Making the most of open houses

“As our business continues to change, it becomes more competitive and riskier to do business. With requirements of paperwork and retention, it is important for people to stay up-to-date,” said Jason Jakus, a national motivational and business speaker, who will be presenting at next month’s Triple Play conference in Atlantic City.

“Realtors® say open houses don’t work, but they do. They find new prospects, but you have to promote them and offer plenty of lead time. That gets a ton of people in there, and allows Realtors® to engage with consumers. Building a relationship with the consumer is more important than the open house.” he said.

Jakus recommended advertising an open house at least two to three weeks in advance, giving people time to plan accordingly. “Longer lead time is imperative. People are busy and plan schedules. The days of driving around and popping into open house isn’t happening anymore. Millennials are planning, they knew two weeks ago what open houses they were going to this weekend.”

Social media is also key, he said. “Use video and the technology most people don’t want to do,” he said. “Most people don’t like how they look in  video, so they don’t it. You may make mistakes, but it’s the best to get out there and do video. Facebook Live is a simple and easy way to reach people.”

Jakus also stressed the importance of listening to consumers. “You should be listening 70 percent of the time, and only talking 30 percent of the time. We want to sell, but we need to know really what they want. What are their real desires? By listening to their actual needs, people respect that. They want the agent that is truly there to help them versus someone is there to just sell a house.”

Building a strategy is imperative, Jakus said. “How we expand our sphere of influence is people who know and like you, past clients and new business. How do we get new business? A lot of businesses would not survive without new consumers. How can you get more consumers? Lead generation online, create yourself as the neighborhood expert and position yourself on that.”

“Fresh ideas aren’t as hard as people make them out to be,” he added. “If you do things correctly and not a lot of things, just a handful of things, you become that expert and the agent you want to be. You increase transactions and income.”

Jakus will be presenting Opening Door- Using Video to Recruit Agents on Tuesday, Dec. 4 from 1 to 2 p.m., Distinctive Open House Strategies on Wednesday, Dec. 5 from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., Build Your Business & Reduce Risk on Wednesday, Dec. 5 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Survive and Thrive in Real Estate! on Wednesday, Dec. 5 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.