Build Your Database:
Part 4 of the series “Your First 30 Days in Real Estate”
So, as you progress in your first thirty days as a new Real Estate agent, only read this if you have done Step One, Step Two and Step Three (see what I did there?) You have got to build your database. In other words, your database is the people that you’re going to market to, that you’re going to prospect to, that you’re going to reach out to, that you’re going to provide value to, and that over time you’re going to hopefully cultivate relationships with. Starting now, if you’re a new real estate agent start collecting the contact information. Names, cell phone numbers, email address, mailing address of every person you can think of. The bigger your database, the more successful you’ll be.
Start With Personal Contacts
Real estate is the most personal business in the world, so where are you going to start? People that know you best, your friends, your family. You want to get to work, immediately, on making sure that they know that you’re a real estate pro, you mean business, and you want their business. There’s no worse feeling in the world than you just got your real estate license, you just passed your test, and your best friend sells their house with some other agent. Usually, it’s because they didn’t know you had your license. It’s not because you’re new. More often than not, the reason that you won’t get familiar business is because they did not know what you did for a living. How would they know? You’ve got to tell them. You cannot be afraid to let everybody in the world know what you do for a living. Collect a database.
CRM Database
Talk to your broker and see what sort of database collection software they might have. If they don’t have anything they might recommend or they give you different ideas, there’s lots of CRMs out there. There’s even some that are free that you can integrate into Gmail. So if you’re a startup and you’ve got no money, start with the free. Then, when you build your empire, start paying for more advanced CRMs.
You guys have seen this in action, right? Have you ever gone to a website and bought something, and then all of a sudden, for the next six years, on a regular basis, you get an email from that company, even though you only bought that one thing six years ago? You’re in their CRM, and they’re going to keep reaching out to you. What you need to understand is you’ve got to stay at the forefront, because real estate is unique. Everybody’s not buying a house today. Everybody’s not selling their house today, but when they do, I need to be at the front of their mind. The only way I can be at the front of their mind is if I’m constantly reaching out. The only way you can reach out is by building your database. You need to start that now. Let me show you how important this is and how personal relationships matter. Remember, real estate’s a numbers game. The more people you reach out to, the more people you talk to about real estate, the more clients you’re going to have.
Let’s just say my conversion ratio is 40:1. For every 40 people I reach out to, one turns into a client. If I wanted to sell 10 houses, how many people do I need in my database? I need 400, right? If I want to sell 100, I need 4,000. The number just gets bigger, and that’s what a database is all about. What people will tell you is the reason they pick a real estate agent is because they’re somebody they know, it’s a personal friend, or they were referred from somebody. In your first 30 days, your goal is just to get that first client. You can build an empire in one client. Check out these stats: If you want to know where people find their real estate agents, in the 2015 profile of home buyers and sellers from NAR, 73% of sellers used an agent that was referred to them by a friend or family or was an agent they’d worked with before. 61% of buyers work with an agent that a friend or a family member referred to them. Immediately get to work on your friends and family and get them to understand and take you seriously as a real estate professional. Your friends and family alone can help you build your business.
For example, your Aunt Mae might have a friend who is selling her house, and she gives them her nephew’s business card. You’re off and running. So in your first 30 days, your goal is to build your database, get it in an organized system, and then really start working, reaching out to friends and family and making sure that they know that you’re a real estate professional.
Get them to take you seriously.
The fact that you’re new does not matter as much as the fact that they don’t know what you do. I can’t hire you if you don’t ever tell me you got a real estate license. Your name is now “Jane, Realtor” or “Jane, Real Estate Broker.” Me, when I was highly active in pursuing new business, “Chris Donaldson, Realtor”, like automatic clockwork. Not because I’m shoving it in your face, because I just want to make sure you know what I do for a living. Believe me, that matters.
So, start building your database with as many people as you can get in there as possible. Even if you have the most beautiful marketing piece ever made for real estate, and you are the greatest graphic design artist ever, if you don’t have a database who are you going to send it to? Who’s going to read it?
Your goal is to build your database in your first 30 days.
If you’ve got a scanner, and a stack of business cards from all the people that you’ve collected over the years, run them through your scanner. Get them into a program. Each one of those is a potential client. Referrals and personal relationships are what real estate’s all about. Start with your friends and family, and then build your database. Everybody wants to jump to step eight, but you’ve got to start systematically at step one, which is really these five keys to do in your first 30 days.
If you saw something in there you can use, please make sure to reach out and let me know. Hit me up on Twitter, #OfficeHours. Hit us up on Facebook, #OfficeHours. If you’ve got questions or curiosities, a specific question that you’d like to ask, that’s the fun. Email your question, officehours@donaldsoneducation.com. Love to hear from you. There’s nothing like being able to give you the value you deserve by answering any burning questions that you have.