September 11, 2024 • 40 mins
Tom Panos with Avi Khan from Ray White and Warwick Steele from LocalAgentFinder to discuss the transformative impact of LocalAgentFinder's services on the real estate industry. The conversation delves into the best practices for converting leads into listings, emphasizing the importance of speed, intent, and strategic follow-ups.
This webinar is sponsored by: LocalAgentFinder
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Episode Transcript
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Tom Panos (00:04):
Okay, the doors are open and let them in.
If you build it, they will come.
And that is what Local AgentFinder has done quietly over the
last few years building aplatform that allows vendors who
(00:25):
aren't using other methods toconnect with real estate agents
but want to go on to acomparative site.
Well, Local Agent Finder, myfriends, have been doing it
better than anyone else inAustralasia, and particularly in
Australia More to come on that.
(00:46):
I also have with me today oneof their big clients and a
person that we've had onregularly over the last few
months, the great Avi Khan fromRay White in Queensland.
Avi, good to see you and thankyou for joining us today.
Avi Khan (01:04):
Thanks for having me, Tom.
Tom Panos (01:06):
And also Warwick, one of the senior executives of
Local Agent Finder.
He is coming to you via theiroffices in St Kilda in Melbourne
.
Good to see you, Warwick.
Warwick Steele (01:20):
Thanks for having us, tom, excited to be a
part of it today.
Tom Panos (01:24):
Yep, we are being live streamed at the moment.
Everyone and I am letting youknow that at the end of this
session I will be giving away a20-minute free, one-on-one
coaching session for those thatare on social media.
All you have to do to actuallywin the prize in the comments
(01:44):
below.
All you have to do to actuallywin the prize in the comments
below give us one reason why youlove Local Agent Finder and you
must press the share button.
Of course, we're trying to getthis out to as many eyeballs as
possible, but, gentlemen,today's webinar is going to be
talking about what are theeffective agents doing that are
(02:06):
going from getting the lead toactually signing up the listing,
the pathway to lead, and thengetting the Form 6 signed if
you're in Queensland.
Everywhere else, the agencyagreement and let me tell you
there is none other better than,of course, avi Khan, whose
(02:30):
office has done 100 deals withlocal agent finder, and well
done on that, avi.
Can I ask you what's your view?
What is it that's got to happen?
Because a lot of agents aregetting the leads, but I often
find that they do not treat alocal agent finder lead with the
(02:57):
same respect they do otherleads, for various reasons.
Often I don't know, harveythey'll say oh, I already got it
in my database, or it's tooexpensive.
What are your views on that?
Avi Khan (03:10):
Look, I think the database thing.
Let's start with the databasething because it's a run,
everyone's running to build adatabase, right, like we're
putting everyone that we know inthe area, we're putting all the
schools, we're buying data atthe moment.
But the thing that's cruciallymissing in that piece is the
relationships.
We're really struggling asagents to create relationships,
(03:31):
whether it's a mind block,whether it's laziness, whether
it's skill deficiency.
So when you look at somethingthat local agent finder has done
, they've actually managed tocreate a relationship with their
client.
So what we're saying some of usare saying at the moment the
industry is saying, hey, you'vegot the relationship, you're
sending it to me.
I'm not create a relationshipwith that client.
So what we're saying some of usare saying at the moment the
industry is saying, hey, you'vegot the relationship, you're
sending it to me, I'm not goingto bother because you know what?
(03:51):
There's three agents involvednow.
Like, why would I?
Like I'm not going to pay alead for you and all the other
things?
But my mindset and my team'smindset is different, tom,
because you've got to backyourself as an agent.
You've got to say to yourselfI'm the best agent out there in
my marketplace.
You've got to have that selfand a belief right.
So when that local agent leads,come through, you know you're
up against three of the bestagents in the marketplace.
(04:12):
You've got to say to yourselflet's go, I'm ready to go.
This is the time for me toshowcase my skills.
This is the time for me to showthem, show the seller what I've
done in the marketplace.
This is time for me to show theseller the premium results that
I'm getting, whether it'sauction or private tree,
whatever method you're using.
This is the time for me to showthe seller where my buyers are
coming from.
This is time for me to show theseller how my team's going to
(04:34):
work to give them the premiumprice.
So we're shying away from thatin the industry, because I think
sometimes we're just looking atour skill level, saying, hey, I
don't want to compete with theother agent, I'm going to let it
go, but I'm becominguncontested.
It's really hard in theindustry, right?
Unless you build a relationship.
So when you contest it, itshould be a battle opportunity
(04:55):
for you, saying I'm going intobattle.
This is everything that I worktowards.
All the scripts, dialogues,training I'm doing with tom
panos and your other trainers,your principal.
This is the time for time foryou to say let's go, let's go
get the listing right.
So you say, oh, I'm going togive away whatever it is 20, 25%
for a lead, but it's betterthan giving away 100%, right,
(05:15):
you're not going to get thelisting, so why do we bother
with this constant thing?
Oh, I'm going to give away thelead fee.
Tom Panos (05:22):
Okay.
So, team, you've heard it therefrom Avi, one of the great
thought leaders of our industry,who's made a very, very valid
point, and that is man.
The victory in real estate isgetting the lead, not winning
the listing.
The biggest victory in realestate is the opportunity to
pitch for the business, not winthe business.
(05:44):
The biggest victory in realestate, my friends, is being on
the shopping list to have thatopportunity, and Local Agent
Finder provides it.
But, avi, you've said somethingvery interesting, and that is
you've got to treat that leadlike that is my grand final.
I'm going in there.
I'm not going to actually getshrugged off because they don't
(06:07):
ring me back on a specific dayor because that they're harder
to get onto.
Listen, if they're hard to getonto for you, they're hard to
get onto for the other agents aswell.
That's the good thing.
It's a level playing field.
And I'm going to tell you, stepnumber one in improving the
conversion of a lead to alisting is to actually go there
(06:28):
with intent and treat thatlisting with integrity.
Oh, not, oh, it's one of theselistings I'm only going to get
80% of the fee.
Well, listen, it's more than80% of the fee that you'll miss
out if you don't get it.
What you'll probably be missingout on is the other two
listings that you would have gotbecause of the sold by.
(06:51):
You would have got on thatlisting and Avi.
A lot of people don'tunderstand.
The more listings we get, themore listings we get.
Avi Khan (07:01):
Stock, breeds stock, tom, doesn't it?
Every every listing that youyou have out there, you're going
to meet at least 20 to 25people, whichever marketplace
you're in.
On average, of those 20 to 25people, how many are selling?
If you ask the right questions,mr and mrs buyer, do you need
to sell to buy?
If you ask the right questions,there's more leads that come
from it.
So we always look at it andlike, oh, I don't want that
(07:23):
listing because of you know thefee involved and stuff.
But there's actually two orthree other commission checks
involved in that actual leadright minimum.
So if you do your job well,there's probably about seven or
eight listings you're going toget from it over the next two
years.
So we get caught up in thisthing that I'm too good, I'm not
going to get this.
I'm too good, I'm not going togo out there.
No, no, they need to call methemselves.
(07:44):
But guess what?
They haven't.
There's a reason why theyhaven't and there's a reason why
you should be acknowledging thefact that, like you said, tom,
I'm on the shopping list now.
This is the most exciting thingthat's happened.
I've got agents in my office.
When they get their leads I'mlike Avi oh my God, I'm on the
shopping list.
What do I do now?
So that's the next level We'vegot to treat it like.
(08:06):
Oh my God, this is somethingthat I've worked towards and now
I'm there.
Tom Panos (08:09):
Perfect.
Now let's move on.
I want to actually talk to youabout a very important part of
this process.
You need to understand that in2024, they are doing a digital
interview on you.
Right, they're Google stalkingyou and, with Local Agent Finder
, the platform, they areactually sussing you out there
online.
So you've got to make sure thatwhen they go on there, that
(08:33):
what you say gets them to thepoint where you whet their
appetite that much that you'vegot an updated video.
I mean, some of these peopleWarwick are really doing
everything they possibly can toget the agent not being
contacted by the vendor becausethey've got a video that was
done in 2007,.
Right, they're using old fontand often the video is a video
(09:00):
that is based on the agent, notbased on the vendor.
The best profile videos and thebest profiles on Local Agent
Finder are ones that make thevendor the superhero.
Please, team, remember, vendorsdon't care about your Rolex.
They don't care about how goodyou look.
(09:22):
What they care about is howwill you get me more money for
my home?
That's all that they care about.
How will I be better off in thetransaction if I go with that
agent?
So you've got to make surewhatever content they're
consuming on the profile page onLocal Agent Finder that you
appear as a value-added provider.
(09:44):
Show more, do more, give more.
We've got to get out of thecommodity dungeon cage.
We're not going to be like theother 55,000 agents and you need
to understand that before theytake any step, they are probably
doing a digital interview onyou and Warwick I'd love to
(10:05):
bring you in onto this, youbeing your business there.
You must see some of the assetsthat agents have got that are
showcasing them on Local AgentFinder.
They're not what they could be.
They should be better, theyshould be more vendor oriented
and they should actually be upto date.
Love to hear your comments.
Warwick Steele (10:26):
You're right, spot on, tom.
I think a lot of the video anda lot of the content in the
agent profiles is often quitedated, and I think that you hit
the nail on the head.
What we want to try and do iswe want the profile to stand out
that enables the agent to beable to showcase their agency
and the success they've had inthe area in recent times by
(10:48):
having whether it be in theprofile itself or in the video
itself videos that are going tohit the mark, to excite the
potential vendor that we have,that we've referred across and
it's got to be relevant to them.
It's got to be informationthat's going to be going.
If I'm looking to sell in StKilda, what I'm seeing in this
video, what I'm seeing in thiscontent, is relevant to me as a
(11:10):
vendor, which will drive furtherengagement.
Now, the video stuff is reallyinteresting.
I think the video stuff couldbe tailored more specifically to
vendors.
So, for example, for agentsthat have great success through
Local Agent Finder, if I'm anagent, what I would be doing is
I would be getting a video froma satisfied vendor that says hey
, mr Next Vendor, I went throughthe same process as yourself
(11:34):
didn't know where to start.
Found Local Agent Finderregistered.
They recommended Avi and RayWhite.
I trusted the process, had Aviout fantastic, fella sold the
value of listing with theiragency and I had an amazing
result.
A video such as that is goingto relate to the next vendor
that's coming through.
(11:55):
They'll be thinking oh gee,there's somebody that's lived in
the same footsteps as us.
They trusted the process, theyfound a great agent, they had an
amazing result.
So a video like that willreally really help boost profile
presence.
It'll get viewed and I feel theconnection will be far greater
with a vendor.
Tom Panos (12:13):
Okay.
So, team, please understand,it's not just your approach,
it's your positioning on how youappear on the local agent
finder site.
And whilst you're online, youmight as well clean up your
other assets, including those onsocial media, because you might
(12:33):
say the right stuff.
But if they go onto yourFacebook page and they see you
on Saturday night being off yourface treating it like a joke, I
can tell you you can forgetabout everything that we've said
right Now.
Avi, local Agent Finder leads Itouched on before.
(12:57):
See, I never go into McDonald's.
I just don't like McDonald's.
I did when I was young, but Idon't eat it now.
But when I do go to McDonald's,I go there for one reason, and
the reason is it's going to besuper quick to get that coffee
I'm going to drive through.
That's the unique sellingproposition they have.
(13:20):
There are certain cafes.
There's one in Marrickvillethat sells a cup of coffee for
$35.
It was in the paper the otherday.
They're coffee connoisseurs,they're using incredible beans
and they are for the fanaticalcaffeine addict, right.
However, with Local Agent Finder, the unique selling proposition
(13:44):
is that, hey, I want to see whogets back to me quick, because
that says to me that this personis first they're on the ball.
So, avi, I can't help it.
I get agents, including JoshTeslin, who's in your wonderful
Ray White group, one of thegreat agents.
He's very nervous because onWednesday night they've got the
(14:09):
awards night where he's going toknow whether he's number one or
not.
But Josh has told me often hegoes with local agent finder.
If they get the email or textmessage in the inquiry at 9 58
pm, you contact them at 9 59straight away because what
(14:32):
you're doing there, speed isvery, very important currency.
Any comments there?
Avi Khan (14:40):
so one of our catch cries in our office is immediacy
is our currency.
If there's anything you'regoing to get out of this,
immediacy needs to be yourcurrency.
There's a reason why peopledon't read newspapers they go
online.
Immediacy is what we need to be.
So if a client has requested acallback at 9.58, they've gone
online and you're the agent thatcalls at 9.59 or texts 9.59,
(15:02):
they're going to go with you.
It's always first off the blocksalways gets the business more
often than not.
So think about it this way.
Right, you're on the shoppinglist.
There's three agents.
Your sellers are more time poornow than ever before.
Yes, they've got three agentsout there, but in all cases
they're not going to interviewall three.
They might interview one or twomost of the times.
(15:24):
Second, third call they mightsay hey, I'm sorry, the other
agent's already booked.
They're coming out tomorrow.
I'll let you know how it goes.
That's what you're going to get.
So if you don't treat it aslike, that's the most crucial
thing.
Unless you're in a listingpresentation, you have to call
that lead straight away.
So in our office we have a onehour maximum limit.
So if you don't call within onehour, it goes to someone else.
(15:45):
That's because I know the agentmight be in a buyer appointment
, in a seller appointment.
So that's why we have the onehour grace period for them.
But if you're free you shouldcall them straight away, the
first person to reach out.
That's where you really wow theseller 're going to show them
that I really, really value yourbusiness, I really value you, I
want it straight away.
Some agents are like, oh, theycan wait, these are the agents
(16:06):
not getting business now.
So immediacy always has to beyour currency.
You have to show real intentstraight away.
That I know your house.
I broke past this last week.
Yesterday I've driven past this.
I've sold one down the road.
I've sold one two streets down.
I know the house.
I'm going to get this propertysold for you.
When can I meet you?
That's what you want to tradeaway.
Tom Panos (16:29):
Okay, Can I just say.
Warwick Steele (16:31):
I think Avi's spot on right.
I think that the intent thatyou want to show the vendor is
that you're really keen to winthe business.
You want to show the vendor isthat you're really keen to win
the business.
And I think when I talk to realestate agents Australia wide
and I'm like well, how do youhandle that conversation at like
10 o'clock at night and they'relike Warwick, if it comes
through, I will call the vendorand say hey, tom, I just got
your property.
I'm excited to speak to you.
(16:53):
I see it's in Smith Street.
You might have seen we'verecently had an auction close by
.
I've got buyers that missed outon that.
I wanted to be the first tocall you.
I was excited, right, and thatsort of energy that they bring
to the conversation, right, thevendor feels that.
And then at that point of time,whether it be 9.30, 10 o'clock,
they're booking an appraisal in.
Sometimes it's for 9 am thenext day.
(17:13):
And then the alternativeexperience to that is the agent
who doesn't call and then picksit up when they get in the
office at 10.30 and they'vecalled the vendor and they're
like I've already listed or I'vealready got an agent.
It's because they got it at thesame time and, as you said
before, there was equalopportunity.
One just wanted to show intentthat they really wanted the
business, and that's thedifference that you can have in
(17:35):
experience with the servicesometimes.
Tom Panos (17:41):
So I want to move on to the next part of our webinar.
And the next part of thewebinar is the difficult lead
inquiry, the one that's got alittle bit of resistance, the
one that the agent always saidand, warwick, before I entered a
relationship with Local AgentFinder, I in, in fact, used to
do a lot of real estate trainingfor my clients that were using
(18:03):
Local Agent Finder, that weresaying Tom, how do I handle this
situation?
Which is I've got a vendor,they haven't returned my phone
call or they're being evasive,and I've come up with three key
strategies that have helpedthese agents.
And I've got good news for you.
(18:24):
Those that are watching you arenot experiments.
You're not a guinea pig in this.
This has been tried and testedby a number of agents and at the
end of this RV, I'd love to getyour feedback on these three
different approaches.
The first one is the one thatis the sticker shocker vendor.
This is the vendor that isobsessed with hey, I don't care
(18:47):
about the value.
What I care about is gettingthe cheapest fee, and we know
that there is a group of peopleout there that will fly the
cheapest ticket on JetstarAirline.
They don't care about all thevalue add.
I want the $49 ticket.
What I can say to you is thatwe've got to actually face this
(19:10):
concept that there are a groupof vendors that, no matter what
value you show, do want toactually get a low fee.
I don't think there is as largea proportion of those as what
people think.
Sometimes people go in therethinking that everyone just
(19:30):
wants to get the lowestcommission.
I think most people just wantthe most money in the back of
their pocket.
They just don't know how toarticulate it and they often
think that you're all the same.
Because you're all the same,I'll just go for the cheapest.
Last week when I was talking toyou, warwick, I was in
Wellington when I had thatwebinar with you and Melissa.
I had actually just come backfrom JB Hi-Fi because I was
(19:52):
doing a presentation and Iforgot my pointer and the venue
did not have a pointer and Iwent over to buy this pointer
and I went into JB Hi-Fi and Isaw a salesman and the salesman
I said mate, do you sellelectronic pointers that change
slides when you're presenting?
He goes yeah, come over here.
And there's three.
There was a Logitech, there wasa home brand and there was one
(20:13):
called Kenway Three.
One was 79, one was 69, and onewas 29.
I said to the salesman.
I said, can I ask you what'sthe difference?
He just looked at me.
He says oh mate, they all didthe same thing.
You just change the slides.
(20:33):
So I picked the $29 one.
Right, because there was.
To me it was like you're all thesame, I just picked the
cheapest.
It's very important that you'renot all the same, but if you do
have a vendor that's turningaround and thinking to yourself
hey, as far as I'm concerned,you are all the same, I just
want to get a really low deal.
This is the best way to handlethat commission person.
And I used to do this atWarwick when I owned my real
estate office.
When I used to have people itwasn't with local agent finder,
(20:55):
this was like 30 years ago Iwould have people that would
ring up and say what's your fee?
And I knew that they were justchasing around with fee.
Often they had a pre-existingrelationship with another agent
and I would say this Mr and MrsVendor, I want to let you know
my fee ranges from half apercent to 3%.
(21:20):
It's a range and it boils downto a number of factors, the kind
of property, how long I thinkit's going to take to sell the
value of that property in ourbusiness.
So what I'd like to say to youis that on occasions we give
certain vendors a very low feeon the basis that we believe
(21:43):
that that vendor will be sohappy with us that they will
give us future referrals.
So when I come out and see you,I'll be able to discuss it and
you might be a vendor that wouldbe suitable.
That was enough to get me inthe door, right, because I just
knew if I could get into thedoor.
So in many ways I was using itas an ethical bribe.
(22:05):
And often you get with some ofthese vendors that were a little
bit on the sneaky side.
They think, yeah, yeah, I'lltell him, I'll give him
referrals, I'll just get a lowcommission.
But the point is, once you gotin the living room, they started
to see the value, becauseyou're eyeball to eyeball and
all of a sudden you might stilldo a deal, not at a half percent
(22:25):
, but you might do it at 1.5%instead of 2%, right?
So to me, the lost leader Iwould call this a lost leader
listing, and the reason isWarwick and I remember I did it
in Carey Street, marrickville.
My business partner, george atthe time, said, mate, you did
that at a really low fee.
And I said, george, it's thebest house in the area.
(22:49):
We're going to get a lot ofpeople coming to our opens.
That listing will get usanother 20 listings.
We might lose five grand on ournormal fee, but we'll probably
end up getting half a milliondollars out of it.
So what do you think of thatapproach Avi?
Avi Khan (23:05):
Look, I think, going back to what you guys said about
the social media profile andeverything right, it's actually
telling a story.
When you go on there, it'sactually telling you a story
about your client's experience,about what you do.
And, coming back to the listingpresentation, it's the same
same thing.
It's the stories that make youwhat you are.
So I would go back and say, mr,mr seller, I do understand that
(23:26):
I'm gonna.
I just want half an hour ofyour time to explain to you why
the cheapest agent is also themost expensive agent you could
hire, because by the time you gothrough us, you're going to
have more money left in yourhand at the end of the
transaction.
So this is what I'm going toshow you what we've done with
our last three clients.
So I always every objection,tom, it's a chance for us to
(23:48):
pivot to our listingpresentation.
So we get really excited as ateam.
How can we pivot to what weknow best, which is our case
studies or what we've done?
I had a seller the other day.
They were really obsessed withthe fees.
We were at 2.7%.
The other agent is 1.8%.
I demonstrated to them how I'mgoing to get them 80K more for
their property.
(24:08):
So at the end of thetransaction we got them 100K
more than what they wanted Tothem.
We saved them more than$100,000.
So the cheapest agent is alsothe most expensive agent in our
books.
Tom Panos (24:23):
And I think, avi, what you really want to do is
whet their appetite so much,create an ethical bribe so much
that you get into that livingroom.
That, to me, is critical.
Now I want to touch on thesecond point that comes up.
I often find real estate agentssay, oh Tommy, yeah, mate, I
rang.
To touch on the second pointthat comes up, I often find real
estate agents say, oh Tommy,yeah, mate, I rang him, but they
(24:43):
never rang back.
Well, I just can't get overthat concept.
Like mate, there are realestate agents that are spending
all week door knocking, mondayto Friday, interrupting
strangers that don't want totalk to you, that probably don't
even own the house they'rerenting there.
Yet we're out door knocking,yet we've got this listing lead
(25:03):
that's come from local agentfinder.
They've got a sign on theirforehead saying we are looking
for an agent.
We want to sell our house, andwe're getting agents that are
saying, oh, I called them.
Yeah, they didn't call me back.
Guys, listen here.
That should be part one of 12parts.
You've got to be sort ofunderstanding that that is
(25:24):
normal.
And in fact, let me tell you ifyou're ringing up saying hi,
it's Tom Panos here from thereal estate office Please give
me a call back.
I'm calling you about your leadthat you have called man and
they don't call you back.
Listen, you got to tighten upthat dialogue a lot better.
(25:46):
How about this?
I got to tell you everyonewatching this.
When I want someone to call meback, I don't say it's Tom Panos
from the real estate office.
Give me a call, I have this.
All I say is this hey, tom here, 0419-916-503, 0419-916-503.
Give me a call, I've got somenews.
(26:06):
Bang.
You just actually make itreally easy for them to want to
come back.
I don't make it formal, oh, thereal estate.
I don't turn around and givethem the reason.
I just say I have some news.
Give me a call and I give mynumber.
And then what you do?
Team text, the same thing,because you're improving the
(26:28):
conversion rate of the personcoming back to you and in fact,
I would actually use that asyour text message.
Here is what your text templateshould be on your local agent
finder lead Tom here, give me acall, I have some great news.
Bang, full stop.
(26:49):
And when they do call, you makesure you got some news.
Don't turn around and say, haha ha, tricked you.
It worked.
You call me back.
No, make sure you've gotsomething of value.
And then the last one I want to.
Sorry, arby, you were going tosay something.
Avi Khan (27:02):
No, I agree with you, tom.
I think the two things thatcome out is that someone's left
a message, never call them back,right, so you've dealt with
that very well.
The second thing is you'vespoken to them once.
What do you do now?
Like they haven't called meback?
They're not listed yet.
I don't want to bug them.
Bug them, they want to bebugged.
So say.
Mr and Mrs Seller, I know I'mannoying you.
I'm sorry for reaching out toyou again, but I wanted to let
(27:23):
you know what just happened.
Today we have 350 peoplethrough all our open homes.
Of those, only 25 people havebought a property.
I wouldn't be doing my job if Ididn't let you know this.
Most of them are pre-approved,ready to go.
We've got seven people missedout on my auction Now.
I don't want you to miss out onthe opportunity for me to
introduce those buyers to yourproperty.
If you're okay, can I bringthem through on Friday, so
(27:45):
there's always opportunities totalk to them.
Bug them they want to be buggedand tell them.
I'm so sorry for reaching outto you again.
I know I only spoke to you twodays ago, but the house down the
road, this is what's happenedrecently.
Say sorry I'm reaching out inthis manner, but I'm not doing
my job If I don't let you knowwhat's just transpired in the
house next door or the housedown the road.
We've met 500 people thisweekend.
(28:05):
Only 25 people broughtproperties.
We've got 475 people ready togo.
Can I bring them through thisFriday and just shut up and let
them talk Like don't be scared,to keep following up, because
that's what they want and tellthem?
Mr and Mrs Seller, I know I'mannoying you, but imagine how
annoying I'm going to be tothose buyers when your property
comes to the market with me.
Tom Panos (28:25):
Beautifully said.
Beautifully said.
If you think I'm beingpersistent, well, let me tell
you, mr and Mrs Vendor, in thismarket 13 rate rises, with all
the talk in the paper about realestate I've got to tell you you
need a persistent agent.
You need an agent that isringing buyers up all night
because you're looking for thebest price, not the first price,
and the best price is going tocome from the best buyer.
(28:48):
And I've got to tell you, avi,you're a mind reader, because
the third thing that I havefound real estate agents tell me
helps them to get over thevendor that ghosts them is to
use the ethical bribe of theleftover buyer.
And a beautiful script ordialogue is this Hi Warwick, tom
(29:15):
Panos, here from the RealEstate.
I'm not sure if this is for you,but the minute you use that
dialogue, I'm not sure if thisis for you, but the first thing
the client does is but whywouldn't it be for me?
Let me actually zone in on this.
What's it about?
But we had an auction lastnight.
(29:37):
I had a buyer that's walked outof our auction room and I saw
tears in his eyes.
He's desperate, he's emotionaland he's vulnerable.
To top it all off, he actuallybid a hundred grand more than
what that property we wereexpecting was going to sell for
(29:59):
and yet he was still theunderbidder.
I know that today he's going tobe walking around talking to
real estate agents about buyinga home the reason I've called
you.
Would we be wasting our timementioning your home to him?
It would be crazy for him to gopay top dollar on something
(30:20):
else when he could have boughtyours at top dollar.
So, team, what you're using is aleftover buyer.
We can call this an ethicalbribe, but think about it.
All these people want issomeone to buy their home at a
good price.
People want is someone to buytheir home at a good price and
we're actually creating thatstory and stories are very
(30:44):
powerful because stories sell,facts tell.
You've got to be good at thestorytelling part of the real
estate and that's what we've gotLike.
If you think about it, what wehave is they have a headache.
The headache is I need to getfrom stuck to unstuck.
We are the panadol to thatheadache.
We have the buyer that gets ridof that headache.
Any comments at all on that?
Avi Khan (31:05):
Yeah, 100%.
Look, the sellers want to knowif you're the market leader and
not just market share.
They want to know the marketleader and market knowledge.
And you're the market leaderand premium buyers.
How do you demonstrate to them,can you demonstrate to them,
that you're the market leaderand market knowledge?
And you're the market leader inpremium buyers?
How do you demonstrate to them,can you demonstrate to them,
that you're the market leader inpremium buyers?
You've got all these buyersleft over.
The emotional bribery said tom,and you're the person who's
(31:25):
going to create competitionbetween all the buyers that are
left over.
You're the person to go to.
There's a reason why localagent finder has said you're one
of the agents that the sellershould speak to.
So you've got to demonstrate tothem.
Tom Panos (31:38):
Okay, now I'm going to answer some of these
questions at the end of this.
We are a little bit over team.
I'm just going to fly throughthe last five minutes In five
minutes.
By the way, before you go off,I want everyone to know if
you're finding today very useful.
May I suggest and, susan, ifyou're in the background, I know
that you've just got off aplane from Japan and Warwick if
(32:03):
people at the moment aren't partof Local Agent Finder and they
want to become part of LocalAgent Finder, what is the best
way to get connected with you?
Because we all know that morelistings equals more money.
Who doesn't want to have moremoney?
What's the best way?
Warwick Steele (32:18):
Yeah, they can easily register on the website,
Tom, which iswwwlocalagentfindercomau.
There's a little agents tab atthe top right-hand corner that
they can click on and register aprofile which, as you know,
it's free to join and it's apay-on-success model, so anybody
who wants to join can do itthat way.
(32:39):
Or, if they have any inquiriesor any questions, they can call
us on 1300 765 969 or they canjust email agents at
localagentfindercomau.
Tom Panos (32:51):
Okay, Warwick, one thing before we go, and I'll
bring Avi into this as well.
So a lot of people may not beaware that, yes, Local Agent
Finder have got this servicewhere they're providing ongoing
leads.
And how many, Warwick, roughlyhow many leads a year are you
providing out there to the realestate industry?
Warwick Steele (33:12):
Look, it depends on suburbs, Tom.
Obviously, some suburbs cangenerate up to sort of 30, 40
leads a month of genuine vendorslooking to sell.
Others in a quieter area mightbe sort of anywhere from five to
10.
So it does depend on the suburb.
Tom Panos (33:28):
So you've got a product which a lot of people
don't know about.
And you told me the other daywhen I was in Melbourne I was on
the phone talking to you inMelbourne don't know about.
And you told me the other daywhen I was in Melbourne I was on
the phone talking to you inMelbourne.
You said to me, tom, we have somany suburbs that have become
available in our prospectingtool.
Can you tell me, firstly, whatis the prospecting tool?
Warwick Steele (33:50):
Yeah.
So we have vendors that come toLocal Agent Finder obviously
with an intent to sell theirproperty.
Now some are at the earlystages of the selling journey
and some are ready to go.
So those that are ready tospeak to real estate agents,
they're the ones that we connectthrough the agent network where
on average, three agents willget the opportunity to be able
(34:11):
to call that vendor and presentto them.
We also have vendors that comethrough that are a little bit
early in the selling process, sothey might be finishing some
renovations, they might beawaiting probate, they might be
just months away from selling.
Now those vendors that aren'tready to speak to a real estate
agent on the day of registeringget a different experience
altogether.
We'll present them a dashboardwith the agents we have that
(34:34):
service their area and thevendor then has the option to be
able to go through and exchangedetails with the agents of
their choice when they're ready,which could be anywhere from a
week later to months later.
What we find is, tom, is thatnot a lot of vendors, despite
all of our efforts, will comeback to the dashboard and
exchange details with the agents.
But when we sort of track thoseproperties, a lot of these turn
(34:57):
into market listings.
So we feel it's a missedopportunity for our agent
network and we feel it's amissed opportunity for us.
So what we have?
We have a prospecting tool thatcan really shape the way that
agents prospect Agents canaccess data exclusively on a
suburb level to prospect, tovendors that register with an
(35:18):
intent to sell in theirnominated suburb, for example.
Now we are a little bit limited,obviously, with what
information we can give them,but what we can tell you is
we've had a vendor register, aproperty to sell in St Kilda.
They live in Smith Street, stKilda and they live between 1
and 25 in Smith Streets andKilda.
So we can give you a 25 houserange to really sort of narrow
(35:40):
down your prospecting activity,whether it be door knocking,
whether it be letterbox drops,whether it be running that sort
of street through the databasecould be any other means.
As such, and if you can refineyour prospecting that way, we
think it's time well spent.
And if you flush out any ofthese vendors and you list and
sell these properties, there areno referral fees attached to
(36:02):
these times.
It's about going prospectiveseller.
We can help you refine yourprospecting.
So it's not a needle in ahaystack.
There's a seller within a25-hour range If you work that
hard enough and you find themand list and sell them.
There are no referral fees.
Tom Panos (36:18):
Okay, okay.
This is music to my ears,because you basically told me we
can get someone from doing coldprospecting to do smart
prospecting.
You basically told me we canmove away from shooting.
You basically got a cannon.
It's spray and pray.
That is what traditional realestate prospecting is, and what
we're doing is spray and narrowto these 25 properties right,
(36:41):
absolute gold, and you're notpaying a referral fee.
But be honest, it's not forfree, is it?
How much is it?
I want to know.
Warwick Steele (36:50):
Yeah, so the exclusivity for a suburb depends
on volume and how many leads wehave sitting there, but it'll
range between $300 to $600 asuburb and you have that
exclusively.
So any vendor that comesthrough that suburb that doesn't
exchange details with agents,you get the access to that
street-level data to be the onlyagent that's prospecting to
(37:12):
these vendors.
So there's no competition fromanybody else on the panel.
Where you're all droppingletterbox drops or you're all
door knocking, it's youexclusively that targets these
hotspots.
Tom Panos (37:22):
Avi, I haven't checked with you.
Are you a user of thatprospecting tool?
Avi Khan (37:28):
It's called, so you can be the agent before the
seller needs an agent.
So think about this way.
I'll say to the team there's 25properties on that street,
someone's selling.
They'll be out there within thehour, door knocking all those
25 streets.
The key thing here isrelationships.
Right, Tom, You've got a chanceto build relationship and be
uncontested with the seller whenthey're ready to sell.
(37:49):
This is gold.
Right?
You're going to be uncontestedif you go out and create the
relationship.
So it's something that everyoneshould take up because, like
you said, it's like narrowingthe field.
It's no longer cold anymore isit they can't take?
Tom Panos (38:01):
unfortunately they can't take your suburbs, because
you've got us.
Avi Khan (38:04):
No, they can't take mine.
Tom Panos (38:08):
Can I ask you, warwick, the way that someone
can find out if a suburb isstill available?
They'll do that post the event,isn't it?
Warwick Steele (38:17):
Yeah, we are sending out some information to
the database in the coming daysaround the prospecting tool and
the availability of suburbs.
So anybody, once they receivethat email, they can simply
reply to the email with suburbsof interest and we can get back
to them.
But I would say you know thatemail will be sent in the next
couple of days.
If anybody has genuine interestand wants to buy it sort of
(38:38):
straight away, then again youcould contact us on 1300 765 969
or agents atlocalagentfindercomau and we can
look up the availability ofsuburbs.
But they are exclusive so you'dneed to be quick.
Tom Panos (38:54):
Okay.
So, by the way, everyone, as Isaid to you earlier on, before
we are giving a pre-coachingsession away one-on-one.
To go in the running for it,you must tag local agent finder,
press the share button, shareit on social media and I'm going
(39:15):
to announce the winner onSaturday afternoon when I do my
real estate market wrap.
We're going to have one winnerpicked.
So to actually be in the race,please press that share button.
Avi Khan.
Thank you so much.
A practitioner and a user ofwhat we've been talking about
today.
Warwick, I want to thank you somuch.
(39:40):
I'm so pleased to see LocalAgent Finder now has become a
permanent landscape of realestate agents.
And now think about what hashappened.
We're spending our time andenergy on trying to help
existing clients actually evenget more deals.
Susan's been kind enough toactually put in there a unique
link localagentfindercomau.
(40:03):
Forward slash.
Tom Panos, you can forwardslash if you just want to
actually just ring them, ifyou're a fine person
1-300-765-969.
I want to thank you so muchboth gentlemen.
We won't keep you any longerbecause we know we're in spring.
Our olympic games have onlyjust begun.
Because september, october,november is real estate state of
(40:27):
origin time.
That's where all our businessis done.
Good to see you, arvin thanksfor having me.
Avi Khan (40:32):
Guys appreciate your time.
Thank you so much much.
Tom Panos (40:35):
And you too, warwick, and I'm letting you know to all
those that were here.
You will be getting a copy ofthe recording and also the
information that Warwick saidabout whether your suburb is
available for the prospectingcall.
Thank you so much.
Warwick Steele (40:51):
Thank you guys, Thanks very much Thank you.
Okay, the doors are open and let them in.
If you build it, they will come.
And that is what Local AgentFinder has done quietly over the
last few years building aplatform that allows vendors who
(00:25):
aren't using other methods toconnect with real estate agents
but want to go on to acomparative site.
Well, Local Agent Finder, myfriends, have been doing it
better than anyone else inAustralasia, and particularly in
Australia More to come on that.
(00:46):
I also have with me today oneof their big clients and a
person that we've had onregularly over the last few
months, the great Avi Khan fromRay White in Queensland.
Avi, good to see you and thankyou for joining us today.
Avi Khan (01:04):
Thanks for having me, Tom.
Tom Panos (01:06):
And also Warwick, one of the senior executives of
Local Agent Finder.
He is coming to you via theiroffices in St Kilda in Melbourne
.
Good to see you, Warwick.
Warwick Steele (01:20):
Thanks for having us, tom, excited to be a
part of it today.
Tom Panos (01:24):
Yep, we are being live streamed at the moment.
Everyone and I am letting youknow that at the end of this
session I will be giving away a20-minute free, one-on-one
coaching session for those thatare on social media.
All you have to do to actuallywin the prize in the comments
(01:44):
below.
All you have to do to actuallywin the prize in the comments
below give us one reason why youlove Local Agent Finder and you
must press the share button.
Of course, we're trying to getthis out to as many eyeballs as
possible, but, gentlemen,today's webinar is going to be
talking about what are theeffective agents doing that are
(02:06):
going from getting the lead toactually signing up the listing,
the pathway to lead, and thengetting the Form 6 signed if
you're in Queensland.
Everywhere else, the agencyagreement and let me tell you
there is none other better than,of course, avi Khan, whose
(02:30):
office has done 100 deals withlocal agent finder, and well
done on that, avi.
Can I ask you what's your view?
What is it that's got to happen?
Because a lot of agents aregetting the leads, but I often
find that they do not treat alocal agent finder lead with the
(02:57):
same respect they do otherleads, for various reasons.
Often I don't know, harveythey'll say oh, I already got it
in my database, or it's tooexpensive.
What are your views on that?
Avi Khan (03:10):
Look, I think the database thing.
Let's start with the databasething because it's a run,
everyone's running to build adatabase, right, like we're
putting everyone that we know inthe area, we're putting all the
schools, we're buying data atthe moment.
But the thing that's cruciallymissing in that piece is the
relationships.
We're really struggling asagents to create relationships,
(03:31):
whether it's a mind block,whether it's laziness, whether
it's skill deficiency.
So when you look at somethingthat local agent finder has done
, they've actually managed tocreate a relationship with their
client.
So what we're saying some of usare saying at the moment the
industry is saying, hey, you'vegot the relationship, you're
sending it to me.
I'm not create a relationshipwith that client.
So what we're saying some of usare saying at the moment the
industry is saying, hey, you'vegot the relationship, you're
sending it to me, I'm not goingto bother because you know what?
(03:51):
There's three agents involvednow.
Like, why would I?
Like I'm not going to pay alead for you and all the other
things?
But my mindset and my team'smindset is different, tom,
because you've got to backyourself as an agent.
You've got to say to yourselfI'm the best agent out there in
my marketplace.
You've got to have that selfand a belief right.
So when that local agent leads,come through, you know you're
up against three of the bestagents in the marketplace.
(04:12):
You've got to say to yourselflet's go, I'm ready to go.
This is the time for me toshowcase my skills.
This is the time for me to showthem, show the seller what I've
done in the marketplace.
This is time for me to show theseller the premium results that
I'm getting, whether it'sauction or private tree,
whatever method you're using.
This is the time for me to showthe seller where my buyers are
coming from.
This is time for me to show theseller how my team's going to
(04:34):
work to give them the premiumprice.
So we're shying away from thatin the industry, because I think
sometimes we're just looking atour skill level, saying, hey, I
don't want to compete with theother agent, I'm going to let it
go, but I'm becominguncontested.
It's really hard in theindustry, right?
Unless you build a relationship.
So when you contest it, itshould be a battle opportunity
(04:55):
for you, saying I'm going intobattle.
This is everything that I worktowards.
All the scripts, dialogues,training I'm doing with tom
panos and your other trainers,your principal.
This is the time for time foryou to say let's go, let's go
get the listing right.
So you say, oh, I'm going togive away whatever it is 20, 25%
for a lead, but it's betterthan giving away 100%, right,
(05:15):
you're not going to get thelisting, so why do we bother
with this constant thing?
Oh, I'm going to give away thelead fee.
Tom Panos (05:22):
Okay.
So, team, you've heard it therefrom Avi, one of the great
thought leaders of our industry,who's made a very, very valid
point, and that is man.
The victory in real estate isgetting the lead, not winning
the listing.
The biggest victory in realestate is the opportunity to
pitch for the business, not winthe business.
(05:44):
The biggest victory in realestate, my friends, is being on
the shopping list to have thatopportunity, and Local Agent
Finder provides it.
But, avi, you've said somethingvery interesting, and that is
you've got to treat that leadlike that is my grand final.
I'm going in there.
I'm not going to actually getshrugged off because they don't
(06:07):
ring me back on a specific dayor because that they're harder
to get onto.
Listen, if they're hard to getonto for you, they're hard to
get onto for the other agents aswell.
That's the good thing.
It's a level playing field.
And I'm going to tell you, stepnumber one in improving the
conversion of a lead to alisting is to actually go there
(06:28):
with intent and treat thatlisting with integrity.
Oh, not, oh, it's one of theselistings I'm only going to get
80% of the fee.
Well, listen, it's more than80% of the fee that you'll miss
out if you don't get it.
What you'll probably be missingout on is the other two
listings that you would have gotbecause of the sold by.
(06:51):
You would have got on thatlisting and Avi.
A lot of people don'tunderstand.
The more listings we get, themore listings we get.
Avi Khan (07:01):
Stock, breeds stock, tom, doesn't it?
Every every listing that youyou have out there, you're going
to meet at least 20 to 25people, whichever marketplace
you're in.
On average, of those 20 to 25people, how many are selling?
If you ask the right questions,mr and mrs buyer, do you need
to sell to buy?
If you ask the right questions,there's more leads that come
from it.
So we always look at it andlike, oh, I don't want that
(07:23):
listing because of you know thefee involved and stuff.
But there's actually two orthree other commission checks
involved in that actual leadright minimum.
So if you do your job well,there's probably about seven or
eight listings you're going toget from it over the next two
years.
So we get caught up in thisthing that I'm too good, I'm not
going to get this.
I'm too good, I'm not going togo out there.
No, no, they need to call methemselves.
(07:44):
But guess what?
They haven't.
There's a reason why theyhaven't and there's a reason why
you should be acknowledging thefact that, like you said, tom,
I'm on the shopping list now.
This is the most exciting thingthat's happened.
I've got agents in my office.
When they get their leads I'mlike Avi oh my God, I'm on the
shopping list.
What do I do now?
So that's the next level We'vegot to treat it like.
(08:06):
Oh my God, this is somethingthat I've worked towards and now
I'm there.
Tom Panos (08:09):
Perfect.
Now let's move on.
I want to actually talk to youabout a very important part of
this process.
You need to understand that in2024, they are doing a digital
interview on you.
Right, they're Google stalkingyou and, with Local Agent Finder
, the platform, they areactually sussing you out there
online.
So you've got to make sure thatwhen they go on there, that
(08:33):
what you say gets them to thepoint where you whet their
appetite that much that you'vegot an updated video.
I mean, some of these peopleWarwick are really doing
everything they possibly can toget the agent not being
contacted by the vendor becausethey've got a video that was
done in 2007,.
Right, they're using old fontand often the video is a video
(09:00):
that is based on the agent, notbased on the vendor.
The best profile videos and thebest profiles on Local Agent
Finder are ones that make thevendor the superhero.
Please, team, remember, vendorsdon't care about your Rolex.
They don't care about how goodyou look.
(09:22):
What they care about is howwill you get me more money for
my home?
That's all that they care about.
How will I be better off in thetransaction if I go with that
agent?
So you've got to make surewhatever content they're
consuming on the profile page onLocal Agent Finder that you
appear as a value-added provider.
(09:44):
Show more, do more, give more.
We've got to get out of thecommodity dungeon cage.
We're not going to be like theother 55,000 agents and you need
to understand that before theytake any step, they are probably
doing a digital interview onyou and Warwick I'd love to
(10:05):
bring you in onto this, youbeing your business there.
You must see some of the assetsthat agents have got that are
showcasing them on Local AgentFinder.
They're not what they could be.
They should be better, theyshould be more vendor oriented
and they should actually be upto date.
Love to hear your comments.
Warwick Steele (10:26):
You're right, spot on, tom.
I think a lot of the video anda lot of the content in the
agent profiles is often quitedated, and I think that you hit
the nail on the head.
What we want to try and do iswe want the profile to stand out
that enables the agent to beable to showcase their agency
and the success they've had inthe area in recent times by
(10:48):
having whether it be in theprofile itself or in the video
itself videos that are going tohit the mark, to excite the
potential vendor that we have,that we've referred across and
it's got to be relevant to them.
It's got to be informationthat's going to be going.
If I'm looking to sell in StKilda, what I'm seeing in this
video, what I'm seeing in thiscontent, is relevant to me as a
(11:10):
vendor, which will drive furtherengagement.
Now, the video stuff is reallyinteresting.
I think the video stuff couldbe tailored more specifically to
vendors.
So, for example, for agentsthat have great success through
Local Agent Finder, if I'm anagent, what I would be doing is
I would be getting a video froma satisfied vendor that says hey
, mr Next Vendor, I went throughthe same process as yourself
(11:34):
didn't know where to start.
Found Local Agent Finderregistered.
They recommended Avi and RayWhite.
I trusted the process, had Aviout fantastic, fella sold the
value of listing with theiragency and I had an amazing
result.
A video such as that is goingto relate to the next vendor
that's coming through.
(11:55):
They'll be thinking oh gee,there's somebody that's lived in
the same footsteps as us.
They trusted the process, theyfound a great agent, they had an
amazing result.
So a video like that willreally really help boost profile
presence.
It'll get viewed and I feel theconnection will be far greater
with a vendor.
Tom Panos (12:13):
Okay.
So, team, please understand,it's not just your approach,
it's your positioning on how youappear on the local agent
finder site.
And whilst you're online, youmight as well clean up your
other assets, including those onsocial media, because you might
(12:33):
say the right stuff.
But if they go onto yourFacebook page and they see you
on Saturday night being off yourface treating it like a joke, I
can tell you you can forgetabout everything that we've said
right Now.
Avi, local Agent Finder leads Itouched on before.
(12:57):
See, I never go into McDonald's.
I just don't like McDonald's.
I did when I was young, but Idon't eat it now.
But when I do go to McDonald's,I go there for one reason, and
the reason is it's going to besuper quick to get that coffee
I'm going to drive through.
That's the unique sellingproposition they have.
(13:20):
There are certain cafes.
There's one in Marrickvillethat sells a cup of coffee for
$35.
It was in the paper the otherday.
They're coffee connoisseurs,they're using incredible beans
and they are for the fanaticalcaffeine addict, right.
However, with Local Agent Finder, the unique selling proposition
(13:44):
is that, hey, I want to see whogets back to me quick, because
that says to me that this personis first they're on the ball.
So, avi, I can't help it.
I get agents, including JoshTeslin, who's in your wonderful
Ray White group, one of thegreat agents.
He's very nervous because onWednesday night they've got the
(14:09):
awards night where he's going toknow whether he's number one or
not.
But Josh has told me often hegoes with local agent finder.
If they get the email or textmessage in the inquiry at 9 58
pm, you contact them at 9 59straight away because what
(14:32):
you're doing there, speed isvery, very important currency.
Any comments there?
Avi Khan (14:40):
so one of our catch cries in our office is immediacy
is our currency.
If there's anything you'regoing to get out of this,
immediacy needs to be yourcurrency.
There's a reason why peopledon't read newspapers they go
online.
Immediacy is what we need to be.
So if a client has requested acallback at 9.58, they've gone
online and you're the agent thatcalls at 9.59 or texts 9.59,
(15:02):
they're going to go with you.
It's always first off the blocksalways gets the business more
often than not.
So think about it this way.
Right, you're on the shoppinglist.
There's three agents.
Your sellers are more time poornow than ever before.
Yes, they've got three agentsout there, but in all cases
they're not going to interviewall three.
They might interview one or twomost of the times.
(15:24):
Second, third call they mightsay hey, I'm sorry, the other
agent's already booked.
They're coming out tomorrow.
I'll let you know how it goes.
That's what you're going to get.
So if you don't treat it aslike, that's the most crucial
thing.
Unless you're in a listingpresentation, you have to call
that lead straight away.
So in our office we have a onehour maximum limit.
So if you don't call within onehour, it goes to someone else.
(15:45):
That's because I know the agentmight be in a buyer appointment
, in a seller appointment.
So that's why we have the onehour grace period for them.
But if you're free you shouldcall them straight away, the
first person to reach out.
That's where you really wow theseller 're going to show them
that I really, really value yourbusiness, I really value you, I
want it straight away.
Some agents are like, oh, theycan wait, these are the agents
(16:06):
not getting business now.
So immediacy always has to beyour currency.
You have to show real intentstraight away.
That I know your house.
I broke past this last week.
Yesterday I've driven past this.
I've sold one down the road.
I've sold one two streets down.
I know the house.
I'm going to get this propertysold for you.
When can I meet you?
That's what you want to tradeaway.
Tom Panos (16:29):
Okay, Can I just say.
Warwick Steele (16:31):
I think Avi's spot on right.
I think that the intent thatyou want to show the vendor is
that you're really keen to winthe business.
You want to show the vendor isthat you're really keen to win
the business.
And I think when I talk to realestate agents Australia wide
and I'm like well, how do youhandle that conversation at like
10 o'clock at night and they'relike Warwick, if it comes
through, I will call the vendorand say hey, tom, I just got
your property.
I'm excited to speak to you.
(16:53):
I see it's in Smith Street.
You might have seen we'verecently had an auction close by
.
I've got buyers that missed outon that.
I wanted to be the first tocall you.
I was excited, right, and thatsort of energy that they bring
to the conversation, right, thevendor feels that.
And then at that point of time,whether it be 9.30, 10 o'clock,
they're booking an appraisal in.
Sometimes it's for 9 am thenext day.
(17:13):
And then the alternativeexperience to that is the agent
who doesn't call and then picksit up when they get in the
office at 10.30 and they'vecalled the vendor and they're
like I've already listed or I'vealready got an agent.
It's because they got it at thesame time and, as you said
before, there was equalopportunity.
One just wanted to show intentthat they really wanted the
business, and that's thedifference that you can have in
(17:35):
experience with the servicesometimes.
Tom Panos (17:41):
So I want to move on to the next part of our webinar.
And the next part of thewebinar is the difficult lead
inquiry, the one that's got alittle bit of resistance, the
one that the agent always saidand, warwick, before I entered a
relationship with Local AgentFinder, I in, in fact, used to
do a lot of real estate trainingfor my clients that were using
(18:03):
Local Agent Finder, that weresaying Tom, how do I handle this
situation?
Which is I've got a vendor,they haven't returned my phone
call or they're being evasive,and I've come up with three key
strategies that have helpedthese agents.
And I've got good news for you.
(18:24):
Those that are watching you arenot experiments.
You're not a guinea pig in this.
This has been tried and testedby a number of agents and at the
end of this RV, I'd love to getyour feedback on these three
different approaches.
The first one is the one thatis the sticker shocker vendor.
This is the vendor that isobsessed with hey, I don't care
(18:47):
about the value.
What I care about is gettingthe cheapest fee, and we know
that there is a group of peopleout there that will fly the
cheapest ticket on JetstarAirline.
They don't care about all thevalue add.
I want the $49 ticket.
What I can say to you is thatwe've got to actually face this
(19:10):
concept that there are a groupof vendors that, no matter what
value you show, do want toactually get a low fee.
I don't think there is as largea proportion of those as what
people think.
Sometimes people go in therethinking that everyone just
(19:30):
wants to get the lowestcommission.
I think most people just wantthe most money in the back of
their pocket.
They just don't know how toarticulate it and they often
think that you're all the same.
Because you're all the same,I'll just go for the cheapest.
Last week when I was talking toyou, warwick, I was in
Wellington when I had thatwebinar with you and Melissa.
I had actually just come backfrom JB Hi-Fi because I was
(19:52):
doing a presentation and Iforgot my pointer and the venue
did not have a pointer and Iwent over to buy this pointer
and I went into JB Hi-Fi and Isaw a salesman and the salesman
I said mate, do you sellelectronic pointers that change
slides when you're presenting?
He goes yeah, come over here.
And there's three.
There was a Logitech, there wasa home brand and there was one
(20:13):
called Kenway Three.
One was 79, one was 69, and onewas 29.
I said to the salesman.
I said, can I ask you what'sthe difference?
He just looked at me.
He says oh mate, they all didthe same thing.
You just change the slides.
(20:33):
So I picked the $29 one.
Right, because there was.
To me it was like you're all thesame, I just picked the
cheapest.
It's very important that you'renot all the same, but if you do
have a vendor that's turningaround and thinking to yourself
hey, as far as I'm concerned,you are all the same, I just
want to get a really low deal.
This is the best way to handlethat commission person.
And I used to do this atWarwick when I owned my real
estate office.
When I used to have people itwasn't with local agent finder,
(20:55):
this was like 30 years ago Iwould have people that would
ring up and say what's your fee?
And I knew that they were justchasing around with fee.
Often they had a pre-existingrelationship with another agent
and I would say this Mr and MrsVendor, I want to let you know
my fee ranges from half apercent to 3%.
(21:20):
It's a range and it boils downto a number of factors, the kind
of property, how long I thinkit's going to take to sell the
value of that property in ourbusiness.
So what I'd like to say to youis that on occasions we give
certain vendors a very low feeon the basis that we believe
(21:43):
that that vendor will be sohappy with us that they will
give us future referrals.
So when I come out and see you,I'll be able to discuss it and
you might be a vendor that wouldbe suitable.
That was enough to get me inthe door, right, because I just
knew if I could get into thedoor.
So in many ways I was using itas an ethical bribe.
(22:05):
And often you get with some ofthese vendors that were a little
bit on the sneaky side.
They think, yeah, yeah, I'lltell him, I'll give him
referrals, I'll just get a lowcommission.
But the point is, once you gotin the living room, they started
to see the value, becauseyou're eyeball to eyeball and
all of a sudden you might stilldo a deal, not at a half percent
(22:25):
, but you might do it at 1.5%instead of 2%, right?
So to me, the lost leader Iwould call this a lost leader
listing, and the reason isWarwick and I remember I did it
in Carey Street, marrickville.
My business partner, george atthe time, said, mate, you did
that at a really low fee.
And I said, george, it's thebest house in the area.
(22:49):
We're going to get a lot ofpeople coming to our opens.
That listing will get usanother 20 listings.
We might lose five grand on ournormal fee, but we'll probably
end up getting half a milliondollars out of it.
So what do you think of thatapproach Avi?
Avi Khan (23:05):
Look, I think, going back to what you guys said about
the social media profile andeverything right, it's actually
telling a story.
When you go on there, it'sactually telling you a story
about your client's experience,about what you do.
And, coming back to the listingpresentation, it's the same
same thing.
It's the stories that make youwhat you are.
So I would go back and say, mr,mr seller, I do understand that
(23:26):
I'm gonna.
I just want half an hour ofyour time to explain to you why
the cheapest agent is also themost expensive agent you could
hire, because by the time you gothrough us, you're going to
have more money left in yourhand at the end of the
transaction.
So this is what I'm going toshow you what we've done with
our last three clients.
So I always every objection,tom, it's a chance for us to
(23:48):
pivot to our listingpresentation.
So we get really excited as ateam.
How can we pivot to what weknow best, which is our case
studies or what we've done?
I had a seller the other day.
They were really obsessed withthe fees.
We were at 2.7%.
The other agent is 1.8%.
I demonstrated to them how I'mgoing to get them 80K more for
their property.
(24:08):
So at the end of thetransaction we got them 100K
more than what they wanted Tothem.
We saved them more than$100,000.
So the cheapest agent is alsothe most expensive agent in our
books.
Tom Panos (24:23):
And I think, avi, what you really want to do is
whet their appetite so much,create an ethical bribe so much
that you get into that livingroom.
That, to me, is critical.
Now I want to touch on thesecond point that comes up.
I often find real estate agentssay, oh Tommy, yeah, mate, I
rang.
To touch on the second pointthat comes up, I often find real
estate agents say, oh Tommy,yeah, mate, I rang him, but they
(24:43):
never rang back.
Well, I just can't get overthat concept.
Like mate, there are realestate agents that are spending
all week door knocking, mondayto Friday, interrupting
strangers that don't want totalk to you, that probably don't
even own the house they'rerenting there.
Yet we're out door knocking,yet we've got this listing lead
(25:03):
that's come from local agentfinder.
They've got a sign on theirforehead saying we are looking
for an agent.
We want to sell our house, andwe're getting agents that are
saying, oh, I called them.
Yeah, they didn't call me back.
Guys, listen here.
That should be part one of 12parts.
You've got to be sort ofunderstanding that that is
(25:24):
normal.
And in fact, let me tell you ifyou're ringing up saying hi,
it's Tom Panos here from thereal estate office Please give
me a call back.
I'm calling you about your leadthat you have called man and
they don't call you back.
Listen, you got to tighten upthat dialogue a lot better.
(25:46):
How about this?
I got to tell you everyonewatching this.
When I want someone to call meback, I don't say it's Tom Panos
from the real estate office.
Give me a call, I have this.
All I say is this hey, tom here, 0419-916-503, 0419-916-503.
Give me a call, I've got somenews.
(26:06):
Bang.
You just actually make itreally easy for them to want to
come back.
I don't make it formal, oh, thereal estate.
I don't turn around and givethem the reason.
I just say I have some news.
Give me a call and I give mynumber.
And then what you do?
Team text, the same thing,because you're improving the
(26:28):
conversion rate of the personcoming back to you and in fact,
I would actually use that asyour text message.
Here is what your text templateshould be on your local agent
finder lead Tom here, give me acall, I have some great news.
Bang, full stop.
(26:49):
And when they do call, you makesure you got some news.
Don't turn around and say, haha ha, tricked you.
It worked.
You call me back.
No, make sure you've gotsomething of value.
And then the last one I want to.
Sorry, arby, you were going tosay something.
Avi Khan (27:02):
No, I agree with you, tom.
I think the two things thatcome out is that someone's left
a message, never call them back,right, so you've dealt with
that very well.
The second thing is you'vespoken to them once.
What do you do now?
Like they haven't called meback?
They're not listed yet.
I don't want to bug them.
Bug them, they want to bebugged.
So say.
Mr and Mrs Seller, I know I'mannoying you.
I'm sorry for reaching out toyou again, but I wanted to let
(27:23):
you know what just happened.
Today we have 350 peoplethrough all our open homes.
Of those, only 25 people havebought a property.
I wouldn't be doing my job if Ididn't let you know this.
Most of them are pre-approved,ready to go.
We've got seven people missedout on my auction Now.
I don't want you to miss out onthe opportunity for me to
introduce those buyers to yourproperty.
If you're okay, can I bringthem through on Friday, so
(27:45):
there's always opportunities totalk to them.
Bug them they want to be buggedand tell them.
I'm so sorry for reaching outto you again.
I know I only spoke to you twodays ago, but the house down the
road, this is what's happenedrecently.
Say sorry I'm reaching out inthis manner, but I'm not doing
my job If I don't let you knowwhat's just transpired in the
house next door or the housedown the road.
We've met 500 people thisweekend.
(28:05):
Only 25 people broughtproperties.
We've got 475 people ready togo.
Can I bring them through thisFriday and just shut up and let
them talk Like don't be scared,to keep following up, because
that's what they want and tellthem?
Mr and Mrs Seller, I know I'mannoying you, but imagine how
annoying I'm going to be tothose buyers when your property
comes to the market with me.
Tom Panos (28:25):
Beautifully said.
Beautifully said.
If you think I'm beingpersistent, well, let me tell
you, mr and Mrs Vendor, in thismarket 13 rate rises, with all
the talk in the paper about realestate I've got to tell you you
need a persistent agent.
You need an agent that isringing buyers up all night
because you're looking for thebest price, not the first price,
and the best price is going tocome from the best buyer.
(28:48):
And I've got to tell you, avi,you're a mind reader, because
the third thing that I havefound real estate agents tell me
helps them to get over thevendor that ghosts them is to
use the ethical bribe of theleftover buyer.
And a beautiful script ordialogue is this Hi Warwick, tom
(29:15):
Panos, here from the RealEstate.
I'm not sure if this is for you,but the minute you use that
dialogue, I'm not sure if thisis for you, but the first thing
the client does is but whywouldn't it be for me?
Let me actually zone in on this.
What's it about?
But we had an auction lastnight.
(29:37):
I had a buyer that's walked outof our auction room and I saw
tears in his eyes.
He's desperate, he's emotionaland he's vulnerable.
To top it all off, he actuallybid a hundred grand more than
what that property we wereexpecting was going to sell for
(29:59):
and yet he was still theunderbidder.
I know that today he's going tobe walking around talking to
real estate agents about buyinga home the reason I've called
you.
Would we be wasting our timementioning your home to him?
It would be crazy for him to gopay top dollar on something
(30:20):
else when he could have boughtyours at top dollar.
So, team, what you're using is aleftover buyer.
We can call this an ethicalbribe, but think about it.
All these people want issomeone to buy their home at a
good price.
People want is someone to buytheir home at a good price and
we're actually creating thatstory and stories are very
(30:44):
powerful because stories sell,facts tell.
You've got to be good at thestorytelling part of the real
estate and that's what we've gotLike.
If you think about it, what wehave is they have a headache.
The headache is I need to getfrom stuck to unstuck.
We are the panadol to thatheadache.
We have the buyer that gets ridof that headache.
Any comments at all on that?
Avi Khan (31:05):
Yeah, 100%.
Look, the sellers want to knowif you're the market leader and
not just market share.
They want to know the marketleader and market knowledge.
And you're the market leaderand premium buyers.
How do you demonstrate to them,can you demonstrate to them,
that you're the market leaderand market knowledge?
And you're the market leader inpremium buyers?
How do you demonstrate to them,can you demonstrate to them,
that you're the market leader inpremium buyers?
You've got all these buyersleft over.
The emotional bribery said tom,and you're the person who's
(31:25):
going to create competitionbetween all the buyers that are
left over.
You're the person to go to.
There's a reason why localagent finder has said you're one
of the agents that the sellershould speak to.
So you've got to demonstrate tothem.
Tom Panos (31:38):
Okay, now I'm going to answer some of these
questions at the end of this.
We are a little bit over team.
I'm just going to fly throughthe last five minutes In five
minutes.
By the way, before you go off,I want everyone to know if
you're finding today very useful.
May I suggest and, susan, ifyou're in the background, I know
that you've just got off aplane from Japan and Warwick if
(32:03):
people at the moment aren't partof Local Agent Finder and they
want to become part of LocalAgent Finder, what is the best
way to get connected with you?
Because we all know that morelistings equals more money.
Who doesn't want to have moremoney?
What's the best way?
Warwick Steele (32:18):
Yeah, they can easily register on the website,
Tom, which iswwwlocalagentfindercomau.
There's a little agents tab atthe top right-hand corner that
they can click on and register aprofile which, as you know,
it's free to join and it's apay-on-success model, so anybody
who wants to join can do itthat way.
(32:39):
Or, if they have any inquiriesor any questions, they can call
us on 1300 765 969 or they canjust email agents at
localagentfindercomau.
Tom Panos (32:51):
Okay, Warwick, one thing before we go, and I'll
bring Avi into this as well.
So a lot of people may not beaware that, yes, Local Agent
Finder have got this servicewhere they're providing ongoing
leads.
And how many, Warwick, roughlyhow many leads a year are you
providing out there to the realestate industry?
Warwick Steele (33:12):
Look, it depends on suburbs, Tom.
Obviously, some suburbs cangenerate up to sort of 30, 40
leads a month of genuine vendorslooking to sell.
Others in a quieter area mightbe sort of anywhere from five to
10.
So it does depend on the suburb.
Tom Panos (33:28):
So you've got a product which a lot of people
don't know about.
And you told me the other daywhen I was in Melbourne I was on
the phone talking to you inMelbourne don't know about.
And you told me the other daywhen I was in Melbourne I was on
the phone talking to you inMelbourne.
You said to me, tom, we have somany suburbs that have become
available in our prospectingtool.
Can you tell me, firstly, whatis the prospecting tool?
Warwick Steele (33:50):
Yeah.
So we have vendors that come toLocal Agent Finder obviously
with an intent to sell theirproperty.
Now some are at the earlystages of the selling journey
and some are ready to go.
So those that are ready tospeak to real estate agents,
they're the ones that we connectthrough the agent network where
on average, three agents willget the opportunity to be able
(34:11):
to call that vendor and presentto them.
We also have vendors that comethrough that are a little bit
early in the selling process, sothey might be finishing some
renovations, they might beawaiting probate, they might be
just months away from selling.
Now those vendors that aren'tready to speak to a real estate
agent on the day of registeringget a different experience
altogether.
We'll present them a dashboardwith the agents we have that
(34:34):
service their area and thevendor then has the option to be
able to go through and exchangedetails with the agents of
their choice when they're ready,which could be anywhere from a
week later to months later.
What we find is, tom, is thatnot a lot of vendors, despite
all of our efforts, will comeback to the dashboard and
exchange details with the agents.
But when we sort of track thoseproperties, a lot of these turn
(34:57):
into market listings.
So we feel it's a missedopportunity for our agent
network and we feel it's amissed opportunity for us.
So what we have?
We have a prospecting tool thatcan really shape the way that
agents prospect Agents canaccess data exclusively on a
suburb level to prospect, tovendors that register with an
(35:18):
intent to sell in theirnominated suburb, for example.
Now we are a little bit limited,obviously, with what
information we can give them,but what we can tell you is
we've had a vendor register, aproperty to sell in St Kilda.
They live in Smith Street, stKilda and they live between 1
and 25 in Smith Streets andKilda.
So we can give you a 25 houserange to really sort of narrow
(35:40):
down your prospecting activity,whether it be door knocking,
whether it be letterbox drops,whether it be running that sort
of street through the databasecould be any other means.
As such, and if you can refineyour prospecting that way, we
think it's time well spent.
And if you flush out any ofthese vendors and you list and
sell these properties, there areno referral fees attached to
(36:02):
these times.
It's about going prospectiveseller.
We can help you refine yourprospecting.
So it's not a needle in ahaystack.
There's a seller within a25-hour range If you work that
hard enough and you find themand list and sell them.
There are no referral fees.
Tom Panos (36:18):
Okay, okay.
This is music to my ears,because you basically told me we
can get someone from doing coldprospecting to do smart
prospecting.
You basically told me we canmove away from shooting.
You basically got a cannon.
It's spray and pray.
That is what traditional realestate prospecting is, and what
we're doing is spray and narrowto these 25 properties right,
(36:41):
absolute gold, and you're notpaying a referral fee.
But be honest, it's not forfree, is it?
How much is it?
I want to know.
Warwick Steele (36:50):
Yeah, so the exclusivity for a suburb depends
on volume and how many leads wehave sitting there, but it'll
range between $300 to $600 asuburb and you have that
exclusively.
So any vendor that comesthrough that suburb that doesn't
exchange details with agents,you get the access to that
street-level data to be the onlyagent that's prospecting to
(37:12):
these vendors.
So there's no competition fromanybody else on the panel.
Where you're all droppingletterbox drops or you're all
door knocking, it's youexclusively that targets these
hotspots.
Tom Panos (37:22):
Avi, I haven't checked with you.
Are you a user of thatprospecting tool?
Avi Khan (37:28):
It's called, so you can be the agent before the
seller needs an agent.
So think about this way.
I'll say to the team there's 25properties on that street,
someone's selling.
They'll be out there within thehour, door knocking all those
25 streets.
The key thing here isrelationships.
Right, Tom, You've got a chanceto build relationship and be
uncontested with the seller whenthey're ready to sell.
(37:49):
This is gold.
Right?
You're going to be uncontestedif you go out and create the
relationship.
So it's something that everyoneshould take up because, like
you said, it's like narrowingthe field.
It's no longer cold anymore isit they can't take?
Tom Panos (38:01):
unfortunately they can't take your suburbs, because
you've got us.
Avi Khan (38:04):
No, they can't take mine.
Tom Panos (38:08):
Can I ask you, warwick, the way that someone
can find out if a suburb isstill available?
They'll do that post the event,isn't it?
Warwick Steele (38:17):
Yeah, we are sending out some information to
the database in the coming daysaround the prospecting tool and
the availability of suburbs.
So anybody, once they receivethat email, they can simply
reply to the email with suburbsof interest and we can get back
to them.
But I would say you know thatemail will be sent in the next
couple of days.
If anybody has genuine interestand wants to buy it sort of
(38:38):
straight away, then again youcould contact us on 1300 765 969
or agents atlocalagentfindercomau and we can
look up the availability ofsuburbs.
But they are exclusive so you'dneed to be quick.
Tom Panos (38:54):
Okay.
So, by the way, everyone, as Isaid to you earlier on, before
we are giving a pre-coachingsession away one-on-one.
To go in the running for it,you must tag local agent finder,
press the share button, shareit on social media and I'm going
(39:15):
to announce the winner onSaturday afternoon when I do my
real estate market wrap.
We're going to have one winnerpicked.
So to actually be in the race,please press that share button.
Avi Khan.
Thank you so much.
A practitioner and a user ofwhat we've been talking about
today.
Warwick, I want to thank you somuch.
(39:40):
I'm so pleased to see LocalAgent Finder now has become a
permanent landscape of realestate agents.
And now think about what hashappened.
We're spending our time andenergy on trying to help
existing clients actually evenget more deals.
Susan's been kind enough toactually put in there a unique
link localagentfindercomau.
(40:03):
Forward slash.
Tom Panos, you can forwardslash if you just want to
actually just ring them, ifyou're a fine person
1-300-765-969.
I want to thank you so muchboth gentlemen.
We won't keep you any longerbecause we know we're in spring.
Our olympic games have onlyjust begun.
Because september, october,november is real estate state of
(40:27):
origin time.
That's where all our businessis done.
Good to see you, arvin thanksfor having me.
Avi Khan (40:32):
Guys appreciate your time.
Thank you so much much.
Tom Panos (40:35):
And you too, warwick, and I'm letting you know to all
those that were here.
You will be getting a copy ofthe recording and also the
information that Warwick saidabout whether your suburb is
available for the prospectingcall.
Thank you so much.
Warwick Steele (40:51):
Thank you guys, Thanks very much Thank you.
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Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.