The Power Of Automation
Out of all of the entrepreneurial businesses I have owned, real estate, by far, is the most complicated. There are so many moving components, so many people involved in a single transaction, so much effort put into prospecting for new clients, that it easily gets overwhelming. Most people end up giving up on real estate, not only because they couldn't find clients, but a significant portion just simply burned out.
When we think about being a real estate agent, we connect it with being an entrepreneur. One of the biggest, and nearly false, concepts of being an entrepreneur is the idea of freedom. The freedom to work when we want, how we want, where we want. Although it's true, being an agent does provide freedoms a 9-5 wouldn't, if you even worked with one client, you know the idea of "freedom" as a real estate agent is just about as real as a unicorn.
So how do you fix this? How do you free up enough time as an agent to feel like you have the freedom everyone talks about? The answer is simple, automation. Now automation is discussed highly among entrepreneurs who focus on passive income. Real estate is so hands on, that it couldn't actually become a passive income business unless you were able to hire out a full team to do all of the work for you. Which for many, isn't the case. And even if you have a team, a successful one will have automated systems to run successfully.
But automation is a key component to any successful business, yet it's hardly discussed in the real estate community. You ask a group of agents what they wished they'd known from the beginning, and most throw around generic ethical, treat your clients right mumbo jumbo. Well, duh. I don't think most agents get into the business saying to themselves "I can't wait to start treating people like crap and get rich." Hint the word "most." So why isn't automation talked about? Is it held a secret by successful agents? Or are agents really not familiar with the benefits?
Here is what automation for an agent would look like:
- Collects any leads coming through automatically.
- Puts your leads into your CRM.
- Sends out an introductory email.
- Follows up via email or text message.
- Stays in touch for months, or years.
Now there is a plethora of avenues automation can come in handy for agents, but to avoid a novel, let's just discuss the points we just mentioned when it comes to lead generation and the follow up. Wouldn't it be amazing to do your marketing, then have your leads automatically be put into your CRM? How about automatic follow up emails and text messages went to that person, which was specific to their buying or selling needs, and stayed in touch with them until they responded back and then you were able to jump into the conversation? A system that does all of the work for you in the back end until someone wants to connect. How amazing would this be?? AMAZING! It would save you so much stress, time, and your conversion rate short AND long term would be so big, you'd wonder why you never did this before.
Now, we'll get into a detailed video on how to get things automated in our social media training section, but in the meantime, when you're asking questions on CRMs, lead generation companies, etc. Make sure they can connect to a company called Zapier. Why? Because Zapier is the tool I use to connect all of the back end systems together to automate everything. Again, I'll make a detailed video of this shortly, but when it especially comes to your CRM, make sure it connects with Zapier. And you can do that by visiting www.Zapier.com and checking out their integrations page. Most real estate CRMs are getting on board with the integration, but not all have.
It's time agents automate aspects of their businesses they don't need to be spending grueling hours on. Or losing out on hundreds of leads because you forgot to send the material or didn't have time to keep in touch. Keep an eye on the social media training section for our automation video, but if it's not up yet, I highly encourage you to visit Google or YouTube and start researching automated tools for real estate agents. There isn't a large amount of detailed content out there, we'll cover that base, but there is enough to give you a better understanding of a feature you more than likely have not been using, and is going to be a massive game changer when you do.
You want real freedom as an entrepreneur? Automate nearly all aspects of your business that don't require you to do the work manually.