Live Coaching Sessions with Tara Baylis, March 15, 2022
Tara is AgentLocator’s new lead conversion coach. Join her live coaching sessions every second Tuesday at 1 PM EST.3:27 - 5:57 Why It's Important to Reassess Your Lead Conversion Strategies
6:31 - 7:38 Introducing Your Voice
9:13 - 10:53 Calling With a Point to Call
15:09 - 16:10 Be the One
16:27 - 19:31 Older vs. New Leads
20:59 - 23:22 Reply: Now
25:43 - 27:07 Your Mindset Is the Trick to Converting Leads
28:12 - 29:48 Emails + Text Messages + Calls = Conversion
32:37 - 33:46 Let the Lead Direct the Call
34:16 - 36:03 Tara’s Approach to Handling “Just Looking” Leads
36:04 - 38:26 Tara’s Nurturing Strategy
38:57 - 40:47 Make Your Leads Feel Special
41:14 - 45:06 Re-Logging
45:08 - 48:38 Opt-Outs
Transcript:
Crystal: 0:02
Thank you everyone who stopped in and is taking part in our new series with Tara Baylis here. So, this is going to; we're going to run this webinar every two weeks on Tuesdays, or, today's Tuesday, at one o'clock Eastern. And we'll run it as long as we can, really. And, really, our ultimate goal is for all of you to find success. Tara, how long have you been with us for?
Tara: 0:33
I believe I launched at the beginning of 2016 with you.
Crystal: 0:38
Okay.
Tara: 0:39
Prior to that, I was with many other lead gen companies. And then the reason I joined AgentLocator was I really liked your websites that you were doing for realtors back then. And so when I made the leap because I liked your websites, I said: Well, let me just do their Pay-Per-Click instead of the other ones that I've been on.
Crystal: 0:59
Nice. And, so, Tara, for those that, you know, don't know who you are. You have been in real estate for what? 28 years now?
Tara: 1:09
Pushing.
Crystal: 1:09
Yeah, pushing. And you've done lead generation, of course, with the other providers in the past as well. And in the last two years, a lot of your transactions were a result of the leads that you've generated through AgentLocator, correct? A good chunk of your business?
Tara: 1:26
In all honesty, and if people want to, kind of, have the background, they can go back to the original webinar I did last year. I started doing lead gen conversion when we actually got realtor.ca into existence because that was our very first lead gen site that agents had back then. So when this came into fruition, and people were going online and clicking a button on realtor.ca saying: I want more info, we kind of had to figure out how do we capture these people through email. Because before that, we were just used to them picking up the phone and paging us, as we called it back then. So, I was able to start converting very easily through emails that I was creating and kind of experimenting with what was working and what wasn't from right back then. So, consistently, every year since then, the highest performance of my business has always been lead gen conversion.
Crystal: 2:37
Nice. And for those of you, guys, that watch our other webinars, whether it's Live Dialing with Beverly or with Nick, Tara has a very different approach. So, it's quite the opposite pretty much of what we would standardly see in the industry. What we commonly hear, and you guys can probably concur, is you get a lead, you pick up, you call them as fast as you can, you keep calling them to try to get them on the phone. Now, Tara, your approach is much different than that. And to be quite honest, it's going to be a learning curve for myself because I've always heard the same as well, like, pick up a call, get them on the phone, see where they're at, and then kind of let them be, where you're kind of a little bit more in the reverse. Let them be, then pick up the phone and call them and make that interaction.
Tara: 3:23
Yeah. But you know what? In total honesty, when I started doing Pay-Per-Click leads, which was just after realtor.ca started, you know, becoming into fruition. And then we started getting lead gen companies doing this. You did call them right away. I mean, I was so successful, as soon as that lead would hit my phone, it wouldn't matter if I was in the shopping, you know, grocery store, liquor store, it wouldn't matter. I would call them back and say: Hey, it's Tara. Thank you for logging onto the site. It worked back then, along with the series of drip emails that I created.
What I found, in total honesty, Crystal, was about seven, eight years ago, these calls weren't working like they used to. And I truly believe it was when all of our cell phones were now being sold to all these duct cleaning companies, carpet cleaning, you know, where now we were getting calls, solicitation for services. And when I discovered, okay, it's not working when I'm calling them as soon as they hit my phone, I laid back. Because for me, my business is so successful on lead gen conversion that I am very well aware that you have to change the way you do things to keep up with the way that the people are acting. I don't want to be called when duct cleaning companies call me ten times a day. I'm that person. I am. I'm like: Why are you calling me? So, I held back. I stopped, and I thought: Okay, let me gain their trust through the emails, rather than the emails along with my voice. And it worked. It worked just as good. But I do believe there is a time that you have to make a call. So, at the coaching company that I do for lead gen conversion, I have a phone script book because there are times that I do believe you have to introduce your voice. So, I think for a lot of people, Crystal, it's just trial and error. Some of the people that I coach, they say to me: I can't not call, Tara. I can't. And I'm like: Then you do you. But if it's not working, find a different time to make that call. And maybe it's 30 days later, not right away.
Crystal: 5:59
Yeah, and I think even on other, you know, we have different approaches that we hear, where I know some agents, they wait at least 48 hours. You give them a couple of days in there, we're not hounding them with a call as long as we have a conversation with them at some point, and they're seeing your name come across their inbox a couple of times, then there's, you know, sometimes that connection, right? Or you have a higher chance of the lead actually understanding who it is that's actually calling them at that point. It's not like: Who is this? They understand why you're calling at that point.
Tara: 6:31
I agree. And I call it this - let me gain their trust before I introduce my voice. So, my point now, my new way of thinking in the last few years has been - there's power, so much power to your name going in somebody's inbox every day. And that's what it is, is as they start to see the listings every day coming from you. Oh, there's Tara. Oh, there's Tara again. And then a very soft, gentle drip. They now become familiar with you. So, when you, as I call it, introduce your voice, I don't like to say calls anymore. It's easier for my head because we all get: Ooh, about calling, right? Like: I don't want to. But when I now introduce my voice, depending on the scenarios of the lead, then you know there's more power to that. Much, much more power. So, when I'm now calling the leads, basically what they're saying to me is: Hey, Tara. It's so good to hear from you. Thank you. You know? And that's what I appreciate. Yeah.
Crystal: 7:38
Yeah, no, absolutely. It's a lot more welcoming on your part as the agent because we hear so many stories where I'm sure a lot of you guys can concur that you call somebody and they're not the most pleasant person on the phone. And I'm sure that happens, probably from time to time, as well. But there's a lot of confusion sometimes as well. And it really comes down to how you're using your voice. I would suggest you, you can come across as nurturing and really wanting to help and get a better understanding. Or you can come across as one of those duct cleaning guys that's really trying to make, you know, as quick as money as possible. And it really comes across as sounding more beneficial to yourself rather than the lead thinking that you're calling and trying to work on their behalf. So, there's figuring out that fine line. And that's where, you know, when I'm talking to individuals, I always just have conversations with these people. Don't try to sell them anything. Most of them aren't ready to buy, right? So, learn, and learn more about them, learn their story. And then it helps you to position yourself to better understand how you can assist them from where they're at right now, what may be stopping them from moving, and what kind of resources and information you could be offering them to help earn that trust. And they're going to be, and you find if you're reaching out to your leads, and you're, kind of, taking that softer approach, they're more welcoming to you when you are offering solutions or reaching out to them just to do a quick check-in to see how things are going.
Tara: 9:12
Absolutely. So, I'm all about calling with a point to call. Here in the GTA, our market has changed very drastically in the last two weeks. So, I've gone from a position where, you know, I've got certain scenarios where I make a call, to now I want to call and tell them the good news. And the good news is, guess what? We're now in a buyers' market. So, when I'm making the call now to say: Okay, guys, guess what? We're now in a buyers market, and I wanted to be the one to tell you myself. The response I've had from the leads has been phenomenal. I've had leads where I've started the call saying: Oh, I'm so glad you just reached out to me. Take me off. I'm tired of this market. And then I'm saying, Crystal: Wait a minute. The reason I'm calling you is because the market has now changed. Now they're saying to me, keep me on. Thank you. You know? Those are things that when you go to send an email, you can't get it across the way you really need it to. The power of your voice is definitely essential. When I make calls, for instance, if I see that my leads want to see a property, those are times I'll make a call. I don't ask this whole list of survey questions. I just want to call and see how they're doing. I know I'll get info when I meet them. I know when I'm showing them houses, I'll get more info. But I'm very, super soft. And that's why I believe I'm consistently so successful at conversion.
Crystal: 10:55
Yeah, that's good. That's good. Yeah, because a lot of us, it's the unwanted feeling of someone pushing into something you're not ready for. And we all get it, like: Ooh. And then if you were to try calling back, even if I was feeling kind of ready, it's - I'm probably still not going to take that call because it was a very uncomfortable feeling that you left me with in the first place, right? So, we have to speak, and I guess, to communicate with others, and how we would want to be communicated with ourselves, but at the same time, not hindering our business, because we don't like something that's actually effective, right? Some people don't like door knocking because there's just a confrontation that they don't want to do. But it's actually beneficial to their business if they do do it. There are a lot of different ways that you can definitely look at that. Now, Tara, so to let everyone know, here, a little bit about your coaching programs. I know that you're running This Crazy Thing Called Lead Gen? Is that what it's called?
Tara: 12:00
Yeah, yeah.
Crystal: 12:01
And so you've been coaching individuals on the conversion, and, you know, providing them with some tips and tricks, and scripts, and campaigns and so on. Tell everyone a little bit about that because we're going to be kind of focusing these sessions somewhat on that. But to get, you know, the full advantage of the program, it would definitely be using and signing up for Tara's program. But let everyone know, in here, what that would look like, and what you focus on start to finish with the whole coaching program.
Tara: 12:33
Well, you know, up until when we were in the first lockdown, you know, I helped a number of realtors convert leads because everybody kind of knew me in the area as the lead converter. And during the lockdown, our very first lockdown, a lot of realtors came to me because we weren't showing houses, in all honesty, many weren't, going: Oh my Gosh, Tara, I'm desperate. I've got to get a deal. You know, show me how to do the leads. So, that's when I realized that I was spending my days because I was in lockdown, too. I didn't know. Should I run my business? Shouldn't I? What are we supposed to do? Most of my days were being spent helping people over Zoom do their AgentLocator leads, or any other Pay-Per-Click leads. And it kind of hit me that it's time now for me to write the book, put everything that I do really into perspective, and create the coaching program. I called it This Crazy Thing Called Lead Gen because it is crazy. There's no rhyme or reason to it. You know, when I say this, I'll say it until the day I die. Every lead has their own time. This is not our show, to tell them when they have to buy a house. This is their show. And getting into the mindset of knowing that we just want to give the leads what they want is the key.
So, I kind of took everything that was here and put it in this program. You know, I wrote the book, then I did the phone script book because there are times we need to introduce our voice. And I created accountability cards and so forth. So, I opened that up. I launched it. And, you know, right now, I think we're at about 138 members. The beautiful thing about the program is you can buy sessions, and you can use them whenever you want. I don't hold you down to every single week we have to do this. I know that we're all human, and we all want money, and we want the leads to convert sooner than some of them do. We're all the same. So, as I'm coaching, and some people really get into the realm of it, and they start, you know, getting the hang of it, they can do a session six months later with me if they have it remaining, just to, kind of, build them back up again. The thing about leads, the thing about being successful, is always understanding that you just have to show them that you're the one. You know, an agent, I'll give you an example, an agent on my dashboard. She comes on and off at times. She called me last week, and she was like: Oh, my God, I just listed a house in Port Hope. This person came on our dashboard, Tara, three years ago. And this person said to her: I always knew it would be you even though I didn't communicate a lot. And I think, Crystal, what some agents do, based on the feedback I get from all the leads that I show, is they delete these people too quickly. You know, and I'm not a Deleter. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I have paid for that lead, and I'm going to go to the very end. Until that lead says: I don't want you anymore, Tara, you know? So, if you hang in there, the business can come, right?
Crystal: 16:12
Absolutely. I hear that all the time. It'll just be like, random people, all of a sudden: Hey, I'm interested and want to take a look at this property. It's like three or four years ago, the leads originally registered.
Tara: 16:23
It happened to me numerous times.
Crystal: 16:27
And do you find that the older leads are the better leads for you? Like, the longer they've been in your system, the more likely they are to transact for you, or what are you finding?
Tara: 16:38
No, I'm finding it's polar opposite. But I will tell you, about ten years ago, my higher conversion was leads that were on the system six months or older. But now, in the last three years, it's definitely the newer leads. But understanding, too, if people are having trouble converting, we're dealing with a whole other whammy here with people going: How can I possibly ever buy a house? You know what I mean? And, so, that's why, when we entered the market a couple of years ago, that we did this insane seller's market, which got even worse than '22. I knew right away I had to adjust some of my drips. I had to acknowledge to the buyers, one of my emails is: Guess what, guys, I'm just checking in because I know that you guys are frustrated with the market. And guess what? I am, too. I don't like seeing you guys miss out on offer after offer after offer, you know? And that really touched a lot of people's hearts.
So, I think when it comes to lead conversion, staying on top of the times, and understanding. So, a lot of these people, when we hit this market, knew that if they didn't get it and start shopping, it could take them two years. So they were quicker. But you know, then a few months ago, I had somebody that came on in 2014. You know, an old lead. An old, old lead that, you know, listed and sold with me, and it was her time, and I listed their place in the fall of '21. You know, go figure. Last week, Crystal, my phone rang at; no, I lied, the office phone rang, and I'm the manager here in our neighborhood. So my desk is right by the front desk. And they came, and they said: Listen, we got somebody on the phone, they're asking for you. And it was a brand new lead. If she didn't just log in five minutes sooner, had already created her search, and then said: Okay, here's six houses I want to see. And I was out with her Friday night showing her houses, and I'm leaving here and meeting her right after.
Crystal: 18:50
Yeah, those are the ones, I call those ones the unicorns, but they do happen, right? Where they come in, they know, they sign up there, they've got all their ducks in a row. They could have been part of other drifts, you know, or receiving listings from other people. But maybe those other people hadn't done anything for it. It happens. I myself, as a consumer, I will periodically sign up on sites just to see if I get contacted. And you'll be amazed at how many people just don't contact you. They don't do anything. They just kind of do whatever. And it could be that I'm actually looking for information about a listing. I've had that. I'm sure you guys have had your frustrations with other agents trying to get information about a listing, and the agent can't be bothered to call you back. So, there are all different scenarios, but those unicorns are what everyone's looking for, right? The ones that are just ready to go right now and they want to go look at houses. How often does it happen for you, Tara? Just to put it into perspective for everyone. Somebody signs up, and they're within a week or two going and looking at houses with you.
Tara: 20:05
I probably would have at least two or three a month. And I get a lot of leads, mind you. That would be a small percentage, but quite a few, quite a few. But once the drip campaign starts going out, then sometimes 30 days later, they're in the car with me, you know? Again, you know, I really feel, Crystal, it just boils down to when the time is right for them. I mean, this buyer that called me last week. I mean, I'm telling you. Friday night, she was like: Okay, Tara, which house are we doing an offer on? And I'm saying to her: Well, you can, but don't you want to see more houses? Everybody is different. Their needs are different. But I get a lot of responses. I want to touch on what you said about being quick to reply. Because I will say this until I'm blue in the face, if they're on our AgentLocator, they're probably on many other ones as well. So, if you wait to reply, that is the detriment to lead conversion. You know, with AgentLocator, we get the Get in Touch, the Ask a Question forms. There is no excuse to not reply. We all have our phones, we all can reply. If I'm out showing houses, I am still checking my email because I never want to miss a lead ever. And if I'm showing houses, I'll reply, and I'll say: Hey, Sue, thanks a lot. I got your question. I'm just out with a client. But as soon as I get back, I'll answer you. And you know what, as soon as I get back, I answer her. Period. So, always remember that there are agents like me that are on top of their leads. And if you're going to be that person that waits and says: Oh, you know what, I'll get to it in two or three hours, somebody like me is going to answer them. And I guarantee you, I'll get that lead.
Crystal: 22:14
A lot of us aren't patient, right? I can tell you, if I'm not getting an answer right away, or you're not calling me back because I paged you or whatever it is, guess where I'm going? I'm going somewhere else to get an answer. So, it's, you know, people, we're so fast-paced these days, right? Everything is in the now. You need it now. We asked for now, I want it now. It's the same with online forms. You sign up for something, you want what you signed up for right now. You don't want to wait a week or two weeks or whenever they get to it. You signed up, you want it now. So, your leads are going to be exactly the same where we have to be responsive. And what's funny enough is I see it often enough that, you know, you get individuals that are running lead gen and all the leads, they don't respond and don't do this. Don't do that. And then you jump into the system, and you can see all these text messages where the lead agent never actually responded, right? Just acknowledge them. You don't have to, you know, go full-fledged with it. But they're like: Hey, sorry, we're not really interested right now, you know, maybe down the road, and then the agent just ignores it, right? Rather than being like: Hey, that's absolutely fine. You know, take your time, right?
Tara: 23:24
That's exactly right. Well, not everybody is ready. And what you're saying is exactly what I cannot say enough is you have to understand that every lead has their own time. This is not our show. We cannot tell these people when we need them to buy a house or list their house, right? My philosophy is this: Okay, Sue, you're not ready. I'll be here when the time is right for you. That is exactly what I say. And I'm telling you, if Sue decides to buy and sell a home, six months later, ten years later, I will be there. I will be there. So, take yourself into the mindset, you know, that as much as we might be hungry, and we might need the deals, we just have to allow them the time. And we have to show them that we're there and we will be there.
Crystal: 24:23
Being responsive, for sure. And just acknowledge, as you said, they all have stories. And how I kind of look at it, as far as, you know, your leads are all going to transact. Every single one of them has some level of intent, right? It's just a matter of when they transact, and we have to just familiarize ourselves and be aware that no one's buying right now or a lot of them aren't ready to buy right now. They are simply doing research or getting ducks in a row, or planning for their future. And, so, if we start to recognize that and take a step back and be more focused on our customer service side of our job rather than the sales side of our job, you're going to be a lot more satisfied as well the leads are going to be more responsive to you. Because they're, you know, they're feeling like you actually care about them, right? You care that they're human; they're person with feelings and motivations and goals, not just somebody that's going to give you a paycheck.
Tara: 25:21
Yeah, yup. I view every lead that comes on, you know, you can ask the people that take my system or other agents in the office that I've helped. I might be crazy about the leads, I might feel, you know, might sound like I'm insane when it comes to them, or OCD. But I understand the value of the lead. I understand that these people are searching for homes on Google. And I have to be where the people are, which is online. I value the money that I'm putting in, to AgentLocator, and I'm spending on the leads. So, I've created my system to work them because this is my money, right? So, allowing myself to be in the mindset that: Okay, you know what? I'm going to show them that I'm here. I'm going to show them that I'm always going to be here. It makes me understand again, every single day, that this is a very big pillar to our business that I work every day. And I do it as best as I possibly can. The mindset is the trick to being able to convert. A 100%. And somebody saying about, you know, having issues with phone numbers, and so forth. Listen, I'm not really too upset if I don't get a phone number because the leads respond to my drip campaign. So, I get a lot of emails back. I can get their phone number once I start communicating with them on email.
Crystal: 27:08
Yeah, a lot of people, a lot of it is earning the trust, right? And showing your value as to why they would want to produce a phone number for you to contact them on, for sure. Some people don't provide a phone number because they don't, they're not anywhere near being ready. And they know if they give a phone number, they're just going to get all these phone calls that they don't want. And we have to be okay with that. Everyone, as you said, they all have their own time. It's not our time. It's their time. And when they're ready, they're ready, right? Now, what is this person saying that 98% are going to voice message when I call them, no matter the time I call? So, what do you do in a situation where you've got your drip, and you're trying to make, you know, that, want to hear your voice, or introduce your voice, but you never seem to be getting through? What do you personally do in those situations? Just, kind of, keep the drip going or leave a voice message?
Tara: 28:06
I always leave a message, if you're able to. I have my drip campaign. I've created a couple of the SMS touches, as well. So, you know, like I said before, I don't lay high importance on my being able to speak to these people on the phone. Because they reply to my drip campaign and I can get their phone number, I can get them talking in another way. So, for this, I think it's Ravindra, I would just say - focus on the listings, focus on the emails that you're sending. Remember, we don't want to sound too pushy, right? So, my emails are always designated as a thank you. You know: Thanks, Sue, for coming on and looking at listings again. I really appreciate it. Let me know if there's anything that you need me to change for you. You know, they're very soft. They will reply, and I think that's the biggest thing with people, is whatever drips they're using, and people write their own or maybe they're using yours. If they're not getting the replies back, then you know right away those emails aren't working. So, we need to kind of redo them again, in a way where people will reply, and we can talk to them that way first, right? But for me, incorporating a couple of text messages, now, into my drip, has just sort of been a way of me testing and seeing: Okay, well, they're not really answering the phones anymore. So, will they reply to a text? And I'm on the fence still a little bit with that too. I'm not seeing the same results as I am through the emails.
Crystal: 29:57
Yeah, I think everyone is very different, and there's such a large quantity of automation out there for all different things. So, I feel a lot of people think that the messages are just robots, right? And then it's like: Ah, I'm not going to reply, right? So, sometimes you see responses where the person is responding thinking it's a robot. And then it's like: No, this is actually a person. I'm human here, right? So, sometimes you can get creative and indicate: Hey, I'm a real person. So, if you have any questions, I'm here. But do you find; so, kind of into the topic of emails, and I've always personally gone by; the standard for myself, or just guiding others that short and sweet and to the point. Nothing long-winded like a big newsletter, like you sat there for an hour sending them an email. Most people aren't stupid. They know that this is a drip. It doesn't look like you personally are trying to reach out to them. So, how would you, how are your emails typically put together that are part of your campaign?
Tara: 31:09
So, there, I try to have no more than two paragraphs. Short, short. One of my emails is a little longer. And it's just because it's designed for sellers. And I put that in there very specifically because I buy the buyer leads and all my buyer leads usually have houses to sell. So, I incorporated a bit of a longer one that basically talks about some really good tips if you're thinking about selling. Other than that, they're all very two short paragraphs. They're just to the point. One of them that goes out on day 30 is another: Hey, thank you for coming back on the site. I really appreciate it. Would you like to go out and see some homes? You know? And then always the line at the end is: Here's my cell number. Feel free to text me if that's easier for you. I'm always happy to help. You know?
I always approach a lead the way I want to be approached, and I never lose that mindset. Ever, ever, ever. Crystal, I've known you. You were my account salesperson when I joined. If you were to send me an email that was this long, I'm telling you right now, even though I know you, I would not read it.
Crystal: 32:35
No way. I'm the same way. I haven't got time for this.
Tara: 32:33
Yeah. My mindset is the same way. And it's the same with the phone call. When you do introduce your voice to these leads, you know, it used to be that you have to ask them all these prequalification, you know, questions because you don't want to waste your time. And I don't do any of that anymore. I stopped doing that about eight years ago. Here's the deal. When I'm talking to somebody on the phone, again, I'm thanking them for coming on my site. Do you need me to change your criteria at all? Is there anything I can do? And I let the lead direct the call. Plain and simple. Sometimes the leads will say: You know what? I'm really good. I like your site, Tara. I really appreciate your calling. I'm good. Crystal, I'm good. Okay, Bob, have a good day. It was nice talking to you. You know? Then I can do the same phone call, and I've reached Mary, who, you know, doesn't like her husband. And you know, their dogs are a pain. And you know, I hear the whole story, right? So, my philosophy when it comes to a lead is they direct me. And that builds trust, right? So, I know when I'm out with them, and I start getting them what I call in the car. In the car for me is, I'm either showing them houses, or they've had me in their property for a listing appointment. I know anything of the extras I can get when I'm doing the face-to-face because it still might take them another year before they're really ready. But I'll tell you something - when I need them, they'll use me.
Crystal: 34:15
Now, what do you do, because a lot of our clients here, and I guess the most common objection that you hear from any kind of lead out there, whether it's real estate related or not, is always they're just looking or just browsing, which is, you know, it's a natural passive way that we all do it, right? Walk into a clothing store. There you are, we're just looking. How do you typically go about handling that objection? Like, do you still dig a little bit deeper, a little bit, or do you just kind of say: Okay?
Tara: 34:51
Well, so, what I do is this, is I say: Okay, thanks a lot, Crystal. You know what, that's what the site's here for. Enjoy the site. And when the time is right for you, I'll be here. I will not delete them. I paid for the lead already. Why am I deleting them? And I'll tell you what my experience over so many years of doing this, and again, even before AgentLocator. My leads refer me to people that they know. And to this day, some of my leads that have referred me to their family, I still to this day have never physically met. So, remember, you know, Sue logs on. Sue's not ready, but it's not always just about Sue. Never forget it's about who they know. So, that's okay. You're on looking at listings. Enjoy. I'm here when you're ready. And so that's what I think is the proper business way of looking at lead gen. Because it's not just about them. It's about who they know. And they do refer me all the time. All the time. Yeah.
Crystal: 36:04
And do you primarily let your campaign do your follow-up for you? Or, let's say if today you called me and like: Okay, I'm just looking, and you're like: Okay, whenever you're ready. Do you tend to personally do a follow-up at any point? Or do you just let the drip campaign do those follow-ups for you?
Tara: 36:22
The campaign is only short. Like, the campaign is not years. So, what I do is this, is I let the campaign do the work. But we always book tasks so that I can go back in and take a look at Sue, right? So, every day, and I'm not… Listen, it's a lot of tasks. There are a lot of tasks, right? But I do them. I do them because this is a pillar to my business, and I'm a commissioned salesperson, right? So, I always do the task. So, the task is now going to say: Listen, I talked to Sue. And now I'm going to follow up with her. It's been 30 days, 90 days, whatever it is. Also, I send, and I have since the day I joined AgentLocator, I have always sent my leads my newsletter. Always. I embed it into the email. I never do it as an attachment, and they love it. All my leads also get when I do open houses, Open House invitations. You know, I'll send them the video tour. And I'll let them know I've got this, and they're more than welcome to attend. So, even the people that haven't been ready, honestly, no word of a lie, have come to meet me at my open houses because they just wanted to finally meet me. And I'm okay with that. And I think that's why you see from my perspective, and how many leads I have, they'll use me when the time is right for them. And that might be ten years, it might be five years, it might be two months. So, I'm constantly keeping touch with them. And they're always getting listings. So, never forget, when the lead comes on these sites, all they want to see is listings.
Crystal: 38:07
Yeah, don't take that away from your leads, people.
Tara: 38:11
And, you know, I want the listings to go out every day, not once a week. I want them every day. I don't care if they're not opening them. The power of your name in their inbox is more than anybody could ever imagine.
Crystal: 38:27
Oh, absolutely. And yeah, it's all on their terms. So, those ones that come to your open house just to meet you, because that's on their terms, you're not trying to coax them into a meeting of any sort. If they feel comfortable enough, you've invited them to come whether they're interested in that house or just, kind of, you know, snoopy and want to take a look at this really nice house. But ultimately, you know, it's the introduction, and meet and greet is on their terms, not your terms, right?
Tara: 38:56
I try, Crystal, I really try, and maybe it's, maybe people aren't like me, and I get that. But when I need a lead, when I'm showing them a house for the first time, because, you know, talking over email is so impersonal, right? I make them feel like kings and queens. I make a big deal about finally meeting Sue, you know? And I will always say: You've been on my site for so long, and thank you. It's so nice to see you. It's so nice to finally meet you. You know, where they really get that warm and fuzzy. When my leads come to my open houses, clearly before COVID, I made a big deal that they were there. You know, people want to feel like they're special. You know, I really try my hardest to show each and every one that they mean something to me. You know? And that's why I'm very non-pressure, very. And it seems to make an impression. They noticed that
Crystal: 40:06
Yes, absolutely. It makes you stand out, right? Versus what we would traditionally see, right? And a lot of, and that also goes, and, kind of, going back into how I educate anyone on trainings, is to leave very detailed notes on any conversation you've had. Leave them as if you're expecting somebody else to do your follow-up. That makes you, when you're doing a follow-up, you might not remember who Sue is because it was six months since you last talked to her, but you've got such detailed notes in there that you can pick up that conversation as if you just talked to her yesterday. You know exactly who she is.
Tara: 40:45
Please do, clearly write notes because you'll forget. I'll tell you, what I also tried to do is I'm very big on watching the relog in notifications. So, you know, a lot of people are saying: Are you sure? Would you not make a call here or there because I can kind of see what they're saying. When I see them relog, the re-login notifications are everything to me, Crystal, they're everything. They are such a major factor of lead conversion. Because once you start scrolling, and you see Bob, you see Sue, you see Mary, right? Relog in, relog in, you get to know the names of your leads even better, right? They become more real to you every time they come back on and look. But I can also start to see that Bob is starting to look at houses a little more often. Bob's coming on four, five, six times a day, you know? Maybe Bob's liking more and more properties.
So, these are the times as well that maybe I'm going to say to myself: Geez, maybe I better introduce my voice to Bob because something's changed in there. And the re-login notifications are a huge feature in understanding and knowing your leads. I create a list, like I have a piece of paper, and I write down, basically, on that piece of paper, it's on my desk, I am sitting in the backroom, but I'd show it to you. I write down all my leads that I'm conversing with, the leads that are in my car, the leads that I've done listing appointments on so that they are visible as well. Because you know, I'm an old lady. Let's call a spade a spade. I'm old. I'm turning 55 this week. I don't want to forget anybody. So, when I write them down, and they're right on my desk, then I can also say to myself: Oops, let me go back in and take a look and see what Bob's been doing. I mean, it takes no time. No time to do that.
Crystal: 42:57
Do you have your lead notification, your lead alert, for every time someone logs into the site? Or is it just that they look at a listing three or more times, or how do you do that?
Tara: 43:07
Every time. Okay, I have thousands. But, you know, again, this is, I cannot stress enough how important that is, in my opinion, and my success on getting to know your leads, because when you see the names coming back in and back in and as I've coached other people who haven't had the re-login notifications, when I say: Ask AgentLocator, they'll switch it on for you, they'll text me and go: Oh my god, I didn't know. I'm so glad, right? Because we don't always have time to go back, open up the dashboard and look and see who's been on. We're busy. But if I'm at a buyer appointment and I'm waiting for the buyer to show up, I can scroll the mouse, and I'm always dedicated to just opening up and seeing, right? And that's what helps with the conversion. I really believe that, Crystal. So, I get it all. And there are times that I've got to go through it a couple of times because I might miss. You know, the book of showings come through there as well, questions, all of it, it's really important.
Crystal: 44:15
No, absolutely. Absolutely. And so, do you action or do you just more visualize and, kind of, memorize, almost like memorizing the names and seeing the consistency that Bob keeps popping in. Bob came in again today, Bob came in again today. Is that what you're looking for?
Tara: 44:34
I am looking for what, when they favorite a property, clearly the Ask a Question, the Get in Touch forms, the book of showings, always. So, what I do is if I start to see somebody coming in, and I do a lot of the looking that way on my phone, I'll store it on my Gmail, and then I'll hit the print, and I'll actually print that from my printer. So that when I get up or when I'm now going back up to my office, I'll grab it, bring it back in front of me, open up the laptop, and now I'll work on that. That's how I do it. I see a question here, too, about opting out? Let's see if we can, if you're okay with that, can we do it?
Crystal: 45:16
Absolutely, absolutely. So, one of the things that we encourage is that you call these people, right? It goes back into your customer service and understanding was there anything that you could do to improve your business? Or maybe their plans changed. But it's really understanding their story a little bit deeper as to maybe what they're looking for, or plans changing, and how you can accommodate those changes of plans. But what do you typically do, Tara, in those situations?
Tara: 45:45
When I get the opt-out, there was a time that I did call them and reach out: Are you sure? I haven't been lately. However, I'm a big believer that if I need to change, I'll change. I coach a fairly large team that's been with AgentLocator almost since day one. And he actually said to me: I've been calling them lately, Tara, and some of them don't mean to opt-out. They say: No, I didn't mean to press that. So, I think, for sure, you should double-check. I think, for sure, you should because I do think some of the, you know, when you put your mouse over some of these things, it's very touchy. And, clearly, I'm listening to him. And I'm like: Oh, wow. Okay, let's call them all, and let's make sure.
Crystal: 46:39
Well, and it could be that, so, how I look at it, as well as a lot of us will unsubscribe for something because we're getting it every day. But we're now, plants have shifted, we're waiting a couple of years, right? We don't need every day. So, we're just going to unsubscribe, right? We all have the option of scaling back the listings, right, thinking: Well, you know, Bob, I can, you know, totally understand that you're, you've put things on hold. And that's absolutely okay. Would it be beneficial to receive these listings less frequent, like every couple of weeks, that way, you can still stay on top and check every now and then, but you're not going to be bombarded daily and being spammed with listings you're not ready for yet.
So, and there is sometimes that response or the fact that they didn't mean to unsubscribe, but like all of us, when we go, and I have to do it soon, is we go through our email, and we go unsubscribe, unsubscribe, unsubscribe, unsubscribe, unsubscribe, because we signed up for all these things over time. And now we're just getting bombarded with emails that some of them we don't even know what they're for or how they even came about into our inbox. So, they're unsubscribing. And what happens enough or often enough, is, again, keeping back and reconsidering that a lot of your leads are going to be in multiple dashboards, right? So, if they're getting emails from you, they're likely getting bombarded with emails from somebody else. And they're unsubscribing from all of it. You can be the agent that actually reaches out and shows concern, like customer care, right? So, that's going to allow you to stand apart against people that just go: Another one gone, right? There's always, sometimes the story is maybe they already bought, you know, but at least you know now, congratulate them, right? You can offer them sold listings. If you have that, if you're part of a board that offers sold listings, right? They will move again, right? So, again, but it goes into that customer service and saying: Okay, well, that's awesome. You know, and understanding your lead and their story.
Tara: 48:39
I think, you know, when I teach realtors, the one thing I always say is you won't know unless you try. So, right now, I think that there are a lot of people on Google. I mean, we're getting a lot of unsubscribes. I know, all over the map, everybody I'm talking to, the unsubscribes are a little bit more than they were a little while ago. You might as well call and just say: Are you sure? I mean, you've got nothing to lose, but you've got everything to gain. And I know after talking with this gentleman, this team leader that I'm coaching, I was like: You're right. You know, why am I just saying: Okay? Let me double-check. So, try it and see. Yep.
Crystal: 49:26
And Charlene is asking: Do you delete anyone that does not have a valid number?
Tara: 49:32
Charlene, you know I don't know. No, Charlene. No, no, no, no, no, because they get the drip. And they reply to the drip, and then I can get the right phone number. I'm cool with that. I am so cool with that. Not everybody puts in a good phone number. I mean, I'm alright with that. I probably wouldn't either if it were me, in all honesty.
Crystal: 49:58
And there are a lot of different ways you can approach that, too, right? You can include that in and create a little mini drip. We do have a bad phone number one where you can modify and tweak it to sound more of how you would want to talk to somebody. But it's ultimately trying to get them to feel a little bit comfortable about providing you a valid number. A lot of times, the errors in the phone number aren't intentional, right? We're also quick, and our, you know, chubby fingers hit the wrong buttons, but we just hit submit anyway. That seemed to work, though. There we go. We had full intentions of giving a good number. It just doesn't always work out that way. So, those people are probably more than, you know, willing to provide you with a good phone number. But it's again, how you would put together that email, you know, for them to want to give you that contact information, right? And for some people, it's a matter of earning it, right? Not everyone out there is willing to just give out their email address or give out their phone number to a form on a website. Sometimes we have to show our worth and our value in order for them to want to provide that extra piece of information about themselves.
Tara: 51:11
I usually have no trouble getting the right phone number. It doesn't even concern me. What concerns me more is when I don't have the right email. So, I always double-check my emails. If it comes up invalid just for a typo, and I've come across that. There have been quite a few typos where they spelled wrong. Or, you know if the name is spelt wrong, but the name they registered with, I'll play around with it.
Crystal: 51:35
Yeah, I've done the same. And it often results in a valid email. It's just that, we move quickly and don't even spot our own mistakes, just like using your cell phone and you're trying to log into something, and it keeps saying invalid. You log in. You're like, and then you look back, and you're like: Oh, right? So, it's the same thing. It's just they're doing it, it's just not capturing or letting them know right then that it's invalid, right? It just lets them through. And they don't know any different. So, yeah, it's a little bit different. Now, oh, I know. Let's see here. Does anyone have, we have about ten to nine minutes left here with this webinar, does anyone have any questions that you would like to ask Tara, whether it be, you know, communicating with your leads, what information you should be offering in those emails, you know, call scripts, like things that you should be saying, anything that you'd be interested in having a little bit of an insight or viewpoints from Tara?
Tara: 52:48
We'll go through some of these that we see.
Crystal: 52:51
And you guys can use the chat on here. There is the Q&A area as well for that. So, there are lots of different things there. Oh, you got a couple.
Tara: 53:07
Oh, the seller leads. Okay. Yeah, we can talk about that. Shall I?
Crystal: 53:13
Yeah, you betcha.
Tara: 53:15
So, I just started getting the AgentLocator seller leads. I've got a fairly decent budget that I just said to them: Okay, why don't we take, you know, X number and try the lead. So, I'm new to the seller leads. What I know is this, is a lot of people when they log on, you know, and they're filling out the more information, you know, seller form, what's my home worth, they're thinking that they're going to be getting something right away. I'm an old-school agent. I will not tell anybody the price of their home without physically being inside their home. So, what I'm doing now is I'm now working on a seller drip, that when the seller lead comes in, I respond to them right away. I send a nice email saying: Thank you so much for inquiring about the value of your home. I need to pop by and take a quick peek. When is a good time? I'm getting responses. But I also know that I need to treat them just like the buyer leads, right? They're going to have their own time, and it really is about the communication. So, I'll have more of an opinion on it once I create my drip for it, and I really start seeing what the return is like. Because I'm really new to the AgentLocator seller leads. The ISA, can I be honest? I don't like anybody making my stuff for me. I am very big on communicating Tara to the client. However, if it's not your forte, if some people just clam up and they just can't present themselves in the way that they want to, then do the ISA, try it, and see if that doesn't work for you. I'm a big believer, I don't know that much about it because I've never used your ISA, Crystal. But I'm a big believer that whoever the clients are, the ISA has to sound just like them. You know, the wording kind of has to be all in sync with whoever you're doing it for.
Crystal: 55:33
Oh, absolutely. No, ISA is an Inside Sales Agent. So, somebody that generally, like AgentLocator, we do it through SMS. So, we try to engage those leads through SMS to do a handoff. Traditionally, what you'll see is having mentors or individuals that call leads to essentially get to the point of either a call with you or conversion to an appointment of some sort. But there are good companies out there, and there are not so great companies out there as well. There are some that people just rave about because they understand the industry as well, inside and out. Whereas I've heard horror stories from other people that hire similar type, you know, ISAs that have no knowledge on real estate whatsoever. So, it was just not ideal, right? But again, it's if you're doing a handoff, it's trying to find somebody that you mesh well with or has a good understanding of you and your values and how you treat your clients so that they can essentially offer the same. So, whether you have somebody in house that you hire to just call and work your leads for you and has a good understanding of your business and your values, or if it's a third party, it's just making sure that you get assigned to somebody that can, you know, replicate that for you on your behalf.
One of the biggest things that I think is with ISAs as well is if they are, if you are hiring them to do it, it is knowing the context of the conversations that led up to that handoff, right? Because there's nothing like going in blind, and you have no idea or they handoff, here's somebody, call this person, but you don't have the full context to the story or the background. So, whenever possible, I always suggest to be asking about it. See if they'll use your system. Use your dialer. Use everything in yours, but most of them won't. But then you have full disclosure before you're reaching out to someone is everything that transpired up until that time that you are now reaching out to them, or you're going to go meet them. But yeah, everyone to their own on that one. For some people, it's just a matter of having to duplicate themselves, right? Without having to pay a buyer commission or, you know, split of any sort, then they hire an ISA because it's one flat monthly fee, generally. And then they just do all the converting, and then until you get to the point where now you can't handle that, then they go on and hire somebody, but everyone is different. Everyone is different.
Tara: 58:07
Yeah. All you can do is just talk to them. I talked to an ISA company maybe about two months ago. A different one. And for me, it was, my question to them was: Do you push the people? Do you do this? You know? Can I get recordings of how you talk to the people? You know, you really got to do your homework. You really got to do your homework on these people. But, you know, here's the deal. What we know is this, you get good leads with AgentLocator. Whether or not they're the buyer leads or whether they're the seller leads, it's just a matter of maintaining the right mindset, treating the lead like you want to be treated, developing your program that fits with who you are, that will show these leads that you're the agent for them. And it starts with mindset.
Crystal: 59:08
Absolutely. Sharon is just quickly asking how we'd reach out to somebody that's opted out or unsubscribed from email? Or how would you send an email? You probably wouldn't, Sharon. You would probably call those people that have opted out, provided that you have a valid phone number for them, reaching out to them that way because you wouldn't want to reach out to them or re-opt them in to send them an email after they just unsubscribed. Probably not a good thing to do. So, yeah, you would definitely call those people and, you know, see if you can get a little bit deeper insight as to maybe what caused that to happen. Awesome. So that's it for today. Thank you to everyone that came on board and Tara, of course, for joining us and offering this to our clients here. So, next time will be, I guess, what is the next day? The 29th will be our next session at one o'clock, and we'll go from there.
Tara: 1:00:10
I'll be here. Alright. Anyone can leave suggestions of what they'd want us to talk about in regards to lead conversion. I'd love to know.
Crystal: 1:00:20
Yeah, absolutely. We can definitely pull up different topics of discussion where we can show you, and next time even, I'll have the CRM open on the other end, just a trial, like our training one. That way, if we're talking about lead alerts or something like that, I'm going to be able to quickly show you how you could go in and see if yours are on or that sort of thing, right? You know, in connection to with whatever we're discussing. But yeah, you guys can shoot me an email if you like. You'll get it with the Zoom stuff. If you have any suggestions or things or topics that you want to go over as we kind of move on through this series. Well, thank you, everyone. Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday, and we will see you all in a couple of weeks. All right. Bye, guys.