Christmas. The time to update your databases
Copyright Henry Winter 2006
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As a professional Homefinders we are in the RELATIONSHIPS
business. And that means relationships with:
Estate Agents
Clients
Prospects
Relocation Firms
Lead suppliers and many more.

As many of us in the Homefinding busines are "small" businesses,
often solo entreprenuers or with just a handful of staff, and
out doing the business regularly, how do you keep on top of all the
contacts you should be in regular contact with?

From little boxes of worn edged postcards, to Excel spreadsheets to tattered,
thumbed to death, on their last legs notebooks, usually
held together with elastic bands and hope, I have probably seen just about
every sort of "follow up" system around. BUT, even though a small business,
the way you manage how you approach, follow up, convert and retain regular
contact with prospects, clients and suppliers is essential to the lifeblood
of your business.

If marketing is the blood that keeps your business alive (as it should be)
then your sales database is the skeleton that holds it all together.

Like your body it needs to be kept in good health.

This is one area where I can see more benefits to any small business
than many other investment or activities that business owners carry out.

They give you the ability to:
automatically follow up
have phone calls and activity diarised so you don't forget
create printable lists for those quiet moments between viewings to keep your new prospect list toppped up
create unlimited email lists for canvassing new business or broadcasting
important market news
generate an automatic system so new leads "optin" to your system and
get automatic messages that convert them from suspect to client

and with many more applications too.

So this Christams, get ready for the New Year.

Put your eggs into a big comfy basket of a Customer Relationship
Management System, put your feet up for a week or two and watch
them hatch in the New Year into Golden Eggs.

Helping you work Smarter not harder,

Best Regards,

Henry Winter
PS: If you want to see which one I use visit
www.livewirebusiness.com click on MultiList Server
and then the Silver/Platinum Package Link and have a good scroll.

Get to know those that know
Copyright 2006 Henry Winter
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Creating a circle of local professionals is also an imperative for your Homefindingasabusiness.

But how do you create one?

First, for all those people on the list you have created since the last Blog post, you need to talk to your top scorers.

You need to talk to them for two reasons:

To let them know what you are doing and can they spread the word.

To find out who they may know in the Estate Agency field, Solicitors, Accountants, Removers, Surveyors, IFA’s (Independent Financial Advisers). This is the start of your important "Inner Circle" of professional contacts that will help you network your business some more.

Once you know who they are, score them in a similar why to your first list.

This time we are looking for “reach”.

Reach means, for the company suggested, how big are they, what customer base are they likely to have and how effective could they be in helping your business.

The help they can offer your business is two fold:
a) getting your name out there
b) creating a relationship with them so they can give you the nod on properties that are coming up for grabs. Some deals you do will be for properties that never come to the open market, others will be through the agents but where you get a head start through the door.

To get started with professional contacts, if your personal contact can fix a meeting with their contact that is great. It provides an endorsement of you as a person, not your business at this stage, and makes it easier.

If they are not comfortable with that then you can use your contacts name so when you ring the professional contact for the first time you can say “ Hello, XYZ, my name is abc, you may have head of me as (your contact) suggested I give you a call.”

And take the conversation from there.

When you have made the initial contact you want to fix a time to meet them.

When that is arranged, confirm it in writing.

This has now put you in a position where you can discuss both your business and how they can help you and you can help them.

Until next time,

Happy Homefinding

Henry Winter

Lists, lists, lists!
Copyright 2006 Henry Winter
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Homefinding is a networking business.

I don’t mean networking as in MLM as you don’t build a”downline” or anything like that BUT, some of the techniques used in MLM are very useful in helping you get off the ground.

It is said there is a "300 hundred" rule.

Through family, close friends, and loose friends, if you really think about it, you can create a list of 300 hundred people you could contact to help you get your business known.

It is possible it could be true for you.

However, not all those people will of great use to you. Some will, some won’t.

Key to having them help you is to decide which of the contacts you have would be in a position to help you the most. So how do you do that?

You filter them by creating a list that enables you to qualify who would be a great contact who can help and those that will be helpful but less so.

To do that you need to score them. I use what I call the MILE. An acronym for:
Money
Influence
Location
Entrepreneurial

It works like this:
Depending on which section of the market you plan to operate in, do the contacts you have have enough money to circulate in the circle you want to operate in?
Do they have a role, authority, charisma that enables them to be seen as an influencer in that circle?
Are they in a location that is relevant to what you do?
Do they share an entrepreneurial spirit like you and would be willing to pass your name along?

If you ask your self those 4 questions, for each person you know, you can create a list. The scores on that list will help you focus your attention on the right people. The easiest way to score them is relative to yourself on the following:

Name Score
M I L E

If they have more of any of the above score them 3
If they have about the same as you score them 2
If they have less than you score them 1
As far as location is concerned whilst the person you know may be miles away they may still have connections in your area. If they do score them 1. If they do not score them 0.

Ultimately you will end up with a list that has some 10’s and some will be 3’s. Those that are 7’s and above are most likely to be your best bets to help you get your business known amongst their circle of friends/contacts. And it is most likley those friends and contacts could have a need for your services or at least know someone that might.

So that is for people, from a list you have created.

Next time we will look at how you do the same thing for the new group you need to get to know --- your professional contacts. Until then happy Homefinding.

Henry

Catching the Loch Ness Sales Monster
Copyright Henry Winter 2006
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Sales go up, they go down, just like the humps on the oft heard about, but rarely seen, Loch Ness Monster.

Those who make money in business tend to be the ones who have caught the monster and worked out how to flatten Nessie’s humps to have a smoother sales cycle.

And it's maintaining the sales “funnel” that is a real challenge for many Homefinders.

First you have to spend time accumulating your referrals, leads and customer base.

Next you have to deliver superlative service to the customers and clients your sales efforts have generated.

Then you have to start that cycle all over again. Every time.

Unless that is you have put your sales on semi autopilot.

Just imagine you have some great Loch Ness Monster bait.

You would put some on the water and Nessie would take some.

The next day you would do the same.

Give Nessie some more, drip-feeding it on a regular basis.

After a while you would gain Nessies trust and could capture it more easily.

The same applies to your sales.

Drip feeding your market with information, the right information.

This can be achieved in a variety of ways.

Newsletter/Ezine. Start your own. Stamp your personality and authority across it and circulate to your growing list if prospects and past customers. Use it as a free “give away” at networking events or as a lead capture tool via your web site. Add the leads to your growing list.

Post Cards. Get a simple but effective graphic, or series or relevant graphics on a post card.
You can even get some FREE. Create a great message and post them, a little but often.

They will get leads. You can even design them as free give away’s to leave at Accountants, Solicitors, Estate Agents, Removals firms, Dental surgeries, Doctors Surgeries, Hotels, B&B’s – anywhere a prospective client can be found or where someone they know might go. You can even leave them under windscreens in the right locations. Add the lead to your growing list

Direct Mail – Sales Letters. Decide on what you want the letter to do – get referrals or leads or make direct sales appeals, source your list (or create your own – it can be done!). Target an area or business group (i.e. accountants) or market type and write an attention grabbing direct sales letter. Offer some form of premium (free report/discount voucher etc) to get the response. Add the leads to your growing list

Email Campaign. Cheap, effective and automatic. Set up a series of emails that provide really useful and relevant information (and the odd sales message too). Add the leads to your growing list and off you go. Emails can be delievered automatically via an Auto responder. For example I have a web site where I pump out a message every week for nearly two years yet I have to do hardly any work to keep those messages drip feeding my market. They really are easy to set up and use.

Sales Database or CRM (Customer Relationship Management). Get one. Keeping leads on a piece of paper is NO good. Put it in a database that you can merge with, email from. What’s more they cost very, very little. Add your growing list to your sales system and off you go.

[For example click here AND then click the Silver/Platinum link to see an example of a totally integrated approach for just a few pence a day].

Take a small classified in the Sunday papers and add the leads to your growing list.

In summary it’s all about doing a little OFTEN and consistently. That way, whilst you are out earning your fee, the next opportunity is landing in your auto responder, through the mail or on your phone.

I know its tough when you are just getting started.

It can even be tough when you have been doing it a while too.

If you need help crafting your sales messages, creating a post card, sales letter, Newsletter, White Paper or Ezine, or want the help of an experienced Homefinder as a Business Mentor, just drop an email to Henryw@homefindingasabusiness.co.uk

Until next time, happy Homefindingasabusiness.

Henry WinterAuthor www.homefindingasabusiness.co.uk

Dont let them say "I Love it". Your clients screw up all your hardwork! and could cost themselves £000's
Copyright Henry Winter.
www.homefindingasabusiness.co.uk
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You have done all the hard work.

You have spent weeks burning the shoe leather, wearing down the tyres, guzzling the fuel.

Burning the candle to give exemplary service.

You have viewed the home, sussed out all the "hot spots" to get the best deal, you have a negotiating strategy in mind to get your client the best deal.

You set their viewing up and off you go.

They go round, the minute they walk in the door they know you have done the best job possible.

And then they say: "I love it. It's perfect for us" or "We have just fallen in love with the property" or "This is it this is our next home" Urrrrrrgh.......there goes at least one negotiating strategy.

What many homesearchers do is 95% of the work well, then they forget to set the client's expectations for the viewing.

As a Homefinder you are so happy you have the right home to show the client you forget to brief the client on your strategy for securing the home for them.

And that should always include getting the best deal.

That means agreeing a strategy before they get any where near the threshold of their dream home. This advice may be common sense, but I have been on the receiving end when I first started and fell into this well meaning trap.

Their enthusiasm could cost them £'000's, and you too if you are a % of the savings made! It conveys a high probability that their interest is now hard to hide and negotiations become "seller side" and not "buyer side" and you haven't even started yet.

If you cannot negotiate the deal with your client meeting the sellers agent then tell them:
Play Poker - make sure they are neutral. They do not have to be all negative but hide their true feelings about the home.

As a Homefinder you will try and keep the sellers agent occupied with you whilst your clients have a free run round. We all know the feeling when we have guest to stay - its just like fish -after about three days they go off. Make sure your client has long enough but not so long that their interest is deep and obvious for even the blindest of estate agents to see.

I remember from my days on the other side of the fence that the potential buyer that came around fitting in their furniture the minute they walked in the door very rarely bought the house. On the other hand the buyer who took some pictures often did so limit your clients piccy taking if you can.

Avoid the rush hour. We can all be impulsive buyers. See some thing we like, splurt out "I want it" or grab it and trot off to the cash counter. When buying with your clients, unless its a contract race or some other form of pressure don't rush back with immediate feedback. Mull it over for a few days.

If you need to find out more make sure it is you the client uses as the conduit for question asking. Once they have seen a home you have found they could easily go straight to the agent and ask all the wrong questions, revealing their hand too early.

Even if thyey are "mad for it" also get them to sleep on their decision, don't rush back for an additional showing. Take it easy.

In the meantime you can do all your checking via all the house price sites and Land registry to check comparable sales.

About the Author;
Henry Winter, Author, Marketer, Adviser, Homefinding Mentor.
www.homefindingasabusiness.co.uk

HIPs debate - the debate goes on - for some !
Copyright © Henry Winter
www.homefindingasabusiness.co.uk

If you are new to the property market HIPs will mean nothing to you. But it will.
If you are experienced in the property market then HIPs will have an impact.

But what is all the fuss about.

A HIP simply starts the whole long winded, uncertain home buying process off in week one instead of the date (probably several months later) than it currently does. The Home Condition Report will highlight what is right with a home and what is wrong with it. Depending on which supplier a Vendor uses even homes with things wrong with them will have all the repair costs quoted (even with a warranted price and quality of work!)

What does that mean - quicker transactions, more certainty and in the overall scheme things less hassle and probably less cost not more. So, June 2007 is not far away.

Deal with agents on the Homesearch now that are embracing the change - quicker transactions for the Homefinder, more certainty for both you and your client.

About the Author:
A veteran of the UK estate agency, relocation and home search markets.
Henry Winter is an author, marketer, adviser and publisher.
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To find one of the best home based business ideas and
opportunities so you can work at home visit:
http://www.homefindingasabusiness.co.uk
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Maps Maps Maps.......!

The world is awash with Maps. Google Maps, GIS (geo graphic information systems), MultiMap, getmapping.com and so many more. Life "ain't like it used to be".

Just imagine the scene. It's pouring with rain outside, the client is tired ftom their "red eye trip". The home search is venturing onto "lesser" known territory and your lost. Out comes the folded, creased map that takes up half the car, and you poke the clients eye out whilst unfolding it. What a nightmare!

Nowadays with Tom Tom's, and other sat nav aids, getting around is much easier to areas that a Homesearcher may not know very well. Google Maps also means that you can see the property and the land layout so much more easily.

But is that enough?

Providing Home finding services is a high "value added" service.

Like many services, if the client had the time, the inclination, the contacts, they could do it themleves. But no, they have chosen to use you to help them find a home.

So, how can you add value to a map.
1. Some mapping packages can be purchased relatively inexpensively, they can be for the whole country, they could be just for your specififc part of the country.
2.From a Homefinders point of view they need to show information that is valued. It could be a map showing the client details about all your viewings that day with relevant notes on it about the area, noise, traffic, schools - in factr any speciofic bit f useful info can be added to a map.
3. You may want to show where certain gyms are, you may want to use them to screen potential viewings before you even leave your home or office on a viewing. You may want to look at Plot size, orientation to the sun, proximity to shops...the uses are endless as long as they are relevant to what you do.

If you want to find out what I recommend, and why, drop me an email.