Amanda & Travis Howard: $200 Million Sotheby's Luxury Team/Brokerage
1:14PM Feb 9, 2025
Speakers:
Frank Klesitz
Keywords:
Sotheby's franchise
Amanda Howard
Travis Howard
Huntsville Alabama
luxury team
sales volume
expired campaign
lead generation
marketing systems
AI integration
team efficiency
secondary market
30A area
direct mail
mastermind group.
So, I'd like to introduce you to Amanda and Travis Howard, husband and wife. You're going to talk to Amanda today. They're in Huntsville, Alabama, where apparently all of our nation's rocket scientists live. Is that right, Amanda?
That is correct?
Yep, And there were Sotheby's. So they have a Sotheby's franchise and catered to the higher end, and have risen from when last time I spoke to her, risen their average sales price by being with that brand and so on. But Amanda Travis will be at our spring San Diego mastermind. I thought I would introduce you to Amanda and ask her some some questions so you could have a productive conversation with her when you come on down. So, Amanda, thanks for doing this. Thanks for coming.
Well, I'm happy to. Yes., thank you for having me.
So, let's just kind of tell me a little about your business, production, sales, how it's organized.Give me the... just tell me about your business as it stands right now.
Well, as it stands right now. I have a team of about a dozen, and we also own the brokerage, so I also have independent agents who work with us within our franchise, and but our team is the most productive side of the brokerage, and so I really like to spend more of my time on them, and, and, of course, because, I mean, they're the ones that are really kind of covering all of our our expenses. And 2024 was just, it was a crappy year, I think, for everybody in the industry. Out of our full brokerage, we sold.. the sales volume was just over 200 million in our sales volume, and my team sold half of that. And so we know with with having a team, clearly we're able to gain more income from the team because we're doing so much for them. We're we're not only creating the marketing and developing the leads, but we're training them and so forth. So it it, and I also have more funand satisfaction from that because they actually listen. And so I really, really do love having a team and and it helps the brokerage as a whole. Let's see, did I answer all of that?
Good. 100%. So tell me if I were to ask you Amanda, either on the brokerage or the team side, and whether it's for getting clients or buyers and sellers or it's recruiting, what is one business system that you've built, that you run, that you're really, really proud of, that really helps you in your business, like, become more profitable? What's a business system that you have that like, I really think people need to know about this, that you like to share.
Well, I I feel like we're going actually back to an old system, and it's, it sounds so basic, and just because it is, it's really our expired campaign is what started us, back in the old days, when when leads were just flowing in, and we were just with our little team of actually about probably 18. Back then, a dozen to 18, we closed 800 homes, and that was our expired campaign. We it fell off. I just kind of, you know, I changed focus. I was focused on the full brokerage wasn't looking at the team, and they got rid of over half of our marketing. And it was detrimental to the team and the company as a whole. So Travis and I just dove back into that in 2024 and have had to re implement and restart and audit everything. And so we we, pretty much from the middle of the year on, have all new systems in place, and now we're back up to where before, where we were seeing only, you know, we were lucky to be able to get 3 to 5 leads a week and seller leads, because that's what we really focus on, though. You know, we the buyer leads just come three to five buyer or seller leads a week. Now we're finally back up to seeing that we're getting about 20 seller leads a week, very consistently, and then the buyer leads. Gosh, we're probably getting 30 a day. So lead system management, lead generating. That's what Travis and I are good at. That's what we focus on. But I still love the person to person. I mean, that's what we tell our agents to remember, we're not secret agents. We're people to people business. We need to be out front. We need to be talking to them. And sometimes people are getting sick of all the robo dials and the texts, and that's why they're putting all of these new rules into place starting the 27th it's not going to affect us. We're fine with it because sending somebody a letter, they're happy they open it, and yes, we don't follow up as quickly as we could. I think if we followed up quickly sooner, we would be better. But even not having a really strong follow up system, we're getting a phone call back after about the fifth letter. Okay, so like it again.
This is my question. So sure, I asked you your number one system, and I hear the expired system, and I'm like, I wonder what the expired system is, and it sounds like a series of letters. Yes, you had to put together a system to get a series of letters, a multi step letter campaign, out to someone who expired that didn't relist. And you had to put that together, checklist, it out, write the messaging and hire someone to execute every day. Yes, correct. Ooh, I'm sure there's lots of people in the room that would love to talk to you about that.
Well, happy to share that.
Yeah, that's great. Just curious, how many letters are you dropping a week in sequence?
Oh, I would have to ask Travis. Travis is the one who really oversees all of our marketing systems, and so he inspects each week to see what's the number that's going out, and if they're actually sending them out properly, you'd be surprised that...first few weeks..
How many letters? How many letters? How many letters in the campaign?
I see, Travis, do you have any letters are in our expired campaign right now? Do you have any idea how many letters we're sending out right now in our expired campaign, yeah, like, how many sequential letters in our campaign?
Yeah...How many letters are? How many letters are in the sequence, and then altogether, how many a week go out?
12. And then how many are we sending out altogether right now? Between both markets, about 220... about 220 a week. Between two markets? Yes.
..and I'm guessing you, I would assume you have somebody in your office sitting there printing these and folding them and mailing them every day.
Yes, manually doing it.
old school, and it's cute. It's..you every once in a while people want to just chit chat..
And this is, this isn't this is a full time this is a full time hire sitting there mailing letters.
No, part time, part time. Yeah, okay, we just have our courier help with it. We have our our marketing person to oversee it, because it is important needs to be done properly. But yeah, just the mailing, the folding the mailing, putting stamps on it. We can have the courier do that.
And I love that system. What a wonderful system. Going right to the basics. Is it 1 a week for 12 weeks? Yes, correct, exactly. Good for you. All letters?
Yes.
Wow. No, I like that because, like, I'm a direct mail guy. I just love hearing that. That's so great. So that is, that is kind of one of our key systems. Okay, so if you're going to come to the mastermind and you want to learn something, you want to throw I really want someone to talk to me about x and teach me something and give me a system for x. What is it? What would you like to know?
Yeah, for me, I would really love to see if there's anyone that is integrating AI in a way that we could not that we want to get rid of employees, but just being more efficient with our employees. I know that there's ways that we are utilizing it now, but you know, when, when great minds come together, I feel like there's probably better ways that I'm not even thinking of, but I'm constantly talking to my my support team about how they could be working more efficiently and saving them. You know, it's some with some ways, just, you know, three hours a day, just by doing little simple things that they they forgot about and didn't know until we as leaders tell them.
So you would like to know how to use AI or automations to make your team more efficient.
Yes, absolutely.
Cool. Last question, why are you coming?
I really love the smallness of the group, but it's it's not a huge group. I've been part of small masterminds, and I've been part of big masterminds, and whenever we have the small ones, I feel like the content is more valuable. It's more potent. We can ask questions directly and get actual factual answers, because you can't really hide behind a fake shield or a lie and and you're usually there, so you're gonna like, Yep, I can absolutely say they're doing this, and this is the result they're getting.
Thank you. Yeah, my job is going to be the draw, the best time of everyone in the room. I will tell you someone who I just interviewed, who bought a ticket. James Goodman runs a team in Phoenix. I'm going to introduce you to.. all right? He specifically asked, I'm looking for somebody that has, like, an expired system. I think he implied letters, great. He would love to learn that from you. That's what he asked on the last podcast. Yeah, yeah.
You know, I think I would also, if I can add tack on to it is if anybody is working in two markets where they're making me maybe having a good like, I'm working in a secondary market, as you know, in the 30A area, and I know we have a lot of people that come there, it's a secondary home market. I'm wanting to better promote myself as the connection for my own town. But it's, it's, it's a little difficult because I'm could like for today, I just I was there the last week. I did some open houses, I did some lives. And as I'm walking out of my own parking lot here in Huntsville, somebody walks up to me, goes, Wait a second, how are you here? You were just doing a live in 30A at a beautiful open house last week or they said yesterday, and I said, Well, yes, but that was Friday, and today's Tuesday, so you know, it's only five and a half hours away. I'm just this week. I'm in Huntsville. Last week I was there. Next week, I'll be back if you want to buy a house there. I'm happy to connect you. And it's, it's weird that some people have a hard time wrapping their mind around agents that can work in two markets and how to better seamlessly market that.
Okay, How do you use AI automation to make your people more efficient? And you also want to learn how to brand yourself and position yourself when you're in two separate markets. Just curious, are they two separate MLS? They are?
They are..okay, yeah. at the top of Alabama, where all the rocket scientists are, and at the border of Tennessee. And then I'm also in 30A which is at the panhandle of Florida. Beautiful powdery sands and Emerald Coast.
Do you have your expired system in place down there?
We did. We just launched it. Good for you. Yes, just last week.
Well, I'm excited for you to share the results of that. So, totally new market. Yeah. So make sure to ask Amanda when you're listening to this. When you hear this, they just took their expired system of the 12 letters in Huntsville, and they are over in Florida now too, and theyput that in place totally cold, because you have the brand of being with Sotheby's for so long in Huntsville, which I'm sure helps people Google you, it does, but you're brand new in a new market.
Yep, that's correct. So I'm still with Sotheby's just with Scenic down there and then our own here. Amanda, thanks for coming. It's making Google a little confused, but we'll continue to work on that.
Good. Well, good. I think we got you a good intro to the group, and thanks for coming down. Amanda, yeah.
