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Monday, May 20, 2024

customer service

    Nurturing. It’s the most effective method of moving leads and prospects through the sales funnel. Do it right, and you end up with clients who, if nurtured, can provide you with referrals.

    Nurturing your past clients requires reconnecting with them consistently after the transaction.  

    1. Ensure that your customer service is unforgettable

    No, you don’t need to present them with a whirlwind trip worldwide at closing. It’s the small things that, when added up, will leave the best impression and one that will last far into the future:

    • Keep probing, gently, until you fully understand their wants and needs.
    • Return calls as quickly as possible.
    • Reach out consistently to keep them abreast of the transaction’s process or see how they’re doing and if they have any questions or concerns.
    • Listen to your clients—really listen.
    • Let them know, in word and deed, that they are never alone during the transaction.
    2. Keep them abreast of the latest local housing market news

    Create a customized housing market news report template to send to former clients quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.

    Homeowners love to know how their home is holding or not holding its value. Keep it simple to understand by using lots of visuals.

    3. Just Listeds and Just Solds

    Be alert for just listed or sold homes in your former clients’ neighborhoods. This is the perfect time to reconnect and show that you’re keeping abreast of local real estate.  You’ll find some brilliant Just Listed and Just Sold postcards right here.

    4. Celebrate with them 

    Hopefully, you’ve kept track of important dates in your former clients’ lives. This includes birthdays and anniversaries (especially the anniversary of when they purchased their home). 

    Mark those dates to send a small gift to the former client’s office. 

    Why the office?

    Ask anyone who has received a bouquet of flowers at work how many of their co-workers asked who they were from and what the occasion was.

    Just think how much free word-of-mouth advertising you’ll get when your former client tells coworkers that the gift is from their real estate agent to celebrate the anniversary of their home purchase.

    5. Send an updated CMA

    Your past client reconnection efforts should include an annual CMA to keep them abreast of how their home stacks up regarding market value. They may not be considering selling, but they are most likely curious about their home’s current market value.

    Make sure you put this task in your CRM so you won’t forget about it.

    Reconnecting with folks you’ve done business with is a tried-and-true referral generator.

    PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

    1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

    Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts and engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you. Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here

    2. The Free 6-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

    The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 6-Month Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

    3. The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Review

    The Free Interactive 6-Month Real Estate Business Review allows you to enter your business goals for the remainder of the year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.   – Click Here

    4. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

    Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

      Although the return on investment for home improvements isn’t as significant as it once was, some home renovations are still wise investments and increase value, especially in a changing or down market.

      The latest research finds that curb appeal can add “… up to 7% of a home’s value when sold,” according to associate professor Sriram Villupuram who led a study from the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA).

      “The curb appeal premium is more pronounced during housing market weakness …” the study concluded. 

      Let’s look at some of the study’s findings that you can pass on to your listing clients to help them get more money at the closing table.

      The Curb Appeal postcard from the Content Card Series is shown above. To see this card or more options, Click HERE.

      New siding/paint

      When considering ways to increase curb appeal, you can’t go wrong by recommending your clients get new siding. 

      This will increase the homeowner’s “… home value by about $12,500, claims CreditKarma.com’s Andrew Dunn, citing a recent real estate Cost vs. Value report. “This also assumes that about 1,250 square feet of new siding were installed and represents a 67% return on investment,” he concludes.

      If your listing lacks siding, urge your clients to paint the home’s exterior. While estimates of the ROI for fresh paint are varied, “…it’s the least expensive investment for the biggest return,” according to Jennie Norris with the International Association of Home Staging Professionals.

      Be the agent-in-the-know by offering suggestions on current trends. These include “… colors in the ‘greige’ family,” suggests Mekaila Oaks at Redfin.com. She claims that Kelly Moore’s ‘Gallery Gray,’ with ‘Desert Shadow’ as an accent color, will have buyers getting out of their cars and in the front door.

      Add new windows

      Not only will the addition of new, energy-efficient windows offer an 85% return on your client’s investment, but they may just be able to get a nice tax credit to boot.

      Suggest to your clients a visit to energy.gov to learn how to shop for energy-efficient windows.

      Spiff up the landscaping

      Landscaping renewal’s ROI has been the subject of many studies over the past decade. “Numerous studies have shown that trees increase the value of a property from 3.5 to 27 percent,” according to the experts at the Arbor Day Foundation.

      They go on to say that “An analysis of 844 single-family homes that sold in Athens, Georgia, revealed that houses with an average of five trees (regardless of species) in the front yard sold for 3.5 to 4.5 percent more than comparable houses without trees.”

      Recommend that your sellers visit ArborDay.org’s tree database to find trees growing well in your area.

      Then, suggest they remove weeds, green up the lawn, plant some color and apply fresh mulch to the beds.

      There are workarounds to the uncertainty of the current market. Ensure your clients understand that curb appeal can either compel buyers to get out of the car to view the rest of the house or drive to their next showing.

      PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

      1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

      Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

      Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here


      2. The Free 12-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

      The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

      3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

      The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks these boxes but is also a business-building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

      4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

      The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

      5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

      This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

      Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

        Back in the dinosaur days of real estate, a simple Rolodex, populated with the contact information of people in an agent’s sphere, ruled the day in most real estate businesses. 

        As technology advanced from those tiny 2.25-inch x 4-inch Rolodex cards, agents demanded more bells and whistles, which resulted in today’s sophisticated Customer Relationship Management platforms. 

        With the market in flux, it’s a good time for the less-than-busy agent to get to know their CRM and reacquaint themselves with the gold mine it is.

        How about starting a drip campaign to drum up some business?

        One of the best ways to grow your business and stay top of mind with your network is by reaching out to each person consistently over time.

        Many agents swear by their drip campaigns, sending either automated emails or direct mail out to selected contacts in their CRM. However, how frequently you contact these people sits on a fine line between reaching out and spamming. 

        Some experts claim that dripping on these folks once a week is going to eventually get your marketing materials tossed in the trash or blocked from delivery to your contacts entirely – especially if they don’t plan on moving for a year or so. 

        A monthly email is more appropriate – even longer is fine. Just making consistent contact without annoying people is what’s most important.

        You have one chance to lure these recipients into reading your drip campaign, which occurs with your first attempt. 

        The Content Card Series is shown above. To see more designs, Click HERE.

        Depending on your database’s size, you may have to create several focused campaigns. Some of the categories to think about include quick (the operative word here) information for:

        • Homebuyers
        • Sellers
        • Condo buyers
        • FHA or VA buyers

        To stay top-of-mind with past clients, think about sending information on their interests:

        • Gardening
        • Interior decorating and design trends
        • Green living
        • Food
        • Birthday, anniversary, new baby, and other greetings

        The Content Card Series offers many of the topics listed above. Whatever you choose to send, make it count. Wow, them – make the recipients look forward to the next one.

        Face-to-Face

        Sometimes a face-to-face encounter is called for. Many successful agents plan client-appreciation events periodically throughout the year or one splashy annual event.

        One California agent uses her CRM to classify her clients according to how big their sphere of influence is. Those with a huge network of contacts she calls her “A” group and those are the ones she tends to go a bit above and beyond to maintain the relationships. 

        Her preferred method is to never miss their birthday by issuing a lunch invitation for birthday week. Pricey? Perhaps, but memorable and tax-deductible as well.

        Follow up with industry colleagues

        Stick all those people you do business with on a regular basis into your CRM too. Begin building relationships with them by attending networking events or even holding your own for title company representatives, escrow people, lenders, contractors, plumbers, home inspectors, and electricians.

        Client retention is business promotion at its subtlest, and your CRM is the most valuable tool you have right now. 

        While letting people know you value them, you plant a seed that will hopefully blossom into a big, fat pipeline full of referrals.

        Be sure to check out the CRM that we offer to our customers FOR FREE. It allows you to grab contacts from various customer lists, target them with specific marketing meant just for them, and keep historical notes and personal data (i.e., birthdays, family members, home anniversary dates, etc.).

        To check out our FREE Contact Manager, Click HERE.

        PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

        1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

        Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

        Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here


        2. The Free 12-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

        The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

        3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

        The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks these boxes but is also a business-building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

        4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

        The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

        5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

        This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

        Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

          Recessions used to be painfully easy to spot. Lately, however, the definition of the word “recession” seems to stymie even the most experienced and well-regarded economists.

          Is it any wonder that the general public, and real estate consumers in particular, are now confused about the economy? 

          Whether or not your real estate practice is feeling the financial pinch that many other small businesses are experiencing, it very well may be in the future. 

          Should you discontinue marketing during the downturn? 

          Your competition may be tempted to do so. Which is the biggest reason you should absolutely not stop marketing.

          Over the next few weeks, we’ll be bringing you several tried-and-true real estate business marketing methods that, although some are time-consuming, will be easy on your budget.

          The Market Update Series is shown above. To see more, Click HERE.

          Consider increasing your content marketing

          Content marketing, by definition, is not meant to promote your brand (although it often does) but to attract and spark interest in your real estate services.

          Right now, consumers (whether ready to buy or sell or wait it out) want to be kept abreast of the economy and the housing market and get tips on how to solve challenges in buying or selling in this market.

          Blogging is one of the best and least expensive ways to accomplish this. Before you put your fingers to the keyboard, however, let’s take a look at some of the plusses of blogging:

          • Have a blog on your website? If you consistently add content to it, you may receive 97% more inbound links than the agent who doesn’t have an active blog. “Inbound links boost a website’s authority, which is a major page-ranking factor.” (Fundera.com)
          • Marketing advisory firm DemandMetric finds that “… companies with blogs generate 67% more monthly leads than those without.”
          • Their research also finds that you’ll spend 62% less on content marketing than on other forms of marketing.
          Structure your blog posts for easy-reading

          Most of us have landed on a blog post that hits us like a wall of words. And many will pass it by for just that reason. 

          Blog content needs to be easy to read, so break up long paragraphs and create additional interest by inserting bullet points, numbered lists, and lots of white space. 

          The folks at SEMRush find that a bulleted list every 500 words produces an average of 70% more traffic than posts that don’t contain these breaks.

          Then, vow to add some spice to each post

          Plan on adding images to each post. Types of engaging images include:

          • Stock photos
          • Screenshots that help explain the content
          • Infographics
          • Charts

          According to the SEMrush State of Content Marketing 2020 Global Report, your blog posts’ images are critical to getting more traffic.

          Blogging consistently during an economic downturn shows your website visitors that you’re still engaged in the industry, despite the slowdown. It demonstrates that you understand their concerns and are ready to assist them.

          PLUS: When you have time…below are some marketing tools to help support your success.

          1. Put Your Real Estate Business a Step Above with Your Own Branded Magazine

          Homes & Life Magazine is a customizable magazine with rich, full-color content and a sharp, professional aesthetic. It includes compelling, direct response-driven articles written by real estate industry experts combined with engaging lifestyle content. Send out Homes & Life Magazine in Just Minutes – No Minimums Required. Or we’ll ship it to you.

          Homes & Life Magazine is the ultimate “Coffee Table Lingerer”! …and it costs less than sending a greeting card! – Click Here


          2. The Free 12-Month Done-For-You Strategic Marketing Plan

          The Real Estate Marketing Planner is a powerful 12-Month-Guide that strategically defines what marketing to do and when. Four key market segments include niche Markets, geographic farming, sphere of influence, and past clients. – Click Here

          3. The BusinessBase, SOI building system

          The most effective thing you can do to build a real estate business is to become more visible, more likable, and remembered more often. The BusinessBASE™ not only checks these boxes but is also a business-building machine. In two easy steps, you can begin to build a robust sphere of influence that will provide you a lifetime of repeat business and referrals. – Click Here

          4. The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan

          The Free Interactive Real Estate Business Plan allows you to enter your business goals for this year and get a breakdown of how many prospects, listings, closing, and so on are needed to reach your goals.  – Click Here

          5. The Become a Listing Legend Free eBook 

          This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Become-A-Listing-Legend-3D-Book-White-274x300.jpg

          Ready to take a vertical leap in your real estate career? If you’re looking for inspiration…and the tools and methods to dominate a market and go to the top in real estate…you’ll find them in this free book. – Click Here

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