Building your listing pipeline

Discover how Lyndon Barry seamlessly balanced their thriving businesses and family lives while providing exceptional customer service to their clients . Learn their tried and true techniques for staying in touch with clients , re-engaging with expired listings and setting themselves apart in a competitive real estate market .

Don't miss Linda's unique post-closing package that keeps her clients coming back for more . All of this and more on today's episode of Reality ["Miracle of Reality"] . This is the Reality Podcast , and I'm your host , gary Scott .

With more than 35 years of experience in the real estate industry , working in 10 major markets from New Jersey to South Carolina , and now as the president of the largest real estate company in the Carolinas , allentate Realtors , i know what it takes to be successful in this business .

This is real life in real time , sharing real experiences of industry professionals to help both new and seasoned agents achieve their goals and realize their maximum potential .

Allentate Realtors is a proud partner of Howard Hannah Real Estate Services , the largest independent family-owned real estate company in the country , with more than 13,000 sales associates and staff members across the combined companies . You'll have the opportunity to hear from the absolute best in the business .

Join me each episode as we unpack the reality behind what it takes to make it in this great business . Welcome to Reality Podcast . I am your host , gary Scott , and , as always , so excited to be with you . Today is the first Reality Podcast that we've done with two great professionals from our company .

We've shared a couple of Reality Podcasts which were replays of a Tate Talk Live which had a panel , but this is the first exclusive Reality Podcast with a panel . We had a couple people had a conflict at the end , but we are fortunate today to have Linda Beck from the High Point Office and Barry Wilkins from Lake Royale .

And today , as always , our goal is pretty simple in the Reality Podcast , it's about real life , real people , real experiences , and it's about giving every single person that listens one , two or three things they can do tomorrow to grow and expand their business in 2023 . So , linda Beck , welcome to Reality Podcast . We are thrilled to have you on Good morning .

I've had to put boundaries on real estate because of busy family , so I know what's been working for me and what I can and can't do as far as boundaries with family and try to balance as best I can .

I know that as you were driving down the road and Linda said eight children , you almost swerved And then you said well , if anybody knows how to manage time , energy and multitask , it's probably Linda Beck , right From our high point office in the triad . Linda's been a great part of our team for years .

She does a great job , takes great care of her buyers and her sellers , and you know we're just so thrilled to have her on today . So we can't wait to get into our topic . But before that , from Lake Royale and while you guys can't see Barry Welkins , i'm gonna tell you he came dressed for the show .

Barry's got a great Alan Tate company's golf shirt on and he's wearing our Nike red penguin hat . about differentiating ourselves in a sea of sameness . I'm sure we're gonna touch on the importance of customer service before we end . Barry Welkins , good morning and welcome to Reality Podcast . It is so good to see you .

All you had to do was apply . You didn't have to do anything like we do today . I quickly learned that I was managing his phones on the weekends , giving him the leads . He wasn't paying me and I was making no money . So I went off to college , got a degree , got into an international company .

I was a vice president for an international consulting investigation company for a lot of years And in that period I sold Vaughton , sold about 30 properties , flipped them , and that's why I always had a passion for real estate since I was 18 . In 2018 , 15 , i retired and said I couldn't take retirement .

So in 2018 , i said , let me try and help people on the other side of real estate . Since I've been on one side , let me get my real estate agent . I told my wife retirement's not for me . Let me start a part-time job . I'm just gonna work , like Linda , trying to maintain the three circles of God , life and family and work became pretty difficult .

So now I have 10 agents . I work only 80 hours a week , part-time , and we've been growing by 30 or 40% compound growth rate a year . It's been phenomenal . I love real estate . I love helping people . My favorite thing is first time home buyers and seeing the smile on their face . So I guess that's my story .

I laugh at I don't know if you guys took note as you were listening I laugh at Barry , that I've got 10 people . Now I'm working part-time , i'm working 80 hours And I'm always reminded . Many of our listeners know I grew up in a real estate family and I got into it right out of college .

So I kind of went from a final exam to a real estate course back in 1986 . And my father was in the business and I'll never forget he said to me he said the number one reason real estate professionals get into it is for freedom and flexibility . And he said it doesn't matter which eight days or 14 hours a day you work , it's your choice .

And I think I see smiles on the face of our panelists . That is kind of how it is . And then the other interesting thing is and you guys know this , and the beauty of our listeners to Barry and Linda is I think we have people that are thinking about getting into business . We have people that have been in the business two years .

We have people in the business 17 to 20 that need to reinvent themselves a little bit . We've got folks that are thinking about a team , have a team , want a bigger team . We've got somebody who wants to go part time down to 80 hours . So the beauty is our listeners are all over the board , and so I think that that's a beautiful thing .

But one of the things we have learned over time is we get into it for freedom and flexibility . But I share with people all the time The number one reason people don't make it is freedom and flexibility , because they can't figure out how to . Linda , you said it beautifully How do I set boundaries ?

You know , how do I manage eight kids , eight children , six grandchildren and run a successful business ? I've got to be disciplined , i've got to be deliberate , i've got to have systems , i've got to have processes . So enough of your host today . Now it's to our panel .

We're going to go Linda , then we're going to go Barry , and we're going to go back and forth . So question number one for Linda Beck what strategies do you use to make sure that you're not just a buyer's agent but have a balanced year of business where you've got buyers and listings .

Critical in our business to have a balance because each year represents nuances to the buyers and the sellers . How does Linda manage that equation ?

I'm doing that every three to four months and I have started doing something new through one of my marketing . The farming that I do is I have been sending out . I did this St Patrick's Day in Easter . I sent out over a thousand postcards , probably close to 2000, . Postcards about me and something that I do a little bit different .

That's really elevated my business , really promoting our stage to sell . I'll talk about that a little bit later . But what happened with that is I could see the link of who opened those postcards . So what I did was I bet probably over a couple thousand .

I might have had 20 people that opened those links , but I could see who they were and I knew their addresses .

So I wrote them all a hand written card , included my business card and included a Starbucks gift card , and just short and sweet , and just thanked them for taking their time to open the link and telling them I sent out a couple thousand and they were a handful of people that took their time to do it .

Now you just don't know where you're going to get a listing from , but I'm doing everything I can to be memorable . I want somebody , when they hear the word realtor , that my name pops up .

But what I love about this is this is geographic farming , which was kind of a strategy for me back in 86 and 87 . And so how long have you been doing it ? How many subdivisions do you geographically farm and just share some of the things that you do to connect with the owners in those communities ?

So when I got in the business I was fortunate enough that my husband had some dollars set aside that could help me jumpstart my business , and then I've just consistently added those neighborhoods just so I can be the presence .

And just to give you a real example is not too long ago I was really really removing a sign from the front yard of one of the neighborhoods that I have consistently marketed for at least 12 years .

I could hear a homeowner in the house next door on the phone and when he saw me get out of the car I heard him say I'll call you back to whoever he was talking to . He ran down to my car and said are you Linda Beck ? And I said yes , i am . And he said , well , i have . I'm so glad to meet you . I get all your information .

I'm not in the business to sell my house , but I just want you to know I've been giving your name out to anybody that I've known . So you know I can't . I try to track my business , but some of those things you just can't track and you know . I handed him a card and thanked him and told him call me if he ever needed me .

It's about understanding I'm going to do this activity as a real estate professional and here are the byproducts and I can manage it and I can measure it . So great , great stuff and always be memorable , obviously . So , barry , hey Gary . So let me do this . I'm going to switch gears a little bit . My friend , you know it's interesting .

You talked about your significant growth that you've experienced , so congratulations .

Can you walk us through the strategy you know for staying connected with past customers excuse me and how you keep up with them , and what kind of direct benefits are derived from you and your team by you know making sure that the clients that have had successful experiences with you continue to be part of your kind , of your strategy and your business DNA ?

So to Linda's point , farming works . I used just lists that I used just sold and I do the farming just like Linda does . Awesome .

But the strategy for calling past clients , the sad part , not for me but for other agents is I can't tell you how many times I've walked into a client and I and I ask them , you know not only where did you get my name from ? but they say the second question I ask them is do you have an agent ?

obviously , if it's a buyer or seller and I don't know , probably half of the time they say , geez , i had an agent , they did a really good job for me , but damn , i can't remember their name and I'm saying isn't that sad ? so to your question of strategy for calling past clients . It's the number one thing .

And the first thing is , as evidenced by my hat , provide red penguin service in alentate . That means being an excellent agent , doing a great job and having them refer you . So I tell my team I have a team now of 10 agents and I tell them one good client , you do a good job , for you get testimonials it'll bring you four . One bad client , you'll lose 14 .

So if you do a bad job . So people like to promote you but they also like to complain . So What i'm saying is it's really important to stand touch with your spear and your friends and your family , to let them know what you're doing And to prioritize that as you get going you're gonna have so many you don't know what to do with them .

So i have my a list , my b list of my c list . So from my a list , those are the ones i call routinely . I was talking about how do you manage your time ? well , i use calendar blocking .

I monday mornings or saturday afternoons , i will Pick ten and i'll call them and calling number one you need to have the relationship with your a list , your b list and your c list . You want to automatically get in touch with them . So i'll take provides a lot of tools , home notes , market news etc . That really help you . So i use all those tools .

My goal is a touch them . I think it one point school said thirty three times a year . I think that's too many . I like to touch them once a month , but i never get less than six times a year In the prior prioritize basis , so i don't know . I think that's my strategy for staying in touch and it works .

I don't business in a community and just by staying in touch it . Most of my business comes from referrals .

Have a strategy , have a plan , calendar block , have a process . What did we say when we started the call ? number one reason people get in it freedom and flexibility . Number one reason people don't make it they can't manage and be disciplined in the freedom and flexibility . Both of our star panelists today have a system in place .

Now A couple of things i'm gonna piggyback off very , really quick . So very sad for every successful transaction you get for more now very good in the real estate business , kind of officially in two thousand and eighteen . And so i'm just gonna say that i've always been a believer .

Barry , not to debate you , but to really agree with what you're saying is i've told people , if you're in this thing for the long haul , like Seventeen years for linden , thirty six for me , every successful transaction is ten more transactions . If you do it well now , that could be a referral , that could be a repeat , that could be a kid .

So , again , if we are relational in our understanding of the business , where that one transaction is not a transaction and it's not a commission , it's a relationship that lasts forever And we understand that if we do the right thing , it will just move in perpetuity .

And then , very said interesting , he said I think what i heard you say is thirty three times a year . Thinks that's too many times , does once a month .

I'm just gonna share with you a stat i read for , right or wrong , in today's world , we should keep in touch every sixteen days , which would really put you at twenty four times or twenty five times , not thirty three , but not twelve .

And i think the reason being is with social media and the internet , there are a lot of tentacles trying to intercept our clients in our sphere .

And if we stay in touch and then the other thing that you guys mentioned is what you stay in touch with them with , like what you provide for them Is critical , right , and i love very old school , right i pick up the telephone and i call him and i have a conversation with them and i and i ask him questions about their family and i ask him questions about

their house and i become a lifelong friend , which then becomes a lifelong client . So great , great , great job . So one of the things that came loud and clear national speaker named jerry james . One of his big takeaways when he when he spoke to a group of us was this concept of pre closing and post closing That many realtors do a great job .

Pre closing i get the buyer , i get the seller , i get it sold , i get it closed . And what he said is we gotta be careful that we don't rent our business , but we've got to own our business . Renting it is i've got to rebuild it each and every year because i don't have a definitive post closing strategy .

So , linda , what strategies do you use for getting the word out after you sell a house and then , once that seller moves on , how do you Stay engaged in the post closing ? so share with our listeners some of your key strategies to market the home , not to be sold , but after it gets sold . And then how do you stay connected ?

so sydney is Getting that , making that all pretty , and i'm i'm mailing that to all my clients , just handwriting a note in there saying hey , just want to touch base , hadn't talked to you in a while , wanted to send you , case you're needing anything , i just want to send you .

And i think i probably did get that idea when i heard jared james talk . but i have implemented that To people that you know i have stayed in touch with .

but just i'm trying to provide , you know , something everybody likes , something , something that they you know tangible , that they they could possibly use , and i've had several people already call me and thank me about that .

You know what i love about where we've taken this , it's , this is blocking and tackling . That's the football coach in me . This is fundamentals . I wrote down here , linda , hand written notes . Pick up the telephone . Geographic farm a , b , c . I mean this is , this is one oh one and what we know .

If we execute one oh one , we win the day and too many people over . In my experience they try to do too many things . You know this concept of less is more , do fewer things .

Really well , very i love our next topic because i said that as we came out of covid And we experience some increasing interest rates a year ago and some inventory challenges and opportunities is we have to dust off the glossary of terms . So what do i mean ? we have to dust off the glossary of terms .

Price change , price reduction for sale by owner how about this expired in withdrawals . Man , we that's , we got a dust off . I love this . Can you share your strategies for expired listings ? because what we know , as the market returns to normal , we got a dust that off .

We got a dust off with drawings and expired Data shows us most people relist within 48 hours . I know very . You and your team have a strategy . Your , i think you're ahead of the curve because i think the market is gonna have some of them , certainly more than we had share again , we're really bang and home on fundamentals , okay yeah , absolutely gary .

It include calendars and include magnets to go on a refrigerator , and calendar magnets And key numbers , the call whether the local fire , police , whatever , and a vendor list . We put it in the kitchen draw . So it's there and you know they sort of have a remembrance of us . So i think her post closing strategy was great .

We realize back late last year that the new market was going to be absolutely different . At the low hanging fruits gone . We had to do what you keep referring to is back to basics , and i'm gonna keep Repeat as well . So we went back and we pulled out our you refer to it as real estate one on one .

I treated as back to basics and we said And what and what were anticipated and seeing is the sellers are continuing to want to price their house over market because they're still stuck eighteen months ago And they're selling their house because i'm saying , oh wow , the girl my neighbor got , well , they're not gonna get that anymore .

So the agents are going in there , they're over pricing the house because the client wants them to And after three , six months they're not selling , which is perfect for us . So i do target specific subdivisions and i go after they're expired . As soon as they're going to be expired , we're calling them for my team .

I actually make sure that they have a set of notes . How to approach it . We're actually doing role playing . I'll actually sit down with them and not only will i role play , i'll actually do some expired calls . I'll say here's the expired That are coming up this week , wednesday morning from nine to twelve , let's sit down and role play .

I'll even call a couple with you and , by the way , gary , we get about fifty percent of the ones we call . If they're at all interested , we're able to . If they're at all interested in putting it back on the market and still selling it , or at least able to get into , give them a market analysis , tell them our strategy .

But on that call , what's so important is not just say how much , real estate agent , i want your listing . That's not the way we approach it . We approach it as i see . You didn't sell your house . Are you still interested ? we do have some clients , but i start to engage them As a friend say why don't your house sell ? can you get any feedback ?

what's your desires where ? what do you want to be ? are you still want to sell your house ? i'm engaging them in a conversation and develop an original relationship long before i ever asked well , are you still want to sell your house ?

i'm just trying to , you know , sort of become a phone friend for the moment and then later on , and it works and i'm teaching my agent to do the same thing .

I get with our team and i listen to them with me before they get turned loose on the , on the , on the prospect , and that really resonates with me when i am i notes from jared said Don't practice on the customer , don't practice on the client . You know , be prepared , be in , and bary just spoke to that beautifully . So The good news is we got time .

One more question each . Feel free to go back and forth . We appreciate that . I was things , listings , listings . One of our recent guests , i had steve harnie from keeping current matters and seven times during our time you said you guys want to do one thing get a listing . So what is the one single thing that you know ?

that's always a dangerous question , right ? you know . What are you doing , linda , in this tight inventory environment to create Listing and home marketing opportunities ? what are you doing ? what's your strategy ? how are you going about being very intentional in a market that's a little bit challenging from an inventory standpoint ?

So what i love about the staging is I can be the realtor and i don't have to be the bad guy . So i go in , look at the house and i make my notes . I go to my stage or and say this is what they need to do . So when the stage or comes in and says hey , you know , declutter , do this , it's like she's the gospel .

They are more than willing to do that And they're . They love to be able to tell their neighbor that they've got a professional stager and designer coming to their house . I listed a house in a neighborhood and it's also , you know , increasing the farming opportunity , so it's all going hand in hand .

But i listed a home in a neighborhood that i had never sold a home in before , ever . I got a listing , had it staged . It was sold for five hundred and seventy seven thousand . A week later , the neighbor right down the road on the other side of the street called me and said i got to save your , my friend's house that you did . I love it .

Can you come over here and list my house and stage mine ? of course i can . Got that one listed , sold that one again . That was five thirty five . She loved it so much she told her friend where her son plays basketball and i got a new neighborhood this time now that was two neighborhoods that i get the increase farming .

Now That i got an end to that , i got my just sold and just listed cards out to . I stayed that person's house . That was five fifteen , so that was over a million six hundred and seven thousand and volume over forty one thousand dollars in commission . My stage is incredible so that's kind of my niche right now . I have a way i do it .

I've got a system down pat with her . Yeah , it does cost me sometimes around nine hundred to a thousand dollars , but it has paid over in dividends .

But , more importantly , we've got to invest but , more importantly , after we invest , we got to understand what the ROI is , right . So what do we ? what do we ? What are we coming up with ? today ? It's run it like a business have strategies , be intentional , be willing to just and shift with the marketplace

. Ie expires . You haven't been doing high stage to sell for 17 years . Right , you've done the geographic farming and you've modified it . But I'm adding , i'm adjusting , i'm adapting . I love and , again , we prepare for these , but we never know exactly what's going to come out .

I love the theme of have a plan , execute the plan , measure the results and , if it works , do it over . If it needs to be tweaked , make it better . Sometimes we have a strategy that doesn't work . It's okay to stop if you're not getting an ROI . Barry I'm staying on listings . My friend , what is Barry doing to keep the pipeline full ?

We were lucky enough to get a $3.25 million in one neighborhood . We sold out just listed cards . That generated $1.6 million in the same neighborhood . Now we put the two of those together , just listed , just sold , on the same farming card , which shows we're able to do the neighborhood well .

We got another listing appointment out of that Right there from a couple cards , maybe 350 , just sold cards . We now how we're now going on to about $6 million in that neighborhood . We shift the gears a little bit . So now we're attacking higher priced neighborhoods . Farming is key . Back to basics . I'll keep going to that .

All the tools that Allentate provides us are awesome . The other thing I'd say to my client , to my team , is use the tools , automate what you're doing with Allentate . When I sell something , it comes up . Do you want to send out just listed cards ? It's easy . I say yes , would you like to add more ? I say yeah , i'll add another four or 500 . That works .

Again , it's referrals . It's working your spear , working your prior clients , your A-list . They're your cheerleaders . Make sure you use them , using website and social media , creating a brand . We've created BWRG real estate out here in our area . Everybody knows it . I bought a billboard .

I've got a big billboard Branding , marketing , using the automated tools and the number one thing is what my hat says providing excellent service . If you do that , you'll keep doing it , growing your business .

Traditionally , when I do a just listed , just sold , i send it to the neighborhood . I think one of the strategies today which I've been challenging our team on is I would send just listed , just sold to my entire database , because it does two things .

Number one it tells your entire database that you're busy and you're professional and you're working , but it also tells them that , regardless of what they might be reading in the paper , there are houses that are being listed and being sold . So it serves three purposes . It gets you one of those touches every 16 days and it tells a story about .

I ask this question all the time and I say what is the number one thing buyers and sellers want ? And I'm not going to ask you guys to answer it . The number one thing it's results , it's results . Now , the answer is always communication , highest price . All that is true .

You have to be a great communicator , you have to have a business plan , you have to follow up and follow through . Buyers and sellers want one thing in results , and I think by sending just listed , just sold to everybody , you are promoting you , as I'm getting results , even if it's in a different neighborhood . So perhaps that is a takeaway .

Now , while the content today was off the charts positive and thoughtful , and we appreciate it , i have a favorite part that you're probably not prepared for . So if you've listened in the past , you know it's coming . So I do a thing called it's my rapid fire and it's get to know the guest .

I typically ask five questions , but since we've got two panelists , i'm going to ask you three , and they're pretty easy . Linda Beck , your favorite food .

I'm going to bed at 12 and still getting up at six . So I'm saying , wow , they got to be good .

getting caught . I'm just going to go on the record that those must be very interesting because I know Barry very well And like mine's Friday night lights , so everyone would know because I want to be the coach . Right , i'm just going to suggest that Barry has chosen them for very different reasons than living vicariously through the show .

So , barry , thank you for being so vulnerable .

One of the things I want to do is go watch it again because it has so many life leadership lessons , and I'm a big leadership studier . You know it's a show , but , boy , every one of them has a powerful message that really works for all of us . And I , barry , i'm like you , i'm a nine o'clock bedtime . I was watching Friday night lights at like 120 am .

Right , i'm like , what am I doing ? You know , because I was going to be able to watch it tomorrow . Like the , the , the episodes were not going anywhere Anyhow . Well , i got to tell you if our audience was here , i guarantee you they would give Barry and Linda a standing ovation . I hope you guys have had fun . I've had a ball Love seeing you .

I know our audience can't see it , but the beauty of our platform is we get to see each other . So I just want to say , linda , thank you so much for being on reality podcast . You were amazing and Barry great to see you both And just we appreciate you being with us . We hope you have a great day .

And to our listeners , when we opened up , I said good morning . I know it may not be morning when you're listening , but enjoy Barry and Linda and the takeaways that they've given you , because it has been more than three .