Agent Success
Featured Real Estate Agent of the Month
Mike Beernink
Century 21 Findley
Georgia
By Jessica Gopalakrishnan
According to Mike Beernink, of Century 21 Findley, success in real estate all starts with prospecting. Every year, Mike creates a strategic business plan, which always starts with prospecting objectives. “Prospecting is one of the most important things an agent does,” says Mike.
A HomeGain AgentEvaluator™ Platinum Club Member, Mike took a few minutes to talk to me about his business techniques and the essential tools that help him achieve his goals.
Having been in the real estate business for seven years in the North Atlanta, GA area, servicing mostly sellers, Mike is having his best year yet, even in a down market.
“As of the end of August, I have closed 36 sides. My gross closed commission is running ahead of last year, which again raises my expectations for next year.”
Here’s how Mike creates his business plan.
- Determine how much money you want to make for the year.
- Then you calculate how many closings per year you’ll need in order to make that much money.
- Then determine how many contracts it will take to get that many closings.
- Then how many contacts you’ll need to find to get to those contracts.
- That configuration points to how much prospecting you’ll need to do.
He points out that developing your plan is as important as sticking to it. “Stick with your plan, no matter what. You will be successful if you are single-minded and determined.”
A teacher for 10 years, Mike is a firm believer in continuing education. “I’ve had a lot of training through real estate programs. I’m a Floyd Wickman Sweathog™ graduate. That’s where I learned that I cannot be afraid to pick up the phone to call anyone. Just as important as asking every client you have for a referral, you need to have the guts to pick up the phone and call prospects.”
Mike knows that in order to take business to another level, you need to have the right people behind you. “The most important person to my business success is my wife, Holly. Holly assists me by taking care of everything on the back end – like preparing me for listings and other paperwork, following up, running contracts from one place to another.”
What essential technology is Mike equipped with? He uses Top Producer™ as his contact management system, a lap top, a cell phone, a blackberry, and AgentEvaluator™ to support his prospecting efforts.
“AgentEvaluator allows me to continue with prospecting while I’m out of the office. Since prospecting is something you must do on a daily basis, and I need to be able to be caught up on leads that come in every day, AgentEvaluator helps me all of that.”
“Years ago I heard about AgentEvaluator from a colleague in my office. It’s definitely become an essential part of my business. I find it to a lot of fun, too!”
Mike responds to his AgentEvaluator leads individually. “I find that I need to look at each person to determine what kind of personalization and proposal I need to send back to them. I try to establish three things with them in my initial response: 1) That they have a need to sell their house 2) That they understand what he is going to do for them 3) That they need to price their home at a price where it’s going to sell. Without establishing those things up front, it’s a waste of my time.”
In closing, Mike reiterates that it takes hard work, determination and great prospecting skills to be a successful REALTOR®. “It’s important to put the right tools in place: your business plan, the right people behind you, and technology that makes your life easier. Real estate is not for everyone. I honestly have great respect for anyone who works hard in this business.”
Mike Beernink
Century 21 Findley
(770) 265-8580
www.mikebeernink.com
www.northsuburbanrealty.com
Life Member Million Dollar Club
HomeGain AgentEvaluator Platinum Club Member
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Ask HomeGain
Dear HomeGain,
I signed up for AgentEvaluator™ a few months ago and do like the program very much. I have a question, though, about why I am receiving leads that are some 50 miles away where I don’t sell homes. These leads aren’t in the ZIP codes that I picked….what gives?
-- Pete Jenkins
Kansas City
Dear Pete,
This is a very common question we receive. These extra leads are what we call “bonus leads.” The bonus lead feature was designed to provide leads within 50 miles of your selected ZIP codes. Many agents love this feature and take advantage of it because it gives them access more territories. Other agents, like yourself, might not be interested or able to take advantage due to limitations like licensing issues.
If you no longer wish to receive these bonus leads, you can disable this feature on your Personal Profile page in the “My Account” section. Scroll half-way down the page, and de-select the option to “send me bonus leads in my area”.
Best regards,
HomeGain Agent Success Team
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HomeGain News
HomeGain Offers Limited Time Referral Fee Discount
The real estate industry is weathering the toughest market it has seen in many years. Home sales are down, mortgage companies are tightening their lending requirements, and foreclosures are at an all-time high in many areas of the country. These conditions impact everyone involved in the real estate industry, including agents, brokers, lenders, consumers, and online real estate companies, one of whom elected to close down their business this past Friday.
To help our AgentEvaluator customers, HomeGain is reducing the referral fee to 20% for a limited time for all homes with a sale price up to $125,000. This represents a price decrease of as much as 33% on these transactions.
We're taking this step to make it more affordable for you to service HomeGain consumers who wish buy or sell homes in this price range.
Here's how the new lower price will work.
- Every buyer or seller profile created on our website from September 1 through December 31, 2007 with a sale price of $125,000 or less will be billed a referral fee of 20% when it closes escrow.
- As long as the profile was created during this time period it doesn't matter when the closing occurs e.g. if an eligible profile closes in 2009, you'll still only be billed 20%.
- There is no limit in the number of transactions to which the 20% referral fee applies. Whether you close 1 or 100, you'll still only be billed 20% for each.
- To take advantage of the 20% fee all you need do is provide a HUD showing the final sale price as $125,000 or under.
If you have any questions or would like to give us feedback about this price reduction, please contact your Regional Manager.
Winning Agent Call. Syreeta Saunders-Keys of RE/MAX Advanced in MD will share her profitable marketing tactics LIVE on Wednesday, September 26! RSVP now for this powerful strategies call! |
Free webinars, local tradeshows and special events:
- September 26
Winning Agent Call - September 26
BuyerLink II Webinar - September 27
AgentEvaluator Webinar - October 2
Source4Sellers Webinar - October 3
BuyerLink Webinar - November 13-16
NAR Annual Conference, HomeGain Booth #4034
Click here for more dates and times.
