Transcript PRESENTATION TITLE IN BOLD CAPS GOES HERE

DOUBLE YOUR BUSINESS
BY BOUNCING A BALL!
Sabrina Jones-Schroeder
Franchisee
EXIT Real Estate - Jones & Associates
The LA Law Plan
So there I was on my way
to becoming Susan Dey of
LA Law, when I realized I
hate practicing law. What
to do? What to do? What
to do?
“I want to sell real estate, but
I’ve got to make as much as a
lawyer would!”
So I set out a long-term
business plan to make
six figures in real estate
– what I would have
made as an attorney in
Spokane.
Don’t Set The Bar Too Low!
Year after year I set my goal at $100,000-$150,000 income and
for years, I hit at or slightly above or below the goal (except
note 2002 and what I call my breakout year 2007!).
YEAR
GOAL
ACTUAL
2001
$140,000
$120,902
2002 No biz plan! $83,875
2003
$150,000
$110,449
2004
$150,000
$115,333
2005
$100,000
$114,554
2006
$150,000
$113,304
What Happened In 2002?
Emerson Grace
Schroeder – born
February 13, 2003
after 6 weeks of bed
rest and a difficult
pregnancy!
Income Ceiling?!
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•
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•
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•
2001 - $120,902
2002 - $83,875
2003 - $110,450
2004 - $115,333
2005 - $114,554
2006 - $113,305
December 2006 – Business
Planning For 2007
Epiphany:
A sudden manifestation or perception of the
essential nature or meaning of something; an
intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an
event) usually simple and striking
—Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary
Sabrina’s Personal
Epiphany
• In order to make more money, I needed to
set my income goal higher. In order to
make more income, I needed to sell more
houses. In order to sell more houses, I
needed to figure out where to go find
those clients!
Ask Yourself – Where Does My
Business Come From?
First off, to plan where you want to go, you must
track where you have been! Look at your closed
business transactions and figure out from where the
prospects came to you.
Where Do You Go To Get More?
Next, figure out where you can go find more of these
prospects. For me, my business was coming from
my sphere of influence mailing database.
YEAR PRODUCTION
GOAL
INCOME
GOAL
ACTUAL
% OF BUSINESS
FROM SOI
2001
$6,500,000
$140,000
$120,902
80%
2002
No biz plan
No biz plan
$83,875
82%
2003
$6,000,000
$150,000
$110,449
89%
2004
$6,000,000
$150,000
$115,333
84%
2005
$4,000,000
$100,000
$114,554
87%
2006
$6,000,000
$150,000
$113,304
90%
2007
$6,000,000
$150,000
$191,637
91%
2008
$9,500,000
$200,000
???
???
My Bouncing Ball!
• Clearly my business was coming from people I knew
(either directly or as referrals), friends and family, past
clients, agents, etc.
• I had been mailing to my sphere of influence for years,
but not consistently.
• If I wanted to break the income ceiling, I had to beef up
my direct mail campaign – go get more business from
where I was getting business!
Step One: Create Your Sphere Of
Influence Database
• You must take the time (and it may take an entire
day) to pull together a list of names for your
database.
• Consider using an Excel spreadsheet.
• Consider who all should be on the list.
Who Should Make Up Your
Mailing List?
• Friends and family
• Past clients
• Acquaintances
• Community organizations, church contacts, etc.
• People with whom you do business
NAR Past Client Survey
• 75% of people were happy with their agent.
• 74% said they would buy from the same agent again.
• Only 9% actually bought from their same agent 3 years
later.
• Only 10% could recall the real estate agent’s name after
3 years.
• All could recall the company name.
Step Two: Create A Direct
Mail Campaign Plan
• Mail something to your sphere of influence at least
once a month, if not more
• What are you going to mail?
• When are you going to mail it?
Sabrina’s Direct Mail
Campaign Plan
• January
1. Newsletter: personal update, market update,
lender update & home maintenance tips
2. Final HUD to all closed clients from previous year
• February - Home By Design magazine
• March – Spring postcard
Sabrina’s Direct Mail
Campaign Plan
• April
1. Newsletter
2. Seed Packets
3. Home By Design magazine
• May – Home inventory checklist with copy of
personal brochure
• June – Home By Design magazine
Sabrina’s Direct Mail
Campaign Plan
• July – Newsletter
• August – Home By Design magazine
• September – Back to school postcard
• October
1. Newsletter
2. Home by Design
magazine
Sabrina’s Direct Mail
Campaign Plan
• November – Thanksgiving postcard
• December
1. Magnet calendar
2. Home By Design magazine
3. Holiday card and letter
For a grand total of 18 mailings!
Step Three: Create Your Mail
Pieces
• Get creative!
• You don’t have to be fancy
• Outsource – EXIT Promo Shop, Home by Design
• Group orders create buying power and more
affordable pieces e.g., our office group orders seed
packets and magnets
Postcards
Spring Seed Packets
Newsletter
Home Inventory Checklist
Personal Brochure
Annual Client Appreciation
Event
Annual Calendar Magnet
Annual Holiday Cards
Custom Magazine
Step Four: Follow Your Plan!
• Again, outsource what you can ($10 per hour
assistant to stuff envelopes, label and hand address
mailings).
• Check them off your list as you go.
• If you miss a month, make up next month with two
mailings.
Step Five: Watch The Ceiling
Crash Down!
Once you become consistent and persistent in your
mailings to your sphere of influence, stand back and
watch your income ceiling come crashing down as
your business soars!
Breaking Through My Personal
Income Ceiling In 2007!
2007 income goal of $200,000 (production goal
of $8,000,000)
I made $191,637 income!
$8,000,000 sales production
(surpassing my highest year
by $2,000,000)!
How Many Should Be In Your
Database?
How many do you think I had in mine after 18 years
in the business?
500?
1000?
2000?
Believe it or not –
only 150!
“But, It’ll Cost A Lot!”
• Printing full pages (newsletter, personal brochure,
etc.) -$.15 per page
• Postcards - $.51 each mailed
• Seed packets - $.39 each
• Magazines - $3.09 each mailed
• Calendar - $.41 each
• Holiday cards - $.19
(Costco)
Sabrina’s Annual Budget:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
January - $108
February - $463.50
March - $76.50
April - $121.50 + $463.50
June - $463.50
July - $108
August - $463.50
September - $76.50
October - $108 + 463.50
November - $76.50
December - $124.50 + 91.50 + $463.50
Total: $3,780
OK, Do The Math
An investment of $3,780 created production in
excess of $4,000,000 = $80,000 additional take home
income for me in 2007!
I couldn’t afford not to do this!
It May Seem Old Fashioned,
But . . .
Many speakers out there today will tell you that
refrigerator magnets are old school real estate,
but given they generated $4,000,000 additional
business for me, I’ll be old fashioned every day of
the week!
Conclusion
It’s a touchy market out there, but do you think there
are people making money in real estate? Absolutely!
It can be YOU if you treat your business like a
business, get off your duff and go to work, and yes,
get out there and have a ball with your sphere of
influence!
Thank You So Much!