No matter if you’re thinking about a career in real estate, or if you recently started, or, even if you’ve been in real estate for awhile and are in need of a recharge, these 5 secrets are the best way to improve the probability of your success. In addition, even though the real estate business has been around since the beginning of time, the world of real estate has definitely changed, especially because of the internet, mobility and the global economy, therefore you’ve always got to be reinventing yourself and evolving. If not, you’re definitely not growing.
Interestingly, thousands of agents out there get into the business with a lot of energy and excitement but unfortunately, never make it past 2 years. They go in and grossly overestimate how much money they can make, naively underestimate the expenses of running a business, don’t have a process, don’t incorporate any technology or tools or worse yet don’t know how or what type of goals to set. What a big mistake a formula for disaster.
I’ve even seen people get into the real estate business all gung-ho, telling all their family and friends and expecting to receive a lot of referrals from them, just to be let down because it’s just not that simple. Typically because they assume that just because they’re friends or family that they’ll be “the one” they send a referral to or buy from. They might’ve gotten a few leads but more often, those leads they were referred to already had a friend in the real estate business.
Oh, and here’s the big gotcha. How many times have I seen agents and brokers relying too heavily on advertising? Relying on a single channel is a deadly sin. It doesn’t matter what business you’re in. And just to make it harder, advertising can be expensive, unpredictable at times and create a mindset of waiting for leads to come in.
Bottom line is, while there’s a ton of opportunity in real estate, it’s NOT easy but if you subscribe to these Top 5 Secrets for Real Estate Marketing in the Philippines, you’ll dramatically improve the probability of being a top performer:
- Stop Selling! And start educating!
Typical salespeople approach customers with brochures in hand, hoping for the sale. No one likes to get “sold to” so start treating potential customers the way you’d like to be approached. If you’re gonna be successful in real estate sales, you’ve got to change your paradigm and the perception of prospects so that they look to you as a “trusted advisor”. Trusted advisors approach customers with the attitude that they are consultants calling on them to help them either solve a problem or achieve a goal. By educating potential customers on the real estate value, trends and amenities of your projects and how they can improve their life or compliment their lifestyle or investment portfolio, you’ll find yourself achieving amazing sales results. - Think Small and Get BIG Results
Believe it or not, business, life, and even sales can be a game of opposites. While it’s perfectly fine to have big dreams (and we encourage it), when it comes to executing on sales goals, think in small chunks or phases. How many times have you woken up and gotten overwhelmed with all the housing projects you can sell or tasks you’ve got to implement in order to get your business going?It doesn’t matter who you are, time and money are finite resources. If you spread yourself too thin across too many projects and geographic areas, all you’re doing is diluting and spreading out your finite resources of time and money. The top real estate sales professionals become “known experts” in a community, therefore, selling tons of business because they’ve been able to take as much time and money needed to cultivate and nurture a single entire community and everyone knows them for that. Start off with one project, dominate it by becoming the “go-to” trusted advisor for that community and once you achieve success, then expand.
- Plan, Plan, Plan
Ever heard the saying, “if you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail”? People think that creating a “business” plan is a daunting task which can turn into a lot of excuses and something that never gets done but what we’re talking about is not an in-depth business plan that requires a lot of work and complicated knowledge or experience that you might not have. With our experience in starting “agile” businesses, a plan can and should merely exist of what you need to do to get the job done in the next 30 or even 60 days broken down by week.
What are the steps that will get you to the next level of your success metrics? We like to call these, “leading indicators”. Leading indicators are measurable outcomes that are a result of a single or set of activities. For example, if you’re new in the real estate business and all you have is a total list of a hundred family, friends and business contacts and they don’t know you’re in the real estate business, your first leading indicator should be centered around making them aware that you’re now into real estate. So, you should create a list of communication and education activities to generate awareness or if you really want to be an overachiever, start setting SMART goals. To take this a step further, what if you sent them all a simple message like, “Hi __, I wasn’t sure if you knew that I recently transitioned into the real estate business and as someone that I respect, I’d love to pick your brain about your experience in real estate overall.” In the end, you could set a goal to complete eighty meetings around this
topic in 60 days. A sample set of leading indicators that every real estate agent should use when creating their plan are:# of Outbound Prospecting Calls
# of Outbound Prospecting Emails
# of Outbound Prospecting SMS Text Messages
# of Inbound Leads
# of Referral Partner Meetings
# of 1st Phone Calls
# of Property Viewings
# of Authority to Represent Agreements Signed
# of Proposals - Budget
When it comes to the term “budget”, we consider both time and money the key inputs.
A budget is super important for many reasons so that you can use to measure your success and:- Set clear expectations for yourself and your team (if you have one)
- Limit surprises
- Ensure business longevity
- Understand what you need to get the job done
- Understand what you need vs. what you don’t
Without a budget, you create unnecessary pressure on yourself by driving your business blindly.
- Scale with Technology
What would we do today without smartphones and tablets? What was life like before Facebook, Uber, and Airbnb? Remember when movies were available on DVD’s?
There are even self-driving cars already and people taking vacations on the moon!
OK, the last one might still be a few years away but the point is technology moves fast and it’s always changing the way we interact with each other and the world. As for the Real estate industry, it’s rapidly evolving with technology, so get on the train or get left behind. Staying on top of and understanding the latest technology trends is critical to maintaining a successful real estate career, especially if you want to be a top performer or even just remain competitive.
If you’re still not convinced on the impact of technology, here’s a list of technology stats to consider:
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- 25% of top performing sales agents that earn over PHP 5 million annually spend over PHP 250,000 per year on technology
- Inbound marketing methods (blogging, ebooks, social media, etc.) actually cost 62% less per lead than other forms of marketing (print, advertising, billboards)
- 92% of homebuyers used the internet as a key part of their home search, with over half of them citing that going online was their first step
- Businesses have saved 7x the cost of paper and ink by using cloud applications like Google Drive and Dropbox
- Electronic signatures for documentation can save you up to 10x the cost of time and money, not to mention sitting in traffic
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The key takeaways are, these 5 secrets for real estate marketing in the Philippines are the best ways to improve the probability of your success. No matter what stage you’re in, these are the keys to a strong foundation that will lead to positive long term results.
Prosperna helps real estate professionals with industry trends and best practices in sales and digital marketing. To get the latest updates for free, subscribe now.
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Dennis Velasco
Technology Evangelist super passionate about helping the industries of eCommerce, SMEs and real estate in the Philippines reach new levels of success.
Wow! This is very informative. Now I’ll start writing my business plan. Thank you! I’m looking forward to read and learn more from your blog, as you’re an inspiration and guide for newbie real estate agents like me. This article made me reflect and realize even more how tough this job could be.
That’s awesome Izel! There’s nothing more exciting than inspiring “newbies” like you in the Real Estate Industry. More power!
this is very informative and helpful for those people at a lost in real estate selling.
So as a consumer, why do we see real estate sales agent behavior that’s counter to this concept everyday at the mall?
Great article! I’d like to add that networking is also very beneficial.
You meet the big players in the industry and learn insights from them. You also meet people who are willing to mentor you and give you advise that only seasoned brokers/agents like them would know.
That’s true. Networking is a key channel that can give you a “one-to-many” selling opportunity if done properly and consistently.
That’s correct. We should educate people instead of just selling real estate to them. These past few weeks, I’ve been writing some real estate related articles for my website. I’m doing that so like you I could educate people about real estate. Real Estate is not just about selling.
That’s awesome Lorie! What’s your website url so we can check it out?
Such a great read with lots of insights and ideas (or should I say secrets) that which makes you ponder on your real estate/business strategy and plans. I’m certainly looking forward to your next article, Dennis.
Yeah, interesting that you picked up on my background. My journey in business, tech and real estate has given me an interesting perspective, I guess. Please continue to share your feedback as I publish our next piece. We’re uber-passionate about helping those in the real estate industry grow and succeed so your opinion REALLY matters.
I agree Andrew :). As they say, “if you want to get different results, you’ve got to do something different”.
Secrets well written 🙂 And above all these, if I may add, perseverance and emotional intelligence. Because life in sales, especially in real estate is such rollercoaster and to enjoy the ride you must be willing to enjoy the ups and downs. It’s a hard work, but is very rewarding not only professionally but also personally 🙂
You hit on a big HOT button Megz tungkol sa emotional intelligence and persistence. I believe it’s hard to have one without the other. Unfortunately, people don’t realize that in order to win some, you’re gonna lose some but as long as you learn and get stronger on your next go round…Go Megz!
Hi Dennis!
It’s awesome meeting and exchanging views on our fields of interest. Assisting newbies challenges seasoned veterans likewise to evaluate the effectiveness on the ever-evolving methods on funneling, sales and marketing as well as the philosophies behind them. Breaking cultural barriers is also a tough nut to crack but presents to the seller a different perspective on sales approaches while establishing trustworthiness. Looking forward to more exciting insights as a sculptor discards those inessentials as to the market driven methodologies are customized for the serious agent. Let’s meet again bro and CHEERS pa more!
Great meeting you as well…after meeting you, I can see why you’re very successful in international real estate sales. And, I definitely think that the team who joined us for the meetup got some very useful advice from your experience. Your viewpoint is very refreshing and right on the money! See you at the next event.
Great article Dennis! Good to know that there are people like you that educate and elevate people in this industry. These things that you’ve written are great information for keys to success in this industry and also in any other sales roles. You’re also spot on with technology.
Hi Darlene, thanks for your kind words and support on our journey together. We’re super passionate about helping others reach levels of personal and business success that they never dreamed were possible. Stay tuned for more as we revolutionize the real estate industry and our country!
Great read… because of the internet, information is now a commodity making the market wiser nowadays so you can’t simply be regarded as a “trusted advisor” by pitching “commodity information” which they too can get from the web.
To leave a good impression, one must be able to provide relevant insights that have business sense.
So if your prospective buyer can do a better research than you, it’s going to be an easy decision whether they want to continue talking to you or go find someone else.
Thx Darlene…I absolutely agree, especially with your comment about having the ability to, “provide relevant insights that have business sense”.
You seem to be very sharp…how long have you been a real estate professional?
Thanks for honestly and accurately bringing to light the issues that new real estate agents face everyday.
Hi Dennis,
I agree on all your points. All items are nuggets of wisdom for new practitioners (and can serve as refresher or reminder to the more experienced ones). If I can think of one word or person for the first three points, they’ll be the following:
1. Jeffrey Gitomer
2. Focus
3. Paper
And if I’ll come up with my own suggestions, I’ll add 3 more points (to make it a total of 8)
1. Identify your WHY? (in getting into the business, it serve as your anchor and compass, especially when the going gets tough)
2. Continue Learning (“Work harder on yourself than you do on your job.” —Jim Rohn, this puts an individual in a position to educate and add value to others)
3. to 7. Your 5 Secrets
8. Join a Team (either a developer that do focus selling or a realty group with a great training background, to hasten your learning curve)
Thanks for sharing your secrets. More power to your organization!
So true Ryan and thanks for helping everyone with you’re feedback…awesome!
I like the idea of educating clients and being a trusted advisor. That’s the reason why real estate service has been professionalised. So that clients can have licensed brokers and sales people to guide them. Nice one, Sir Dennis.
Absolutely Julius…you’re right on point!
Great article. Most striking to me is no. 3. I personally know a handful of people who failed in this business because of lack of planning, training and guidance.
This article is very helpful and very straight to the point. And yes it is indeed true that people don’t want to get sold to. Hence, it is utmost importance to avoid hard selling. Act like a consultant, give advices, etc.
You’re right on the money Jen! Glad to meet more real estate pros like you that think alike. Keep it up!
Dennis, what can I say? Great job! I enjoy reading your articles. Easy to understand and completely comprehensible. Keep us posted for more! Thanks.
You’re too nice Lowelyn 🙂
Your support is definitely appreciated so we can continue to help our community of real estate professionals in the Philippines reach their full potential.
Very helpful article for everyone in the industry. From aspiring ones, newbies and seasoned. Truly, in selling these types of products, educating clients about the value and giving unbiased advice is a great way to build trust, credibility and relationship with clients. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Excellent advice Ronald! I hope others see the same value of taking the time to build credibility and trust with clients. I’ve experienced many that don’t and it unfortunately gives the Philippines a bad name. More power!
Nice article. it is informative and inspiring. Good job.
Thanks for the compliments Felix. Hope to see you guys reaching your dreams and success this year.
Keep us posted!
Thanks A LOT…and I do believe that you’re giving the best advice and this is very refreshing! Thank you Sir Dennis Velasco!
I’m very appreciative of your compliment Jonathan. We also want to thank you for your support. Looking forward to working with you more!