? by Walter Sanford
Inman News Features
Recently, I have been getting some discouraging news that not all of my ideas work with all of your clients and I must say that is exactly the plan.
You see, if I was a loan officer, I would only want to work with the top producing real estate agents; therefore, I would plan all of my lead generation activities to attract top producers or soon-to-be top producers.
Mediocre, low producing or zero producing real estate agents, of which our industry is sometimes famous for, is all too common in most offices.
Unfortunately, typical lead generation activities of a loan officer attract these jelly donut-eating real estate agents. I have little patience for real estate agents that do not run their business like real businesses, and my goal is to train the top producers to take more than their fair share of business.
However, before loan officers can form alliances and train the top producing real estate agents, you must be able to tell them apart from the low producing ones. Therefore, I am going to give you a checklist to immediately identify those agents who have a much higher percentage chance of survival.
1. Killer top producing real estate agents usually have a business plan. It can be as simple as a “things to do” list or as complex as a multi-paged activity sheet with deadlines and “what ifs.”
2. They either have an assistant or need one very badly. This assistant should be trained on lead generation activities for the real estate agent. If the real estate agent does not have an assistant, they better have some type of automatic lead generation system.
3. They don’t want to hang on you during the loan process. That means they really don’t want to see you at all. They trust you to do your job and trust that you will deliver the best product in the shortest amount of time to their client. They also expect you to put in a good word for them with their client.
4. They have a team concept. They understand that a perception of value must be presented to the client. One of the best ways to show perception of value is to assemble a team of affiliates and present that as another benefit of working with them.
5. They are absolute and iron-fisted, no-questions-asked client control. This means they take control of the selling situation and put themselves responsible for its successful conclusion. Therefore, when the client says, “But I saw a 3.78 percent rate in the newspaper?” They can explain that it’s more important to get your deal closed than to be loss-lead into a lower rate.
6. They have systems that build clients for life. They work with you on letters, which we will present in later articles that help build relationships with their clients. Every client they have is a client for life, therefore you, as the loan officer, will receive multiple deals from one client.
7. They shoot for ever-increasing higher goals each year, always within reach and with a plan to achieve them.
8. They don’t have time to exaggerate. They always tell it like it is. If they are not going to give you business, they are not going to give you business. If they are, they are. They don’t have time for discussions and you generally know where they stand.
9. They hate interruptions. They really don’t have the time to sit down at the office and talk about “life.” Therefore, if your message isn’t pure business and net profit oriented, just wait for them to start the “life” discussion before you do.
10. They understand the importance of demographic prospecting. They go after the clients that need their help the most. They effectively reach those clients by the most profitable means available: direct mail, telemarketing, the Internet, direct response advertising, networking and affiliate alliances are just some of the approach methods that will be used by your top producing real estate agent to reach their clientele.
11. They usually control the area’s inventory. Yes! They are listing agents but remember they will sell you to the seller. They will encourage that you prequalify the buyer.
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The agents I have just described will understand these systems and strategies. However, the following list of attributes generally belongs to lower producing real estate agents. These agents will have no idea what you are talking about if you bring them my ideas. In fact, you will probably irritate them. So let me give you a list to identify these time wasters. Well, not really time wasters — because if they do give you a loan, you are not going to say no. I am just going to ask you not to plan an extensive lead generation campaign that appeals to the following people:
1. They consistently do less than $2.5 million in real estate sales.
2. They are concerned about rates and want to be present while you prequalify and take the apps.
3. They love buyers, work with buyers and believe buyers are the key to real estate success.
4. They think real estate is actually a job. In fact, you will see them arriving around 9:30 a.m. and leaving before 5 p.m. Hour-plus lunches are common and they love to talk around the water cooler.
5. They have light computer applications and skills and haven’t thought of creating a web site. They obviously need no assistant.
6. They monitor their pending sales like hatching eggs. They will sit on them until they hatch. All the while they do no prospecting or lead generation so their incomes are wildly gyrating, ebb and flow of cash flow. Their moods seem to follow the cash flow ups and downs.
7. They have no client control. These are the people that bring you Mr. and Mrs. Buyer who won’t listen to a word you say. They know it all and have an answer for everything.
8. They love expensive luncheons on you. They have a gleeful attitude toward muffins. They can use every pen with your name on it and have an unending appetite for sticky-tabs, cups and rate sheets. These are the people marketed by most loan officers.
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You will go to the head of the class if you take my systems and strategies outlined in the past and future articles but only if you use them on the real estate agents who will listen. Remember, the top producing killer elephant agent is the one that is going to survive the technology shakeout. The top producing killer agent is the one who will be able to compete against the all inclusive Web sites and the one who will be able to have enough cash flow to reinvest in their business to constantly reinvent the way this business is done. These will also be the real estate agents that inherit the low producers’ business when the low producer figures that they cannot compete any longer.
— Walter Sanford has written 13 books on strategies for top producing real estate agents. Walter can be reached at [email protected].