3 Examples of Realtors Who Spend Less Money On Marketing And Generate FEWER Leads....But Consistently Attract Warm Referrals
They say it’s not what you earn that matters, it’s what you keep.
Usually this old expression is meant to teach us about the difference between gross and net income.
If you’re the type of ambitious agent who reads articles like this, you probably already know it’s important to watch your expenses and pay attention to your actual profit.
The same mindset should be true of your marketing strategy. There is a difference between gross and net results.
For example, “more leads” isn’t always a good thing.
In fact, if you’re already fairly successful as an agent, more leads can be a disaster if you don’t have extra time to follow up with new leads. The #1 constraint that prevents successful agents from growing usually isn’t a lack of leads or lack of marketing. It’s lack of time.
That’s why any marketing strategy worth investing in should factor in the quality of leads, not just the quantity. Most agents would rather have fewer leads, but warmer leads, than a higher volume of cold leads.
Once you get to the point in your career where you’re selling 15-20 homes a year (approximately), the most important thing to protect is your time.
You can always make more money, but paradoxically you cannot make more money if you don’t have time to handle more clients.
That’s why it’s so important to use a marketing system that warms up your leads for you, so you only have to spend time talking with prospects that actually want to talk with you. This is a game changer.
And this is what makes the “Platform” strategy different from other marketing plans.
Here are 3 examples of successful agents who prioritize warm leads over volume of leads. Rather than generating as many leads as possible every month, they focus on building their brand….so warm leads come to them.
All of them have added at least $100,000+ to their annual GCI since joining the Platform Marketing program.
Example 1: Justin Liller (Deep Creek Lake, Maryland)
Justin has grown his business from about $4 million a year in sales volume to nearly $20 million in sales volume.
And the most impressive part?
He doesn’t have a team.
Justin doesn’t even have a full-time ISA or assistant. He is doing it by himself (and therefore keeping the majority of the commission profit that most agents have to pay to their assistants, team members, etc).
How can someone more than quadruple their business without a team?
Well, the answer is pretty straightforward: warm leads.
Not all marketing is created equal, which means not all leads are created equal. Justin consistently films videos that build his local brand. These videos warm up the leads so they feel like they’re getting to know Justin without actually having to meet him in-person.
Rather than blasting people with endless sequences of drip emails, this is a much more casual way of staying top of mind.
And it’s less annoying, which increases conversion rates!
Most agents try to generate as many leads as possible (and spend hours a day trying to call all those leads). Justin does the opposite. He wants as few leads as possible, but he wants those leads to be highly motivated and ready to go!
So Justin focuses on doing one simple thing: filming videos.
He typically films one new video per week.
Because he consistently films retargeting videos, once someone clicks on any of his Facebook ads, they will keep seeing new educational videos from Justin. This allows him to stay top of mind without spending hours a day manually following up with everybody.
Homeowners will begin to feel like they’re getting to know him, even if they’ve never met him.
They’ll see that Justin regularly promotes local restaurants and small businesses with his videos. They’ll see that he films listings videos every month, and that his listings are selling. They’ll see that he puts extra creativity into his videos (for example filming part of a listing video on a boat pulling up to the dock if the property is lakefront).
Justin doesn’t feel entitled to anyone’s business, he wants to earn it by demonstrating that he will create as much educational value as possible with his marketing before you contact him.
He’s even had local businesses reach out to him asking him for help with their marketing.
That’s when you know you’ve developed a reputation as an expert!
Justin doesn’t spend hours a day following up with leads, trying to awkwardly handle objections or set appointments.
He patiently waits for warm leads to call him.
That way he’s only investing his time with people who are serious enough to give him a call.
Because of this strategy, his system is both profitable and scalable.
How else can you grow from $4 million a year to nearly $20 million a year in sales without hiring a team?
Look him up on Facebook here.
Example 2: Heather Mutz (Hondo, Texas)
Just 5 years ago, Heather Mutz was a public school teacher.
She decided it was time for a career change.
Heather decided to get her real estate license.
While she managed to get a few closings, overall she struggled the first few years in the business after exhausting the “low hanging fruit” of referrals from her friends & family.
Heather need an actual marketing plan.
“Hoping to get referrals” is not a plan!
Then she discovered the “Platform” strategy.
Heather recently made more money in just one month of closings than she used to in an entire year as a teacher.
Her secret? Yep, you guessed it: following the “Platform” video strategy.
Heather consistently films videos to stay top of mind with her sphere. Rather than buying external leads from Zillow or other marketing companies, she creates her own pipeline of leads.
When they’re ready, they call her.
Having warm leads come to her instead of her having to chase them has made all the difference.
(Not to mention her videos have built a cult following with the local community in Hondo, Texas
because of how much she promotes local small businesses)
This is what the most successful agents have in common who join the Platform marketing family: they commit to creating their own brand.
Rather than “buying leads,” they create their own leads with creative videos and hyper-local social media ads.
This gives agents like Heather peace of mind knowing that even in a recession, she can generate business and be profitable.
She is in control of her business, instead of it controlling her.
And the numbers don’t lie: Heather’s GCI has more than doubled from where it was before she implemented the “Platform” program.
Find Heather on Facebook here.
Example 3: Ryan Clegg (Loudoun County, Virginia)
Ryan Clegg was already a successful real estate agent before he implemented the “Platform” marketing strategy.
His sales volume hovered between $5-$10 million per year, far more than the average agent.
In fact, Ryan’s business wasn’t merely above average.
It was excellent.
Many agents dream of one day getting their business to $5-$10m a year in volume.
Ryan had already achieved that.
But he was looking for a marketing strategy that would allow him to scale to the next level by building his brand (versus generating a mass volume of leads and the headache that typically comes with it).
He didn’t want to spend all day recruiting agents, building a massive team, hiring office assistants, ISA’s, transaction coordinators, etc.
He wanted a business built on the philosophy of quality > quantity.
And now he’s achieved that, too.
Ryan sold over $20 million last year, thanks to the Platform marketing strategy.
His secret?
You guessed it….retargeting videos.
Video is a competitive advantage because it’s not easily copied by other agents.
Creativity cannot be copied!
Ryan regularly films creative listing video tours as well as educational retargeting videos that showcase his knowledge of real estate and love of his community, Loudoun County.
Here’s an example.
Ryan regularly gets messages and phone calls from warm leads who have “seen his videos” and are ready to discuss listing their home (or buying).
In other words, the warm leads come to him.
He doesn’t spend hours and hours a day following up with cold leads like many agents have been taught to.
He doesn’t have to.
Because his videos have built his local brand, people already know who he is.
Ryan Clegg is proof that you don’t need a massive team (or a huge Zillow advertising budget) to grow a wildly profitable business.
You just need courage and consistency to build your brand.
Realtors like Ryan don’t need “as many leads as possible.” They just need the right leads, and the right marketing mindset to stay top of mind with them.
And that’s what the Platform strategy is all about.
You can find Ryan on Facebook here.
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