Just the other day, I was talking to an agent who has been in the business for more than 16 years and sold hundreds of homes. She mentioned seeing a decline in her activity over the past couple of years, especially in her repeat and referral business.
I asked what she uses for a CRM, and she said she didn’t have one. She admitted that, for one reason or another, all of her files are stored in a big cabinet down in her basement. “How are you communicating with your past clients?” I asked. She keeps some contacts on her phone and interacts with others via real estate. Others still just know to call her if they need real estate. That’s how she’s been operating for the past several years.
This is what I told her: My dentist sold his own business not too long ago, and it wasn’t his equipment or the fancy chair he had out in the lobby that made the sale possible. It was the relationship he had with his database. In real estate, your success or failure is directly tied to your database. If your database is small and stagnant, your business will stay small and ultimately stagnate. However, when you start making efforts to grow your database, you’re bound to become more successful.
I gave her a few tips on how she can grow her database, and the first one was obvious:
1. Get a CRM. You can get a free CRM at hubspot.com. Their software is great and has an easy-to-use interface for your computer, tablet device, or phone. You can keep tabs on all of your contacts and mark follow-ups as needed.
2. Add five files every day. Instead of tackling years of accrued files at one time, I recommended she just start small. For each file, list their name, number, email, and address. Reach out to them and let them know the market is doing really well right now; ask them, “Are you looking to make a move in 2020?” Whatever their answer is, document it on their file. Five files a day times five days a week equals 25 contacts. In four weeks, you’ll have more than 100 contacts. Once you reach 300 contacts, and correspond with them via market update videos, your business will start booming.
“If your database is small and stagnant, your business will stay small and ultimately stagnate.”
As always, reach out to me via phone or email if you have questions about this or any other real estate-related topic. I look forward to hearing from you.
