Latest / The Spiro Podcast: Managing your Real Estate Photography & Videography Business / Business Development Strategies: A Refresher
Transcript
- 0:00Coming up on this episode of The Spiro podcast.
- 0:04so I think that's that's kind of unique in our industry,
- 0:06is that you can partner with those other players in the in the industry
- 0:10that are not competing against you, and you guys can actually help each other.
- 0:14Welcome to the Spiro Podcast.
- 0:16Managing your real estate, photography and videography business
- 0:21with your hosts Todd Kivimaki and Craig Magrum.
- 0:27Hi and welcome to the Spiro Podcast,
- 0:29managing your real estate, photography and videography business.
- 0:33Spiro is a software platform.
- 0:35If you're new to the podcast, it's a software
- 0:37platform designed to really help you manage your day to day real estate
- 0:40media business, and ultimately to help you scale as well.
- 0:44We'd like to see you grow and really do well in this industry.
- 0:48I'm Craig Magrum, host of the podcast podcast Spit It Out.
- 0:52I am a professional communicator right off the podcast.
- 0:56For those of you that have seen this before, welcome back to another week.
- 0:59Glad to have you
- 1:00and really appreciate
- 1:01the time that you take out each and every week to watch and or listen,
- 1:05during your work week.
- 1:06We we're humbled by that.
- 1:07And, just, grateful for the opportunity to speak into your life and your business.
- 1:12All right, well, this week, a little bit different.
- 1:16Todd is out on vacation for some much needed R&R, and,
- 1:21so I, I'm running this without him, but
- 1:24no stranger to the to the podcast.
- 1:27Our guest and, familiar face, Mr.
- 1:30Steve Musser, who is the, director of sales
- 1:34and marketing for Wow Video Tours, which is our real estate media business.
- 1:38On the other side of things from Spiro.
- 1:40So, Steve, welcome.
- 1:42Glad to have you join. Join me here this week.
- 1:44Yeah, Craig.
- 1:45-Thanks for having me back. - Yeah, absolutely.
- 1:48Well, we're going to keep this fairly, fairly focused, Steve.
- 1:52And we're just going to dive right into things.
- 1:54Normally we we do some Spiro updates, but with Todd being out,
- 1:57we're going to forego that this week and, just dive right into really,
- 2:02ultimately what what is a listener question that came in?
- 2:05Nick and Nick and I have been talking back and forth quite a bit on Facebook,
- 2:09and he's been picking my brain on some things.
- 2:11And, he asks a really good question that we really haven't,
- 2:15discussed lately, in depth.
- 2:18And that's the, the, the subject of sales and business development.
- 2:22And with Steve being our, our director of sales and marketing,
- 2:26I thought this
- 2:26this would be a great, week to have him on and share some of his insights and,
- 2:31experience, particularly Steve, in the area of larger markets,
- 2:36you know, large metro areas and somebody trying to get into this industry.
- 2:41So that's kind of what I'd like to pick on your brain on this week.
- 2:45Yeah, absolutely.
- 2:47I'd love to dig into it.
- 2:49Yeah.
- 2:49So Nick was sharing with me, you know, he's he's trying to get legs under him
- 2:53and start to build, you know, clientele, things like that.
- 2:56And there's a lot to consider when you when you're
- 2:59talking about the, the area of sales and business development.
- 3:03So the first thing that came to mind is I was thinking about,
- 3:06you know, the the podcast this morning is where we were recording.
- 3:10Steve, is there.
- 3:12There's so many different personalities and,
- 3:16ways of doing sales, it seems like, or things that you hear.
- 3:19But is there, is there really one, one
- 3:23main way to develop sales or is there different ways that you can do it?
- 3:28I know that's a really broad question,
- 3:29but just we'll start broad and kind of narrow down.
- 3:33So I would say yes or no.
- 3:35So there's a million different ways that you can
- 3:39structure your sales team or if it's just you as a solopreneur,
- 3:43there's a different ways you can approach that sales side of things.
- 3:46The one thing that that is, standard across the board is just consistency.
- 3:50So you have to have that consistency in your approach, in your tracking
- 3:56and your follow ups, everything else to, to make sure that the sales program
- 4:00is working, whether it's you or a team or however you have that structured.
- 4:03But there are a million different ways to get that consistency done.
- 4:07Right?
- 4:08Yeah.
- 4:09And we'll dive more into that.
- 4:11So when you say consistency, what does that exactly look like.
- 4:15How do you stay consistent in this field.
- 4:18And it
- 4:19what does that even look like or mean to somebody.
- 4:22This may be new to sales and business development.
- 4:26Yeah.
- 4:26So when I say consistency
- 4:28what I'm basically referring to is the fact that and Craig,
- 4:31you know this more than anybody by walking into an office
- 4:35and, you know, maybe dropping off treats or, you know, meeting some of the team
- 4:39there at an office or doing a cold call
- 4:42or whatever the case might be on your actions.
- 4:45Bottom line is typically one
- 4:47time is not going to change the trajectory of your business.
- 4:51It's not going to win, possibly even a client out of that.
- 4:54Sometimes it takes, you know, several visits, several calls, several follow ups.
- 4:58It I mean, we've had a lot of relationships that we built
- 5:01that took years to,
- 5:02to kind of get across that finish line and, and have a good relationship
- 5:06that we're working together to help their business.
- 5:08So that is, the key and the consistency is just don't don't get so overwhelmed,
- 5:13you know, don't expect instant results on any of your actions.
- 5:17You know, it's it's
- 5:18definitely a long game, but everything that you're doing today
- 5:21is preparing that that groundwork or that foundation for your sales program
- 5:25moving forward.
- 5:26And if you stay consistent in it, you you will see results.
- 5:29So you just have to kind of keep plugging away
- 5:31and making sure that your time spent, you know, the best way possible.
- 5:34But you will get those results over time.
- 5:38Yeah, I think that
- 5:39that can be the frustrating part is when you're trying to get an effort going,
- 5:42especially in a larger market, you know, like like a Dallas or,
- 5:46you know, one of our markets, Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati,
- 5:49if you're new and there's already is a especially if there's established,
- 5:55competition, you know, other people in that same space,
- 5:59it's not going to be easy because a lot of those realtors
- 6:02already have established relationships with other photographers.
- 6:05So kind of the frustration for the new person getting into it
- 6:11is if if they're not getting traction right away, how long can they survive
- 6:15trying to get this business going with not a lot of results.
- 6:19So consistent consistency, definitely important.
- 6:24But do you have any advice maybe on, you know, how somebody can hang in there
- 6:28when when it does take some time to, to get an effort going.
- 6:32Yeah, yeah. So I, I understand that too.
- 6:34I mean as you're growing your business, you need to see results in order to,
- 6:39to keep revenue coming into your company and, and then keep that consistency.
- 6:43We going to continue to see results long term.
- 6:46So there are a few things that I always say that to lead off
- 6:49with that are kind of like the basics.
- 6:50And from that you can kind of determine what the low hanging fruit
- 6:54is in that market.
- 6:55And so the first thing that I always say, regardless of the size of your market,
- 6:59is get the data, you know, if you can get any kind of data on the market,
- 7:04typically, you know,
- 7:05if you have any connections in the community with, you know, realtors
- 7:09or the board or whatever the case is, try to get a agent ranking report,
- 7:14and that will tell you a little bit about what is happening out in the market.
- 7:18You know, who who are the people that are doing
- 7:20the most business out there in that specific market?
- 7:24You know, are they doing mainly listings
- 7:26or are they doing buyer transactions, things along those lines?
- 7:29Because I think that is as a as a small business
- 7:32and trying to get results as quickly as possible.
- 7:35That's something that you want to turn your attention to, because
- 7:38without that data, you know, you're you don't know
- 7:41if you're spending your time in a way that is the most efficient.
- 7:45So, so having that, that data and being able to go down the list and say,
- 7:49you know, hey, I've been calling this person
- 7:50for six months and I haven't been able to connect yet.
- 7:53And then you find out that they, they do two listings a year, maybe not even that.
- 7:57Then, you know, that's probably not your target client.
- 7:59You know, you're looking for somebody with a little bit more volume.
- 8:02So I think if you start with the data and and kind of get it, get a
- 8:06good understanding of where the market
- 8:08is, you know, who, who are the the people that are doing
- 8:12and not necessarily even the most transactions,
- 8:14but doing enough transactions that you can, you know,
- 8:16kind of partner up with them and, and help their business grow.
- 8:19And then they're going to help you in the long run as well.
- 8:21So start there, try to get as much that as possible.
- 8:24And I think that gives you a good framework on
- 8:26making sure that your time spent well on whatever task that you're completing.
- 8:31So let's play off that a little bit okay.
- 8:33So say we we identify, the top five agents in the market.
- 8:37And we really want to try and establish some sort of relationship with them
- 8:41and maybe have them try us.
- 8:42We offer them a free shoot or something like that.
- 8:46How much does personality go
- 8:48into, trying to establish that initial relationship with somebody?
- 8:53You know, Steve, you've done sales.
- 8:55I've done sales.
- 8:56We've got Chris that takes care of our Columbus market.
- 8:58Joy, there in Charlotte and then Pam for for Dayton,
- 9:03in Cincinnati.
- 9:04And then we got Carter with, with Fort Wayne.
- 9:07You've got a you've got a mix of personalities here
- 9:10that you're leading as our director of marketing and sales.
- 9:14How much does personality go into trying to,
- 9:17make that first contact with a, you know, a top agent in a market?
- 9:22Yeah, yeah.
- 9:23And honestly, it's not even the top agents.
- 9:25It's all agents, you know, depending on
- 9:28when you're making those, those outreaches.
- 9:30But, yeah.
- 9:31Personality plays a big part of it because everybody has their strengths.
- 9:34Everybody has their comfort zone on what they're most comfortable with
- 9:38and what they excel with.
- 9:39And our our sales team is a good example of that.
- 9:41You know, Joy is is the a vet, you know, master,
- 9:45as far as
- 9:46she’s queen, she is queen of, event planning.
- 9:49Absolutely.
- 9:50She's out there holding events, you know, at least one a week, if not multiple.
- 9:54And she's coordinating and and so, you know, she plays her
- 9:57strengths in that way to where she, she has those connections.
- 10:00She has other partners in the in the market
- 10:02that she connects with and kind of helps put everything together.
- 10:05Let me key off up on that real quick.
- 10:06So yeah, you just you just said other partners.
- 10:10What what does that look like.
- 10:11So say you know John in
- 10:14in Gainesville, Florida.
- 10:15I'm just making something up.
- 10:18He's started to get to know some of the other industry players.
- 10:21What what does that look like?
- 10:23Inviting other partners into an event that you might.
- 10:26Yeah. Host for for realtors.
- 10:29Yeah.
- 10:30Our our industry is kind of, kind of unique in that way to,
- 10:33to to where there is, you know, our core client is the realtor and brokerage.
- 10:38And so around that realtor and brokerage, there are,
- 10:42you know, dozens of other partners that that they're working with day
- 10:45in, day out on all their transactions.
- 10:48And it gives us a unique opportunity to partner up with them.
- 10:51So that could be insurance agents, that could be mortgage brokers,
- 10:55that could be title departments.
- 10:56You know anything along those lines?
- 10:58We're targeting the same end user.
- 11:01We're targeting that that realtor and our goals are the same.
- 11:05We want to partner with them and offer what our services to help them
- 11:09grow their business.
- 11:10And we grow together on that side of things.
- 11:12And so I think that's that's kind of unique in our industry,
- 11:15is that you can partner with those other players in the in the industry
- 11:18that are not competing against you, and you guys can actually help each other.
- 11:22And we do that a lot.
- 11:24Joy's a great example of that.
- 11:25You know, she partners with those those mortgage brokers and, and title,
- 11:29you know, title agencies and everything else to where they can pull
- 11:33their resources and their efforts and time together to, host an event
- 11:37or to maybe, you know, have a promotion that goes out to agents.
- 11:42And then that way, you're you're getting more bang
- 11:44for your buck on that side of things, both on the time invested,
- 11:48because you should be able
- 11:49to split some of that time to coordinate some of those efforts.
- 11:52And then also resources,
- 11:54you know, enjoys the example she holds, you know, these events.
- 11:57And a lot of times I'll provide lunch or snacks or, you know, different, different,
- 12:02you know,
- 12:02different things available to the agents that are stopping in for that class.
- 12:06Another one that she does a lot is is information.
- 12:09So she has any experts in the real estate industry or social media
- 12:13or anything along those lines.
- 12:15So she'll reach out and try to partner with them.
- 12:17And everybody can promote their own business to the same agents.
- 12:21And it's a lot more cost effective and time effective on your on your calendar.
- 12:27You know, as I think about this.
- 12:29So in my market, I don't really have time to do events
- 12:32or plan events or those sorts of things, but I can see the value.
- 12:35And I've never thought about this by by partnering with other established,
- 12:40industry peoples, you know, say a mortgage broker.
- 12:45I, a title person or an inspector
- 12:48that already is established if they agree to do an event with you,
- 12:53that's kind of lending credibility to you as, as a new person
- 12:56in the media field for real estate.
- 13:00And yeah, what a what a great.
- 13:02And it does go both ways. Do so.
- 13:05So they're they're kind of
- 13:06bringing their audience to you and you're bringing your audience to them.
- 13:10And it's a win win across the board.
- 13:12You know there's no competition there. It's just collaboration.
- 13:14And you can get out there and and really have some fun with it.
- 13:18You know, we've done some.
- 13:19It doesn't even have to be an event.
- 13:21So I know a lot of times we say event and people kind of shy away
- 13:24because it seems like such a big deal to kind of plan an event.
- 13:28You can get there eventually.
- 13:29Enjoy is a perfect example of that, is that she has it so systemized
- 13:33that it's nothing to her to hurry up and plan an event,
- 13:37but it doesn't all have to tie back to that.
- 13:40I mean, it could be even a webinar.
- 13:43It could be,
- 13:44you know, partnering to sponsor a golf tournament or something along those lines.
- 13:49So you can pull your resources together to, to be able to do that.
- 13:53And then you're both bringing your audiences as well,
- 13:55and then hopefully hitting even a larger audience.
- 13:58And everybody is better because of it.
- 14:02So as I'm thinking through events and, and,
- 14:05you know, these other things that you just mentioned, golf tournaments or classes
- 14:08or webinars, I'm thinking about board events that you could potentially sponsor.
- 14:13So your local realtor board, I would say
- 14:15if you're somebody new, become an affiliate member of your local board
- 14:18and get involved with sponsoring the classes that they offer,
- 14:23which most of the time is just buying some breakfast items
- 14:26or something for the class or some snacks they give you five minutes.
- 14:30At the beginning of the class, you introduce yourself.
- 14:33Steve, the thing that that we talk about a lot in, in helping,
- 14:37in consulting with our clients is their face, is their brand.
- 14:41Obviously, we want realtors to be on video.
- 14:43Well, wouldn't it be the same for us?
- 14:45- Our face is our brand. - Yeah, absolutely.
- 14:49Yeah.
- 14:49So that that kind of ties into a big a big term that you hear us say a lot within.
- 14:53Wow is top of mind.
- 14:55So top of mind marketing.
- 14:57And this this really all ties back to it.
- 14:59So the goal with everything that you do on the sales side is to be
- 15:02the first person they think of when they have a need for your service.
- 15:06So you know that that like I said, that can be quick.
- 15:09It can be a long game.
- 15:10It just kind of depends on the situation, the agent, everything else.
- 15:12But whatever you can do to stay in front of that audience and the market,
- 15:17you know, whether it is the sport, events, things along those lines.
- 15:20And the cool thing about it is as we build those relationships, you know,
- 15:24a couple months ago we got a call from the local board and they just
- 15:29let us know that, they had a lot of agents asking questions about AI.
- 15:33And they said, would you like to come in and talk about it?
- 15:36And that's not a presentation I've done before, but we we utilize
- 15:39AI, you know, we're we're a tech company.
- 15:41We're very familiar with it.
- 15:42And so put together a presentation
- 15:45through out there and kind of address their basic,
- 15:48you know, questions on AI and how to use it in real estate and everything else.
- 15:52And I didn't bring lunch. I didn't do anything.
- 15:54They just wanted the knowledge.
- 15:56And that is just a great feeling when you have that trust
- 16:00and and that expert status in the market to where
- 16:03the board's actually reaching out to you saying, hey, we need this,
- 16:06we think you're the right person to do it.
- 16:07Can you come in and do this?
- 16:09And then you get to go in front of 30, 40 people and talk about it.
- 16:13And even though you're not talking about your business and your brand, you're
- 16:17you're actually building that that expert credibility on the back end
- 16:21because they know who you are now.
- 16:23They know that you know what you're talking about,
- 16:25and they appreciate that the knowledge on that side of events.
- 16:29Yeah.
- 16:30And that all ties back into consistency.
- 16:32So to get that kind of invitation,
- 16:34obviously you have to be known in the market.
- 16:37And as somebody that's new you're like, well, I'm not known.
- 16:40But that's where consistency
- 16:43drives into all of this.
- 16:44Become an affiliate member, show up at events and I
- 16:49you get initially Todd and I've talked about this in the past,
- 16:52initially when you're getting your business off the ground, there is a grind.
- 16:55There's just always a grind portion of developing business right?
- 16:59And it can be grueling.
- 17:01But if you stick it out and stay consistent and stay visible and,
- 17:05you know, be in front of of other people, they will get to know you.
- 17:10And people buy from people they know, like, and trust.
- 17:13We we've heard that phrase a bazillion times, but trust has to come
- 17:17be because you've had the consistency and the track record of being visible
- 17:22and proving good results with, you know, with a few shoots
- 17:26that you do get initially. Yeah. So
- 17:29go ahead, Steve.
- 17:30Look, I was just I was going to say as you're starting your business.
- 17:33So one thing that that you just want to keep in mind or as you're, you're,
- 17:37you know, maybe a solopreneur
- 17:38and starting to branch out and building a team or whatever the case is,
- 17:42when you're when you're at that level, you know, just kind of,
- 17:47get over the fear of it,
- 17:49but understand that you're going to have to it's
- 17:52going to be time, money, or both in order to, to bring in new clients.
- 17:57And so the nice thing with that is you can do you can throw money at it,
- 18:00you know, you could do marketing, you could do social media advertising,
- 18:04you can do,
- 18:04you know, all various sponsorships, things along those lines and spend the money.
- 18:08So to kind of build that, that,
- 18:11that brand behind your business and be the one that they know
- 18:14is an expert in the industry so you can do money or time.
- 18:18You know, some like what
- 18:19we were just talking about going out and and dropping off at offices
- 18:23or doing presentations, things along those lines, you know, and sometimes
- 18:27it's a combination of time and money that that would be required for that.
- 18:31But the nice thing is, believe it or not, you know, as you grow
- 18:34and as you kind of develop these systems and, and get everything in place,
- 18:38than that time and money aspect almost starts to fade away a little bit.
- 18:42And I'm not saying it disappears, but with what we're talking about
- 18:46is we have people now reaching out to us, you know, and saying,
- 18:50hey, we want to do this and we want you to be part of it.
- 18:54And now all of a sudden, you look at that time and money
- 18:57aspect is a lot lower than it used to be in order to bring in new clients.
- 19:00So that consistency leads up to that.
- 19:02So that's the way to get to that, that level.
- 19:04Right.
- 19:05A perfect example of that, Steve, just just last night, last evening,
- 19:09I got a text from,
- 19:10from one of our longtime clients that I had initially started working with.
- 19:14Years ago.
- 19:16And she's like, hey,
- 19:17would you would you, donate something
- 19:20to the fundraising auction again this year for this event that
- 19:25I've been a part of since 2017?
- 19:28And whether it was my own business or then for Wow and,
- 19:33when when you get involved in something on a consistent basis,
- 19:36people see you as a partner and they see that you're interested
- 19:39in helping the industry, especially in your local market.
- 19:42And just continuing to be at those events, continuing to support
- 19:46those things, be a part of fundraising auctions, things like that.
- 19:51And they will introduce you to other people when
- 19:54when you're at a, you know, a fundraising auction or something
- 19:57that a particular brokerage is putting on, even if you're not the preferred vendor.
- 20:02So this brokerage, Steve, you might even know who I'm talking about.
- 20:06Every every Cinco de Mayo, every year up here.
- 20:10We are not the preferred vendor for this brokerage,
- 20:14but we have been
- 20:15a yearly sponsor of it, and we have a good amount
- 20:18of their business, even though we're not their their preferred vendor.
- 20:22But it's big, but it's because we haven't taken that for granted.
- 20:26And despite
- 20:27not being the preferred vendor, we've continued to serve them well.
- 20:30Yeah.
- 20:32Yeah, I think that's important.
- 20:33Is is I mean, it's all relationship based and it is you know,
- 20:37I always it's funny, you know, Craig, you and I have had this conversation
- 20:41and Carter recently, you know, as we bring people,
- 20:45you know, into a new market or a new company or whatever the case is,
- 20:48you know, sometimes you hear sales and they it's like, oh, no, I'm
- 20:52not a sales person. I don't like sales.
- 20:55Craig, I think you'll be the first one to say that.
- 20:57Yeah, that that's me.
- 20:59You're not a salesperson. But you are.
- 21:00You just, you know, you're not,
- 21:03you're not a stereotypical, like, used car salesman.
- 21:05And I think that's what people's mind comes to.
- 21:08So for everybody, that's that's building their business.
- 21:10Just keep that in mind.
- 21:11You don't have to be your, your typical, you know, sales person to where, you know,
- 21:16if you have a bad example in your head of that, just get that out of the way.
- 21:20Take care of your clients.
- 21:21Be consistent with everything.
- 21:23I mean, that's really the key to sales.
- 21:25And then it's just going to build that relationship.
- 21:27And exactly what what like what you're saying, Craig, is.
- 21:30And then you have people, even if we're not the preferred partner,
- 21:33they're coming to us because they know the value.
- 21:35They know their agents are utilizing us to some level.
- 21:38And they know that, we're trustworthy in the market
- 21:41and they want us involved in different things as well.
- 21:44I was, training one of our new photographers earlier this week
- 21:48and sharing with them my approach of, we're not just photographers, right?
- 21:53We're part of their marketing team.
- 21:54And so we want to build a a good relationship with them.
- 21:57And, and I told I told this new photographer said, just realize this
- 22:02in in trying to develop the relationship in the business with them,
- 22:06you cannot sell a salesperson.
- 22:10So yes, what we're doing is sales, but you can't sell a salesperson.
- 22:15Now, you can consult with them and add value to their business
- 22:18and show what you can do to add value, but you're never going to
- 22:23the typical,
- 22:25I don't want to say typical, because there are elements
- 22:28of the sales process that you still will utilize in developing
- 22:32that relationship, but it's from a place of really
- 22:35authentically caring about that, that person as a person,
- 22:39because that person is running a business to to support themselves in their family.
- 22:43There's an underlying reason why they're in that business.
- 22:47And looking at it from the human point of view of
- 22:49how can I actually really benefit you and not just myself, will go a long way
- 22:54in building an authentic relationship with people in the business world,
- 22:57right in, in the market.
- 23:00So serving people well, being authentic about it and showing up
- 23:04consistently acting with integrity, that just
- 23:10real estate is all about
- 23:11relationships. Authentic relationships.
- 23:15And, you know, we've talked about this before, but one of the best feelings
- 23:19that I think we still get, you know, very frequently is when the phone rings
- 23:23and you pick it up and it's an agent saying, you know, hey,
- 23:26I have this listing. These are the details.
- 23:28What do you think I should do? Yeah.
- 23:30And and that just drives that point home is, is, you know, you can be a salesperson
- 23:34and still act with integrity and, and build those relationships.
- 23:38And they can feel that too.
- 23:40You know, our our agents reaching out to us and, and knowing that
- 23:43we know are in our side of the industry and how it benefits them.
- 23:47And we're ethical.
- 23:48We're not just looking to pile on as many services as we can to everybody.
- 23:52Right?
- 23:53They know that they can reach out and they have an open dialog to say,
- 23:57hey, I trust you. What do you think?
- 23:58And so we throw out our suggestions and sometimes they agree,
- 24:02sometimes I don't,
- 24:03sometimes they tweak it a little bit, but just the fact that they open with that
- 24:07means, I mean, when's the last time that you went to a car dealership
- 24:10and ask the car dealer, it's like I trust you.
- 24:13What car do you think I should get?
- 24:14You know, it's just not how it works.
- 24:16In a lot of cases.
- 24:18And there's some great car salesmen out there.
- 24:19I'm not trying to diminish that whole industry.
- 24:22but
- 24:23There are typically, you know, when you when you are dealing with a salesperson,
- 24:26people have their guard up.
- 24:28They're a little bit more cautious, things like that.
- 24:30You can you can be a salesperson and eliminate
- 24:33that and know that you're there to serve them and help them.
- 24:35And and then that's where everything starts coming back to you,
- 24:38you know, in the future because you have those relationships.
- 24:42Yeah,
- 24:43I think I've told this story before in the podcast,
- 24:45but for those that maybe started
- 24:47listening later, I had a client a couple of years ago that,
- 24:50they were ordering drone on every single listing.
- 24:53And a lot of these listings were small city lots that didn't have much yard
- 24:58at all.
- 24:58A lot of times there was trees covering up the front of the house,
- 25:01or much of the property, and that drone just wasn't
- 25:05it wasn't adding any value to their marketing effort.
- 25:07And I, I, I got to the point I probably should have said
- 25:10something earlier, but it finally clicked and I, I approached the agent.
- 25:14I said, quick question.
- 25:16Okay, no offense.
- 25:18If there's a reason, great.
- 25:20But can I ask, is there any particular reason
- 25:22you're ordering drone on every single listing that we're doing?
- 25:26And the response was, oh, I just I thought it would add marketing value.
- 25:30And, you know, it's it's one more thing I can do.
- 25:32The next agent isn't.
- 25:34And I said, okay.
- 25:35I said, totally get that, I understand that.
- 25:37I said, but honestly, the drone itself,
- 25:40in the photos that I'm getting or the if there was video isn't actually adding
- 25:45a whole lot of visual impact to what you're trying to do for your client.
- 25:50And I understand trying to build your brand.
- 25:52I'm all in support of that, but I think you could save some marketing dollars by
- 25:56limiting that on certain properties that really don't need it.
- 25:59And let's find a creative way
- 26:00to use those dollars somehow, else that will bring you some value.
- 26:04And from that point on, she's like her.
- 26:07I could see the kind of the slack jawed like,
- 26:10did did you just, like, not sell yourself or.
- 26:14But it
- 26:15built trust because, yeah, we're not just trying to add increase
- 26:18the average order value, just increase the value.
- 26:22We really want them to benefit.
- 26:25So if you can prove that to, you know, say you're just starting your business
- 26:28and you finally get one shoot, if you can somehow establish that integrity
- 26:34is being an honest, you know, hardworking vendor for that person
- 26:38and ultimately a marketing partner, they're going to sing your praises.
- 26:42That whole word of mouth advertising, I still think is the best advertising
- 26:45you can get. Yeah.
- 26:48Yeah, I agree.
- 26:48I mean, that's, that's as you build this engine, it starts to feed itself.
- 26:53And so as you can get more people,
- 26:55you're basically creating an army of salespeople out there for you
- 26:58because they're out there talking to all their colleagues.
- 27:01And, and sometimes it's even, you know, other brokerages,
- 27:04you know, that they have colleagues in that they're talking to.
- 27:06And we've had a lot of doors open that way to where,
- 27:09you know, somebody was like, hey, I know you shoot for so-and-so
- 27:12over at, you know, Howard Hanna, you know, but what about us over here?
- 27:16It's like, yeah, we can help you too.
- 27:17And so it starts those conversations going and and believe it or not,
- 27:21I'm not saying it will.
- 27:22It will bring it down to, you know, zero marketing dollars
- 27:26and zero tasks that you have to do for outreach and everything.
- 27:29But you do start to see that scale to where you have a lot more income in
- 27:34that you can be responsive to, versus having to spend more dollars,
- 27:38more time doing the outreach, to bring clients to you.
- 27:41They're actually seeking you out instead, right?
- 27:45That's a good point to, as you do get established.
- 27:48Yeah, you don't have to do as much of the grind.
- 27:51But going back to that consistency, you don't want to start taking business
- 27:54for granted either. Correct
- 27:56Yeah.
- 27:57That's a that's a big thing with our business, you know, is that
- 28:00we take care of our clients, you know, and it doesn't matter
- 28:04if they've been with us a day or they've been with us for ten years.
- 28:07You know, we're we're taking care of them.
- 28:09And that goes back to that consistency aspect is, is, you know, one,
- 28:13when you're trying to bring clients and you have to be consistent,
- 28:16you know, it's going to be several
- 28:17phone calls, emails, meetings before you potentially earn their business.
- 28:21And they try you out and then that's your time to shine that to really wow
- 28:25them and win them over and bring them into your company.
- 28:28And then once they're part of your clients, you know, once
- 28:32they they're a part of your,
- 28:33your network there, then you just you still need to take care of them.
- 28:36So typically what we do with all of our clients is, is we
- 28:41I always like to have that next action step with every client.
- 28:44So, you know, if there's a client that I need to call today,
- 28:47you know, I'll call them.
- 28:48I'll check in with them, see how everything's going.
- 28:51Maybe it's their say they're a new client.
- 28:53We're going to check in
- 28:54before their first appointment just to make sure
- 28:56they have all the expectations and know what's coming.
- 28:58And then we're going to check in after the appointment
- 29:01and the media is delivered, to make sure everything looks good.
- 29:04They're happy with how everything turned out.
- 29:06And then I continually follow up to where we're pushing out the next outreach.
- 29:11Maybe it's two weeks later, you know, saying, hey,
- 29:13you know, and usually it's checking the listing to see is it pending?
- 29:16Did it go under contract?
- 29:18You know, what's the status of it?
- 29:20So 2 to 2 to four weeks, we'll call them again
- 29:22and just kind of check in on that status and if it's pending or,
- 29:25you know, about, to go under contract, then congratulate them,
- 29:29because that's a huge thing on their side is that they got that transaction done.
- 29:32So congratulate them and then it doesn't it doesn't end there.
- 29:36You know, typically I'm following up.
- 29:39It just we use a little bit of judgment
- 29:41on our, on our structure and every then but there's always a next action step.
- 29:45It doesn't matter if that's two days away or if that's six months away.
- 29:48We have something scheduled for that client as the next follow up
- 29:52to make sure that they don't fall off the radar,
- 29:55to make sure that they have everything that they need, that
- 29:57the relationship stays strong and that consistency is really
- 30:01what keeps people with you after you've won them as a new client.
- 30:05Yeah, something as simple as wishing them a happy birthday.
- 30:08So yeah, but something I like to do, I,
- 30:12I try to find my clients on Facebook
- 30:16and you might not be super active on Facebook, but realtors are there.
- 30:20Most of most Realtors are on Facebook and have a business page or something,
- 30:25but if you can find them on Facebook, you know you're going to
- 30:28you're going to get those notifications about their birthdays.
- 30:30So I had one this morning, Steve, the longtime client again.
- 30:35And it's is it's the realtors assistant.
- 30:38She is a licensed realtor as well.
- 30:39But she does a lot of the assistant type of work.
- 30:42It's her birthday.
- 30:43So instead of just leaving a happy birthday message on her Facebook
- 30:47page, I texted her and just, hey, happy birthday Suzanne.
- 30:51You know, wishing you a great day.
- 30:53Hope, pray, pray you have a wonderful time with your family and just shot that off.
- 30:59I've had their business forever.
- 31:01We have a great relationship, but I don't take that for granted.
- 31:04Some human sort of touch.
- 31:05Just a hey, thinking about you today.
- 31:07Have a great birthday.
- 31:09Here's the response I get.
- 31:11Thank you so much, Craig.
- 31:12Heart emoji.
- 31:13So thoughtful of you to reach out.
- 31:16It's just something I do, you know.
- 31:19Yes, it's thoughtful, but I care about this person
- 31:21because they're a great human being, you know?
- 31:24And yes, I'm thankful for their business.
- 31:26Just little things like that.
- 31:27Send a thank you card now and then send them a Christmas card.
- 31:31It's just all about those those little touches and staying consistent.
- 31:36But I think we've covered
- 31:38the consistency thing pretty well.
- 31:41So let me ask you this.
- 31:43Let's let's rewind a little bit.
- 31:44Going back to that, that person that is just trying to get their business
- 31:47off the ground and already, in a big market,
- 31:50I don't know if there's a way for you to answer this or not, but
- 31:53how long would you say it takes to establish a base of of clients
- 31:59in two different markets, in an unsaturated market,
- 32:02if there's such thing anymore or versus a saturated market,
- 32:06can you give a ballpark on how long that effort might take to get
- 32:10a small base of of clients?
- 32:13Yeah, yeah, it's a tough question.
- 32:15I don't
- 32:15I don't know if I can give an exact ballpark,
- 32:18you know, saying like interim, like you should be here in six months.
- 32:20You should be here.
- 32:21I think what you should be looking at is, you know, in a, in a saturated market,
- 32:26obviously there's tons of business
- 32:27to go around, but there's also a ton of competitors.
- 32:30So you're competing against a lot of existing relationships
- 32:33and trying to get that that business to come to you in an unsaturated market,
- 32:38it's kind of the same is
- 32:39there's there's less business to go around, there's less competition.
- 32:43Probably your biggest competition that we've seen in smaller
- 32:46markets is just that, the old cell phone, you know, to where they're
- 32:50taking their cell phone and going out and shoot in their own photos.
- 32:53So then it's just two different areas, you know, in one in an unsaturated market,
- 32:57you're trying to get them to invest dollars
- 32:59that they weren't previously investing and showing them the value of it.
- 33:03And then on the flip side, you're getting them to,
- 33:05to leave what they're comfortable with, with whoever they're currently working
- 33:07with and come to you.
- 33:09And so both of those situations, I think you kind of measure it
- 33:12the same way, is I don't know if there's a time frame to say, you know,
- 33:16like I said, certain benchmarks, but because that's going to vary
- 33:19from company to company and quite a bit, you know, somebody that's for example,
- 33:23if you're willing and able to pour ten grand into a marketing campaign,
- 33:27you're going to be a lot better,
- 33:28you know, jumpstart compared to somebody that has $100 advertising budget.
- 33:32So there's this
- 33:33there's just a difference there that it's hard to really differentiate.
- 33:36But I think if you're just going through track the data, you know,
- 33:38if you're starting today,
- 33:40you know, once you get your first client, you know, that's you
- 33:43that's kind of your first benchmark, you know,
- 33:44and you're like, okay, I have my client built in, if you're not doing
- 33:48this one thing that we look at to kind of identify
- 33:51success in a market for us is looking at market share.
- 33:54So get the data from the board, you know, see what the what
- 33:59the entire number of listings hitting that market by month by year, all that data.
- 34:04And then compare that to your shoot.
- 34:05So if you if you're doing you know, let's say you're doing 50 a month,
- 34:10you know, and then there is a
- 34:13500 listings hitting that market every month.
- 34:15So you have about 10% of the market share at that point.
- 34:18So I think that's your benchmark, regardless of time or anything else,
- 34:22get as soon as you can possibly identify what your market share is.
- 34:28Kind of flag that and then your goal is to progress that.
- 34:31You know, if you're at 1% today, how do you get to, 2% in a month?
- 34:35How do you get to 6%, you know, in six months, whatever the case is.
- 34:38So that I think is is probably the bigger key versus that,
- 34:42the timeliness of it is just consistent check
- 34:46ins and looking at the results.
- 34:49And if you're not getting the results that you're wanting,
- 34:52then something's not working.
- 34:54And then that's where you have to kind of go back to the drawing board,
- 34:56look to see what efforts you're making with your outreach, marketing, whatever
- 35:00the case is, and if something's not progressing, then, you know, there's a
- 35:04there's a broken link in that chain and go back and address that.
- 35:09Do your next best draft, you know,
- 35:10get a new approach out there and then start the process again.
- 35:15Yeah, yeah.
- 35:16The, the listener that, was talking with me,
- 35:19you know, they said I'm
- 35:21just trying to get my name out there and getting folks to call me back.
- 35:24It's just been cricket crickets.
- 35:26And my personality is such that I like a lot of face
- 35:30to face, one on one type of things and and building relationship.
- 35:33I think what I would do,
- 35:35but this is my personality versus, say, Joy, who does a lot of events
- 35:38and gets in front of a lot of people at once,
- 35:41say you have even just one client,
- 35:45the the word of mouth advertising.
- 35:48I, like I said before, I'm still convinced is the most powerful form
- 35:52of advertising in it because it lends credibility.
- 35:55So what I would do is say you only have five clients.
- 36:00They like you.
- 36:01Let's assume that they like you. They like the work that you're doing.
- 36:03You're not doing a ton for them, but they're using you and they like you.
- 36:08Ask them. Now, I know this is going to be hard
- 36:10during busy season because everybody is busy.
- 36:13Ask if you can take them out to coffee or lunch or breakfast or something to get
- 36:18some one on one time check in with them, see how their business is doing.
- 36:23What are your goals?
- 36:24You know, really add value, consult with them, brainstorm
- 36:27some ideas with them, and before you leave, ask if there's
- 36:31anybody in their office, their brokerage that they would be willing to refer you to
- 36:38offer them
- 36:39some sort of credit or thank you for the referral.
- 36:42If that person ends up booking with you,
- 36:47it starts slow. It's a grind.
- 36:49But if you can do that face to face ask and you've established
- 36:52a relationship with them, it will snowball.
- 36:55if it grows exponentially.
- 36:58But I think the important part, you know, I all credit to Eli Jones
- 37:03with the Instagram method that has worked for a ton of people.
- 37:07But I think there's something to be said for that face to face relationship
- 37:10building and asking for the sale or asking for the referral.
- 37:14Because, again, we're going back to the fact
- 37:16that real estate is a relationship based business and the
- 37:20the realtors, they're spending face to face time with their clients.
- 37:25I really believe you've got to do the same.
- 37:28So if you're willing to do that and then forego only really doing
- 37:32digital advertising, get in front of people and build the rapport
- 37:37and ask for the referrals and those things will snowball.
- 37:41Yeah, yeah, I love that.
- 37:42And kind of going back, you know, a couple of points
- 37:46that you just made is, is that face to face interaction,
- 37:49Instagram method, regardless of what you're doing,
- 37:53there's a million different things you can do.
- 37:55Like just to kind of give you an example, I,
- 37:56we do a lot of cold outreach to clients to where
- 37:59if we haven't worked with them before, we're just picking up the phone
- 38:01and calling them, you know, and saying, introducing us who we are.
- 38:06Typically we're just asking, you know, do you mind me asking
- 38:08who you currently work with and kind of going from there?
- 38:12You'd be amazed at how many doors that opens up by just asking
- 38:15that simple question and and kind of feeding off of that.
- 38:18You can go out in person and greet people you know, invite them to coffee,
- 38:21like Craig said, or,
- 38:23you know, if you can't pin them down, maybe just make pop ends to the office,
- 38:26see if they're they're, you know, sensitive of their time to,
- 38:29you know, don't expect an hour meeting when you stop into an office.
- 38:32Just kind of it's more of a, hey, this is who I am, this is what I do.
- 38:35And then you have the the grounds to kind of follow up after that.
- 38:39But regardless of whatever method that you're doing,
- 38:41just keep keep looking at it and seeing how can you improve it.
- 38:45It's just amazing the little things that you can adjust.
- 38:48How did the example come up to me yesterday from one of our,
- 38:52our salespeople.
- 38:53And, and they were doing the cold outreach to clients
- 38:56and at their at their follow up, they would ask, you know, do you mind me?
- 38:59Do you mind if I send you some information?
- 39:01You know, just in case anything changes in the future?
- 39:04And they were getting a few no's on that.
- 39:08And so just talking through it, I was like, don't ask.
- 39:11You know, just, just
- 39:12you had a good conversation with them and just say,
- 39:14hey, just so you know, I'm going
- 39:15to send you my information just in case anything changes.
- 39:18I've never had somebody say, no, don't do that.
- 39:20You know, they might delete the email, but
- 39:23at least you have the opportunity that to land in their inbox.
- 39:26And and you know, we've seen firsthand where we get calls from emails
- 39:30we sent a year ago, you know, to where again, top of mind, something changed.
- 39:34And now they they need somebody to fill this need.
- 39:37And they're like, yeah, great big reach out a while back.
- 39:40And they look in their email and respond to that, that old contact.
- 39:43So just, regardless of what you do, just monitor it and kind of
- 39:49just analyze it, you know, see what's happening and see what tweaks you can do.
- 39:52Because the methods are all successful.
- 39:54It's just a matter of, you know, what matches best to your personality.
- 39:58What what tweaks can you make to, to further, you know,
- 40:01get more success from those outreach, you know, activities and whatnot.
- 40:06And, it works really well.
- 40:08You can make some small changes that has some big results over time.
- 40:12ultimately just don't give up.
- 40:15Yeah.
- 40:15You know, we we know it can be a grind, especially now that we're,
- 40:19you know, quite a few years into real estate media really becoming
- 40:23a thing, a real niche market that a lot of people are wanting to get into.
- 40:27We know it can be challenging, but don't give up
- 40:29if you really have a passion for it
- 40:31and enjoy the work, enjoyed the relationship
- 40:34building, I think you're going to find a lot of fulfillment.
- 40:37You just got to give it the time, and the time to develop the relationships.
- 40:42I know we're beating a dead horse, Todd.
- 40:45Now, I've talked about relationships for a couple years now, but that's what it
- 40:49ultimately boils down to. And,
- 40:52you know, I would even say even on cold calls, if you've got somebody else,
- 40:56you know, see, you've got one client in a certain brokerage, check with that
- 41:00client, ask if they mind if you use their name is a referral yourself.
- 41:05When you're making the cold call to somebody,
- 41:09call in to that that person say, hey, I know we've we've never met.
- 41:13Introduce yourself.
- 41:14I'm currently, providing the the real estate visual marketing for,
- 41:19you know, your colleague so-and-so in your brokerage.
- 41:22And, they said it it would be okay to to mention their name,
- 41:27and, and just go from there.
- 41:30Being able to
- 41:31establish some credibility with people that you're already shooting for, right?
- 41:35It doesn't hurt.
- 41:38Put it that way. And the other thing
- 41:40that popped into my mind, Steve, is you were mentioning things,
- 41:44especially with with the,
- 41:48we call them,
- 41:49objections, you know, in, in sales development, overcoming objections.
- 41:52And the most common one probably is, well, I already have
- 41:56a photographer for,
- 41:59don't assume I would say don't assume
- 42:02that they're entirely happy with that photographer,
- 42:05because sometimes there might be something going on that you just.
- 42:08They've worked with them forever, but they're not quite happy with something.
- 42:13And that's your opportunity to say,
- 42:16hey, you know, if there's ever a time you need a,
- 42:19you know, a backup or they're not available,
- 42:23I'm here for you.
- 42:24I just thought I'd put myself out there and say hello.
- 42:28Yeah.
- 42:29Asking those questions and and getting to the bottom of what
- 42:32the actual issue is, or whatever
- 42:36the actual objection is on that side of things is, is critical.
- 42:39So as you're talking to people,
- 42:40if they say they're currently working with somebody, Craig, like you said,
- 42:44they may be working with somebody, it doesn't mean they're happy.
- 42:46It doesn't mean that they're there.
- 42:48You know, everything's going smoothly on that side.
- 42:50So you can ask those questions.
- 42:51You can ask, you know, do you mind me asking how how's everything going?
- 42:54You know, and and that's not,
- 42:58you know, a crazy question to ask.
- 42:59And a lot of times by just asking that question,
- 43:03they'll start kind of speaking out there.
- 43:04Sometimes they'll hear, you know, it's like, hey, yeah,
- 43:07it's actually my, my brother in law that's doing it for me, you know?
- 43:10So they just kind of take that into consideration.
- 43:14You want to
- 43:14you want to respond based on what they said, not
- 43:17you have your cans, your responses ready to go.
- 43:19So listen and then respond and not just respond to respond.
- 43:23And so a lot of times, you know, if it if it is that it's like I
- 43:27ran into that several times or it's like, well, my my daughter's doing my,
- 43:30my photography, you know,
- 43:31because she's going to school for it or something along those lines.
- 43:35You can still ask those
- 43:36follow up questions and just say, hey, do you know,
- 43:39is she able to do all the different services for you?
- 43:43You know, like aerial and things along those lines?
- 43:45Because a lot of times they might be a photographer,
- 43:47but they don't have the ability to do other things.
- 43:49And you can simply say, I get that, you know, they have the photography covered.
- 43:54I'd love to be another,
- 43:55you know, arrow in your quiver for whatever you need on that side.
- 43:58So we can be available for, for drone or whatever the case would be.
- 44:03And then even just asking how it's going for,
- 44:05you know, standard it's like, yeah, I'm using XYZ company.
- 44:08Ask how it's going.
- 44:09And, you know, if they're if they're completely happy.
- 44:12One thing I think that we've learned
- 44:14is if they're like, yeah, I'm using this company and everything's great,
- 44:17I love them. I've been using them for years.
- 44:19You're not typically going to spend a ten minute conversation
- 44:22and convince them, you know, and you don't want to convince them
- 44:24that, that they're actually wrong on what their thought process is.
- 44:27Right.
- 44:28So, you know, spend your time wisely on that.
- 44:30Don't don't ruin a future or a potential future relationship
- 44:34because you're wanting to close the sale today.
- 44:36Just have that conversation and say, oh, no, I completely get it.
- 44:39You know, it sounds like you got everything
- 44:41kind of working well for you, so I don't want to step on any toes.
- 44:45I'd love to, you know, I'm
- 44:46going to send you my info in case anything ever changes in the future.
- 44:49And I'll follow up every.
- 44:50You know, is it okay if I follow up in six months and, just kind of check in and,
- 44:56you know, again, don't expect to get instant gratification
- 44:59from that call, but I can tell you over time, they do convert.
- 45:04You know, things change.
- 45:05That person moves out of the area that person stopped doing,
- 45:08you know, their business or whatever the case is.
- 45:10They're working full time elsewhere.
- 45:12And I can't tell you how many times I've called to follow up.
- 45:14And it's like, actually, it's funny you call
- 45:16because I'm actually looking for somebody now, you know, so
- 45:19that that's that top of mind is what will get you there.
- 45:22And just building the relationship is, is kind of the step stool
- 45:25to get to that point.
- 45:27One thing I, I say to
- 45:29Todd, I'm used to talking about one thing I say, Steve,
- 45:33when when I do get that response of, hey, I've been, you know,
- 45:36I've got a photographer, I've been working with them forever, and they're happy.
- 45:40I respect loyalty,
- 45:42I want my clients to be loyal to me,
- 45:45you know, assuming that I'm providing them good service.
- 45:48So I respect that in a competitor
- 45:51that is providing good service for their client.
- 45:54And I let that that person that I'm talking to know, hey, I respect that.
- 45:58You know, I'm not.
- 45:59Yeah.
- 45:59I'm not going to push hard on that if they're ever not available.
- 46:03And you just you need to shoot by by a certain date,
- 46:06you know, hey, we'd love to be a secondary for you.
- 46:09And, and it just cover, you know, cover for your current photographer.
- 46:13And then that builds respect in them because you're not impinging
- 46:16on the relationship that they value already.
- 46:21think of it from the other perspective.
- 46:24You know, if you were an agent
- 46:25and you got a call, somebody trying to sell you on something
- 46:29and you just told them how much you and you really like the,
- 46:32the person or the company that you're working with now.
- 46:35And then their next response is, well, let me tell you why they're not good.
- 46:38And I am like that.
- 46:40That's something that
- 46:41that you're just never going to really recover from, because that it's
- 46:44that first impression in their mind is going to be like,
- 46:46wow, he was really pushy or like, I just they didn't and I'm happy.
- 46:49And and now he's he didn't listen to me. Yeah.
- 46:51Yeah yeah.
- 46:53So I mean that is that is critical on that side of things.
- 46:55And that is something that I think a lot of
- 46:58when you're thinking that the traditional like sales person, that's
- 47:02where some of that falls off on success because they're not listening.
- 47:07They're just ready to respond
- 47:09with whatever they want to say next, not reacting to what they say.
- 47:13I've got to tell you a story, and I wish I would have been in our sales
- 47:16meeting Monday morning
- 47:17because this was a perfect example of what you're just talking about.
- 47:20And then if you've got anything to close with, we'll wrap things up here.
- 47:23But I have to hear the story, Steve.
- 47:26So I went to the car wash
- 47:29was I think it was last week, and there's this one car wash in town
- 47:33that it's easy to get in and out of, and it is popular.
- 47:37But I noticed they started doing something that royally irritated me.
- 47:43And it's happened, I think, twice in this.
- 47:46Last week was the third time that since I started noticing this,
- 47:50that I pulled up and I'm like, God, please don't let this happen.
- 47:53What they started doing was they have automated kiosks, two
- 47:57different lanes, one for members,
- 47:58one for single car washes that feed into going into the car wash.
- 48:02You know, you select which wash you want.
- 48:05It's all self-serve.
- 48:06It's really nice. It's easy, it's low pressure.
- 48:09But obviously they're trying to push these monthly memberships
- 48:11with their advertising and their signage. It's all very clear.
- 48:14It's very well, you know, spelled out.
- 48:17It's not hard to understand
- 48:19what they started doing a couple of months ago
- 48:23with sending one of their employees out to stand at the automated kiosk.
- 48:27As you pull up and push the buttons for you
- 48:31and and try and talk to you into doing the monthly membership.
- 48:36Now, I hate hard sales
- 48:38and pushy sales, and it irritated me.
- 48:41So this last week when I pulled up, there was nobody out there
- 48:45or somebody had been out there, but they walked back in.
- 48:47I thought, oh, awesome, I'm going to be able
- 48:48to get through and squeeze through
- 48:49without them bugging me to try and push their monthly program and get.
- 48:54Doesn't it happen that they
- 48:56walk back out as I'm then pulling up, I'm like,
- 49:00I'm going to tell them how I feel about this because I'm
- 49:02really kind of insulted
- 49:05that everything is laid out.
- 49:07I understand the monthly program.
- 49:09It's all there in front of me.
- 49:10You have an automated system for me to serve myself.
- 49:13Very easy to hit my button, put my credit card in and just go right.
- 49:17I don't want a sales presentation as I'm going into a car wash.
- 49:21So this guy comes out and he starts to starts to talk.
- 49:25I'm like,
- 49:28let me just say something.
- 49:29I said, this is I'm not trying to be mean.
- 49:32I'm not trying to be, you know, rude or anything like that, I said,
- 49:35but I'm in sales myself, and I'm just going to share
- 49:38for some feedback for you, for your leadership, your management.
- 49:42I find it really offputting for you guys to come out here and push the buttons.
- 49:47For me, when it's an automated system that's very easy to operate
- 49:51and try and talk me into a monthly program.
- 49:54It's a hard sales tactic.
- 49:56It's a very pushy sales tactic, and it's really off putting to the point
- 49:59where I'm probably not going to come back to this car wash.
- 50:03And of course, he he kind of froze and
- 50:08I'm like, I'm not trying to be mean to you.
- 50:10I'm because I understand he's probably doing this
- 50:14because his boss told him this is what the program is
- 50:16now, what they have to do is they're trying to get sales goals.
- 50:19Right. I get this.
- 50:21And so Steve, no joke.
- 50:24His response, his response was,
- 50:28well, we understand, but we're just trying to really push the monthly program
- 50:31and let people know how they can save money.
- 50:34But he literally use the words push this program.
- 50:39Oh man. Yes.
- 50:42My jaw dropped.
- 50:43I'm like,
- 50:44did you just hear what you said and what I just said?
- 50:48And he kind of looks at me blankly again.
- 50:50I'm like, I don't want you pushing a program on me.
- 50:54I go to the car wash maybe once every six weeks.
- 50:56That program is not going to save me any money.
- 50:59He wasn't actively listening.
- 51:02I had a similar experience I can throw out real quick recently.
- 51:05Just as an example is, we have, you know, I mow our own lawn.
- 51:09You know, we don't have a huge lawn, but we do have a company that comes out
- 51:13and treats it like, I think, twice a year, you know, so nothing crazy.
- 51:17So they contacted me.
- 51:19We've been using them for years, for just for the treatment on that side of things.
- 51:23They contacted me and they're trying to get more business
- 51:26for the actual mowing and landscaping and everything else.
- 51:29And so I told him, I'm mow my own lawn.
- 51:32And I mean, just verbatim, I can tell they're reading from a script.
- 51:36And so after I say I mow my own mind, they're telling me how
- 51:40they can save me money compared to who I'm currently paying to have do it.
- 51:45And so again, just going back to, you know, you're not listening at all.
- 51:48You're just responding just to respond.
- 51:50And, honestly, I it got to the point.
- 51:54I told them no three times and they're still telling me how,
- 51:57you know, they can save me money or whatever the case is, to the point
- 52:00where I canceled my other service with them.
- 52:02Oh, I'm not,
- 52:04you know, it's it's not something that I want to go through and everything else.
- 52:07So, I mean, we all have examples like that.
- 52:10And so just think of that mindset as you're talking to people,
- 52:13you know, is, is is if you were if roles were reversed,
- 52:17you know, would you how would you feel about how you're,
- 52:20how you're you're taking this conversation.
- 52:22Right.
- 52:22And if you want to feel good about it, then you're probably doing
- 52:26something wrong.
- 52:27And I would adjust, you know, that approach.
- 52:29But, you know, just put yourself in the other person's shoes and,
- 52:32and I think that goes a long way
- 52:34in the mentality behind the sales side of things for sure.
- 52:38Keys. Yeah.
- 52:38That ended up costing them money.
- 52:40Yeah.
- 52:41It's not it's not a ton of money on their side.
- 52:43But you know, it's the opposite of what they were looking for.
- 52:46And and so there's little fans can really and and you know I'm going to be out
- 52:50in the community if somebody says, hey do you know somebody that can do this?
- 52:54My answer is probably going to be like, well, I tell you who not to use.
- 52:57Yeah.
- 52:58So it actually can work against you even beyond that one customer.
- 53:02So just be just be conscious of those conversations.
- 53:04Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.
- 53:06Steve, thank you so much for taking time this week to to join us.
- 53:10Just always enjoy having you on and sharing your knowledge,
- 53:13with, with those that are watching, listening and trying to, to develop their,
- 53:17their business development as well.
- 53:19So thank you. Yes, thanks for having me.
- 53:21I always enjoy kind of talking through the the sales and marketing side.
- 53:25So hopefully that helps everybody.
- 53:27And if there's any any follow up questions I'd love to know afterwards as well.
- 53:31Yeah.
- 53:32If somebody wanted to reach out to you or how can they get Ahold of you?
- 53:37Probably the easiest way to reach me is just by email.
- 53:39So it's just Steve@wowvideotours.com
- 53:42and, I'd be glad to to help out where I can.
- 53:45Yeah.
- 53:46So feel free.
- 53:46Or if you want because we always repeat this email.
- 53:50Just email hello@spiro.media and just say
- 53:53hey I'd love to get in contact with Steve and we can put you in contact
- 53:56with Steve as well.
- 53:57So yeah.
- 53:58All right.
- 53:58Well Steve thank you. Appreciate it.
- 54:01Yes. Thank you.
- 54:02Yeah. Enjoy your weekend. Yes.
- 54:04yes, thank you. you too.
- 54:05For those of you watching listening again thank you for making the time.
- 54:08If you found value in this obviously we always appreciate a like,
- 54:12you know, on, on the YouTube channel,
- 54:15feel free to leave any comments, things that you've learned that might help
- 54:18somebody else in, in a different market.
- 54:21We, we love the community building and just sharing of ideas
- 54:24and things like that.
- 54:25But yeah, we appreciate you guys.
- 54:27Hopefully you found value in that is if you're struggling
- 54:29a little bit with getting your, your, business development effort going.
- 54:33Lots of creative ideas out there.
- 54:36But ultimately it all boils down to consistency and relationship. So.
- 54:41All right, you guys have a great week.
- 54:42Make sure you take some time,
- 54:44especially as we head into the busy season here, to, you know, just be thankful
- 54:48for the blessings in your life and make sure you take a breath as well.
- 54:52Have a great week.
- 54:53Thank you for joining us for the Spiro Podcast,
- 54:56managing your real estate, photography and videography business.
- 54:59This is a production of Spiro and Wow video Tours.
- 55:03You can find out more about Spiro
- 55:05is Real Estate Media Business management software at our website.
- 55:09Spiro.media.