Converting more buyer leads Cont. - Mastering the Buyer Consultation!

TJ McGraw (00:01.066) All right. Well, you, uh, you heard the, the first installment of the lean on a lender segment. Um, at sticking, I'm going to make it stick whether, whether you want it to stick or not. James, I mean, lean on a lender segment of the show. Uh, that was, I just want to shout out to Brent Brownlee from Supreme lending. Thanks for coming on the show. Um, it's always great. It, it's not an opportunity for everybody, a rehab loan, but it's like we said, another tool in your tool belt to. James Dicke | Atlanta (00:07.125) Thank you. TJ McGraw (00:30.102) to perhaps, it just expands your knowledge of real estate. So you have that in conjunction with your lender to it might be a solution for some buyer along the line. If you're in real estate long enough, there will be a buyer that it will work for. So that's moving on from that. So going back and extending from last week where we were talking about the buyer flow, the lead, buyer lead flow. the system to convert buyers. And do we know that it's working? It's working for the team. It's working for other agents that I know. It's working for agents that I coach. So we kind of ended off at the, when you got the lead and we went through the flow chart and we got to the point where we talked about doing a buyer consultation. And we touched on that a little bit. And I know, you know, offline we were talking, I think that we, It's important to really talk a little bit more about that. We're not going to spend too much time on it, but I want to talk about the buyer's consultation. So I don't know, James, like what, what do you think? Is it, is it helpful to do a buyer's consultation before you, you get in to start working with somebody? James Dicke | Atlanta (01:46.937) Oh absolutely, I mean I think it's especially it's your first time that you're in person with somebody and so it gives you the opportunity to show your value. It gives you the opportunity to set the stage of what you offer. Gives you the ability to be transparent and also just be upfront until you're on the same page. TJ McGraw (02:05.162) Yeah, absolutely. It's transparency for sure. It's no, and to extend on the episode from last week as well with all this craziness and the uncertainty around virus compensation, it's really important that we describe what we do, what our value is, what we bring to the table, why we're needed, all that type of stuff. But beyond that, it's really... I'm going to say this. It's like when you go to a listing presentation or a listing consultation, a listing strategy session, whatever you call it, you're bringing stuff with you. You're bringing a packet with you. You're talking about the market. You're talking about the how much the home is worth, all that stuff. A CMA, which is another episode. We should do a CMA. Side note for future. So you have all this stuff. So why aren't we doing that when we go to see buyers? It's like we feel, a lot of agents feel rushed where, okay, I got to lead, I don't want to let this lead go, they want to see a house, so we got to get them into a house right away. Well, you can still do that. However, if you insist on a buyer's consultation prior to going to see a house, then what you're doing is you're creating an opportunity for them to... You're developing, you're fostering trust with them. And by doing that, your, let me say this too, don't, we're gonna talk about where to do it. Do it on Zoom, do it in a coffee shop, do it in your office, do it on the way to the first house. Like, hey, can we, before we go to the house, it's available at this time, let's meet at the coffee shop around the corner for 20 minutes. I was just gonna go over some details and things like that and then we'll go to the house right away. So if that solves the problem of like, we gotta get them into the house because I don't wanna lose them as a client. They wanna get in the house and I might, they might just go with somebody else that's just gonna take them right to the house and not worry about this silly buyer consultation meeting or whatever. One important thing, I call it a strategy buying strategy session. So, and I bill it like that. It's like, hey, we're... TJ McGraw (04:30.194) I like to go into things with a plan. If we make a plan about your home search, then we're gonna be ahead of all the other buyers that are out there winging it. I'm paraphrasing, I kinda say it like that. So in essence, you're setting them up. And like you said, James, transparency. So tell me a little bit more about that. What did you mean when you said transparency? James Dicke | Atlanta (04:58.453) What I mean by transparency also meant like expectations. This is what I'm going to tell you I'm going to do. I'm transparent about what my systems are. This is what I think works best to find a home. We should come together on agreement of how we're going to search for homes. But it's about what my expectations are. What your expectations should be for me when I'm offering you my services. And that's what I really mean. TJ McGraw (05:21.31) Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And you brought up a good point there too, is like expectations, because I've, I love to ask the question, whether I'm at a listing appointment or with a buyer and they've, they've had experience buying or selling houses in the past. I would say, what, what did you like, you know, what, or if they left an agent like, oh yeah, I was working with an agent, but that really didn't go anywhere. They didn't do too much. You're like, oh, what was it about them that didn't, that, you know, that didn't work for you? James Dicke | Atlanta (05:37.566) Yeah. TJ McGraw (05:47.726) for with buyers that like the probably the number one answer that I get is like, well, I did all the search and like they never searched for anything. I did all the searching and they never looked for a house at all. So the, it tells me that most buyers out there have the impression that a real estate agent is just there to get to find them a house. And honestly, and if you know, everybody listening to this knows that the real work starts when you've identified the house and then you're making the offers or you're negotiating. You're like, closings and attorney, whoever, if you're in an attorney state, all that stuff after the fact, inspections, dealing with inspections, repair requests, whatever the case may be. That's when the real work starts. So what I always say to that is just going back, not to harp on exactly how to handle that statement or objection, if you want to call it. It's setting expectations. And that's why it's so, that's probably the number one reason why having a buyer strategy session or buyer consultation, whatever you want to call it, whatever fits into your branding. But it's the point is like have a meeting beforehand. So you set expectations, be very clear about what you do and how you do it, how you get paid, all of that, um, explain the whole process to him. Cause most, most don't. And even if they've been, if they've bought real estate in the past, they, they don't do it every day like we do. So it's not. We can't make the assumption that they know. And that's how I frame it too. I'm like, listen, I know, like I do this every day. So I don't wanna take for granted that you know something. So I just start off on the assumption that we're just, that I'm gonna teach you everything, everything I know about real estate. And it starts with, it starts at the lowest step and then we're gonna work our way up. And for some people, I might say, some of this might be review for you, but this is how the process works. So let's start with the packet. So the first thing, you gotta bring a packet. Bring a folder, I'm sure your broker has a folder, get a folder made with your branding on it, whatever the case may be, just have a folder with pockets in it and whatnot. And in that folder, one of the first things that goes in there is a letter, a letter from you, a letter from a team leader, whatever the case may be on the team, like it's a letter from me, I'm the team leader. So there's all the team, everybody on the team brings this letter. TJ McGraw (08:14.406) What it basically is, it's a promise. It's a written down black and white promise, short letter, like two, three paragraphs. I'm here to serve you. You're my number one responsibility. You're my number one priority. You have your best interests in mind, and it just explains that promise to them, that I'm there to help them, or we're there to help them. That's huge because that's like a... And a lot of businesses do that. If you start looking around, there's a lot of other businesses that write a, like our promise to you or the, I can't think of one right now. Can you think of one, James, a company out there that has a promise to their clients or customers? James Dicke | Atlanta (08:57.329) I always think about men's warehouse. But yeah, a lot of companies do that. You just take it for granted. You see them. But when you start thinking about one of the most important decisions that you're going to make, you start off on that with that footing, that should give you some peace of mind. TJ McGraw (08:59.71) Men's warehouse. TJ McGraw (09:14.994) Yeah, exactly. So like that's that kicks it off. Like here's our promise to you. Like we're basically in a nutshell says we're 100 percent committed to you. We're not representing the seller in this instance. We're representing you. We have a fiduciary responsibility to you. Well, so I think you get it. I think everybody gets that. So having a letter written out from the heart, that just a promise to the buyer that you're going to how you're going to work for them essentially like you're. It kind of, you're like stating your ethic, like your work ethic in that letter. And it's your promise of service. Next thing is a buyer's roadmap of some kinds. Like a graphic works really well, explaining the process. Like if you talk to a real estate agent, get pre-approved for lending, search for home, making an offer, so on and so forth. The inspection process, appraisal, closing. Now you're a homeowner, that kind of thing. Now, I'll put this in the show notes, but Breakthrough Broker, breakthroughbroker.com, you should have some free stuff, a free buyer's roadmap in there, and a ton of other stuff. You can make flyers or open houses and all that stuff in there too. So breakthroughbroker.com, awesome for marketing. Awesome for marketing on a budget, because you can print the stuff yourself, or you can have them print it, or you can get a PDF and have somebody else print it. But it's an awesome resource for us as real estate agents. Testimonials should be in there, past clients always get testimonials. And this can just be like, Hey, go, you know, go, whether you send people to Zillow, wherever you send people to get testimonials or reviews, just pull them off of there, put them on a document and they'd be done with it. You just make sure it goes into your, into your folder every time. Uh, along with testimonials, I'll throw in references as well. I've, I've talked to a bunch of my past clients and I say, Hey, do you mind if somebody calls you? and just ask you if I'm a good real estate agent. I've never had one person call another somebody else because usually everything I give them is usually enough. They're convinced they don't have to call my past clients. But side note, make sure that if you do put references in, it's an optional thing, but if you do put references in, make sure that you're talking to those people that you are putting on that paper and let them know, or ask them, do you mind if I have somebody call you TJ McGraw (11:43.582) me and if you tell your story about how I helped you get out. That kind of thing. And then that's optional though. That's like another next level step. And honestly, I don't do it every single time. I'll do it occasionally. I'll do it especially if I know I'm up against other agents, just like that little piece that sets me apart. I actually have, there's an agent that I know from Virginia. His name is Jeremy Allen, if you're listening out there, Thanks for this tidbit. He actually has past clients call leads that are getting ready to work with him. It works more in the listing side of things. Like if you go to a listing appointment and you leave a listing appointment that afternoon or that next day, if you have some past clients call, make like proactively call the person you just had a listing appointment with, wow. That's amazing. Like he does an awesome job with that. But we're not talking about listings right now. We're talking about buyers. And then also in there, I always put the buyer's agreement in there or whatever it's called in your state. It's called the buyer broker's agreement in Georgia. Whatever that agreement is, that agreement where they are hiring you to represent them as a buyer's agent, that agreement, put that in there. And I don't say you gotta sign it right now because you just met for the first time. I will say here is the agreement. This is, it's required by the state of Georgia. It's probably required by any other state. I say, this is just the agreement that officially hires me to represent you and look after your best interests during the transaction. And I said, I want you to read it over. I printed it out so you have it and you can read it over and make notes on it if you want to and ask me questions about it. We'll connect. We're going to go look at houses today. We'll connect tomorrow. or before we go out again to look at houses, we'll connect and we'll go over any questions you might have and then we'll go ahead and we'll get that signed so we can really get to work and find a new house. It's like, that's no pressure. Like here, I want you to read it beforehand. That works really well, that tactic. Because everything that's going on, I mean, it's important to get a buyer's agreement signed. But I think more importantly, it's important that people understand TJ McGraw (14:08.178) what's in the buyer's agreement. So not just getting it signed, but you have to explain it to them. I think that's lost on a lot of agents. Where it's like, get the buyer's agreement signed, get the buyer's agreement signed, but they need to know what it is, how you get paid, what you do, what the expectations are, all that stuff needs to be out. Then you can put it in there. You'll have them go over it, and then you sign it. And normally, when I do it that way, I don't get anyone really that box about signing it. It's just like, they just sign it like, oh yeah, sounds good, this makes total sense. It all makes complete sense. Let's just sign it and go ahead. That's it, and then of course I'll put in, last thing I put in the packet is MLS sheets of homes that we are either going to look at that day or if it's solely just a conversation and we're not going to look at houses yet, which does happen and it will happen. then I'll put sheets in there of homes that we potentially might want to go look and see. And we discuss them during the consultation. So did I cover everything, James? James Dicke | Atlanta (15:14.117) Yeah, that was it. I mean I put one more thing in there especially for first-time home buyers is I put in a purchase and sale agreement Just so they have one to they'll you know when you send to them for the very first time. It's not foreign to them I go I go one step a little bit further for both that and the buyers agreement is I do just write on a Top of it an example, so there's no pressure whatsoever. I'm asking to sign anything So it's just a conversation about this is what's gonna. I'll be sending to you in the future TJ McGraw (15:26.614) Mm-hmm. Yeah. James Dicke | Atlanta (15:42.517) especially if we get the right house, what I want you to do, I'll tell you, I had a chance to look at it before then, so we can go over any kind of questions before I send it to you. TJ McGraw (15:49.514) Gotcha. So you're actually writing sample on top of it, on top of the those agreements. So you're not using that. See, I know, because I've actually had people be like, oh yeah, let's sign it. And then in that moment, we'll sign it. So I don't, but that is a good idea though. Because if you want to do it electronically, then you do it electronically. It's probably easier to keep track of things if you're doing it electronically rather than having it get wet signatures and then scan it in and then. James Dicke | Atlanta (15:52.957) Yep. Yes. James Dicke | Atlanta (16:01.775) Oh. TJ McGraw (16:18.126) I'll put it in your transaction software and all that stuff. So either way it works. These are just, these are semantics now. Yeah, the point is like, the point is, like if you're taking notes, like this, pick up your pencil, the point this is, you want to explain your value, explain what you do, explain the expectations from both sides. I always say, you know, well, we're looking for a home. Like it's, we're a team. Like when it comes to the home search, James Dicke | Atlanta (16:22.909) Either way works. TJ McGraw (16:48.146) And looking online, I always say like, I'm going to find homes, but I'm, I'm sending a bunch of homes to a lot of people and I'm going to, I'm going to be very in tune with what you're looking for, but you're the one that's going to have to live in the house. So, you know, yeah, if you just rely on me to send you houses, there they might not be the house you're looking for and you might miss something. I say, so be active, be on there of most people that I work with now because I get, you know, we get a lot of the same information, we get the same pictures. So a lot of people nowadays are sending me the house. And that's when they end up buying because it's speaking to them when they see it online or when they're searching online. James Dicke | Atlanta (17:24.989) Right. Well, I think it also helps our criteria too. The more houses they send that they like, it kind of fine-tunes what they're looking for us too. That's what I explained to them as well. I said, you send me some things that you like and that really fine-tunes what you're looking for in my mind so that I specify better what I'm looking for you. TJ McGraw (17:43.858) Yeah, absolutely. 100%. And I've never, I can say this, if I did I can't remember right now, but I have never written a contract or gotten under contract or had a transaction for a buyer lead that solely relied on me to send them. And it's not because I wasn't sending them homes. I just think there's a disconnect. And if someone's really motivated to buy a house, they're gonna be online. James Dicke | Atlanta (18:02.078) No. TJ McGraw (18:13.918) searching. You know what I mean? If they're just waiting for you to send them stuff. That's like, I don't, you know, after a while you lose the communication isn't going both ways. So that's, that's at the end of the day, that's what it is. But a lot of people don't realize that they have how much they need to be doing that. So if you explain the expectations, then that gets you kind of off the hook with having to, with all the pressure being on you to find that house because you can't. James Dicke | Atlanta (18:16.058) Oh, yeah. James Dicke | Atlanta (18:38.438) Right. TJ McGraw (18:39.966) I mean, it's like I got automated stuff. I'm going to, and I tell people, honestly, I'm like, I want to put your search criteria into an algorithm and they're going to send you houses. So you're going to get a house that you don't like, and you might get some that you do like, but you will get some that you do like. But if you're on there looking also, you're going to find the ones that my algorithm don't find. And like I said before, we're a team working together. And here's where my value, my function comes in is once we find a house. That's when my magic happens. Magic man, I'm the magic man. No, of course I don't say that. I'd like to sometimes though. I like to get goofy with buyers. Not everybody appreciates my humor though, so I gotta keep it under wraps once in a while until they get to know me. James Dicke | Atlanta (19:11.8) Absolutely. James Dicke | Atlanta (19:15.552) Hehehehehe TJ McGraw (19:29.858) Hehehehe James Dicke | Atlanta (19:30.265) But I think what we're talking about here is just our value, right, and the process of it. And, you know, going from the buyer flow chart that we talked about last time to getting the consultation down, you're showing value, you're showing professionalism, you're making people understand that this is an important aspect of buying a house, is representation on the buyer side. TJ McGraw (19:54.858) Yeah, 100%. That's totally, like what you said right there just kind of summed it all up for sure. It's an important step in the process. Don't skip it. Like I've done it both ways. I've done it with just showing people houses and I can tell you those, the ones that I don't do a buyer consultation with or a buyer strategy session as we like to call them, then those, there's a higher likelihood that some miscommunication is gonna happen. And so many, your... somebody's gonna expect something from you that you're not expecting to do. And so getting it all out, clear it up in the beginning. And the one thing, before we wrap it up here, as we're going kind of long, the one thing that's super important is don't do it inside a house that you're going to see, because they will not hear a single word you say. They'll be looking around the house, they're just interested in the house at that moment. So when you're in a house, I do very little talking inside a house unless they ask me a question. James Dicke | Atlanta (20:43.985) Hehehehe TJ McGraw (20:52.662) Or I'll point a feature out or something to that degree. Or I'll say, oh yeah, it's 15 minutes from where you work or blah, whatever the case may be, but I won't talk about the process. I won't talk about what you need to bring on closing day. Like they're not into that at that moment. But if you have their undivided attention in a consultation, now this can be done on Zoom, coffee shop, coffee shop around the corner, your office. You can do it the day before you go out looking at houses. You can do it the morning of. You can do it right before you go look at houses, whatever the case may be. But the important thing is to get this information out. Explain expectations, be transparent about what you do and how you get paid, and then move on to going to look at houses. Trust me, if you just take that step and if you insist on that step, then your life is gonna be so much easier through the process, because it's gonna be laid out for them. And you will... What was I gonna say after I was gonna say that? Whatever. I'll edit that out. James Dicke | Atlanta (22:02.342) That was a good way to wrap it up though. TJ McGraw (22:06.37) All right, so that's it. We're gonna pause right there as we're in a little longer. This episode's a little bit longer than I would hope it would be, but there's just so much good information in here, I don't wanna cut it up too much. So yeah, so go check out, go to theagentmind.com, where all, you can read the blog, connect to the show, anything, a lot of stuff we talk about in the episodes will be links on there, so go check out theagentmind.com. If you want to partner with us or you're interested in coaching, definitely reach out tjmcgraw at theagentmind.com. I'll get, one of these days I'll get super professional and get like a contact link, but for now just send me an email. That's the best way to get ahold of me. Yeah. All right, James. Well, until next time. James Dicke | Atlanta (22:51.961) Alright, man. I'll talk to you later. Bye, guys! TJ McGraw (22:55.025) Alright.