Title insurance is boring, but Allied Title & Escrow is here to decode the jargon and make it (somewhat) more interesting. This biweekly column will explore the mundane (but very necessary!) world of title insurance while sharing interesting stories of two friends’ entrepreneurial careers.
I was speaking with a real estate agent this week who asked me about ideas for how they could get more business. I said I can come up with some ideas but more importantly do you have a continuous process you utilize to test out new marketing tactics and tweak them? If you don’t have a consistent process then eventually you are just hoping you get business… and hoping typically doesn’t work. Today’s blog will highlight what I believe is a formula to be successful no matter what industry you are in.
Create and Execute 2 Approaches Concurrently — A grind and home run approach
Grinding works. Whether that be door knocking, or phone calls or going to as many open houses that you can, there are proven ways to generate business as an agent (or in any sales position) if you are willing to put in the time.
Yes its hard, yes it sucks and yes it works. With that said, are you going to swing for the fences and try to create a relationship with the top builder/client in the area?
Be prepared to strike out 95%+ of the time for the home run account. But when you eventually secure that relationship, you can theoretically start your year off with all your bills paid and playing with house money.
Tweak the Tactics that Don’t Work
When we started Allied Title, I started emailing agents asking if they would be interested in grabbing coffee. I realized that if I was an agent, I would never respond to that email. So I thought about what I would find interesting.
Instead of talking about title insurance, I told them I had built and sold three businesses in the sports and entertainment industry, and I’d be happy to share what I learned so it might help grow their business.
I secured 70 meetings from those emails, which led to another 50 meetings from intros they made. Many of those meetings led to clients we work with today. Just because something doesn’t work the first time, don’t give up until you go another step or two and optimize the approach.
A quick tip on emails: People are busy so make sure you get to the point and you would respond if you were on the other end.
Never Get Comfortable
You never know when you will lose that large account. You never know when the market will turn. If you are always developing business you can survive any downturn or slowdown.
One of our friends owns an insurance company valued in the many tens of millions. He’s been doing it for decades yet he sets up 4+ meetings every day from 6:30-11 a.m.
He manages the insurance for families just getting started as well as celebrities and CEO’s nationwide.
Schedule Time to Focus On What You Can Do Differently
Are you seeing that the continuous tactics you are implementing are not leading to the results you want? Then schedule weekly time to brainstorm and figure out what you can do differently.
Test something out and if it doesn’t work then tweak the approach and/or try a new tactic. If you are continuously trying new tactics and thinking through how to make them as effective as possible, you will eventually figure out an approach that works.
Many sales people do the same thing, so when you can figure out a unique approach that others aren’t doing you have a great competitive advantage over your competition.
Quick tip: What do successful companies in other industries do? Can you test that approach in your industry?
If you implement a continuous strategy where you are grinding, optimizing your tactics, going for the home-run and testing new approaches you will be successful in sales. Where many fail is when they try something once and if it doesn’t get results then they assume it doesn’t work.
Consistency and optimization is critical to your success. If you want to ask me any questions or share your thoughts, email me at [email protected].
Title Tip of the Week
When you are buying title insurance, you can buy a standard or enhanced policy to protect your investment. Which one should you get?
We recommend you get the enhanced policy if it’s a single-family home as it increases by 50% in coverage over a 5 year period and protects you when there are boundary disputes with neighbors.
Click here to see other advantages of buying this policy. We believe you can purchase a standard policy when you buy a condo as boundary issues won’t come up.
Have questions related to title insurance? Email Latane and Matt at [email protected]. Want to use Allied Title & Escrow when you buy a home? Tell your agent when you buy a house to write in Allied Title & Escrow as your settlement company!
