When you’re already selling 350 homes a year in a smaller market, where do you look for growth? For Charlotte the answer is her sphere of influence, which she believes can yield another 100 transactions a year. But it’s not just about growth. By strengthening relationships with her database of past clients, referral partners and sphere, Charlotte is building a saleable asset. We’ll break down exactly how she built her team and how she’s restructuring it to give her the freedom to leave production, retire or even sell her team.
Takeaways + Tactics
1. Select your testimonials carefully and maximize those that speak to -and attract - your ideal clients
2. Radio is one of the best sources of listing leads for top agents around the country - you could also run a podcast to get a similar effect on a smaller scale
3. Build your team with the end goal in mind- whether it’s to actively manage the tea, retire from daily operations or sell your business
We’re projecting we can add at least another 100 transaction this year just by doing that (reconnecting with database). All we’re changing is bringing in ISA’s to really tackle that database. -Charlotte Mabry
We kicked off this episode by answering the question, “How do you deal with a seller who’s being unrealistic on price?” Greg and Charlotte both use similar scripting and emphasized how important it is to ask questions and go three deep to get the seller’s true motivation. We also went over the scripting for presenting your team’s value to seller clients, which include marketing prowess, communication and client service.
We started with Charlotte’s story and the key skills to develop as a new agent. Charlotte explained that the best way to get into the business is work with buyers and ask for the listing opportunities when they arise. Then do everything it takes to get those first listings sold while learning the market and learning how to price homes correctly.
Then we dive into how Charlotte runs her team and provides value to her agents, including weekly team meetings, book clubs and lead generation. After focusing primarily on referrals, Charlotte began expanding and generating leads online, then 8 years ago expanded into a live radio show, which now accounts for about 30% of all her leads. As a result, her agents often get ‘Come List Me’ leads because of the credibility built through the radio show.
Charlotte uses very targeted testimonials, which are read by on-air radio talent during commercial slots, to attract the exact type of client she wants. As a result, her team’s average sale price is well above the average sale price for the area. We also covered the admin staff and why they are salaried without bonuses.
Next we covered the changes Charlotte is making to structure her team to allow her to completely step out of production, and her plans to hire a CEO/GM role that will allow her to retire or even sell her team. Charlotte is working on cutting costs and using ISA’s to strengthen relationships with her database, which is the core, saleable value of her real estate business. These ISA’s are young, local guys who know the area rather than overseas VA’s like other teams use.
“If we didn’t get another single lead, it wouldn’t matter for probably 6 months.” Charlotte pointed out that despite having this thousands of leads, they’re always looking to get better and build better relationships with their sphere because that’s the real value in her business. We hope you learn from her example and stay in touch with your database to build your career (or your team) on a solid, sustainable foundation.
Guest Bio
Charlotte Mabry is the founder of the Charlotte Mabry Team, Chattanooga’s #1 selling team, which sold over 350 homes in 2015. Charlotte appears every Saturday morning on her own live radio show, Chattanooga Real Estate Doctor on 102.3 WGOW. To send referrals to Charlotte, email her at charlotte@charlottemabryteam.com and check out her Chattanooga real estate video blog at http://charlottemabry.blogspot.com/.
Click here to download your free PDF, Greg’s Favorite Scripts, featuring scripts for buyer and seller lead follow up, price reduction and objection handler scripts and much more.
