This week’s post features a Q&A with one of our all-star agent partners, Kenny Truong. Based out of San Francisco’s East Bay, Kenny is an expert real estate guru with 6 years of experience in the industry.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in real estate?
Be persistent and stick with whatever marketing campaign or program that you are trying out until you give it some time to work. Often, within 6 months of testing out a new marketing campaign, you’ll be able to make an assessment on whether the campaign was successful enough to cancel, or if you should cancel all together. Also, don’t be afraid to try to new things!
What technology tool could you not live without?
A really good CRM — if you’re generating a lot of leads you need a place to keep track of them. In the past, I used a spreadsheet to keep track of my leads, but then I got to a point where I had generated over 200 active leads and the spreadsheet wasn’t working for me anymore.
What is your proudest selling moment?
In March of 2013, I helped 12 different buyers get offers accepted in a 6-week span. In that same April, I also created the Fast Agent brand. Throughout 2013 I was able to close 49 sales, which was a big improvement from the year prior as I completed 25 total sales.
In essence, I was able to do half a year’s production in a month in a half, which is when I realized that if I could keep this consistent I could grow this into a big business.
What’s the next big thing in real estate?
The next big thing is real estate is the growing of automation tools and better ways for agents and buyers to communicate. We’re also going to see the rise of Robot AI chat bots that will help increase buyer engagement in the selling process.
What’s your secret sales weapon?
The strong branding that I have built over time. It might seem simple, but the most important thing is my market presence, knowledge and track record. In my case I have done a lot of work to showcase what I have accomplished over the years, which makes my job a lot easier.
How do you build and manage teams?
It starts with lots of training. It’s important to have the right systems and processes for new agents to follow in place. I look for new talent every day; for people with high accountability who are excited about being in this industry.
What advice would you give to a first time agent?
Get on a team, get a coach or get a mentor. Don’t waste time trying to figure this industry out on your own. It’s really rare to see new people succeed immediately and you don’t want to waste 1 or 2 years in training mode when you can learn and produce more by getting guidance or mentorship from a seasoned agent in your market place.
It’s not about the money or the deals, it’s about accumulating as much knowledge and training as fast as possible.
Connect with Kenny: Fastagent.me
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Instagram
Pinterest
Snapchat: @FastAgent