Kim Hughes

Providing solid solutions since 1999 specifically tailored for today’s real estate professional.

By Leave a Comment

Is It Time You Bring On An Assistant?

Your day started at 8:00 a.m. and 12 hours later, there is no end in sight. While many people immediately say they need to hire some help, it is important to think through that decision and make sure that is the direction you should move. Having an assistant is a big responsibility and will require an investment on your part for your assistant to be successful so make sure you are prepared for everything that comes with it.

If you are tired of feeling like you never have enough time, make it a habit at the end of every day to reflect on what you did that day. Make a quick list of the tasks you accomplished then think about what could have been done by someone else if you chose to delegate those tasks to a different person. Also, think about what else you could accomplish if you didn’t have to do some of the things you spend time on each day. You will find that some tasks require your attention but there are likely many others that could be done by anyone.

Tired of Doing It All? Maybe You Now Need An Assistant

Here are some items you are probably doing every week or maybe even every day that could be assigned to someone else.

  • Scheduling showing appointments
  • Returning phone calls
  • Maintaining your database
  • Assigning leads to drip campaigns
  • Collecting showing feedback
  • Providing showing feedback to your sellers
  • Keeping sellers informed of activity on their property
  • Marketing your listings
  • Website maintenance
  • Blogging
  • Coordinating details of a transaction once a property goes under contract
  • Bookkeeping
  • Maintaining your files and records
  • Implementing your social media strategy
  • Maintaining your daily schedule

This is just a partial list of things the right assistant can help you with. If you go a step further and hire a licensed assistant, the list can continue indefinitely with tasks they can help you with.

Before you make a decision to hire someone, make sure to think about the big picture when it comes to hiring someone. Your assistant will need to be paid regularly and consistently even if you haven’t had a closing that month so you will need to have reserves you can use to make sure that happens. You will need to provide them a place to work and the tools and equipment they need to work with so they can help you. Most importantly, even if they are experienced, you can’t expect them to guess at your expectations so you will need to be ready to teach them and help them learn your systems so they can be successful and make you even more successful.

If you don’t have enough work for an assistant on your own, you may consider sharing an assistant with another agent in your office, hiring someone part time or hiring a real estate virtual assistant to give you the help that you need. Hiring an assistant isn’t just about getting more done. It should allow you to focus your time on dollar-producing activities without letting other things slip through the cracks at the same time.

Download my complimentary Complete Checklist:  72 Tasks to Dominate Success

You can read my other real estate business blogs and get free downloads by visiting https://www.kimhughes.com/resources/real-estate-blog/

COMING SOON!

The Ultimate Expired Listing System Webinar

Are you ready to get serious about working the Expired’s in your market?  Are you ready to start building your inventory and put more money in the bank?  I bet you are!  I have been asked many of times to do a webinar for agents who struggle with the Expired Listing process, so coming in May I will be hosting a Workshop to take you through my Expired Listing System that has been a huge success for many top agents.  If you would like to be the first notified just click on the link below and you will automatically go into my private list to receive the first announcement.

YES! I WANT TO BE THE FIRST TO KNOW – SIGN ME UP!

 

90 Day Real Estate Planner

90 Day Real Estate Planner

Ready and motivated to organize your life?  The 90 Day Real Estate Planner is a must for any agent, broker, team leader to implement into their daily lives as it will help you become more productive, find more time and be better organized.  Get it today by visiting the 90 Day Real Estate Action Planner – use the COUPON CODE: PLAN18 to get your discount.  This special code is for a limited time only, so take advantage of this discount today and get excited about your life becoming more organized and structured.

*****

Are you realizing you need to tighten up your business strategies?  Here at Kim Hughes & Company we are the experts when it comes to working real estate agents with start-ups, re-organizing, marketing, transaction management and so much more.  Visit us at Kim Hughes and Company to download our free Real Estate Checklist.  We will show you how to become a powerhouse agent so schedule a 20 minute complimentary call with Kim today and let’s get you organized and create some amazing strategies for your business.

Are we connected:

Instagram: @KimHughesCoaching | #KimHughesCoaching
http://www.Facebook.com/KimHughes 
http://facebook.com/KimHughesRealEstateVirtualAssistant 
http://www.Twitter.com/KimHughes 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimhughescoaching
https://www.pinterest.com/kim_hughes/pins/

By Leave a Comment

What are Your Goals with Social Media?

I am not going to tell you that your Facebook Page, Twitter or Instagram accounts or LinkedIn profile will sell houses (they won’t). What your posts on these social media accounts are for is to keep you in front of your clients, friends, family and prospective clients so that when they are ready to buy or sell, you are front of their mind as a real estate expert and they reach out to you first.

It can be challenging to keep up with multiple social media accounts and post to them regularly without it distracting you from more critical parts of your business. There are many social media solutions that will allow you to schedule your social media posts in advance so that you regularly post to your various accounts even if you get busy and can’t do it every day.

There are multiple free and paid programs available that you can use to make it easier for you to schedule posts in advance. Here are some solutions to investigate if you want to add this to your plan. Many of these platforms offer free accounts so you can experiment with it and determine if it will work for you.

Hootsuite

Buffer

Crowdfire

Post Planner

Scheduling posts once a week is an effective way to ensure the information you want to share gets shared when you want to share it. It is so easy to get distracted when a buyer asks to look at a house, a closing or inspection takes longer than you expect or you need a day off.

The goals you have for your social media presence may help you decide which platform will work best for you, your market and your community. These social media scheduler programs can help you schedule your posts, manage the post, monitor the pages, give you insights/reports and help you stay organized so you can respond appropriately to interactions and stay engaged with your followers.

Now that you know how to schedule your posts, what should you post? Obviously, you should share information about the properties you have listed. Your sellers expect this and will be looking for it.

 

One way you can manage content is to create a Pinterest board where you pin different articles and ideas you would like to share on social media. Then, when are scheduling your social media posts for the week, your Pinterest board can provide the ideas you need without you having to search for them.

What else should you post? Share a variety of items relevant to homeowners as well as items relevant to the area you live in. You will also want to balance that with other non-real estate content. If your content is extremely real estate heavy, you will lose the attention of your followers. Some people aren’t interested in buying or selling real estate now or in the near future and if that is all you post about, they will tune out all of your posts.

Because of the algorithms in place with the various social media accounts, interaction is critical. If your pages aren’t getting interaction, rethink what you are posting. When someone does comment on one of your posts, respond in some way. The more interaction you have on your posts, the greater exposure that post and future posts will receive.

Another thing to watch is the time of day you post things. Evaluate your social media insights to determine the best time of day to schedule your social media posts based on when your followers are online.

Lastly, consistency is key is the scheduling of your posts will help improve this but stick with it. Social media is a long-term approach. It’s not going to give results like making phone calls or an open house where you get instant feedback but will provide you and your listings added exposure over time.

Get creative with your social media engagement, find the best scheduler out they’re that fits your needs and then set aside some time to devote to writing important real estate articles for your community, events that are going on, new businesses coming in or highlight a business, school, student, community services, etc.  Make it all engaging and you will see a world of difference in how your audience connects with you.

Here at Kim Hughes & Company we offer to work with our agents in their social media.  We can create the strategy, the original content for you and your audience from real estate, new listings, community events and so much more.  If you are interested in taking your social media to new heights then we should talk about how you can accomplish this goal.

Ready and motivated to organize your life?  The 90 Day Real Estate Planner is a must for any agent, broker, team leader to implement into their daily lives as it will help you become more productive, find more time and be better organized.  Get it today by visiting the 90 Day Real Estate Action Planner – use the COUPON CODE: PLAN18 to get your discount.  This special code is for a limited time only, so take advantage of this discount today and get excited about your life becoming more organized and structured.

Are you realizing you need to tighten up your business strategies?  Here at Kim Hughes & Company we are the experts when it comes to working real estate agents with start-ups, re-organizing, marketing, transaction management and so much more.  Visit us at Kim Hughes and Company to download our free Real Estate Checklist.  We will show you how to become a powerhouse agent so schedule a 20 minute complimentary call with Kim today and let’s get you organized and create some amazing strategies for your business.

Are we connected?

Instagram: @KimHughesCoaching | #KimHughesCoaching
http://www.Facebook.com/KimHughes 
http://facebook.com/KimHughesRealEstateVirtualAssistant 
http://www.Twitter.com/KimHughes 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimhughescoaching
https://www.pinterest.com/kim_hughes/pins/

Image courtesy of geralt/pixabay.com

 

 

By Leave a Comment

7+ Tips To Organizing Your Real Estate Database

“You need to build your relationships with your real estate clients”. I’m sure you hear this all the time. You probably have been given quick tips, gimmicks, and ideas even though you already know what you need to do.

How do you build these relationships, you ask?  You need to organize your client database and keep it organized.

I can hear you right now saying….” Yeah, right – I know this, but I’m busy – I don’t have time and I don’t have a good system in place.”


This should be the #1 priority on your list every day. You can’t afford to NOT find the time! I know your schedule is packed. Starting when you wake up, you have your 5-minute motivational meditation moment, then it’s time to go over your day, make sure you have your appointments scheduled, email checked, social media checked, family obligations done, then it’s time to get dressed, eat breakfast, make 25 calls between 10 and 12, and the list goes on.

But what if you stopped for a minute and thought about this….

Your database consists of people who know you and who have either bought or sold with you already. These are your people, they matter to you, but how do they know this?

Now think about this…

What if you spent 20 minutes every day organizing your database?  Now, you might have a database of 5,000 or 50.  It doesn’t matter what your database looks like because we are going to scrub it clean.

As I give you these tips keep in mind, this is not a marathon. The size of your database will determine how long this takes you.  The goal is to take your time, think through each person, and do it right the first time. Then you will know how to manage it going forward.

  1. Where is your database right now? It might be in a real estate CRM program, your Google contacts, smart phone, or an Excel Spreadsheet, etc.  Let’s think about what is the best option for you to keep track of your database, and how you want to manage it moving forward.
  2. Now, let’s determine if you have any method to your database currently. If not, that’s ok. We are going to create that method. Right now, just look at your database and determine if you have a method today or did you start a method and didn’t follow through.
  3. Who is in this database? All leads, past clients, vendors, family, friends etc.?  We need to start separating them. So first, you need to create groups.
  4. What are you going to call each group and what are the qualifications for that group?
  5. This is where you will spend some time – again depending on the size of your database – we will determine your investment of time.
  6. Start sorting the people in your database by group.
  7. Now, go through each person and decide what information you need on that personaFull name of all parties
    a. Correct address
    b. Email address
    c. Phone numbers
    d. Birth date along with some kind of reminder in place so you acknowledge it
    e. Anything else you want to include. Maybe pets, children, interests.

Now that you have the database sorted, next decide how you want to connect with them?

Take time to write out your script or bullets so you know what you want to say. Think about what information you want and if you need to mention anything.

As you speak to each person, you will want to update any information, add notes, birthday, etc.  I find that having a Client Information Sheet to write on makes it much easier to organize information. As you are talking you can jot down information, notes, and anything else important, then transfer that information into your CRM.  This way, you are not rushed to type it in, and that enables you to have a great conversation with them.  Always leave the call on a good note.

Many agents will ask me, “where do I begin in organizing the people in my database?”  I say, start with your past clients and go from there.

A great way to say “thank you for your time”, is to have a stack of note cards, envelopes, stamps, and business cards on your desk.  After each call update their contact record, the next step is to write them a thank you card. Address the envelope, put 2 business cards and the note in, seal it, stamp it, and put it in a place so you can drop it off on your way out that day.  This step is critical, as you are still fresh in their mind when they receive the card and they will appreciate the small gesture.

When you get off the phone, if your client mentioned something such as an upcoming surgery, new baby or vacation, schedule yourself a reminder to follow up with them to see how it went. The follow-up is what builds lasting relationships.

As you go through your database, you also need to decide what the people want and need.  This could be a question you ask when you talk to them.  Ask them what would they find interesting and beneficial from you.  They might say they don’t want anything.  Respect those wishes, but also ask if you can give them a call now and then.  But, always remember to send them a birthday and holiday card.  I find agents get really positive results when they send a Thanksgiving or Happy New Year card.  You’re not fighting for attention during these two holidays.

Another thing you need to do, is consider how to start taking your past clients to the next level in referral relationships.  Remember, past clients, business associates, and your community are going to be the ones sending you referrals.  Nurture these relationships now and before you know it, your database will be running your business.  And, that my friend, is how you grow your business.

So, how are you going to find time to start this project?  One day at a time, stay focused, be determined, and instead of turning on Netflix tonight, take that time to work on your database.   The return of investment is so amazing. You will be proud of yourself when you have this area of your business organized and a strategy in place to move forward…

Got a tip to share on how to manage your database?  Let’s hear from you.  Please comment your tip below and share with the world.  Sharing is a wonderful thing!

Quick links:

Click here to get your Client Information Sheet

Register NOW for my webinar on September 24th at 7:00 PM where we will be going deep into how to reconnect with past clients and develop lasting relationships.

Visit: The Client Connection to learn more about this program for your business

Send Out Cards is a great tool to help you send thank you cards, birthday as well keep up with important dates with your clients.  They do all the work, you just pick out the card, the gift and write the message.  If you want to talk more about how this program can work for you, please let me know.

Kim Hughes is a real estate business strategy coach and is the owner of the 1st real estate virtual assistant firm.  For over 30 years Kim has been working with real estate agents teaching them ways to be more productive, have better systems, manage time as well as being their best in both their personal and business life.  If you would like to know more about the unique services Kim offers, please visit www.KimHughes.com

Let’s Connect:

http://facebook.com/KimHughesRealEstateVirtualAssistant 
http://www.Twitter.com/KimHughes 
http://www.Linkedin.com/in/kimhughesrevirtualassistant 
http://gplus.am/KimHughes
YouTube
https://www.sendoutcards.com/kimhughes

 

By Leave a Comment

3 Tips to Follow for That Mid-Year Goals Review

Summer is an important time to enjoy with family, kids are out of school, days are longer, the beaches and lakes are calling your name and baseball is in full swing. It is a time to enjoy life and everything with which you’ve been blessed.

But summer also is a time to talk about real estate goals for the “2018” that looms ahead on the calendar—not that far away. So, it’s time to get out your real estate planner, along with a pen and some extra paper, and keep in mind these three important steps to consider when you set goals for the new year.

 


1 ) Review What You Have Accomplished for 2017

Take your planner and revisit the real estate goals you set at the beginning of 2017.  Write down what you steps you took to achieve the goals you accomplished. Get detailed on these steps as this will help you focus on setting future real estate goals. Take a moment to allow yourself to enjoy those accomplishments – you deserve it.  Now let’s look at the goals you have not achieved.  What steps do you need to take to accomplish them?  Be honest with yourself as you go through this next exercise. Determine if this goal can be achieved before the year-end.  Is it still a goal you feel passionate about?  If not, take it off the list.  No point in wasting anymore time thinking about it any further. But, if you are still passionate about the goal then think – can you achieve it by year-end?  You have to decide if it is realistic and if so set a deadline, but if not then move it to 2018 and set it as a priority.   

It’s important to understand: You can’t keep going with the approach I can move the goal if I don’t reach it within my first timeline, because if you continuously postpone your goals, you’ll never get anywhere, and it becomes a waste of time. Then you’ll feel bad, get down on yourself, and feel as though you are your worst enemy.

2) Remember to Nurture Your Clients as You Plan the Months Ahead

The lifeline of any real estate business is meeting people, building your client database or referral database, and then nurturing those clients you’ve worked with in the past. Your mid-year real estate goals review is an excellent time to focus on the latter: nurturing those clients you’ve gathered in your database. Remember that these are people you have already helped buy or sell real estate, with whom you have already developed a relationship and whose information you already have—you already know things about them.

Unfortunately, there are a few agents out there who, once they close a deal, essentially walk away from the transaction and don’t keep up with what’s going on with their clients. When those clients come back around for a transaction in, say, three to five years, they’re not going to call such a long-lost agent; they’re going to call someone else.

This is one reason you should learn how to use a system to manage your database, which is the lifeline of your business. If you’re not doing something with that database, you’re leaving money on the table, and you’re giving your business to other people.

When you have a closing on a sale, you should get a client testimonial, go back to your office, and move that client to “past client” in your database, and then decide what relationship you need to have with that client after you close. Was this client a buyer or seller? What do you need to do for a “thank you” gift? This is truly important: The gift can range from sending them a thank-you card to bringing dinner on the day they move.

For the next thirty or forty-five days after the closing, keep on nurturing. Perhaps drop by while the client’s moving in and help them move a couple of boxes; maybe bring them a pizza or some cookies or even bring a bucket of cleaning supplies if you know they’re about to tackle those kinds of chores. Show your clients that you appreciate them and develop a relationship with them. An occasional email is OK, but there’s also nothing wrong with a phone call here and there.

3) Get a Paper Calendar for 2017-2018 on Which to Record Your Ideas … Before Setting Them in Planner Stone

While you’re in the nurturing phase, you should write down the events and promotions you plan for the rest of this year and beyond on an extra calendar. Don’t mark them in your planner yet; use something that’s electronic or a throwaway calendar with the remaining months for 2017 and all of 2018 on it. Decide what you plan to do for your clients each month, such as recognizing their birthdays or putting them on your holiday card list.

You should always plan at least one event per year for all your clients; these most commonly are known as “client appreciation events”. This might be a party at the local bowling alley or sponsoring a photographer and pictures with the kiddos at the pumpkin patch down the road. If most clients attending are adult age, you could sponsor a wine-tasting party or go on a brewery tour. You can partner with a local restaurant for something like a 10- to 20-percent-off coupon. Be creative with how you’re going to do any event.

As you pencil in your ideas on your extra calendar, say, “Here’s what I’m going to do for the month of August: I’m going to send out my marketing statistics to everybody in my database.” This time of year, sponsor a promotion like sending a family to a regional water park, or work with schools to help buy backpacks for needy kids. Then think about the months after August. Sponsor a Thanksgiving pie giveaway the weekend before Thanksgiving. During the holidays, be respectful of other people’s religions and beliefs and decide whether you want to send “happy holidays” or “Merry Christmas” cards.

Before each event, take advantage of opportunity and plan a big advertising campaign before the occasion, working on a build-up with videos and other content on your social media. Maybe you can go to a local bakery and co-promote that pie giveaway and get a price break (but, heck. they’re only about $10 apiece).

For the Fourth of July, try a red, white, and blue pie giveaway (with the flavors of cherry, apple, and blueberry, of course). You and other members of your real estate team could sponsor rides home after New Year’s Eve parties for your clients. For Christmas or other special events, you can consider Starbucks or other gift cards that can be personalized for your business.

These real estate goals, planning tips, and a wealth of other information are what’s available to you when you work with Kim Hughes and Company and utilize their coaching services. Says Kim: “There are other coaches out there, but they are not teaching what I am teaching. What I’m teaching you is how to run your business. I’m not telling you how much business to go and get. I want to teach you how to run your business—in all aspects—so that it’s successful.”

(These tips are ones that Kim Hughes and Company offered their clients who specifically opted for the 90 Day Real Estate Planner program. Those group coaching sessions will continue to be available to those who enroll in that program, but those clients also soon will be offered private group coaching sessions in which Hughes and her associates will deliver even more, including templates, strategies, checklists to use, a calendar [the auxiliary, paper type as mentioned here earlier for setting goals earlier]—all tools you can use to become one who organizes successfully. Keep your eyes on this site to learn more.)

 

Mid-Year Goals Review from kim on Vimeo.

By Leave a Comment

3 Ways to Increase Productivity When You Work from Home

Working from home is a dream for many. However, it often doesn’t work quite the way you expect. You may not get as much done as you would like or you deal with numerous interruptions from family and friends. You’ll discover that with these three tips, you accomplish a whole lot more.

  1. Schedule Your Time

You don’t have to work from 8 to 5, and that’s one of the great things about working from home. However, you do need some kind of schedule. It may be 5 to 2, 10 to 7 or one schedule on Monday and Friday and another one the rest of the week. Regardless of what works best for you, set that time as your work time and make sure everyone knows that they can’t bother you during those hours.

  1. Schedule Your Work

Just like you need to schedule your time, you need to plan what kind of work you should do during specific times. For instance, check your email first thing, again once or twice during your work period and last thing before you stop for the day. This is more productive than checking it every five minutes. You may need to schedule marketing on certain days and not do anything else during that time. The thing about scheduling is you need to stick with whatever routine you set up and not get sidetracked. You’ll find you are more productive if you can stay focused.

  1. Create a Space

It’s all too easy to lose the work-home separation in this situation. This can reduce your productivity. To prevent this problem, create an area for your work even if you don’t have a real office. When you sit down to work, go to this area. Not the dining room table, not the couch or bed. This not only helps you stay focused, it lets others know when you are a business owner rather than “Mom” or “Dad.”

These are just a few tips to help you be more productive. They help you develop the right mindset to learn how to work when you need to work and take time off when you have other responsibilities to manage.

Ready to create the changes that will help you move towards living the life you REALLY want? Now is the time to take control of your personal development by eliminating self-doubt. Give your confidence a boost so you can value the life as well as the business you have dreamed of. Contact Kim Hughes when you are ready to Bring Clarity, Balance, and Confidence to your business. Visit KimHughes.com for details!

Let’s Connect:

http://facebook.com/KimHughesRealEstateVirtualAssistant 
http://www.Twitter.com/KimHughes 
http://www.Linkedin.com/in/kimhughesrevirtualassistant 
http://gplus.am/KimHughes 
https://www.sendoutcards.com/kimhughes

Image courtesy StartupStockPhotos/pixabay.com

Services

Connect with Kim Hughes & Company