Stop Chasing Leads: How Consistent Follow-Up Builds a Referral Business with Kari Jackson Ep 348

REE #348 Full Audio

[00:00:00] Kari Jackson: Well, it definitely creates a system, because

if you don't have a system to maintain your outreach leads- and also your existing transactions that are in the works, you're recreating the wheel every single day. Yeah.

And so that, by nature, that consistent call, whether it be three times a week or one time a week, we create a system just in our cadence. And I'm very systems and routines just by nature.

And so if you don't have a system, then we're gonna start there, and we're gonna be creating a system. And, one system doesn't necessarily work for everybody, so it obviously, you we find a cadence that works for you. [00:01:00] Hey, welcome back to the Real Estate Excellence Podcast. Most agents don't have a lead problem, they have a follow-up problem. Today's guest spent more than a decade selling homes, walked away after one brutal transaction, then found her way back as director of communications for a top-producing Kansas City team.

[00:01:36] Tracy Hayes: Now she's a fr-

a

fractional operations partner for solo agents across the country, turning neglected databases into steady referral business one week at a time. She's a former teacher, and she believes consistency beats intensity every single time.

Let's

welcome Kerry Jackson to the show

[00:01:57] Kari Jackson: Hi, thanks

[00:01:57] Tracy Hayes: for

[00:01:57] Kari Jackson: having me

[00:01:58] Tracy Hayes: yeah, no, I appreciate you [00:02:00] coming on. you know, I do get a lot of inquiries, probably, at least two or three a day. and, obviously I try to look for people who are gonna match the show, and I s- and I read your,little, you

bio

or whatever you had sent over and I'm like, "Yes, that's someone that can add something to my show."

My listeners, I think, uh, are gonna get something out of this and what you're doing, because, you know, just based off that little intro, And a good friend of mine uses the phrase, "The gold's in the cracks." Mm-hmm. And, uh, a lot of people are stepping over those cracks, and you're trying to show them that there's actually gold in there, if I'm not

[00:02:32] Kari Jackson: mistaken.

[00:02:33] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm. Is that a

good

analogy?

[00:02:35] Kari Jackson: Absolutely. I think our, some, in, in many ways our focus is, is not in the right place, and agents don't realize the gold that they have in their cracks. So just by, you know, talking it through and, hearing about how they're working their business, oftentimes I'm like, "Oh,

what

about this, and what about that?"

And just conversation that, a third party is able to provide.[00:03:00]

[00:03:00] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. but I think as you, you, and I think it's part of, I think we probably wanna talk about, you just brought up something that made me think, they are, thrown a lot of, shiny objects-

all

the time, and- Yep

Yep

you

know, it's one thing I try to get across, especially when talking to different agents, you know, what are some things they've tried? What are the things they, you know, some of them paid a lot of money for and didn't get anything out of it, and- Yeah ... really when it comes down to it is some of those, to use a sports analogy, a little blocking and tackling, and some of the

[00:03:31] Kari Jackson: gold-

[00:03:31] Tracy Hayes: Uh-huh

you already have and you don't even realize it.

[00:03:34] Kari Jackson: Absolutely. And I think the public doesn't necessarily realize the expenses behind a real estate business. And in this day and age with so many new shiny objects, bells and whistles, oh, what about this system and what about this, and they all promise these, you know, great get rich, change your business schemes.

Yeah. And I understand, you know, how agents [00:04:00] really get pulled in, and then it's not even the getting pulled in. I mean, obviously that's a concern, but it's what goes by the wayside when you start, start exploring and looking into something else

Yeah. Then,

than other systems and things that you have already established kinda go to the back burner.

and I, you know, serve as that reminder of where are we? What is our focus? I remember, you know, being an agent myself I always valued it. I think it's probably the teacher in me, but I felt like the, advisor piece of being an agent and keeping my, my clients focused on their end goal was oftentimes the most valuable piece because it can...

You know, every transaction's different, every client is different, every home search is different, every home sale is different, and if, if we're, you know, constantly [00:05:00] this a million different ways, then a transaction never feels simple. And we want, we want our consumers to recognize the value in having an advisor and finding the process and making this actually enjoyable.

[00:05:14] Tracy Hayes: Yeah Well, I think, what we're gonna lead into, you know, just in reading what your business is, you know, about and what you actually do, the people that you're bringing to them are the best clients. They're not this, having worked the first, 12 years basically of my mortgage career in a call center environment, And we still get it today. shopper who's not committed, they're not committed to you, per se yet when you're initially trying to do deal some- Sure, you're trying to sell them, you're trying to sell them yourself, trying to win them to obviously, you know, utilize your service as a real estate agent or a loan officer.

And where you're actually, if I'm not mistaken, correct me, you're going and finding the gold in the crack, and this gold wants to be, because

they,

they've already, either are your past [00:06:00] clients or they're- Mm-hmm ... referred by a, a friend of theirs that's used you, and those are, the best to work with.

[00:06:06] Kari Jackson: Absolutely. I say all the time a warm lead is 100 times more valuable than a cold lead. Yeah. So you can pay all you want to have leads fed, fed in, but these people, they, they don't know you. it will be challenging for them to know you the way that you want to represent yourself and what you provide, and so you're starting, you know, 100 steps back.

Yeah.

[00:06:33] Tracy Hayes: Well, you're, you're immediately, when you're referred by somebody,

you

have, there's some level of credibility. you immediately

[00:06:38] Kari Jackson: have- Yeah

[00:06:38] Tracy Hayes: some, some street cred already with them versus just, "Hey, I saw an Instagram reel with you on it,"

which- Right

to me, I don't know why, but some, some agents do get business from them, but some of them even are pretty good.

Yeah

we know there's certain reasons for it, but that is such a small percentage that, I've seen some recent conferences and I had, Lady Katie [00:07:00] Spaniak on. She spent years to develop her YouTube channel to get it to produce- Mm-hmm ... for her.

m- most as sh- as, I think in our opening statement, you were talking about, you know, consistency. Most people don't have-

the time

or the energy or the focus to stay as consistent as she did to finally figure out- Mm-hmm ... what the the,

I wouldn't say the trick was, but what the, what triggered her- Magic

channel to go, viral or, you know, have 80,000 followers and start to actually-

turn

leads. That takes a long time. Are you willing to dedicate, where-

I

think we're gonna show some people today the gold is right underneath, you know, underneath you right now, and you don't even realize it.

[00:07:38] Kari Jackson: Absolutely.

[00:07:39] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:07:39] Kari Jackson: Absolutely.

And

consistency with everything is the key. I mean, I, I do have clients that have remarkable social media pres- you know, s-

an

online presence, but it has been a work in progress that they have prioritized for years. and same thing with YouTube. I mean, I do have a few clients that have remarkable [00:08:00] YouTube channels and have, you know, hundreds of subscribers.

And I also sometimes will do some testing it out myself and see, like, is their SEO working for them?

Like-

is it as amazing as they think, think it is? and it is, but it's not for everybody. I mean,

starting-

starting, you know, posting on YouTube is not gonna turn your business in, a week's time, a month's time.

[00:08:22] Tracy Hayes: it-

[00:08:23] Kari Jackson: Yeah ... it

[00:08:23] Tracy Hayes: is a, it definitely a, Long road, you know, marathon. Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

And I, I've always talked, and, and, and just, and this is something just, you know, another that came. I think a, a lot of agents, the majority of the agents are in a 60 to 90 day cycle.

They're

not quite gone beyond versus the, that, you know, 1 or 2% that might actually

They've been doing the business long term, but now they can start to look at long term- Yeah ... know, marketing things like a YouTube channel and so forth. That's- Mm-hmm ... you know, slowly gonna build over time. But let's go, let's just step back a little bit just to give some people a little bit of background on you though, Kerry.

tell us a l- you, you were a teacher. Mm-hmm. Yep. what, [00:09:00] what actually triggered you to, to get into real estate? what gave you that flavor?

[00:09:04] Kari Jackson: Sure. Real estate, in a way, it kind of fell in my lap. but it was

such a life-changing pivot for me. I did teach elementary school for 10 years, between both public school and, parochial school.

then I had, we had kids. Mm. And I had gotten to the point where I was job sharing and only teaching two days a week because I had two littles at home. And so I don't know if people are familiar, but, teachers in the private sector don't make a ton of money. and so it was an easy decision.

Decide, you know, I think I could do something else, and still make it work, you know, balancing at home. So a friend of mine's dad was a developer, here outside of Kansas City, and they were opening a new development, and they, approached me to work within their new community, you know, work in the, in the office.

[00:09:58] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:09:58] Kari Jackson: And

that's what I [00:10:00] decided to do. And then I essentially taught myself the resale side of real estate, as I was learning the new home piece, and I found that I, I love the new construction piece. and I did that for many years. Even through, I worked in new home development all the way up through,

like

2010.

and that was a hard time. Oh, yeah. Like 2008 to 2000, you know, 10 was, was ... And I, I feel very blessed that I was in a community that really fared well. I learned a lot of creative things about real estate transactions and, and options out there, working for these builders and the developer. But it was like the resale was kind of like an added bonus and added a little bit of variety to my day.

So I really loved it, until I didn't. And I got burnt out. I was licensed active agent for 11 years. I still have my license. I keep it in referral status. But, and I just, I just had one transaction that really fell apart and it [00:11:00] was just, uh, the time for me to do something else.

Yeah. What was it about that transaction, if I may ask, that just kinda ripped your heart out it sounds like?

Well,

they

a referral, from a friend, and they were moving from out of town, and they had a very small budget and had, fragile financial circumstances.

[00:11:22] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:11:22] Kari Jackson: And

after showing them, I think it was like 67 homes over like a year, a year's time.

it, 'cause, you know, they would come in town. We would see six or seven. Sure.

[00:11:32] Tracy Hayes: Sure.

[00:11:32] Kari Jackson: this was in 2017. they needed to use a specific loan program, and we were competing every time,

Oh.

so we wrote multiple offers. anyway, I ended up finding them a for sale by owner that I approached myself, and I convinced this for sale by owner to let me bring them in before they were going to list with like a I don't know what you call that.

Like limited service.

[00:11:58] Tracy Hayes: Right

[00:11:58] Kari Jackson: A brokerage service. [00:12:00] And so I got them under contract. it was a gr- wonderful home. the concerns that I had for them, they weren't concerned about. This was involving stairs.

and then we went through the whole process, and that, that young family that was selling their home, went into under contract on a new build, in the meantime.

Well, like two days before closing, my buyers just decided, "Nah." I mean, with no explanation, no remorse, no concern. and these were, you know, family members of, you know, an acquaintance. Mm-hmm. And it was just really challenging. And so I was like, "If, you know, I don't want to be, reaching out to the legal hotline at, you know, Heartland MLS to be-" Mm.

You know, this is just not, this is just not for me. So I felt like, I wanna go to work, and at this point my kids were in school. I mean, they were, you know, middle school at this time. And so I'm like,

I want a job. I wanna go there. I wanna clock in. I wanna do what I [00:13:00] do, and I wanna come home."

And, and I did, for a few years. Loved what I did outside of real estate. But

real estate- So

[00:13:08] Tracy Hayes: left real

[00:13:08] Kari Jackson: in my... I did ... for a couple years.

[00:13:11] Tracy Hayes: Okay.

[00:13:12] Kari Jackson: Mm-hmm, for two years. And I worked for, it's a,

s-

a event planning company, a floral, very, very high-end floral shop.

Family-owned business, but here in downtown Kansas City. you know, renowned. but it, it

a role that I was kind of the hub of everything. From, they had a,

a,

know, a store, the special events, the, interior design department. but I learned so much, like building the website and working behind the scenes and create, replacing their marketing and so many pieces that have brought me to where I am.

because it's, the confidence in that business management, business growth, and business development that made me [00:14:00] say, " I wanna do this, but I still have a passion for real estate." So, do you want me to continue? Yeah, yeah. Okay. I don't wanna,

don't wanna,

drag on and on.

on.

Well- So I actually-

[00:14:11] Tracy Hayes: So

[00:14:11] Kari Jackson: yes, it-

[00:14:11] Tracy Hayes: Yeah

I

obviously

get, something comes across that you, like, go, "Okay, here's an opportunity to go back-

into

real estate," which I like- Yes ... real estate, just not necessarily-

being-

being the, the agent. I am a little curious, and if I c- just kinda make a- Yeah ... I should've been a psychology major.

I've said this m- throughout my entire life, 'cause I, Yeah ... truly believe, you know, and obviously, you know, we weren't there on the ground when you showed 67 homes and, and-

get to- Mm-hmm

get to the 11th hour, the deal's ready to close.

I'm

sure the sellers, you

they're

got their boxes, they're packing up, and, and all of a sudden- Mm-hmm

they, they back out, and it well, obviously tortur- your heart, a little bit. I think every agent has had something similar to that happen to them- Yeah ... along the road. And, and you know, one of the,projects that I've been on, and, it's, it's out now, looking for a, a couple [00:15:00] publishers, is I, I've written a book from roughly-

about 60 agents from my original 300, interviews, and I based it off of Angela Duckworth's Grit, book. Yeah. And,

Yeah ... you know,

this business will, in your case, I mean, you know, punch you in the face sometimes.

And,

you know, and how you react to it and, you know, go at, obviously in this case, you decided, hey, it was a tipping point for you to go-

search

something that was more, uh, pleasurable. it took the joy out of it, where- Yes ... you know, others, obviously, they get knocked down and, they get back up and keep moving along, you know, in, in real estate. but agents need to realize, if you haven't gotten punched in the face like that deal- Mm-hmm

falling apart at the 11th hour yet, you just-

haven't

done enough deals yet.

[00:15:47] Kari Jackson: Exactly. And it's interesting that my perspective is very different now. You know, here we're nine years later, and do I think I should, would have done things differently? [00:16:00] I don't know. But I also, I realize that those quick reactions are not the best reactions.

Mm-hmm. And at the time, it didn't feel quick. I'm very, very intuitive and discerning and very careful. Pretty maybe to a fault, you know, to, avoid change. But as I'm w- working with clients and hearing about things falling apart or, just, you know, clients that seem unreachable, my advice and my response is oftentimes very different than what I chose to do.

Mm-hmm. So your perspective is just hindsight, hindsight's 20/20.

[00:16:41] Tracy Hayes: Well, you had to share, you had to

[00:16:42] Kari Jackson: share-

[00:16:43] Tracy Hayes: that

experience. This is like I try to

[00:16:44] Kari Jackson: share-

[00:16:45] Tracy Hayes: you know,

I can't say, you know, have, have I've had mortgage deals, you know, people shop and go somewhere else or- Yeah ... you know, I think someone backing out of the deal 11th hour happens not as often, hopeful- you know, thank goodness.

If you've got it happening consistently, then there's probably [00:17:00] something wrong with your process. Yep ... but

we've had, you know, in the last year, from what I understand from Jared James and some of the others that,

that,

know, under funded- Yeah

Yeah ... you know,

people backing out of deals is, you know, common right now because of uncertainty, obviously, whether it was interest rates or, or whatever, you know- Yeah

the payments are pushing people to their maximum budgets, currently,

so.

[00:17:20] Kari Jackson: For sure.

[00:17:21] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:17:21] Kari Jackson: For sure. So resilience is huge. Yeah. And, I also believe, you know, acting with the mindset of abundance, is huge. Mm-hmm. Like don't need every single deal. Yes, of course, we value every single deal, but things happen.

And there's probably a reason behind it, and things always pan out for the client, for the realtor, and I feel like, thinking about long-term, ramifications and relationships- Yep ... I feel like I probably would have, taken a different direction. however, it, it is what it [00:18:00] is.

[00:18:00] Tracy Hayes: Yep.

[00:18:00] Kari Jackson: well- So it's- ... you know,

[00:18:01] Tracy Hayes: that, that's everyone, everyone has, had that situation in, in life. Mm-hmm ... you

I

talking to the lady the other... Th- th- people don't realize, they like to think they're the only one, but in reality, you start talking- Oh, yeah ... and you find, you know, it's just... Now, your story's different than someone else, but- Mm-hmm

it was a, it was a door that, or, you know, in this case, you know, I call it pun- you got punched in the face and you decided, but now

you're

making the best of what, what you had. You made a choice. Yep. You know, looking back,

you

maybe I would've made a different choice today, but you're now thriving in, in what you're doing with Top of Mind KC.

So let's go back- Exactly ... to that. So you're, you step out, but there, an opportunity comes up where you can take some of your expertise now you've learned and, and so forth, and get back into real estate?

[00:18:48] Kari Jackson: Yes. So I happened upon a listing, maybe on Facebook or something, I'm not sure, where an agent who I wasn't familiar with, um, and Kansas City is very much a big small [00:19:00] town, especially in the real estate industry.

To, at that time, I was...

I didn't know the name of the agent that was looking for support.

[00:19:08] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:19:08] Kari Jackson: And

so I contacted a friend who, she is an agent, and the reason why I would consider her a friend is we had co-opt on multiple transactions. We worked a very much, very similar market-

[00:19:22] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:19:23] Kari Jackson: kinda just by happenstance in our, our location. And so we had gotten to be good friends. So I reached out to her and said, "Hey, what do you know about

so and so?"

Right. And she was like, "Oh, I don't know that name either, but let me do some checking and I'll get back to you." So she called, she pulled, you know, market stats out of MLS- Mm-hmm

production, you know, told me where she was. Didn't, still didn't know any background information. but we got to talking and I did interview with that agent and I knew right away it was not gonna be a fit. and that's okay, just, you know, personalities when you're going in to support someone's business, you know, I think [00:20:00] personality, it's so important.

but I'm so glad I made that phone call because that, called back and was like, "Okay, so I've been thinking about it, like, what, you know, what's going on?" Mm-hmm. Like, " are you thinking about coming back to the business?" And so I told her and then she was like, "You know, I've been thinking about it" and she at that point had built a family team and they were, still are a highly successful team in our area and-

And she

was like, " I want you to come work for us." So we worked it out and, I was able to, you know, give notice at my role at the time and, step aside and, and go work for them. So it worked great. And so then I worked for them for about two years. Loved what I was doing. I was essentially director of client care, partnered with the director of operations who was out of state.

and so I was kind of the person in town, the local,

you know, kinda hub of that team and, I really, really loved what I did. I [00:21:00] had, I saw, I recognized the need For other agents

to have

the type of support that I was providing for their team Yes, let's, so let's, let's dig,

[00:21:11] Tracy Hayes: let's dig into that, 'cause I think

this is a learning moment here, from- Mm-hmm

you know, agents who have teams, or I mean, even some solo agents that are, you know- Mm-hmm ... I call it the lid. They all reach their lid- Yeah ... of what they're doing. Mm-hmm.

Mm.

And, you know, whether it's say, "Hey, I need to get a transaction coordinator," or, "I need a personal assistant," or, "I need someone to- Mm-hmm

you know, pick up this, this marketing piece because, one, I'm not the best at it, and it's taking up a lot of my time- Yeah ... I don't truly enjoy it, so let me find someone who does enjoy it and is probably better than me at it."

[00:21:41] Kari Jackson: Absolutely.

[00:21:42] Tracy Hayes: Yeah

[00:21:42] Kari Jackson: Yeah. Yep, that's exactly it.

it. And,

the thing, I think that it feels very black and white, especially for a solo agent.

It feels like I, I have to hire a full-time agent. Like, how do you find somebody who can help me, like, only when it's busy?

[00:21:58] Tracy Hayes: Right

[00:21:58] Kari Jackson: Or,

you know, I [00:22:00] really only need them from, like, April to October, and then I really don't wanna have an employee that I'm... You know, I really like my kinda downtime November to January or wha- however they work their business.

Mm-hmm. And,

And,

and it, that is way too big of an adjustment for an agent, so

so

don't, they don't get help because it feels too hard. It feels

too- They, they- So ... don't real- I

[00:22:25] Tracy Hayes: think the, our economy is changing, and I think the term fractional came up in my intro. and, uh, I was at a meeting, last week, and someone used the term fractional.

I don't think people realize how many fractional employees, at all different wa- it's a fractional CFO. Yeah. It's a fractional- Absolutely ... marketing manager. It's a fra-

They

they are, people are realizing, hey, with technology, A, I don't have, I can work from home. and I've got clients some of them all around the world, but all around the country- Mm-hmm

whatever it may be, and I, I'm [00:23:00] doing a little bit for each one of them, 'cause that's all they need me for. They only have- Exactly ... two or three hours of work a week or a month or whatever it might-

whatever

their situ- whatever it is they need you for, and you're, you're being that person for them without being, you know, on someone's full-time payroll.

[00:23:17] Kari Jackson: Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely. And so there aren't,

You know,

it's expensive to have an employee too. Mm-hmm. So to, you know, when it comes to benefits, the, you know, that, that side. and it's just so much less expensive, and custom fit services.

Yeah.

Yeah. The other thing, too, that I recognize is even when I was a full-time employee for that team, projects that were my

m-my talent,

of my talent take one-tenth of the time that it does for them.

So I think oftentimes agents feel like they need extensive help with marketing, for example.

[00:23:56] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:23:56] Kari Jackson: But I don't spend six hours on an open house [00:24:00] flyer.

Exactly ... I could have an open house flyer to you in 30 minutes if you give me everything I need right away Right So it's just so many... I can organize a CRM.

I can set up a new CRM in a matter of a few hours. I can optimize your social media platforms. You know, I, because this is what I do-

[00:24:17] Tracy Hayes: Yeah

[00:24:18] Kari Jackson: I'm very efficient, and I do,

like I,

I definitely pride myself in, like, stewardship of my clients' money and my clients' time, and so I want to make them as successful as possible, too.

So my point is, is really that there's help out there.

Like-

it doesn't have to be all or nothing. You don't need every single bell and whistle and offer out there. if you need some part-time, part-time help, it's the time to get it. There are

[00:24:42] Tracy Hayes: people geared for it. Like, as- Mm-hmm

you're geared to be that agent's part-time person for two or three hours a week or, you know, whatever it is, 'cause you're- Yeah ... you got 10 other agents that you're working with to give you a full week-

[00:24:52] Kari Jackson: Yeah ...

[00:24:52] Tracy Hayes: of work. top

[00:24:53] Kari Jackson: of mind- Exactly

[00:24:54] Tracy Hayes: top of mind, Casey, when does that, come to fruition for you?

When do you start that?

[00:24:58] Kari Jackson: I actually kind of, [00:25:00] started building the, the behind-the-scenes- In two, just after COVID, so like late 2020. And then, what happened was ultimately someone I knew online that did similar work, and was kind of serving as a little bit of a mentor to me, referred me out to someone.

[00:25:22] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:25:22] Kari Jackson: And

And she was in Myrtle Beach, and I'm in Kansas City, but this agent was in Myrtle Beach, needed lit- literally my first contract, my first client, needed five hours a month. That's what it was for.

[00:25:34] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:25:34] Kari Jackson: So I hated to, to send her away and decline the referral and recommendation, but I still was a full-time employee.

So I actually went to the team leads, that I worked for and talked to them about it, and I was willing to taper off. and, knowing

that this was my long-term goal, but we actually decided at that point that they weren't so sure about [00:26:00] that transition time. And so I was done that day.

So I was not expecting that.

we

depend on my income, and so I had to hightail it and, you

tinkering

around building my own business was no longer tinkering.

So-

but within a month I had replaced, I had replaced my,

[00:26:18] Tracy Hayes: Income

[00:26:19] Kari Jackson: building in, you know, with... Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. So i- it was

kind of like-- and I really think that had it gone any differently, it, maybe wouldn't be where it is today. You know, here I am four, five years later-

and,

it would have taken diving in.

[00:26:34] Tracy Hayes: so the reason why I was asking that, you know, how long, 'cause now, you know, AI comes around in, I think, ChatGPT, was it November of '21 or '22 that they launched?

And- Mm

the things that you rattled off, like, "Hey, I can, you know, get your CRM squared away. I can do this and I can do that." Mm-hmm. And some of the biggest corporations, right now, and I won't mention names, but I know that some of the people listening know who I'm [00:27:00] thinking about- marketing departments are not doing anything.

they're afraid AI is going to replace them, I think. Yeah. Is the only thing- Yeah ... only reason I could say is like, why are you not using AI? Because I see- Mm-hmm ... some of their... they'll create a f- a flyer or some other, you know, the materials, that the, the salespeople, the loan officers, real estate agents are using and, and it's Canva 101 versus- You put it in Claude Design and say, "Yeah, here's my Canva 101.

Make it better." And it makes- Yeah ... and it does some amazing things. How is AI- Yes ... you know, how are you using it, and how has it m- made you even better at those services that you talked about? Because when you, you talked about one of the most valuable things, which is time, you're doing-

one-tenth

of a time that, that someone w- who's not, has your experience was doing the same-

[00:27:55] Kari Jackson: Right ...

[00:27:56] Tracy Hayes: type of assignment. Now with AI- Mm-hmm ... that one-tenth probably [00:28:00] becomes, you know, one twenty-fifth.

[00:28:02] Kari Jackson: Yes. Yeah. Yes. It certainly can. I will say, I think I'm probably one of the latter adopters to AI.

more out of just not knowing.

And so I do use ChatGPT, and I hear wonderful things about Claude, and I'm so intimidated to move over.

So-

but anyway, I do kinda get in my-

[00:28:23] Tracy Hayes: actually, if you, you

[00:28:25] Kari Jackson: Yes ... if, if you want to

[00:28:25] Tracy Hayes: ask

there is a process where you can transfer all your, all your-

ChatGPT

memory over to

Claude.

Yeah.

Yeah. The only- Yeah ... the only

only thing I like... Well, I have both. So- Yeah ... I use ChatGPT. It creates a lot of images for me, 'cause it's gotten really good with that. Mm-hmm. Okay. Claude, I love the Claude extension,

to

be able to- Yeah ... go onto my LinkedIn and say, "Hey, take these blogs and go ahead and schedule them out for the next month."

and it's

it's over there doing that, and I'm working on something else, you know? So- Yes ... does, they both have, some, some pluses and [00:29:00] minuses, there, just depending on how you would, obviously utilize them. Yes. But I, every day I find like- For sure

let

see if it'll do this."

You know?

[00:29:07] Kari Jackson: Yeah. That

[00:29:07] Tracy Hayes: type of thing. Yeah.

[00:29:07] Kari Jackson: Yeah. Yeah. Me too. and every time the answer is yes. Like, you know, sometimes I might have to, you know, connect, integrate another program or something, but I will say, when it comes to graphic design and materials, I still do all of it myself.

I ha- done with a couple of the fun, you know, when you see the fun, like, "Hey, put this prompt in and see what it comes up," like graphic-wise. Those are always fun, just

for play. But, I have streamlined my graphic design, you know, like with, I mean, I have so many templates, so many, you know, most of the time an agent can say, "Hey, I'm, my neighborhood's having a garage sale," you

and

I'm like, "Oh, let me send you over what I've got, let me know what, what you wanna use, what you don't wanna use."

Mm-hmm. And,

and it's very easy to customize, you know, things for other people. For agents. And, and sometimes it's a brand-new idea.

[00:29:58] Tracy Hayes: the, one of the challenges when you were saying, "Look, they [00:30:00] only needed me five hours a week, this place in Myrtle Beach."

Beach-

Or five, five hours a month, I was like, well, after I spent the five hours, and maybe it might be three weeks before I work on, with them again, and if I'm working with all these people in between, I kinda lose where I was at with them- Mm-hmm ... when I dropped it. And it just made me think that, because I, you know, f- I've got multiple different projects and things going on, from my book to some other things that are going on, that- Yeah

I would create a project in Claude or chatGPT- Mm-hmm ... with that client, and, and- Mm-hmm ... you know, you're talking to Claude or Chat, or Chat, any of the AI models, this is what I'm doing- Mm-hmm ... for the client. You, they, they remember, so when, when it comes back- Mm-hmm ... like three weeks later, "Oh, hey, I need to go and pick up on that project.

Where did we leave off at?" And it remembers- Yeah ... that better than we do, and can recall- Yes ... because you're keeping it in that project, and that, that chat has, you know, "Hey, this is XYZ customer," and that, it just- Yes ... that just thought came to mind so, from that

[00:30:57] Kari Jackson: standpoint. Yes. Yes, great point.

[00:30:59] Tracy Hayes: [00:31:00] Yeah. So I, I wanted to dig in. So what, the first, you go back into real estate with this company- Mm-hmm

you're

working, Director of Communications. What are some things that you were doing directly, so for our agents who are listening, talk about some-

of

of the things that they utilized you for within, at that time you were just working for that one team.

What were you, what

[00:31:18] Kari Jackson: were some- Sure ... of

[00:31:19] Tracy Hayes: the projects and, and things that you were working for that moved the needle for them?

[00:31:23] Kari Jackson: Sure. ultimately, I mean, I was a full-time employee for them.

I essentially was, like the listing director. I put in all of the MLS listings, I set up the, they have a pretty extensive process of getting homes ready for the market.

[00:31:38] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:31:38] Kari Jackson: Mm-hmm. and you know, their client journey is pretty extensive, and I handled all of that. In-person things. I even put the signs out. I would set up, photography appointments, staging appointments, all of that. I also planned all of their, like, big client events. They do three really, really big client events.

they're big because they've done it for four [00:32:00] years. They are definitely, a team that is very consistent, and they're always, you know, calculating return on investment and reevaluating after an event and preparing for the next year. just as we finish, we finish, you know, the event for this year.

so I did all of that, lo- all of their graphic design. flyer, you know, flyers were a thing then. I mean- Yeah ... we had flyers in every house. marketing booklets, also maintaining, their CRM. They use Brevity, which is a beast. and I know Brevity's come a long way, and I think they've integrated AI too, but, just keeping, keeping things, the wheels in motion for them.

I did not do, as mu- They were very big on client outreach and, sphere outreach and keeping in contact with their people. I did not play a role in that. that is something that I find that I'm definitely help in category now-

the,

keeping agents.

[00:32:57] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm I'm gathering the mindset, and this is [00:33:00] where I think the some of the real estate agents and we're, you know, one of the topics I always talk about is, you know, choose the right brokerage, right?

how

yeah ... how are they doing business?

And- Mm-hmm

it sounded like from the team standpoint, they wanted you to take, y- you, you went in, you put the listings in the MLS. You were even putting signs out there. you're organizing events, because a lot of the things that you're doing are not

direct

money-making activities.

Going out- Right ... and doing the listing appointment, that's a money-making activity. Now that I- Yeah ... have the listing appointment, then they were handing it off for you to then go and do all that administrative stuff that follows, like, from scheduling the open house. They just wanna show up and, you know, they had their flyers.

You had a, you, you package for them- Mm-hmm ... ready to go, so that alls they did-

is

go out and execute the money-making activity, the forward-facing activities- Absolutely ... was in this case an open house and, and that kind of thing. Mm-hmm. And

And I,

I think,

you may have some insight having, you know, you're working with different people, different, whether it's a solo agent or [00:34:00] teams or whatever, that what I've noticed is the brokers who really thrive in, or I think even during this tough t- market right now- Mm-hmm

who are actually still growing and

definitely m-

retaining their agents, are doing a lot of what you were doing for that team. A lot of that- Mm-hmm ... time-consuming, agents are not experts at, you know, doing the... Let alone, I mean, obviously you talk to the MLS and listen to the horror stories of- Yeah

you know, everybody and anybody inputting stuff into the, uh, description

all that kind of stuff. Mm-hmm. When you have someone who's really good at it and consistently do them, you were doing it for the whole office, so there was a high level, because that's what your job was- Yes

a higher level

Yes ... of,

of quality when they did-

the

the listing agreement. You weren't forgetting the pool and the house that had a pool. Absolutely. You know, that ha-

[00:34:51] Kari Jackson: that-

[00:34:51] Tracy Hayes: that- Yeah ... it's

[00:34:52] Kari Jackson: yes ... as crazy as it happens. Yeah. Yes. Absolutely. And I would say that that team doesn't do anything [00:35:00] Below a level of excellence Mm

still to this day.

Yeah.

mean, they, they're remarkable. and so the experience with them, a- and we, we, made a great team.

I'm a high I, high C, and my, the Rainmaker is very much a high D, and she doesn't wanna do what I was doing,

Right. And

I wanted to do what I was doing, and she knew that her top 20% tasks were not typing into the MLS.

[00:35:30] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:35:31] Kari Jackson: Yeah. So, and it, there's a big level of trust there, too, in that, and I, I think that's a big thing, when you do, you know, outreach for support, having people that... Real estate is its own beast, and I really truly believe that you have to have lived the business to know the business, and you have to be able to trust the people behind, you know?

So, at the time, I was a great fit for, like, compliance reasons, and I

I

[00:36:00] had been using the same MLS myself, so I,

I

knew, you know, the ins and outs and, you know, the expectations of my team, so-

So but- ... that was huge ... you

[00:36:10] Tracy Hayes: were, you were an agent

for,

it was about 11 years before

you,

you know-

you

two years and then, then you come in as an, from an operational standpoint support- Mm-hmm

Mm-hmm

here.

What things did you learn working with that team for a couple years that maybe even expand, obviously expanded your mind and then you saw, well, there, actually there's a lot of agents out here that, that need what I'm doing, and I could work fractionally.

Mm-hmm. did, you know- Yeah

Yeah

what are some of the things that you're, you know, just, that opened your eyes, kinda opened, you know, you kinda got a, even a better 30,000, 30,000 foot look at what was going on behind- Sure ... the scenes

Yeah ... versus

when you were doing front line and back line work by yourself, but now you're just doing the back line.

Oh my goodness, there's this whole thing. I could do so much

[00:36:54] Kari Jackson: more. Yes.

[00:36:54] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:36:55] Kari Jackson: Yes. Well, and when I was in real estate, I was, [00:37:00] with a nationwide brokerage. but they're not one s- one that is known for training and backgrounds unlike fostering agent relationships. in fact, I had 100% commission because I paid a, a pretty hefty desk fee, to be an agent there.

and the other agents that I worked with, they were never in the office. Like, they were established, you know, older agents. There wasn't a lot of training. There wasn't a lot of... So in many ways, I didn't know what I didn't know.

[00:37:31] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:37:32] Kari Jackson: And multiple times I had, you know, I had dear friends that were associated with Keller Williams, and they would, you know, tell me and, in a way be recruiting.

this team happened Keller Williams at the time. And I think being involved at the brokerage level, 'Cause

'Cause I

I would go to Bold. I would- Mm-hmm ... I would come to team meetings, I would present on panels. I would,it really opened my eyes to so many different avenues [00:38:00] of, opportunity for agents that, that agents don't have the time for.

[00:38:06] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:38:06] Kari Jackson: You know, they, they go to the trainings, they go to these panels, they get all of these ideas, and they're s- they're taking it all in and jotting notes as fast as they can, but they're s- so overwhelmed- Yep ... that they don't even know where to start. It, it's a fire hose. And- Like, they can't- Yes ... yeah.

They can't. Yes, it's so motivating.

[00:38:24] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:38:24] Kari Jackson: get the piece of that cheerleading that, you know, the teacher in me is

is

"I, definitely want to, you know, be an encourager and motivator," but I also want it to be real. I wanted it to be feasible and reachable for these agents. So, you know, to go from a team, you know, where, you know, they had a TC, they had a director of operations, they had me, and then I was, you know, seeing individual agents that,

like,

you know, and just masterminding and- Mm

in social settings and things, I, you know, I think I just recognized that I could help them. Like, and I think I'm

of a [00:39:00] servant by nature, you know? And so I, I love to serve. I love to be on the backside.

I

[00:39:06] Tracy Hayes: let,

[00:39:07] Kari Jackson: I don't want to manage.

[00:39:08] Tracy Hayes: Yeah, let's, let's dig into- Mm-hmm ... Top of Mind KC.

[00:39:12] Kari Jackson: Mm-hmm.

[00:39:12] Tracy Hayes: and I think we're at the point where you s- you saw opportunity.

You know, the Myrtle, Myrtle Beach comes up, and then they realize, "Hey, okay, well, you wanna, you, you go out on your own."

you, if you're,you know, you had an opportunity to, you know, be in front of a, a group of agents today and, kinda give the, the sales, spiel, what is Top-

of

KC and how it can help an agent? So what are some of the services you're, offering- Mm-hmm ... and give some color, some background how some of your services probably have developed or evolved since you started.

[00:39:45] Kari Jackson: Sure. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. and I mean, from the very beginning, like that, we'll start with that Myrtle Beach agent.

she was a well-established agent, had been in the industry for many years. originally from New York, Long Island. and, that is her personality. Yeah. [00:40:00] That is her, that is her. Myrtle Beach has a very different vibe. Very different. but, you know, to foster a real estate business in an area where you're not born and raised is different than, you know, when you have a lifetime of a sphere of influence.

Right. So

So

she, was a RE/MAX agent. She had, they used KV Core, or it was KV Core at the time. It's Bold Trail now, but, And then she also was u- had a market leader website, and so she initially hired me to organize her leads as they were coming in. And so- And her leads were coming from? Uh, market leader.

[00:40:37] Tracy Hayes: Okay

[00:40:38] Kari Jackson: which I'm not sure if Market Leader is still out there. It might be rebranded to something else. but she did have consistent leads coming in. Uh,she essentially, like, was paying for them, but she recognized that she was not keeping up with them. She was not, you know, following up.

and, expeditiously. You know, she would maybe check in every week or so, [00:41:00] but I think we all know that if you don't, if you don't connect with a lead that pops in from your website or something right away, then they've already talked to five agents,

you know-

in the first four hours.

so I set that up for her, organized her CRM. She needed to consolidate all of her contacts and get them in a system to where she could even, even like, keep accountability for her follow-up. Now, let me- So that's-

[00:41:26] Tracy Hayes: take, let me take that part to the street a little bit and just so anyone listening- Sure

because I've seen some, you know, amazing things as these CRMs, you know, some of them are now-

are set

up that, so the agent can actually, you know, they're driving down the road, just like you can talk to Chat or Claude or whatever-

you

you can actually talk your notes into- you know, which is important if you're keeping a really good CRM, that you're keeping notes on this- Yeah

customer you're trying to follow up, 'cause you're talking to other customers in between, you don't wanna forget where you left off-

right? Right.

right? Oh, right So and correct me if I'm wrong, I assume based on what you're saying, you were... [00:42:00] the lead's coming in, so obviously we're getting it into the CRM.

you're keeping notes, you're setting up follow-up times to reminders for her to follow up and that sort of thing.

that

Is that

kind of what

[00:42:10] Kari Jackson: you're doing?

[00:42:11] Tracy Hayes: Yep.

[00:42:11] Kari Jackson: Yeah. Yep.

Yep. Yep, absolutely. And, you

Bold

Trail or kvCORE is very intuitive. It gives background information. I would gather that, try to, you

educate

her about the lead, create urgency when there was, you

I

felt like, you know, this was, a

hot lead.

Yeah. Like,

And we,

we need to, to be proactive.

[00:42:30] Tracy Hayes: You want-- so

[00:42:31] Kari Jackson: You want to start categorizing them, you know-

Yes ... whether you want hot,

[00:42:34] Tracy Hayes: medium, cold, or ABC, whatever it is, you gotta-

[00:42:37] Kari Jackson: Yeah ... you

[00:42:38] Tracy Hayes: gotta

code them to make sure you're- providing the follow-up service that they would-

[00:42:42] Kari Jackson: Yes ... you

[00:42:43] Tracy Hayes: hopefully they expect. Yeah.

[00:42:44] Kari Jackson: Y- yes.

And then once I got her contacts organized, then we started doing, I took on a, a monthly newsletter email-

[00:42:53] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm ...

[00:42:53] Kari Jackson: that

I would send out for her. I formatted it, and then we used the same format, and did those. I also did, she [00:43:00] farmed a couple of specific communities, right in her hyperlocal area, and we did mailings.

Again, you

this

was 2021.

[00:43:08] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:43:08] Kari Jackson: at that time, and I think mailing has definitely come back, and found a place. But,at that time, you know, it definitely served a purpose. she kind of built a little farming community where she's, where she's close to.

[00:43:20] Tracy Hayes: Yep.

[00:43:21] Kari Jackson: so I, I actually worked with her and it, and her...

I ended up taking on her social media at one point, too. so that kind of leads me to, I've always, While it would be really great to have a cookie cutter offer and say, "This is what I do, this is what I do. Do you want A or B?"

[00:43:37] Tracy Hayes: Right.

[00:43:37] Kari Jackson: Real estate is just not conducive to that. And so I, always, you know, say I, I meet my clients where they're at.

Some people are remarkable at their lead organization

and

they can use their CRM like a whiz bang. and that's not what they need me for. You know, they need me to handle their pot buys, whether [00:44:00] it be figuring out what we're going to... What they're gonna do, what they want to hand out, making the creative that goes behind it.

some teams they don't do pot buys, 'cause they said they're gonna sit in my trunk, and I'm like, "Thank you for telling me that."

Yeah. Like, we're

not gonna waste the funds or the time. So we found a way to do mail buys, and they mail out two pot buys a year, and it's extensive. I mean, I mailed Girl Scout cookies twice a...

No, once a year for, probably three years straight. That particular team is in Denver and they, his, sister and dad that have ended up coming into the business and they're both local. And I know they utilize AI, but they also hired someone in-house- Mm ... that was local to them that could do a lot of the things that

we were paying

[00:44:48] Tracy Hayes: I

[00:44:48] Kari Jackson: to do from Kansas City.

I,

[00:44:50] Tracy Hayes: I have to put the plug, I have to put the plug it, put the plug in for the Girl Scout cookies. When they went

to

[00:44:52] Kari Jackson: the shipping-

[00:44:53] Tracy Hayes: Yeah ... and if you order enough- Yes ... to gets like five boxes, they'll put it in a special box and mail it out.

I'm

I'm like, that's the, the greatest thing, [00:45:00] especially a real estate agent that has a girl- has

a,

a daughter who's in Girl Scouts, way to run up their numbers is to do the pot- Huge.

Yeah. Yeah. Utilize- Yes, and- ... the Girl Scout cookies

Yes,

[00:45:09] Kari Jackson: and my team, my team didn't know a Girl Scout, so

that- You- ... was,

that was, you

I

was charged. Of course, you know, I still I mean, I think her mom still checks in with me in January like, "Hey, girls, you guys need cookies." 'Cause-

right.

know, we'd, we would need like 386 boxes.

[00:45:25] Tracy Hayes: Right.

[00:45:26] Kari Jackson: so yeah, definitely, definitely prime target. But I love, and I think we use like, scouting for homes to sell or are you scouting for your next place, something like that. Super cute. The clients came to expect it. Not expect it, but,

you know-

anticipate it- Sure. Yeah ... each year and yeah, it was great.

I love to find ways, you know, to get my clients to touch their audience in a meaningful way. You know, there's all kinds of ideas that, that are out there and, they're great, but we want it to be [00:46:00] meaningful and we want it to be, you know, worth, worth the investment and, show genuine you know, interest- Right

in their clients. So- This, this question again Yeah

[00:46:11] Tracy Hayes: We,

we, you touched on a little bit, but I want you to answer it directly, 'cause I think this is very- Yeah ... important.

Yeah.

my feeling on CRMs is CRMs do so much. They are-

fire

hose of

the many

ways you can use a CRM to do so many things, that when they come in and train you on a CRM, just like you were talking about, you, you know, these agents sit in front of it and they tell you 1,000 different things they can do.

Yeah. It paralyzes- Mm-hmm ... most of the agents, and they never do anything. When- Absolutely ... really they need someone like... But the, the question that, that we came up with is what is the difference between a CRM that just has contacts and a CRM- Mm-hmm ...

[00:46:50] Kari Jackson: that

[00:46:50] Tracy Hayes: actually runs someone's business?

[00:46:53] Kari Jackson: Well, my f- my first instinct is expense.

[00:46:56] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:46:57] Kari Jackson: These CRMs that are so intuitive [00:47:00] are s- are very, very expensive.

[00:47:02] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:47:02] Kari Jackson: And I mean, they can be very valuable, but it's almost like you need to have a team member or someone that can invest the time in learning and training how to use it.

[00:47:15] Tracy Hayes: Yes.

[00:47:16] Kari Jackson: just the setup, like the integrating your website and integrating your, socials and, and there's so many integrations that if, if you're not using it, that would be one of the first places I would encourage an agent to cut their budget.

[00:47:30] Tracy Hayes: Well,

[00:47:31] Kari Jackson: would start with- If you're not

using it, everyone should have one, but if you're not

using it- Yes ... it's

[00:47:34] Tracy Hayes: why

[00:47:34] Kari Jackson: do you have it? Might as well just use a spreadsheet.

Exactly. Yeah, yeah. Yep.

And

And with AI, like it's amazing what chatGPT can do with a Google Sheet. Mm-hmm. If you, you

I

don't have any agents that use a Google Sheet for their CRM.

However, I, I have, you know, the agents that use their CRM consistently with [00:48:00] accurate information, and they keep it updated, are the ones making the biggest impact with their follow-up. So you have to find something that you will use, and if you don't, if you don't have the capacity or support to learn the ins and outs, then that CRM is not for you.

[00:48:23] Tracy Hayes: Now, so we could touch on this for, for the listeners, because like I, I totally agree with you. There has to be s- somebody in that organization has to be the expert and is making sure all those integration, all those things that you just mentioned are going on. Mm-hmm. Yes. And, you know, is there a regular email campaign going out?

That type of thing. Mm-hmm. I totally agree because there's way too much to do that the, the simple loan officer or simple agent, they have ideas of what they would like to use it for, but they really don't have the time to learn it-

and

and then consistently do it and, and be good at it.

That

That having that dedicated person, that's a service [00:49:00] you provide. Am I correct?

[00:49:02] Kari Jackson: Correct. So oftentimes when I first meet a client, I'm like, "Tell me about your business.

Like what

are you using? What's working? What's not working? what do you feel like always gets pushed to the, to the back burner?"

Mm. "What is bringing you the most leads? Where sh-" You know? And oftentimes they'll say, "Well, you know, I have Follow Up Boss, and I know that I can text within that platform, but I don't know how." And then, and, I know how to do that, because I've done it before, and the agent that asked me about it, I didn't know, but I was that person.

And again, if I have the time to sit on the phone with the help desk or to e- say, "Hey, I..." And that would be my biggest piece of advice, too, is,

like

Follow Up Boss is so intuitive, and their help, their support is amazing. You can email them and say, "Hey, I set up, a weekly email campaign. How do I do that?"

And the response will be, "Well, I set that up [00:50:00] for you. If you go here, you know, this is where you're... And click here, you're gonna s- This is where you're gonna put your content. If you want it to be automated with the scripts and the, the content we provide, you can just click here and it's ready." Or I mean,

they,

they, if you ask, they teach you how to do it.

Sometimes tho- that type of support is an extra expense, but I find that it is well worth it if you have a person that can learn it and use that information moving forward.

[00:50:31] Tracy Hayes: Consistently.

[00:50:32] Kari Jackson: just taking it all in-

Go, the, the- Mm-hmm ... the CRM has to be a part of- Yeah ... especially any large- Mm-hmm

organization has to, someone has to be manning that, that station

Yep, absolutely.

[00:50:42] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:50:43] Kari Jackson: And my biggest piece of advice when it comes to a CRM

is

the key is having an act scheduled for every single contact, whether you sold them a house 10 years ago, or you met them at, at a garage sale yesterday. When you put the contact [00:51:00] in there, you instantly schedule your next intention to outreach.

So if I put somebody in from the garage sale or the, my kid's soccer game today, I'm gonna put all the information that I know. Obviously I'm not gonna know everything, but I'm gonna put in enough, even if I don't even know their last name. Sometimes it could be Marshall's dad, you know? Just keep them in there or else you're gonna forget.

So put them in, and then schedule an activity for the follow, the next day that says, "Email Marshall's dad, thank them for the..." And you don't even, you don't even have to fill out, if you're gonna be the one to do it, you can just say, "Follow up Marshall's dad" with the date. And then it's, your CRM is going to tell you what's due today.

[00:51:43] Tracy Hayes: Right.

[00:51:43] Kari Jackson: And that is, I think the task piece is in almost all CRMs, and it's probably the piece that no one uses. But, and if you don't have a CRM, you can do the same thing by putting them in your own Google Calendar, your i- [00:52:00] or whatever you use. Right. If you add someone to your phone, instantly schedule a task.

maybe it's in six months. Maybe it's somebody who says, "You know what? My so-and-so's retiring. Next year we're thinking about selling. I, I'm not sure." Well, put them in there and check in with them in three months and say, "Hey, I was just thinking about you. I know you said Bob was retiring."

You're not gonna remember that, but in your calendar you will. And put the notes in there.

[00:52:27] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[00:52:28] Kari Jackson: Bob retiring.

[00:52:29] Tracy Hayes: Because after so many times that slips, 'cause you didn't remember- Yep ... you just give it up all together. Versus the other way- Yeah ... you actually are doing, goes, "Oh, I only need to make three calls today, or I only need three touches- Yep

to these, to my CRM's telling me I need three touches today," and you get them done. Mm-hmm. you start to feel this, a sense of accomplishment. this next question- Yeah ... kind

of

evolves from that and what we're talking about. Like you said, even if you just have Marshall's dad in there, you, you need to be- Yeah

putting it in your CRM. you believe most agents do not [00:53:00] need more leads, but what do they actually need?

[00:53:03] Kari Jackson: They need to follow up and create connection with the leads that they have, the people that they know. A warm lead is 100 times more reachable than some random that's gonna be sent to you from Zillow or ShowingTime.

I'm not saying that those

are,

should be disregarded, but paying for leads that come in with absolutely zero connection-

[00:53:28] Tracy Hayes: Yeah

[00:53:29] Kari Jackson: is, I mean, it almost takes a miracle or some magic to, to-

[00:53:32] Tracy Hayes: it's

[00:53:33] Kari Jackson: lot of times it's a jump ball with five other agents.

Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. And it's hard when you, you know, time is of the essence for when it comes to leads, and if they don't know you, then it's hard to stand out- Mm

from that very beginning other than being first, and sometimes being first feels a little over the top and slimy, and like you just wanna, you know, you wanna be yourself. You can be yourself with people who already know you, you know? [00:54:00] People who, and you know, sometimes people are like,

like,

they just bought their house two years ago.

Like, I don't really need to be soliciting them." But you're not soliciting them- Yeah. Yeah, you're not ... because yes,

Yeah

stuff happens and people can get new jobs. Who they know. You wanna know who they know. People- You wanna get in their circle. Yes. Yeah. It's, you just want to be the top of mind agent for all of those people in your world and you know, you can wear your real estate name tag, and you can post on socials every, every listing and every sold, but those go by the wayside.

They, you've really got to build a connection on a personal level, and every touch does not need to be business related, especially with your warm leads, you know? and so even those past, those past contacts, like when a transaction closes, Then I automatically schedule a follow-up.

Add them to, like this is a specific agent, Izzy Smith is remarkable. The busiest agent I have ever encountered. [00:55:00] She's 29, so she's still got, like, a lot of energy. But she's remarkable, and she's in the mid-Missouri area. and actually, she has an online business manager that contracted me specifically to support Izzy, because real estate is not their forte.

and so they do a lot of marketing and social media work for her.

I strictly

work for her as,

like

silent partner behind the scenes, and sh- I think that this is my most impactful partnership.

[00:55:30] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[00:55:30] Kari Jackson: Mm-hmm. and we connect multiple times a week at a scheduled time for us to go through, go through her pipeline of who do we need to, who do we need to contact today?

What do you need to follow up? And ultimately, I serve as that, AI, if you will, in the back burner. She's constantly texting me just a screenshot of Marshall's dad that she met at soccer last night. Right. Or hey, she'll send me a business card and say, "I wanna add these to my, vendor list." Great.

[00:56:00] Right.

it might be the, the new roster from the, the chamber that she's a member of, that she's like, "Hey, I definitely want to keep these, emails close, so let's talk about that tomorrow."

[00:56:11] Tracy Hayes: Right.

[00:56:11] Kari Jackson: so again,

it's, we maybe connect one on one less than an hour a week because it's just check, it's just quick check-in calls, but it keeps her in line. and it keeps, it's a sense of accountability for her, and she does not drop a lead. I mean, she just, she values each and every person.

Well, knowing you're

[00:56:28] Tracy Hayes: there absorbing and putting these things in the places that they need to be, like the CRM and so forth-

[00:56:33] Kari Jackson: Yeah

[00:56:34] Tracy Hayes: she now actively, like, has no pro- Like, "Oh, well, hey, I gotta get Carrie that list." Click picture. Yeah. Send it. She knows you're taking it, where a lot of people will be like, after a couple times, do I want that list?

I gotta insert all those people. That's gonna take a lot of time. I, I, I'll just forget" Yeah ... "to it, so I don't wanna even take the picture." Or they'll just take a picture and hope that they're gonna go on that diet, and they never actually execute it.

at the end. Right,

[00:56:55] Kari Jackson: right, right. So They're gonna find, they're gonna find-

[00:56:57] Tracy Hayes: they're gonna

[00:56:57] Kari Jackson: find this random picture in their [00:57:00] camera roll, you know, three months later and be like, "What is this? Oh, that's the guy I met at,

you know-

the coffee shop that wanted me to talk about his grandma moving to extended," you know? anyway.

[00:57:13] Tracy Hayes: let me

[00:57:13] Kari Jackson: So you, But, yeah ...

[00:57:14] Tracy Hayes: the,

the next question I want, what's the most common mistake agents, that, you know, hire outside he- hire your service or, you know, the any other- Sure

maybe if it's a transaction coordinator, but what do you find one of the most common mistakes, agents do the first time they hire outside help?

[00:57:31] Kari Jackson: I think that most often agents outsource via a shiny object, like a social media program that's gonna post for you or, Post

campaign, you

where

they automatically send postcards for you each month.

all of these have great value, but they also require your approvals-

[00:57:59] Tracy Hayes: [00:58:00] Mm-hmm ...

[00:58:00] Kari Jackson: and your input before the process gets going, and they don't set it up. They don't get it ready. They don't invest the little bit of time for set or monthly approval. And so it ends up being that they're paying for services that aren't happening, because they missed the deadline to check the box, graphic approved.

Or it got to appro- Um-

[00:58:21] Tracy Hayes: I've,

[00:58:21] Kari Jackson: I've seen that, too. I mean, and now I go on some- Mm-hmm ... of these ads, you know, you see the, the one of the stuff s- now is the, AI. The, "Oh, you don't have to shoot video anymore. Just record yourself- Oh, yeah ... one time, and, you know, just boom." I know some really good AI per- people.

[00:58:37] Tracy Hayes: They're not agents. They're actually, you know- Mm-hmm ... a marketing type of j- And they're using some of the most popular ones that are out there. It's not as easy to set that up as you think it is, and you pay for it, and you realize at some point-

you're like,

"You know what? I'm done with this. I c- I don't have time, you know, to, to do all this- Yeah

stuff to actually set up." It's not as, a turnkey ready as you think it is. Yeah.

[00:58:59] Kari Jackson: [00:59:00] Exactly. And I think, you know, when we essentially are our own business owner, every single realtor has their own business, and you want to stand out. You want to... You

it's

that personal connection. It's that unique piece about you that makes you memorable.

And so when we, I wanna say fall trap. That's not what I mean, but when we take on some of these automated services, you really lose that piece.

And

And, yes, on the AI, I do.

Like

I have a, another client, she happens to be in Missouri, too, not in my area. But, and I do do her social media. I don't do social media for very many agents, but that is something that I do for her and, at a very specific cadence.

And but we... She did sign up for one of those new AI we'll create the video for you things. It's amazing, and I have used it. when it came time to [01:00:00] pick your subscription, you know, then that's where the limitations come in. Mm-hmm. And it's like, "Well, you can get 10 videos a month, but all of the extra bells and whistles cost credits, and you get 150 credits.

But if you add this feature, that takes 30 credits. If you..." So

I mean-

it's- Mm-hmm ... it's not the $39 a month that it looks like. Yeah. It's, it's much more. So I think that's the biggest trap. And then when it comes to, you know, hiring, a person, you know, to support. I think oftentimes agents feel like they have to be in their market.

and that really limits, limits, you know, resourcing someone who knows real estate and can really be advantageous. And so I think that is probably the biggest mistake- Well,

[01:00:47] Tracy Hayes: you

[01:00:48] Kari Jackson: talked earlier about how- ... is feeling like you have a small-

[01:00:50] Tracy Hayes: You talked

[01:00:50] Kari Jackson: earlier about- ... pool ...

[01:00:51] Tracy Hayes: the

competitiveness of the, of the business.

And if you are just hiring local,

you know, especially

from

a marketing standpoint-

that

person's probably mar- doing the [01:01:00] marketing for a bunch of other people in your backyard. And you, have the, either the-

limitations

or the, you know, dissimilarity.

You're,

you're not differentiating yourself either.

to

to look outside- Yeah ... the market for new ideas, right? A lot of these people- Yeah ... love going to these conferences and so forth to get, hear new things that might be going, you know, someone has in some other areas. But, I think this is a, a really important, part that subliminally goes, this next question is, how does the, the weekly check-in call, with you actually changes how an agent runs their business?

[01:01:36] Kari Jackson: Well, it definitely creates a system, because

if you don't have a system to maintain your outreach leads- Mm-hmm ... and also your existing transactions that are in the works, you're recreating the wheel every single day.

Yeah.

And

so that, by nature, that consistent call, whether it [01:02:00] be three times a week or one time a week, we create a system just in our cadence. and I'm very systems and routines just by nature.

And

so if you don't have a system, then we're gonna start there, and we're gonna be creating a system. And, one system doesn't necessarily work for everybody, so it obviously, you

we

find a cadence that works for you.

I think that the weekly call, even though we don't, like, call it an accountability call, I think in many ways that's the feedback I get from agents. They're like- Yeah ... "I know you're gonna ask me about that." Yeah. "When I told, when I tell you I'm gonna send so and so on route Y a CMA, I know when we talk next time it's gonna pop back up," because that's the way we do our system- Yeah

is just to see. And, like, I'll even put, you know, like, you know, if we text, text someone to check in about, you know, "How's, you know, how's prep going?" You know? I'm gonna have it pop up the next [01:03:00] time I talk because I wanna know if there was a response.

[01:03:02] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[01:03:03] Kari Jackson: You know? So we can continue and keep that, that cadence.

So I think that's the best part. the agent that I was referring to earlier, that has an online business manager at Simplified Services, services her business and has for many years, and then I, was contracted in for this piece, the, accountability, basically just back end support.

Mm. She,

when I first met her, and she'll probably hear this, so this is gonna be a little bit funny, but- Mm-hmm,

oftentimes

when I, when I meet new agents, they want to tell me how busy they are and how successful they are, and I love that. I mean, confidence is key to real estate. but she said, "So I'm super busy.

I mean, like,

I'm so busy. Like, I always have transactions going. I sold 68 transactions last year as an individual agent." I'm like Okay. That's amazing. I mean, I, I can't... Like, [01:04:00] that is am- amazing. Yeah.

[01:04:01] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[01:04:02] Kari Jackson: I've never had a client that sold 68 transactions in 12 months. Right.

[01:04:06] Tracy Hayes: Right.

[01:04:07] Kari Jackson: I didn't say that, but in my head.

Right.

[01:04:08] Tracy Hayes: Right.

[01:04:09] Kari Jackson: Well- That's five or six transactions a, a month. That's a lot ... now we've been working... Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean,

that is high stepping. Like, that is moving it. So But I'm thinking, you

maybe

she's got some investors, you

that

buy portfolios, you know?

[01:04:21] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[01:04:21] Kari Jackson: Five, five at a time or something. So we get to working and she had great systems set up already, which, I totally attribute to her.

we had been working, I started with her in June, and in September, it was September 1st, and she said, "I have to stop you." And she said, "I sold 68 transactions last year." and I remembered, I'm like... But, and at this point I did know that, because I do her transaction tracker, and she keeps meticulous book of business, But she was right.

She had sold 68.

[01:04:53] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[01:04:53] Kari Jackson: So,

she said, "I set a stretch goal for this year to sell 75. 68 had been my, my [01:05:00] highest." Right. And, she'd been in the business six or seven years, and she said, "I set a stre- stretch goal for 75, and the TC's gonna be sending you, a contract on whatever the transaction was, and that is number 75."

and I said, "And it's September 1st." And she's like,

"Yeah.

yeah. We sold-" Yeah. So, and at that point, we, she still probably had 12 to 14 listings, active listings. And so I was like, "Oh my God, this is amazing." And she's like- Yeah ... "I totally attribute this to, you know, we share the same. Until we get a no, we're not gonna be annoying, but until we get a no from a contact, then we are consistently following up."

And I screenshot oftentimes, 'cause I'll look at our notes where I keep notes of all of these appointments that I, reach, I change the date. Update, change the date. And I mean, it will be, she will text them maybe once every two months, depending on their story. Like, she listened. She knows what they're after.

She knows what their [01:06:00] timeframe is, and she respects that, and we follow up in between. and those days when she's like, "Oh my gosh,

I haven't heard from them, do you think...? "And I'm like, "Well..." And she, "I'm just gonna text them." And she always does. I

we

rarely push someone off. You, you touch

[01:06:15] Tracy Hayes: on

something right there, 'cause the agent- Mm-hmm

[01:06:18] Kari Jackson: she

[01:06:18] Tracy Hayes: had a, I'm not worthy, should I text them? Is, you know-

she was

she was qu- and I think a lot of us, we all do that. But you-

being

the outside person, you're like, "That's your client. We're contacting them. We're gonna send a text message-" Yeah ... "we're gonna send a card," whatever it is at, the moment in time you're working with.

and- Yeah ... and

then-

and then the, the accountability piece and just consistently doing it. So that kinda leads into, you know, there's some people listening right now might've been in the business for several years, obviously 20, 21, 22. You know, you were selling a lot of homes, stuck a sign in the yard, boom.

there's still sales going on, but s- diff- definitely different market now. Yeah, for sure.

type

thing. So there are probably a good group of people listening right now that, my question says, you know, haven't touched their database for [01:07:00] months. Some haven't touched their database at all.

What

[01:07:02] Kari Jackson: do

[01:07:03] Tracy Hayes: you have them

Mm-hmm

do first?

[01:07:05] Kari Jackson: Mm-hmm. Well, my f- first and foremost, I want them to know that they are not alone. And I know that whole, "Well, if your friend jumps off a cliff, does that make it okay for you to jump o- off?" I'm not just disregarding the importance of the CRM, but I think sometimes agents are, like, almost embarrassed to ask for help because I'm gonna ask them, "So what CRM do you use?"

Or, "Where are your contacts?" And they're like,

"Well-"

I have the church directory, and, I have my Christmas card list." and I'm like, I'm brainstorming with them. I'm like, "So when Chris got married last year, where are the... Where's that list? when you send your Christmas cards out, where's that list?"

And sometimes I'm piecing these pieces together and building that CRM for them if that's our starting point. Yeah. that is my piece of advice, honestly. Whether it be you doing it as your s- you know, the own, i- you know, for your own [01:08:00] business, or outsourcing, get it organized even if you're not sure if the addresses are still accurate.

Even if you don't have email addresses, but you do have phone numbers. Even if... Get it organized in some sort of a spreadsheet, and then decide what you want to do at that point. you can keep track of leads and create a system with just a spreadsheet if that is what makes sense for you. If you want a CRM that's going to give you that daily list and keep, and where you would keep notes in, there are CRMs out there that, that are very affordable.

my favorite affordable one is probably Pipedrive, and I was not familiar with that, in the past. I love Follow Up Boss. they all have pluses and minuses, and I'm full of opinion, opinions if anyone wants to ask me which one I would choose. But, Choosing a CRM can easily be the roadblock.

Don't [01:09:00] choose the CRM. Organize your contacts first. 'Cause you're gonna, no matter what you choose, they need to be organized. And when I say organized, I would say in a spreadsheet. if organized for you looks like a pile of your papers and you're going to outsource someone like me or-

or,

you know, maybe you know someone in your area that, or a, kiddo or somebody that can put it all in.

and I'm telling you, you can screenshot of a, a piece of paper and upload it into chatGPT and say, "Put this in a spreadsheet," and it will do it for you.

[01:09:34] Tracy Hayes: you. Yep.

[01:09:34] Kari Jackson: Yep. Exactly. Amazing. You don't have to hand type- You can scan- ... all of these first name, last name ...

[01:09:39] Tracy Hayes: you

can scan, all your cont- whatever you, or, uh- Yes

[01:09:41] Kari Jackson: you have different

[01:09:42] Tracy Hayes: services, whether it's Reddit or you go back into the MLS, I'm sure it shows you some of your transactions. Mm-hmm. You just take a screenshot of that and upload it in. It'll put it in a spreadsheet so you can upload it into your CRM just as easy. You have-

[01:09:53] Kari Jackson: Exactly. Yeah. And go to your office.

If you've been with the same office, ask for your productivity reports for [01:10:00] the last three years. Make sure your past clients are in there.

Right Right. I, I think- So

[01:10:06] Tracy Hayes: that would be my starting point ... I think the important thing there is

don't

be embarrassed. There's a lot of agents who have gone years- Yes

or not working their CRM correctly.

Now

you're at a point, which I think this is a good point, because some agents have slowed down- Mm-hmm ... a little bit, and here we are- Mm-hmm ... during the holidays too. and

now, you know, Florida,

we're

selling year-round because the weather's reasonable year-round.

Yeah. And some areas, obviously, it's more s- seasonal. It's gonna slow down in the wintertime, because for obvious reasons. So now's the time to go in and,

and

do that cleanup, and obviously, you

call

Carrie

and

have a discussion. Mm-hmm. But Carrie, I wanna, I really want to,

because

we just got a few minutes, maybe about 10 more minutes here- Oh, sure

to really get factual of, what your service is providing.

Maybe

you can give us an example of, you

maybe

one of your clients who is utilizing most of your services right now and how- Mm-hmm ... you're working with them,

to, we've

talked about CRM,

cleaning

it up-

getting

it working in your favor.

You're doing that.

What

are [01:11:00] some other things that you are, doing for some of your clients that maybe we haven't mentioned yet?

[01:11:04] Kari Jackson: Yeah. Perfect, and that is, I really don't have two clients that are the same, and I'm sure that doesn't come as a surprise. I

real

estate is so, so different for each business.

I do wanna follow up on Izzy really quick. Yeah. Because as of yesterday, her stretch goal was 75. She hit that September 1st, and yesterday I input her 88th-

[01:11:28] Tracy Hayes: Nice

[01:11:29] Kari Jackson: under contract that will close- So she might break 100 this year ... for 2026. She could break 100.

[01:11:33] Tracy Hayes: 100.

[01:11:33] Kari Jackson: She might.

Yeah. She might.

Wow. and I will say another, a piece to hers is she often, I shouldn't say oftentimes, I would say she probably has five or six transactions to where she worked both sides. Mm-hmm. So that helps to get that number, you know, moving up fast. but- And quickly too ... oftentimes it's 'cause we piece it together, you know?

Mm-hmm. She'll get a new lead and she's like,

like,

want this, this and this," and I'm like, "Hey, well, what about, [01:12:00] what about Old Highway 63?" Mm. Like, could that... She's like, "Oh, I don't know. I'm gonna send it to him."

him."

Because she has me, just another set of eyes, ears and,

and- And you

[01:12:09] Tracy Hayes: have all her listings and you know what she's got- in her book

[01:12:12] Kari Jackson: there. Yeah.

[01:12:12] Tracy Hayes: we may not have, a direct way, but, yeah, I would think that increase from, what she was, so 68, 68-

to

over 100 this year.

th-

There's a portion of that increase is because you guys created a camp- a touch campaign

with

her past clients that they referred her instead of s- not referring anyone or someone else-

because

of a campaign that you guys got implemented in moving forward.

[01:12:41] Kari Jackson: yes. I definitely would never attribute

and

credit for all of ... I mean, she is, she is a mover and a shaker. Mm-hmm. she's very active in her community. I love partnering with her, but I don't want to necessarily take the credit.

She's got something there. I know she, she does- Anna has something that- Yes

[01:12:59] Tracy Hayes: does-

[01:12:59] Kari Jackson: know,

[01:12:59] Tracy Hayes: w-w-[01:13:00]

[01:13:00] Kari Jackson: some- She definitely attributes- Your, your emotions, your, your actions created-

[01:13:02] Tracy Hayes: s-

created something. Maybe not all of them, 'cause she ... It sounds like-

[01:13:05] Kari Jackson: Yeah

[01:13:05] Tracy Hayes: her business is snowballing right now. It's a snowball rolling down the hill, and it's getting bigger.

[01:13:10] Kari Jackson: Yes. And she, she's got a great referral, she has people referring her left and right. but she also, we also work random leads that come in on KV Core, you know, or Bold Trail. so to my other clients,I have like, Amy Miller is with Berkshire, Berkshire Hathaway.

She's in, in the Boston area. And I do all of her when she has a listing, I create a listing booklet, like a marketing booklet.

Mm-hmm. She,

 we order custom-made cookies to have at her, her initial open house. so I, I have set up the account. It's super easy. I do the graphic.

I send it to the company, and they show up individually wrapped with a bow the day before her open house. Hopefully she can tells me in advance so we don't have to pay like, you know, overnight shipping. Mm-hmm. but then I also, you know,

each,

each, sometimes she wants to send out postcards if the neighborhood is [01:14:00] conducive to that.

she also has done like, an agent or, a neighborhood, private open house, like the night before something goes, goes on the market, and we create real pretty- And send those out in envelopes. Right. I also, I do postcards for her, probably once every two months. and she has a list. She has her own mailing list that...

past clients, and local, neighbors, people within a certain graphic, you know, farming essentially. Right.

Right.

then, I have, like, agents here that happen to be local, that I also do, like, just sold, just listed, and, farming postcards for them. I call them farming. it's not a regular cadence, but, you know, when they want to reach out to their own neighborhood, I do that type of regular print mail.

And, I create it, I send it to the vendor, I get the list if they don't have a list, and I... I- it's truly [01:15:00] hands-off, and I think that is the biggest piece. That

they don't,

If they want to, that's fine, I can have them printed and delivered to their home. Yeah.

[01:15:08] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[01:15:08] Kari Jackson: And then they can put the mailing labels on.

But I think one of the biggest benefits that they would probably report is it's, it's hands-off.

Yeah. I show them what we're gonna send- It, it's gonna get done ... and they say yay or nay.

I hear this all the

time. Yes. It really

[01:15:22] Tracy Hayes: drives me... "Well, my brokerage does that." Do they really?

[01:15:24] Kari Jackson: Uh-huh.

[01:15:25] Tracy Hayes: It's kind

It's not like,

I had someone, probably about a year ago, and, it was something on AI, you know, actually it was AI search was coming out for real estate and so forth. And they're like, "Oh, yeah, I was just at a conference, they were talking about AI." And they just lumped AI into this- You know, AI, what that guy-

told

was everything in the hour he spoke, if he spoke for an hour.

Yeah. And it's like, he- Yeah ... didn't even get started yet. And- Yep ... the agent, "Oh, my broker does it." No, are they actually, can you call your brokerage and say, "Hey, I've

this listing, I wanna send a postcard out to the 300 closest [01:16:00] homes- Mm-hmm ... to this one and let them know that we're putting this one up for sale, or everyone in that subdivision," you know, if it's tightly knit like that.

Mm-hmm. and it's out within the next three or four days. Do you have someone that does that-

at

brokerage? I would bet not. And that, that's where- Right ... I think a lot of agents, they don't realize what actually is happening. They're running their mouth instead of listening with their ears on some of the stuff-

that

you're talking about.

[01:16:23] Kari Jackson: Yeah. And I do think, in some cases, brokerages, commit to some of those types of features when it comes to recruiting and welcoming new agents. But when it comes to actually teaching them who do you call, where do you set that up, how fast can it happen, and what services do they truly provide, there's a huge gap there.

And unless they ask and reach out,

it doesn't happen.

Yeah. So,

but anyway, for other agents, I have rebrand-

like

I do full rebrands, you know. I create listing presentations, pre-listing [01:17:00] packets, buyer guides, seller guides. my client that has an amazing YouTube channel that I mentioned to you earlier, you know, I've helped with, streamlining the graphics that she uses on her, as her cover, the cover image an- for each video, and then also, then also brand re-

you know,

redesigned her, channel graphic.

It's, you know, I'll have agents that move to a team, or

they-

they just need to re- rebrand some things, or brand new agents that are piecing together like, "Oh, I saw this and I saw this, but I don't, really know what else to do." A listing presentation other than share the CMA.

Like

and then I talk them through that.

Mm. show them some examples, templates. and the thing is, my clients are all over, so I'm not working with... I mean, I do have a, a few because I worked in this local market where I live. Yeah, yeah. I do [01:18:00] have a lot of connections, but I feel like my clients are never against each other.

[01:18:05] Tracy Hayes: Well, there's so much out there If clients are worried about other real estate agents and competition, then you, you, you just, your game's not at at its top level because, you know, agents that are- Yeah ... truly winning right now, they go into that listing appointment with confidence 'cause, A-

they

who they are, and they know the other two agents probably haven't done the research they should have done to go into the listing appointment anyway.

are

on your side. a couple things I want, I wanna, touch on. Like, when I have, an agent on, I go through, I go through all their social media, because I wanna put all their social media links-

and

all the captions and links- Mm-hmm ... and blogs.

everything

that we create, for them. When you're going on and looking at some of these agents, you know, their LinkedIn, their website, you're helping them with some branding work, how often are you finding them that they're not synced up?

[01:18:52] Kari Jackson: Often.

[01:18:53] Tracy Hayes: Yeah

[01:18:54] Kari Jackson: Often. So, and that is something that, I do offer,

like a

inspection- Mm

[01:19:00] which is an all-encompassing, review of what is your current business, what,

like

is your sy- you know, what do your systems look like, what does your, like

materials look like. And one part of that is an online audit, and I go through with this,

like,

don't know, probably 37-point checklist of each Facebook, Instagram, and, LinkedIn.

[01:19:24] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[01:19:24] Kari Jackson: and, I make groups and evaluate what matches, what doesn't match, and, you know, is your tagline on LinkedIn SEO optimized, can it be improved, those kinds of things. Yes. and this is just a

a

rate, flat rate service I do, and then I present it to you and go through each thing. Yeah. I, their bios- I then- Their bios are years old.

Yes. They're

[01:19:45] Tracy Hayes: not- Yes ... they're not

[01:19:45] Kari Jackson: keeping those-

[01:19:46] Tracy Hayes: those,

[01:19:46] Kari Jackson: They're

[01:19:46] Tracy Hayes: not refreshing those every, you know, six months, a year at least. Some of them I just-

[01:19:50] Kari Jackson: Absolutely. And

[01:19:51] Tracy Hayes: I don't understand-

why, but I,

we,

I mean

it's 'cause me, you know, when I meet somebody or someone say, "Hey, do you know so and so?" I go in the LinkedIn, 'cause [01:20:00] it tells me- Mm-hmm

something about them, and I mean pretty much from where they grew up, all the way from college to, the different jobs they had. Yeah. They may, they may have worked at some place that I know somebody or some- you know, how are they connected? Yep. And i- if you're-

real

estate agent and you're dealing with clients from out of state, which obviously a lot of clients and- Mm-hmm

a lot of agents in Florida are-

these people are searching you. And trust me- Yep ... they are going on LinkedIn, and if your LinkedIn is just, If you don't even have a picture, you know, and it's- Yep ... it takes a few minutes, and it's something you set and you can

forget,

but you just wanna update your bio and so forth every so often.

[01:20:33] Kari Jackson: For sure.

[01:20:33] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[01:20:34] Kari Jackson: and I offer that too. Sorry, I don't mean to be like plug, plug, plug, but because that feels daun-

[01:20:39] Tracy Hayes: plug, plug- ... that feels daunting ... 'cause these are

[01:20:40] Kari Jackson: no, I want

[01:20:40] Tracy Hayes: services you provide. I

you to plug, plug, plug ... that feels daunting Because these are the things, services you provide. I want you to talk about that-

[01:20:42] Kari Jackson: Yes ... because I think

[01:20:43] Tracy Hayes: this,

[01:20:44] Kari Jackson: is important w-what- Yes

agents need to be knowing that

[01:20:47] Tracy Hayes: these services are out there.

[01:20:49] Kari Jackson: Yes, absolutely. and again, it feels so daunting, but if we do, like social, your social platform optimization package, then I collect all the information that's current and what you [01:21:00] want to be using. What bio do you want to be using?

What is your tagline? What is the best contact information? What links do we have to any type of lead generating, like lead magnets? You know, do you have, evaluate your home or, you know, whatever. And then I collect all of that in a form, it's very organized, and then I go in to each of your platforms and make it all streamlined.

Yeah.

[01:21:20] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[01:21:21] Kari Jackson: One little plug for LinkedIn, and I have a lot of clients that say, "Oh, I'm never on LinkedIn," and I wanna be like, "It's obvious." But one thing I learned, because I've taken a lot of classes and a lot... I'm like a lifelong learner. Right. I'm just like,

"Teach me, teach me-"

teach me." Yeah. do I always apply it?

Not always, but I try. I take great notes. but the thing with LinkedIn that everyone needs to know is that their algorithm that they have set up with Google Index- And you can test it. If you Google someone by name and maybe put their area that they're in, their Linked... If they have a LinkedIn profile, it is [01:22:00] going to come up in the first six entries.

Important. It almost always. So if you have a LinkedIn from when you were the, the president of the honor society in college, and you have never updated it, and it has your fraternity, you know- Mm-hmm ... composite picture, and who knows for the cover image, that's what people are going to see. So when they pull you up or they Google you, and now Facebook and Instagram are indexed by Google, so your, your content from...

that's new, like maybe in the last year, but it used to only be LinkedIn stuff that pulled up. But now LinkedIn's still gonna come up on top of that, and that's what they're going to click, and it needs to at least be obvious that you are a realtor, because people are gonna think they have the wrong person.

[01:22:55] Tracy Hayes: Yes.

[01:22:56] Kari Jackson: Or they're not selling anymore. If they get the referral from [01:23:00] someone who used it, used you six years ago, it's easy to say, "Oh yeah, they're no longer in the business."

[01:23:06] Tracy Hayes: Yeah.

[01:23:06] Kari Jackson: So

absolutely. And, it's not an extensive process if somebody wanted to do it, and they can prioritize, and If you wanna do it yourself, do one platform at a time. Do Facebook this week, do Instagram this week, and do LinkedIn the next, or reverse the order. You,

[01:23:22] Tracy Hayes: I,

[01:23:23] Kari Jackson: I- But just- ... I'm gonna

[01:23:23] Tracy Hayes: tell you a little trick

[01:23:24] Kari Jackson: on LinkedIn ... that it, it's important.

[01:23:26] Tracy Hayes: The trick on LinkedIn to keep it updated, if you're using AI, Claude has the extension.

you open your profile, you hit the Claude extension, go, "Analyze my LinkedIn and let me know if I'm..."

it'll go through, and obviously if you're using it all the time, it'll say, "Hey, we need to update your bio. What do you think of this?" these are there, but ob- you need to have a professional look at it, and you're 100% on.

For time purposes- Yep ... we could talk forever. Yes. But I wanna just hit a couple- Yes ... of things and get your comments on, a, a couple things. you, you create, you have a client you're creating newsletters for.

How important

do you think it is for agents

to

to have [01:24:00] it le- a regular newsletter, whether it's bi-weekly, monthly, whatever, a, a newsletter?

[01:24:05] Kari Jackson: Consistency is the key. If it's not something that you can keep up with consistently, I would not invest in that marketing tactic I think monthly is almost too often.

[01:24:20] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm.

[01:24:20] Kari Jackson: I think once every six months or quarterly is just fine.

If you have good-

[01:24:27] Tracy Hayes: newsletter

[01:24:27] Kari Jackson: quality, yes.

[01:24:29] Tracy Hayes: an email

[01:24:30] Kari Jackson: newsletter. Good.

Not necessarily every month, might be overdoing it.

Yeah.

[01:24:33] Tracy Hayes: Okay.

[01:24:33] Kari Jackson: I mean, I probably was picturing a mail, like direct mail. I think an email newsletter monthly is totally fine. Again, I would make

sure

and prioritize that consistent cadence. because again- And making sure it has something of value

if they stop... Yes.

[01:24:53] Tracy Hayes: that

[01:24:53] Kari Jackson: you.

[01:24:54] Tracy Hayes: Don't just-

[01:24:54] Kari Jackson: Yeah ... let some AI bot- Yeah ... write

[01:24:57] Tracy Hayes: some AI

[01:24:58] Kari Jackson: slop and [01:25:00] throw it at, throw it at customers.

[01:25:01] Tracy Hayes: Yes. Yeah.

[01:25:01] Kari Jackson: Yes. And they don't, they don't need a trophy case. They don't need to see all of your achievements in the newsletter. It's okay to share listings and updates on, that are sold or maybe a new price or an upcoming listing that you're gonna have an open house.

But

it needs to be one tenth or less of your newsletter needs to be regards to your specific business transactions. The rest, it needs to be local, you know, local things to do. maybe, I love when, agents share, like, upcoming developments. Like, not very many people keep up- Mm ... with their, like, city commission.

Yeah. And on, on approvals of new things. I mean, like, we, the Chiefs are, are moving to the Kansas side, so that's huge- Yeah ... in Kansas City. And so they're getting a whole new stadium on the Kansas side, and they're getting a whole new training facility on the Kansas side, but- Right ... 40 miles away.

[01:25:55] Tracy Hayes: And that trivial inform- that trivial information, people actually - Mm-hmm

they love that.

[01:25:57] Kari Jackson: They wanna kind of

be in the know. They do. It's kind

[01:25:59] Tracy Hayes: of the little [01:26:00] cocktail conversation, right? "Oh,

[01:26:01] Kari Jackson: you-" Absolutely. "... did

you hear? Did you see what they're doing at the new stadium?" Yeah.

Yeah. Did you see the mock-up? Did you, or, you know, like data centers are a big thing- Yeah ... that people are really, you know, controversial about.

But maybe sharing, some factual information, not, you know, opinion, emotion flaring- All, it all, you know-

[01:26:23] Tracy Hayes: topics like that.

You, you have to think

[01:26:24] Kari Jackson: you have to think about it from- But yeah ...

[01:26:25] Tracy Hayes: what,

what information can I give them that they feel is valuable? And obviously the, you know-

Yeah

the, the sports team is a, is a, in the new stadium is a, is a, a popular topic.

Let's go, I wanna go- Yeah ... this might open a can of worms, but I don't wanna spend too much time. Okay. I just want your straight opinion because- Sure ... for a while, websites got away. A lot of agents- Mm-hmm ... have their websites attached to their brokerage. They're, like- Mm-hmm ... joined at the hip. But from what- Yeah

I understand from the experts, SEO and AEO,

like that

Yeah

you're not being found. How important today is go on and, and have your own domain [01:27:00] be your own freestanding- Mm-hmm ... site, if you wanna call it that. Mm-hmm.

obviously

And obviously you talked about branding and making sure you're carrying on your brand and keeping that website, relatively up to date,

 as

[01:27:11] Kari Jackson: well.

Yeah. Yeah. It's a excellent question. and I have mixed feelings.

maintaining your own website, and building your own website for a person that does, does not know how to do that themselves is, I mean, it's definitely an investment. Yeah. The perks to having your own website are strictly the SEO features.

this is just, this is very top of mind for me because I do... Izzy, the Izzy, the cl- the agent that is hopping.

I do a quarterly SEO auditor and it's tricky because she is a RE/MAX agent and their real- their websites are through kvCORE. She does own her own domain that then leads-

[01:27:56] Tracy Hayes: Yeah

[01:27:57] Kari Jackson: to, yeah, it redirects.

it [01:28:00] really limits what we can do to optimize her SEO. I will say I sent, or actually she sent the list of my recommendations and it was really knowing that, a kvCORE is very templated and very... I mean, it's a very intuitive website, but I wanted to rearrange it knowing I, we only have so much.

We can't add a blog. We can't... I mean, there's, there's just things you can't do. but she sent the list to, she said, "Well, this guy in my office is supposed to be the one that does this, so let me, let me see." She sent him the list. He rearranged, he did exactly what I advised

[01:28:37] Tracy Hayes: Right

[01:28:38] Kari Jackson: in two hours. So it was remarkable.

However, I don't know that we're gonna see a huge SEO boost, because of the limitations

that-

that a third party website. So if... my advice would be to use what your brokerage provides, unless it's really holding you [01:29:00] back. If it is holding you back because there's so much more content you wanna put out there-

[01:29:05] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm

[01:29:06] Kari Jackson: then add another website and obviously link to your other one to get your, you know, you want the IDX integration, the ML, you know, you want people to be able to search, for properties. You want people to, see your current listings, but you can still have your own website and use the brokerage website as like your, your secondary resource.

Does that make sense? You can have a specific page for what is your home worth, have a specific page for, you know, the top six areas that you serve, you know, if you serve multiple cities. The key to having your website is it's got to be content that is valuable. It has to have value.

[01:29:50] Tracy Hayes: Yeah. Well, I- from what I'm understanding, I was watching, or actually I was sent the PowerPoint from a, what's the popular gentleman, with Keller Williams?

he has a-

[01:29:59] Kari Jackson: [01:30:00] Lucas Jordan Freed.

[01:30:01] Tracy Hayes: No, has his, he has a big, he has his own podcast. who's-

[01:30:04] Kari Jackson: Buffini?

[01:30:05] Tracy Hayes: Not Buffini it'll come to us. I think everyone knows who I'm talking about when I mentioned he's big with Keller Williams. But the PowerPoint that came from his organization-

Ben Kinney ... had this,

Don't know him ... schematic, and in the middle of it was blogging.

Blogging is back. Yeah. AI's looking for hyperlocal, hyper-sensitive, and they want yo- your

voice. Yep.

They don't want, "Give me a blog on this," for AI to create-

AI

slop. We have been- Yep ... overwhelmed by AI slop books and AI slop blogs. People who blog correctly in their voice as the blogs that will come from this transcript of our conversation- Mm-hmm

of two real people talking about- Yeah ... real situations will get found by AI in the, when they're doing your search. 'Cause we've mentioned, you know, whether it's locations or- Mm-hmm ... obviously, you know, the topic we're on and so forth, and that's what it's looking for. And if you don't have a place to put those right [01:31:00] now, let alone and create it, we can help you with that, situation.

But I think there's a good group of people out there, don't wanna do video, don't wanna do all this, all this, social media- Mm-hmm, mm-hmm ... 'cause it is overwhelming, or they don't wanna get on camera, but you can h- create some really good blogs,

[01:31:14] Kari Jackson: Absolutely ...

[01:31:15] Tracy Hayes: you know, behind the

[01:31:16] Kari Jackson: scenes-

[01:31:16] Tracy Hayes: Mm-hmm ... and be found and be sent to your website.

That's kind

why

I was leading

[01:31:19] Kari Jackson: with that question.

[01:31:20] Tracy Hayes: So. And-

[01:31:21] Kari Jackson: I think- Yeah ... no, that's totally fine. And I will tell you that blog, blogging is the number one way to increase your SEO. Yeah. You know, especially for realtors, you've got to use those local keywords. and like you said, Google indexing, it recognizes AI instantly.

And so it's not, it, it's not valuable. You've got to use your voice. I mean, you can incorporate AI to learn your voice and create. I don't want people to feel like they absolutely cannot. But finding something that was already generated on AI and being like, "Oh, I'm gonna post this on my site for- Yeah

for a blog,"

the blog"

that's not it. You're tugging me along. But it's the c- [01:32:00] Yes. Yes. Yes. Well, I wanna- But blogging is the best way

[01:32:03] Tracy Hayes: myself and Reid Tomato work very well. If you listened to my podcast before, we're gonna take this transcript, I'm gonna introduce Carrie to Jim Crona with Reid Tomato.

They're gonna take this transcript- Yeah ... and they are going to produce the, these blogs in her voice with quotes from her, you know, a direct, you know, the, the key terms, you know, talking about Kansas City and, you know, doing marketing for real estate agents and, and all that. All these things are gonna be in s- in some nice blogs.

So

is AI helping her? I'm excited. 100%. But it's- Mm-hmm ... taking it from a real conversation that two people have and creating it in, so it's coming off into her voice and using the hyperlocal terms, so. But Carrie, I- Yeah ... really appreciate you coming on. You're running probably one of my longest podcasts ever.

I'm so sorry. I'm

[01:32:46] Kari Jackson: chatty.

[01:32:47] Tracy Hayes: I'm- No, but we could talk forever. I

this

is a really great topic and going on, but we're definitely gonna, y-

you...

all of your information's gonna be in the show notes. If you listen to the show- Okay ... at this point,

Okay. Kerry's

g- you know, we're gonna cut some [01:33:00] clips. call her about your service.

nine out of 10 agents need your service. There's no doubt about it. Sure.

[01:33:06] Kari Jackson: I'd

[01:33:06] Tracy Hayes: love- ... I'd love to chat ... whether it's just a few hours a week or a whole day, I, I'm sure there's a lot of things. Or, you know,

use it,

a whole day to do a complete analysis of what's going on and find out what are some key things that you might wanna just, ha- have her highlight.

So I apologize- For sure ... I had my phone on silent there. But, I appreciate- That's okay ... you and, I look forward and we'll, we'll-

It's a

[01:33:24] Kari Jackson: pleasure

[01:33:25] Tracy Hayes: talk again soon. Thank you.

[01:33:26] Kari Jackson: Thanks so much.

[01:33:27] Tracy Hayes: yeah, we're good. Great to

[01:33:28] Kari Jackson: meet you.

[01:33:28] Tracy Hayes: Yep.

ma'am.

[01:33:29] Kari Jackson: And bye-bye