RECR's Blog: January 2008

Ok, so maybe I meant to say ‘Check Out My Sister Company'...

In this ever-increasing world of internet requirements, Real Estate Client Referrals has decided to launch a new division of our company:

Iprogrammer is a full-scale website production, creation, design, and programming company that specializes in database creation, web design and reconstruction, shopping cart integration, and PayPal compliance.  We can do anything you need.

If you would like more information about how we can help, please contact Clint or Jerrold at 406-532-3717 or 800-977-7058.

Are you as loyal to your internet leads as they are to you?

When some agents think of internet referrals, they think of junk leads with names like "Mickey Mouse" and phone numbers like 555-1212.  They also mistakenly think that Internet referrals are all out for something free, and just want to waste the agent's time. Furthermore, some agents think that internet prospects are going to drain all the time they've normally reserved for their "real" prospects - the office walk-ins or phone calls the agent gets.

However, nothing could be further from the truth! Here's proof:

According to a 2006 study from the California Association of Realtors, fully 92% of internet buyers said that they would use the SAME REAL ESTATE AGENT they used the first time. That's over 9 out of 10 prospects!

Compare that figure to only 47% of traditional buyers who would use the same agent again. That is an astonishing difference!

We all know that it is far easier to sell again to your existing customers than to spend extra time and effort chasing down new prospects.  Plus, when you reply to your e-mail leads within 20 minutes or less, you greatly INCREASE your chances of being the FIRST agent who contacts them - and over 80% of the time, the first agent to make contact is ultimately the agent who GETS THE COMMISSION.

So the next time you think of working with an Internet lead, think of how much more business that one person could bring you in the long term. I've worked with several agents who have used our referral program to end up getting additional commissions from - not just the referrals we've sent them, but also those clients' family members, friends and colleagues.

With that in mind - become as loyal to your internet buyers as they are to you! You never know just how much it will pay off in the end!

If you'd like to learn more about working with pre-screened, ready-to-act referrals, please visit realestateclientreferrals.com or call Clint at 1-800-977-7058. We look forward to speaking with you!

When you get a new prospect in your email inbox, how soon do you follow up with them?

An hour later?
Four hours later?
A day or more later?

If you can identify with any of those timeframes - you're too slow!

Did you know that the average internet prospect said that the most important reason they selected their agent was that they were the first to respond?

Replying to your email leads should be no different than if they were standing in your office.  Just a quick note to let them know that you got their message and that if they have any questions about the home buying process, that you'd be happy to help, will put their mind at ease while breaking down any inner barriers they may have to the traditional high-pressure sales tactics to make an offer or sign a contract. You should be able to respond to their email within 20 minutes of receiving it. This makes a great first impression with the prospects as well as it shows them that you're "on the ball" and ready to help them when they need it.

Remember, you're not going to convince anyone to buy a home any sooner that they are ready.  But if you do convince them that you're prompt and professional in all your responses, you'll be well on your way to being their chosen agent!

If you'd like to learn even more valuable email marketing techniques, I invite you to see what Real Estate Client Referrals can do for your referral generation efforts! You can also call me, Clint, at 1-800-977-7058 if you have any questions at all. I look forward to helping you improve your business!

My name is Jeremiah Thompson. I started out as a complete and utter real estate rookie seven years ago working in a small RE/MAX office in Missoula, Montana. 

I spent countless hours "in the field"... hosting open houses, only to feed cookies to the neighbors.

I spent long hours on the phone, cold-calling and even getting yelled at sometimes.

I put in so many hours at work, that it cost me a relationship with my girlfriend and some of my most valuable possessions...

The "Crazy Idea" That Turned My Career Around
and How It Can Work for You

I decided that things had to change. And just after my first year in real estate, I had gone from a rookie to the prestigious Top Producer in the entire office.  

Here's how I did it:  Seven years ago, back in the office, I started getting emails from home buyers and sellers that had done research on the Internet and were looking to buy or sell a home in my area.

I failed miserably at first...Because like most agents then I wanted closings and I wanted them now then I decided to reply to these internet-based prospects in the same way that I worked with "regular" customers.

I offered to show them home listings and to get them into a home quickly and hassle-free.

Each time I tried this approach then it ended my relationship with the client before it even had a chance to get started.

Then I changed my approach...I started taking a serious look at where these homeowners were in the real estate "cycle". And I tweaked and fine-tuned my sales process.

That's When I Began to See Enormous Changes!  I started listing and closing on more homes than anyone in my entire office. Commissions started pouring in, and I realized that anyone could do the very same things I was doing - if they only knew how.

Why are we unique among internet client referral companies?

I took all the knowledge I had gained as a successful real estate agent and used that experience to form my company, Real Estate Client Referrals http://www.recr.com/, in March of 2003.

When I started the company, I did so knowing exactly what I'd want as an agent myself. So I made sure that I included all the tools, tips and techniques I used to close more sales with Internet referrals. That means:

NO Monthly Fees - Ever. You simply pay for your referrals and that's it

NO Long-Term Contracts - If you're not happy, I'll cheerfully refund your money. More on that below...

NO Recycling of Referrals - You get exclusive access to your local area - and we never share your referral's contact information with any other agents - period.

Let Me Take All the Risk Out Of Your Decision...

If you would like any additional information about our my company or would like to speak with a representative about your specific area, please feel free to call 800-977-7058 and ask for Clint.  He would be happy to help you.

How much would you pay for a good referral?

I mean a referral that, let's say, had a 20% chance of buying or selling their home within a year?

Now that may not sound like much at first. But consider the fact that, unlike with traditional lead programs, where there's a slight chance that 1 in 100 of the leads you get will turn into a closing...but our average closing rate is 1-in-5.

That sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Why do you think that is?

That's because, until we came along, "lead generation" companies actually bragged about their 1 in 100 closing rate.

And, on top of that, they would take a massive bit out of any successful commissions you got from closing with one of the leads they sent you.

Now, I don't know about you, , but I don't think that's fair.

Let's say that after sifting through those 100 stale leads, you did get the lucky break of closing one of them.

And let's say it earned you an average agent commission of $4,300.

The lead generation company then takes their piece of the pie, which could be $1,075 or more, leaving you with a meager $3225.

And consider how much you're already paying in monthly fees to that company?

Some of the more well-known companies charge between $200-$600 per month, per area! That's OUTRAGEOUS!

Do you see how deceptively simple it is to lose money with lead generation programs?

At Real Estate Client Referrals, our referrals cost $99. That's it. No commission split, no monthly fees, no long-term contracts. For more on how we can help you grow your business, just call 1-800-977-7058.

How many of you remember "back in the day" - say, in the year 2000 or so, when just HAVING a website meant you were automatically guaranteed to get customers?

I mean, having a website meant everything back then. It meant you embraced technology, that you were on the "cutting edge" of the Web. If you had a website, you were in the top percentage of real estate agents who were online, because so few people knew how to make a website, let alone attract the attention of search engines (if memory serves me right, Google wasn't even a major contender back then!)

Well, in just a few short years Google has become THE place to search, and they report that REAL ESTATE is their most searched category. I found that amazing in and of itself, considering the thousands of other things people search for on a daily basis!

Now, having a website is the LEAST you can do to get noticed.

Fortunately, you don't have to have been online since the mid 1990s to make it big online today. Just look at Google. Here they were, the small fry of the search engines, and look at them today.

There are some things you can do to improve your real estate website rank in the search engines. Since real estate is such a competitive term, consider the following:

• Make sure your site doesn't use Flash (or if it does, only sparingly). Flash is a sophisticated form of animation which looks beautiful but - like any other computer graphic - can't be read by search engines. Also make sure your site doesn't use Frames. Many sites back in the 1990s did, as this was the main way to lay out a site and make sure your navigation and content was always visible to the viewer. If you're still using frames, fire your web developer right now. Search engines hate them and so do your visitors because every site they visit AFTER they visit yours will load in YOUR site's frames. It's like having a miniature screen-within-a-screen to view web pages from.
  
• Ensure you're situated in a particular niche for your local area or your specialty. If you're a foreclosure specialist in Fresno, make sure people know that you're the person to come to in that area! You can rank high in the search engine results when you shrink your perspective to focus on the particular towns, cities and communities you serve, or your particular specialty. Once you have a high ranking for a particular town's real estate search, focus your efforts on the next area you serve and keep going from there. Concentrate on one area at a time - don't overwhelm yourself with trying to scramble to get all the areas at once - just build your "website empire" one local area at a time.
  
• Make sure your site is tailored to bring in links that relate to your keywords. Keywords are what your prospects - and the search engines - use to find your site on the web. So when someone links to your site, make sure they link to you using your keywords. So if you're a client referral company, you might request that they link to you using the text real estate client referrals - it helps your search engine ranking considerably when other people use the same text you're using on your own site to help people find you!
  
• Ensure you're writing lots of fresh, relevant content for your particular area. Keeping your site "fresh" with new, updated articles (consider starting a blog on ActiveRain and link it to your local web site for great exposure!) and information about your local area. You never know who might be looking to relocate and want to find an agent there!

If you'd rather not take all the time to do all this yourself, why not join a company that's done all the work for you? Call me at 1-800-977-7058 and put our high ranking, professionally designed real estate websites to work for you in getting new referrals in your area - wherever you are in the U.S. or Canada! Learn more about this this works!

Good Morning!  Today is a new day!!  Now, clear your head and get ready for this one...this is important...

The 'Clintonian' definition (thats my word for my version....kinda catchy, dont you think?) of INSANITY is this: Doing the same thing over and over again yet expecting different results. 

Having that in mind, lets move on...I'd like to share with you all a little piece of advice I recieved from my Economic's professor in college...Dr. Colleen Johnson.  Smart woman...and I dont just mean book smart.  She was sharper than a two-pionted tack.  Anyways...here is what she told me upon graduation...Or, a close summary thereof...

If you always do what youve always done,
You will always see what you have always seen,
You will always know what you have always known,
You will always have what you have always had,
You will always feel what you have always felt,
You will always be what you have always been,
You will always get what you have always got,
BECAUSE you always do what you have always done.

If you do not like the things about yourself that you see, know, have, feel, get, or how you are, CHANGE SOMETHING!!!  ANYTHING!!!  YOU are the one that has the power to affect a change in your life...whether that be your personal life or your business life.  If you change any one of those aspects, you will affect them all.  That is the nature of change.  And it doesnt have to be dramatic...It can be subtle.  It can be as simple as eating an apple instead of a cinnamon roll...Or drinking a glass of water rather than drinking your 5th Mountian Dew for the day....Or, using the stairs rather than the elevator. 

Now, go out there today and CHANGE SOMETHING!  Try something new!  You never know...you could end up HERE with your face next to Carey Chapman or Amanda King, Century 21's International Realtor of the Year for 2007.  Anything is possible!!! 

If you have any questions about Real Estate Client Referrals and how we can help you make more money, please feel free to contact Clint at 800-977-7058 and I will be happy to assist you...

Having learned via an AR member yesterday that RealEstate.com is no longer offering it's popular "lead generation" services any longer, I wanted to extend an invitation to everyone on AR to check out my referral program, a unique system specifically designed for Realtors® by a Realtor®...

First off, let me be clear about one thing: Real Estate Client Referrals is NOT a "lead generation" company.  We are a full scale realty referral procurement agency with one primary goal -- To ensure that you make money using our network so that we can keep YOU as OUR customers for life!  The only way we have to do this is to ensure that we are delivering the best quality referrals on the net...and we have the closing ratio to prove it!  (Realtors have much the same goal with their clients...and any successful business has the same mindset.)  Having said that, Id like to show you a guide that will quickly explain the difference between US and THEM...

Compare the Difference!

Online "Lead Generation" Services	Real Estate Client Referrals
Locked into a long-term contract. Early cancellation fee applies.	No long-term contract. Cancel anytime.
No exclusivity. Leads "recycled" and shared with other agents.	Exclusivity guaranteed. No "referral recycling".
No guaranteed closings.	1-5 GUARANTEED closings (see below for details)
Takes up to 30% of your commission on every closing.	You keep 100% of your commission
Charge monthly fees whether you get the leads or not.	No monthly fees - you only pay for referrals when they come in
No automatic follow-up with prospects.	Automatic drip campaign with your contact information, photo, and more
1-in-20 closing rate (not verified)	Independently verified 1-in-5 closing rate
No money-back guarantee	90 day no-questions-asked money back guarantee.

• www.realestateclientreferrals.com/home15.php  ---  This site has about 40 testimonials and a handful of video testimonials that agents have sent to us...including a video from Amanda King, Century 21's International Realtor of the Year '07.
• www.realestateclientreferrals.com/moreinfo.php  ---  This site is a short, concise list of what we will do for you and what you can expect to recieve from us.  It has a list of package pricing at the bottom of the page.  There are no testimonials on this site; no fluff, just the facts.
• www.realestateclientreferrals.com/terms2.php  ---  This site is our terms and conditions on our contract so that you can see exactly what you would be getting into....and how you can get out if you dont like it.  :-)

Lastly, I would like to invite you all to either call or email me directly.  My email is clintmiller@recr.com and you can reach me directly at 800-977-7058.  I look forward to hearing from each of you...And best of luck in '08!!!!

I had an agent contact me earlier today that found us off of AR....And she proceeded to tell me that RealEstate.com is no longer offering a lead generation service??!!!!  Supposedly, they are attempting to position themselves along the same lines as Top Producer.  So, I am curious if anyone out there in AR world can verify this for me.....Please send any info, links, etc...

Thanks!

Update --- I went to the RealEstate.com website and the rumors are true.  They no longer offer any form of lead generation service as a subscription style service.  Although they have kept the contact management software in place and agents can subscribe to it, the primary funtion of the company has switched from the lead gen facility to more of a Top Producer type flavor...training, SEO, etc.  Considering the long history of ServiceMagic (Lead gen company from back in the day) and the continued management of LendingTree, this move comes as a huge shock to me.  More later as I discover it......

I grew up in a small town...and I know small is a relative term to most.  I am talking less than 1,000 people when I graduated high school.  My graduating class had 29 kids in it.  Im talking small town. 

I can remember:

-- having to go to the doctor...walking into the office and being seen right away and leaving without paying for anything because they knew they could send a bill to my parents house.

-- going to the drug store and getting perscriptions for pain medications for my dad and they actually gave them to me knowing I wasnt going to go sell them to 3rd graders.

-- going to the local burger joint (The Circle) after school to get soft-serve ice cream and being able to put it on a tab that got paid weekly.

-- knowing everyone in the entire town by first name...or them knowing me by first name.

-- spending my summers diving off of the bridge into the Clark Fork River and crawling out on the sand never once having to worry about getting stabbed by broken beer bottles and used needles.

-- spending my winters going into the mountains behind my house and sledding on old man VonHeeder's property until the cows came home (small town expressions are great) and not having to worry about someone sueing him for not having a safety rail on the sledding run.

-- working my butt off to get my first car...nothing was ever handed to me just because I turned 16.

-- having only 3 TV channels...."and if the President was on, your night was shot!" as Jeff Foxworthy so elequently put it.

-- weeding in my dad's garden growing our food and hunting to get meat for the family; fishing; and trading work for baked goods and milk with other families in town.

In today's fast paced world of Trios and palm pilots, satelite TV, spoiled kids that get new cars at 15, instant gratification at every turn, HIPPA regulations, dope dealers taking advantage of the innocent, and everyone on the planet having some form of political agenda....I sure miss that place.  Thankfully, I only live 70 miles from there.  I visit every chance I get.  

My advice on making your business better....      Take the time to enjoy the simple things in life...Work for what you want...Pet a puppy...Smile at a stranger...Be the person that people remember at night for all the right reasons.

If you have any questions on internet referrals and how they can assist you, please email me or call Clint directly at 800-977-7058.