Today's interview is from Pearl from California.
We covered a variety of things including:
- How she is winning listing presentations in 5 minutes.
- Other ways she markets and why she won 40 listings last year.
- When an owner left his agent in the middle of the listing for her.
- How she gets referral business.
Highlights:
Full Audio:
Transcript:
| Pearl: | Now understand I've been in the business for 24 years and I've got a following, and I am very astute at what I do. Before, I would have to go in and I'd do my presentation and I would go through the whole presentation. Then I'd say, "okay so when do we sign?" And they'd say, "now." The last two times I walked into a house, I laid my presentation ... I said, "here's my presentation."
I didn't even open it. I laid out my five books and I said, "I'm an author and publisher of five books. I'm a five-star agent, and if I can't give you a five-star experience then I won't work with you." He said, "Okay." So he says ... are you ready? |
| Smart Agents:
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Yes. |
| Pearl:
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"Absolutely. Where do I sign." So my appointment went from almost an hour and a half to two hours down to five minutes. I did that twice with the books. |
| Smart Agents:
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Which books were they? |
| Pearl:
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I took them all. I took them all. I have ... the two people that I concentrate on are first time home buyers and move up buyers. Part of my business is basically repeat business. Referral business. And then the other one is "Selling Secrets You Can't Afford to Miss." |
| Smart Agents:
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Have you ever done any just drop off package or mailed any books to any specific niches? |
| Pearl:
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I have. Understand, when I did my first order I think I only had 25 books. I had dropped off about three books and have not heard anything back. But those people still are thinking about selling in January or February. That doesn't mean I'm not going to get the listing. It just means that maybe they are just a little bit slower. They're not selling until January anyway whether it be me or somebody else. |
| I do have someone that had already chose their realtor, and I heard the wife saying in the background, "but I don't like him." I started to horn in on the wife and I sent her a book and a presentation and of course she went to hubby and said, "this is the kind of agent I'm looking for." I might end up with that listing too. | |
| Smart Agents:
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Do you have any advice or ways for how people can get the books out? We tell them to maybe drop them off in waiting rooms or places like that where people will be moving into town and visiting or something like that? Do you have any specific ways you've done it besides that? |
| Pearl: |
Last year for instance, I sold 40 houses last year on my own, and 50% of them were listings.Every month I have about 17 people that are fans of mine that basically send me clients every year religiously. Every year. What I do every month, I prepare a hand-made gift for them. |
Last month I did what is called, "Ding Dong Ditch." I got 17 boxes of Ding Dongs and put a ribbon around it a little card that says, "You've been Ding Dong Ditched." Then you turn it over and it says, "From Jamie and Pearl, thank you for your referrals." Every time I drop something like that off at their doorstep, the next day I get a referral. |
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My next drop off is on the 20th of this month, and this is going to be wrapping paper with tape and a little card. The little card says, "Since November you've been shopping, barely sleeping, hardly stopping. Now it's late, you're in a scrape, you're out of paper, out of tape. Hope this wrap helps save the day. Love, Jamie and Pearl." I am also going to add a little bag with that and I'm going to put in ... if it's people who refer me buyers then I am going to put in two buyer books per box. |
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| Smart Agents: | Okay. |
| Pearl: | That will be 17 times two. I'm going to lose about 40 books off the gate by doing that. Hopefully they pass them on and put them in someone else's hands. |
| I also have a place where I get my nails done. And my male manicurist guy refers me business. He tells me to bring the tri-folds in and a couple books, Pearl, and I'll put them ... so, yes. | |
It's no different than any other marketing. You have to be in people's faces. You have to have to have your product, and you have to be at the right place at the right time when it is time to deliver. |
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| Smart Agents:
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All right. When I put it on the blog, I will use different names so you don't get bombarded by that [Master On? 00:09:52] group or anything you're connected with, with other agents. |
| Pearl: | Mm-hmm (affirmative)- |
| Smart Agents:
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We have had that happen before. What other questions do you have about the other products? |
| Pearl: | Let me see. If I go to Smart Agent ... Smartagent.com ... there are so many ways that you guys have come with how to market this and how to get this information out there. I sign in. I go to members. Books, dashboard, letters, Facebook training, training. Then I go to the training. I look at some of the stuff in here. It's so overwhelming. I have two screens so I can split them. If I am looking at one video, I can go on the other screen and implement what it is telling me to do. You know what I mean? |
| Smart Agents:
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Like Facebook training? |
| Pearl: | Exactly. |
| Smart Agents:
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Or something like that? |
| Pearl: | Exactly. I have a pretty big following on Facebook for the people past, present, blah, blah, blah. Now, I did a pay-per-click advertisement for quite some time. In fact, when the books first came out, I did pay-per-click. Get your free book. That kind of stuff. I didn't have enough books, so it scared me, so I didn't run it for very long. The last thing I want to do is to promise something I can't deliver. |
| Smart Agents:
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Yes. |
| Pearl:
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It's a good thing. Because if I had a bunch of people on my list and it took two months to get the books, that would not have been good. |
One of the best methods we use at Smart Agents to separate yourself is books. Books have a huge perceived value. They don’t get thrown away.
They can get tucked away somewhere, but most people aren’t going to toss them in the trash. They’re worth something, and they’re worth something to the author’s name.
Do this and you will position yourself as the authority in your market. When you give away your book, it will separate you from your competition. That’s how a smart agent thinks!
Want to get a free sample of the book that will get you more listings? Click the link below.
Joe Nickelson is a real estate professional dedicated to helping home buyers and sellers achieve their dreams of owning property, and helping real estate agents stop using the sometimes-vicious tactics that weigh on their consciences. He believes that the Smart Agents books will, quite literally, change people’s lives for the better. Check out his full bio here!
