Being a real estate agent today means more than listing homes and drawing up contracts, especially when it comes to Highnote and Zillow. It means marketing yourself in new and innovative ways to stand out from the crowd and rise above the competition. The best way to do this is by utilizing technology – and two agents in San Francisco have figured out a winning combination to attract new clients.
Meet Sandy Sicsko and Joe Borromeo, a hugely successful real estate team operating in the Bay Area. In addition to being local market experts, they’re also experts at marketing themselves in a way that attracts new clients.
The best part is that Sandy and Joe’s formula isn’t difficult or time-consuming. It’s just a way to work smarter, not harder.
Hi, Sandy and Joe! Let’s get straight into it, because I know everyone reading this wants to know your secret. Tell me how you combine HighNote and Zillow to to win buyers.
Joe: As soon as we get an online lead, specifically from Zillow, we have a HighNote presentation sent over, which is tailored for buyers. It’s kind of an “about us” – it has a video of Sandy, a video of myself, a video of our team, and basic information about buying a house. It gives buyers a chance to see who we really are, rather than just agents with five stars next to our names. It’s been huge for us. We’re able to convert more leads through Zillow.
Sandy: When these are just cold leads, the buyers are just clicking on a button. They don’t know or care who they’re connecting with at first, but then they see the video of Joe and I, who we are as people, and our personalities. And we can form a connection right away.
“As soon as we get an online lead, we have a HighNote presentation sent over. It gives buyers a chance to see who we really are, rather than just agents with five stars next to our name. It’s been huge for us.”
I imagine that’s a pretty great way to stand out from the rest of the pack!
Sandy: It is. You know, if a buyer is talking to two or three other agents, they’re going to be looking for who can bring them value, who they can connect with, whose personalities they match with. We have a huge advantage because they’re only talking to other Realtors on the phone. But they’re actually seeing who we are as people.
So what else do you put in the presentation packet?
Sandy: We include practical information, like an example purchase agreement which walks the buyer through what to expect during the home buying process. A lot of times, our leads are first-time buyers so this gives them an understanding of what a contract actually looks like. We even include a list of common terms used in real estate, to give them an idea of the verbiage they’ll encounter.
We also include information about who generally pays for what, as far as title and escrow fees. That would be important to me as a buyer! It also has a whole write-up on how to hold title. And we just go down the list of anything and everything we think is of value to the buyer. We want to educate them. I think this is a really big deal to any buyer, especially in the age of COVID, when there are no open houses. Online leads are more important than ever.
Is there a way to monitor just how effective your presentation is? To see what the buyer is actually clicking on when they receive it?
Sandy: Definitely. After they’ve received our buyer guide, we can look back and see what they’re looking at. Do they just want to see who we are? Are they actually looking at the example purchase contract? Did they not look at anything? And if they didn’t look at anything, are they even serious about buying? So we can kind of vet our buyers that way, and decide how assertive we want to be with our follow-up.
It seems like HighNote is also a good way to save time, because you’re getting less questions and emails from confused buyers and sellers.
Joe: Yes, the majority of the resources and all the basic information they need to start their search of buying or preparing to sell is all available to them, with one click. And it’s in our signature in our emails so it’s always available, they don’t have to go through email attachments and downloads to find it.
If you’re looking to buy or sell in the Bay Area and want an honest and experienced team to help you do so, Sandy and Joe would love to help. Contact them today and see why their portfolio is full of fabulous testimonials from buyers and sellers alike!
And if you’re a real estate agent looking to take your business to the next level, click here to get started with HighNote!
