Database Conversion

database: increase the size of your database. This week I wanted to follow that up with increasing closings by increasing your conversion ratio. The goal should be 10% of your database closes or refers a closing to you.

There is a lot you could do to increase your conversion but I think it comes down to 2 key elements: Relationships & Being Top of Mind.

Relationships

Gary Keller said, “Your database is your business. Building up the number of names in it and a relationship with those names is really at the very core of what building a real estate business is all about.”

So, your business is how many people you know and the relationship you have with those people.

I think the bar for a relationship is that someone knows, likes, and trusts you.

We often think that we need to have amazing relationships with people or be good friends to get deals. I think if they know us, like us, and trust us then they will do business with us.

A study done in 1973 by Stanford sociologist Mark Granovetter looked into how men in the US got their jobs. He found that a person’s weak ties - their casual connections and loose acquaintances - were more helpful than their strong ones in securing employment. Well, as real estate agents, our employment is helping people buy and sell houses. I think the weak ties theory holds true, to find our next closing, we should reach out to our weak ties.

“Weak ties connect you to networks that are outside of your own circle,” said Granovetter. This is a key to referrals.

The takeaway here is even if you don’t have a strong relationship with someone, it doesn’t mean they can’t be your next transaction or your next person to give you a referral. They just need to know you, like you, and trust that you will do a good job.

Go call someone you were friends with 10 years ago and make that connection.

Top of Mind

Agents always joke that you can’t be a “secret agent.” You need to put yourself out there. Posting on social media is usually the first thought new agents have. I think it needs to be more than that.

I’ll give you a good example of a bad example: Breaking Bad. If you wanted to do something very illegal - like start cooking meth - who would you call to either give you advice or point you to a person more sketchy than they are? Walt called Jesse. Jesse was top of mind as someone connected with the drug world.

Do that same concept with real estate (minus the illegal, sketchy things). If someone has any questions about anything real estate-related, what could you do to get thought of first?

To be top of mind, you need to be seen as the person who is most likely to solve the issue or have the answers. The keyword in that sentence is SEEN. You need to show people you are the real estate agent to call (while making sure people know, like, and trust you).

In the 7 Level of the Communication pyramid, you can see the higher you are the more impact you have. That is why you should call leads, referrals, agents when making an offer, etc. Or why you meet with buyers and sellers in person. The more you talk to your database on the phone or in person, the more impact you will leave on them.

(I don’t want you to stop making calls because of my next point because that is not my message). We are trying to stay top of mind. We don’t need to be impactful to stay top of mind (that is where the relationship comes in). So to be top of mind, we can do the bottom layers of the pyramid - emails, mailers, social media, etc.

Consistency is the secret. Decide what you are going to implement and go all in. I would suggest emails or social media (I like emails because you own the database whereas social media’s algorithm could change anytime to negatively impact your business). Then when you have those running like clockwork, aka following your set plan, add in mailers.

 

I think your game plan to convert more of your database to closing or to give you referrals that close should be to run a “marketing” campaign of touches from the informational zone - like emails and/or social media. Do it well and do it often so you stay top of mind. You should have a series of touches in the influential zone - mainly calls and events/seminars - to build the relationship.