic I always refer to is that 80% of people are gonna require at least 12 follow-ups or more, and only 4% of agents follow-up more than three times, so if you can put yourself in the bracket where you follow-up more than three times, and understand that people are gonna need probably at least 12 follow-ups, if you have that mindset, then you'll do business.
Sean: It's not that nothing is working, it's probably that you're not staying in front of them and following up enough.
Smart Agents: Gotcha. That's a great piece of advice. I haven't heard that statistic before, so I think that's really gonna be helpful to people. Thank you.
Sean: Yeah, no problem.
Smart Agents: Let me see if I have any other questions. No, I think that is-
Sean: I do-
Smart Agents: Go ahead.
Sean: Just to tell you what I do. I mean, I've done between 35 and 45 deals a year, every year for the last 15 years, so there's consistency there, and there's reasons why there's consistency. I would just say it's because I follow-up literally until they buy or die, you know what I mean? Or, sell or die, whatever, for lack of a better word.
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