Last month, I sat down with the brilliant, top real estate coach, Dr. Lee Davenport. Our interview led to an important discussion, regarding the great importance of ethical business among in the real estate industry.
Are you noticing the same patterns as I have?
Agents and brokers — how often do you reflect on how your business is performing in ethical conduct?
For decades, I’ve had the power of granting home ownership in my hands. And, like many of you, I held all the power to approve or deny homeownership to my clients, but also gave my all to finding solutions when there were roadblocks. To this day, I find great pride in helping all families fulfill their dream of homeownership.
Yet, I noticed a huge problem in our industry from very early on in my career. When I was around 24, a Hispanic family contacted me to compare quotes on mortgage rates. A different lender in town quoted them half a percent higher than my offer with exactly the same terms. Over time, I noticed the same pattern.
It appeared to me how some lenders consistently jack up their rates to families of color. I found that the same lenders were repeatedly the culprit. I thought, “What is happening to our communities, our friends, and our neighbors if there’s a significant amount of lenders who are practicing the same, unethical tactic?”
Paying more for homeownership, based on race
Being a mortgage professional, I saw first-hand how predatory lenders are using the color of my clients’ skin against them as the deciding factor in having them pay more.
The discovery of discriminatory lending rates left a sour note for me. Sure, it’s within our legal right as mortgage lenders to set our own rates. However, a handful of lenders are offering unfair rates, often racially-motivated (… and that is illegal, yet very difficult to prove that it’s happening.)
Yet, there are no concrete methods for identifying which businesses engage in these discriminatory practices. So when you pull together the data of all the loans out there and put race on top of it, you can see how communities of color are systemically paying more — a great challenge for achieving the dream of homeownership. Where is the equality in that, America?
Researchers found that, among nearly 7 million 30-year mortgages, black and Latino applicants were charged higher interest, an average of nearly 0.08%, and heavier refinance fees when compared with white borrowers — according to a recent report by UC Berkeley.
Re-imagining ethical real estate lending
While discriminatory lending is illegal, it’s very difficult to immediately prove that certain racial groups are being offered higher interest rates as there is no proper oversight.
In re-imagining a more ethical industry, I’m envisioning a three-prong solution.
First, we need more education about discriminatory lending practices at the licensee level (at the mortgage loan level.) Education is the key to bringing broader awareness and creating a paradigm shift.
Second, for the sake of fairness, we need more robust oversight of discriminatory practices. People conducting themselves within a myriad of immoral and unfair behaviors actually need to be held accountable. It’s a matter of directly addressing these lenders in order to change them. In clearly documented protocol of law and order, there needs to be an authoritative entity protecting the rights of lenders and homeowners, all while immediately addressing behaviors, such as discriminatory lending, as a criminal offense.
Third, we need dual education — meaning the industry should enforce a rule where those who profit from mortgage lending are those who are responsible for funding education programs for the community. It’s a virtuous feat for the profiters of mortgage lending to broadly spread the know-how on the fair and just path to homeownership, while reporting on the state of responsible lending.
We can learn from what Wells Fargo is going through right now. Known for a number of controversies, the multinational company charged higher costs to black and Hispanic borrowers. More recently, impossible sales goals coerced employees to fraudulently open more than 1.5 million bank accounts and apply for over 565,000 credit cards in customers’ names between 2011 and 2015.
As a result from lack of oversight and unfair dealings, the company had to name its third CEO within three years and watched their stock price of $50 per share drop down to $20.
This is an important argument for all in our industry to lead fair and ethical business practices. It affects your bottom line. Imagine that you are a shareholder in Wells Fargo, like Warren Buffett, and you see your share value get cut by 40%, all stemming from unethical and unfair housing market practices.
Be ethical in business: Everything you do affects your bottom line
We have to learn and share from experiences of unjust practices so that all colleagues understand and stop behaviors that are innately wrong.
Simply put, we cannot ignore the fact that there are plenty of predatory practices in place today which are taking advantage of people. From predatory lending problems to discriminatory behaviors, it’s a fact that professionals in the real estate industry play a direct and explicit role in contributing to segregated neighborhoods. It’s up to us to enact a standard of ethics and confront these issues together.
It’s your civic duty
Professionals in the real estate industry share an entrepreneurial mindset that makes them great leaders — and as entrepreneurs, it’s your civic duty to provide value to our communities. The real value that you provide, in turn, becomes profit for your business. One misstep can mean exploitation and capitalizing from unjust practices. When there is a case to make a business deal, all considerations must be approached holistically. There needs to be clear-cut ground rules.
Problematic practices are structural issues. It requires responsibility and integrity when individuals have enough power and autonomy that could bring about discriminatory sales practices. For example, a mortgage person can set non-uniform rates and exploit certain people and communities in order to make an unfair profit. By doing so, they are breaking principles of ethics.
Unethical business is an important challenge that all leaders and professionals must confront. Continue educating yourself and your teammates on conducting business on moral and ethical values. It requires board-level accountability where CEOs take the responsibility to lead, educate, and address any issues that may arise.
This is a call to be explicit about and reflect on which business practices are structurally and ethically wrong. Let’s prevent unfair dealings from happening.
Founded during the last major recession, MyOutDesk is helping agents and brokers in today’s economy with monthly CEO mastermind calls, stringent talent recruitment, timely strategy guides, and professional development webinars.
Since 2008, MyOutDesk is the largest, industry-leading provider of virtual assistant services — not only for thousands of agents and brokers, but also, national franchises like Keller Williams, RE/MAX, eXp Realty, Sotheby’s International Realty, and more. MyOutDesk brings 13 years of expertise with more than 6,000 clients and 600-plus verified five-star reviews.
https://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Going-PRO-in-Real-Estate.jpg456972Daniel Ramseyhttps://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/myoutdesk-logo-400w.pngDaniel Ramsey2020-10-26 17:26:192020-10-27 10:10:39Real Estate Professionals, Where does your ethical & moral compass lead you?
There is no doubt that the presence of AI in today’s businesses has helped companies operate smoothly when teams cannot afford more customer service employees. For some, businesses are finding that their retention rates are dipping while using AI customer service software.
So what is the perfect balance in incorporating AI, yet still fostering genuine client relationships?
Despite tremendous success in AI software like Siri & Google Assistants by the big-5 tech companies, most AI solutions out there made by tech start-ups lack the programmatic ability to respond in a genuinely human way to queries.
An “unsupervised” AI bot has led businesses to receive sudden surges in negative feedback, bad reviews, and increased churn. Every customer in the world, including myself, will always choose “talk to a person” or “connect to a representative” as the first choice over a call.
When small teams don’t have the time, there’s an additional solution to continue improving their AI customer service – with human touch. When a customer service representative administers AI tools at full-time capacity, that is how the best synergy happens and all customer expectations can truly meet satisfaction.
Enhancing the Digital Learning Curve
With dozens of AI bots on the market, it’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to automate your customer interactions. Your customer begins their interaction thinking they’re chatting with a person, and when they realize it’s a bot, their level of satisfaction drops precipitously.
It’s natural to look for automated solutions first. After all, IT solutions are often more cost-effective than hiring team members.
Many aren’t yet aware that competitive businesses are assigninga full-time virtual assistant to pair with their digital customer service technologies. Virtual assistants are providing the human-touch needed for up to less than 70% the cost of a traditional full-time employee – often in the same tier of low overhead costs as some popular digital software subscriptions.
Increasing Retention Rates + KPIs, with “hybrid” virtual solutions
Businesses find that they can finally deliver the genuine customer satisfaction that all buyers expect – when the power of virtual AI meets the power of human virtual assistance – fortunately at a lower amount of overhead costs than a full-time physical employee (allowing the best profit margins).
An experienced, qualified Virtual Assistant provider is capable of supplementing the rest of client service needs. They can handle customer onboarding and training processes, along with Tier-1 support and Help Desk tasks.
A virtual assistant is fully in charge of administering customer service technologies (open, manage, and close tickets) – delivering that genuine customer satisfaction that all buyers demand.
As Shep Hyken mentioned during our special webinar, “If your employees and customers are nervous, uncertain and even scared, you owe it to them to communicate at a much higher frequency and much more empathetic than you ever have before.” Communication is key, and this is why AI tools need to couple with fast human response, which can all be afforded by a virtual assistant.
There’s nothing more important to a growing business than your customer experience
In today’s service economy, excellent service is the deciding factor for most businesses. If teams do not focus on creating a good experience across each and every interaction, you will lead to negative feedback, bad reviews, and increased churn.
Despite the hype, commercial AI is still maturing. While it can be useful for basic key-phrase recognition and providing canned responses to common questions, ultimately it’s confined to the limitations of a predefined workflow. AI cannot yet think outside the box and adapt to situations that require a degree of empathy and comprehension—and it often falls apart when asked even simple questions outside of what it is programmed to recognize.
Relying on AI as a front-line customer interaction tool alone can be dangerous. So rather than attempting to replace human assistance with AI solutions, it’s better to combine them for optimal customer service. The modern workplace is increasingly collaborative, and human assistants remain intrinsically more capable to foster relationships than AI alone.
There’s a place for automation, and there’s also a place for real, human staffing – and VA providers such as MyOutDesk virtual assistants are the top-tier solution for your high-tech help desk & customer service roles for a fraction of what business would pay locally.
Experience The Difference
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment cost
Claim a free business strategy consultation & ‘Grow Virtual’ Guide
https://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/When-you-need-to-scale-up-customer-service.jpg456972Daniel Ramseyhttps://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/myoutdesk-logo-400w.pngDaniel Ramsey2020-08-20 15:08:322020-08-28 15:49:54When you need to scale up customer service... but your AI just doesn’t quite cut it yet
This is the ultimate way that Real Estate Virtual Assistant ISAs convert leads and increase business for our clients. Last year our Virtual Assistants generated over $50 million in Gross Commission Income (GCI)! Over the last 13 years MyOutDesk has been instrumental in the success and growth of over 6,000 clients.
For those who want the ultimate guide … We’ve compiled some of example of recorded calls from our ISAs in action as they generate revenue for our clients and we wanted to share them with you so you can get a direct look into what they can do and how they convert buyers and sellers into commission for our clients.
What is an ISA in Real Estate? (Inside Sales Agent)
A Real Estate ISA may be the solution to your problems, no matter what kind of prospecting you do. Circle prospecting, geo-farming, expired & FSBOs, calling past clients & working referrals – MyOutDesk ISA virtual assistants ensure that you’re generating all the leads you need and not missing opportunities for more business.
A Talented Real Estate ISA, like ours, can help you:
Lead Generation through calling expired listings, neighborhoods around just listed/just sold houses, agent spheres with information of value and asking for referrals, geographic farms to prospect for sellers.
Contact all leads through phone/text/email within 5 minutes of registration
Check with agents at least once a day on the status of their respective leads, as this will help the agents do their follow-ups.
Nurture prospects, follow up, record data, screen & qualify leads
Move leads through the funnel, set appointments & manage communications
Email outreach, research market trends, prepare business reports
Track and measure conversion ratios & meet performance benchmarks
Practice, memorize and internalize scripts
Manage contact database system & hand off hot leads to agents
Submit daily reports on calls, conversations, and appointments set.
Does it happen that you’re in the middle of the call and the flow of conversation doesn’t follow the script that you’ve posted on your wall? Suddenly you find yourself at a loss for words and completely unsure what to say next.
When you work with clients this can happen – but no need to worry, as you can use LPMAMA to guide you through each of your calls so you can make sure that you always complete the details that you need, matched with a superb quality of call with our leads as you sound more conversational and free flowing.
Ultimate Guide to Effectively Train a Real Estate ISA
Let’s define exactly what LPMAMA stands for…
LPMAMA helps convert leads, sellers, buyers, and expired listings (with a Real Estate ISA Virtual Assistant)
L – Location
Prior to your Real Estate ISA’s calls, have the address of the property that your lead are interested in already handy. But is this the only one?
In their training scripts, make sure that you ask the lead if they will be open to other properties within the area or if there would any other areas that may also have their interest. (We have example scripts for you further down this article.)
Examples:
“Aside from this property, Would you be open to other properties as well in the area? As we will also try to find you other properties similar to this one that you’re interested in.”
“Aside from this City; do you find yourself interested on nearby Cities as well?”
P – Price
Price range is very important as this will help your real estate team to narrow down the search among the thousands of properties that are listed on the MLS. This is also the right time for your ISA to ask if they are already pre-approved or if they would be willing to be re-endorsed to the Realty’s in-house Lender.
Also, take note that location and price should be compatible with each other. For example, The lead’s pre-approved amount is only $90,000.00 but he wants a property located within Brooklyn, NY wherein the least prices of homes are around $250,000.00. This will give you a signal to pitch in to the client the possibility of changing their preferred location since the Budget is not feasible within the Brooklyn Market.
Examples:
“I see that the house you’re interested in is priced at $110,000.00. Is this the amount that your lender pre- approved you for? What would be the price range that you’ll be more comfortable with?” (Take Note: Not all buyers are willing to max out their Pre-approved amount as this will bring them in a tight financial status)
“How much cash do you have in hand to purchase homes?”
M – Motivation
Gauging the Lead’s intent to moving in can also be done by knowing their motivation. Are they transferring to this area because it is closer to family members? Work? or Children’s School?. With all the different reasons that they might have, it also comes with a timeframe suited for every need.
For example, Its August and you made a call to a family who is looking for properties on a specific area. You asked them for their reason for choosing that location and they said that their children will be transferred to a school near that area. This gives you an idea that they are moving in really soon because its already August and the school starts on September.
Here’s another scenario: You called the lead and he said that he is interested among the properties you have in the area. Then he mentioned that he is from another state. So you would ask, Why are you transferring to this area?
He then said, “I’m being relocated by my company to that state due to our expansion and would really need to find a property really soon since we’re opening in the next two months.” From a simple question you were able to identify what is their timeframe as well as their urgency and you can use this as a negotiating tool by making them realize that you will cover everything for them and you’ll make sure that you’ll be meeting their timeline.
Example:
“You seem to be really interested among the properties in Brooklyn, is this actually closer your work or you children’s school? I did ask because we can use that information to prioritize which properties would actually fit you best.”
A – Agent
This is one of the most important questions that you need to ask. You should be able to identify how is the lead looking for properties. Is it through the internet? Driving around the Area? or They are being assisted by an agent. Make sure that they are not working with an agent, and if they do, go ahead and ask if they have signed an Exclusivity Agreement with them. It is very important that you identify this in order for you to know if you can continue working with that lead or not.
While asking this question, you may encounter someone saying that he is already working with an agent and he is just searching for homes in the area. If this is the case, you might want to ask how is their agent assisting them in the process. Also try to feel from the lead’s voice if there is any dismay from their agent as you can use this to negotiate with them to use your services instead.
How will you offer your services if they have a contract? In some states it is mandatory for them to have an Easy Exit Clause for the contract wherein they can cancel at any time the services of their agent and it’s effectivity will take place after 48 hours.
Key Questions:
“How do usually look for homes in the area? Is it through the websites? Driving around the area? or are you being assisted by an agent?”
“That’s great that you already have an agent working with you, however did you sign an exclusivity agreement with them?”
“Can I ask an honest question? If you’re agent is so good and he is assisting you very well in the process, how come he is letting you to look for homes by yourself?”
M – Mortgage
One of the key factors during a home search is how are they planning to purchase the property? Will they be buying it through cash or financing? In order for a lead to go to the next steps of the process, they should be able to secure at least a pre-approval from their preferred lenders. These approvals can give you an exact amount on what price will your lead be eligible to thus improving your home search. A follow up question for this will be how much cash do they on hand to proceed with the purchase. How much can they give for the down payment and how much will they be putting in mortgage.
Most of the agents do require at least 20% down payment for the home. And in some cases, pre-approvals are used by the Agents to prioritize which lead should be attended to ASAP. But in cases that your lead has not gone through the process yet, endorse them to your preferred lender so they can give them a call and provide them an estimate for their pre-approved amount. Just make note of the minimum credit score accepted by your lender so you can also check if your lead qualifies among their standards or not. If your lead does not know their credit score. Have them login to annualcreditreport.com but remind them that pulling up their records will have a negative impact on their scores.
Key Questions:
“How are you planning to purchase your home? Is it through Cash or Financing? – How much cash do you have on hand to purchase homes?”
“How much down payment can you make?”
A – Appointment
Last but most important of them all is the date of appointment. Giving your Agent an opportunity to meet the lead face to face or to have them in the phone will definitely be an advantage as they can now use their negotiation skills with the lead thus making them inclined to have a contract with your agent in buying or selling homes. Remember that setting up an appointment should be done assertively as you need to make them feel that you are guiding them in the process. Majority of the Leads are First Time Home buyers and they are definitely in need of someone who will guide them in the process and to show them what their next steps will be.
Another Key to having them agree to have an appointment is to let them know what will be the benefits that they can have when they choose to meet up with the agent. Always emphasize the “WIIFMs” What’s In It For Me? And there are a lot of things that you can offer to them which they will not get by simply looking at the homes available via the internet or by walking in inside an Open house event to talk to the listing Agent. Offers may come as Special listings with great offers and discounts which are never posted on the internet, Ability of your Agent to further understand the type of home they’re looking for to narrow down or expand their search, Prioritization when it comes to Inquiries and Showing appointments and many more.
Examples:
“Let me schedule you for an appointment tomorrow with my Agent so he can have a better understanding on what type of home you’re really looking for. I can have you booked at 3PM or 5PM, which one will work for you?”
“Why don’t I have the best local agent in the area call you at 5:30 this evening and provide you with more details about this listing as well as pre-approvals and more options for some of the top listings in this area? There’s no commitment at this point. It’s just over the phone with my agent — who really listens…”
You’re not maximizing your real estate team’s potential without a Real Estate ISA/Prospector— each week up 60% of your team’s time is wasted on busy-work (pre-qualifying leads, cold-calling, nurturing, etc.) It’s time to get more efficient AND lower operational costs. Hire a Real Estate Inside Sales Agent (ISA) so that you and your agents can dedicate your time to the more important, dollar-productive tasks (a.k.a. closing the deal!).
You can find Real Estate ISA candidates, with varying talents and capacities through your own recruitment efforts, or with a cost-effective partnering service that specializes in affordable full-time virtual assistant ISAs, like MyOutDesk.
Hiring an ISA for Real Estate (Inside Sales Virtual Assistant)
Focus on the bigger picture — close more deals & grow your business. How? With an experienced Real Estate ISA virtual assistant to operate a more efficient funnel, MyOutDesk cuts your costs (up to 70% on employment costs) all while helping you to scale business. To book an interview with those in our talent pool, click here.
Your Real Estate ISA can do follow-up and appointment setting for your Buyer leads. In the call below, our ISA is calling to follow-up on an inquiry on a specific property. She is able to ask the lead some qualifying questions and ask about some details that they need as well. In this call, she is able to set-up an appointment so they can visit the property. Click below to listen.
Seller Leads
Find more sellers and earn more commission with our Real Estate ISA’s. Our Virtual Assistants help our clients with this every day. Here’s an example:
Expired Leads
We know that one of the best lead sources are Expired Leads. After your sphere of influence, expired leads are a great source because they are people raising their hands and saying “I actually want to sell but the last guy couldn’t.” Your Real estate ISA can be a huge help closing these deals. We’ve got people trained to make these calls for you, listen to one such example below.
These are just a few of the thousands of calls our ISA’s make in a day. We have over 500 Real Estate ISA’s, each one hitting about 20-50 dials per hour having 20-30 conversations a day. That is at least 2,800 dials and conversations EVERY DAY. Are you able to focus on your prospecting as much? Do you want to be able to prospect at this level for your business? Would you like to “duplicate” yourself?
Our talented and motivated Real Estate ISA’s always have great scripts that they practice and role play on a regular basis. One of the tried and tested scripts we have is the LPMAMA. LPMAMA stands for Location, Price, Motivation, Agent, Mortgage, and Appointment. This simple little script has led to many a closed deal. This is how it works.
To help you out, we’d like to give you this script! You can download it HERE (2018 version).
Stay up-to-date >> We have MANY MORE timely & helpful scripts + downloadable strategy guides on our free consultation signup page, below.
Gain more leverage and time to work on your business instead of in it. Hire your Real Estate ISA and keep your pipeline flowing while you focus on your revenue-producing activities to grow your business!
Experience The Difference
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment cost
Access a free business strategy consultation & ‘Grow Virtual’ Guide (+ Instant access to MORE scripts & real estate strategies)
Did You Know? MyOutDesk’s origin story is set during the last global financial crisis of 2008. Yes, that’s right — our business started by scaling businesses with virtual assistants during a recession! Our first client in 2008 went from five to seventeen VPs with a completely revamped organizational model in short order, and he told MyOutDesk, “Our virtual professionals have shaved $250,000 off our monthly overhead.”
https://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/lead-qualification-1920.jpg10801920Jeremyhttps://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/myoutdesk-logo-400w.pngJeremy2020-08-20 14:30:272020-10-20 09:34:34Ultimate Guide to Find, Hire, Train a Real Estate ISA (Scripts Included) - Qualifying & Converting More Leads TODAY!
MyOutDesk CEO Daniel Ramsey sits with Kirky Galt in an innovative, new podcast called, RE EXEC TL | Executive Success and Growth Stories.
A brisk new podcast featuring entertaining, insightful, and informative interviews with thought leaders in executive management in the real estate industry.
Exploring topics and perspectives regarding:
Industry regulation: environmental, financial, and monetary policy.
Economic and social trends leading to where we’re at and the outlook on where we’re headed in the 2020s.
Paths to executive success in strategic management in the real estate industry.
Inspirational stories and spoken case studies (executive background and successful campaigns).
What marketing channels are proving most effective in targeting and converting real estate business, consumer, and investment prospects.
Strategies to build a rooted brand position and compelling unique value proposition.
and much more value-add content for real estate executives on the go.
We get into how brokers can build a culture remotely, develop systems, position their brands, and scale their businesses.
Kirky Galt, CEO and Creative Director of Creative Real Estate Copy. Kirky has extensive experience and education in marketing, real estate, business, strategic planning, green building, and finance. He’s a real estate broker whose focus is on investment and sustainability. As a creative professional, Kirky brings a passion for art and music to business, marketing, and design.
Experience The Difference
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment cost
Claim a free business strategy consultation & ‘Grow Virtual’ Guide
https://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Get-Big-and-Add-Value-podcast.jpg456972Jeremyhttps://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/myoutdesk-logo-400w.pngJeremy2020-08-20 09:28:512020-08-28 15:51:45Get Big + Add Value ... Or Die: How brokers are changing the way they do business
We’re facing a historically low housing inventory in 2020. Fluctuating mortgage rates have forced many to stay put in their homes and forgo upgrades and downgrades. While we have seen a bit of improvement as of late, trends say that if current market conditions persist, we may see further dips in inventory.
Do you want to ride the ups and downs of the Real Estate market unscathed? You need to be able to focus on your business and have the best support in place to do that. Book your ‘Grow Virtual’ Business Strategy Session and find out how a MyOutDesk Virtual Assistant can give you the leverage to thrive and not just survive.
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment cost Claim a free strategy consultation & downloads
Here are eight foolproof tactics you can apply that will not only help you find more homes in markets affected by low inventory but will help you generate more listings as well.
1. Know the Price Points of ALL new construction in your area
Majority of new construction housing will never even land on your MLS. If you are in a low housing inventory market, this makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE. Find out all the information you can about new construction neighborhoods and build relationships with developers. You will not only have alternative options for your buyers, but you stand a high chance of getting recommendations and referrals from developers as well. Your knowledge of your local community will help establish trustworthiness.
2. Tap your Sphere of Influence
Both Personal and Professional. Don’t be afraid to use your personal network to find new business. Send out a personal message or meet-up with them to ask if they know anyone looking to sell their home. Don’t forget to contact your old clients as well, and you never know what you may stumble upon.
3. Post a Wanted Ad
There will most likely be people around your community who want to sell but haven’t listed yet or are waiting on one thing or another. You can attract a potential seller with “Seller Wanted Ads.” You can use flyers or take out an ad in a local newspaper or even use targeted social media ads for this. If you have a serious buyer, describe specific features of a home they are looking for, why they want to move into a specific neighborhood and a general deadline. You might even get a chance to list the property!
4. Zillow’s “Make Me Move”
Make Me Move by Zillow is a feature where first-time listers name the price that would make them sell their home. You can do specific searches and find “Make Me Move” listings in the area your buyer is interested in. While some prices might be a bit too high, it is an option you can show your buyer and the fact that someone made an effort and named their price is a positive sign.
5. Pre-foreclosures
As banks are putting foreclosures into motion, it is important to know that most of these homes are near equity. Current homeowners aren’t aware of this, but the banks are, which is why they are being targeted first. Find these properties and reach out to homeowners and let them know that they can sell their homes, you help both your buyer and give the potential seller hope.
6. The Best Time for Expired Listings
Right now is the best time to prospect Expired listings because the market has recovered. While these listings may have been priced too high in the past, their prices may be perfectly acceptable now. Try going for really old expired listings as well!
7. Find Unrepresented Sellers (FSBO)
Seeking out FSBO can be another great resource. Think about it. They are already actively selling their homes, in a low inventory market, finding FSBO and connecting them with your buyers may just be the ticket.
8. Create your dream team
We’ve given you solid tips to overcome your low inventory market. Now, implementing them is another story. Set-up a team that can take these tips and run with them! MyOutDesk Virtual Assistants are ready to be part of that team and can give you the leverage you need to be successful in a low inventory market! Start building your dream team right now! Book your ‘Grow Virtual’ Strategy Session and add a MyOutDesk virtual assistant your business today!
Experience The Difference
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment cost
Claim a free business strategy consultation & ‘Grow Virtual’ Guide
https://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Pro-tips-for-low-housing-inventory.jpg456972Jeremyhttps://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/myoutdesk-logo-400w.pngJeremy2020-08-06 11:16:482020-09-04 11:55:05Beat Low Housing Inventory With These 8 Strategies
Are you happy? Think about it for a moment: are you really, truly happy in your career? Studies have shown that the human mind finds fulfillment & happiness in doing tasks that are useful, so it’s likely that you get an emotional reward from your work – otherwise you would have changed careers long ago.
Still, before that first cup of coffee, do you come in filled with excitement about the day ahead, or do you have trepidation about a pile of unsolved problems that you have to tackle while simultaneously pushing your business forward?
Maybe the problem isn’t you or your job – it’s that you’ve missed a critical off-ramp to the world of hustle. You’re still stuck in the fast lane pushing as hard & fast as you can, despite the fact that the more successful you become the harder you have to push just to keep pace with all of the demands.
When you’ve got a tiny business, you can wear all the hats, do all the jobs, and keep all the profits. Even on a small scale, it’s a lot of work, but at least you can keep up with things. Then, as your business starts to grow, the demands increase. More customers, more prospects, more demands on your time – more hustle.
As a business owner, you’re like a frog in the pot of water – it’s easy to miss the slowly increasing heat as it comes to boil, until you’ve reached a point where you’re waking up early & staying up late just to stay on top of things. You never would have taken a job working for somebody else doing this kind of work, but for some reason you torture yourself with it because it gives you freedom.
Freedom? We need to redefine the term, because you’re definitely not free and able to determine your own course in life if you spend all day, every day running just to keep up. Perhaps we could say that “creating your own trap is better than being bait in somebody else’s” – but that’s still a dark, pessimistic view of things, and it doesn’t have to be that way.
As your business grows, you need to add team members to handle the busy-work that you no longer have time for. Your job is to be a leader, provide vision & inspiration, and handle key tasks that nobody else can manage – and maybe even sip the occasional Pina Colada on the beach of a tropical resort along the way.
The way that you get from here to there is by hiring staff to handle the hustle for you – which is exactly what MyOutDesk does for thousands of clients across the United States. We provide higher-quality staffing with prices 70% less than you’d pay for in-house staff, with the flexibility you need to handle any type of assistance required. Schedule your ‘Grow Virtual’ Business Strategy Session today to find out more!
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment cost Claim a free strategy consultation & downloads
https://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/hustle-972x456-1.jpg457972Daniel Ramseyhttps://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/myoutdesk-logo-400w.pngDaniel Ramsey2020-08-03 10:13:562020-08-10 13:51:52When Sometimes Hustle Just Isn't Enough
Leadership is challenging, and when you add a virtual workplace into the equation, the level of complexity and complications go even higher. The qualities of a good leader are thrown more sharply into focus when you need to successfully manage a team that is entirely remote. There’s no such thing as “management by walking around,” or any of those leadership styles that benefit from being in an office.
While fundamentally, leadership stays generally the same, the unique aspects of being a leader in a virtual environment can be tricky. You’ve got to consider the logistical issues of scheduling across time zones, communicating virtually and overall, how you’re going to foster teamwork remotely.
Get the support you need to be an excellent leader to your virtual team. Schedule a consultation with us today to find out more!
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment cost Claim a free strategy consultation & downloads
Foster Connections
It is crucial for you to create unity within your team and ensure that you are working towards the same goals. A study from Harvard University revealed that leaders need to develop a common identity and understanding for their virtual teams, as without it, virtual team members are especially prone to “us versus them” thinking and the perils of incomplete information. You can’t have soloists or teams developing within your team, everyone has to be enrolled towards a single purpose, despite the fact that they are working on different things. Create opportunities for you and your team to connect via weekly meetings and even online calls that are not solely about work. Create a team culture that everyone will feel comfortable and happy to be in.
Foster Communication
According to the aforementioned study at Harvard regarding digital work environments:
“Digital dependence often impedes information exchange, however. In face-to-face teams, participants can rely on nonverbal and contextual cues to provide insight into what’s going on. When we walk into an in-person meeting, for example, we can immediately sense the individual and collective moods of the people in the room—information that we use (consciously or not) to tailor subsequent interactions. Having to rely on digital communication erodes the transmission of this crucial type of intelligence.”
Communication is so important when you have a virtual team. Finding ways to ensure that there are many channels and platforms to communicate is imperative to your success. Always be clear about expectations and be open to any incoming information. Make yourself available to your team and let them know that sending over an instant message or a call is more than ok.
Manage your processes and information
Creating processes is very important, so is documentation. Make sure that both your processes and documentation are always up to date and organized. Over time, you will find that your processes need tweaks so analyze them and discuss frequently with your team to get them just right. Also, be sure that you religiously document and organize all your data etc. Hand in hand with your processes, this will be the foundations of your business and you must be the one to spearhead this.
The qualities you need in order to be an effective leader for a virtual team does not stray too far from what is needed of a leader in any other situation. Patience, openness, responsiveness and flexibility will always give you good results, all you have to do is pair those qualities with the strategies mentioned above and you will hit it out of the park for sure.
It can be a real challenge to perform at an optimum level in our increasingly distracted world. If you’re a person who really wants to be the best version of yourself, this podcast is for you.
Mark Struczewski is a productivity expert and online trainer that helps people be productive in a distracted world. He is also the host of The Mark Struczewski Podcast.
THE MARK STRUCZEWSKI PODCAST
Scaling Your Business and Growing Profitability – Daniel Ramsey
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment cost Claim a free strategy consultation & downloads
In this episode, Daniel and Mark discuss the 3 stages of entrepreneurial growth, leveraging, 96% versus 4% versus 0.04%, the downfall of tribal knowledge, and control freaks.
Daniel Ramsey is the founder and CEO of MyOutDesk, the highest-rated virtual assistant company in the marketplace with over 500 verified 5-star reviews, and over 13 years of experience, serving more than 6,000 clients across industries. Back in 2008, he was inspired by his own time-management struggles to find a better way to help agents leverage their time & energy, and created MyOutDesk to provide a trusted, reliable solution to the office administration, marketing & prospecting tasks that every agent has – but most lack the time to focus on. In 13 years with MyOutDesk, Daniel has helped thousands of clients scale their businesses and grow profitability.
https://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/mark-struczewski-podcast.jpg456972Jeremyhttps://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/myoutdesk-logo-400w.pngJeremy2020-08-03 09:44:372020-08-14 07:51:17No More Distractions: Scaling Your Business & Growing Profitability
Brian Icenhower of Icenhower Coaching & Consulting with Daniel Ramsey
Brian Icenhower is the founder of Icenhower Coaching & Consulting (ICC), and an owner of many of the largest and highest-producing real estate companies in the United States. Brian has been coaching and training real estate agents for more than 25 years. ICC is one of the largest real estate coaching companies with more than five hundred clients that include 31 of the Real Trends Top 500 list.
It’s time to maximize your productivity: Leverage virtual assistants!
Today we talk about how virtual assistant services produce TOP real estate teams. Real estate agents who are tapping into admin, marketing, and ISA virtual assistant services are biggest gainers in market share.
MyOutDesk helps to onboard virtual assistants with quick and easy service. It only takes 3 steps.
1) Sign up.
2) Thorough Interviews To Find Your Perfect VA.
3) Virtual Assistants are ready to work for you!
COMPOUND LEVERAGE
If you understand compound interest, then you can apply that same principle to leverage. Once you delegate a task and create a process and a procedure, you are able to recover your time. And get this, since you have now developed a repeatable process that someone else can handle … you get that time back for the rest of your career! That’s compound leverage! Training means stepping back and expecting a decline before you bust through the plateau and grow.
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment cost Claim a free strategy consultation & downloads
How to keep your virtual assistant (VA) busy
You don’t need to do this directly—when you integrate them to your business, they become part of the business and tasks will come in naturally. Have systems in place for your VA success.
The Grow Virtual Guide helps give you a deep understanding of how to align many important facets of your business within your growth strategy.
Did You Know? MyOutDesk’s origin story is set during the last global financial crisis of 2008. Yes, that’s right — our business started by scaling businesses with virtual assistants during a recession! Our first client in 2008 went from five to seventeen VPs with a completely revamped organizational model in short order, and he told MyOutDesk, “Our virtual professionals have shaved $250,000 off our monthly overhead.”
https://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Brian-Icenhower-BLOG_NL_BANNER.jpg456972Jeremyhttps://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/myoutdesk-logo-400w.pngJeremy2020-08-03 08:47:282020-08-10 13:54:09"Striking Oil" - Hire, Train, Manage a Real Estate Virtual Assistant
Are your hot leads suddenly not responding anymore? When you seem to be hitting it off, this is probably why, all of a sudden, you’re getting ghosted.
Earlier today, a sales guy shared with me this extremely common incident:
“I had a great call, but now they’ve ghosted me. I don’t know what happened. We had some great conversations, and it felt good. I liked them, and they seemed to like me … BUT I can’t get them back on the phone!”
MyOutDesk can save you up to 70% on employment cost Claim a free strategy consultation & downloads
Building Rapport Requires COMPETENCY & SINCERITY
Here’s the thing.Foundational in the sales process, building rapport is akin to building trust. You can build rapport either by showing your competency or your sincerity.
Showing your competency means that “I know what I’m doing, and I can help you.”
Showing your sincerity means that “I actually care about you and your success.”
These are the two ways to establish trust and ultimately grow your rapport.
Building rapport is only the first step. Your rapport alone is NOT going to get leads to call you back.
Salespeople getting ‘ghosted’ are missing: CREATING VALUE
Building trust and rapport is only going to get leads to have the conversation with you & listen to what you have to say – but they aren’t going to call you back unless you create value.
How do I get them to actually be in a client relationship with me?
Adding value is the quality that all salespeople struggle with. It takes intention to uniquely engage each lead. The questions you should be asking yourself with every call are:
How can I add value to somebody’s life?
What expertise and qualities can I contribute to somebody’s business? to my clients?
In every industry, whether your role is an insurance broker, a real estate agent, a mortgage person, a construction person, you must answer you are continually adding value in every interaction … and that’s how you get them to call you back.
It’s time to maximize your productivity: Leverage virtual assistants!
If you’re struggling to get people to call you back, you need to implore your customers and ask for feedback. The best sales professionals will ask the:
How’s your progress going today?
Do you feel like I’m helping you?
Do you feel like I’m adding value to your business?
If they respond along the lines of …
“I want you in my world moving forward … Would you support me?”
“This has really changed my thinking”
“I appreciate the great ideas you’ve taught me”
… That’s when you know that you’ve added value.
Salespeople have to overcome this hurdle and break down the difference between building rapport and adding value. Once you distinguish yourself with these concepts you’ll get your customers to call you back.
Maximize Value & A New Reality for Your Business
Simply put, MyOutDesk equips entrepreneurs with tools, strategies, and virtual employees – and when combined, businesses have a competitive edge and find growth while efficient systems and processes are put in place.
MyOutDesk proudly provides additional free business growth guides, books, and strategy calls.
See what we are about, andschedule a free consultation with us. We’ll take the time to learn more about your business and offer solutions to foster top talent and lower operational costs for your company.
Did You Know? MyOutDesk’s origin story is set during the last global financial crisis of 2008. Yes, that’s right — our business started by scaling businesses with virtual assistants during a recession! Our first client in 2008 went from five to seventeen VPs with a completely revamped organizational model in short order, and he told MyOutDesk, “Our virtual professionals have shaved $250,000 off our monthly overhead.”
https://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Building-rapport-while-adding-value.jpg456972Daniel Ramseyhttps://www.myoutdesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/myoutdesk-logo-400w.pngDaniel Ramsey2020-07-24 16:37:102020-08-11 02:11:09Getting GHOSTED by clients because of this one thing...
Real Estate Virtual Assistants » Grow your real estate business & generate massive revenue with a quality Real Estate Virtual Assistant from MyOutDesk.
Mortgage Virtual Assistants » Stay focused on building relationships & business – that’s why mortgage & loan officers trust our virtual assistants.
IT Outsourcing » Rapidly scale your technology business and improve your customer service, support & retention with IT outsourcing from MyOutDesk.
HR Outsourcing » Industry leading HR & PEO organizations trust MyOutDesk virtual assistant services for the highest quality HR outsourcing.
Healthcare Virtual Assistants » Rapidly scale your Healthcare Organization by recruiting top-quality staff with MyOutDesk virtual assistants!
MyOutDesk, LLC • 3001 E St. • Sacramento, CA 95816 • Phone: (800) 583-9950
