As CEO of Your Coach, an international coaching and training company, Tom Ferry has been helping real estate professionals grow a prosperous business for more than 25 years. The renowned speaker and best-selling author of Life! By Design, Ferry has helped more than half a million people with their business goals.
Ferry recently led the Homes.com webinar, “The Rich and The Rest…The Distinctions of High Performance Selling,” where he shared his years of industry insights and the latest trends in lead generation, marketing and conversion.
“It’s an interesting time to be in real estate; arguably, one of the most fascinating markets ever,” Ferry says. “In 18 months there will be a new president in the U.S., and every time that happens, the market begins to adjust. Now is the time to be building your business and be aggressive.”
That means real estate agents have an 18-month window to cash in, so it’s the perfect time to seal up the holes in your business and grow as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Market Competition
Every agent worries about the competition, but Ferry notes that when he looks at NAR numbers and what agents are truly doing, he doesn’t think the competition is as steep as people think. With just a few adjustments to one’s business strategy, anyone can dominate his or her marketplace.
Consider that 54 percent of real estate agents made less than $50,000 last year. Only 21 percent of agents made $100,000 or more, 5 percent made $250,000 or more, and 1 percent made $1 million or more. “What group do you want to be a part of?” Ferry asks. “The market has created the rich and the rest, the haves and have-nots, those doing the right thing and those talking about doing the right thing. You can continue to do what you’ve always done or what if you simply did more of what the best agents did? Stop romanticizing about how you do it and focus on what the rich do.”
The truth is, 87 percent of the industry turns over every five years, and Ferry blames that high number on agents not doing what the best people do. As the old saying goes, “Success leaves clues.” That’s why he has made it his life’s mission to study what the best people do and replicate it.
“The very best aren’t looking for that shiny penny; the very best keep it simple,” he says. “They focus on closing the gap.” To close this gap, Ferry believes it’s important to know your motivation and understand why you want to build your business. You’re not going to do the work required unless you know what motivates you—be it family, power, control, prestige, etc.
Growth comes from consistent, relevant lead generation and great conversion.
The Formula
The challenge for most agents is spending enough time on growth and lead generation. According to Ferry, real estate is a numbers game, so it’s necessary to know how many people you need to reach each day in order to meet your contact quota. Let’s say you want to sell 24 houses a year. Ferry explains that you need to take your goal number, multiply by 50 (contacts/conversations), divide by 10 (months—because no agent works 12 months a year) and divide by 24 (days). Following these numbers, you would need to connect with five sources each day to achieve your goal. This could mean talking to five people in your database or meeting them at an open house. Not every one of these contacts will buy a house, but over time, for every 50 people you contact, on average, one will do a deal with you.
The Role of Technology
Today’s consumers demand transparency and an agent must use technology to reach potential clients. Because of this, Ferry recommends using multiple platforms to reach consumers, including Facebook advertising, which he says is “killing it right now,” Google PPC, video marketing and email marketing. In addition to this, he reminds agents of the value of texting, saying that 95 percent of people respond to a text in under five minutes.
The Last Word
Finally, Ferry reminds that the rich and successful dream big.
“If you have a goal to make $100,000, you’re not thinking big enough,” he says. “If you can dream a little bit bigger, you can create a plan. Whoever has a plan has a roadmap for success.”
As a final word of advice, Ferry tells agents to “Do something today that your future self will thank you for.”
To learn even more lead generation tips, watch Ferry’s full webinar. For more free real estate education including best practices, visit Secrets of Top Selling Agents. Be sure to sign up for the upcoming webinar, “Never Lose a Listing Again!” featuring Garry Wise and Chris Scott on Wednesday, June 24th at 1 p.m. ET.
