Spotlight Podcast

We’ve spent the past several episodes discussing the “Pillars of your Business”. We’ve covered "setting up your CRM", "taking advantage of open houses" to expand your sphere of influence, and "geographically farming" to again, expand your sphere of influence. You’ve got your sphere of influence growing, you’ve got a business plan in place, you’ve got an advertising budget and you’re farming an area. Today we’re going to talk about focused prospecting. How can you maximize your time and energy prospecting to ensure that you get the best results?

We’ve spent the past several episodes discussing the “Pillars of your Business”. We’ve covered "setting up your CRM", "taking advantage of open houses" to expand your sphere of influence, and "geographically farming" to again, expand your sphere of influence. You’ve got your sphere of influence growing, you’ve got a business plan in place, you’ve got an advertising budget and you’re farming an area. Today we’re going to talk about focused prospecting. How can you maximize your time and energy prospecting to ensure that you get the best results?

This week we’re going to continue our discussion on the “Pillars of your Business”, setting up the foundation of what’s required to have that solid foundation for success and growth as a real estate salesperson. Now that you’ve got your sphere of influence setup, you’re actively engaging in open houses and you have some money coming in, the next logical business decision you need to make is where you spend your money to continue your growth. The third pillar that we’re going to be talking about on today’s show is Geographical Farming. There is so much emphasis put on generating leads and maintaining relationships through connected methods like email marketing... but we shouldn’t lose sight of the physical. The tried and true method of farming a geographic area. It’s a method that’s been used by agents for decades, and with good reason. That being said, geographical farming doesn’t have to be limited to the physical, as an agent you can also take advantage of virtual geographical farming.

Today's show was filmed live at CENTURY 21 Canada Conference in Quebec city, and we had the pleasure of talking to both Kristie Cavanagh from Kenora, Ontario and Mark Fagan from St. John's, Newfoundland, both members of Century 21's Future Leader's network. We discuss the future of real estate, technology trends, and more, hope you enjoy the show!

Last week we discussed the first “Pillar of Business” for real estate agents. You sphere of influence… Setting it up and growing it to start cultivating your future sales opportunities. This week we’re going to continue the discussion with the next pillar… Open Houses. Open houses can be a great source of leads generation for all agents, especially for new agents hungry to find business and expand their network. So how do you maximize your effectiveness at open houses and convert people walking through the door into future leads?

Every successful real estate agent, new or old, has a solid business foundation upon which they’ve built their business. This foundation may have been carefully planned and executed when the agent first got into the business, or it may have been carefully curated over time, slowly growing over the course of their career. By establishing solid “Pillars of your Business”, any agent will find the path to success in real estate. It doesn’t matter if you’re fresh to the business, or if you’ve been in the business for 40 years, it always pays to take an introspective look into your business plan on a regular basis, and patch it up as needed. What we’re starting on today’s show is the first part of a multi show segment on establishing the pillars of your business. We’re going to be covering many pillars over the course of many weeks.

Multiple representation in the provinces that still allow multiple representation is being examined with a fine toothed comb. There has been a lot of negative press regarding sales representatives improperly respecting the boundaries between customers and clients in these scenarios. Changes to the rules restricting multiple representation are inevitable, and in Ontario specifically, they’re close to becoming a reality. On today’s show, we’re going to discuss the nature of multiple representation, and how the rules regarding it are about to change. On the back half of the show, we’re going to talk about how Century 21 awards have been presented, and how to take advantage of Online Office and how to present your awards to your sphere of influence in the most optimal way.

The real estate market over the past couple of months has been anything but predictable. We’ve seen drastic price swings in areas as there have been large shifts in supply and demand, especially in many pockets in the Greater Toronto Area. Through the Spotlight Marketing Program, we’ve seen a record number of price changes on listings over the past month, just yesterday, Eryn and I were discussing a listing that came to the market with one price, had a price reduction a week later, and then had a price increase a couple weeks after that. The market can be so price volatile that it can be difficult as a real estate agent to assess the value of a home. When home prices are in constant motion, past sales data from comparable properties may be outdated after even a couple of weeks. So how can you confidently price a home in a market like this?

Real estate agents and their clients rely on professional home inspections to make crucial home purchasing decisions. It’s one of the most common conditions in the offer of purchase and sale for a good reason, you want an expert to look over the large financial commitment your client is making to make sure that they have all of the information available to them before the offer goes firm. But did you know that until recently only BC and Alberta were the only two provinces to regulate Home Inspectors and issue licenses? The Toronto Star phrased this the best…. ‘Anyone with a flashlight and a business card’ can promote themselves as a home inspector across most of Canada. Well, just recently, Ontario passed legislation to start regulating the industry. We’re going to talk about home inspection, and what to be careful of when selecting home inspectors in provinces without (and even with) regulation in place.

You’re a new agent. This business can be daunting to get started in… You’ve got the drive, but little experience, very few leads and the feeling that you’re a fish out of water. Who do you turn to? Brokers, management and trainers are great resources, but what about your peers? Other agents at your office are invaluable assets when starting out in real estate, so how do you leverage them as a resource? On the flip side, if you’re an experienced agent, how can you utilize new agents to help further your business? Mentoring has its benefits for both sides. On todays show we talk about the important of peer networking among your fellow agents and the advantages that this brings.

Advertising on the internet can be a daunting task. Most agents don’t know where to start… Some might first look towards Google and advertising through AdSense, but is that really the best way to spend your money? Social media networks, particularly Facebook, have grown drastically over the past few years on the back of advertising revenue. As it turns out, Facebook is a great platform for generating leads and improving your exposure. But how do you advertise on Facebook, and how do you most effectively spend your money to create those coveted leads? On today's show we talk about paid advertising on Facebook and some strategies all agents should be implementing to get the most out of this social media network. We also discuss recent news coming out of Toronto. To curb the hot housing market in Southern Ontario, the Ontario government has decided to institute a 15 per cent home purchasers tax as well as some policies meant to ease rental affordability in Toronto. We discuss the implications of these po

We all know that farming a neighbourhood can be a great source of leads. We also know that farming an area is tedious, time consuming and can take months or even years before you get any tangible return on that investment. How are you farming your neighbourhood? Door-knocking? Sending out postcards to the area? What about getting involved in the community? Hosting community events, sponsoring community events, volunteering at community events, general networking in the community among residents and businesses. These are all solid ways to enhance your image in the community, but yet many agents avoid getting involved and stick to the more ‘traditional’ farming methods. Today we’re going to talk about the advantages of getting involved in the community, and how it can not only get you more visibility and brand recognition in the neighbourhood, but be personally rewarding as well.

Most agents don’t deal with commercial real estate transactions on a regular basis. Every commercial listing has its nuances, and even agents that specialize in specific types of commercial listings can take years to become experts in their field. Commercial agents deal with niche industries, restricted buyer pools, governmental restrictions and regulation, intricate business financial statements and projections... The information required to deal with all of this can be overwhelming. If you have a seller interested in using you for a commercial transaction, where do you start? Do you try and tackle these hurdles yourself, or is there a more elegant solution. Sit back and listen to our discussion on the topic.

Online reviews have changed the way that consumers shop for products. Whether you’re buying a new TV, renting a room at a hotel you’ve never been to, or dining out at a new restaurant, it’s highly likely that you did your research online before making your purchase. Are there any reviews of the TV online? what’s the hotel’s rating on TripAdvisor? What are people saying about that restaurant on Yelp? This begs the question, what are home buyers and sellers doing online to check on, or compare real estate agents? How do they do their research on you online, and why should you care? We discuss this topic, along with some interesting trends Eryn is seeing at the CENTURY 21 Global conference he's currently attending in Las Vegas.

Saying the real estate market has been hot for the past few years is an understatement. We’ve seen unprecedented growth in most markets across Canada in both volume and housing prices. We’ve also heard for years that we’re creating a real estate bubble that will inevitably burst, however, the market continues to be hot, and despite the doom and gloom, many experts are predicting a more gradual market slowdown. Now that we’re a couple of months into 2017, what is happening in the hot markets in Canada. Are things slowing down? We’ll be discussing the 2017 trends we’ve seen so far, specifically for the Toronto area later in the show. Also coming with the new year is awards season. The Golden Globes, The Grammy’s, and most importantly, Century 21 Real Estate awards are being doled out at both the franchise and the company level. This raises the question, are awards important? Is it just for recognition among your peers, or can you take advantage of awards to further your real estate business?

First impressions are important. But, how important are they when you’re trying to sell a home? It can be tedious and time consuming to renovate or stage a home prior to sale. When the market is hot, and you know the listing is going to sell within days, is it worth the trouble for you or your client to put the effort in to improve the initial opinion of prospective buyers? If you’re going to spend your or your client’s money on staging and renovation, how much do you spend? At some point, the return on investment diminishes, in some cases, there may be no return on investment in the first place. On today’s show we discuss the benefits of staging and renovations, and how best to assess whether or not they are in your and your client’s best interests.

We’ve all heard it over the past 15 years…. Print is dead. Or is it? Online advertising is certainly a powerful tool when used effectively, but print marketing can still be used very effectively. Print marketing is great for selectively farming areas and developing name recognition. Brand marketing can be expensive, and the value of this type of marketing may take months or years to bear fruit. So is it worth the cost? There are endless ways that you can put money into print marketing. On today’s show, we discuss the most effective ways to market yourself through print.

Door knocking… Most agents would love to do just about anything other than door knocking. Homeowners have a built up barrier for any solicitor that comes knocking on their door that you have to penetrate to make this prospecting technique effective. It can be frustrating and demoralizing, but only if you aren’t doing it properly. It turns out that this traditional method of prospecting can be very effective if done properly. It doesn’t have to be tedious, it doesn’t have to be thankless. It can get you a significant number of leads, and maybe even... dare I say it? A little enjoyable.

If you’re listening to this show, there’s a good chance you’re in the real estate industry. Being in this industry, it’s very likely that you or one of your clients have considered investing in real estate. If your client asks you whether or not it’s a good idea to invest in real estate, what’s your answer? Being in sales, it’s probably ‘yes’, but it shouldn’t be so simple. There is a spectrum of types of real estate investments, and some are better suited for your clients than others. So on today’s show, we’re going to be talking about the best ways to tackle real estate investment advice for your clients. Profiling your client to come up with the best advice that’s tailored specifically to them.

It’s almost the end of the year, snow is blanketing a solid chunk of Canada, everyone is rushing about getting ready for the holidays. Naturally, during this time of year, the real estate market starts to slow down. With this drop in business, agents often find that this is the perfect time to organize their business by planning for the new year. Develop a business strategy that will help them increase their earnings in the new year. Maybe this is also a good time to reflect over the previous year and evaluate your business decisions. What did I do right? What did I do wrong? What would I have done differently? On today’s show, we’re going to be talking about just this. Developing your business plan for the upcoming year, and good strategies for deciding where to spend your time, effort and money to best help grow your business. Eryn's Business Plan Template:: http://spotlight.century21.ca/media/blog_media/y6lgG60Jiv.pdf