Working out your Marketing Plan!

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We’re going to cover a lot here but don’t worry, if you confirmed your registration then you’ll get a copy of everything covered sent directly to your email box.

Have you stopped to think about your business? Where your business comes from? Where your money is best spent generating new business?

I hope you have, if not then it’s time to start. Real Estate is one of the most competitive industries to be in. You compete with the person right in the next office to you. In fact, there are 1 million real estate agents in the US alone.

So to be successful it take some real thought, planning and action.

Relationship Marketing

Have you ever taken a good hard look at where your leads come from? If you have I hope you noticed how many come from a referred source, be it a friend, family member, past co-worker, another agent, mortgage professional, plumber, home inspector, insurance agent, etc…

In fact, you should be seeing the majority of your business coming from referrals.

Your goal should be to get 1 deal for every 12 people you know. If you know 360 people you should get 30 deals a year. If you’re not getting that then you need to focus on your relationship with these people.

How often do you contact them? Once a year, twice a year, three times? You should be making some kind of contact close to 30 times per year. They need to hear from you by phone, newsletter, email, postcard, in person, for lunch and any other way you can think. They need to know you are a professional and that you have in-depth knowledge of your industry. But most importantly they need to know that you value their business, and you will value the business they send to you and you would appreciate any business they might be able to refer to you.

You can word the message anyway you want but it must consist of those items and it must reach the people you know or have met 30 times a year.

Want to Build Loyalty?

Call your clients.

It’s really that simple. If you have a database of 300 names, then you should be reaching each of them twice a year by phone. Set a time in the morning to call them, make a goal to reach 3 per day. Call them up, ask them how they are doing, drop some home improvement tips, invite them to lunch and ask if they know anyone looking to buy or sell. Do this one thing and you’ll explode your business!

Creating new leads.

If you currently do not farm an area you should start thinking about it. Once you start, be consistent with your efforts, your farm area should here from you a minimum of 12 times per year. Once per month and on special occasions, send postcards and try to find a useful item like a calendar or fridge planner to send out as well. If you are able to knock on the doors twice a year all the better. It’s about exposure and more exposure. They need to see your name a lot to remember who you are.

What Technology do you really need?

Anything which allows you to respond to customers faster and anything that allows you to capture a lead at the time they are looking for information.

That should be your criteria for deciding what technology to buy. Provide better service and grow your business.

Websites are a must have. Your website needs to have a web capture form on the site. This is a form that visitor can fill out for more information on listings, reports or questions. If you don’t have this on your site then you’re losing business.

A cell phone is a given today, however, does your cell phone allow you to respond to emails. Over 80% of buyers start their search on the internet. Most internet searchers work with the first agent they talk to. Having email request from your website come directly to your phone allows you to respond immediately. You can then qualify the lead. Are they buying now or in the future? If they are buying in the future put them in your automatic email campaign in your contact management software.

Do you have contact management software? If not you need to get some, it’s the only way to keep track of prospects, current clients and past clients. Top Producer allows you to set and forget email campaigns, track to-do items, schedule call-backs, it will even create a website for each of your clients so they can see what’s been happening on their listing.

If you want something a little less expensive but still a great contact manager use, Eurekaware, http://realtors.eurekaware.com/, for a mere single payment of $89.00 you can turn Microsoft Outlook into a powerhouse contact manager for real estate agents.

The point is you need software which will help you keep in contact with your clients and prospects.

Here’s the Summary:

• • Email, Mail, Phone and Visit the clients in your Database 30 times per year minimum.
  • Call at least 3 people in your database each day.
  • Get a cell phone which can handle email and respond to email request the same way you do the phone, QUICKLY!
  • Get a website, and it must show your listings and community information. Give reason for them to request more information and fill out form to do so. That way you capture contact information of the people who visit your site.
  • Farm an area, and expose it to your name in some fashion at least 12 times per year.

That’s it folks. If you can consistently follow the above directions your business will grow.

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