Selling Soulfully with Jennifer Allan

I believe that every real estate agent who wants to be the best thing to happen to their clients (thus generating a steady supply of new clients throughout their careers) should invest in and commit to a real estate-specific contact management system. No, not to send out cheesy drip-mails to their nearest and dearest every two weeks, but to maximize the likelihood that everyone they know thinks of them fondly when the subject of real estate comes up in their day-to-day wanderings.

On Tuesday, October 18th, I did a teleseminar show in the SWS Virtual Studio on the subject, and discussed several ways contact management can be used to help a real estate agent enjoy the success they dream of. At the end of the show, I asked attendees to send me at least one thing they learned that would help them achieve that - and below are the results of that poll!

Favorit-est Tip #1
Create checklist (or Action Plan) templates for your transactions, specifically, your Active Listings, your Buyers-Under-Contract and your Listings-Under-Contract. Every time you enter into a transaction, apply the appropriate template and voila! Your transaction-specific to-do list auto-populates into your daily task list so nothing slips through the cracks! (you can see samples of mine in my VIP Lounge here.)

Favorit-est Tip #2
Print out a list of your "Group One's" (your social network) every quarter and work your way through the list, making personal contact with a few each week. Each week, different names will "call out" to you from the list, depending on your mood, and by the end of the quarter, you'll have at least attempted to talk to or meet up with everyone on the list. Once you're through the list, print out a new one and start over.

Favorit-est Tip #3
Use your contact management system to REMIND you to do things, not to do them for you! Don't ask your contact management system to DO your staying-in-touch, particularly with your Group One's and your clients. Just set up tasks that will remind you it's time to send a birthday card or a how-ya-doing email or a market status report - then send the greeting card, write up the email or send the report personally.

Favorit-est Tip #4
Every time you have an encounter with someone you know, think of something from your conversation you can follow-up on, and create a task for yourself to do it. For example, if your friend tells you they're job-hunting, set a reminder to call them in a week or two to see how it's going.

If you'd like to read more of my ramblings on Contact Management (exciting stuff, I know), just go here: www.SellwithSoul.com/contact-management.

Thanks to everyone who attended the show and provided their feedback!   

(Maybe THIS post will get me over that 300,000 points mark!)

So, the burning question! Which system do I recommend...?

Well, I'll tell you what I use and therefore, feel comfortable recommending. It's not the only option, obviously; there are gazillions of (well, maybe a few dozen) real-estate-specific contact managers, and I'm sure some of them are fabulous (and I'm equally certain that some of them aren't).

Let me disclaim that I'm not an expert on contact management from a choose-the-best-one perspective. However, I am a bit of a power user of the two "jobs" I believe a contact manager should do well, and I have test-driven enough systems to know that all CMS's are not created equal in performing those two jobs (to read about the two "jobs" I think a CMS should do well, go here.)

I'm using and loving Ixact Contact. It's a Canadian company, but I haven't found anything in it that makes it "foreign" for USA'ers. It does (almost) exactly what I want it to do, (almost) exactly how I want it to do it, without much muss, fuss or extensive learning curve. I've been using it about two months now and have only found a few issues to, complain about gripe about mention to Ixact Contact management, some of which they've already addressed and others are on the list to address. But even these issues are pretty easily worked around in the interim.

What I like about Ixact Contact (well, one of the things) is that it does a lot of things without doing A LOT of things if that makes sense. No, it probably doesn't, so allow me to explain.

Anyone who has used Top Producer is aware of its steep learning curve. But once you've mastered the program, you probably love it because TP will do almost ANYTHING you can think of, if you can just figure out how to make it do it. But that's a big IF for most users. A huge IF. And many new Top Producer users throw up their hands in frustration after a few hours of messing with the program and kick themselves for agreeing to a one year contract on a program they don't understand.

Well, Ixact is what I call "Top Producer OFF Steroids." It does a lot of things, but not so many things that you can't figure out how to do the basics. As a former Top Producer power user, I do get a little befuddled occasionally with Ixact because it doesn't do some obscure thing I want it to do, but I'm realizing that's part of the beauty of it.

Anyway, I've gotten rave reviews from the agents I've sent to Ixact Contact, so I feel pretty good recommending it to anyone who doesn't yet have a contact management solution they're happy with.

It's $35/month (no set-up fee or contract required - woo hoo!). If you'd like to get the Friend of SWS 60-day trial (as opposed to the "regular" 35-day one they offer standardly), just go here.

And, join us on Thursday morning for the first ever SWS Webinar on Using Your Contact Manager to ‘SOI'!" Details and Registration HERE!

THE CONTACT MANAGEMENT WITH SOUL SERIES
Part I - The Unanswered Questions
Part II - The Two Things a Contact Manager Should Do Very Well
Part III - Creating Reasonable Expectations for Your Contact Manager
Part IV - "But I Can't Afford a Contact Management System!"
Part V - Contact Management Pays for Itself - if you use it!
Part VI - Which System do I Recommend?

A few days ago, I posted a blog about how I don't buy the argument that a real estate agent can't afford to purchase a contact management system because that extra $10 or $20 or $35 or $39/month just ain't in the budget. You can read it here.

Today I'll be a little more upbeat and a little less preachy and explain why I made the claim in the above-noted blog that good Contact Management can and should pay for itself, many times over.

There are two general ways a CMS pays for itself, both, not coincidently, based on the two general things I believe a contact manager should do Very Well (those would be contact management and conTRACT management).

Managing Your Contacts
First, a CMS should enable you to create and maintain a database of everyone you know. But it's what you do with that database that will make you money.

What can you do with your database to make money?

You can remember and acknowledge birthdays of the people you know. You can print out a list of your Group One (your social network) and ask two people from that list to lunch every week. You'll have a handy place to enter the contact information of new people you meet and add them to your go-to-lunch-or-coffee activities or send them your monthly mass-email and annual calendar. You can take notes on conversations you've had with friends and acquaintances and set a reminder to follow-up with them in a week or two to "see how it went" (whatever the "it" is).

Simple simple stuff! Yet, without a contact manager, even a rudimentary one, most of these easy, friendly, stay-in-touch activities simply won't get done. And I guarantee you'll forget all about 90% of the people you're meeting out there in the world...and they'll forget about you. A year goes by... and two... and three... and then you wake up one morning and realize you've lost thousands of dollars in commissions because you lost touch with most of the people you know, and never followed-up with all those people you've met. You didn't mean to, of course, but without a CMS, it's tough to do even a marginally good job of keeping track of those Very Important People In Your Life who can send you business.

If you don't have (and use) a CMS, I'll bet $100 that you've lost over $10,000 (at least) in potential paychecks every year you've been a real estate agent. Probably more.

Managing Your Contracts
The second way a CMS will pay for itself is by helping you stay on top of your transactions - that is - conTRACT management. And this will pay for itself in multiple ways as well!

When you're on top of your business, your clients are being well-taken care of - and they will notice! When you do the things you promised to do when you promised to do them; when you contact your client with updates before they have to contact you; when you head off problems before they even arise; when you always appear to be on top of their transaction - you'll have yourself one (or a dozen) impressed client(s) who will be delighted to spread the word of your impressiveness to the world.

But what's really sweet about having and using good conTRACT management is that you won't screw up - at least - not nearly as much as you might without it. When you have fully customized checklists and action plans keeping you on track, things don't slip through the cracks. And when things don't slip through the cracks, you don't have to open your checkbook to fix problems nearly as often. For example, once I got to pay for a thorough housecleaning on my listing after the seller moved out because he "forgot" to do it. So, my Listing-Under-Contract checklist now includes "Verify that seller has arranged cleaning after move-out."

Another time, I got to write a check because I hadn't verified that the HOA fee advertised in the MLS was correct... and it wasn't. We didn't find out until we were all sitting at the closing table and my buyer was, to put it mildly, annoyed. The listing agent (who made the error) wouldn't ‘fess up to his mistake, so it fell to me to make things all better. Which I did, to the tune of over $500. Now, right there on my Buyer-Under-Contract checklist is a line that says "Verify the HOA Fee."

So, the moral of these stories is to assure you that if you commit to using a contact management system in your business, it will pay for itself. Over and over. I promise.

THE CONTACT MANAGEMENT WITH SOUL SERIES
Part I - The Unanswered Questions
Part II - The Two Things a Contact Manager Should Do Very Well
Part III - Creating Reasonable Expectations for Your Contact Manager
Part IV - "But I Can't Afford a Contact Management System!"
Part V - Contact Management Pays for Itself - if you use it!
Part VI - Which System do I Recommend?

p.s. On January 27th, there will be a live webinar in the SWS Virtual Studio on the topic of using a contact manager to, well, make money! Unlike previous such programs, this will be a show-n-tell demo (that is - there will be visuals associated with the show) where I'll demonstrate various ways you can use a contact management system to get in touch and stay in touch with your sphere of influence. Details and registration here: www.sellwithsoul.com/cms2. I'll be using Ixact Contact for the demo, but the principles will likely apply to any contact management system you already use or are considering.

First things first... I'm an old married woman as of Saturday! Yay!

Second things next... hoping today's blog puts me over the 300,000 points mark...

And now onto today's message...

After my first contact management teleseminar show on January 6th, I got a bunch of emails from attendees telling me they appreciated my passion for contact management, but simply couldn't afford it right now. Many asked if I knew of a system that was free or very low cost since, they reiterated, they couldn't afford an additional $35/month.

$35/month.

Okay, I totally 100% understand that times are tough. That budgets are tight. That every dollar coming into the household (or not, as the case may be) must be accounted for and spent wisely. Oh, how I get that and frankly, I'm proud of my listeners that they aren't just jumping on a bandwagon to spend spend spend just ‘cause I told them they should buy something!

BUT

Two things.

First, you should never purchase a system, tool or program that will not cover its cost, either in hard dollars or by saving you time (with which you can go out and earn some hard dollars). I will never recommend that you purchase anything for your business that won't, at the very least, pay for itself (assuming you use it), with the goal, of course, being that it pays for itself many times over.

So, rest assured that when I recommend that every real estate agent purchase a good contact management system, I do so with the expectation that they will make money from their investment.

Second (brace yourself, this might sting a little), you are in business for yourself. You are self-employed. You made the leap of faith into selling real estate knowing (hopefully) that you would no longer be protected by that regular-salaried, benefits-included, vacations-paid J  O  B you left. Selling real estate professionally is not a hobby. It's not (hopefully) a side gig that you do because you have a little spare time. It's your career; it's your profession. And it's up to YOU and YOU only to invest in the tools you need to be successful. And if you're at the point where $35/month breaks the budget, it might be time to re-evaluate whether or not you're doing the right thing by you and your family by being self-employed at this time.

Oh, sure we all have tight months - myself included - where we truly don't know where the money's gonna come from to pay for our Rainmaker blog or send out that month's marketing postcard or, shoot, feed the dogs. But that shouldn't be your reality month-to-month-to-month. If it is, it may be time for a little soul-searching. But that's a topic for a different day.

Back to contact management, is that $35/month you'll pay for contact management the magic bullet? No, not at all. ‘Specially if you don't use it! Do you HAVE to have Contact Management to survive as a real estate agent? Again, no, not at all. But in this gal's opinion, having good contact management in place can change your professional life and should be on your list of investments to make in yourself and your business, preferably sooner than later.

Next time, I'll expand on what I mean by contact management paying for itself...

THE CONTACT MANAGEMENT WITH SOUL SERIES
Part I - The Unanswered Questions
Part II - The Two Things a Contact Manager Should Do Very Well
Part III - Creating Reasonable Expectations for Your Contact Manager
Part IV - "But I Can't Afford a Contact Management System!"
Part V - Contact Management Pays for Itself - if you use it!
Part VI - Which System do I Recommend?

p.s. On January 27th, there will be a live webinar in the SWS Virtual Studio on the topic of using a contact manager to, well, make money! Unlike previous such programs, this will be a show-n-tell demo (that is - there will be visuals associated with the show) where I'll demonstrate various ways you can use a contact management system to get in touch and stay in touch with your sphere of influence. Details and registration here: www.sellwithsoul.com/cms2. I'll be using Ixact Contact for the demo, but the principles will likely apply to any contact management system you already use or are considering.

Okay, picking up from yesterday's blog about using contact management to Sell with Soul, let's talk today about creating reasonable expectations for your contract management system (aka CMS).

There's a natural desire among us human being types (‘specially us self-employed creatures) to be as efficient as we can with our money and our time, and, apparently, the space in our purses or pockets. Thus, the evolution of the All-in-One printer/scanner/fax/copier/sandwich-maker, the smart phone data device and yes, the contact management system.

I wrote a blog last month about how I tossed my Palm Pre smart phone out the window and went back to having two devices - one to make phone calls and one to handle emails when I'm on the road. After trying out several all-in-one devices that promised the world, I found that, fancy as they were, none of them did much of anything to my satisfaction. Once I fired back up my old LG flip phone and my vintage Blackberry Curve, my life improved exponentially. I've never looked back!

Well, I think it's the same with Contact Management. Most claim to provide a kitchen-sink level of features and services; from email management to newsletter creation to market snapshots to CMA's to contract preparation.

Impressive.

But I'm not impressed. All these extraneous features, in my experience, are clunky and imperfect. Yes, they will do newsletters, but, oh wait, the ability to track opens or include your fancy signature isn't available yet, but will be in the next upgrade "sometime next year!" Yes, it will create a CMA for you, but not in all markets and, no, that particular report isn't available, but will be in the next upgrade! Yada yada yada.

Here's the thing. We claim to be professionals; therefore, it only makes sense that we choose to use the BEST systems, tools and programs to run our businesses. And it's highly unlikely that one system, tool or program can possibly be the BEST at everything you need a system, tool or program to do for you.

A CMS is simply one tool to help you run your business, and, as described in yesterday's blog, it needs to do contact (and conTRACT) management Very Well. If you can find a CMS that you are happy with in those two areas, you're golden.

Don't expect it to do everything else for you - does a surgeon have only one-size scalpel? Does your family doctor only prescribe one drug? Does your hairstylist only have one pair of scissors?

No, and as professional real estate agents we should search out and commit to having the best tools and systems, both to build our businesses with and to serve the clients we're honored to be hired by.

If I were selling real estate today, here are the various tools/systems/programs I would have, all (or most) provided by different companies:

• Contract preparation software
• Remote document-signing software
• Off-line MLS software
• A contact manager to keep track of my SOI and manage my transactions
• A mass-email/newsletter program
• A CMA program
• A listing presentation "program" (this would just be Microsoft Word and Publisher)
• A Blackberry or other mobile data device
• A good cell phone, separate from the Blackberry
• An internet aircard, in addition to my cable internet at home
• A good printer
• A scanner (hopefully I could use the one at my office when I need high-level scanning capabilities)
• A GPS
• A website with IDX and lead capture
• A blog (or two or three or twelve)

Do all these systems/tools/programs cost money? Yep. Most anyway. Am I made of money? Nope. Not these days. But they are the tools of my trade, so it's my duty to have them.

And that's the subject of an upcoming blog - "But what if I can't afford...?!"

Until next time...!

THE CONTACT MANAGEMENT WITH SOUL SERIES
Part I - The Unanswered Questions
Part II - The Two Things a Contact Manager Should Do Very Well
Part III - Creating Reasonable Expectations for Your Contact Manager
Part IV - "But I Can't Afford a Contact Management System!"
Part V - Contact Management Pays for Itself - if you use it!
Part VI - Which System do I Recommend?