By Matthew Collis
New sales reps don’t always have the proper marketing training to build a successful career in real estate sales. Real estate schools don’t teach a whole lot about marketing, contact management and how to grow a successful referrals and repeat business. Perhaps that’s why so many people who set out to become agents fail within their first year.
Here are three must-know tips for new real estate agents and how you can implement each one into your business.
1. Creatively stay in touch with your sphere. You want to add friends, family members, past coworkers, people you’ve done business with and everyone else you know into your real estate contact management system. Then, stay in touch with these people and let them know you’re in real estate. But you don’t want to send out a mass email announcing you’re a new sales rep in a brash or promotional manner. The trick is to be subtle.
Good real estate contact management software comes with a professionally written and designed monthly e-newsletter to help you stay in touch and position yourself as a home expert. Be sure to add everyone in your sphere to your e-newsletter distribution list.
Next, set up automatic reminders so your system prompts you to wish your contacts happy birthday and happy holidays at the right times. Write a handwritten card wishing them the best.
Freely send handwritten thank-you notes every time someone you know has done something you appreciate. This helps get your name out there and leaves a lasting impression.
You may want to send out an email periodically with a special offer, such as a free home value consultation, IDX listings or a market report. When you send this message, let the recipients know you’d like to get together soon/ reconnect.
According to Buffini & Company, 92 per cent of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising. Communicating to those close to you, using the right approach, can create a lot of referrals.
2. Sponsor a local team or organization. Ask your sphere about the activities they or their children regularly participate in to find teams or organizations to sponsor. Pick the most popular one and contact the organizer of the team or organization and ask about sponsorship opportunities.
With sponsorship, it’s not just loyalty you’re building. You’ll be generating more referrals, too. Imagine the impact of a client sitting in the stands saying to the parent next to her, “The sponsor of our team is my real estate agent!” News of a helpful professional travels quickly among groups. Even if you don’t have any clients yet, this is a good way to get your name out quickly to a wide audience in a certain neighbourhood.
At the end of the season, you may want to organize an end-of-year or celebratory party. This can be a great tactic to get some new leads.
Be sure to add all of your leads into your management system. Put them on a drip marketing campaign to nurture them over time so when they’re ready to use an agent, you’re the one they’ll call.
3. Use activity plans: Marketing activity plans are drip marketing campaigns designed to keep you “top of mind” with all of your leads – both the hot ones and those that need to be nurtured long-term. At set time intervals, your real estate management system will automatically send out an email or prompt you to pick up the phone and make a call. It will have a number of campaigns specifically created for various types of leads, such as first-time buyers, FSBOs, buyers currently renting, sellers and more.
Many agents make the mistake of losing touch with leads that don’t work with them right away. These plans help you make certain you’re building the relationship over time with all your leads so you’re top of mind when they are ready to buy or sell.
Listing and closing activity plans help ensure no details fall through the cracks when listing or closing a home. At particular times, your system reminds you to take actions such as sending the client a service report, installing a lockbox or confirming inspection conditions.
A good management system comes with these plans pre-loaded and you should be able to customize them or create your own, if you wish.
Matthew Collis is marketing manager at IXACT Contact Solutions Inc., a real estate CRM firm. He works with sales reps to help them achieve their goals through effective contact management and relationship marketing. IXACT Contact is a web-based real estate contact management and marketing system that includes powerful email marketing capabilities and a professionally designed and written monthly e-newsletter. www.ixactcontact.com
