What To Do To Give Referrals: Get A Sub

The shortest it has ever taken to get a Sub is 48 seconds. <yep!> The longest is when a request doesn’t get filled.

Now think of your shortest and longest clients.

  • What is the shortest amount of time from contact to payment?

Now tell us what was different about the client who took longest.

Chris Quay

Response from Chris Quay

Same day is typically the shortest time frame and it's based on necessity, an urgent situation that needs immediate attention. Longer sales cycles are usually associated with larger bills such as termite treatments where many times it is out of sight out of mind. 

Kelly Vandever

Response from Kelly Vandever

from the North Point Team

The shortest amount of time was Emily.

We found the perfect home and she was under contract 9 days after our initial meeting... and she closed on her house one month and one day after our initial meeting.  She didn't have a hard deadline.  We just happened to find a home that was everything she wanted and in the price range she needed.  We got it under contract and were able to close quickly.

The client that took the longest was Sara.  She closed on her home 1 year, 7 months and 21 days after our initial introduction.  She also didn’t have hard deadline.  She knew what she wanted, where she wanted to live, and what she wanted to pay.  Unfortunately, there were no houses that fit her criteria. Then one year and 6 months after our initial introduction, she got engaged, her price point went up, her location options changed, and we were able to find her a magnificent house that checked all her boxes. 

I can always adjust my pace to move as quickly or as slowly as my clients need.

 

Kelly Vandever

Realtor®

Keller Williams North Atlanta

License # 391485

Kelly.Vandever@kw.com

770-597-1108

Seniors Real Estate Specialist® (SRES®) 

Real Estate Negotiation Expert® (RENE®) 

https://www.kellyvandever.com 

https://www.youtube.com/kellyvandever

Angie Hays

Response from Angie Hays

The shortest time between a first meeting and being paid is usually with a Rental Listing. Rentals don't require title searches and finance timeframes. So, I would say the shortest time is 1 week. Those clients turn into long term relationships, though, which is always amazing! I do my best to help them become homeowners later down the road. The longest time from contact to payment was back in 2012. I listed a home for sale as a Short Sale and this home had significant structural issues due to the 100 year flood we had in 2009. They were on a cul de sac at the bottom of a hill and their retention wall had been partially washed into the creek. Slowly, the erosion was taking it's toll, which turned this already long-term listing from the Short Sale perspective to a long term foundation/structure challenge. I knew we had to market the house to a special Buyer, who not only had enough time to wait for the bank to approve the short sale - with all the paperwork craziness that entails - we also needed a Buyer who had the resources to address the structural issues. We finally sold it to an Investor after being on the market for 2 years. My Seller was so grateful, he insisted I accept a beautiful overstuffed armchair that was in his living room that I loved! After closing, he got married and moved into his new wife's house and they're living a calm and stressfree life together! And, no, they're not on a cul de sac at the bottom of a hill!

Wendy Kinney

Response from Wendy Kinney

from the PowerCore Team

  • Usually people visit the week after I speak with them, and then visit a second time the week after that - so that's four weeks from contact to joining.
  • Rarely a person will call, visit the next day, and submit their application right after that first visit. Jacquie did that, but she'd visited a different Team about five years ago, showing . . .
  • Sometimes the timing just isn't right. Have to get kids to school at 7:45, or have a morning conflict - about 15% of all people who join visited the first time three years before they joined.
John Immke

Response from John Immke

When generating new roofing clients, there is no faster way than going directly to the consumer. Knocking on homeowners doors to introduce ourselves has been very beneficial. We have materials with us to complete small repairs and roof maintenance packages. This is the fastest way to get paid. I was able to speak with the homeowner, complete an inspection, show the roof video, sign the contract, complete the repair, and collect money all within the hour. 

Clients that take the longest have a few things in common when dealing with Insurnace claims. The payments from the Insurnace company are split up to ensure all the work is completed. Getting the second part of money can take some time. On occasion when the money comes in, the homeowner will spend the money on other things. Like their mortgage, unexpected medical bills, or going on a family trip. I know sounds crazy right ? The longest time it took to pay this back was eight years. 

 

Judy Bagwell

Response from Judy Bagwell

from the Canton Business Leaders Team

In my line of business we have an inside sales team that will reach out to businesses and set appointments for the outside sales reps.  The shortest amount of time from contact to payment for me happens when I present to a prospect and they make the decision that day to either switch from their current payroll provider or start using our services for their business.   Sometimes a prospect will call in to our office and want payroll and that is another scenario for the shortest time from contact to payment.  I have met with businesses that aren't able to make the decision on the spot either because they need to present to a board for approval or they are using a PEO which is a company that has the business lease their employees through them.  The reason this takes the longest is because they are under a contract and we have to break apart the PEO which consists of Health Insurance and Workers Comp Insurance.  Once we can get that prospect it is well worth the wait because we will save them a lot of money and they are so appreciative for the services we provide.

Justin Cox

Response from Justin Cox

The shortest by far is a referral partnet or mine who wants the bill sometimes even before I go out to test a property and will pay before the work is even done. I even try and get them to not pay until service is given just in case a unforseen problem comes up that prevents me from getting to that job on that day. They say it is fine, they know I will get to it eventually. And because of their confidence, I do.

The longest are those open invoices that I know will never get paid. I place too much trust in the person and agree to just send them an invoice and they promise they will pay it as soon as they get it. Unfortunately that does not always happen. I feel a bit suckered everytime. You would think I wold eventually learn my lesson. 

Callie Mahaffey

Response from Callie Mahaffey

Typically for me, clients will reach out via phone call, text, email, or through social media. On some occasions, I am able to quote virtually and other times I go out to the house to quote a cleaning. The shortest amount of time for me to go from contact to payment would be to quote remotely, set up a date for the job, and accept payment immediately after finishing the job. 

Amy Worley

Response from Amy Worley

from the Canton Business Leaders Team

The shortest amount of time from contact to payment has been 1 hour. I will have clients who want to shop insurance but they waited until the last day of renewal at the end of day. We can quote, send applications and issue in 1 hour if neccessary. I prefer to have more time to quote and to review options with the client. The more time we have the better.

The longest time is usually around 30-60 days depending on the carrier. They will send a cancellation notice and if the client has not paid, the policy will cancel. Typically involves collecting payments from the mortgage company. 

Aaron Veres

Response from Aaron Veres

from the Canton Business Leaders Team

The shortest amount of time was two weeks. A client called as he was under contract and their lender was being unresponsive. I was able to take over and close the deal 14 days later.

 

Longest is two years. I had a client who went through an ugly divorce and unfortunately she was a co signer on a lot of her ex husbands debt which damaged her credit. Through three month follow ups we were able to get her scores back on track and was able to close on a home two years from the intial call. Not everyone is qualified to buy a house which does not stop the conversation there. It is my job to provide guidance to those who are not able to buy and lead those who are ready to buy a home. 

Matthew Honea

Response from Matthew Honea

from the Canton Business Leaders Team

The shortest amount of time between contact and payment is 24 hrs. It stemmed from a client contacting me the day before the tax filing deadline. I was able to get the tax return done, submitted, and paid before the deadline. 

The longest has been close to a year. The client was a newly formed business without a direction of how they were going to manage bookkeeping and their business entity. After running the business for a few months, they reached out to me for my services as they found out how time consuming managing their financials could be. 

Doug Ross

Response from Doug Ross

from the Canton Business Leaders Team

The shortest time to convert a client into a sale for VPC was 10 days. 

The longest time was 5 months; impacted by Covid, vehicle selection, incoming inventory, and scheduling a retail appointment. 

It was worth it. I delivered time savings, transaction value, and customer satisfaction. 

Doug Ross. 
Vehicle Purchase Concierge. 

Tom Wallace

Response from Tom Wallace

from the Peachtree City Team

My shortest time is about a week.  When I first get a contact, I get a brief synopsis of their situation and then we set up a free consultation to discuss things in more detail at the end I give them 24 hours to think it over and let me know if they want to move forward because I don't want to pressure anyone, but I do want them to be intentional about taking action or deciding now isn't the time. 

My longest so far is well over a year and they said they should have started with me sooner.

Paul Mitchell

Response from Paul Mitchell

from the Canton Business Leaders Team

The shortest time from contact to payment, for me, has to be around a minute. This was a one-page print on standard paper with no fuss. This was, by percentage, probably my most profitable transaction. But the client who took the longest was the printing and mailing of one million newsletters. It took months from the initial contact to the final payment. I had to make arrangements with paper suppliers, buy new equipment, spend additional hours of labor, and go back and forth with the client to make sure everything was right and that we had all the files. When all was said and done this was the largest transactions I've ever had.   

Magneta Gonzalez

Response from Magneta Gonzalez

from the Peachtree City Team

The shortest time to get a client on a massage table was 5 minutes. That's the amount of  time I spent doing  a complimetary massage that this client got. She couldnt believe how much better she felt during that quick introductory massage.  With the focused on her upper back. neck and shoulders she knew that this was what she needed.. 

For the client who took the longest her schedule was very hectic. It took about two weeks for her to get things in order after which she was able to get her "well deserved massage" as she put it.

Rob Mickler

Response from Rob Mickler

from the Canton Business Leaders Team

I believe I've had a client pay in about 60 days from first contact to final payment.  The difference in a client taking the longest in my industry varies between length of the project from start to finish.  The bigger the project usually means a lengthier time it takes to be completed and final payments are not expected until the job is complete.

Nicholas Garrison

Response from Nicholas Garrison

from the Fayette Team

The Shortest time to get a client is 10 minutes. It was a phone call from someone who had found me on the internet and had read my reviews. I have over 50 5-Star reviews on Google based on these reviews she was already sold on my services. I compare this to my longest was actually a friend who's wife had a bad experience with a trainer and the family had to feel enough pain before they realized they needed my help. This took about a year. 

Ms Adrienne Thatcher

Response from Ms Adrienne Thatcher

The shortest time, from our virtual meeting/introduction to a payment, was 15 minutes! In the feild I work thats damn impressive. My clients had exhausted all options to have better sleep and turned to me to use an energetic approach. 

Also, some consider my profession to be looped in with the health and wellness platform (totally fine) However, I am working with invisible energy and the clients who contact me have concerns with usually more then one, aspect in their lives. With this, it does take some time to trust me and that Feng Shui works and  usually happens when their temporary solution is not working. 

The longest is a client who is waiting until she and her husband finish building there home to contact me, for their Feng Shui home report. 

Kayla Watkins

Response from Kayla Watkins

For our line of work specifically, 90% of our service jobs are paid upon completion. We did have a customer in Woodstock that was having a pool installed. The pool company hit the sewer line when they were digging the pool and instead of notifying the homeowner, they buried the pipe.  We were called because the homeowners eventually experienced a huge back up in their basement which turned into an insurance claim. We not only had to fix plumbing on the interior, but we had to repair the broken pipe that was hit in the yard.  This situation took about 4 months before we got payment becuase we were put on hold by the EPA and the county due to the sewer pipe being open and exposed and running into the yard for over 2 weeks.