31 Ways To Build a Profitable Business—Part TWO

In Issue 1117 of Agent Inner Circle™ I described some of the techniques for building a successful business. To review, you must create:

1. A unique and beneficial product,
2. A sales generation system(s) to market and sell that product and retain your clients for as long as humanly possible to generate a) more sales and b) referrals, word of mouth and repeat business,
3. A unique product/service delivery system, and...
4. Measurement systems (to know if what you're doing is working!).

Here are five more million dollar marketing strategies that will help you generate more clients and build a long-term viable business.

6. Use Education-Based Marketing To Prospect. No one wants to get "sold" yet everyone loves to buy. "Selling" implies manipulation; buying implies control. Use marketing that prospects will welcome, or even desire. Help your prospects understand the important tips, issues and secrets related to their buying or selling situation and you'll win their hearts. Use the special reports I provide in the 3-Steps System (www.3-steps.com) to attract leads with your marketing, give valuable information, win their hearts and minds, differentiate yourself, and generate them as a client. And don't forget to follow-up. Even dead leads can go onto your database to receive Service For Life!^® (www.ServiceForLife.com) each month.
   
   
7. Use Direct Response in ALL Your Marketing. There are many elements to direct response, but remember this: No one will reply to any of your marketing without a specific, self-serving REASON to respond. 95% of the agent community is hopelessly ignorant of this fact and they keep using "image" advertising with the same lousy results. I'm talking about making an OFFER to prompt response from prospects: a special report, an area analysis, your "Maximum Home Value Audit", a "Free Home Package" of a listed home, etc. Everything gets an irresistible offer and call to action to prompt response. See Step 1 of the 3-Steps system for more.
   
   
8. Sell With Emotional Benefits. Whether it's a listing presentation, lead generation ad, classified, home ad, showing property, etc., people buy because of what the home, offer, etc., will DO for them. Features are what something IS (3 bedroom, pool, tennis court, etc.), benefits are what something DOES for the prospect (save/make money, minimize time, beat other buyers to the market, reduce hassles, etc.). Know the difference. People buy for the emotional benefits they perceive they'll get - then they justify their purchase with features/logic.
   
   
9. Give Compelling Social Proof. People are skeptics. No one believes your own claims. You must give as much believable proof as you can of the benefits you offer. Generate testimonials from every client after close (you can even get them from friends or family at the outset), and make them believable: photo, name, quote, etc. Then use them everywhere: ads, listing packages, etc. One agent I know created his "Little Blue Book" - a blue booklet overflowing with testimonials. He uses the testimonials and booklet in all of his marketing. Other examples: Use statistics to give yourself/your brokerage the competitive advantage. Use media clippings to prove a point. Get interviewed or write an article about real estate, then clip the article and use with farming, listing presentations, etc. It will prove you're a professional and expert. Bottom line: Give people more than your word to rely on.
   
   
10. Make Using Your Services Risk-Averse. Agents are afraid of risk reversal because they think their clients will take advantage of them. Just the opposite happens: Ten-times more people will use your services because of your risk reversal than will ever take advantage of you. Examples: "Easy Exit Listing Agreement", "If you buy a home from me and within the first year don't like it, I'll sell it for you for free" (seller commission would apply), etc. If you're not willing to stand by your own services, why should your clients? Your risk-avoidance is designed to let people know you believe in your abilities, and make the "yes" decision easier for them.
    
    

Read part three in the next issue of Agent Inner Circle™…

Next Article: A New Prospecting Strategy For Supercharging Your Sales...