Needless to say, I was pretty bummed out by the turn of events. And then I started stressing out, worrying about completing more transactions before my June office anniversary. When I get discouraged, I always lose some amount of time wallowing in self pity. And then I get sick of my complaining and climb out of that bullshit and try to reflect and think strategically… you know, like really think about what I’m doing wrong and where I can improve…

That’s where Bubbey’s worldclass emotional intelligence comes in. I mean, he always has pointers, but some are def more helpful than others. :). Thankfully, since he chaperoned me last Sunday, he witnessed my interactions and gave me feedback on how I could respond to people’s common excuses. Like if they say they are early in the process, I used to respect that and tell them, it’s helpful to be prepared early but whenever they’re ready, let’s talk. Instead, Bubbey says I need to give more push back: tell them a story about how I see a lot of people who think they are early on. But then they suddenly see something they really like and bc they aren’t prepared, they’re scrambling around trying to submit an offer. That strategy is fine for other markets, but not for this one, where properties go in 7-10 days. It’s never too early to get organized. There’s a lot involved– not only with getting a vetted preapproval, but also in organizing your proof of funds, drafting your letters to the seller, and just being focused and serious with your search. I can help, blah, blah.

I know, Bubbey’s got valid points, right? So this week, I busted out my script books again and I spent some time writing out more detailed responses to these scenarios. Luckily, last weekend’s list agent reached out and offered me the Sunday open house, saying the seller was reducing the price. I agreed.

While I was setting up a half hour before open time, a couple came early… argh, I hate when that happens but like I said, I never turn people away. They looked and then I practiced my new spiel. They said they were early, I explained it’s never too early to get organized, we talked for a while, and then at the end of ten minutes, I said, call me when you’re ready. I had been concentrating so hard on doing my talk and capturing their data (where they are looking, how long, specs, etc.) that I was all thrilled to get that far…  but then at the end, I didn’t make the ask for the appointment or the strong ask to work together. So John gave me those tips today. If the conversation is going well, make the ask again and maybe they’ll be more inclined since there was good rapport. He also said I should focus less on matching them with a lender to get preapproval and more on how I am going to help them save time and money with the homebuying process. See? He’s so damn good.

So the next couple that came in, Bubbey went out for an errand and I tried again. Did the whole dialog and really built rapport, but the lady was preggers and due this Wednesday. She did seem convinced that they needed to get serious about the process and that they’d work with me. I followed up afterwards via email and the hubby replied positively so… I took that as an improvement in my execution even if the baby is mucking up my timeline. 🙂

All in all, I got three solid leads today. All Stanford doctors (two hubby-wife physician couples!) and I talked with them for a good 10-15 minutes. I told stories and gave examples… it was really interesting bc afterwards, I realized that my conversations with visitors are very similar to all the shit I prepared when I was participating in ProMatch and training up for job interviews. I had to develop all these answers to questions– and the responses had to be concise yet illustrative to demonstrate my capabilities. It was such a weird epiphany but it made me really excited just seeing the common thred.

After the open house wrapped, I had a meeting with another lady whom I had met back in January at an open house in MV. You see, I recently discovered this new tool. For the longest while, I’d been following up with people via email and phone calls. My emails would get opened but no response. The calls rarely went through to a live person and if I left a message, no one ever called me back. Then, I was thinking so many people have an iPhone. What if I input either their number or email, and see if they have iMessage?

With my Chinese speaking leads, I was thinking that maybe my English emails and vm were a turn off. Or oftentimes, I wasn’t even able to leave a vm. So somehow I got this idea in my head that I could use iMessage to record an audio message and send it. Then I could see the delivery/read receipt. I started recording messages in Chinese but the problem with that was I had to record a new message every time. I needed something more cut/paste friendly. So then I transitioned into sending them text messages in English but I added a line in Chinese saying that I speak Mandarin. And coupled with the QPush tool, I was cranking those babies out. Then, I kicked things up yet another level.

When I send out my eblasts (2-3x/month), the software tracks the opens and clicks. The thing is, people always say they aren’t seriously looking or they aren’t interested and YET the tracking data shows that they are still CURIOUS about the market. I get a really good open rate for my monthly updates (stats on home sales and median prices)!! Same for my open house announcements. So now what I do is look at who has opened, and then within an hour or day or whatever, I send a text via iMessage that basically says, “Hey, thanks for reading my real estate emails. The market is moving fast. My buyers just got a house in XYZ. I can help you win too in this competitive market… let’s talk. Btw, I speak Mandarin (in Chinese characters).” And let me tell you: I am actually getting responses!?!?! Sometimes even from people whom I had previously been pinging via email for MONTHS! Sometimes they tell me they already bought. Other times they are not currently looking to buy but they admit they like the emails. And sometimes THEY AGREE TO MEET.

Yeah baby, Brenda the Bulldog is tenacious like a mother fucker. And this iMessage thing is useful, bc now I know these people are reading my stuff. And it’s a way to remind them of who I am so they get another imprint that VG is a realtor. And when they share tidbits, I get a sense for how warm the lead is and I update my database accordingly. See, I am made for keeping tabs on peeps!! You might as well call me Facebook or Cambridge Analytica, beotches! Just kidding. I do no evil. 🙂

But let’s be honest. Out of LOTS of texts, I only got like five responses. Still, two of those five ended up meeting with me in person. And I figure once I start texting people every time they read my emails, they will either unsubscribe from my email (which helps me shed the bloat anyway) or respond in some way to either meet me or get me off their back. That’s my latest strategy anyway, and I’m thrilled from the results this week. More innovations and work hacks to come. Stay tuned! Muhahahaha.