Insider Advice: How to Become a Modern Agent

Staying up-to-date on the housing market requires an agent to check their multiple listing service daily — sometimes three to four times a day. I’m in a hot market, so I want to know what comes on the market immediately in case I have a client looking for that particular property. I also try to preview houses at both broker and public open houses. Although there are pictures online and a description, there is nothing like seeing a property in person to see the flow of the house, the size of the rooms and the condition of the property. This can save my client time if I see it first and know it won’t work for them.  Candy Miles-Crocker, RealLifeRETraining

Locally, I analyze the MLS stats at least monthly to know which of my markets are favoring sellers, which ones are slanted towards buyers and which are favoring both. Nationally, I read a lot of online material and I periodically blog on the ActiveRain real estate network which has participation from agents around the country.  Anita Clark, SellingWarnerRobins

That depends on what kind of lead it is. Assuming you're talking about Internet leads (which is where I think most agents struggle), I tell them to treat their first email to the lead like a text message. Strip off all the HTML so it doesn't look like a form letter, and only use three sentences, making sure the last sentence is a question. All we're looking for is a response from the lead. If we have a response, then we have a dialogue. Most agents monologue in email correspondence. That doesn't create engagement.  Chris Angell, RealEstateLicenseRoadMap

Have a good lead capture system in place to automatically reply to inbound Internet leads and rapidly reply to telephone calls. Responding quickly is the key to good lead capture since almost 80 percent of sales go to the first responder. The system should also provide for frequent and consistent lead follow-up to eventually convert those leads into clients, since it takes an average of six to eight follow-up contacts for a client to take action and move forward.  Brian Icenhower, TheRealEstateTrainer

Answer your phone! If you aren't talking to someone else or on an important appointment, answer your phone. If you can't answer it, respond as quickly as possible. Listen to the voicemail someone leaves you and respond how they ask you to respond. If someone asks to be emailed or texted back, don't call them. If someone asks to be called back, don't text them. Make sure your voicemail is set up correctly with a professional message identifying you as an agent.  Mark Ferguson, InvestFourMore

One of the best ways an agent can leverage their reviews is to provide prospective clients with a list of references. Real estate agents should also post testimonials on their websites. Even when an agent is referred to the consumer by a friend, that referral will Google the agent to read a little bit about them. If an agent incorporates direct mail into their marketing mix, they may want to do a mailing with a few testimonials included on the postcard. What some agents fail to realize is that they are a brand. From the time they meet a prospect to the time they go to settlement, the consumer is judging their performance. The consumer will tell their friends, family and colleagues everything the agent is doing — right, wrong or questionable — throughout the entire process. One of the best forms of marketing is word-of-mouth. When a buyer or seller has a good experience with the agent, they will spread the word.  Candy Miles-Crocker, RealLifeRETraining

Zillow reviews are huge because they determine how many people see you and it shows that you have experience. We are Zillow Premier Agents, and when we increased our reviews our leads increased greatly. We highly encourage our clients to leave reviews on every sale. We can also use those reviews on our websites, on Facebook, Twitter and other social media as well as print marketing.  Mark Ferguson, InvestFourMore

I think reviews are fine. But they only help in justifying someone’s decisions. What I am recommending now is for agents to interview their buyers/sellers about their experience with the transaction — not to gather a testimonial, but  to describe the experience of one buyer or seller for the benefit of future buyer or sellers. Not only does this provide more value to the future client, it creates more authentic content for the agents.  Chris Angell, RealEstateLicenseRoadMap

I use all forms of social media and have had the greatest amount of success from Facebook. The majority of my posts are “social”; about 5 percent are related to real estate. I post what neighborhood I’ll be showing property in or post a virtual tour of my open house. I don’t do any posts that would be considered “in your face.” I try to keep the social in social media. I also post regularly on Active Rain. My blog posts have definitely helped me increase my presence on the Web. - Candy Miles-Crocker, RealLifeRETraining

Facebook definitely helps business, and by boosting posts, we can reach a huge audience and increase our page likes at the same time. We use Twitter as well, but it is not as effective for us. YouTube is a great resource to record videos of houses to market or just to share privately with out-of-state buyers. We also dabble with Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest and some other social media, but it is more of a networking play than a marketing play.  Mark Ferguson, InvestFourMore

I am all about practical apps that help me do my job better. Some I use quite a bit are Mortgage Calculator, SiteGeist, Dropbox and dotloop.  Anita Clark, SellingWarnerRobins

I am a huge Evernote fan for organizing all documents, images and notes. I can't imagine operating without it. All agents should also have their own mobile app that potential clients can use to search for property. Ideally this app will also allow agents to access their customer relationship manager (CRM) directly from their phone to stay in touch with people in their database and rapidly respond to inbound leads.  Brian Icenhower, TheRealEstateTrainer

In my farming area, I send a quarterly, oversized postcard that shows what properties have sold in the neighborhood in the past quarter. At the beginning of each year, I send my farm and my sphere of influence a letter which recaps the housing market for the past year, along with a comparative market analysis for their particular neighborhood. I’ve found that people LOVE this and will hold on to it for months.  Candy Miles-Crocker, RealLifeRETraining

Absolutely, I produce monthly market reports about all of the communities I serve as well as some of the subdivisions. Some are posted on my WordPress site, some are presented as infographics or Slideshares, some get blogged on other platforms and all get shared via various social media platforms. - Anita Clark, SellingWarnerRobins

Agents should absolutely provide local data and market trends to potential clients. Not only does this help establish agents as a knowledgeable expert in their field, it also provides something of benefit to recipients. Marketing can often get too agent-focused by repeatedly asking the public to 'list with me' or 'use my services.' Too much of this can come off as pushy or spammy, which causes people to disconnect with agents on social media or send emails directly into the spam box. Agents should focus on providing something of value, and industry data like local, state or national market trends are often well received.  Brian Icenhower, TheRealEstateTrainer

I don't think there is a perfect CRM. I think in 2015 one needs the ability to create landing pages with Web forms and an email provider that allows for autoresponder campaigns or broadcasts (like AWeber or Mailchimp). What they use to manage action plans or listing plans is up to them. In the past I've used Market Leader and Top Producer. With any CRM I think there is an 80/20 rule. If they could just learn the 20 percent that would give them 80 percent productivity, they would be more likely to use that CRM. But I believe the reality is, most agents pay for them but don't use them.  Chris Angell, RealEstateLicenseRoadMap

We use Podio, but I am not the tech guy. My team manager chose Podio because of the customization that can be done. We can configure it to do almost anything, but it can be confusing to use for those who are not very techy.  Mark Ferguson, InvestFourMore

Although there are a number of great CRM systems out there to choose from, the best one is always the one that you actually use. For most agents, simplicity is the key. Make sure it can capture inbound leads, send automated email and mailing campaigns, and provide the agent with daily phone call reminders. As long as it can do these three basic tasks in a relatively user-friendly fashion, other features are just bells and whistles that often complicate the core purpose of the CRM: to consistently and systematically stay in touch with the people an agents knows. Choosing the best CRM depends on a number of factors that can include an agent's technological skills, desired lead sources, marketing activities and a number of other specific criteria. Here is my list of the top CRMs depending on the needs of different types of agents: Brivity, Contactually, eEdge, Kunversion and Seize The Market.  Brian Icenhower, TheRealEstateTrainer