In response to the current outbreak of the coronavirus, it has been recommended by the CDC that everyone maintain Social Distancing whenever possible.
Our top priority is the safety and well-being of our employees, co-workers, clients, and families so we’re doing our part to work from home and maintain a certain level of social distancing.
A lot of company’s are taking the health of the community seriously, and real estate agents are no exception.
So while you might make yourself available to do private showings with precautions in place, if your clients prefer to host a no-contact showing, offer to tour the home virtually via FaceTime or video email using one of the tools below!
Double Down Rather Than Backing Off
Don’t shut down, stop or stall your prospecting/work activities purely based out of fear.
Do buyers still want to see homes? Use your best judgement, try to minimize in-person meetings or do so with safety and precautions in place.
Leverage online video. While people are home and doing their part, video is going to be the norm for at least a few weeks (get used to it, it’s no big deal).
Evaluate if your sales pipeline is even at risk right now. Don’t over-react without first analyzing your own data.
Open Up More Opportunities for Prospects To Engage With You
Right now many people are being sent home. Guess what they’ll be doing?
They’ll be logging onto Facebook, check in with Instagram and scrolling through their email list. Make contact with prospective clients – offer positivity, deliver value, and stay top of mind.
People are doing virtual happy hours:
Others are offering Facebook Lives and Zoom sessions as playdates/playtime to help with the kiddos:
Flipboard is offering a curated magazine that lists out a list of museums, concerts, and other cultural programs that you can enjoy virtually.
Scholastic is offering free online courses so that kids can keep learning while they’re in school. (Here’s the link to their new Learn From Home website).
If you (or your clients) have kids home from school, here’s an AMAZING tweet thread from @msrachelyoung thread of fun activities to keep them busy.
We’re gearing up keep our kids (ages 2 and 5) at home when the schools close. We work full time and honestly don’t know what’s next. I put together a list of projects that don't rely on screens for learning. In no particular order.👇
— Rachel Young (@msrachelyoung) March 13, 2020
If you feel like you’re getting “cabin fever” being cooped up in-doors (man up!) … but seriously, here are some cool walking tour videos on Youtube shared by Sarah Pavis on Twitter.
Be of value! Share some of these ideas and resources with your clients.
- Host your own virtual happy hour
- Check-in with a friend (how are they holding up, how can you help)
- Check-in with your prospects and clients (everything’s going to be fine)
- Share fun things to do while staying in-doors, staying safe
- Share fun things to do to distract the kids so that you can get real work done
Evaluate Your Pipeline
Know what your planned revenue is and identify potential gaps. Do you have clients that are panicking? Are they cancelling open houses?
Can you put safety measures in place or convert to video to minimize the risk.
Instead of Being a Frantic Follower of the News, Be a Courageous Leader for Your Community
Nurturing your clients and being a pouring light into your community should be a top priority right now (I know it is for us). Use your skills, insights and talents to solve particular pain points that clients may be experiencing.
They may have unique challenges that will arise because of the virus and you can create solutions to help them get through it.
Adapt
As people begin to practice social distancing, that doesn’t mean work stops. Instead, adapt.
Get comfortable with video. Here are a few of my “go to” video tools that I’m using right now and that you can start to use too …
Zoom
Zoom is one of my favorite apps for hosting video meetings because it’s so easy to setup.
If you want to host quick, 40-minute meetings, you can sign up for the Free plan.
If you want to host longer, 1-hour meetings, you’ll need to upgrade to a Pro Plan at about $14.99/mo.
And if you use Google Calendar to schedule your meetings, they have a great Google Calendar integration that makes it easy to make your meetings a “Zoom Meeting.”
Use Loom
When I worked in software sales, Loom was great for recording quick short video emails and screencasts.
If you’re a real estate agent, and you want to share:
- How to open and sign a Docusign document
- How to search homes, favorite listings, and provide feedback on a property using your favorite listing alert tool (RealScout, Cloud Streams)
You can record as many videos as you need under the Free plan (unlimited until July 1st in response to COVID-19). If you need access to advance recording and editing tools you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro Plan at $4/mo (billed annually).
BombBomb
If you want to send quick video emails to check in with your clients, introduce yourself to new prospects, and track everything (email open rates, watched video notifications), then you’re going to ❤️ LOVE BombBomb.
It’s never been easier to login, record a video email, insert a CTA, and send it off! The best part is, you can track everything, too.
If you want to send simple one-to-one videos directly from within your Gmail inbox or Google Chrome Browser you can sign up for BombBomb Video for $29.99 per month.
If you’re a power user and want to send unlimited video emails up to 3,500 contacts, you’ll want to sign up for the Individual Plus plan at $588 per year.
Are you going to take time off or are you going to get busy?
It’s going to be a wild ride for a couple of days, weeks, even months.
I for one am having a positive mindset. We just have to adapt, stay positive, and keep moving/growing.
How are you going to stay busy?
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