Friday, August 18, 2006

Inspirational words

Here are a few more stories from agents whose persistence and patience with a new, Internet-based marketing strategy has paid off. They didn't start out as believers, but their results now speak volumes.

These are comments made on the HouseValues Mastermind Forum in response to other agents who were early in their experimentation with Internet leads.

Rose Costas - Vidal Ultima Real Estate Services, Austin, TX
“I know there are a lot of you out there who like me might be really close to giving up. I joined JustListed in mid-January of 2005 and started getting 3 leads per month as promised. I followed the system- sent info or delivered if local, called if there was a number and kept sending e-mails. I had a few leads that seemed interested but always changed their mind about buying or moving here. I almost cancelled when I had made no sales the first year but then last month I got a local lead that immediately responded to me and told me they needed help leasing their warehouse before they could buy. I had never done a commercial property before but I decided to give it a try. I just leased their warehouse last week and last night helped them put a contract on a new home. They want me to help them sell their duplex next so I"ll be busy with that. If I had cancelled the JustListed leads I would have given up over $10,000 in total commissions.”


Cher Dyle - RE/MAX Properties NW Park Ridge, IL
“Just a note to let you know about our latest listing which is a 16 month old HouseValues lead. When the lead came in, the "requestor" asked that no contact be made with her mother who stilled lived in the house. Looked like mom would be moving to a care facility and the family would be selling her home. Well, we did as she asked and actually was able to establish a nice rapport with this daughter but when it came to list, another daughter chose "a friend" to list them. We were disappointed but "on to the next one" was our thought...we kept the daughter on a drip campaign and even sent a blast e-mail to our data base about her listing hoping we might have a buyer for it. Well, 90 days passed, the house had been significantly overpriced and didn't sell. The "requestor" e-mailed us again for an updated CMA and we were delighted--it was like hearing from an old friend!"

"2 weeks later, she has power of attorney and we listed the home at our price--70K under their initial list price. So, what do we know...1. people/clients/customers/consumers are often just beginning to think about the process when they come into the system and need info 2. a quick response to them is critical and if you can reach them by phone--you're ahead of the game. 3. being consistant and persistant pays off--even if we hadn't listed her home, we're sure we would have received referrals from her just from the service we provide thru HouseValues and JustListed which is your service to subscribers! We look at our data base and with having many, many leads that are that old or more, we look forward with great anticipation to a windfall of business this year! Thanks for all of your support and advice. We really appreciate being in touch with you for sharing ideas/coaching and all of the information we gleam from the Mastermind calls. Two new mantras for the new year: Abundance Abounds! and Keep Moving Forward!”

Trisha Quigley - Executive Real Estate, Inc. Seattle, WA
“Don't give up. It takes a while to work them but all of a sudden it will pay off. I have closed over 20 JustListed and HouseValues people in my first year. This year I have already closed two listings from HouseValues, (one I sold last year from JustListed) and 3 JustListed people.”