Now that you, as a REALTOR®, have a CRM in place, how do you use it to build your relationships with prospects and clients? SalesForce says “it takes 6-8 touches to generate a a viable sales lead” and some say it is as high as 9-12 touches. Real Estate Agents also rely on repeat business and need to make it a priority to keep in touch with past clients regularly to ensure they get their business again. Keeping in touch with past clients can also remind them of you so that they refer friends and family to you. I heard one person recently tell me they have dealt with close to 20 Real Estate Agents in their lifetime, and they couldn’t name one. It is important to remind your clients about you – especially since years can pass between them needed real estate services.
One online solution that helps to schedule in and create touches is SendOutCards.com. SendOutCards offers you the ability to import your contacts and special dates, such as their birthdate, anniversary date, or anniversary of a purchase date. You can then schedule to send out cards on these special dates. You can also create campaigns to send to multiple people at once. Their prices on a monthly subscription are quite affordable. For $39/month you get 100 points which you can use to send out 100 postcards or 33 2-panel cards. You have to pay for postage on top of this which is $0.85 a card. You would be spending around $124 a month to contact 100 people a month. The best part is these cards get delivered directly to the client – right from your computer. They also have the option to send out special gifts or gift cards – we once sent a client brownies and they loved them! One downside is that points expire after a year so make sure to only sign up for a subscription that you can use. You can send a single card for around $2 plus postage with no plan if you want to try it out or only send a few.
There are many ways to keep in touch with prospects and clients. Other options REALTORS® can consider include the following schedule to place phone calls to clients on a special date, such as the anniversary of their house closing or birthday
- Create an interesting newsletter and have prospects and clients subscribe to it (make sure to get permission as it a B2C relationship)
- Host an event in person – everyone likes a good party (or information session with free food)
- Host an event online such as a webinar – make sure you have something planned out and it can be good to have more than one host to generate an interesting dialogue (GoToMeeting is an option)
- Use postcard mailers to advertise promotions or send personalized messages, such as “Happy Anniversary on the Purchase of your Home”. Check out our posts on Postcard mailers here and here.
- Connect through Social Media Marketing. Check out our posts on Social Media Marketing here and here and here.
If you are a successful Real Estate Agents looking to expand your referral network, apply to PrimoAgents.com.
SendOutCards *is* a decent solution. I prefer to send cards that are a little more entertaining, while not unprofessional. An amusing card may well be passed around the office, or displayed on the recipient’s desk, garnering additional smiles from coworkers. There’s a good selection of humorous cards for clients here: http://www.quotearts.com/birthdaycardsforclients.html . Worth a look (and a smirk).