In the following article, RISMedia interviews Brad Korb, broker/owner of the Brad Korb Real Estate Group in Los Angeles about how he uses online leads to support his recruiting and retention efforts.
Name: Brad Korb
Title: Broker/Owner, Brad Korb Real Estate Group
Region served: Los Angeles county
Number of offices: One
Number of agents: 13
Years in real estate: 39 years
Your company has doubled in the past few years. How significant is it that you have an online lead program?
Our business has changed radically in the last 39 years, and most of today’s buyers are looking online first, so online leads are very important.
Is having leads from realtor.com part of your recruitment marketing and your value proposition when recruiting? If so how is it positioned?
It is a fantastic proposition I can offer to our team. When recruiting, we tell the agents that I spend the money to get great buyers ready to buy. The way I see it, I’m investing in them as an agent, they are a business inside of my business, so we’re essentially investing in them as a startup.
When agents come onboard and you start providing them leads, how do you make sure that the agents are accountable to close their leads?
I do this in two ways: we have a mentorship program where we have two different team leaders that the new buyers agents will work under on a daily basis for their first six months to nurture their leads. I also go over leads with team leaders and individual agents once a week, to see if there is anything I can help with, or offer my perspective on how they can be an even better salesperson based on my 39 years of experience. Basically I ask: How can I supercharge their leads?
How does the program with realtor.com help you retain agents—is there enough in it to help agents grow within your group?
Very few brokerages give out these kinds of leads. As a small boutique office, my job is to provide buyers agents with leads so they can be successful, now and forever. I see this is a lifelong relationship, and that helps with retention.
What things do you suggest your agents always do to make sure they get leads closed?
First, the biggest reason agents aren’t successful is because they don’t do enough follow up. You have to be very consistent with your follow up, whether it’s a week, a month, 18 months. We have a system in place to help agents with their follow up.
Second, find out the personality of your buyer and mirror and match it. If your lead is cautious, then you need to slow down. If they’re excited, be excited! Work at their speed.
Third, service your client 150 to 200 percent. One hundred percent service is not good enough anymore. you need to be outstanding, give them an extra WOW experience.
Do you have an Inside Sales agent—and if so how do they contribute?
Yes we do, our ISA helps agents nurture the leads, seeing as we have such a large quality of leads coming in. Some leads are six months out or more, and with so many coming in, they can overload the agents. Clients are only your clients until the next internet click; The ISA helps with the lead follow up to stay in contact with leads and nurture them along the way.
With all this—what are the customers like you meet on realtor.com—can you vouch for the quality of the leads?
Realtor.com gives us great quality of leads, bringing in very serious buyers who have done their homework. By the time they get to us, they want us to show properties and help them—they are ready to go!
For more information, please visit www.realtor.com/brokerwin.
Zoe Eisenberg is RISMedia’s senior content editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at zoe@rismedia.com. For the latest real estate news and trends, bookmark RISMedia.com.
