Grow Your Business

Win the Listing Appointment: How to Handle Objections and Close the Deal

May 24, 2021 by Staff Reporter

You ring the doorbell (or start the Zoom call) and the listing appointment is underway! But then what? This isn’t the time to “wing it.” It’s not the time to rely on your personality and ability to improvise your way through the seller’s questions. If you don’t know your scripts and objection handlers by heart, your chances of closing the deal go down.

In part two of our “Win the Listing Appointment” series, agent and coach Aaron Novello walks us through his listing appointment process — and shares the scripts he uses after the doorbell rings and the appointment begins. You’ll hear about the takeaway close, handling the 6% commission objection, and the value of dedication to scripts and role play.

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Links and Show Notes

Full Transcript

(SPEAKER: Matt McGee, Host)

How do you feel when a seller asks you to discount your services? Not good, I bet.

Knowing how to handle that objection is a key piece of winning more listing appointments.

Hi, I’m Matt McGee — host of The Walkthrough.

We’re in the middle of a 2-part series on winning the listing appointment. This is an encore presentation of episodes that first aired late last summer. Aaron Novello is my guest, and the tips and scripts he shares are just as relevant today as they were then — including the detailed walkthrough in this episode of how he replies to the commission objection.

This episode stands on its own. But if you missed part one last week, definitely suggest you go back and listen … first chance you get.

For now … let’s continue our series on winning the listing appointment. Here’s a 2-second break, then part 2 with Aaron Novello.

[Original episode begins]

Think for a moment about the feeling you have when you open something. Maybe it’s a birthday gift all wrapped in bright colors and bows. There’s mystery and uncertainty. What’s inside for me? Or maybe, to borrow an analogy from a famous movie, it’s a box of chocolates that you’re about to open. As Forrest’s mom said, “You never know what you’re gonna get when you open it.”

I can already hear you, “All right, Matt, where are you going with this?”

Okay, let me bring this around to real estate. How does it feel right before the door opens for a listing appointment? Or right before the Zoom meeting starts, as the case may be these days?

There’s uncertainty, isn’t there? There’s anticipation. Which way is this gonna go? Can I overcome the seller’s objections? Am I gonna get the listing?

Let’s try to remove some of that uncertainty today.

[Sound effect: doorbell]

There’s that same doorbell we heard in part one of this series on Winning the Listing Appointment. In that episode, my guest, Aaron Novello, talked about pre-qualifying the seller, the super important things you do before the listing appointment. Today, in part two, Aaron is back and we’re talking about what happens after you ring the doorbell. Today is all about how you close the deal and get the paperwork signed.

This is “The Walkthrough.”

(INTRO MUSIC)

Hi, everyone. I’m Matt McGee, editor of HomeLight’s Agent Resource Center and your host every week right here on “The Walkthrough.” On this show, you’ll learn what’s working right now from the best real estate agents and industry experts in the country. At HomeLight, we believe in real estate agents. That’s why we created “The Walkthrough.” We’re on a journey to find out how great real estate agents grow their business, stand out from the crowd, and become irreplaceable.

You can get involved in the show in a couple of ways. Leave me a voicemail or send me a text. The number is 415-322-3328. You can also send an email. It’s walkthrough [at] homelight.com or find me in our listener community on Facebook. Just go to Facebook and do a search for HomeLight Community The Walkthrough. We’d love to see you in there.

As I mentioned a moment ago, this is part two of our Winning the Listing Appointment series with agent and coach, Aaron Novello. Real quick reminder, Aaron is a super-successful agent in the Fort Lauderdale area. He’s been in the business 14 years, sold more than 1,400 homes, and closed more than $325 million in sales volume. He’s an active agent and a team leader. He also launched his coaching and training program about seven years ago.

In that first part, we talked about prequalifying the seller. Now prequalifying is something I know you usually associate with buyers, but Aaron says it’s how you start to win more seller listing appointments. Prequalifying is all the stuff that you do before the actual listing appointment begins.

Today in part two, we’re gonna focus on what happens at the listing appointment. So you’ll hear Aaron talk about the three stages of the listing appointment … how, when, and why you should use a takeaway close with your sellers … and Aaron shares in detail exactly what he says when sellers ask him to discount his commission.

So if you’re ready, let’s get started. We are talking about Winning the Listing Appointment and today’s conversation begins right when the seller opens the door.

(BEGIN CONVERSATION)

Aaron: You know, from the moment we hit the door, it’s like scripted, man. There’s a particular path that we follow. So in hitting the door, it’s like a big smile. I used to, at the beginning of this game, like … I’m the professional. So I had to remind myself like — hey, man, just smile. It’s inviting. It’s a really important gesture. When we used to be able to shake hands, shake hands — like hey, how are you doing? Aaron Novello, nice to meet you. And did you want me to take my shoes off? Again, it’s respectful. This is your space. I’m entering into your space.

They’re like, “No, that’s fine.” Great. So what I’d like to do, if it’s okay, is just take a quick look around the home to see what it has to offer. Would that be all right? And they’re like, “Yeah, that’s fine.” And I’ll say, “Great. You know, I’m noticing that, that the space, it’s very tastefully furnished. The furniture fits the space very well. So when we have offers come in, are we gonna be including the contents or do you wanna take that with you to your next destination?” Now, notice what I just did there, “when we have offers come in.”

Matt: Right. They haven’t committed to you yet but you’re talking as if they have.

Aaron: Exactly right. I’m assumptively closing like it’s already happening. Just like if you noticed in the prequal, I said, “Hey, do you plan on making any changes or modifications before I start to bring buyers through?” And you just flew right by and you’re like, “Oh no, I’m open, whatever,” but in your brain, it’s like I’m moving this forward. And then as we’re walking through, I’ll probably ask you another question, which circles back to the prequal, which is, “Yeah, and if I remember correctly based on our conversation, you don’t plan on making any additional major changes or modifications before I start to bring buyers through. Is that right?” No.

Again, assumptively closing. Make sense? So that’s two, two closings. We haven’t even sat down to talk about anything. And then notice I’m directing from the beginning. So it’s like, okay, what I’d like to do is just take a look around. Somebody has to be in control. And what I’m aware of is if you leave it up to the seller, you end up on the couch talking about like their kids and tea and crumpets and two hours go by and you’re like, “What the hell just happened?” So somebody has to be in control.

So I take control immediately when we get in and then we’re directing more. It’s like, okay, so I guess we could sit here at the kitchen table, go over some information. You’re like, “Sure, that’s fine.” And I always sit at the head of the table because I don’t wanna sit opposite from people. I want people to be, like I can see both of them. Because opposite is adversarial. And then it’s just like, “Hey, first and foremost, I just wanted to begin our time together just by saying thank you, sincerely, for the opportunity to share some information with you and potentially help you with the sale. I always like to begin these conversations, Matt, just by asking a few quick questions, make sure we’re on the same page. Would that be okay?” You’re like, “Yeah, that’s fine.” So first question I have, which I’m pretty positive I know the answer to is that you guys have decided that you wanna downsize and sell this home, is that correct? And you’re like, “Yeah, that’s what we’ve decided.”

Okay, good. And you’re not interested in acting like … kind of renting it out. I know you said that’s a possibility but really, we just would prefer to cash out and be done. Is that right? Yeah, that’s okay. Okay, good. And then that leads me to my second question, which I’m also pretty sure I know the answer to, is we wanna position this property pricewise to sell. We don’t wanna give it away, that’s for sure. At the same time, we don’t wanna have it sit on the market for like six or seven months just testing the market, is that correct? And you’re like, “Yeah.”

Now by me saying, “you definitely don’t wanna give it away,” I’m aligning myself with you. Every time you say that, it’s always gonna be like, “Yeah, you’re damn right. I don’t want to give it away.” Okay. Right. So it’s like we’re on the same team. And then that leads me to my third question. I’m aware that I sent you over some information in preparation for connecting. I’m sure you did some due diligence, you checked me out online, you saw our track record and reviews. I know I came very highly recommended via the platform. So have you guys already decided that you would like for me to help you with the sale? With a big smile.

Matt: Right. With a big smile.

Aaron: And notice, like people can’t see us right now but you see how I’m doing my head?

Matt: Right. You’re nodding your head up and down saying yes and smile.

Aaron: And they’re either gonna say yes, no, or maybe. I wanna hear what you have to say. Now notice, that’s three…like we just sat down. We haven’t talked about price, we haven’t talked about commission, we haven’t talked about anything. So that’s three kind of closes before we’re even having a conversation. Now you might say, let’s say you say “yes.” Great, I do the little inside dance, yay, and then I just go right into, you know, kind of great. The only thing…the great news is we only have to discuss a couple of things. The first is your motivation, second is price. We get right into price.

If they say no or if they say maybe, say, “Okay, I know this is a big decision. You wanna make sure you’re making the best decision possible. I wanna be clear, Matt, that that is my intention. So provided that what I say to you makes sense and you guys do feel comfortable and confident with me and my team, I do have all the appropriate paperwork with me and I’m prepared to go to work for you today. Fair enough?” And you’re like, “Yeah, that’s fair.” That’s four, which is like, look, this isn’t…we’re not just like tea and crumpets. We’re not gonna get off the hook that easy. That’s the intention here. And what I’m aware of too, is a lot of times, sellers want an agent who’s politely proactive and aggressive, you know, politely because they’re gonna be fighting for them to make sure they’re getting top dollar. So it’s really what we’re demonstrating.

And then I’ll say to them, “and along those lines, you were kind enough to share with me you were looking for an agent that was local, had a great track record, could help you with the purchase. Is there anything else you’d be looking for from me today that would cause you to feel comfortable and confident just to proceed and go to work?” And you might be like, “Yeah, we wanna talk to you about the commission.” Okay, cool. “So it sounds like, you know, providing we check off all those boxes and we come to an agreement in terms of the professional fee, then there’s a good chance we’ll be able to get started. Again, I’m excited to have that opportunity and have everything with me to go to work.” And then it’s like, “all right, well, at the culmination of our time together, there are a few potential outcomes. The first, which we really seem to be moving in that direction,” notice what I’m doing now, moving it forward, “is that you guys may decide to list the home with me. And again, I’m super excited to have that opportunity myself and team and staff, everybody’s standing at the ready to go to work for you ASAP. The second potential outcome, Matt, for whatever reason, is you may decide not to list the home with me, and that’s okay too. And the third option, and this one’s just as important as the other two, is that for some reason at all, Matt, if I honestly felt, truly felt that I would not be able to help you get what you wanted in the time that you wanted, I may decide to very humbly decline the opportunity to list your home. The reason I would do that is I’d much rather earn your business with integrity, being honest and straightforward about what’s reasonable and realistic versus promising you something I know is not gonna happen and not be able to deliver on that promise. And any one of those three outcomes, I feel completely comfortable with. Fair enough?”

Matt: And when you say that, you’re taking away the close, you’re letting the seller know that there is an option where you decline to work with them if they are unreasonable or whatever it might be.

Aaron: A hundred percent, and that is the takeaway close. So now we’re up to five, including the two when I was walking around. What I’m aware of is most agents, and I mean this with love, they go in there like, “Oh, please pick me. Pick me. Pick me. Please, please, please.” And then Aaron goes in there and he’s like, “Hey, there’s a chance, one of the options is I may decide to very humbly decline the opportunity because I’d much rather earn your business being honest and straightforward about what’s reasonable and realistic versus promising you something I know is not gonna happen and not be able to deliver.” Any one of those I feel comfortable with. And that demonstrates that I’m unattached to the outcome.

Matt: Aaron, listeners are probably going to shoot me if I don’t have you tell us what you say about your commission. The seller brought it up on the prequal phone call, now you’re face to face. So when that subject comes up, how do you answer that?

Aaron: The listing presentation happens in three stages so from the time you hit the door to the time you start to talk about price, which is essentially what we ran through. There’s a little bit left where I revisit some of the questions you asked me over the phone and then there’s a bridge that transitions to, you know, the good news is we really only have to focus on a couple of things today. The first issue, motivation to sell, which is clear, second issue is the price. And that’s the bridge. And then there’s a pricing portion presentation.

And then once we come to an agreement, like once we go over that, which, again, is a whole ‘nother skill set of being able to help people to self-discover what’s realistic, because my stuff is stuff and your stuff is junk so because it’s mine, I think it’s worth more. And that’s how it is, right? So helping people to self-discover what’s realistic for their home, that’s a skill, and the second part of the conversation. And then the third part is handling objections and closing.

So let’s say we get to a place where we’re in agreement, so I might say to you, “I’m imagining you would like it to be more and I sure would as well. At the same time, having reviewed this information, seeing the fact that on the market not selling and seeing what’s sold and closed most recently, if you were a buyer, not a seller, because I know those hats are different, and if you guys were gonna buy this place all over again, knowing that the one, you know, two doors down sold for 550 and we looked at those pictures and it was very similar to yours, as a buyer, would you think you would feel comfortable making an offer that you believe would be reflective of fair market value?”

Now in doing that, that’s very intentional, because if I put you in the frame of a buyer, you’ll see it more accurately. I’m counteracting what’s called the endowment effect. The endowment effect is … because it’s mine, I think it’s worth more. Like this idea of ownership, it’s quantifiable. They’ve done a whole bunch of studies. If I physically hold a coffee cup in my hand, I will pay more for that coffee cup because I held it than one I haven’t touched. I begin to imbue it with this idea of ownership. So let’s say you’re like, “Yeah, probably around 550.” Okay, so then here’s where it comes down to strategy. “So what I’d like to do is to go over with you the options that we have at our disposal so that way, you can feel comfortable to what we end up choosing, and whatever you decide, I’ll support you 100%.”

Again, aligning myself with you, we go over the two options starting with a higher coming down [or] pricing it competitively, perhaps getting multiple offers. And then I’ll ask you, “based on what you’re looking to accomplish and why in the timeframe you’d like to make this happen in, which one of those two options do you think would serve you best?” You’ll choose an option.

Now let’s say you’re like, “Whoa, whoa, yeah, we haven’t talked about professional fee.” Okay, no problem. So let me ask you this, “If we can come to an agreement in terms of the professional fee, would there be any other reason why we couldn’t get started today?”

Now what that’s called a set aside. So most people, they start to handle objections. One comes up, they just like whack a mole but then one comes up behind it. So why I’m saying if we can come to an agreement in terms of professional fee, would there be any other reason we can’t do business? Because I wanna make sure there’s nothing else behind me.

Matt: Gotcha. Okay, that makes sense.

Aaron: That makes sense?

Matt: Yep.

Aaron: And let’s say if there was like an impediment between me and you like a boulder, I pick that boulder up, I put it over there and I look at it and I say, “If we can handle that thing over there, is there any other reason why we couldn’t do this?” I remove it. And let’s say you say to me, “No,” now here’s what’s cool, people can’t see you but what you’re doing physically with your body is you’re starting to cross your arms, which is what most people will do once you start to talk about professional fee. Because he’s signaling to me with body language like I don’t know if this is gonna work out, right?

Matt: Right. I may not like what I’m about to hear.

Aaron: Yeah. So when you’re like, well, no, yeah, I think we’re in agreement. “Okay, great. So tell me what were you thinking?” Now, the reason why I’m asking you what you’re thinking is because now, there’s like a negotiation and I want you to speak first. And let’s say you say to me, “Well, the other agent said they would do it in 5%.” “Okay, that’s cool. I appreciate that. And I guess I’m wondering because you had an opportunity to list with that other agent, if all things were equal, who would you prefer going with?” “Well, you, Aaron.” “Well, may I ask why?” “Yeah, because you’re just super on point. Your presentation was great, all your reviews and everything.” “I see. So what I’m aware of is you have options at your disposal. And the professional fee, for me, is 3% on the listing site. So what we offer out to another agent, if they can find us a buyer that’s ready and willing and able to purchase, that’s really the decision that you have to make. So what I’d like to do, being that you’ve already made a decision that you’d like me to help, is to go over with you the two options that you have at your disposal so that way you can decide what you feel is best and whatever you decide, I’ll support you. Okay?

“So agents don’t control what people buy, but they do have influence over what they see. And what I’m aware of is the professional fee is one of the tools we use to market the property in terms of what we offer out to another agent if they can find us a buyer that’s ready, willing, and able to purchase. And right now in your price point, I don’t know if you know this but between the 500 and 600 price point, there are 23 other properties that are available for sale. Did you know that?” And you’re like, “No.” “Do you know how many sold in the last 30 days?” “No.” “Five. Now, I’m wondering, does that seem like an environment that’s crawling with buyers, and sellers are getting exactly what they want or does it seem like one that’s fiercely competitive for those buyers?” “Fiercely competitive.” “Exactly. So let’s imagine for a moment that we had of those 23 properties, like 18 of them are offering out a full 3%, which is what agents are accustomed to on a co-broker side in our geographic area and then the other one is offering out some sort of discount, maybe like two and a half or 2%. As an agent, a full-time commission-based salesperson, which properties do you think you’d be more excited about showing and selling them? The ones offering out what you’re accustomed to making or the ones offering out some sort of discount?” Matt is shaking his head for those of you who can’t see him.

Matt: Right, exactly.

Aaron: He’s acknowledging, he understands what I’m saying to him. And he’d be like, and that’s what they might do because he doesn’t really like it but he’s like, yeah, I see your point. “Okay, so then you recognize that the professional fee is a tool to make sure that you get the most because if we’re trying to maximize value, do you think we’re gonna do that by limiting the exposure or broadening the exposure?” You’d be like, “Well, broadening.” “Yeah. So here are the options that you have at your disposal. The first option is, is we can offer out the full 3%, which is what agents are accustomed to and that’ll increase the probability that we can get a whole bunch of people interested and you end up with top dollar quickly and efficiently. The second option is, is we offer up some sort of discount, maybe like two and a half or 2%. And in doing so, that could end up affecting showings which ultimately can end up affecting how much we end up getting. So my question to you is based on what you’re looking to accomplish and why and the timeframe you’d like to make all this happen in, which one of those two options do you think would serve you and your family best?”

Matt: And what you did that I loved hearing in there, what you did was … my fee is 3%. If there’s gonna be a discount, it’s going to affect the other agent and the buyer.

Aaron: Yeah, and let’s say they came back at me and they’re like, “Well, can’t you come down a little bit?” Because I know your listeners are gonna be like, “You didn’t ask him that.” So if somebody says like, “Well, can you come down?” “Oh, I see, so you’re looking to get…you’re imagining perhaps we can make an adjustment on our side. And what I’m aware of is one of the skills that you’re hiring an agent for is their skills to negotiate, right? Because they’re gonna be having conversations about your price without you being present. Have you thought about that?” “Like, well, no.” “Okay, well, 1% is 1% out of 100%, 1% of 3% is 33%. I’m curious, Matt, would you lower your price by 33% just to sell it? Of course not. And if an agent’s main mechanism for earning your business is dramatically adjusting their fee, what do you think their strategy is for selling your home and protecting the value of your property? I mean, you want an agent that’s gonna fight for you tooth and nail to get you every penny possible, correct?”

Matt: Right.

Aaron: Can I share with you the great news, Matt?

Matt: Yes.

Aaron: You found what you’re looking for. Let’s go ahead and take care of the appropriate paperwork and get the process started, okay?

Matt: Does anybody continue to object over price at that point?

Aaron: No, I mean, what I’m aware of is there’s always gonna be like a certain segment of the population who doesn’t like really see a lot of value in an agent due to our business, like 5% of agents do 95% of the business. So there’s always gonna be some people that no matter what you say or how skilled you are, they’re looking for something, which is okay. But with the proper skill and being comfortable with these conversations, you’ll be able to preserve value. Now as more competitors push in and like … referral fees and like all this other stuff, I feel like agents are gonna have to be open to that conversation more often. So by having the skill, having the intangible assets that create perceived value, you know, and then at that point, you just have to make a business decision.

So if you’ve handled it in two or three ways and they’re just like, “Look, man, no matter what you say, you’re the man, I wanna work with you but it’s gotta be at 5%.” And at that point, you just have to make an executive decision and say to yourself, okay — and number one, it’s the exception, it’s not the rule. And number two, is this person…what’s their motivation level? How receptive are they to position a property competitively that it’s actually gonna sell? Is this a nice person that I wanna work with that I feel like I can add to my database that could lead to further business? Are they gonna be kind to my staff? You just have to make an executive decision. And if it makes sense, I feel like it’s more about a number that you feel you’re comfortable being compensated. You have to feel good about it. You know what I mean? Whatever that number is, maybe it’s 6,000 a deal, maybe it’s 8,000, whatever your number is. It’s not so much the percentage but it’s more like the number that you feel comfortable with. But again, it’s a combination of things. So it’s order of operations. One, you handle it with skill and value that you add, perceived and real. And then two, if they’re still kind of pushing back and they just want something, then you just have to make an executive decision. And that’s the exception, it’s not the rule.

Matt: And that goes back to what we talked about earlier with the three outcomes. You have reserved the right already to say I may decline this if it’s not the right fit for me.

Aaron: Oh, and I can tell you, for all your agents listening, it is sublime to look at somebody and be like, you know what, I appreciate the opportunity, I don’t think that I’ll be able to be of assistance, I wish you the best of luck, pick up all your stuff and leave.

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Matt: So far today, we have talked about the listing appointment itself, what you do and say from the moment the front door opens. And by the way, Aaron says the scripts and the approach don’t change if you have to do the listing appointment over Zoom, or FaceTime, or whatever. He says, “Stick with what works.”

Now, before I chatted with Aaron, I went to our Facebook listener community and I did a post where I said, “Hey, everyone, I’m gonna do an episode soon about winning the listing appointment. Do you have any questions that I should ask my guest?” And what’s cool is that listeners in the community shared some really, really good questions.

So before Aaron and I finished talking, I wanted to make sure to get at least a couple of those questions answered. The first one came from an agent named Andrea Fernandez in Florida. And her question was, how do you stand out as a solo agent to win the listing when you’re competing against a team? So let’s go back to the conversation with Aaron Novello answering that question from our Facebook listener community.

Aaron: You know, with a team, oftentimes, the way a team is structured is it gets handed off to other people. So I might ask them and say, listen, I appreciate that agent. She’s a great agent or he’s a great agent. So I never speak despairingly about somebody. But I might ask them, “So I’m curious, as far as the selection process of an agent, is it important to you to have kind of that white-glove service with your agent, that you know that they’re the one you’re gonna deal with throughout the whole process versus being handed off to somebody else. Is that important to you and your family?” And then they’re like, “Well, yeah.” “Okay. So what I’m aware of is I know you have options at your disposal. I know those bigger teams, that’s usually the way that they operate. My intention of bringing that up is just so you’d be completely clear because I know as far as track record is concerned, their track record is gonna be better because they have so many people on their team. At the same time, if you want somebody that’s gonna really give you their undivided attention and work for you and make sure that you get every penny possible and be there for you every step of the way, then I know I fit that criteria.”

Matt: So try to turn being a solo agent into a strength.

Aaron: Into value. Into value.

Matt: Into value. And another question, this is from, I hope I’m pronouncing this right, It’s Amy Vastardis, I think. She says, “If the sellers are not ready to make a decision when you’re at the appointment, what does your follow up afterward look like?”

Aaron: Yeah. So two-fold. One, I’d wanna make sure she was prequalifying before she goes, because I think that would help a lot. Oftentimes, people are running out and not knowing. And you’ll notice that last question I asked you in the prequal was when I see you, if it makes sense, of course, numbers work, you feel comfortable and confident with me and my team that we can help you sell this home and get you a new property and you check me out online, so you do due diligence, track record, things that nature, do you think you’d be open to the possibility of hiring me to help when we speak? I’ve said that, you know, because I do talks and trainings throughout the country, you say that in front agents and they’re like, “Oh my God, you asked them that before you see them?” It’s like, “Yeah, of course.”

So I would wanna make sure she’s doing that if I was coaching her. And then I’d be curious about like what she’s doing at the presentation. Is she following a specific track or is it just kind of winging it? Because the track is designed to get to a specific destination. I’d also wanna figure out from a coaching perspective if she’s closing. As we walk through, like I’m presenting information and I’m giving good content and value and expertise but also throughout the whole process, I am closing. So making sure that she’s actually doing that. I have one client that we work with where we were able to up her income dramatically just because she started asking, like asking for business and closing.

And then let’s say I do all of that. I handle, you know, I do all of that, I do the prequal, I ask the questions, I’m closing during the listing presentation, and they’re just like, “You know what, you’re awesome. We think you’re great.” Great. “We just wanna sleep on… We just wanna sleep on it for tonight.” “Okay. Well, and before I go, I guess I’m aware that there’s a few decisions that a seller needs to make prior to putting their home on the market. So what I’d like to do is to go over with you those decisions so that way, you guys can make the decision you feel is best. Whatever you decide, I’ll support you 100%. Okay?” “Yeah.” Well, the first decision is, is if they’re gonna sell it. “You know, sometimes when we look at a homeowner, their expectations and where the market’s at or different, they decide to hold off or do something different. At the same time, based on our conversation and based on what you shared with me your expectation was, I don’t believe that’s the case. I mean, we’re in alignment with what you were thinking, correct?”

Matt: Right.

Aaron: “Okay, good. Now, the second decision is, is the price. Now, I’m imagining, like most sellers, even if it is in alignment, we still like it to be more. At the same time, we’re in agreement that somewhere around 550 seems to be reasonable. Is that correct?”

Matt: Yes.

Aaron: “Okay. And then the third decision that a seller needs to make is who’s gonna help them? Now you strike me to be super straightforward and to the point so let me just ask you. Based on our time spent together, based on what you’ve seen, our track record, our reviews online, do you feel comfortable and confident with me and my team that we can help you sell this home?” “We do.” “Great. So it sounds like you’ve made all the decision that a seller needs to make prior to putting their home on the market. So can I make a suggestion? Yeah. Let’s get started.” I guarantee you when she’s asking that question, she’s not doing that.

So let’s say I do all of that and they’ll still be like, “Ah, you [crosstalk 00:27:12] do all of that.” Then what I would do is I would ask them before I go, like “do you guys feel comfortable and confident with me I can help?” “Yes.” “Okay, great. Now, my next question is not to create urgency but just kind of gauge where you guys are at, timeframe-wise when you think you’ll make a decision?” They’re like, “Well, probably by tomorrow. We’re just gonna sleep on it and call you back.” “Okay, great. So what I’ll do with your permission is I’ll circle back with you tomorrow and then provided it all make sense for me to reconvene or I can send you the appropriate paperwork via DocuSign, we get the process started. Okay, great.”

Now, what I’m gonna do is I’m gonna go back to my office in the same clothes that I presented in and I’m gonna shoot him a video and send it to him via email and say, “Hey, guys, I just wanted to say thank you kindly for taking the time to meet with me. I know that your time is super valuable. You know, having heard the story, so to speak and the situation, what you’re looking to accomplish and why. I’m so excited, Matt, to earn your business and help you get this job done. And make it as smooth and easy as possible. So between now and the next time we connect, if you had any questions, anything that comes up after our meeting, I just wanna give you my personal cell phone. And otherwise, thanks again for taking the time to watch this. Thanks again for taking time to meet with me and I look forward to speaking to you real soon.” And then, right? Not like an email or text. A video humanizes communication, and then follow up with them.

Matt: When I think about everything that we’ve talked about here from the prequalification during the initial appointment setting, to the actual walking through the house, sitting down with them at the table, I just think like it boils down to knowing what to say and practice, practice, practice. You must do a ton of role-play with your team.

Aaron: Yeah. So, at the beginning … so I’m gonna give you a quote that really resonates with me as it pertains to what you’re saying is that amateurs practice until they can get it right. Professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong. So if you wanna get paid like a professional, you need to practice like one. So for me to be able to hop on this call and just like just … “wow” with you and just go, you could tell it’s not the first time I’ve done this. You could wake me up in the middle of night and be like, “Hey, Aaron, I’m thinking about selling my home.” “Great, Matt, there’s just a couple of really important questions I need to ask before we connect and I’ll be really brief because I know your time is valuable.” And that’s the place that you want to get to.

So at the beginning of my career, I’m aware that there’s no security in this business. There’s only opportunities. And I wanted to get my skill to such a degree that if there was an opportunity, there’s an 80% chance I’ll be able to capitalize on that opportunity. Now, if I’ve done that, I’ve created security for myself and my family. So I never wanted them you know what to say to be a reason why we weren’t able to accomplish goals and objectives. I never wanted to look at my son, Sebastian, and be like, “Hey, sorry, buddy. We can’t go on that trip because daddy doesn’t know how to handle the commission objection.”

So I role-played at the beginning, twice a day, six days a week. And I would handwrite out scripts by hand every day. I would chant out loud. I would video myself. I would record myself on calls and know, break it down. So it was a very, very conscious and purposeful effort to get as skilled as I possibly could because I didn’t want that to be a reason why I wasn’t successful at this game.

At the same time, at the beginning of my career, the first year, I only made $13,000, not something people put you on a podcast to like hear about or a panel to teach you how to do or to pay you to coach them. And the reason why that was is I didn’t have an accurate assessment of reality. I didn’t know that this was a sales business. It’s no different than selling books door to door, knives door to door, subscriptions over the phone. So I didn’t know where to channel my energy. I had people telling me to do open houses or wear my name tag when I go to the grocery store, like these silly ram-dumb ideas that don’t produce income and not in meaningful levels. And then once I got an accurate assessment, which was that hey, the money’s not in the service, it’s in the selling of the service. That doesn’t mean we don’t give people good service, that’s expected but that’s not where the money is. The money is knowing how to sell your service. And I was like, oh, this light bulb went off. And then I went aggressive into kind of learning scripts and dialogues and things of that nature.

(Speaker: Matt McGee, Host)

Aaron says it took him about 24 months of hard work and concerted effort, practicing scripts and doing role-play, to get to a point where he could wake up in the middle of the night and launch into his listing presentation scripts. Two years of repetition, you guys, to remove that uncertainty about what’s going to happen after ringing the doorbell.

As I mentioned, Aaron is a real estate coach as well as a successful agent. He’s been coaching and training for about seven years and has helped hundreds of agents. If you want more information about that, check out his website. It’s aaronnovello.com. Novello has two Ls by the way. I will link to his website in today’s show notes.

Okay. Let’s do our takeaways segment. Here is what stood out to me from today’s episode.

Number one, as soon as the door opens or as soon as the Zoom call begins, everything is scripted and you are in control. There’s a path to follow. Aaron says you are leading the client along that path. The destination you wanna reach, of course, is signing the listing agreement.

Takeaway number two, as you go down that path, you need to be assumptively closing. You say things like, “when we have offers come in, are we going to be including the contents of the home?” Now nothing’s been signed but you’re talking like it’s already a done deal — “when we have offers come in.” Aaron walked us through his listing appointment scripts, and he does several assumptive closes just while they’re walking around looking at the home.

Takeaway number three, we spent a lot of time going over how Aaron handles the 6% commission objection. Go back and listen to that again, if you need to. I thought it was great how he positioned that as, listen, my fee is 3%. If there’s a discount, it’s in what we’ll pay the other agent. And here are the risks that you have to accept, seller, if we don’t offer full commission to the buyer’s agent. For starters, you might not get as many showings.

Takeaway number four, if you’re a solo agent, use that as a value add when you compete against teams for listings. So ask the seller if they’re okay with potentially being passed from one agent to another on the team, and then explain that that’s not how you do things since you give clients your undivided attention.

And then takeaway number five, it all comes down to practice. You have to practice your scripts, you have to role-play and not just for a couple weeks or months. Aaron did role-play, he said, twice a day, six days a week for two years. I loved his quote, “Amateurs practice until they can get it right. Professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong.” Let me say that again. “Amateurs practice until they can get it right. Professionals practice until they can’t get it wrong.” Amen. Love that.

Okay, any questions for me or for Aaron, you can text or leave a voicemail anytime. The number is 415-322-3328. You can also send me an email, it’s walkthrough [at] homelight.com or just find me and other listeners in our Facebook listener community. So go to Facebook, do a search for Homelight Agent Community The Walkthrough, and we should come up right away or look under the group’s tab if you can’t find it.

So that’s all for this week. Thanks so much to Aaron Novello for joining me and thank you for listening. My name is Matt McGee. Remember, at HomeLight, we believe in real estate agents. That’s why we created “The Walkthrough.” We’re on a journey to find out how great real estate agents grow their business, stand out from the crowd, and become irreplaceable.

Go out and safely sell some homes. We’ll talk to you again next week. Bye-bye, everyone.

Header Image Source: (Fizkes / Shutterstock)

Following Up a Hassle? Easier Approach

April 5, 2021 by Staff Reporter

Let’s be candid for a moment: Following up with new real estate leads can be tough and frustrating. How many times should you make contact? What should you say? What if there’s no response? What if they say “no” right away?

The most successful agents have a system in place that answers all of those questions. On this week’s Walkthrough, you’ll learn the exact system that propelled one of our HomeLight Elite teams to sell more than $300M in volume in 2020. Isacc Guzman of the Daniel Beer Team in San Diego will walk you through their 25-touch follow-up system. This is part one of a two-part series.

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Links and Show Notes

Full Transcript

(SPEAKER: Matt McGee, Host)

How many leads do you get each week? Internet leads, referrals, past clients coming back, buyers and sellers. What’s the total?

There’s no right or wrong answer here. You might be getting 5 to 10 leads a week and have your hands full as a solo agent, or you might be getting dozens or even hundreds of leads a week as part of a big team. The thing is, no matter where you are on the leads spectrum, you need to be great at follow-up.

Imagine if you’re on a team and you’re getting a couple hundred leads every week, but you don’t have a great system for following up with them. What would that be like?

Isacc: A nightmare. Like, I can imagine it. It’s not something I would love to live or actually continue to imagine, but I can imagine it.

Matt: That’s the voice of Isacc Guzman. He’s with the Daniel Beer Team in San Diego. They’re part of our HomeLight Elite Program, the top 1% of agents on our platform. And you don’t get that honor without having an airtight follow-up system.

Over our next two episodes, Isacc is going to share exactly what that follow-up system looks like. The emails, calls, and texts. How many, how often, and when. Stages, statuses, pipeline management, and more. It’s a two-week masterclass in following up. And it starts now.

This is “The Walkthrough.”

(INTRO MUSIC)

Hello there. Happy April. My name’s Matt McGee. I’m the editor of HomeLight’s Agent Resource Center. And welcome to “The Walkthrough.” This is a weekly podcast. We have new episodes that come out every Monday. This is the show where you’re going to learn what’s working right now from the best real estate agents and industry experts in the country. At HomeLight, we believe in real estate agents. We’re on a journey to find out how great agents grow their business, stand out from the crowd, and become irreplaceable.

Do you want to get involved in the show? There’s a few different ways you can do that. Find me in our Facebook listener community. Go to Facebook. Do a search for HomeLight Walkthrough, and the group should come right up. You can also leave a voicemail or send me a text. The number is 415-322-3328 or just send an email to walkthrough [at] homelight.com.

You know, there are certain phrases in real estate that you’ve probably heard a million times. “Location, location, location” comes to mind for me. Every industry has these phrases. Over the 20 years or so that I was in SEO and digital marketing, I came to loathe the phrase “content is king.” I mean, yeah, I get the point, but enough already.

There’s another phrase in real estate that I know you’ve heard. And I promise, I’m going to do my best to only say it this one time over these next two episodes. You ready? “The money is in the follow-up.”

Think about it. Getting leads isn’t really that tough these days. Run some Facebook Ads, do some consistent video marketing, stay in touch consistently with your database. The hard part is your follow-up, what to do and what to say once a new lead comes in.

You heard Isacc Guzman a few moments ago. He’s the head of agent growth for the Daniel Beer Team. He’s been an agent himself. He’s been a productivity coach and also an assistant team leader. Now, with the Beer Team, he’s in charge of everything that happens from the moment a lead comes in until there’s a purchase or listing agreement signed. And there are a lot of moving parts. The Beer Team has 36 agents and 16 staff members. They average about 200 leads a week, and they did $336 million in volume in 2020.

On today’s show, we’re going to go deep into the follow-up system that powers all of that success. So, you’ll hear Isacc talk about the 25 touches that they do with a new lead, how those touches happen, and what they say. You’ll even hear, like, which days they leave a voicemail and which days they don’t. We’re getting really specific here. You’ll learn why the Beer Team are big believers in following up with video text messages. And we’re going to talk about how quickly they react when a new lead comes in.

So, grab a pen. Be ready to take some notes. As I said, we are going to go deep today. It’s not every day that you get to see behind the curtain of how a HomeLight Elite Team operates.

At the very end of the show, I’ll have a “One More Minute” segment for you as well. But for now, let’s start this masterclass on following up. Here is part one of my conversation with Isacc Guzman.

(BEGIN CONVERSATION)

Matt: I know different teams, different agents have different definitions for what a lead is. Sometimes, if the person isn’t ready to buy or sell for six months or a year, they don’t consider that a lead. How does your team define a lead?

Isacc: Our team defines a lead as somebody who is a real person, valid contact information, that has the desire to do something real estate related at some point.

Matt: At some point. So, the timing doesn’t matter.

Isacc: No.

Matt: So, if a lead comes in and your ISA or your agent determines that they’re probably a year or two off, you’re still treating them. You have a system to communicate with them.

Isacc: One hundred percent.

Matt: How many leads do you guys get in a typical week or a month? What are we talking?

Isacc: About 200 a week.

Matt: Two hundred leads a week. All right. And where do they come from?

Isacc: Various sources. So, we got our proprietary website sandiegohomefinder.com, soldbydanbeer.com. We got realtor.com, we have HomeLight, we have Zillow Flex Partnership, OJO. And we have a couple other lead providers, people that flip houses, but the person doesn’t want an all-cash offer after all so then they send it to us for a referral fee.

Matt: Facebook Ads, Google Ads?

Isacc: Facebook, Google, pay-per-click, Google Local Service Ads, and we have our listing queries.

Matt: If you’re getting 200 leads a week, you obviously have to have a great follow-up system in place, especially for the level of production that you guys are doing. Tell me your role in putting this and executing the follow-up system.

Isacc: So, I manage all things sales. So, from the time that a lead is generated all the way till we have the signed agreement in the form of the RPA or an RLA, so purchase agreement or listing agreement, that’s my world. What happens, what happens next, who does what, all of that and everything involved in that, and the training therein. Now, obviously, there’s a team that also helps. I have a lead ISA who’s so powerful, and he runs his unit really well. And they’re very autonomous as far as, like…we give them the playbook, we give them the guidelines. These are exactly what you do, but also, like, a lot of it has to do with the skill set that they’ve developed over time and they train together and all that. But ultimately, it all falls on me once a lead is created.

Matt: Let’s talk about that playbook and I’m going to ask you to walk me through sort of how that looks. When a lead comes in, sometimes these are going to be brand new leads you’ve never spoken to. Sometimes they’re going to be people you have spoken…they might be referrals. Right? Sometimes they’re past clients. How do you sort of organize your leads? What do the different buckets look like?

Isacc: You’re talking about when they first come in. So, first is, when we haven’t spoken to a lead, it is simply categorized by how many attempts have been made or what day they are in. So, what I mean by that is, like, you come in as a lead, Matt. You’re Matt new lead day one, until you’re Matt new lead day whenever you get pushed into the pond, which right now is day 10.

Matt: Okay.

Isacc: I’m sorry. Day seven. We’re expanding… We’re actually in the middle… Since you and I have spoken, we’re tacking on an additional three days because of some systems we’ve put in place that are going to allow us to continue that same high-volume reach out or outreach for an additional three days. Because we think that that’s valid because of some of the research we’ve done. But basically, you are Matt day one, and you have X amount of contact attempts. You’re Matt day two, boom, boom, boom. You’re Matt day three, all the way through until we talk to you. Then once we talk to you, we have a whole different dispositioning system.

Matt: Okay. So, let’s talk about the before you speak with them part. So, that lasts for 10 days now, is what you’re shifting to, a 10-day system. And you’re talking about multiple very frequent touches. How many per day? And what do those communications look like? And who does them?

Isacc: So, the ISA team does those. And actually… So, I think the first time you and I had spoken in way back, I think I said something about 21 or 23 contacts in the first 7 days. It’s actually 25. I literally just counted them right now because I’m like, “You know what? I haven’t actually sat there and counted them.” I had a good feel for that. It’s actually 25. And they’re attempts. So, it’s going to go three calls right out the gate. Right? Text, email, find them on social media, set them up on a search or a market update. That’s all day one.

Matt: So, all that happens on day one. Find them on social media and do what? Friend them or…

Isacc: Friend and message.

Matt: Friend and message on social media. And you’re saying something like, “Hey. We got your contact information. Thanks for your interest in 123 Main Street,” whatever it might be.

Isacc: Yeah. It’s just, “Hey. Tried calling you. Wasn’t sure if Facebook Messenger was best. You were looking for homes on our website. Just checking in. When’s a good time to chat?”

Matt: Okay.

Isacc: Super simple.

Matt: So, that’s day one.

Isacc: Yeah, that’s seven attempts on day one.

Matt: Seven attempts on day one. Wow. How often do you get replies on day one?

Isacc: Depends on how quick you are to pull the trigger. I’d say about 20% of the time.

Matt: And if they reply, then they go into that other disposition? There’s that separate…

Isacc: Yeah.

Matt: Okay. So, they don’t reply on day one, you have this…was a 7, now it’s a 10-day system. What does day two and day three and day four look like? What happens until they actually reply?

Isacc: So, the way we do it is the ISA has the choice to pick on really just one day, which is day two. They have their choice of how they want to follow up. But there’s constraints on it. So, it’s call, text, email, or social media. You pick two of those. Any two you want, you just pick them. Right? And they go there.

So, our new system, it has a sequence already built in. So, it’s literally just like, send this email or send this text or click here to make the call. Right? So, it’s actually built in to our Salesforce software now. So, that won’t be launched fully and our ISAs all the way trained and I’ll have real numbers on that. Realistically, that probably won’t happen for another three weeks. But we’re doing it manually now. So, at the moment, it’s, like, a little bit slower than what it will be, call it a month from now.

Matt: Okay. So, the ISA on day two, the ISA picks a couple different ways that they want to communicate, again, with the same kind of messaging that was on day one.

Isacc: Similar. It’s really just like, “Hey. Circling back from yesterday.” We just shorten it down.

Matt: Sure. Okay. That’s fair. And then what happens for the rest of those 7 and soon-to-be 10 days?

Isacc: It’s actually pretty much the same thing. So, we’ll call, send a video message, send a text. Now, on days three and four, we send out, like, production-based or production-grade videos. So, news articles where we’ve been featured in the news. I mean, sorry, news stories where we’ve been featured in the news, like Dan on television, talking about the market, kind of adding that. On day four, we have our culture video, which introduces them to the team. Things like that. And it’s just like, we’re just…honestly, we’re just shooting shots, man. We’re trying to get them to interact with something.

Matt: And on day three, when you’re sending these…are these emails? Is that, again, hitting all the different ways?

Isacc: We have analytics on whether or not they open up the emails. And so, we stick with email if they’re opening or if their phone number’s bad, right? Because here’s another thing that a lot of agents do. They go, “Oh. It’s a bad number, bad lead.” So, if it’s a bad phone, we just take out texting and calling, and we just email them exactly what’s supposed to happen. We have a disposition for that called good email, bad phone.

Matt: Got you. Okay.

Isacc: Unless the email bounces. If the email bounces and the number’s bad, then they’re trash.

Matt: So, that covers…so, what are we? We’re day four now. That continues into day five, day six, day seven?

Isacc: So, day four is call, don’t leave a voicemail, send the culture video, email the culture video. Again, this isn’t rocket science. Right? The fifth day, we call. We do leave a voicemail. We send a text that just says something like, “Are you giving up on your home search?” Same thing with the email. Subject line is “Are you giving up on your home search?” And then the email is just something real simple. I believe it’s just like, “Hey. We’ve noticed that you have been reaching out. You did reach out. You were looking on our website on this date a couple days ago. Were you just browsing or are you actually interested in buying a home? Just let me know. Happy to help in any way I can.”

Day six, we don’t leave a voicemail. We just text their name with a question mark like, “Matt?” Right? Because they haven’t answered. Maybe it’s not Matt. And then the same thing with the email. The email’s a little bit longer. It’s just like, “Matt,” is the subject line. And the body’s like, “Hey. I just want to make sure this email belongs to Matt. He reached out to us to buy or sell a home. Can you please let me know if this actually belongs to that person. If not, I’ll go ahead and remove you from our list.”

And at this point, we’re just saying like, “Dude, are you…” like, “I’ll stop, I promise. Just engage with me.” And then the last day, call, leave a voicemail. We send them a text that says, “Are you ghosting me?” with a ghost emoji. Right? We do the same thing in the email. And then that’s about it. That’s day seven.

Matt: That’s day seven. So, in seven days…again, you said you’re changing this to a 10-day system right now. But 25 in 7 days sounded like 6 or 7 the first couple days, and then 2 per day after that. Right?

Isacc: Two…yeah. So, it’s seven day one, two day two, three, three, three, three, four.

(Woman: For more great “Walkthrough” content, join our listener community on Facebook. It’s the place to connect with other agents, including the guests you hear on our show. You can influence upcoming episodes by suggesting guests and questions. And you’ll get exclusive content that we don’t share anywhere else. Just go to Facebook and search HomeLight Walkthrough. Then click to join. It’s that easy. As a “Walkthrough” listener, you should be in this group. So, join us today.)

Matt: Before we get back to the conversation, let’s stop for a moment and recap what you just heard. I want to make sure you have time to write all that down. Isacc has been walking us through the seven-day follow-up system that the Beer Team does with a new lead. It’s a 25-touch process that their ISAs use to make that first connection. And then once the connection happens, they pass the lead over to an agent, there’s an appointment made, and so on. If you missed Isacc’s recap at the end, let me repeat.

Day number one, there are seven touches. Day two, there’s two touches. Days three through day six are three touches each. Day seven is four touches. So, that’s 25 touches over 7 days, 25 attempts to contact the lead. And you heard Isacc go into detail about the breakdown of text, calls, and emails, and even shared the specifics of what the ISAs say. I got a kick out of that day six outreach where it was just “Matt?”

What I’d love for you to be doing is taking notes on all this for the next couple weeks. So, you might have some notes listing that 25 touches, the day-to-day outreach right there. Then you’ll have some notes about the temperature buckets that they use after contact is made, the different statuses they assign to each lead, and so forth. That is all coming up in these two episodes.

For now, let’s get back to the conversation. Isacc just walked us through that seven-day follow-up with a new lead.

Matt: So, somebody gets through the system and you have still not had any contact. What happens to them at that point?

Isacc: They get put in a pond. The post-blitz pond.

Matt: Okay. So, the seven-day thing is called the blitz. And after that, it goes into a pond. Will there be automated communication, or is that up to someone to claim that lead? How does that work?

Isacc: So, any agent can then go in and start trying to get those people. So, that’s where a lot of our new agents start. They just go into the pond and they’re trying to get a hold of this person again. And now, they’re just on a regular drip. Right? And they’re just getting monthly follow-up videos. And they’re getting, like, videos that everybody else gets, which is Dan, our CEO, talking about something real estate related. Could be market update. It could be the three things you need to do to sell your home, like, whatever that is.

Matt: We had one listener question from our Facebook listener community that I should probably ask right now since we’re talking about these seven contacts, two contact, three contacts. Lisa Taylor-Fitter wanted to know, for your team, what method of contact works the best. Do you get the most success with text, email, phone call? What works?

Isacc: Text message.

Matt: Text message works the best.

Isacc: Yeah, we’re… Okay. So, it depends on what you mean by the best. Which one gets the most response? Text. Which one do we have a higher outcome of setting an appointment? Phone.

Matt: And when you’re sending text, do you ever do video text message? Do you ever have…

Isacc: I do. Constantly.

Matt: Constantly? Okay. What does that look like?

Isacc: “Hey, Matt. What’s up? It’s Isacc over here at the Beer Home Team. You just filled out a form on our website, sandiegohomefinder.com. Looks like you’re looking at a house in North County, San Diego. Excited to help you with that. Go ahead and give me a call back at this number, and we’ll go ahead and get started on finding you the right home in San Diego. Looking forward to talking with you. Bye.”

Or if it’s been a little bit further down the road. So, that’s, like, the immediate one. You just filled out the form. And then later on, the messaging starts switching over to, “Matt, you reached on our website, San Diego Home Finder. You were looking for homes in North County, San Diego. And I just wanted to be a resource for you. Whether that’s today, three weeks or three years from now, I’m here to answer any questions that you have. Make it a great day.”

Matt: You’re just doing that right on your iPhone. There’s no production involved. It’s just like you’re doing a FaceTime call. You’re just recording it and sending it via text.

Isacc: My crappy video will outperform your non-existent one all day long. Because you won’t do it if the production standard has to be high. You’re not going to do it. So, I’m just going to do it. There’s going to be kids in the background. There’s going to be dogs barking. I’m going to have stuff on my teeth. My hair is going to be messed up. I’m going to, like, stutter. And who cares? Like, no one cares.

Matt: They want to see your face. Right? That’s where the connection happens?

Isacc: Well, you know, it’s like a whole thing. There’s, like, a science to why we do it and why we want to deliver it within two minutes of an inquiry or within two minutes of actually speaking with somebody on the phone. And it’s because of what we understand in sales psychology, which is, you know, the number one thing you got to do is overcome sales skepticism. Number two thing is you want to handle uncertainty about you as a person. And so, nothing handles those things better than sending out a video very quickly — and a real video. Right?

In email, good production quality is really good. Right? You kind of expect that. In the phone, it actually doesn’t work as well. Over the phone, people want to just see your face, they want to hear the wind. Right? The kid and the…like… My best videos that outperform for what I do — which is agent attraction, right, I’m recruiting for a team — they’re the ones with my kids in. Right? Or whatever I happen to be doing at that moment. If I get off the phone with you, you’re getting a video within two minutes. I don’t care what I look like.

However important you think video is, it’s 10 times that. It’s creating something called the parasocial relationship. And let me tell you why video. And by the way, I get paid zero dollars to support…I always have to remind my team, “I don’t have a video sponsorship. It’s just this important.”

Without video… Clients say what they’re looking for. Number one thing they’re looking for is honesty, integrity, those types of things. Their number one complaint is poor communication. When you deliver a video within two minutes, you automatically deliver something that short-term substitutes for honesty and integrity, which is relatability. Short-term. The short-term, the thing that can fill in for integrity and honesty is relatability. Because if I can relate to you as a person, I kind of trust you. Right? I have a dog, you have a dog. You have a face, I have a face. You shoot videos and it’s windy, it’s windy where I live, too. It’s just something about that. And if you deliver it within two minutes, that shows that, “Hey. I’m not going to be a poor communicator throughout this transaction.” Deliver a video within two minutes of talking to anybody, it’s going to change the game.

Matt: Do you know off-hand how that delivering video within two minutes impacted your conversion rates, your appointment rate, that whole…

Isacc: Our show rate went up by, like, 40%. But again, my mom’s going to show up whether I do a video or not. Right? But when you’re investing in lead sources where the person speaks to you and they have no loyalty to you whatsoever, it’s important that they show up. It’s important that you do everything to tilt in the direction of showing up. And video does that. “Hey. I’m trustworthy. I’m a real person. And I’m reliable.” So, all the things that you think about real estate agents, I’m not that. I’m the good stuff. Here’s my video. And with video they’ll show up. Because it makes you feel committed, too. “Oh, it’s a real person that I’d be just completely blowing off.”

Matt: You mentioned how quickly you respond. What is the Beer Team’s target in terms of speed to lead?

Isacc: So, it depends. But the reality is, a new lead comes in. They have to be… The phone has to be ringing within five seconds.

Matt: You want to call them back within five seconds?

Isacc: Yeah. So, realtor.com lead comes in. There’s no reason, because of our coverage and our ISA team. So, here’s a caveat. As long as it’s between the hours of 8 and…mostly with the exception of two days, 8 and 10 p.m. you should be on the phone. We should be dialing you within five seconds.

Matt: Now, for listeners that don’t have the coverage you have. You said you have four or five ISAs now, and that team is growing. What is a realistic goal to set for speed to lead?

Isacc: Okay. So, if it’s on your proprietary… Like, your goal should be five minutes. Honestly, if you don’t have, like, the coverage… Do you want to know, like, what I really think about this or…

Matt: I do.

Isacc: Okay. If you can’t respond within 60 seconds, you shouldn’t be buying leads. Because we’re going to beat you to it. Like, realtor.com, you’re going to send it to five agents. “Hey, Matt. What’s going on? Oh, you’re getting another call? Yeah, that’s just some other Realtor. Don’t worry. I got you taken care of.” Like, you’re out of the equation. Unless our office building falls down or something on one of our ISAs, like, we’re probably going to beat you to it, man. But five minutes… So, for us, if they go to your private website or they’re in one of your Facebook funnels, I think you have more time to play with, realistically.

By the way, you’re not competing with me. You’re competing with the consumer experience, the expectation of the consumer experience. Matt, you call somebody and they don’t answer. What do you do?

Matt: If they don’t answer, I’m calling the next person.

Isacc: Exactly. Right? We didn’t plan that. That’s because that’s what consumers are led to believe. I’m not your competitor. In San Diego, I’m not your competitor, man. Amazon has trained… Amazon’s your competitor. They’re the ones who train the consumer to think the way that they do now. And so, it’s either, like, get in line or…I don’t know. I don’t know what else to do besides get in line, because that’s what we chose. I’m sure someone could prove me wrong and, like, argue me out of my pants and just make me look like a fool in this. But our belief is that if you’re not responding immediately, they’re just going to move on to somebody else.

Matt: Yeah, you’ve lost that.

Isacc: And it’s a wasted opportunity. Yeah. You’re going to follow up more than them and all that stuff. But the person who has a five-second response, also probably follows up really well.

(Speaker: Matt McGee, Host)

You know, that’s an interesting point Isacc made there at the end when he mentioned Amazon. We are all being trained to expect instant gratification. I made, I think it was a $16 order on Amazon. Must have been last Saturday night at about 10:00. The item was on my doorstep at 11 a.m. Monday. I didn’t even need it that fast. It just happened. We’re all being trained to expect things instantly. So, yes, speed really matters especially in your follow-up with leads.

All right. Stay tuned to the very, very end of the show today for another “One More Minute” segment. I’ll also preview part two of this conversation in just a bit. But for right now, let’s do our takeaways segment. This is what stood out to me from today’s conversation.

Takeaway number one. The leads that no one has spoken to, get put on a 7-day 25-touch follow-up plan. They call this the blitz. It’s seven touches on day one, two touches on day two. Days three through six are three touches each. And then the last day, day number seven, four more touches. This is a mix of calls, emails, and texts. And Isacc shared some of the scripts that they use for those contacts.

Takeaway number two. If there’s still no contact after that seven days, the leads go into what they call the pond. These folks will get monthly contacts from the team. And then any agent can go in and try to work those leads. Isacc said this is where a lot of new agents spend their time.

Takeaway number three. We had a question from our listener community about contact methods. Isacc said texts get the most replies, but calls lead to the most appointments.

Takeaway number four. The Beer Team is all-in on video text messages. No production. You’re just talking into your phone and sending it via text. Don’t worry about your hair being perfect or anything. Just send the video as fast as you can. Here’s the quote from Isacc. “My crappy video will outperform your non-existent one all day long.” Let me say that again. “My crappy video will outperform your non-existent one all day long.” Amen.

Takeaway number five. The Beer Team’s goal for speed to lead is five seconds. They want to start the follow-up process within five seconds. If you don’t have dedicated ISAs who can do that, Isacc says, five minutes is a more realistic goal. He also said, if you can’t reply quickly, you shouldn’t be buying leads because you’ll be competing against teams like the Beer Team and their very sophisticated and successful follow-up system.

Okay. Coming up next week in part two, Isacc is going to walk us through how they follow up after they’ve spoken with the lead. You’ll hear about their temperature buckets. Talking about hot leads, nurture leads, watch, and so forth. And how do they follow up depending on the temperature of each lead? We’re also going to talk about pipeline management, how they track progress through the follow-up campaigns, and how they build accountability into the system. Here’s a preview of that.

Isacc: The reason you’re not consistent at something or I’m not consistent at something is because I chose not to have somebody help me stay accountable in that particular area. I refuse to lean into accountability for that particular type of item and/or I have some really crappy low-level unthreatening level of accountability. That’s all there is to it.

Matt: That, and more, is coming up next week in part two with Isacc Guzman.

All right. Questions or feedback? You can leave a voicemail or send me a text. It’s 415-322-3328. You can send an email to walkthrough [at] homelight.com, or just look me up in our Facebook listener community. Go to Facebook. Do a search for HomeLight Walkthrough. The group will come right up. Click to join. We’d love to see you in there.

That’s all for this week. Thanks so much to Isacc Guzman for joining me. Thank you for listening. My name is Matt McGee. You’ve been listening to “The Walkthrough.” At HomeLight, we believe in real estate agents. We’re on a journey to find out how great agents grow their business, stand out from the crowd, and become irreplaceable.

Go out and safely sell some homes. I will talk to you again next week. Bye-bye.

(OUTRO MUSIC)

Welcome back and welcome to another edition of “One More Minute.”

You know I love content marketing. So, here’s a quick tip to help you develop topics for your content marketing. Ready?

Go to Google, and do a search for “Living in” your town. I would do, “Living in Tri-Cities, Washington.” Isacc would do “Living in San Diego.” This also works, by the way, with searches like “Moving to” your town. So, you know, “Moving to San Diego. Moving to Tri-Cities, Washington.”

In the search results, you should see a section called “People also ask.” That’s Google telling you the questions that people ask about where you live. Now, some of the questions will be better than others, but you can use this stuff to guide your blogging, your video marketing, and any other content that you make. One of the questions for our area was, “Is Tri-Cities a good place to retire?” So, my wife did a blog post about that.

Bonus tip. Every time that you tap or click one of those questions, Google is going to show you a few more. So, it’s like a never-ending supply of questions that you can write about or make videos about. Bottom line, no more excuses about not knowing what content to make.

That’s “One More Minute.” I’m Matt McGee. Thanks for listening. See you next week with another “Walkthrough.”

Header Image Source: (Gustavo Frazao / Shutterstock)

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