As “distressed” sales – bank-owned and short sales – decrease as a percentage all sales, then the increased percentage of “normal” sales – neither bank owned nor short sales – will jack the “average” home price up faster than Jack and the Beanstalk.

The Orlando market is a good example.

The median price of Orlando home sales in June 2011 for “normal” sales (2011: $158,000) was 40% higher than last June (2010: $112,700).  Yet the overall “average” price was 4.35% lower this June (median price $110,000 in 2011 compared to $115,000 in 2010).  When averaging the price of all sales in June 2011, which includes prices from 60% distressed sales and 40% normal sales, the “average” price declined.  Simply put, the high proportion of distressed sales (Orlando’s median short sale 2011: $99,000; median bank owned 2011: $80,310) depressed the overall average price in Orlando, according to figures from the Orlando Regional REALTOR ® Association.

As the worst of the housing market falls farther behind us nationally, then what will happen as the proportion of distressed sales declines compared to normal sales?  Skyrocketing prices, statistically speaking.

Get ready for a drum beat of “good news” as the media headlines month after month of home price “increases.”  The good news will not be fueled by a recovery or rebound in actual values, but instead by a statistical quirk.  As the percentage of “normal” sales increases and the percentage of “distressed” sales decreases, the statisticians will shout an increase in average home prices.  In Orlando, for example, if there were zero distressed sales in June 2011, the average home price would have soared 40% over June 2010.

Buyers will be leaping off the fence, and sellers will be even more unrealistic than ever.

Good times are just around the corner…statistically speaking.

Let’s look at more areas you can track to give you a better picture of your business:

1.  Pay Per Sale (PPS) – Payment of referral fee for closed transaction.

2.  Customer lifetime value (CLV) – Looking at your database, calculate how many repeat transactions and referrals it has produced for you.  Example:  If 120 past clients are the source of 20 sides per year on average (or .17 sides per client per year) at an average GCI of $2,500 per side, then a 10-year CLV is 1.7 sides per client or $4,250–well worth staying in touch!

3.  Customer value (CV) – Your estimate for an average GCI a specific home price will produce from a single transaction.  Set your objective to increase your average GCI per unit (working with more expensive properties).

Let us know how often you do these types of analysis on your business.  What have you discovered?

Is this the year we finally start getting used to saying “twenty eleven” and drop the ten- or eleven-year old habit of saying “two thousand and eleven?”

Is this the year you’ll start a blog or keep up with yours?

Is this the year you’ll stick to your marketing plan, test different marketing and analyze your results?

Is this the year you’ll move into mobile marketing or social network marketing?

What does 2011 mean for your real estate business?

Regardless, have a wonderful start to your new year from everyone at Gooder Group!

How do things look?

If you’re asking yourself, “What list?”  you probably need to sit down for a moment.  Research shows that writing down goals tends to make them “more real” and you’re more likely to hold yourself accountable.  Sit down for a moment and take some time to pen your business resolutions for 2011.  Make sure they’re realistic goals.  Perhaps even make them stepping stone goals that you can track your progress over the course of the year.

At the end of 2011, you’ll be happy you took the time to write down your resolutions as there’s a much better chance that you’ll have stuck with some of them to improve your business!

What resolutions do you make each year?  What ones do you keep and why?

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Gooder Group!

Now what?

Before anything else, be sure you have a welcome email message sent to each new subscriber.  What do you say, other than thank you?  Here’s just a few ideas of what you can include in this welcome email.

• Outline exactly what they’ve signed up for.  (Email newsletter, free report, market report, etc.)  Can they change this as their needs change or is their only option to unsubscribe.
• Who you are, with a link to more detail.  Focus on what you can do to solve home buyers’ and sellers’ problems.
• Where to find you, links to physical office address and social media sites.  Invite interaction and engagement outside of the email list.
• When will they be getting emails from you.  Can they change the frequency?
• How do they unsubscribe or change anything with their subscription?  Make it easy and straightforward to avoid frustration.
• How can they invite others to the list or share your information in email/social media/online sites/blogs, etc.  Encourage the dissemination of your material — and contact info!

Let us know what you include on your welcome message to your new subscribers.  Have you changed the welcome message or given subscribers more options than when you first started email marketing?

However, it’s just as important to look at all other marketing elements to determine what marketing worked best (and which didn’t).  What follow-up programs converted the most leads?  What past client contact generated the most referral business and repeat business?  If you track this information as well, your decision making for the next marketing plan will be easier and your marketing dollars will be going toward programs that are proven to bring you more business.

Tracking marketing isn’t easy.  It takes a bit of sleuthing and a bit of asking the client (or would-be client) what moved them to start working with you.  Gooder Group has historically tracked all of its marketing asking all inquiries where they heard about us and/or what promo code (marketing piece) they have in hand.  It’s work that useful to ensure that marketing dollars are spent wisely and effectively.

Share with us how you track marketing and what you’ve learned analyzing your marketing.

Like any business, you are constantly looking for new clients. Those would-be clients are “interviewing” you whether you know it or not. They’re judging you on how your marketing looks, reads and informs. They will make judgments about your ability to effectively sell (and market) their home, communicate with them, understand their needs and help them meet their real estate needs all from your marketing — your website, direct mail, social media profiles and interactions, etc.

Here are some of the tips that apply to any job seeker — or client seeker — in today’s market with all your writing and marketing materials:

Spelling and grammar are important. You don’t know how discerning your readers (and would-be clients) are, so ensure your presentation would pass muster with your high school English teacher. It’s best to shy away from abbreviations they might not be familiar with, texting shorthand or other slang.

Understand the subtle differences between various words such as fewer and less. If you can effectively count the items (such as the number of homes for sale) use fewer: “There are fewer homes for sale today than this time last year.” If the noun is something you can’t count, such as blades of grass, use less: “The grass looks thinner because there is less of it due to the lack of rain.” It’s all subtle, but important to some would-be clients.

Read and proof your marketing. If possible, pass along your marketing content to someone else to read after you’ve finished it. A new set of eyes can see mistakes or problems you might just read right through.

Remember, your marketing is your resume to would-be clients. Just as a resume focuses on what you can provide to a company if they hire you, take this same angle when writing your marketing. Yes, you need to talk a little about you, but what can you do for the home buyer or seller. What’s in it for them?

Be mindful what is online making up your social media profile. If you’re active in organizations that can be polarizing, would-be buyers and sellers can easily find this involvement and interactions and it could sway their opinion of you — for better or worse. Carefully consider what profile you portray online and how it can affect your business.

Make sure your resume — your marketing — is polished and perfect to give the best impression to would-be home buyers and sellers. Share your time-tested editing, proofing and review skills with our readers.

Although I’m only about a third of the way through it, the theme is that consumers (in your case, home buyers and sellers) trust very little of what you say at face value.  They will research your statements to death.  They assume that whatever you do or say is meant only to get you more business with the end result being for them to buy (or sell) a home with you — now, no matter what.

You have to admit that much (all?) of what you say and do is to market yourself — to increase  your business.

However, you can have conversations with consumers that aren’t all about buying and selling now.  When you are having a conversation and building relationships, you can be frank with home buyers and sellers.  You can give your opinion — even if it means that the person will likely change their mind about buying a home or selling theirs.  Your honesty will be a breath of fresh air to them.  It’s likely that they will value you even more for your taking the stand to say something that doesn’t bring you immediate business.  Instead, you’re building the foundation to get their business at a later date.

If you don’t get the building trust element, that’s okay.  You can continue to market as you have without issue.  You will still find home buyers and sellers to work with you.  But, if you make a few changes and focus on building trust with consumers, you might just see a build-up of your business from folks who will really value you…and refer more business to you.

Let us know how you build trust with consumers.  Have you read “The Language of Trust?”  What’s your thoughts?

I recently went to a local car dealer for routine service. They had recently moved to a new and bigger (and nicer) location and I had never been there before. At the end of getting all the technical details taken care of, the rep asked me if I had been there before. I told him no. The representative who worked with me took extra time to show me the waiting area and all its features. He also explained where he would meet me when my car was done and where I had to go pay and pointed out where the car would be waiting for me.

Total time expended to tell me all this new — and important — information? About one minute.

That one minute investment’s value? A customer (me) being a very happy and informed. I knew exactly where to go, what to expect and where to find everything. It really left nothing to chance and I left satisfied and probably will return!

Never underestimate how long it will take you to explain some part of the home buying or home selling process to leads and prospects — or past clients who haven’t bought or sold in a while. They will appreciate your expertise, not be surprised by something and also know exactly what to expect!

How do you prepare home buyers and sellers to alleviate any surprises and keep them in the knowledge loop?