Chuck's Secret Stash

Welcome!

This is a little secret stash of things we've talked about... so enjoy!

Infobox Flyers

If we had to choose only one thing to do with our listings, it would be this strategy.  It's absolutely the most valuable marketing tool in our library.

Typically we have 100-300 flyers taken per listing, depending on the level of traffic.

We've used each of these templates to generate leads for less than $2 per lead.  Enjoy!

(Click on any image to download or save it to your computer)

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Front of Flyer:

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Remember that they're already interested in the property - they've gotten out of their car to go get this sheet! Just give them an easy step to find out more information about:

1. The property - either by hotline (BRO Phone Leads) or website (register domain at GoDaddy.com)
2. Other properties that are similar - point them to a next step!

Other useful links:

• 24HourHouseTours.com - sign up to create a listing site like this:  www.CharltonGroupHomes.com
• GoDaddy.com - register domain names for $10/year and point them to your listings or other pages.
  For example, www.887Chambers.com points to http://www.24hourhousetours.com/887chambersplace/
• Excalibur Communications - the hotline provider we use

Saturday Tour of Homes

Use this 5-step formula to a successful side business of a Saturday Tour:

1. Create your site.
2. Get eyeballs to your site.
3. Connect with visitors and determine if they're 5-star prospects.
4. Bond with a Saturday Tour to establish your relationship.
5. Add value, stir occasionally and voila!  You just sold a home.

Step 1:  Create your site

Use a webdesigner, or hire one at www.Guru.com or www.eLance.com.  Our favourite web designer is Jillian at www.Pinderama.com - if you speak with her, mention that Chuck and Melissa introduced you.

Essentially you want a page that looks something like this:

For a real life example, visit www.MiltonSaturdayTour.com.

Don't forget to register a great domain name at www.GoDaddy.com!

Step 2:  Get Eyeballs!

There's lots of ways to get people to your Saturday Tour page... for example, this list was taken from the BRO MORE library - cheap ways to "Hurl Your URL":

24 Ways To Hurl Your URL For Free (Or Less Than A Total Cost Of $5)

1. Autosignature
2. Hotline script
3. Company or personal voicemail
4. Every flyer
5. Every rate sheet
6. On-hold messages
7. Red stamp
8. Info box flyer
9. Sign riders
10. Client Newsletter
11. Business cards
12. Letterheads
13. Envelopes
14. Listing card comments
15. Postcards
16. Insert with all bills
17. Calendars
18. Bulletin boards
19. Sign in office window
20. Fax cover sheet
21. Strategic alliance and service providers flyer
22. On your company checks
23. On your personal checks
24. Sticker on your business card

Also, check out Google AdWords - that's what we use.

It's essentially a system where you bid on terms like "milton real estate" "agent in milton ontario" or anything else you wish.  When somebody types in those terms, you are ranked based on your bids.

There's a ton of great information about this at www.Adwords.Google.com - Google is actually very helpful and will walk you through everything you need to know.

It's great because it works on autopilot, and leverages the web's most visited site.

It will cost you much less and be much more effective if you narrow your focus.  Use a single area or neighbourhood - no "Wyoming Saturday Tours"!  Think of the "Hawthorne Village Saturday Tour" or the "River Oaks Tour of Homes".

Step 3:  Connect to Find 5-Star Prospects

We all remember the criteria:  friendly and co-operative, engages in conversation, has a plan and is willing to share it, moving in the next 6-12 months, and they would like to work with us.  Go find those people!

You can't create a 5-star prospect, you can only discover them.  No amount of time and effort will make someone a 5-star if they're only a 3-star.

Ideally they'll be in that stage of gathering information that can last anywhere from 3-9 months before moving.  We find that most people are 1-3 months away from shopping for a home when they submit their request.

Step 4:  Bond With a Saturday Tour

Remember that someone else can take of this part while you relax on the beach... or spend time with your family.

Lenders - Find a Realtor to meet with the client for a Tour after you've pre-qualified them... think how many new friends you'll have when word gets out!

Realtors - Find a keen new agent who doesn't mind paying a referral fee... or generate these leads when times are a little lean.

If they ask how many people will be there, you say, "We try to keep the groups as small as possible so that everyone sees what they want to see."

95% of our tours are done with one couple or family.  It really does work better that way...

Okay, so here's the major point we want to get across with a Saturday Tour... it's not that much different than an initial consultation!

Here's our process for an initial consultation, compared with a Saturday Tour.

Consultation	Saturday Tour
Meet and Greet (5 min)	Meet and Greet (5 min)
How I Work (15 min)	How I Work (10 min)
Ultimate Scenario (30 min)	Tour Homes and Discuss What's Important to Them (60-90 min)
Explain Process and Steps (15 min)	Brief Review of Steps (5-10 min)
Agency Information & Laws (5 min)	Agency Information & Laws (5 min)
1, 2, 3, or me?	A little softer finish...

Likewise, there are a number of things you can do to enhance your success:

• Look for 5-star clients, leave the rest alone – screen carefully
• Confirm your appointment the day before by phone and email
• Have a great information package ready for them
• Treat them to a coffee and have a welcome sign up
• Be up-front – “the purpose of today’s meeting is to help you see the types of homes and areas available in the town.  It’s not necessarily about finding the perfect home, although it has happened before.  Also, you are under no obligation whatsoever, and at the end of the tour you’ll have an excellent idea about values in the town, and also the type of people we are.  You see, even though this is an information gathering meeting, we’re both deciding if we’re a good match for each other in the event you decide to work with a Realtor.”
• Make sure your car is clean
• Ask great questions – use scales from 1-10
• At the end, wrap up by meeting again – explain that “there are some important laws in real estate that you should know as soon as possible for your own protection... and some other valuable tools we’ve prepared" -- this leads into a discussion about "agency" relationships and your unique "HomeFinder" service
• Book no more than 4-5 properties, and aim to be done in two hours
• Have a clear next step... “I will call you next week to discuss the information I gave you today.”
• Ask for feedback
• Write a thank you card and send it the same day you finish your tour
• Be remarkable!

Neighbourhood Alert Template

 

Our Hotline Script Sample for Listings

Thank you for calling our free information hotline about 925 Burrows Gate in Milton.  My name is Chuck Charlton from the Charlton Advantage Team at Royal LePage Meadowtowne Realty.  This message is approximately 3 minutes in length.  At any time while listening, you can press 0 to reach our direct line, or you can visit our special property website at 925 Burrows ( that’s B U R R O W S).com .

The property you called about is a 2-bedroom Mattamy-built “Brentridge” end-unit townhome, and it’s just about 1300 square feet.  The home is walking distance to a 24-hour grocery store, Starbucks, two parks, and a school that will be ready before September 2009.

When you walk into the house, imagine seeing a foyer with ceramic tiles, plus an entry to the garage, powder room, the laundry and storage areas, coat closet and stairs leading to the second level. On the second level, you’ll find a kitchen with a breakfast bar and eat-in area with space for a table, and a dishwasher for easy cleanups.  The dining area opens up into the family room and the kitchen, and there’s also a walkout here to the second floor balcony, which is perfect for a barbecue and patio set.  It’s very open concept, which is perfect when you entertain guests.

Upstairs, there are two spacious bedrooms, including the master with a walk-in closet, and one full bathroom.  There are lots of windows, so the whole house feels bright, sunny and open.

Also, the home has no condo fees, and there’s very little upkeep and maintenance, which is great news if you have a busy lifestyle.

(pause)

The asking price of this spectacular property is only $259,800!  At the time of this recording, a qualified buyer could buy this home for zero down and monthly mortgage payments of $1405 per month, but only until October 15th.  It’s an exceptional value for a young couple or family in a great young community.

For more details about 925 Burrows Gate, including pictures, mortgage options and full details, visit our special website at 9 2 5 Burrows .com  .  That’s 9 2 5 B U R R O W S  dot  com.

Thank you for calling the Charlton Group hotline.  To reach us directly for more details, or to request an appointment, press 0 to be connected directly to our office.

Finally, if this doesn’t sound like the home you’re looking for, I would suggest that you press the number 4, followed by the code 4149 and then the pound key to listen to a free recording that will explain how you can get immediate access to homes before any other buyers, and how to get up to $10,000 of free government money to buy a home!  That’s the number 4, followed by 4149 and then hit pound.

Thanks for calling, and have a wonderful day!

Our World Class Update Template

1. Here's some interesting small talk about what's going on right now in my/our life, or with some people I've been helping (EOS).  Ask them how they’re doing as well…

2.  (a)  Sellers:  Here's a sentence about any general comments relating to number of similar properties and competition and recent activity.

     Here’s how many agents showed your home and what people are saying … (agent feedback).

     Here’s the marketing activity (infobox flyers taken, hotline messages, emails and calls, etc.)

     (b)  Buyers:  Here’s a Master Update of all the properties that match your criteria (link pasted)

3. Interpretation of results… plus… Upcoming plans and strategic planning (if any)… or continue with current direction?

4. A little update on what the upcoming week looks like for us and a variation on the theme “Is there anything AT ALL we can do for you right now?”

5. P.S.  A closing referral message… NTS + SR + EC (see booklet) – Mix and Match!

You Tubin'

The easiest way to get involved with YouTube is to try it...

It's not much different than downloading pictures from your camera onto your computer.  Just try it - set aside one or two hours (it will probably take a fraction of that time), film something and post it up.

Here's a Guide to Milton House Prices we filmed on a Friday afternoon.

Total time:  about 5 hours of planning, driving, filming and editing.

First step is to write down 5-10 different types of homes - detached, condo, semis, townhomes, luxury homes... then you want to sub-categorize to small detached, medium detached.

Go film 2-3 of each sub-category... you'll have maybe 40-50 clips.

Go into Windows Movie Maker, or iMovie (standard with most PC's and Mac's respectively).  Import the clips and arrange them in order from least expensive to most expensive.

Attach titles, music and you're done!  Publish a movie and then send it to YouTube for the world to see.

That may seem like a lot of time... but it's done and we don't need to touch it ever again.  It's there forever.  So far we're nearing 2,000 hits with no advertising or anything besides people searching YouTube for information about our town.

Here's another video house tour we did... with practice, you get better every time.

One more... meet David and Eva.  They're from Amsterdam.  David essentially emailed us and said, "we love your use of technology - you ARE helping us buy a home when we visit."  We got delayed in Mexico coming back to town, and they waited an extra three days for us to show up!  That was amazing.

So here's a video we shot when we narrowed down to two homes.  Eva was still working in Amsterdam, so we sent her two finalists and she chose the best home based on the video.  We put an offer in and they moved in at the end of August.

Another home tour...

Dean's 50-20-50 Program

Here's a fantastic training on the 50-20-50...

Joe Videos for the During Unit...

Awesome!

I liked the Julie video so much I transcribed it to help me learn... here it is if you're interested...

Hi this is Julie, and I’m the owner of the Julie Kinnear team… today you met with Bob. Bob is a tremendous real estate consultant who’s been with our team for a couple of years. And he probably told you during the initial consultation that our purpose is for you to be so outrageously happy with the help that we provide you, that you would be absolutely delighted to introduce us to a couple of people that you really love and care for before we even get the transaction closed. And I just want to let you know that I’m here at the office, available to answer any questions, help you out in any way, because my intention is for Bob and the whole team to give you the level of service that all you want to do is go out and tell people how great the Kinnear team is – and just introduce us to everyone you care about. So… have a great time looking for a home, and know that we’re here to help you and your friends and your family members. Thank you!


Hi this is Julie – I just left your home and I’m really delighted that you’ve chosen to work with me. And as I told you, my purpose is for you to be so outrageously happy with the help that I provide you, that you’d gladly introduce me to a couple of people before we even get your home sold. And you know, as soon as you put the sign up, and soon as you start to let people at work and at church and at school that you’re going to be moving, you’re going to come across other people who may need my help. So, please, feel free to introduce me to those people, and in the meantime, my intention is to make your dreams come true. So have a great night! Thanks!


At a wow moment, have a wow video ready...

Hi this is Julie – remember earlier I sent you a video and I told you that our purpose is for you to be so outrageously happy with the help that we provide you, that you would gladly introduce us to a couple of people that you really care about – before we even helped you get your home sold (or helped you find a home)… well, I’m just checking in with you right now. We’ve been working with you for a couple of weeks, and I want to know how well we’re doing. Have we earned the right to ask you to introduce us to the people that you care about? If so, would you just send me a quick email and let me know who you know that would love to buy a home, or sell a home…. Or if we haven’t earned that right, would you tell us what we need to do to earn the right to ask you for your endorsement. Have a great day!

Beverage Menu and Welcome Sign Templates...

Here's the two things we use to create a fabulous first impression...

Download Buyers Beverage Menu

Download Buyers Welcome Sign

STAR Group Meeting - February 2012

Here's the audio notes from the February 2012 STAR Group, taken with my Zoom H1 recording device.

Download Audio - First Part of Meeting (Free Government Money)

Download Audio - Second Part of Meeting (Listing Presentations)

The rest of the materials from the last few months are here:

Here's Chuck's Listing Presentation as a PDF

Dan Plowman Team Sample Weapons Book

Here's a PDF with Chuck's commission options

Download Feb 2012 - Value Proposition Worksheet

Download Creating the Perfect Listing Consultation – STAR Group January 2012

Paul Hendricks:

Download Questions to ask before your appointment

Jonathan Amantea:

Download Building Validity and Positioning workshop KW

Carol-Clarke Rose:

Download Powerpoint Listing Presentation

Gary Meger:

Download Gary's Ultimate Scenario Email to Client

Download About Us - Neighbourhood DLC

Download Gary Meger Initial Consultation Script

Mastermind Group with Larry Lloyd

One of the best masterminds I've ever attended...

Mastermind with Larry Lloyd