Consult the Coach

Stuart Kaufman, MS, MBA
Real Estate Coach

Stuart Kaufman, MS, MBA is a Real Estate Coach specializing in helping Real Estate agents be more profitable while living a great life. He resides in Washington and is a regular contributor to the Washington REALTOR®. Got a question for the coach? Contact Stuart at coach@stuartkaufman.com or 206-725-1584. I have been working since March, 2004 in the Puget Sound area.

Q: Although I have had a slow but steady sales rate up to now, I really want what most other agents want, new business. I have exhausted my friends and family list and am looking for new contacts. I have already sent out several rounds of postcards, and of course the "just solds" to the neighborhoods, with no response. I really have never had to market myself before and am frankly stumped. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Signed, Frankly Stumped

A: Dear Frankly Stumped:

Thank you for asking the ultimate question! How do I get new business? The answer is to proactively go out and find it. Here are a few solid ideas to get you going:

The most effective way to get new business is to "personally connect" with more people on an ongoing basis; especially people who already know you, like you and trust you. These people are called your "Sphere of Influence". When you personally connect with someone (either by phone or in person), you have the opportunity to build more trust, confidence and value. So who do you want to connect with?

Most of us are connected with people through our families, our jobs and businesses, our hobbies and leisure activities, or our communities. Here are some ideas to begin to expand your contacts and Sphere of Influence:

• Get involved in your kid's school and extracurricular activities (PTA, Boy Scouts, Soccer Team) 
• Actively pursue your favorite hobbies and leisure activities (cycling, hiking, dancing, walking your dog at your local dog-park). Have FUN! 
• Join a professional association (WCR), or a Networking group (LeTip or BNI) or your local Chamber of Commerce. 
• Become an active part of your community (house of worship, political parties, community action).

The possibilities are endless! The most important thing is to get involved with activities that you truly enjoy, that feed your passion, and that enrich your life! So start today and make a written list of the clubs and organizations that you want to join. Then call them and get involved!

Other ideas to help your business move forward faster:

• Start using a Database/Contact Management System (CMS) to help you manage your new "Sphere of Influence" contacts. 
• Learn to comfortably and routinely ask for referrals from your "Sphere of Influence." 
• Find a successful agent in your office, as a mentor, that will allow you to "attach at the hip" and learn everything you can. Remember that if they can do it (be successful in real estate), so can you! 
• Hire a Real Estate Coach to help you stay focused on developing your Sphere of Influence, and getting consistent referrals from your Sphere.

Q: I have been selling real estate for almost two

years now, and I don't do a good job of organizing my contact information. I have names on scraps of paper, yellow sticky notes, and assorted word documents. I know that I need to be using a database to keep track of client information. But, I don't know which one to get or how to select one. What do you suggest?

Signed, Highly Disorganized

A: Dear Highly Disorganized:

I recommend that you use the Database/Contact Management System (DB/CMS) that will best meet your needs! So the first step is to identify what you want your DB/CMS to do. Here are some criteria you might select.

• Developed specifically for Real Estate Professionals 
• Easy to learn software 
• Tutorial or classes available and affordable 
• Integrates with e-mail, scheduling and task functions 
• Record conversation notes 
• Prints mailing labels 
• Contains a field to prioritize contacts (A, B, C, D) based on importance/influence 
• Contains a field to indicate referral source of clients 
• Groups contacts (past clients, networking groups, church groups, etc) 
• Tracks mailings to contacts 
• Tracks important contact dates (anniversaries, birthdays) and be reminded of these dates automatically 
• Tracks the progress of each transaction and helps organize the workflow 
• Fields can be customized 
• Cost (purchase price, monthly fees)

Talk to other agents in your office and see which DB/CMS they are using and why they like it.

Once you have identified what you want your DB/CMS to do, go shopping, with your list in hand, and compare the various systems. Finally, purchase and start using the system ASAP! Many of my clients hire a part time administrative person or high school student to do the initial data entry in their DB/CMS.

For a comparison of some of the more popular DB/CMS systems, go to my website for a special report. www.GetYourSphereInGear.com