How would you like to be able to complete your follow-ups from the beach on a Sunday, or between appointments whilst on the road? How about some tips on how to better manage buyers or even keep in touch with your farm area when they are not ready to sell? We spoke to REIV Outstanding Young Agent of the Year Todd Lucas to find out how he gets results for both buyers and sellers.
TODD LUCAS OF Fletchers is a property consultant and auctioneer in the ultra-competitive area of Manningham in Victoria. A great deal of his success in communicating with buyers and sellers in the area has been down to the Box+Dice CRM system and how he uses some of the buyer matching and seller communication tools.
Like many agents, one of the things Lucas enjoys most is being able to get people into the homes of their dreams. However, in this super-competitive market it’s not uncommon for buyers to miss out on their first choice. But efficiency is the name of the game for Lucas and he uses all the tools to maximise his productivity.
“On the Box+Dice system it’s quite easy to streamline; so if a buyer comes through an open for inspection we can easily capture contact details on the iPad. If we’ve seen them before, their contact details automatically come up and I know they are actively looking,” says Lucas.
“On Monday morning, if I’m not in the office or I’m out between appointments I can start my callbacks by tapping on the property through the app on my phone and I can see a list of buyers who’ve been through. Last Sunday I started this process using my iPad at the beach!”
For people who miss out on a particular property or auction, Lucas uses the Box+Dice Buyer Matching Tool to match unsuccessful buyers to similar properties in the area, or even in another suburb.
“I recently sold a property in Park Avenue, Doncaster, at auction, and we had another listed two doors up in Louise Court. I looked for everyone who missed out on Park Ave, gave them details of Louise Court and I think over 60 per cent came and had a look at that property.
“Recently, a young man missed out twice on properties he’s been interested in. In my database I can match price ranges, bedrooms and other features even in a different suburb, so I said to him, “I know what you’re looking for. You’ve missed a couple lately, but why don’t you come and have a look at this one.” Now he’s made an offer on this other property; that’s purely from working my hot buyers list.”
An important part of keeping in touch with buyers and potential sellers, says Lucas, is the ability to provide relevant information.
“A technique I use regularly, if I missed a listing, or there is a sale in my area, even if it’s with another agent, I will still call my contacts and let them know that ‘this one’s just come on the market’. And I will monitor that listing and then ring that contact again after the sale or auction with the details.
“The Box+Dice ‘My Appraisals’ feature reminds me to contact people after a period to make a call or send a report with some updated information on Doncaster East. Doing this shows your expertise in the area, and when these prospects come to selling you have that extra credibility because you’ve taken the time to keep them appraised.”
Lucas’ strike rate at making contact with people is high because he respects the different ways his prospects like to be contacted. “Some buyers can’t speak during business hours because they are at work. They prefer SMS because it’s less invasive. And if you call or SMS from the app, the SMSs are tracked in the system, giving you a quick history when you need it.”
Todd’s Top 5 tips
- Start the callbacks on a Monday morning. Use a system where you can be out on the road and multi-task.
- Follow up buyers who have missed out with similar properties in similar areas. Sometimes you can even get to an offer point before advertising if the demand is there.
- Keep track of appraisals in your system so you can keep in touch with those potential sellers on a regular basis. Provide updates and reports of similar sales in the area, even if they are not your listings.
- Be respectful of whether your contact is at work when you call back. Sometimes they can’t talk and an SMS is appreciated more.
- If you are using voice instead of SMS as a callback method, use your mobile. I’ve found about 20 per cent of people will answer a call from a landline versus about 60 per cent from a mobile.
