William Huffman’s stay in touch system --Part 1

If you’re like most agents, you don’t have a true system for staying in touch with your most valuable asset--your people. When pressed for details about who, how or when to connect with someone, it's often left to gut instinct or comfort rather than a true strategy. But William Huffman, team lead of the REMAX Results A Good Life Group and his crew in Minnesota, aren’t like other agents. And, the result of their effort is stunning.

If you want to double your business in 2019 by staying top of mind, this is a tried and true system worth repeating. We will cover the basics in part 1 and then get into the specifics in part 2 of how to succeed with your network.

It all starts with First.io. Each month, Huffman and his team focus on the people that are most likely to sell or who have increasing seller scores. His team divides this list and starts to make the calls. This is where most agents get stuck. It can be a challenge to reach out or even awkward when you haven’t stayed in touch. But this doesn’t slow them down.

‘We dedicate that power hour to making calls, a dedicated amount of time each week to reach out,” said Huffman of his team's activity. “And that means if you can't do an open house, you do an hour of calling. If it's a random Wednesday night and you don't have any listing appointments or any buyers appointments, you do an hour of calling. An hour is very palatable, it's very easy to maintain, it's very easy to do.”

This dedication to making the calls is paying off. In fact, in October alone, twelve of the people they called based on First’s smart recommendations are now in their net. “I think five or six people actually have a home to sell, but the other six or seven were still high scores because they lived in a rental property. This opened up the conversation that it’s a good time to buy. So we've set up five listing appointments and a total of 12 MLS searches in the last three weeks.”

So what are they actually saying that yields this kind of results? It’s surprisingly simple, and effective. "Hey, we haven't spoken in several months. Have you found your perfect home yet?"

If they say yes, congratulate them.  Ask them what they bought, where they bought, how they bought. Ask these questions because it’s going to light your fire since they were in your system, you had their contact info and you missed it. This is an agent’s worst fear.

If they say, "No, I haven't," then get reacquainted. Ask them "What is your dream home? If you had all the money in the world, where would you buy? What would you buy? What would your kitchen look like?” said Huffman. And these curious questions will yield lots of qualifying information as well as a better understanding of the heart of your new prospect

What happens if they don't recognize you, or they don't remember you? “That’s fine, too,” said Huffman.  “Never ask how the home search going because it gives them the opportunity to say they aren’t looking.” If the person is in your CRM, reference any notes that may exist about important life events to add that important personal touch.

“First is really amazing and has far exceeded our expectations,” said Huffman.  “We got motivated when we received the push notification in the app about the people in our network who had recently listed. We missed eight or nine listings which inspired the team to double down to focus on the people who are right in front of our noses. We've been hitting it really hard since and it's been amazing.”

So amazing in fact, the team at A Good Life Group expects to double their business this year because they are targeting the right people at the right time.

“It's probably, not exaggerating, legitimately, single-handedly going to double the business for some of my agents. They're going to go from 15 to 20 transactions to 35 to 40 transactions. We have the database, we know how to target and retarget them, but the most powerful thing you can do is just call.”

So what are you waiting for? Pick up the phone and simply ask, “Just wondering if you have found your dream home yet?

Need more inspiration? Here are some other pro tips from William Huffman:

• His core value proposition is to give people relevant information--a home equity valuation, neighborhood information or details about the local housing marketing.
  
• Give it time. Not every conversation results in a listing. But, the connection will help you stay top of mind when they are ready for your help, even if it’s 4-6 months out.
  
• If you’re a team lead, incentivize meetings by buying gift cards for your agents. This removes any financial objections about spending money to go on appointments.
• Don't forget to send a handwritten thank you for every connection, even phone calls. He provides the note cards and stamps so his team has everything needed.