August 2018 - iDashboard Blog

5 Tips to Help You Provide Five-Star Services

Providing top-notch customer service is essential for staying alive in an ever-changing and increasingly-competitive marketplace. Here are five tips to help you improve the service you provide to your clients and stay on top:

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

A lot of people will tell clients they “know” the market. But anyone can do a Google search of some numbers about the area. To really please clients, you need to truly know the local area.

Read the local newspaper, keep up on events going on in the town council and speak to people. Ask residents why they like living where they live, and then use this information to help your clients. Listening is one of the best services you can provide as an agent.

Offer Emotional Support

Moving is an emotional thing, and the truth is that most people don’t want to do it. Divorce, death or kids moving out is often the cause, so it’s important to be sensitive to this. Make sure you ask people if they’ve explored every other option other than moving.

While you risk losing a listing, this empathy is hard to beat, and you’d be surprised how people respond to it. When the moment does arrive to move, you’ll likely be one of the first people they’ll call. And being sensitive to people’s needs is a good way to build up a good reputation.

Make First Impressions Count

Always check in on the condition of a home when you first start working with a client, keeping a close eye on curb appeal. It might be a pain to call in a tradie to do a few little things, but fixing up some minor issues can go a long ways towards drawing people in when they first see a property.

Make Sure to Keep Daily Contact During a Campaign

It’s not necessary to call every single day, but you should reach out to your clients daily in some way or another. This helps to create trust with the client, and it also keeps them fully apprised of what’s going on with the sale.

Also, make sure you follow up with everyone who attends an open house. This way you can report back to the vendor and let them know what people are saying. In the end, buyers and vendors want the same things: open and honest communication. Making sure you check in with both consistently is essential for providing great service.

Don’t Forget About After-Sale Service

After a big search and a big sale ends, it’s easy for everyone to relax. But for you as the agent, if you want to provide top-notch service, then you need to try and avoid this. The period before settling can be stressful, so make sure you’re still touching base with both parties.

You can stay involved by recommending removalists, or by offering to oversee paperwork. Then after the buyer moves in, consider giving a call a few weeks later to see if there’s anything else you can do. This just helps to cement the relationship even further, and it also gives you a nice reputation boost, which can never hurt.

3 Top Facebook Myths Debunked

After Facebook changed its policy about the content it would display on people’s news feed, resulting in priority being given to meaningful personal interactions over posts from brands, it’s now more challenging than ever to get your organic content in front of the right people.

You need to make sure your content is doing everything possible to reach your audience, otherwise you’ll get swallowed up in the noise of your competitors.

However, this is even harder to do when you consider how many myths are out there about what works on Facebook and what doesn’t. You need to be clear about what is fact and what is fiction so that you can make the most of your Facebook marketing.

Here are a few of the most common myths debunked:

1. Bigger Audience Always Lead to Better Results

This goes against the notion that bigger is always better. But when working on Facebook, it’s true that getting in front of less people can actually be more effective.

It all goes back to quality over quantity. If you can get in front of people who are more likely to take an action, then it doesn’t matter how many people you actually reach. Successfully converting 20 percent of a group of 100 is more cost effective than only converting 2 percent of 10,000 people.

Make sure to narrow your post’s target demographics as much as possible, targeting people by age, sex, location and preference. Also consider creating custom audiences by either going after ones that are similar to your current targets, or by pursuing groups of people in your business’ geographic location.

2. More Budget Means Improved Performance

We all seem to think that if we just throw more money at our problems we’ll be able to fix them. But nothing could be further from the truth. If you’re not producing the right content, then it doesn’t matter how much money you spend on it, you still won’t get the results you want.

The key is to first focus on creating engaging content based on your audience’s interests. Then, when you start having success, you can begin to scale things up by boosting a post.

Pay attention to your analytics, as they will tell you which ads are doing well and warrant a little extra investment.

3. You Should Boost Every Post

When a post isn’t performing well, it’s tempting to just hit that boost button and hope things will improve. But doing this without any real reason is essentially a waste of money. You need to have specific motivations—grounded in research and analytics—for doing so, otherwise you’re just draining your budget without any hope of getting a decent return.

Only boost posts that have a clear objective or that are already performing well. Or, consider boosting some organic posts that have already had some time to work, as this might give you a nice jump in response.

Overall, don’t believe everything you hear. Facebook ads are a great way to reach your audience, but you still need to have a plan and a clear strategy to make sure you’re getting the most from your investment.

Five Ways to Make Your Weekly Vendor Reports More Effective

To run a successful sales campaign, it’s important to communicate well with your vendor. Sending a weekly report is an effective way to do this, and it’s something all agents should be doing.

Here are some tips on how to use your weekly report to help you drive sales:

1. Stick to a Routine

For reports to be successful, it’s important that you use them consistently. Leaving vendors in the dark for long periods of time, and then springing information on them, is going to give the impression you aren’t working constantly on selling their property.

But the key to a routine is to have a plan for collecting information. Make sure you have systems in place for capturing data, and keep up with the status of each property. This should allow you to produce reports in as little as 20 minutes, making it easy for you to get them out on a consistent basis.

2. Include Only What’s Most Important

When you send out a vendor report, avoid filling it with fluff. Vendors only want to know about what’s relevant to their property. Anything else is extra and it might give off the impression you’re wasting their time.

One thing to make sure to include is how you’re marketing the property. Vendors are paying top dollar for you to get the word out, so they want to know their money is going to good use.

The report should be a quick snapshot of what’s most important: marketing spending, buyer feedback, genuine interest. Everything else is irrelevant and should be left out.

3. Be Transparent

Don’t ever give your vendor anything other than the truth. Citing incorrect facts, or excluding information because you’re afraid of how it might make you look is dishonest and bad practice. If the vendor figures you out, it’s going to really hurt the relationship.

Plus, it’s insulting. Vendors are aware of what’s going on in the market, so if you try to doctor the truth, they’re going to know you’re lying. If there’s bad news, just pass it on and accept your role as the messenger. From there, you can work with the vendor to let them know how you’re going to respond to this troubling news.

4. Make an Upfront Time Investment

No one really likes making reports, but if you put in the time to make detailed vendor reports, this investment will deliver significant returns.

Keep your finger on the pulse of the market, and if you use an integrated CRM platform, most relevant information should be right there. No report should take you more than an hour, but this hour will make it much easier to sell the property.

With iDashboard, Online Vendor Reports display inspection feedback that has been entered into the system. So creating your vendor report, is as simple as adding inspection & offer information, and this is automatically added to the online report, to be accessed 24/7.

5. Keep Everyone on the Same Page

Make sure to include the topic covered in phone or face-to-face meetings. Most vendors—and agents—will have a hard time remembering who said what and when. If you include this information in your reports, it makes it easy to get everyone on the same page, improving communication and enhancing the relationship you have with the vendor.

Did you know that with iDashboard you can provide your vendors with their own Online Vendor Reporting platform, so they can view buyer/inspection attendee feedback 24/7 at their convenience?

Why Instagram Stories Should be a Marketing Priority

In the ever-evolving world of real estate, there’s always going to be a new trick or tool to take your attention.

More and more often, however, agents are shying away from old-school marketing tactics and dipping their toes into social media and one such method that’s quickly gaining popularity is Instagram stories. But what sets Instagram stories apart from other marketing channels and why should you consider bringing it into your strategy? Read on to find out more.

What’s the Deal with Instagram Stories?

From businesses to the individual, Instagram stories give users the opportunity to show a more approachable version of themselves. The result from this is an authentic behind-the-scenes look into the day-to-day operations of a real estate agency that helps people to attribute faces to your business name and view you as more than just a brand.

Making Your Property Listings Interactive

If people aren’t interacting and engaging with your content, it’s not social media – it’s just media. Although Facebook and Instagram are fantastic ways of getting your content seen by more people, you need to persuade people to comment, interact and build a personal relationship with your brand.

As an agent you need to have a social media presences that will facilitate this, as Instagram stories make it much, much easier to get the engagement you need. One way this can be done is with the introduction of polls to your stories. For example, if you’re currently listing a property with both a great inside and outside dining area, you could create a poll that says “eat insight or outside?” and let your audience vote.

This will have two key effects. Firstly, it’ll encourage your audience to engage with you, and secondly, it’ll make them envision themselves living within that property, which can have a strong influence on them booking a viewing.

Use Live Stories

By using live stories, you’ll uncover yet another way to interact with your audience, showcasing exactly what you’re doing as you do it. This could be you getting work done in the office or walking around one of your favourite new listings and showing off some of its best features.

For home buyers, this means they’ll be able to see a property before they even book a viewing. As a result, you’ll know that those who do book to see the property in person are actively interested in the home, leading to higher conversion rates.

How Should You Get Started?

You don’t have to launch into your own live videos straight away. You can run a basic search on Instagram under People, Tags and Places to get ideas on how others are using stories. Take notes on the examples you like, learn from those you don’t, and you’ll be ready to produce interactive, engaging content in no time.

4 Golden Rules for Earning a Great Real Estate Reputation

In any industry, your reputation is important. Now, take one as competitive as Australian real estate and it becomes absolutely essential to building and maintaining a successful client base and having an impact on your market.

However, a handful of slip-ups can taint people’s impressions of you, and once you’ve built a negative reputation, it can be hard to change. So, what can you do to develop a reputation that’ll make clients want to work with you? Read on to find out more.

1) Keep Your Promises

First and foremost, there’s nothing wrong with saying “I don’t know, but let me find out” to a client. The second you say that you’re going to do something or that you’ve already got something done, though, you have to deliver on it. After you backtrack on a promise you’ve made, you’re going to lose client confidence.

In real estate, it’s much better to under-promise and over-deliver than bite off more than you can chew and leave your clients disappointed.

2) Return Calls

The single biggest annoyance most of your clients are going to find is agents who don’t stay in touch. If you leave them days waiting to get a call back, they’re going to start to think they’re not important to you.

In the technological world we live in, it’s easier than ever to stay in touch, so no matter how busy you are, you have no excuse not to drop your client a quick response to say you’ll get back to them. In almost all cases, this form of communication, or even a quick return call, isn’t going to take more than a few minutes of your time.

This goes for bad news, too. If you’ve found out that an offer got rejected on a property, or a buyer has pulled out, it’s not going to be easy news to deliver, but you should make a point of telling your client as soon as possible.

3) Be Ethical in What You do

There are several grey areas in real estate that aren’t right or wrong, but once you’ve crossed them, it can be difficult to turn back. If your clients or other professionals in the industry start to think you’re untrustworthy or overly ruthless, they could well be reluctant to do business with you in future.

The relationships you forge in real estate are largely going to be about trust and you need people to believe that you’re going to do what you say you’re going to do. If there’s even the slightest question raised about your ethics, your reputation is going to take a hit.

4) Think About the Bigger Picture

There are more people involved in real estate deals than just the buyer, the seller and you. The majority of deals involve attorneys, mortgage brokers, appraisers and inspectors, too. So, if you’re the individual in that chain that’s causing problems, everyone is going to know. Although it’s your right to try and make as much money as possible on each deal, you should know that it’s sometimes wiser to look at the bigger picture.

In fact, small sacrifices go a long way. If you’re willing to go a bit further to make someone else’s life easier, that’s going to be remembered and the more often you do it, the more often people are going to speak well of you and more often than not, that’ll pay off down the line.

How should BDMs schedule their prospecting?

So here’s the question: When is the best time of the day and week to prospect?

Well, quite simply, if you’re really serious about growth, then the answer is…every day! To be successful, BDMs should be searching for new leads and working on their database every day of the week. However, there is a logic to when you should be reaching out to different clients.

Part of this will depend on the source you’re going to be prospecting. For example, buyer follow-up and OFI prospecting are best left for the end of the week. Typically, Mondays and Tuesdays are reserved for the sales team to follow up after their weekend open houses, and it’s not a good idea to overload clients with lots of phone calls all at once, as this can damage your relationship and hurt the image they have of you.

Mondays tend to be a good day for database calls and current client prospecting. The beginning of the week is usually much busier for people, so it’s a good idea to start with people who already know you and will have the time to talk, as this will help keep your connection rate high.

As for the time of the day, there’s a few things to consider. It’s obviously always better to to get finished up earlier in the day. Plus, if you prospect in the morning, then you have all your calls over with without having to worry about other responsibilities messing you up. The afternoon and evening have their benefits, though. They tend to give you higher connection rates, making them a great time for second round callbacks.

The best approach is to schedule morning sessions first, identifying which sources will be your focus. This blocks out your calendar and makes it easier for you to figure out how to use your afternoons.

However, none of this is entirely set in stone. Different things will work for different people. As such, it’s important to track your progress in your market, investor profile and personal energy. Once you start to do this, you’ll be able to pick out patterns. Perhaps you have the most success in the afternoon because you’re in your best frame of mind after lunch. Or, perhaps your clients tend to be busy towards the end of the week, meaning it’s better to wait until Thursday or Friday.

Keeping track of this information will make it much easier for you to devise a plan that works for your and brings the best results.

Understanding the New Gmail Features

Email has been one of the primary forms of communication for the past 20 years. And Gmail is one of the most widely-used email clients out there. It’s understandable why. With it’s easy-to-use features and simplistic design, there’s not a lot of stress involved when using Gmail.

So, then, why did they go ahead and change it? Well, the tech world is obsessed with change and innovation. There’s always a way to be better. And although it might take a little getting used to, these changes are usually for the better. The new version of Gmail is no different. Here’s some info on what’s new so that you can make use of all of Gmail’s functionality.

How to Get the New Gmail

Google wants you to use the new version of the Gmail app, so they’ll likely prompt you more than once, either at sign-in or while using the app, to switch over to the new version. However, if this doesn’t happen, then you can click on the cog on the top right of your screen and choose “try the new Gmail.” All of your settings and emails will migrate over, so you don’t need to worry about losing anything.

The first thing you’ll notice when you switch over to the new version of Gmail is the look. Google has updated the fonts, styles and button designs to look more like their other productivity apps, such as Google Drive and Google Calendar.

You can change its appearance, though. The default setting will show each email’s subject and the first line of the email, along with any icons to indicate attachments. There are also a series of buttons right on each email line that allow you to quickly decide what to do with each one, i.e delete it, forward it, archive it, etc.

You can switch to a more compact design that removes the icons and also gets rid of the spaces between each email line. Give each one a try to see which you like best.

Google Tasks

This is a new app from Google that allows you to create to-do lists, and it’s designed to integrate with Gmail. It’s also a standalone smartphone app, if you prefer to use it this way.

One of the nice features is that you can drag emails from your inbox over to your tasks folder, automatically populating your to-do lists as you do.

Smart Reply

Many of us spend too much time responding to emails. The new Gmail tries to help with this by offering its Smart Reply feature. Essentially, it scans your emails and then offers you some suggestions for replies, such as “sounds good” or “I’ll get back to you soon.” This can be a big time saver for people who use email as a primary means of communication.

Confidential Mode

There’s nothing more important these days than online security, and the new Gmail app makes achieving this a little bit easier. When you compose an email, you’ll see an icon at the top displaying a lock and a clock at the bottom. When you click this, you’ll create a unique link for your email that has an expiration date. This way you can limit how long your message exists and who can see it.

Email Snoozing

To help you remember to reply to emails, Google has created a new feature that takes emails out of your inbox and then brings them back at a later day, making them appear new and more urgent. This is great for those of us who struggle to keep up with responding to emails.

5 Ways to Inspire Your Team through Emotional Intelligence

Keeping employees engaged, inspired and motivated at work is key to increasing productivity. No great leader ever accomplished anything without an amazing team working to help make their vision a reality. And while every leader has their own unique style, there is one thing connecting them all: emotional intelligence.

A relatively new concept, emotional intelligence is now one of the foundations of successful leadership.

Here are five aspects of an emotionally intelligent leader you can use to inspire your team:

Contagious motivation

Leaders with high emotional intelligence are intrinsically motivated. They are confident in what they do, and they have the resolve to keep going even when faced with steep barriers to their success. They typically aren’t motivated by money and titles, relying instead on the success of their teams and the thrill of solving a problem.

And this type of motivation rubs off on other team members. When people see their leader working hard to get things done, they are inspired to do the same.

Stronger relationships

Everyone has had a job where there’s hostility and conflict among team members, and we all know how damaging this can be to the overall team dynamic. Leaders who are emotionally intelligent understand people and their problems, making it easier for them to build relationships and be close to people.

They tend to listen and empathise well with others, and this makes it easier for team members to bond with their leader. And when this bond is formed, people tend to work harder to succeed, as they now have an emotional investment in the outcome of their work.

Increased autonomy

Emotionally intelligent leaders tend to build more trust with their team members, meaning they are more comfortable delegating to others. They tend to be more self-aware, and they are better at identifying not only their own strengths and weaknesses, but also those of others. This means they are less afraid of people messing things up, giving them the freedom to try out new things and get tasks done in the way that makes the most sense for them.

People want to feel as though they have the freedom and autonomy to work in the way they want to. Emotionally intelligent leaders get this and allow their employees the space they need, maximizing their potential.

Inclusive leadership and feedback

Emotionally intelligent leaders understand that top-down management doesn’t work. Keeping people in the dark and only telling them the bare minimum is not going to be enough. Instead, people need to know the overall vision and purpose of the company. When they approach what they do from this position, then people tend to feel safer, as they feel a part of something.

Leaders who do this also tend to solicit feedback from employees, including them even further and improving the relationship even more/

Constructive advice

People don’t usually leave their jobs because of money. Instead, they seek out new opportunities so that they can continue to develop professionally. Emotionally intelligent leaders understand this, and they work with employees to advance their careers so that they stay motivated and working hard.

Embracing the qualities of an emotionally intelligent leader can dramatically improve the relationships on your team, and this can turn around and provide a big boost in its productivity.

Taxes 101: How to Claim Your Home Office

The digital revolution has changed the way Australians work. People are working less from offices, opting instead for flexible work environments. This usually means working from home. And when you’re working from home, it’s important to remember this space can be claimed as a tax deduction.

Doing so can increase the amount you receive from your tax return, giving a boost to your savings account or helping you out with some of your recurring expenses.

Keep the following in mind when claiming your home office on your taxes:

Tools and equipment

Things such as computers, desks, chairs and calculators all count as tools you use to do your work and earn your income. As such, you may be able to claim part of their cost on your return. How much you will be able to claim will depend on how much you use the equipment. For example, if half of the time you use your computer it’s for personal reasons and the other half for work, then you can claim half of the cost of the computer. For items that cost over $300, you will have to claim its decline in value. And you can also claim repairs and insurance costs associate with this equipment.

Running and occupancy expenses

When you work from home, you’re going to incur some ongoing expenses, such as phone, heating and cooling, and electricity bills. Typically, you can claim these as deductions. However, you usually cannot claim occupancy costs such as rents and mortgage payments. But if you are running your business solely from your home, you may be able to claim some of these expenses. The Tax Office will figure this out based on the proportion of your home you use for business purposes.

Make sure to stay organised

If and when you do decide to make a claim, the Tax Office will want some verification that the expenses you declare are indeed related to the work you do from your home office. This is why it’s critical to keep track of all of your receipts throughout the year.

A good habit to get into is to keep all receipts in a separate folder, and also to keep a diary of how often you use your equipment for work during a four-week period. Make sure to also hang onto your phone bills, marking which calls are work related. And hold onto any records of repairs or cleaning done in your home office.

The penalty for not being able to verify the deductions you claim is usually a hefty fine, so make sure you’re keeping track of all the details. It will end up saving you a lot of money in the long run.

Lodging Your Return

It may be a good idea to use the ATO’s Home Office Expenses Calculator before lodging your return. This will give you an idea as to how much you can expect to get back. Then, you can either lodge on your own or through an accountant. But whatever you do, don’t forget about the 31 October deadline!

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