"How We Work" Series — We Don't Guess What's Working. We Check.

by Mike Ferrante

Every agent has a gut feeling about what's working. This listing seems busy. That marketing feels like it's paying off. That buyer seems serious.

Instinct matters, and after 18 years in this business I trust mine more than I used to. But a feeling isn't something you can act on with confidence. When a seller's home, money, and timeline are on the line, we want a real reason behind every decision, not just a sense that things are going fine.

This is the last post in our How We Work series, and it ties the others together. Here's how our team checks what's actually working for the people we serve.

The record already exists. We just look at it.

A lot of what we've written about in this series turns out to double as a tracking system.

When we ask a new client how they want to be reached and stick to it, that preference is on file.
When documents move through electronic signature instead of a verbal handshake, every step of the transaction has a timestamp.
When a showing is requested and confirmed through our scheduling system, that request is logged automatically.

None of that was built to be a tracking system. It was built to make things faster and more reliable for clients. The bonus is that when it's time to ask what's working, we're not starting from zero.

Views and saves tell us how a listing is doing

For every listing, I watch the Zillow listing traffic report, which shows how many people viewed the home and how many saved it. Those two numbers together say a lot.

A rule of thumb I use is that roughly 8 to 10 percent of views should turn into saves. On one listing we had almost 1,800 views and 117 saves. That's good, but not great, and it told me we probably had a price issue before a single buyer said so.

The timing matters too. A new listing gets the most views it will ever get in its first couple of days. Then views taper off. On that same listing, the graph dropped into a trough, and around day 25 we adjusted the price. Views spiked right back up. Without the data, we'd have been guessing about why things slowed down.

Showing activity tells us even more

Views show interest. Showings show intent. Every listing goes into our showing scheduling system before it hits the market, and that gives us a clear read on which homes are drawing real buyers.

A home with steady showing requests is telling us something. A home with lots of online views but few showings is telling us something else: buyers are finding it and deciding not to visit. That usually points to price, or photos that don't match the price. A home with plenty of showings and no offers points somewhere else again, usually price or condition compared with the competition. Each pattern leads to a different conversation with the seller.

Sellers see the numbers every week

We don't keep this data to ourselves. I send weekly updates to every seller on the same day and at about the same time each week, because that's the expectation I set at the start. Those updates include showing feedback, online views and saves, and what's happening with competing homes nearby.

Some sellers love the data. Others just want the bottom line. Either way, I need to know the numbers to have an honest conversation about what's happening.

It also takes the emotion out of hard decisions. We recently listed a home in Twinsburg that had 20 days of almost no activity. The numbers made the case for a price adjustment better than any opinion could. We lowered the price, got multiple offers, and sold for more than the original list price.

A conversation isn't the same as a result

The same thinking applies to how we find and help clients. It's easy to count every conversation as a win, but a conversation is a start. What matters is how many turn into a real next step: a consultation booked, a showing scheduled, an offer written.

Leads come to us from a lot of places, including referrals, our website, Google, past clients, and people who find us through a listing. We don't assume the busiest source is the best one. We look at which ones lead to appointments that actually go somewhere. That's what tells us where to spend our time so clients get our full attention.

What one of us learns, all of us use

We're a team of more than 20 agents, so tracking what works can't live in one person's spreadsheet. When a teammate finds that a certain follow-up approach or marketing tactic works better, that's worth everyone knowing.

That's part of why we meet for training every Tuesday and practice conversations together on Saturdays. Our agent Mike Pillow, for example, built a one-page comparison that color codes a home against recent sales and active competition: green is good, yellow is okay, red is bad. When sellers see a lot of red, the conversation about price gets a lot easier. Ideas like that spread across the team because we share them.

What we do differently because of it

Tracking only matters if it changes a decision. For us, it shows up in practical ways:

Flagging a listing that isn't generating showings, instead of waiting to see if things pick up
Showing sellers what the activity on their own home actually says, instead of guessing out loud
Spending more follow-up time where it produces real appointments, not just conversations
Sharing what works across the team so every client benefits

None of this replaces judgment. It just gives our judgment something real to work from.

Why it matters to you

Most clients never see this part of the work. It happens behind the scenes. But you feel the result: decisions made sooner, honest conversations backed by numbers, and a team spending its time where it actually helps you. A team that knows what's working can keep doing more of it. A team that's guessing is just hoping, and hope isn't a strategy.

Let's talk, on your terms

Text, call, or email, whichever is easiest for you, and you'll hear back from a real person quickly. You can also email me directly at mike@21mike.com or schedule a time with me or someone on our team at 21mike.com.

Mike Ferrante
The Mike Team at LPT Realty
www.21mike.com
Google Business Profile: https://g.page/r/CSQoYzel0Z68EAE
+1 (216) 373-7727