More Marketing Strategies!
Ideas for “Continuing the Real Estate Business Cycle”
The following contains many ideas you can use to “Continue the Real Estate Business Cycle.” Remember, the core of your marketing plan must include ways to talk to people and find prospective buyers and sellers.
THE FUNDAMENTALS
- Contact your "Sphere of Influence"
Remember to start your marketing with all the people you come into contact with – your “Sphere of Influence.” In real estate, it is important to let these people know you are in the business – and could use their help. Make a list of all the people you know. Your sphere of influence is probably larger than you realize. Here's a handy list to help jog your memory of who to contact:
Place a phone call. Or send a simple letter or postcard announcing that you are in the real estate business. Include your contact information and/or business card and a request to call you if they know of anyone who might need a real estate agent. A simple phrase "I Love Referrals!" is a good way to let them know to keep you in mind.
This opportunity is one of the very best. Agents have become millionaires just by talking to people they meet at the store everyday. Hand out your business card to people you meet EVERY DAY at the coffee house, grocery store, etc. Ask for referrals! After you meet someone and develop a rapport, try saying something like “Will you do me a favor and take my card. And when you meet someone interested in buying or selling real estate, would you please ask them to give me a call. Thanks a lot.”
Cold calling means picking up the phone, dialing a stranger and asking for a lead. When cold calling, use an updated phone list cross-referenced with the National Do-Not-Call list, and armed with a good phone script, make phone calls and generate leads. Ask for referrals!
What works is the numbers. Cold calling does provide a lot of contacts in the least amount of time. It also brings more rejections and tougher contracts to convert. But if you run out of people to talk to or you are new to the area, go ahead and make cold calls. It will give you plenty of opportunity to increase your sales skills!
Remember, you cannot just call anyone now. You may not call people who have registered with the Federal Do-Not-Call list. Make sure you stay updated on this law and its rules. Title companies can assist in providing leads that have been cross-referenced with the current Do-Not-Call List.
While driving around, you may notice For Sale By Owner (FSBO) signs, a good source for potential listings. You may also find these advertised in the local newspaper, such as the San Diego Union Tribune.
A FSBO is someone selling his or her property without the help of a real estate broker. Write down the address, phone number, and description of the home. Drop off a letter or flyer offering a free market analysis or other free item of value such as home warranty information, a FSBO guide, a C.A.R. contract, or how to prepare a home for a successful sale. If you contact homeowners by telephone, you should comply with Do-Not-Call rules.
When you speak with the homeowners, get additional information on the property and ask if they are participating with Brokers. If so, try to make an appointment to preview the home and present your marketing plan and CMA. Once you get the opportunity to meet the owners and present your marketing plan, find out if they would consider listing their home with you at some point in the future. Remember, 8 out of 10 FSBO’s end up listing with an agent!
- For Rent by Owners (FRBOs)
This refers to owners of vacation homes or owners renting out their house. It’s good to prospect these types of people because they may own several homes and are collecting rent – an aggravation they might be willing to unload.
- Drive Around and Pick a "Farm" Area
A Farm area is an area that you would like to specialize in. Make sure it is manageable and that you have the resources (time, energy and money) to promote yourself to this region at least once a month. Once you have picked your farming area, you may call a title company and have them send you a farming package, including mailing lists of homeowners in that particular neighborhood. It is also a good idea to pull up sales in that neighborhood to see if there is a good turnover rate of movers, or an agent who is already very dominant in the area. As soon as possible, start knocking on doors and meeting the homeowners. Even if the owner is not thinking of selling, perhaps they know someone who is, or someone who is interested in buying a home. Be patient with your farming efforts. Although you may get lucky right away, it may take 3-6 six months to see any results.
When a listing has expired, try to make an appointment. Introduce yourself, inquire about availability, and try to get inside the home. Establish a relationship and try to understand the owner’s motivation. Get an appointment to meet the spouse and make a presentation.
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NICHE MARKETING
If you or your relatives or friends are in the military, look into advertising in the military newspaper, passing out military “Special” flyers, or offering to conduct a short talk on first time home buying, 100% financing, etc. Many military transfers take place in June and July!
- Medical Industry Marketing
If you or your relatives or friends are in the medical industry, look into advertising in the medical industry newspaper, passing out medical industry “Special” flyers, or offering to conduct a short talk on first time home buying, 100% financing, etc. Try to work with the HR department to get the word out.
- Education Sector Marketing
If you or your relatives or friends are in the education sector, look into advertising in the local school newspaper, passing out “Special” flyers for teachers, sending flyers to student’s homes, or offering to conduct a short talk on first time home buying, 100% financing, etc.
Whatever industry you came from, or your relatives or friends may currently be in, look into advertising in an industry newspaper, passing out industry “Special” flyers, attending a function to meet employees, or offering to conduct a short talk on first time home buying, 100% financing, etc. Try to work with the HR department to get the word out.
- Rental Community Marketing
- Drop off home buying or 100% financing flyers at rental communities/apartments.
- Consider knocking on doors and conducting a “survey” as a way to begin a conversation with the tenants.
- Send out postcards to apartment tenants offering free pre-qualification, no-money down, etc.
- Developers and Condo Converters
If you can develop a relationship with a builder or condo converter, you could have multiple listings. Sometimes a project may involve rehabbing a single property or converting only 2-4 units. This is a great way to get your feet wet and develop experience with these types of listings. If you do a good job, chances are the investor will use you for other projects as well. This can lead to bigger opportunities and even more listings!
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LISTING / OPEN HOUSE RELATED ACTIVITIES
- Pre-listing Presentation Information
Prior to your listing presentation, send or drop off a pre-listing package with flowers, a plant, pizza, etc. to set yourself apart. Also consider establishing a website in the name of the property you are trying to list. And be sure to take digital pictures of the property!
When you have a new listing, always put up a post sign (if allowed) to advertise the home for sale and you as a professional with expertise this neighborhood. Make sure your name and phone number are on the sign. This is a good way to generate prospective buyers for this or other properties. You may also generate other prospective listings with the sign.
- Neighborhood Signs – For Sale
When you have a new listing, consider putting up many signs around the surrounding neighborhood busy corners, exit ramps, stop signs and lights, etc., to advertise the listing, especially if it is an attractive price. This is a good way to generate prospective buyers for this or other properties. You may also generate other prospective listings with this advertising.
- Neighborhood Signs – Free Market Analysis
Consider putting up many signs around your farming neighborhood offering a free market analysis. It gives people a free service and shows you are a hard worker in your marketing efforts. This is a good way to generate prospective listings.
- Neighborhood Door-to-Door Prospecting
Introduce yourself and establish rapport. You may consider doing a “survey” as a basis to get the conversation started. Inquire about potential sellers in the neighborhood. Ask if they have considered selling. If interested, ask to see the inside of the house. Then set an appointment to meet their spouse (if married) and do a listing presentation.
Take an Open House Register to log in prospective homebuyer’s information. Use the register as a prospect list of homebuyers. Even if you do not get a buyer for that particular home from the open house, you may still be able to pick up client who want to buy another home or sell their home (or both!).
- Volunteer for an Open House
If you do not yet have a listing of your own to conduct an open house for, there may be another agent in the office who has a listing. You can approach him or her and volunteer your services. Tips on how to increase your chances of picking up new prospects at open houses are mentioned in the Open House Section of the Marketing Guide in the Watkins Realty Group Training Manual.
Place an ad in the local newspaper to generate prospective buyers for your listing. Offer to show them other properties if your listing does not suit their needs.
- Neighborhood Announcements – Just Listed / Open House
A couple of days before or on the day of the open house, mail or drop off “Just Listed” or “Open House” door hangers, postcards or flyers to the neighborhood announcing the open house. Invite the neighbors for food, CMAs, etc. This is a good way to generate other prospective sellers and referrals.
- Neighborhood Announcements – Just Sold
When your listing is sold, mail or drop off “Just Sold” or “Sold in 2 Days,” etc., door hangers, postcards or flyers to the neighborhood, promoting your success in selling properties in the neighborhood.
Check all the new listings each day and call the neighbors. Let them know that a house just came up for sale in their area and then tell them you anticipate this house will bring a lot of buyers into the neighborhood. Ask if they have ever thought of selling their house. Even if they are not thinking of selling, they may refer you to a neighbor who is.
The reason people FAIL is not because of what they don't know.
They FAIL because they refuse, on a daily basis, to put into practice the things they do know. |
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ADVERTISING ACTIVITIES
- Advertise in Traditional Places
Consider the following local advertising options:
- San Diego Union Tribune
- Home Trader magazine
- San Diego Reader
- Other real estate related magazines
- Advertise in Traditional Places
Consider the following local advertising options:
- Businesses that allow you to post your business cards or flyers - coffee houses, dry cleaners, grocery stores, etc.
- Bulletin boards at rental communities/apartments (if allowed by management)
- Community Newsletters
- Military Housing Newsletters
- Industry Newsletters
- Your Online Watkins Realty Group Profile
Anyone can log onto the Internet and check out your profile if they are looking for an agent to represent them. Make sure your profile is current and enticing!
- Your Own Real Estate Website
Many realtors have their own unique real estate website, using their own name as the web address.
- Neighborhood Signs – 100% Financing / 0 Money Down
Consider putting up signs around your farming neighborhood offering information on 100% financing, free prequalification, 0 money down, etc. This will generate leads for both loans and real estate buyers.
- Neighborhood Signs – Phone Number Capture
Consider putting up signs around your farming neighborhood offering information on 100% financing, free prequalification, 0 money down, etc. You may also offer information on a great deal for a home. Then use phone number capture technology to log the phone numbers. This will give you phone number leads of people actively looking to finance or buy property.
- Neighborhood Announcements – House Warming
When your buyer moves into a new neighborhood, consider hosting a house warming party for them. Promote the house warming with door hangers or flyers to the neighbors, and send out invitations to the new homeowner’s friends, family and associates. This is a great way to solidify your relationship with the buyer and a terrific way for you to be the hero at the party and meet many new prospects!
Whether you drive a car, SUV or truck, consider adding a magnetic advertising sign to the side or rear of your vehicle. After a modest initial charge to produce the sign, you receive ongoing advertising at no additional cost! If you choose to use this type of advertising, try to give the people observing the sign “a reason to call.”
“Success in life depends upon staying power. The reason for failure in most cases is lack of perseverance.”
-J.R. Miller |
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DEVELOPING REFERRALS
- Focus on Referrals – Friends and Family
Develop a network of referral sources that will give you ongoing referrals. Stay in touch with all your referral sources on a regular basis. At the top of the referral list is friends and family. If you wish, you may offer a referral incentive to inspire them to promote you.
- Focus on Referrals – Banks and Credit Unions
Banks and Credit Unions offer home loans but they cannot provide real estate services.
Many customers may go to their bank to get “pre-qualified” and begin using the Internet, reading the newspaper, and driving around to look at prospective homes.
The bank cannot do the loan without a real estate purchase contract, so you are helping them make a deal. If the bank loan officer asks if the customer is working with an agent and the answer is “no,” wouldn’t it be nice if they gave your business card and recommended you as a professional real estate consultant! If you can make one person in one branch happy with the relationship, you will have the opportunity to expand the relationship to another branch and another loan officer.
- Focus on Referrals – Mortgage Companies
Mortgage Companies offer home loans but often do not provide real estate services.
They cannot do a purchase loan without a real estate purchase contract, so you are helping them make a deal. Develop a relationship with a mortgage company loan officer and ask him or her to give your business card and recommend you as a professional real estate consultant. If you can make one loan officer happy with the relationship, you will have the opportunity to expand the relationship to other loan officers and obtain even more referrals.
- Focus on Referrals – Banks, Credit Unions Turndowns
Most banks have a handful of loan programs. If the customer doesn’t “fit” into one of the programs, they will have to turn them down. On a referral basis, you may be able to step in and offer a home loan product that makes the customer a happy one. With the home loan, you may also be able to pick up the real estate representation services as well!
- Focus on Referrals – Banks and Credit Unions Seminars
Banks and Credit Unions offer home loans but they cannot provide real estate services.
Consider doing a joint finance/real estate seminar with a bank or credit union. They can cover the loan side, and you can cover the real estate. You may also simply be present to answer questions at a home loan seminar they present.
- Focus on Referrals – Clients
Happy customers are a great source of referrals- stay in touch with them! Develop a database follow up system – Monthly e-mails, personal notes, phone calls and visits. You may also consider offering a referral incentive to inspire them to promote you.
- Focus on Referrals – Businesses
Many businesses that you give your personal business to (dry cleaners, coffee shop, salon, etc), as well as others, will allow you to display your business card or flyer at their place of business. Take advantage of this free advertising opportunity! You may also consider offering a gift to cashiers, etc. that refer potential clients to you.
- Focus on Referrals – Divorce Attorneys
When a marriage ends, there are usually divorce attorneys involved. Many times a jointly owned home is sold during the proceedings. Divorce attorneys are a good source of referrals, as you may represent the couple to sell their property. You may also represent the husband or wife in purchasing another home. Find ways to network, receive referrals to, and meet divorce attorneys to establish a working relationship.
- Focus on Referrals – Probate Judges / Courts
When a property is sold through probate court, a licensed real estate agent must oversee the sales. Find out how you can become one of the approved agents for these transactions.
- Focus on Referrals – CPAs / Accountants / Financial Advisors
People often turn to their accountant or financial advisor for advice on how to decrease their tax liability and consider various investment options. Accountants and financial advisors are a good source of referrals. Find ways to network, receive referrals to, and meet CPAs and financial advisors to establish a working relationship.
- Focus on Referrals – Home Professionals
Develop working relationships with home professionals that like you so much, they’ll recommend you whenever they hear of someone buying or selling. These professionals includes plumbers, electricians, gardeners, and contractors (flooring, roofing, home improvement, etc.)
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MORE MARKETING IDEAS
Agents can hit the radio waves to educate listeners on the fine points of real estate while at the same time getting the word out about their business. Bring in guests and discuss topics like affordable housing, mortgage lending, and preparing a home for sale. Your radio program can be either a half hour or one hour show.
It’s also a great way to increase name recognition in the community and develop new prospects. It’s personal marketing at its best because after listening to you for an hour on the radio, potential clients feel like they can trust you.
- Polish Your Negotiating Skills
Improve your ability to negotiate home sales prices, commission rates and everything in between. You may be the only agent a seller interviews who talks about negotiating plans and strategies.
By incorporating negotiating experience and education into both buyer and seller presentations, you can position yourself as an agent who can net clients the best possible return on investment.
- Automate Your Telephone Line
Not every potential buyer wants to talk directly to an Agent on his or her first phone call to a real estate office. Some would rather have the option of receiving automated information, through programs such as House4Cell Program ( www.house4cell.com). With buyers demanding quick responses, callers receive text messages containing property information instantaneously, and are prompted to call the agent for further information. There’s no searching for a pen to jot things down and no chance of miscommunication, since it’s all in writing.
- Tap Into Client Newsletters
Being able to customize a client newsletter, and then let an automated system handle all of the work involved with delivering the publication, can be a real time-saver.
California Realtors may use ClientDirect, a free custom-branded e-newsletter available to C.A.R. members. The publication includes the agent’s photo and contact information, along with multiple articles of interest to the target client base. Some of the articles may be provided by ClientDirect, while others can pulled together by the agent, who may also include links to property listings in the monthly mailing.
With a service such as Homefeedback.com, an agent can help homeowners prepare their property for sale, and then sign them up to receive instant feedback on all activity, via a six-question survey that the agent sends to all showing agents. The agent can receive a weekly report of all of listing activity, and can incorporate the feature into listing presentations. The agent can also include samples of actual reports that the homeowners can expect to receive if they sign a listing agreement.
- Conduct Educational Seminars
Conducting free seminars can be used in many ways. You can advertise locally for a free home buying seminar, or turn it into a “lunch and learn” seminar to help you get your foot in the door at large corporations whose employees need help buying and selling homes.
Consider creating several PowerPoint presentations focused on topics like credit scoring, mortgage lending, retirement planning and various other subjects of interest. Incorporate the presentations into seminars, and market them to school boards, sheriff’s departments, engineering firms and other organizations whose employees were in need of such information.
Shape the seminars around helping people prepare for their futures. Keep the seminars at a maximum one-hour in length. Costs may run anywhere from $100 to $450, and may take place at restaurants around the area.
With over 75% of buyers starting their search online, consider using the Web. Create one or multiple websites generating customer leads every day. The Web can be a very cost-effective way to market yourself as an agent. Design your domain names and their Web content around consumer wants and needs. If you develop multiple sites, tie them all into one primary Web site.
Websites can serve as effective business generators, and turn your whole Web system is a farming area.
"The real secret of success is enthusiasm."
- Walter Chrysler |
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