Episode 69

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Published on:

1st May 2024

Reimagining Lead Generation in Real Estate with Marcus Green

Join your host Joe Martin in this insightful episode of Entrepreneurial Impact, featuring guest Marcus Green, a serial entrepreneur deeply rooted in the real estate industry. Marcus is not only managing multiple business ventures but also leading his podcast, The Whole Enchilada, which focuses on strategic business insights.

Episode Summary:

In today’s discussion, Marcus shares his innovative approaches to real estate lead generation, reflecting on how traditional methods have evolved. The conversation dives into the psychology of consumer decisions and the importance of aligning marketing strategies with consumer behaviors to stay relevant in the ever-changing real estate landscape.

Main Talking Points:

  • [00:02:31] Marcus discusses the future of lead generation for agents and brokers, emphasizing the need to understand consumer experiences and expectations.
  • [00:09:51] The role of modern sales techniques and the impact of consumer research on purchasing decisions.
  • [00:12:40] How creating a curated experience rather than just delivering a service can significantly enhance client engagement and satisfaction.

Quotes from the Episode:

  • [00:06:09] "Who needs my A game? It’s not about what I need to get done today, it’s about who needs the best version of me." – Marcus Green
  • [00:12:40] "Selling is no longer about the perfect script or the perfect word; it's about a curated experience." – Joe Martin

Resources Mentioned:

If this discussion inspired you, make sure to subscribe to our podcast for more episodes on transforming challenges into business opportunities. Don’t forget to visit Marcus’s podcast, The Whole Enchilada, for more deep dives into business strategies.

Transcript
Joe Martin:

All right.

Joe Martin:

Well, thank you for tuning in this week's episode of entrepreneurial

Joe Martin:

impact with myself, Joe Martin, and my distinguished guest, Marcus Green.

Joe Martin:

And I can't actually do it justice for all the things that Marcus does from

Joe Martin:

not only running real estate teams, the development, the title, the mortgage.

Joe Martin:

So Marcus, what do you do?

Joe Martin:

Where do you operate business at before we really kick into the

Joe Martin:

meat this this discussion today.

Marcus Green:

Awesome.

Marcus Green:

I mean, number one, thanks.

Marcus Green:

Thanks for having me on.

Marcus Green:

You know, I think the world of you and I love what you're doing in the community.

Marcus Green:

And it's funny you ask me what I do, because I feel like my wife asked

Marcus Green:

me that question like once a month.

Marcus Green:

She's like, wait.

Marcus Green:

What do you do again?

Marcus Green:

Like when my friends ask me what you do, what do I say?

Marcus Green:

So like you said, I have my finger in a lot of things, but I, I, I really

Marcus Green:

consider myself a serial entrepreneur.

Marcus Green:

I love building businesses.

Marcus Green:

I love leading people.

Marcus Green:

As you mentioned, I have a lot of things in the real estate space, my real estate

Marcus Green:

team, property management, development company, title company, mortgage company.

Marcus Green:

I also spend a lot of time coaching through my platform and

Marcus Green:

my podcast, the whole enchilada,

Joe Martin:

which will definitely cross promote through this whole thing.

Joe Martin:

So I think I had the pleasure of being able to be your guest a couple of weeks

Joe Martin:

ago on that and the whole enchilada.

Joe Martin:

So.

Joe Martin:

That was an awesome discussion in regards to just like business and

Joe Martin:

thought process of the first quarter.

Joe Martin:

So if you haven't listened to that one.

Marcus Green:

Yeah, I got, I got great feedback on that conversation.

Marcus Green:

It was, it was a fun

Joe Martin:

one.

Joe Martin:

Yeah, it was a lot of, I had a whole lot and you got me on a day I was rolling

Joe Martin:

with just ideas coming out, so I'm sure that kind of blew some people's minds.

Marcus Green:

Well, I'm, I'm counting on you rolling today with some good ideas.

Joe Martin:

Well, I think this, this one's interesting.

Joe Martin:

So.

Joe Martin:

What I'm really excited about today is just like your entrepreneurial

Joe Martin:

nature, just through all the different businesses and the energy that you

Joe Martin:

bring to everything that you touch.

Joe Martin:

And it's really doesn't actually draw.

Joe Martin:

I mean, yeah, there's business and you have to have margin in order

Joe Martin:

to have an impact in business.

Joe Martin:

But every one of the times I've engaged with you around the impact

Joe Martin:

that your business has had is always around some type of experience or

Joe Martin:

some type of transitioning and making somebody's life better, whether

Joe Martin:

it's personal or professional.

Joe Martin:

So in the, the lane of entrepreneurial impact, I would love to talk to you

Joe Martin:

because one of the best conversations we've ever had was like your different

Joe Martin:

way of thinking about lead generation in the real estate business, because

Joe Martin:

I think in my 12 years of real estate, lead gen has always been like the thing

Joe Martin:

we know we have to do, but it's always been something that agents and brokers

Joe Martin:

have always kind of shied away from because it's not necessarily scalable

Joe Martin:

because it's driven by the individual person and their skill sets in regards

Joe Martin:

to their sphere of influence, but also their mindset on what they want to do.

Joe Martin:

So.

Joe Martin:

When you, could you just go into like, how do you see the future of lead gen

Joe Martin:

when it comes to agents and brokers?

Joe Martin:

Cause I think it's a really like, let's start there and then we

Joe Martin:

can kind of get into the weeds.

Marcus Green:

Yeah.

Marcus Green:

Yeah.

Marcus Green:

I'd love to give you some of my, my thoughts on this and please jump in.

Marcus Green:

Cause I, I'd love to get your take on some of this because I, I tend

Marcus Green:

to be an outside of the box thinker.

Joe Martin:

Which I love, by the way, that's why I want you on here.

Joe Martin:

I want you to like blow things up and get people pissed off and be like,

Joe Martin:

yeah, like just cause some turmoil.

Marcus Green:

Yeah.

Marcus Green:

And, and sometimes that serves me really well.

Marcus Green:

And sometimes it, it helps me think through things that I

Marcus Green:

shouldn't, that I shouldn't do.

Marcus Green:

Right.

Marcus Green:

So I, I, I'm interested to get some of your take on this.

Marcus Green:

Cause lead generation, you know, a lot of people are looking for the magic

Marcus Green:

button in, in business right now, particularly real estate businesses.

Marcus Green:

They, they they know our industry's changed, the market's changed.

Marcus Green:

So they're thinking, what is the new magic button?

Marcus Green:

So one thing I think is, is really important to start with is, is I think

Marcus Green:

principally there isn't a new, it still is about lead generation and connecting

Marcus Green:

with people, there is some new ness to how, what message to deliver, how to

Marcus Green:

deliver it, and more importantly, the thing I think a lot of people miss is

Marcus Green:

Is there's a completely new way the consumer wants to receive information.

Marcus Green:

So that's lead generation still is a, in fact, it's a, it's a more critical piece

Marcus Green:

of business now than it's ever been.

Marcus Green:

And we have to do it a little bit differently, but it's not a completely

Marcus Green:

new concept, if that makes sense.

Joe Martin:

Yeah.

Joe Martin:

Like what I heard you just saying that I want to double click on this one.

Joe Martin:

Cause I've been really focused in on the consumer experience.

Joe Martin:

What you just said was that.

Joe Martin:

Maybe clarify if I'm wrong.

Joe Martin:

You just said, is that like the new way of lead gen is actually to think about how

Joe Martin:

the consumer experiences your outreach.

Marcus Green:

That's right.

Marcus Green:

Yeah.

Marcus Green:

They, and so it's interesting that what I always, whenever I'm answering, like

Marcus Green:

approaching a new problem, I always try to take it all the way back to like the root.

Marcus Green:

Like, where's, where's, where's the root piece of this?

Marcus Green:

Cause it's really.

Marcus Green:

In my opinion, like solving a lead generation problem, you can't

Marcus Green:

solve that problem until you work it back to a root of what did the

Marcus Green:

consumer wake up worried about today?

Marcus Green:

And how are they approaching solving that problem?

Marcus Green:

And so like where, where my mind goes to first solve this problem is really

Marcus Green:

thinking through consumer behaviors and consumer patterns, decision making.

Marcus Green:

And so there's some parallels to how the consumer made decisions.

Marcus Green:

Five, 10 years ago versus how they're making decisions today.

Marcus Green:

And we, you can't take the same lead generation scripting and tactics from five

Marcus Green:

years ago that worked well for you because the consumer will receive them differently

Marcus Green:

based on where their mindset's at today.

Marcus Green:

And I've got some examples and thoughts around that, that I'd

Marcus Green:

love to run by you to kind of think through that behavior pattern.

Marcus Green:

Cause I think getting some clarity on that, then as then we can say, now

Marcus Green:

we know how they're thinking and how they're approaching problem solving.

Marcus Green:

Then, then you get into the lead generation conversation to be like,

Marcus Green:

where do I meet them where they're at?

Marcus Green:

And how do I be the solution to their problem?

Marcus Green:

Does that make sense?

Joe Martin:

I think it makes a ton of sense.

Joe Martin:

So I think what you're saying is the first place that we have to like anchor people

Joe Martin:

to is the current environment for the demands of what the consumer's experience.

Marcus Green:

Yep.

Marcus Green:

And, and on my, on my computer in my home office, I've got a little sticky note

Marcus Green:

that kind of resonates with me that's in relation to this is, is I have a

Marcus Green:

little sticky note every morning that I look at that says, who needs my A game?

Marcus Green:

And it kind of picks me up to say like, okay, well, it's not about what

Marcus Green:

I need to get done or what I want to get done today is there's people in my

Marcus Green:

world that need the best version of me.

Marcus Green:

And that does two things for me.

Marcus Green:

One is it encourages me to say, am I, am I the solution in today's market?

Marcus Green:

Like, what am I doing today to be.

Marcus Green:

On my a game so that I can be the solution for other people.

Marcus Green:

And then it also encourages me to do the activities.

Marcus Green:

Cause no one's anyone that tells me they love legion is probably lying.

Marcus Green:

It's like, it's like the person that tells you they don't like bacon.

Marcus Green:

It's just not, it's just not true.

Marcus Green:

Right.

Marcus Green:

And so the idea behind, it's not that I love picking up the phone,

Marcus Green:

but I do love helping people.

Marcus Green:

If I, if I have the idea that someone's sitting in a stupor somewhere,

Marcus Green:

needing what I have, That triggers me to pick up the phone, right?

Marcus Green:

And so here's a couple, here's a couple of thoughts I want to run by you from how.

Marcus Green:

People used how the consumer used to make decisions versus how they make decisions.

Marcus Green:

Now, if I get too far off what you want to talk about today,

Joe Martin:

I love people like I love this.

Joe Martin:

Marcus is just that it could be so off the wall because right now we're

Joe Martin:

sitting in this weird settlement has been fully accepted by the judge and jury.

Joe Martin:

And we know that in July, July, there's going to be changes in like

Joe Martin:

compensation, which means we have to think differently about our value

Joe Martin:

proposition, which means you have to actually think about how do I put myself

Joe Martin:

and what you're actually just about to kick off is what does the consumer need?

Joe Martin:

And if you don't actually think we're about the consumer's best, like

Joe Martin:

needs at this moment in time, you'll eventually take it out of business.

Joe Martin:

So I think it's a great conversation to go down.

Marcus Green:

Cool.

Marcus Green:

I'm, I'm excited to flush it out with you and, and just for just

Marcus Green:

this, I feel a need to say it.

Marcus Green:

I'm going to say it is I'm going to oversimplify some things.

Marcus Green:

So hopefully they don't come across as like too, too brash or direct

Marcus Green:

on, on how it used to be versus now.

Marcus Green:

But for the point of time and just making points, I'm going

Marcus Green:

to be pretty direct on it.

Marcus Green:

So for example.

Marcus Green:

Like early on my career, I didn't know that much.

Marcus Green:

I'm not the smartest guy out there.

Marcus Green:

I do a lot of time studying, but the old way that I think people used to make

Marcus Green:

the decision is I knew I just had to be the most likable, charismatic person out

Marcus Green:

there, because if they liked me, there was a lot of grace on what I brought

Marcus Green:

to the table from a value standpoint.

Marcus Green:

And so that's one point I think that is, that is, is shifted significantly is

Marcus Green:

before I knew if I could go to a listing consultation, even against somebody

Marcus Green:

that sold way more houses than I did.

Marcus Green:

me and we jived and I made Energy, energy, literally just energy.

Marcus Green:

Yeah.

Marcus Green:

And I still think that plays a role in it, but not the same way.

Marcus Green:

So like, here's a couple just thoughts I had.

Marcus Green:

And I, it was interesting as I saw some of the things you want to talk about.

Marcus Green:

I pulled up some of my old notes on this is one is I think the old

Marcus Green:

way is, is decisions were based a lot on, and a relationship was

Marcus Green:

built on likability and charisma.

Marcus Green:

I feel like the, the consumer used to not do a lot of research

Marcus Green:

before they got with me.

Marcus Green:

It was like, Oh, well, he's coming to bring me the information.

Marcus Green:

And he's going to kind of guide me into the decision in that moment.

Marcus Green:

That's not the case anymore, either.

Joe Martin:

That is a hundred percent spot on.

Joe Martin:

Like this is the old way of thinking is that my value as the agent is

Joe Martin:

I hoarded all the information.

Joe Martin:

And my only value was that you didn't have this information and I couldn't

Joe Martin:

be, you couldn't be more spot on.

Marcus Green:

Yeah.

Marcus Green:

And I think that, I think you still have to be like likable to some extent, but

Marcus Green:

I can, I feel like I could beat out a more charismatic, better looking person

Marcus Green:

than me if, because if I go to this, if I go to that meeting now, they've

Marcus Green:

already got some element of a pre decision on what they believe to be true.

Marcus Green:

They've done some research, they've gathered information both in search, but

Marcus Green:

also just there's so much information flying around on social media and tick

Marcus Green:

tock and all these things that they're, they're absorbing information over time

Marcus Green:

that they're drawing some element of a conclusion before you even get there.

Marcus Green:

And so part of a new sales technique, sales technique you have to learn is

Marcus Green:

not to tell them where they're wrong.

Marcus Green:

But to guide them through a self discovery process of what portion of their reality

Marcus Green:

is true and what portion of it is not.

Joe Martin:

Have you read the challenger sale?

Marcus Green:

No, I haven't.

Joe Martin:

Oh, you need to write this one down.

Joe Martin:

So anybody listening, I actually gave this to your brother when we were in

Joe Martin:

Austin together I sent him this because what you're bringing up is there's a,

Joe Martin:

there's a, there's a statistic that 60 percent of customers have already made up

Joe Martin:

their decision on their purchase or their choice before they even get to you, right?

Joe Martin:

So if they've already made 60 percent of the like choice in the sale, like you

Joe Martin:

have a lot of like backwards work to do to unlock their preconceived notions.

Joe Martin:

So the real thought is exactly what you bring up is I can't change what your

Joe Martin:

choices right now or your thoughts are today, but I can reframe information that

Joe Martin:

you don't have to show the impact of how that could actually affect your choice.

Joe Martin:

But you didn't actually know about it.

Marcus Green:

That's right.

Marcus Green:

The thing I'm finding though, right now is with the right questions.

Marcus Green:

The one thing I do like about this market is they're, they're open to

Marcus Green:

admitting they're living in some element of uncertainty, where the market wasn't

Marcus Green:

that hard to figure out three, four years ago, or maybe five years ago,

Marcus Green:

when it was just like everything was going up and everyone was an expert.

Marcus Green:

So if, if you approach it in a way of asking the right questions,

Marcus Green:

they're open to reshifting their mindset more than they have been.

Marcus Green:

But they are looking for, for, you know, the upfront, tell me more about that.

Marcus Green:

Why do you believe that?

Marcus Green:

If that's true, what does that do for you and your family?

Marcus Green:

Those type of questions.

Marcus Green:

And then because the way I, the way I, I think a lot in systems, you

Marcus Green:

know, if they're sitting in whatever they're saying out of their mouth in

Marcus Green:

their moment is a reality to them.

Marcus Green:

Is if it's not in alignment with what I believe to be a reality for them as a

Marcus Green:

professional, my job is to ask the right questions to get them back into a place

Marcus Green:

of acknowledging that what they just said was a perception there is their perceived

Marcus Green:

value reality, not the reality if they get to a place of saying, Oh, that, well, I

Marcus Green:

guess that's my perception now I get to be the expert and inject some new information

Marcus Green:

to guide them to a new reality.

Marcus Green:

Once we get our realities in alignment, Now we have to work together.

Joe Martin:

Yeah.

Joe Martin:

You're like, so everybody listen, like what Marty's is really talking

Joe Martin:

about is cognitive dissonance.

Joe Martin:

So he basically has to create enough space between perceived reality and

Joe Martin:

logical reality for them to see that their perceived reality is not actually real

Marcus Green:

yeah.

Marcus Green:

And I think a lot of, a lot of sales people in our industry is this is you

Marcus Green:

have to, you have to work to increase your, your skillset around selling.

Marcus Green:

Cause it's charisma, isn't it?

Marcus Green:

Cause I think a lot of us would be like, Oh, you're wrong.

Marcus Green:

I'm the expert.

Marcus Green:

This is what's right.

Marcus Green:

You have to create.

Marcus Green:

You have to create some space for them to be open to those new

Marcus Green:

ideas to create that new reality.

Joe Martin:

It's funny you bring that one up.

Joe Martin:

There was this, I forget where I saw this, but they said this quote like really hit.

Joe Martin:

Is that selling is no longer about the perfect script or the perfect word.

Joe Martin:

It's about a curated experience.

Marcus Green:

I think that that to me is one of the bullet points I put

Marcus Green:

in to the difference between the old way and the new, I think the old way

Marcus Green:

is they had some preconceived notions of the service they wanted and they

Marcus Green:

don't want just a service anymore.

Marcus Green:

They want an experience.

Marcus Green:

And so I think from a value standpoint, we need to be thinking through is, am I

Marcus Green:

offering, am I here to offer this person a service or my, or am I here to offer

Marcus Green:

this person an experience, which is a, a, a personalized tailored service that

Marcus Green:

creates an experience for this person.

Marcus Green:

It sounds like I'm saying similar words, but it's, it's different

Marcus Green:

in the mind of the consumer today.

Joe Martin:

I couldn't, I, I a hundred percent on, I completely

Joe Martin:

agree because you think about the other difference part too, is that.

Joe Martin:

When you're selling a service or a product, you end up losing the

Joe Martin:

relationship because now that that service or product has been fulfilled,

Joe Martin:

there's no need for you anymore.

Joe Martin:

But if you create an experience, there's other touch points and other

Joe Martin:

service needs that actually are withdrawn from that experience, which

Joe Martin:

allows you to stay in relationship as a person of value throughout

Joe Martin:

the whole home ownership process.

Joe Martin:

And also managed home and actually live in it.

Marcus Green:

Yep, that's right.

Marcus Green:

Another thing I think that shifted is I think that the, I think historically

Marcus Green:

the consumer, like let's say that both you and I were, were trying to get

Marcus Green:

the same listing or the same business.

Marcus Green:

The consumer already had a decision in their mind because we were

Marcus Green:

both real estate agents that what we offered was the same.

Marcus Green:

And so they, it was a lot about just the likability, the charisma, because

Marcus Green:

in essence, what we brought to the table from a value standpoint in their mind

Marcus Green:

was the same, where I think today, we've got to be overly clear about creating

Marcus Green:

a personalized, tailored experience and almost a pricing strategy to

Marcus Green:

offer that to be like, I'm not here to tell you exactly what you should do.

Marcus Green:

I'm here to discover together what you, what together, what you need, and here's

Marcus Green:

how I'm going to personally tailor.

Marcus Green:

This experience for you and your family to get where you want to go.

Joe Martin:

I would agree.

Joe Martin:

I'd a hundred percent agree with that because that's, what's going to separate

Joe Martin:

the difference between like the limiting listing services or limiting buying

Joe Martin:

services compared to a full on like experience throughout the home ownership.

Joe Martin:

And I think we can see this is that.

Joe Martin:

You can make money and have a sustainable business in real estate if you create that

Joe Martin:

experience for the consumer where they don't feel like it's just a commodity.

Marcus Green:

Yep.

Marcus Green:

And then the last point I made on this, then we can shift to something

Marcus Green:

to the value and lead generation piece.

Marcus Green:

But another big shift that I think is a hard one for a lot of agents to

Marcus Green:

put their brain around is because it takes some element of putting ego away.

Marcus Green:

Is historically, the client wanted me to be the hero.

Marcus Green:

They wanted me to come in and be like, Oh my gosh, so glad you're here.

Marcus Green:

Oh my gosh.

Marcus Green:

I'm so glad you facilitated the cell.

Marcus Green:

Oh my gosh.

Marcus Green:

I needed you to do this.

Marcus Green:

And they no longer want somebody else to be the hero in their story.

Marcus Green:

The person they want to be the hero in their story.

Marcus Green:

Is them.

Marcus Green:

And so now it's I can't show up and be and say, Oh, you guys are lucky.

Marcus Green:

I'm here on the hero.

Marcus Green:

I'm going to fix this problem.

Marcus Green:

If you think about the best movies and stories of all time, you think about the

Marcus Green:

character that's not the hero, but he's he's the one that facilitates the hero.

Marcus Green:

Think about Yoda to Luke Skywalker.

Marcus Green:

You think about Dumbledore to you.

Marcus Green:

Harry Potter.

Marcus Green:

You think about Hamish to Katniss.

Marcus Green:

It's that's the role that we got.

Marcus Green:

Not, not with Hamish.

Marcus Green:

I'm not saying don't be a drunk person, but you see the point I'm making is Is

Marcus Green:

we, the way we show up should be about at the closing table that the client

Marcus Green:

should be sitting six feet tall, being like, I I'm the hero in this story.

Marcus Green:

Look what I was able to facilitate as part of the, my story.

Marcus Green:

And we're the person saying, we, we'd guided you through this process.

Marcus Green:

We helped you do that.

Joe Martin:

It's so like, I've never even thought of it that way, but it makes

Joe Martin:

perfect sense because think about that.

Joe Martin:

If the behavior of the customer now is that, They've done 60 percent of

Joe Martin:

the work on their choices and data and all this kind of information.

Joe Martin:

You can't go in and try to change, because if I go in and try to tell

Joe Martin:

them that they're wrong, like I'm just going to kill any type of relationship.

Joe Martin:

So you're right.

Joe Martin:

I mean, this is like brilliant.

Joe Martin:

So you basically try to figure out what's your end goal?

Joe Martin:

And then how do I ask you enough questions and give you enough options

Joe Martin:

that allow you to make these choices?

Joe Martin:

So you're empowered.

Joe Martin:

So the validity of that 60 percent choice actually comes to fruition.

Joe Martin:

I didn't even think about that.

Joe Martin:

That's awesome.

Marcus Green:

Well, just to show you how weird my, how my brain works is

Marcus Green:

just the play on this for a minute is where my brain went around.

Marcus Green:

That is if the consumer is the hero.

Marcus Green:

And if I'm going to step in and play the role of Yoda, what else, what

Marcus Green:

other character is really important to make a great story, the villain.

Marcus Green:

Yeah.

Marcus Green:

Right.

Marcus Green:

You could do the same thing.

Marcus Green:

It's Yoda, Skywalker, Darth Vader Harry Potter, Dumbledore I

Marcus Green:

don't dare say his name, right?

Marcus Green:

So the, the, in this scenario, a great salesperson, we worked through

Marcus Green:

this processes of how do I become the guide in a way to make them the hero

Marcus Green:

and who are really in this situation?

Marcus Green:

What is the villain that I can show them a path that together we're

Marcus Green:

going to overcome, around which.

Marcus Green:

The villain is the problem they need solved in their

Marcus Green:

world that makes them the hero.

Marcus Green:

Like, if we can, if we can take that through the process now, the likelihood

Marcus Green:

of us remaining part of their story beyond the transaction is significant

Marcus Green:

in the form of the next transaction, the referrals, those type of things.

Joe Martin:

No, that's good, man.

Joe Martin:

So let's, I think that was a great framework for people to see, like,

Joe Martin:

the old way comes the new way.

Joe Martin:

So what, like, if you were to give like three things, fourth or

Joe Martin:

whatever's on your list, what is the new way of lead gen for people that

Joe Martin:

need to be thinking about curating?

Marcus Green:

Yep.

Marcus Green:

Great, great question.

Marcus Green:

So here's here's how I think through lead gen.

Marcus Green:

And I think you brought up a really, really important point earlier saying

Marcus Green:

that I think you use the I wrote it down.

Marcus Green:

60 percent of people have a pre decision already made, right?

Marcus Green:

By the time you're getting there, they've made some element of the decision.

Marcus Green:

So I think the strongest form of any, any effort and energy put into lead gen is

Marcus Green:

better than no lead gen, just to be clear.

Marcus Green:

And I think in today's world, if you can be part of the, the flow of

Marcus Green:

information, well, before they need you, it is significantly increases

Marcus Green:

the chance of your lead generation or, and lead nurturing efforts later.

Marcus Green:

And what I mean by that is.

Marcus Green:

If you think about where, let's, let's take a step back.

Marcus Green:

If 60 percent of people came with a pre decision made means they were

Marcus Green:

gathering information from somewhere.

Marcus Green:

And it's a combination to some element based on their demographic and age of

Marcus Green:

what they saw on Tik TOK, what they heard on the news, what they read on msn.

Marcus Green:

com and what their nail salon lady told them last week.

Marcus Green:

Right.

Marcus Green:

And so the, the, the, one of the biggest things we should be

Marcus Green:

doing on a day to day basis is.

Marcus Green:

Am I getting enough content out there to enough people that I'm participating

Marcus Green:

in the pre decision that's being made?

Marcus Green:

Cause if I could be participate in some level of that pre decision, my,

Marcus Green:

my chances of my actual lead generation efforts increased significantly.

Joe Martin:

Yeah, I would a hundred percent agree with that.

Joe Martin:

Cause you've taken up mindshare in the front end is now they're saying

Joe Martin:

Marcus is the end all be all on information prior to I, I even go

Joe Martin:

into the outs, third party networks.

Marcus Green:

And then, and then going back to your question and I, and I can go

Marcus Green:

as deep into my thoughts on some of these things as you want, but this is where,

Marcus Green:

where our industry has not changed a lot is if you're not, if you haven't built a

Marcus Green:

database of your SOI of people that have some element leaned into your, your value

Marcus Green:

to some level that's obviously where you need to start is leaning into that group.

Marcus Green:

If they're not hearing from you now more than ever.

Marcus Green:

Is you've already lost, you've already lost the, the, the lowest

Marcus Green:

hanging fruit within your business.

Marcus Green:

So from a magic button standpoint of saying, Hey, don't do that

Marcus Green:

lead source, go somewhere else.

Marcus Green:

That's still tried and true.

Marcus Green:

Number one is building your SOI and your database as big and as deep as you can.

Marcus Green:

And then rethinking through some of the content we talk

Marcus Green:

now of what is it they needed?

Marcus Green:

How are they thinking now compared to the day they entered my database?

Marcus Green:

Cause it's a different.

Marcus Green:

If the name and the contact card inside your database looks the same, the

Marcus Green:

actual human being that's associated with that contact card inside your

Marcus Green:

database is a different person.

Marcus Green:

They need, they are a different version, which means they

Marcus Green:

need a new version of you.

Marcus Green:

Are you showing up as the new version to match the new version of that?

Joe Martin:

Yeah.

Joe Martin:

Cause I think part of that is what I'm hearing you say is like your

Joe Martin:

level of value has to extend more than just facilitating that contract

Joe Martin:

and access to information on an MLS that you actually have to shift to a.

Joe Martin:

Real estate consulting.

Joe Martin:

If you think about what's going on, like the real estate trade professionally has

Joe Martin:

to increase its overall professionalism to be more considered an alignment

Joe Martin:

of like lawyers and doctor, right?

Joe Martin:

You know, like that's what we need to get to.

Joe Martin:

So how do you position that in your lead gen to continue?

Joe Martin:

But I think that's like, it's a, it's an insightful change of how

Joe Martin:

you perceive yourself as a real estate professional is that's how

Joe Martin:

your market needs to start seeing.

Marcus Green:

I'd say the second thing that one of the things I hear

Marcus Green:

a lot from agents, which it cracks me up is so S O I and database.

Marcus Green:

Second one is I think a lot of people say I use social media for my lead gen.

Marcus Green:

And putting information out and hoping someone connects with you, it is, is a,

Marcus Green:

a really soft form of lead generation, but there's a way to get much deeper

Marcus Green:

in your actual lead generation and social media is a two way connection is

Marcus Green:

not just throwing stuff out there and hoping it's like, how are you creating

Marcus Green:

engagement through social media?

Marcus Green:

Cause for most people, the number of followers that they have on

Marcus Green:

social media does not match the number of people in their database.

Marcus Green:

So I think a big piece of the lead generation game is how do you, how do

Marcus Green:

you get the number of people that are following you on social media also into

Marcus Green:

your database and make that game of how do I make those the same number?

Marcus Green:

And it's, it's minor changes to what you're doing is going from just

Marcus Green:

putting content out is how do I create engagement around the content I'm

Marcus Green:

putting out and creating engagement.

Marcus Green:

With their posts and what they're doing.

Marcus Green:

Right.

Marcus Green:

So part of your lead generation isn't just putting information out, but it's

Marcus Green:

engaging on what they're doing with the intent of saying, how do I, how do I

Marcus Green:

take this from a social conversation to a private conversation, if that makes

Marcus Green:

sense, like for example, one of the, Oh,

Joe Martin:

I think you're dead on.

Joe Martin:

I think the way you're like the way I hear it is you're taking it from like

Joe Martin:

a social media, I threw some stuff out there and actually curating an

Joe Martin:

experience that becomes a community.

Joe Martin:

So that then your, your people are interacting with other people

Joe Martin:

that see Marcus or whoever as the professional, the expert.

Joe Martin:

And then because I see that as my value, you've built a tribe.

Marcus Green:

Yep.

Marcus Green:

And so just to give you an example on that, it's okay.

Marcus Green:

I put, let's say I posted, let's say, take, I say, I took a

Marcus Green:

screenshot of us talking right now.

Marcus Green:

And I posted it on my social media saying, Hey, I'd had had an opportunity to talk to

Marcus Green:

another, another real estate professional top in his game in his market.

Marcus Green:

Great conversation.

Marcus Green:

I told an important story there.

Marcus Green:

I told a story that I'm also a top real estate professional in my industry.

Marcus Green:

Is what I did there.

Marcus Green:

And most agents would pat themselves on the back and be done there.

Marcus Green:

But what if someone commented on my page of like, Oh, that's awesome.

Marcus Green:

Love to see you doing that.

Marcus Green:

If I don't respond to that, then I didn't really engage back.

Marcus Green:

I didn't create a conversation.

Marcus Green:

It's not two way.

Marcus Green:

It's a there, they're back there again.

Marcus Green:

And then I can go even deeper by, I can comment on and say, Hey, thanks, Sally.

Marcus Green:

I appreciate the support.

Marcus Green:

Then I can take it even deeper by good.

Marcus Green:

Now go into private messaging.

Marcus Green:

In social media or texting and saying, Hey, Sally, I wanted to

Marcus Green:

take this conversation private.

Marcus Green:

I haven't connected with you in a while.

Marcus Green:

How's Bob.

Marcus Green:

Right.

Marcus Green:

It's this, it's the same trigger, same start of the lead generation,

Marcus Green:

but I'm like, am I going deep enough to actually go from I'm, I'm here if

Marcus Green:

you need me to, we're in conversation.

Joe Martin:

I love that.

Joe Martin:

Like, I think it's huge because now it's actually, you're not a number.

Joe Martin:

There's not a, there's not a number on your head anymore.

Joe Martin:

It's like an actual live person.

Marcus Green:

And for, for, for a lot of people, that's such an easy fix.

Marcus Green:

Format of, of lead generation.

Marcus Green:

Cause it's not, you're wasting zero time on rings, time on ringing.

Marcus Green:

Right.

Marcus Green:

And you're not, we know what all of us do when the phone's ringing.

Marcus Green:

I'm like, please don't pick up, please don't pick up,

Marcus Green:

please don't leave a method.

Marcus Green:

Right.

Marcus Green:

Nobody listens to their voice messages anymore.

Marcus Green:

Right.

Marcus Green:

So it's a, it's a really, it's a, it's a very powerful and simple way to

Marcus Green:

increase your lead generation efforts.

Marcus Green:

For me, any conversation I have with, with somebody, regardless of the

Marcus Green:

format of conversation, I always walk into it with three preset objectives.

Marcus Green:

Number one is do they have an immediate need for me?

Marcus Green:

So even in social media, phone call, email, do they have a need

Marcus Green:

right now where they're already in that, that pre decision mode, right?

Marcus Green:

The, the chances are the majority, 80 something percent of the people

Marcus Green:

I talk to don't have a need to have a listing appointment or buyer

Marcus Green:

consultation with me right now.

Marcus Green:

So that's when I move into the second preset, preset objective for me is

Marcus Green:

can I get them into a pattern of yes.

Marcus Green:

Can I give them some element of value that they can appreciate right now?

Marcus Green:

So I've always got something in my back pocket.

Marcus Green:

An example that I use on that to illustrate would be, cause I do

Marcus Green:

a lot of investor transactions.

Marcus Green:

In Arizona, right?

Marcus Green:

So if someone doesn't need me now, I can say, Hey, real quick, before I let you

Marcus Green:

go, I recently wrote an article about the three biggest mistakes investors

Marcus Green:

are making in the market right now.

Marcus Green:

Would it be okay if I sent that over to you?

Marcus Green:

So now I've got a value piece that illustrates that I'm a pro again, right?

Marcus Green:

I recently wrote an article, which makes it sound like it's published all

Marcus Green:

over the place, even though it might only be published on my blog and it is

Marcus Green:

valid information they want to know.

Marcus Green:

And they're going to give me a yes.

Marcus Green:

Oh yeah.

Marcus Green:

Would you please send that over to me?

Marcus Green:

Great.

Marcus Green:

Now I know what the next conversation is going to be is, Hey, did you

Marcus Green:

get a chance to read that article?

Marcus Green:

Anything I need to help you with that, but it gets them into a pattern of yes.

Marcus Green:

The third principle objective is always a referral for me.

Marcus Green:

And people struggle asking for a referral, particularly if someone

Marcus Green:

says, I don't need you right now.

Marcus Green:

It's hard to say, well, who do you know that does, but that step number

Marcus Green:

two gives me the ability to ask for a referral real easy to say.

Marcus Green:

Hey Joe, I know one, I'll send that article over right now,

Marcus Green:

but Joe, I know you're a really savvy real estate investor.

Marcus Green:

One thing I've learned about real estate investors is they rub

Marcus Green:

shoulders with other investors often.

Marcus Green:

Who do you know that also owns property here in the Phoenix Valley that would

Marcus Green:

find value in that same article?

Marcus Green:

Can I get a three way text started?

Marcus Green:

You can introduce me to them.

Marcus Green:

So no matter what lead generation strategy I'm doing, my, we're always running

Marcus Green:

through those three, three set objectives.

Marcus Green:

Boom, boom, boom.

Joe Martin:

I think, and also like to go back on your call to action, you basically

Joe Martin:

made a call to action on the referral.

Joe Martin:

How do you leave that in your social media too?

Joe Martin:

Instead of going back to your point of like, Hey, Maybe

Joe Martin:

I've got an article of value.

Joe Martin:

If you want that, send this.

Joe Martin:

And I've seen people do that in their body, their, their post social posts.

Joe Martin:

Like, Hey, if you want more information, send this or post this because

Joe Martin:

it's driving up the activity on it.

Joe Martin:

So if you were to like bottom line old to new ways of like lead generation,

Joe Martin:

what's the one thing to take away from like this discussion between the two.

Joe Martin:

So that someone could go take action.

Joe Martin:

Like right now,

Marcus Green:

people might think I'm, I'm oversimplifying it, but here,

Marcus Green:

here's if I had to give a one liner.

Marcus Green:

Advice on how to approach your lead generation right now is number

Marcus Green:

one is I'd say, get your journal out and ask yourself the question.

Marcus Green:

Are you really the solution that your people need right now?

Marcus Green:

Cause if you're not, your lead generation efforts are, aren't going to be impactful.

Marcus Green:

So number one is, yeah, am I really understanding who my people are?

Marcus Green:

And do I have the value proposition?

Marcus Green:

And am I the solution right now?

Marcus Green:

If the answer to that is yes, then it's doubled down on your

Marcus Green:

database and increase your skillset to build those relationships.

Marcus Green:

Cause for most of us.

Marcus Green:

The people in your database is enough to hit your goals this year.

Marcus Green:

And then if it's not, I would look at your social media to say, how do I get.

Marcus Green:

My social media contacts to become, I'm using air quotation friends to real

Marcus Green:

friends, like real connections of value.

Marcus Green:

And then third is now it's saying, how do I get in front of

Marcus Green:

new people to work through this funnel to get into my database?

Marcus Green:

And a lot of that happens by what we talked about before of just you become

Marcus Green:

the expert in your market and get as much information as you can out there.

Marcus Green:

And you will make, you need to make some noise right now.

Marcus Green:

Noisy people get heard.

Marcus Green:

Just make sure your noise is in alignment with who you're really targeting.

Marcus Green:

Get over clarity on who your ideal person is.

Marcus Green:

Don't be over neutral on it, and, and you will find that those people line up.

Marcus Green:

The more clear your message is in alignment with who you're going after.

Joe Martin:

Love it.

Joe Martin:

So Marcus, first off, I want to say thank you for like your time pouring

Joe Martin:

into this, this, this channel here.

Joe Martin:

So those of you don't like, haven't followed his podcast, his

Joe Martin:

podcast is The Whole Enchilada.

Joe Martin:

Give it a like, give it a follow.

Joe Martin:

Just like if you're listening to us, if you get value, no rather, I know

Joe Martin:

you got value on this call today.

Joe Martin:

So because you got value, give us a like, give us a follow, share it out with your

Joe Martin:

people and you know, tune in the next week's episode of Entrepreneurial Impact.

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About the Podcast

Entrepreneurial Impact
with David Donaldson and Joe Martin
David Donaldson and Joe Martin dive into everything there is to know about entrepreneurial spirit and leadership. Each week, special guests will be hosted to discuss the story behind their success. Entrepreneurial Impact will cover perseverance, motivation and innovation - all while keeping it interesting and light-hearted. We hope you tune in!

About your host

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David Donaldson