The State of Origin night in Queensland is big, and the famous Caxton Hotel knows it.
The pub is full from 10am until the wee hours of the next day, whether Queensland wins, loses or draws.
Doors are flung wide open to catch all the punters. The Caxton knows that when the customers are there you have to be open.
What does that have to do with real estate?
Ask yourself a simple question. How many future sellers walk into your offices on a Tuesday or a Wednesday and ask to list their homes?
I wouldn’t have thought many.
You see, the weekends are when the customers are around and the real question is – are you open for business or do you have your shopfronts closed?
Open for inspections (OFI) are the gateway to our future customers and many agents don’t understand that volume wins in the OFI business.
As many of you know, I am obsessed with volume in our industry.
More OFIs means more people and more business. It is pretty simple.
Set yourself a minimum of five opens per weekend.
If you only have one or two homes to open, then open them multiple times.
You will be amazed at how many more customers you will see and how many more neighbours you will meet.
Volume of OFI comes from a volume of listings, which comes from a volume of appraisals, which comes from a mindset of understanding priorities.
Our data shows us that appraisals should be the top priority for every real estate agent.
Our data shows us that a minimum of seven appraisals per week is the magic number.
Seven may seem a lot, but let’s break that number down.
There are two types of appraisals, we call them ‘outbound’ and ‘inbound’.
Outbound appraisals are those that are driven by you calling through your database.
A clear focus on this will drive a large percentage of your core appraisals.
You will be amazed at how just an hour of call priority a day around generating appraisals will transform your business.
Inbound appraisals are a little bit more hidden.
In most markets of Australia, anywhere from 30 to 60 per cent of all inbound purchaser enquiry and OFI attendees will come from people who own a home in your area.
As technology continues to play a role in our industry, ultimately it will become a race to the relationship and our data shows us that you are infinitely more likely to list an owner’s home when you have physically been inside their property.
You see, we don’t list homes, we list people who own those homes, and that does require a level of relationship.
Never mistake an appraisal with a listing presentation.
An appraisal is an opportunity to meet the homeowner and to start to develop a relationship.
We often call this an RCM (Relationship Commencement Meeting).
Sometimes these initial meetings turn into a listing presentation, but quite often the listing presentation, or decision-making moment, would be further down the track.
Logic will tell you that the more relationships you build, ultimately the more listing presentations you will conduct. Both are critical in the development of a real estate career.
I have said my formula for success many times, but here it is again:
Let’s break that down.
Volume is a mindset, consistency comes from process and priority, and quality comes from wanting to deliver the best service you can to anyone in your community.
The transformation I have witnessed in people’s careers has been amazing when they apply this very simple formula.
Talk to more people more often, at more OFIs, and believe it or not – you will make more sales.
