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This week’s Facebook LIVE Real Geeks Mastermind training was all about the numbers. Titled, Understanding Number Tracking, Greg Harrelson and Abe Safa from Century 21 The Harrelson Group brought ratios into focus. In discussing the numbers, Harrelson and Safa agree that the capture to contact ratio is key. Safa defined what lead capture is clearly, "Capturing a lead is when a lead comes in to your Real Geeks account, no matter what the source," he said. Finding ways to improve that ratio will drive your ad spend down.
Harrelson explained that if you're spending $10 a lead in an ad campaign, and capture 100 leads at $10, you’ve spent $1000. If you only capture and talk to 20 of those leads or 20% Your cost per lead contact is $50. “While you can't control the lead cost, you can control whether or not you contact them,” he said. So, if you contact and talk to 60%, your lead cost goes down to about $17.
"If we do it right, right at the beginning, and we make sure we drive our lead cost down, that's going to affect everything," said Harrelson, as he shared how the reduced cost per lead makes way for profit. Harrelson explained that the reason workflows are baked into the Real Geeks system is to optimize these costs. “With workflows,” he said, “we can get it to 60%, if not a little more." Citing an example, Harrelson specifically explained how the drop in lead cost from $250 to $80 could allow for ad spend to be doubled, and therefore increase profits, since that meant ratios were upped by 300%. Safa suggested that agents revisit an earlier Real Geeks Training episode which specifically discussed PPC conversion to truly understand this.
Tracking Numbers for Motivation
Safa and Harrelson agreed that there are many ways to track the numbers and that each agent needs to find what number most motivates him or her. According to Harrelson, any one of these data points and ratios can be improved, and result in greater success. Though the tracking is generally simple math, Eric Robb suggested CTE and SISU as possible tracking tools for further study.
Listed below are several ratios to consider to get you started.
• Capture to contact?
• Contact to appointments?
• Offers written to offers accepted?
• Average price per closing?
• Number of homes shown to a buyer?
• Number of buyers contacted to contracts written?
Remembering What Works
Harrelson and Safa discouraged agents from spending more money without understanding the ratios. The idea that we need to buy more leads to do more business can’t be the answer, they explained. “Instead of thinking of upping our budget, we have to think of optimization.” One of the ways this can easily be done in 2021 is by moving the questions on qualifying to the end of the conversation, and moving appointment and engagement questions to the beginning of the conversation. In an interesting roleplay, Safa and Harrelson showed how easily this switch in order, can result in more appointments and sales.
Harrelson stressed that it’s important to give access and over deliver, rather than reciting information, as buyers are researching on their own. “The studies show that the reason why buyers are calling agents right now is to gain access to the property, not information," he said. "Once we give them what they want. They will reciprocate by answering all of our questions." Harrelson shared that asking this particular question would show respect for the buyer’s intelligence and get them fully engaged, "Are you paying cash or what lender are you already talking to?"
Safa and Harrelson reviewed ways to be more efficient with buyers when showing homes. They suggested asking the same question at all properties and explaining to the buyer that how they answer that question helps the agent find out why or why not they want the property. This reduces timeframe, gives power to the buyer, and shows that the agent cares.
At the end of the segment Harrelson walked through a technique used in Mind Storming by Brian Tracy. Harrelson said agents should think about the process of turning contacts into contracts, and spend 20 minutes writing down as many ideas as possible. At the end of 20 minutes, each agent can take one and put it into action. “Track it for two weeks and find the baseline, and then determine how you can improve that one ratio for 20 minutes, and then highlight one idea, and implement.” Harrelson said. “Do this every two weeks for next couple of months, and you will experience a breakthrough in your business.”
