We Have A Retuning Guest Dr. Lee Davenport And We Will Be Discussing Her Latest Post " Don't Ditch Your Marketing Strategy -- Dominate It!."

Subscribe: RSS

Dr. Lee Davenport is an Atlanta-based real estate coach and blogger who has been featured in REALTOR® Magazine and the Huffington Post, to name a few. She trains real estate agents and brokers across the country on how to work smarter with technology. Join Lee’s free RE Tech Insider’s Club at LearnWithLee.REALTOR for tips and tools to help your business thrive. Follow Lee on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Google+, and search the #LearnWithLee hashtag.

great cohost Robert Newman with me. And we’ve got a great guest she’s returning. She was one of our most popular guests last year. It is Dr. Lee Davenport. Welcome back Dr.

Robert: Welcome back. We’re excited to have you.

Dr. Lee: Thank you for having me. It’s so good to see you both, even in our new normal.

Jonathon: Yeah, exactly. Would you like to introduce yourself to our new listeners and viewers?

Dr. Lee: Absolutely. I feel like I’m going to have a different story to tell after we get on the other side of this pandemic. But I’ll stick with my old one for now. And that is, I grew up in a real estate family. I always talk about hating it because I’m an only child and I’m a girly girl. I’ve got on a dress even now. And my parents didn’t respect that they were like, your name is Lee. You’re going to do boy work.

Not that it is gender-based, but so I’m cutting grass. I’m cleaning up after tenants. I hated it. And I just really didn’t want anything to do with real estate. But I moved to Georgia and it didn’t make sense to not be in real estate because I did grow up in it. I knew so much about it. So I got into real estate when I got here to Georgia. It was going great until the last recession started and my business, I felt like I, the bottom fell out from under me.

And I always say I was young and dumb, just being young and dumb. I’m like, Oh, how bad can you get? I’ll never say things like that again. So it got really bad. Unfortunately, many of my tenants lost their jobs. And me being financial upside down and not being so heartless to just put them out. I said, well, why don’t I sell real estate? This is a perfect time. And it wasn’t, it was the end of at that point of so many of the programs and the different things that came up at the start of the new millennium. But anyway, I got my real estate sales license.

Things were not going well because I’m trying to do the cookie-cutter method. And I broke out of it. Eventually, I started using social media in a way that was very novel for the time being. And I did so well that my brokers and different companies had me come in and start doing training. Starting in 2009 and fast forward, I’m still doing it, loving it. And I always loved to look for these opportunities like we’re seeing, unfortunately, in this new recession.

Jonathon: Yeah, that’s great. Fantastic! Robert, would you like to quickly introduce yourself to the new listeners and viewers?

Robert: Hey guys my name is Robert Newman. I’m probably one of the foremost SEO experts in the real estate space. And I’ve got a massive website that I’ve been adding tons of extra content on that teaches you all about how to sell it yourself. That teaches you about how to look at the return on investment, on systems that you’re looking at. And it teaches you to basically be a better digital marketer. And that site is inboundrem.com.

Jonathon: That’s great. I got a question before we go into the main starting topic, which does not ditch your marketing strategy, dominate it. It is based on a recent post on Dr. Lee’s website. Before that, I got another question. So how does your degree fit into the story that you gave us? What made you decide to do your degree? And how have you fit in that experience in your real estate career?

Dr. Lee: Yeah, thanks for asking Jonathan. So I skipped over that. Yeah. I kind of went from 2009 to now. I’m in the middle of that. So once I started doing training, I realized that I was not the only person who had been like hoodwinked and bamboozled. Because so many agents feel like, okay, there’s this one, two, three step Sally sells a lot, has the method follow it. And if it’s not working for you, something’s wrong with you. And that’s just not true. And I started to see a lot of people have been sold that bill of goods. So for me, as I started doing more and more training, my big brain, the analytical part of me just jumped in. Like, okay, there’s, I’m starting to see patterns. So I went back to school, got my doctorate in business, but with a real estate twist. So I got a chance to study the top 1000 real estate sales agents.

Jonathon: Don’t mind me. Was that part of your dissertation?

Dr. Lee: Yes. Yeah. Yep. You got it. So that’s how I crafted my dissertation study in the top 1000 agents to identify based on our personality types. What are the most effective marketing strategies? So it’s been a wild ride. So from there I was still training and coaching and I was implementing it. And all of my agents that I work with, they know they’ve been a part of my laboratory.

Jonathon: So listeners we got true academic care, somebody, that’s actually got a doctorate. I think you should listen to a little bit to her advice. I’ve met some people in higher education that didn’t have any common sense. But I think Dr. Lee shows signs that she understands things in this certain level of complexity. So let’s go into this first topic and then we can rapidly move on. So what was this piece about and what were you trying to communicate to the audience about marketing strategy and dominating it?

Dr. Lee: Yeah. You know, one thing, and I’ve actually been talking about this a lot this week with different agents who are kind of, they’re overwhelmed right. By just the world we’re living in right now. But then they’re also like almost in a position of do I just give up. So I just go back to the drawing board and throw everything out and just say, scrap this because the world is so different. And for me, this post came out of that. Like, no, no, this is not the time to just throw caution to the wind. But actually doubled down on a lot of the foundational principles that do work and they work even now. So that was kind of where it came from.

Jonathon: What are some of the key things in the article that you would like to express to our listeners?

Dr. Lee: Well, so the first thing I started off with was just, I feel like we’re going back to the basics. So your marketing presence, I love that. Let me say that differently. I don’t want to say I love the time we’re in because I don’t. Cause there’s a lot of tragedy, a lot of illness, death, economic problems. But I do see the silver lining. I’ll say it that way. So with the silver lining, some people have had more time than they would have had normally this time of year. This means for those of us who don’t have a clear marketing presence. And when I say marketing presence, a quick way to understand that is if you have people in your sphere and they don’t know what you do that tells me, you don’t have a clear marketing presence. If they’re just like, and it’s like, okay,

Robert: I love that. Keep doing that. Dr. Lee, I love it. I love intelligence women. There you go.

Robert: Your dry sense of humor is on full display today John.

Jonathon: You have to take the opportunities that come your way. So I’m sorry, Dr. Lee.

Dr. Lee: If they don’t, if no one knows what you do or people are very, no one remembers what you do then your marketing presence is nothing.

Jonathon: Before I asked Robert to ask a question, I and Robert we’ve been consistently hammering in a way that, by using video and YouTube, by setting up your Google business page, by using the free parts of Zillow. And other similar tools, by all the things that are available for free. If you can’t start building brands in your local area online, there’s something wrong. And I think me and Robert and I think Robert would agree where we’ve been pretty consistent about these real strong opportunities to build your brand in your local area digitally. So over to you Robert.

Robert: Well, first of all, Dr. Lee, I want to say congratulations on getting onto the list of the top 25 real estate coaches for Inman. That’s impressive and well deserved in my opinion. Because I’ve talked to a lot of these coaches and I think that you seem more down to earth and easier to learn from than many of them. So I’m saying that on air, if anybody’s looking for a recommendation, guess what? You just got it. So having said that I know he’s talking about the blog post. And I feel like I’d like to hear an example. So you’re saying, okay double down. Alright. So I know what that means for me as a website owner, as a guy who owns a business as a person who does marketing. I’ve done more marketing in 2020, which is blog posts and email marketing for me, that’s what that means to me.

And I’ve done more in 2020, then 2017, 2018, and 2019 combined. I have quadrupled the marketing that I’ve been doing. And it’s finally after five and a half months because I do a very long term type of marketing. It’s finally starting to show some results. Most people aren’t going to be as convinced as I am. That that much effort, that much time is going to be worth the payout five or six months later. Having said that, what do you mean Dr. Lee? So you’re like, okay, the way I’m hearing the comments is, Hey, it’s mechanics, do more mechanics. But can you give some examples? Would you give some examples maybe from you don’t have to be specific, no names, but like some coaching sessions that you’ve done, maybe? Like, what is actual advice that you’ve given to people when you’ve been talking to them recently?

Dr. Lee: Absolutely. And hats off to you for hustling and doing so much. My goodness. Yes. So one agent in particular, he’s in Texas and he has such a powerful video presence. But he just, prior to the pandemic, didn’t have time to do them. Didn’t have the patience to edit them. Because you guys, I know, you know, editing videos it drains the lifeblood out of you. Like, okay, I just won’t do a video if I’ve got to edit it. So during this quarantine time, what I asked him to do two things, shoot a video every day and see if since his son is kind of techie. If his son wouldn’t mind doing the editing, so get that off his plate. So do more of the basics. Because he’s good at video, he’s personable. And we now can’t really get shoulder to shoulder with people like we’re used to.

So I wanted him to do what he does, but really make it in a format that’s COVID-19 friendly. And give away the hard part. I always tell people, give away any piece that you don’t like, aren’t good at, or just don’t have the patience for. So he’s good at the video at speaking on video, but not editing, let’s get it out into there. So that was one, that was one example and he did it. And he’s seeing a lot of traffic calls that he didn’t expect during this period. He just thought the next few months, he’d just be sitting at home, twiddling his thumbs, but it’s made a difference for him. So that would be the thing, everyone, back to the personality piece of this, I feel like everyone does marketing differently. We all have something we’re really good at. I’m more of a writer. So that’s why I do lean towards my blog and things like that.

Robert: And writing books, woman, you’ve written books on her website right now. And I’m like, how many books has this woman actually written? I still don’t know. I know it’s a lot.

Dr. Lee: And that’s the thing. So because I know that’s who I am. That’s what that’s meant for me during this season.

Jonathon: Well, have you actually written more than one book?

Dr. Lee: Yes, totally.

Jonathon: Well tell us how many have you written?

Dr. Lee: So I have three that are published, but I’ve got several. I’ve got like stacks of journals and things around here that I need to, that’s what I’m been working on during the season.

Robert: That’s taking your own advice, right?

Dr. Lee: That’s it, you can dish it out unless you do it.

Robert: Well, I think this is an interesting subject because I’m a great listener to another doctor. Not as intelligent as you, but Dr. Scott Galloway. Have you heard of him? And he says you got to use this time to really push yourself, to push the content out onto another level than normal. You have got to use the time to get yourself in a position. So when the market improves, you’re in front of your competition, that’s what he was saying in his latest video. And I thought that was a great way of putting it. You don’t want to use this time just to sit around, you got to do some work. So when things recover and a bit more normal, you’re in front of the competition. Would you agree with that?

Dr. Lee: Absolutely. And you know, I do feel like there’s a fine line though. Because of the human part of us, this is hard for so many people on so many different levels. So I do like to give people the freedom to know if you need a mental break, take it right. But don’t take it for the entire month. Please try at least, even if you have several days a week that you just need to be in the fetal position. Plan for at least one day where you’re going to sit at your desk and you’re actually going to work on one of the things that has demonstrated success for you in the past so that you can keep some momentum going. But there’s a balance. There is a balance. A lot of people are mentally just zoned out and I can understand why. So, yeah.

Jonathon: And I think it’s a great time to actually call your clients, not in a sold way your past clients. But just to call them and say, how you doing? How are you coping with the situation? If you need any advice about your home, always be here for you. You know anything, any questions you got, and you need any advice, just give me a call. I’m here for you. I think giving people that type of message is a good way you’re using your time. Would you agree with that?

Dr. Lee: You know it is. It absolutely is. I feel like so many of the conversations that many of the agents I work with have been having with people have been where they really are just calling to be a shoulder, a virtual shoulder to cry on. But they ended up helping people realize, hey, if you sell your house, then you can take some of the cash out and you don’t have to get deeper in debt. So it ends up becoming I’m here just as a shoulder. But then it turns into there’s actually changes and opportunities in the real estate industry that can help you in this moment in time. So we definitely should be calling and checking on people. Absolutely.

Jonathon: We are going to go for our break. We have Dr. Lee with us, one of our favorite guests. We’ll be back in a few moments’ folks.

Announcer: You want quality leads from homeowners and buyers right in your own neighborhood? Then you need Mail Right. It is a powerful but easy to use online marketing system that uses Facebook to generate real estate leads at a fraction of the cost you’d pay from our competition. We stand behind our work with no question, asked 30 day money-back guarantee. So don’t delay! Get started today. Go to mail-right.com.

Jonathon: We are coming back.

Robert: Hey, Dr. Lee, can I go? Okay. So Dr. Lee, you were talking before the break about, like take a mental break, sit on a home. But then you started going in a direction that I thought was very interesting. You said this is a great time to reach out and check on people. To me that sounded like a strategy recommendation. And every once in awhile, and I drive all our guests and John crazy. I try to make sure that every single episode that we do that if anybody is listening. They get one or two actual actionable pieces of advice. When they’re listening to the show, not like the broad don’t sit at home. I mean, that’s important. I’m totally not like devaluing that. But you also have now, and again, got to give somebody to say, okay, now that we’ve got you up and off the couch, what is it that you need to do?

So here’s my thought. Here’s what I heard you say. So you’re saying reach out. Can we say that that would be reach out by email, reach out by phone, take your list, call them and do a check-in? Was that how you would do that? Like say, hey how you doing? I just wanted to check on you right now. Like how would you approach that? What would your advice be?

Dr. Lee: Yeah. I love that. You know, I think it’s vital for us to reach out. And reaching out may mean a phone call, but I think, you know, again, I love everything being based on what’s organic and comfortable. And it’s just going to connect from us. So some of us we’re texters, we are, and we do well connecting with people by text.

So if that’s who you are to send somebody a quick text, I was thinking of a matter of fact, I got that from somebody and it turned into a long conversation. And that was great. So even just to say, I was thinking about you, how are you, how is this season for you? It can mean the world. Even though you feel like this is just somebody in my database, we don’t really have a real connection, but this is a different time in our history. So to reach out to people now, even though there isn’t this, Oh, we were best friends before. It doesn’t really matter. People are much more receptive. So whether texting is your preferred method or call, the only thing I would say stay away from is those of you that like door-knocking and the meet and greet don’t do that, please.

Cause people are going to look like really? Why are you at my door with COVID? I know you had it. So we’re not going to do that, but for everything else. So social media, text, mail, a lot of people are sending out handwritten notecards. That’s great, do it.

Robert: I couldn’t agree more. And as for our audience as a marketer and a marketer that is succeeding in a space that many of my competitors are failing at, for the reasons that I already said. I’ve quadrupled my marketing, but I’m doing what nobody else wants to do, which is producing content in COVID when people are not necessarily making long-term decisions for marketing. And that’s exactly what I think all of the real estate agents that are out there should be doing. And I need to say Dr. Lee and to Jonathan, while I will happily say that certain markets have been deeply impacted my ultra-luxury and my commercial investment markets seem to be going red, hot in every single place that, that kind of real estate exists.

So while some types of real estate have been impacted by COVID, others are going richer right now. So for those of you who might be even vaguely attached to those types of real estate, my advice is this is the time to reach out to your clients. That’s what I’m hearing you say, Dr. Lee? Like email or texted, maybe suggest like, I just want to check in on you. How are you doing? Like, how are things going? Sorry, my bad.

Dr. Lee: No, no, no. You’re I love everything you’re saying. Absolutely. Because the other thing that’s happening even here in Metro Atlanta. I was walking through my neighborhood and I live in an area that is mixed-use. So there’s a lot. Well, there were a lot of shops here and just yesterday, I’m walking through and there’s these closed permanently signs. And a lot of what this means is people are going to need to make some real estate moves.

They’re going to probably need to sell. There are so many companies that have been around since I was a kid. One of my mom’s favorite shops, Lane Bright they’re doing all these massive layoffs. Even McDonald’s just announced that they’re going to be closing several of their locations. So to me, the more we can reach out to people, see how they’re doing, and help them understand what this market means. And that some people, what I saw in the last session is we were able to help them get in front of a layoff, a furlough or different things where your financial situation is not going to be stable. Your house right now we’re still in a sellers’ market. Homes are still selling above value, in almost every market. So this is one of those times we as agents if we’re not helping people understand this and that they should and probably sell if they’re in a precarious financial position. Again, we’re doing them a disservice.

Robert: I love that advice. So I have something else that I wanted to ask you. I think this is how I perceive your personality. But I want to hear what your comment is, your response. So I’m on your website. That’s every now and again. I will cruise over to the website. I rarely find anything I want to talk about some 99% of the time when we’re doing interviews, nothing comes up. With your website, you’ve got a lot of great call outs from a lot of different people who have talked about a, my perception of your personality. Is that what makes you different from other coaches is that you will look at like, you will analyze somebody’s personality type and who they are. They’ll ask them a lot of questions. And then you’ll start to encourage them to do things that are the least resistance, but effective.

Like don’t do the things that are super hard for you. Now here’s something that somebody else said, not me. That was from realtor magazine. She will give you the courage to try new tactics until you find that perfect fit. How do you make that? Like, why did she say that? What was the strategy behind that?

Dr. Lee: Yeah. So a couple of things that coverage part for me, I value safe spaces. I really do. Now more than ever. I get that people, sales is something where a lot of times we feel like, again, you’ve got to be this sleazy salesperson, cram and stuff down people’s throat. And unfortunately, I have coached agents who’ve told me they’ve been in these environments where they didn’t feel safe with their managers or whoever was trying to get them to reach their goals. So for me as a coach, so I’m not representing the firm, which is again, that is a different motivation.

And I get that. But as an outsider, a third party, I like to make sure people understand they’re safe. And also that they had an innate genius. We are geniuses. We all have something to offer this world. We really do. And the more we can tap into that, not only will our career benefit, but the more we’ll just be valuable in the world. And people will gravitate towards that. So creating that space, and then to your point, yes, I am. I kind of hate being analytical, like, and it helps in this career. But I hate being that person on the street that just starts analyzing people in random things. It’s like, just have a seat. But in this work. So I do like to analyze people.

And so often we, most of us know this, we know we have blind spots. We know that sometimes it takes somebody from a different viewpoint to help us identify things. So that’s what I do. That’s what I feel like. I’m just seeing it from a different viewpoint. I’m not any smarter than you are because you’re living your body, you know yourself better than you probably think you do. But she just needs a different perspective to help you understand some things. So that’s my thoughts.

Robert: I love it.

Jonathon: We need to wrap up the podcast. Hopefully, you can stay on for a bit of bonus content. Have you got any kind of in the bonus content, you’ve got any kind of apps that you want to share with us, like you did last time. Anything that comes to mind that you’re going to share with us in the bonus.

Dr. Lee: Sure!

Jonathon: So I’ll put a hotspot there a little bit, but she did a great job. The first time she came in the show. So we’re going to wrap up the podcast and Dr. Lee is going to stay on. I’m going to talk about some apps and some other quick topics, which you’ll be able to see on the Mail Right YouTube channel. Just put mail right into YouTube. And we’ve got over 200 interviews on the YouTube channel covering almost everything with great guests like Dr. Lee. So Dr. Lee what’s the best way for people to find out more about what you’ve got to offer?

Dr. Lee: Sure. My website or email, they’re always great. It’s just Lee at learned with Dr. Lee.Com for email or website learned with dr. Lee.Com.

Jonathon: And it will be in the show notes, which you’ll find on the Mail Right website Robert how’s the best way for people to find out more about you and your articles and your insights?

Robert: Inboundrem.com, anything worth doing I do there for real estate.

Jonathon: Yeah. He’s got some great reviews on all the leading real estate technology platforms covering all sorts of areas. So we’re going to wrap up the podcast part off the show. Like I say to listen to some bonus content and some of the apps that Dr. Lee is going to recommend go to the Mail Right YouTube channel, and look for the latest episode. And you’ll be able to see those as well. We will be back next week with either a great guest or eternal discussion between me and Robert. We see as soon folks, bye.