5 Tips forSupporting Agentsin an “On-Demand” World

Challenges Agents Face:Today’s on-demand consumers expect a nearly real-time response from your agents at all hours of the day.

Consumers prefer a personalized response over one that seems “canned.”

Consumers want to be constantly kept up-to-date during the transaction process.

Just like you, your agents are strapped for time and juggling many day-to-day tasks,so how can you help your agents succeed, and deliver a superior client experience?As a broker, you know that your success depends on your agents’ successes. Providingcoaching and systems to help agents keep up with the demands of today’s consumerscan help you retain top talent and recruit new agents.

Why does a fast response matter?

80% of consumers report that immediate responses to requests influence their loyalty to a given brand.1

In this eBook, we’ll share strategies and best practices from other successful real estate professionals andour own consumer research, to help coach your agents to better serve today’s “on-demand” consumers.

1Salesforce, State of the Connected Consumer Report, 2016

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#1 Make sure your agent’s digital footprint is ready for prime timeWhy? Because consumers are starting their home search journey online, oftentimes weeks before they contact an agent.2 It’s likely that their very first impression of the agent they work with will come from the agent’s digital presence. And the truth is, your agents are a reflection of your brand too. If they don’t make a good first impression online it can not only impact their potential sales, but damage your brand reputation in the process.

Your digital checklist for agents:Start with a quick Google search and check the top hits including links, images and videosSocial media profiles, including Facebook profiles and business pages, Twitter, YouTube and InstagramAgent website and their agent information on the brokerage websiteThird-party websites, like your realtor.com® profile

Audit your agents’ realtor.com® profile statusRealtor.com® was ranked #1 by consumers for how they found their agent.3 So having a complete agent profile is an important part of your agent’s digital footprint. But did you know you can download a report to quickly see how your agents’ realtor.com® profiles stack up? With this report you can quickly assess:

How many of your agents have visible and updated profilesHow complete each agent’s profile isExactly what information is missing

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2NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 20173NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, addendum questions, 2017

This can be a great coaching opportunity in your next 1:1 or team meeting. Learn how to access this report today.You could even make it a contest, and see which of your agents can get their profile complete and get the mostratings reviews, and recommendations in one month.

Agents can log in or create a profile at dashboard.realtor.com.

Tips from the Pros:See how this broker owner coaches his new agents on how to set up their realtor.com® profile.They start by showing new agents what their profile looks like without being complete,and what it should look like. Watch the Video.

Coaching Resources for Your Agents

5 Ways to Take Control Of Your Online Presence

Tip the Scales with Reviews and Ratings

How to Write a Great Bio

#2 Fast response + personalization = WINNING!By now, you know the importance of responding to leads fast, but did you know consumers are actually more likely to work with an agent if they believe their response was personalized to them?

It’s true! In a realtor.com® consumer lead study, 70% of respondents said they received a personalized response, which led to higher overallsatisfaction and a greater likelihood of using the agent.4 The conclusion here? A standard “Hi. I got your message” auto-response won’t cut itwith today’s discerning consumers.

Today’s agents need to not only respond fast, but tailor their lead response to each consumer — but how? They are juggling showings,paperwork and dozens of other tasks. By leveraging smart technology, auto-responses can be personalized with details specific to thelead, like their name or the property they inquired about, to make new leads feel like the response was written just for them.

Tips from the Pros:

Check out Travis Robertson’s two-week lead conversion plan

Join our Facebook Group to get and share ideas with other industry pros

4Realtor.com® Consumer Insights, July 2017

#3 Be persistent: Call, text and email...then do it all again.Successful agents know consistent follow-up is the secret to converting leads. There are dozens of different lead follow-up strategiesout there, but the common theme among them is persistence.

In fact, studies show the odds of making contact improve to 90% after calling six times.5

Track the process We suggest agents try a few follow-up methods and track their results to fine-tune their strategy. The most successful agents haveclearly defined processes and use systems, like a CRM, to log calls, texts and emails and to record detailed notes after each follow-up.

This thorough tracking takes a few additional minutes, but it helps agents to measure their follow-up effectiveness and to build a relationship with the client by capturing important details they can refer back to throughout the lead conversion process.

Still not getting a response? Here are a few practical tips for your agents to connect with those hard to reach leads.1. Keep it short. Don’t send a multi-paragraph email or a lengthy text to someone you don’t yet know personally.2. Include 1 - 3 questions, so they feel compelled to respond.3. When texting, try sending the text to their email address as well.6

Coaching Resources for Your AgentsOptimal Call Approach for Lead Follow-Up6 Emails Every Real Estate Agent Should be Sending

5InsideSales.com Lead Management Response Study, 20096Realtor.com® Results Series Lead Conversion Webinar, 2018

#4 Help your agents showcase their unique valueToday’s consumers are inundated with information. For your agents to stand out, they have to start by showcasing what makesthem unique and demonstrating their expertise as the go-to local market expert.

Exactly what types of local market expertise are important to consumers? Well, we asked and here is what consumers said:7

7RealsuiteSM Consumer Survey, September 2017

Insider Knowledge

Upcoming Building Assesments, HOA Fees, Etc.

Insider Knowledge of Neighbors and Neighborhood

Future Neighborhood Development Plans

New Construction Developments

80%

79%

77%

52%

1000

Market Trends

Recent Sales, Comps

Pricing Trends

Average Days on Market

Recently Sold

86%

85%

79%

62%

1000

8National Association of REALTORS® and Google, The Digital House Hunt, 2013 9Wyzowl State of Marketing Survey, December 201710“27 Video Stats for 2017,” Insivia, 2017

In order for a consumer to want to work with your agents, they haveto both like and trust them. In fact, our consumer research found thatthe top five characteristics that impacted a consumer choosing anagent to work with included:

HonestyLocal market expertiseLikeable personalityPersonal connectionClient recommendations7

Personal, honest and accessible: Why agents should turn to videoAn easy and inexpensive way for agents to connect more personally with leads — without spending their entire day crafting one-on-oneresponses — is to record authentic videos that can help them build trust with these inbound leads and prospects.

Not sure this is the right approach? Consider these quick video stats:

NAR research shows us that 85% of buyers and sellers say they would prefer to work with an agent who does video marketing8

81% of individuals have purchased a product or service after watching a video9

Viewers retain 95% of a message of a video, while they only retain 10% of the text they read10

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Top Factors When Choosing An Agent

Honesty

Local Market Expertise

Likeable Personality

Personal Connection

77%66%

53%42%

100

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0

Reviews and Recommendations 38%PastSales 10%

Here are few ideas for your agents to create great video content:

Introduction video: Add a video to their agent website and realtor.com® profile introducing themselves and demonstrating what makes them different from other agents.

Go live on Facebook or Instagram: Leverage the power of live video or provide a brief analysis of the local market and invite viewers to ask questions.

Host an interview: Sit down with a past client to discuss their home buying/selling, or invite a local mortgage expert to share tips for first time home buyers. BeLive video is a great tool to easily produce split screen interview videos and best of all, many of its features are free! Check it out.

Just Listed/Sold video: Create a video showcasing new listings or recently sold listings.

Video texts: Agents can send a quick, personalized video text introducing themselves to new leads. Here is a great example from ahigh volume agent.

The great thing about video is anyone can do it with relative easy, and it only takes a few minutes. All you need is your camera phone, a few practice takes, natural light, and a winning smile (not required, but encouraged!).

Content Your Agents Can Share With New Leads (and Clients!)The Home Buyer’s GuideThe Home Seller’s Guide

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#5 Provide quality leads and systems to help closeNot all lead sources are equal. Providing high-quality leads can help agents to get in front of serious consumers, can save them time and candeliver greater ROI.

Why choose realtor.com®? SERIOUS HOME SHOPPERS

QUALITY TRAFFIC

MORE ENGAGEMENT

80%of realtor.com® visitors said they are looking topurchase a property11

Average

2 Billion+page views per month13

⅓ of Visitorssaid they weren’t visitingcompeting sites14

1.5X morepages viewed than our closest competitor15

Consumers spendmore time and visitmore pages onrealtor.com® thancompetitor sites.15

Ranked #1by consumers for how theyfound their agent12

11Internal CSAT survey, January-July 2018. 12National Association of REALTORS®, Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers, 2017, addendum questions. 13Internal metrics, average page view January-June 2018. 14comScore Competitor Audience Duplication, March 201715comScore, June 2018.

Contact us to learn about solutions to help your agents growtheir business and turn leads into lifelong clients.

To access the Coaching Resources found in this eBook, visit hub.realtor.com/coaching.We encourage you to share these resources in your blog, newsletter or team meetings.

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