Picture This:

 

A happy, smiling couple - the closing table at long last, you with their promises of numerous referrals still

 

ringing in your ears as they tell you how they couldn't have done it without you!

 

You're wonderful! You stop by to give them a great housewarming gift. You're the best! They'll NEVER,

 

EVER forget you - they'll tell EVERYBODY they know that you didn't quit until you found them the perfect

 

house (after only seeing 20). They'll be the best town criers you've ever had!!

But then.......a few months later......where did they go? The referrals you expected to start coming in (or at

 

least ONE) never materialized. You're back to square one, looking for more new clients, spending more

 

money.

So what just happened?

 

Did they just get so caught up in their new lives and new home that they forgot all about you?

 

Yeah, maybe. It happens.

 

But, then again maybe not.

 

Maybe they forgot to remember you because you forgot to remember them (now, stay with me here).

 

91% of Realtors never contact a client again after the house is sold.

 

You lose 10% of your influence with past clients every month you do not contact them in some way.

 

10% x 10 months = 100% forgotten.

 

If you let too much time slide by with out contacting your past clients, they might just forget your last

 

name. Sure, they might remember your company name and your first name, and how terrific you were to

 

work with, but not enough to refer you when the opportunity arises.

 

So, say you really DO try to keep in regular touch with your past clients. Good for you! That's great!

 

But, Are they referring you? Are their family, friends, co-workers, fellow church members, etc. just not

 

buying or selling houses in this economy?

 

OR is something else possibly going on?

 

Do you really have to contact them EVERY single month of the year to get them to refer you? Of course

 

not........BUT.......perhaps it's time to take a closer look at what you're sending them.

Pretend you're getting a nice birthday card from your Realtor. Nice to be remembered, right? A warm

 

fuzzy just for you on your special day. Now consider that 5 business cards tumble into your lap when you

 

open the card. How do you feel now?

Do you feel remembered by someone who became a friend when they sold you your house, or do you feel

 

they only want you to spread those cards around for their business? Warm fuzzy defuzzed fast, huh?

Same thing with those lovely disclaimers on the bottom of the holiday postcards your company has.

 

"Please Disregard if you're already working with a Realtor". HUH? You just told them to have a Happy

 

Holiday...then told them to disregard the friendly message on the postcard....and you ARE their Realtor!

 

Those are both scenarios of a "Send To Get" message to your past client that may cause them to view you

 

in a different light, no matter how wonderful you were when you sold them their house.

 

Their perception is now that you're only contacting them to get something from them, no

 

matter how sincere your real intentions may be.

 

So, what could you change to make them feel that you still care, are still the wonderful, referrable person

 

they forged such a friendly relationship with? Would it take a lot to turn them back around and make them

 

remember you enough to refer you to others?

 

Not really.

 

It's pretty simple actually.

If you just adopt a "Send To Give" attitude, and send just a birthday card with a nice note, maybe

 

saying"Your Realtor For Life" after your signature with your phone number, you'll be forging a stronger,

 

friendlier relationship with them. Remember them on a few unexpected holidays like Valentine's Day or

 

Thanksgiving just to say hello and say you're thinking about them - with absolutely no thought of getting

 

anything at all in return.

 

Then forget all about it and watch what starts to happen!

 

Just a few thoughts from "The Card Lady" for you to think about today.

 

Barb Corsa

 

PS: If you don't currently send cards to your past clients, maybe you should start - at least a few a year.

Because each person knows about 250 people, and that's a lot of potential referrals.

 

 

I haven't posted in awhile, so I thought I'd mention that I usually (like so many people) put together some resolutions for the coming year during this interim time of reflection between Christmas and  New Years.

But, I recently watched a motivational speaker who challenged me to do things a little differently this year. I can't remember who he was (watched a clip on Facebook probably haha), but his message sure sunk in.

He said to quickly write down 10 goals you want to meet this coming year - don't let up until you reach 10 no matter how small some might be. Let it pour out of you onto the paper.

Then, looking at your list, choose only the one that seems most important for you to reach.

Next, start outlining exactly what steps you need to do to reach that one goal, and put those steps on your brand new 2010 calendar - the when, where and how to reach your goal..

Keep the list to refer back to for your next goal.

Resolutions = vague things like lose weight, stop smoking, etc....without a well thought out plan of attack.

Those who fail to plan, plan to fail.

Most resolutions will be broken by mid January like so many others over the years.

So, set goals this year and make your plan on how to actually reach them!

I know I am.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

With Winter here and icy, wet roads everywhere we’re driving, (and it seems like we’re ALWAYS driving somewhere, right)?

I wanted to pass on something I read recently, so you all can arrive where you're going more safely:

NEVER DRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH YOUR CRUISE CONTROL ON!!!

A highway patrolman said that if the cruise control is on and your car begins to hydro-plane, your tires will lose contact with the pavement, and your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed making you take off like an airplane.

The patrolman said this warning should be listed on the driver's seat sun-visor, along with the airbag warning:
 
NEVER USE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE PAVEMENT IS WET OR ICY

We tell our teenagers to set the cruise control and drive a safe speed, but we don't tell them to use the cruise control only when the pavement is dry.
 
Interesting to note: I read that some vehicles (like the Toyota Sienna Limited XLE) will not even allow you to set the cruise control when the windshield wipers are on.
 
If you pass this information on to other people in your office, to family members, and your circle of friends and only one of them doesn't know about this, then this was worth posting. You might have saved a life.

Take care out there.

 

Here's an audio from a Realtor who has been using SendOutCards to follow up with her clients very successfully.

Listen To The Audio Now

To test drive the system she refers to, click here for a 5 minute video walkthrough to send a real card to someone (just do what the little man says and don't click ahead of him).

Got questions? Email me at barbcorsa@sbcglobal.net.

Thanks,

Barb

 

 

Sing along with me....(to the tune of These Are My Favorite Things)

 

Long nights of staring at piles of cards laying

Brain strain from wondering what to be saying

Cartridges empying at a fast clip.....

These are some things that you won't really miss

 

Scrawling your signature at a hard table

Sticking on stamps and peeling off labels

Blurry eyes straining to finish in time.....

These are some things that you won't really miss

 

When you're busy, when you're stressed out, when you're feeling low.

Just call The Card Lady, she'll show you for free...

the answer to card sending woes!

 

That was fun (for me at least LOL!) Ok - seriously folks, did you recognize yourself in any of that? If you did, and you're wondering if there is an easier way to send cards in your own handwriting, with your own signature to everybody in your database this Holiday season, there is!!

With SendOutCards, you can make the cards up WAY ahead of time, set them up to go out BEFORE December 15th to everybody on your list, even add gift cards and gifts. With secure database uploads, mail merge for names and the ability to make Groups in the Contact Manager, you could be done with Holiday cards in 15 minutes. But if I don't show, you won't know, and the only way to get use of the system is through a Distributor.

This year, enjoy the Holidays with family and friends more..without the hand cramps! I

Email me at barbcorsa@sbcglobal.net and I'll send you a link to test drive the system by actually sending a real card without leaving your computer, or you can join at www.sendoutcards.com using Distributor #32451. I give a one hour free training session after signup.

Barb Corsa (aka The Card Lady) System Trainer & Ind. Distributor 32451

 

 

 

 

 

My hubby Kevin Corsa, just started a new group called Facebook Bloggers. (his other groups are: The Tuesday Trip and Home Inspector's Corner)

Here's the link to the new one:

http://activerain.com/groups/facebookbloggers

The Join button is at the bottom left.

This should be a lively group with lots of discussion about social networking.

Barb

 

 

My mother, a widow with 4 kids and a full time job, used to "go out for a ride" on a weekly basis at night after we got old enough to look after the younger ones. As kids, we thought this was really weird. Was she meeting someone? No.

As an adult, I finally got up the courage to ask her what she used to do on those rides. Her reply? "I sang, screamed or cried in the car depending on what kind of week I had".

She said that in the dark, with little to no traffic to see her, she could just drive around the back roads and get out her frustrations and emotions and come back to us a better mother. She said it didn't help anyone to see her very very mad or very very sad, and it was unhealthy for her to keep all that bottled up inside. It was her stress reliever!

When she was happy, she'd sing at the top of her lungs. When the week had been particularily mean, she'd scream the same way because no one could hear. Sometimes she'd just sit on the side of the road and cry because she didn't want us to see and get upset.

She'd come home calm and ready for some time with her kids.

Too many people these days are so stressed with life and work in general that they often don't think of how their moods can affect their families and their own health. They keep their emotions bottled up until they explode.

Did we ever see her mad or sad? Of course. We gave her plenty of reasons. But our memories of her are sweet, and the lessons she taught have stayed with us.

So if you see a woman in a burgundy van on the expressway at night singing at the top of her lungs to Phantom of the Opera, it's me...and it's been a great day!

I suggest you try this stress buster, because it sure works.

PS: Caution: never cry and drive at the same time.

 

 

 

I am so very pleased to announce that SendOutCards has made the Top Ten Websites list in this month's Inc. 500 magazine. They also ranked #158 out of the top 500 companies!

If you have not seen this totally web based system for sending out greeting cards, gifts and gift cards in the mail without leaving your computer, you are missing out on the competitive edge that could keep your business relationships warm, your personal relationships warmer and help you save time, money, and frustration.

Getting and keeping loyal clients who can help you build a referral based business is priceless! Visit www.sendoutcards.com today to see WHY it earned a spot as a Top Ten website. Look around the site

Starting to stress out over all those Christmas cards you have to send out this year?

Contact me at cardladybarbc@yahoo.com and I'll show you how to make them fast and easy (in your own handwriting without the hand cramps) so you can spend more time with your family and friends enjoying the season.

 

Barb Corsa

SendOutCards Ind. Distributor #32451

     

I recently stumble-bumbled my way into a very helpful website called Butterscotch.com. I was surfing the free software downloads at Tucows.com (another great place), and saw a link to Butterscotch.

Now, being that butterscotch pudding was always my favorite as a kid, I decided to see what it was.

Lo and behold, it's a site filled with great tutorials about tons of stuff you might need to learn about - like how to learn to use your Blackberry (video!), your iphone, how to blog, use eBay, the finer points of Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter, learning Firefox, gmail, Hotmail and just too many others to list.

No butterscotch pudding or candy - just butterscotch color and tons of things to learn about. Go to Butterscotch.com and scroll dow the page to get a taste!

Hope that helps somebody.

 

Barb

Ok, so you're probably tired of hearing about it by now, but I think there is an important issue to be addressed here. With the major weeping and wailing and nashing of teeth going on all over the world for this music icon, we seem to be missing a big piece of the puzzle regarding human beings in general.

What is it? The fact that everyone has a need to feel loved and appreciated by others. Regardless of how you feel about Michael Jackson, let me ask you a few questions to mull over:

Do you think Michael felt he was loved and appreciated to the degree that is being shown now? How much better do you think he would he have felt if just a tiny fraction of those people reached out in a note or a letter to let him know he had touched their lives with his music? Was he reclusive or just very alone in his own mind?

His father stated he wished Michael had known all these people loved him. Would it have altered Michael's path in life, his view of himself and made him stronger? I believe it would have.

Oh yeah, you know what's coming now....

How much better would YOU feel if those around you reached out to you and told you they loved you, that you did a great job for them, that they would be lost without you? That would feel incedible, wouldn't it? It would make a big difference in the way you view yourself...and them.

So I would challenge each of you today to look around and see where the gaps in your own life might be so you can begin to fill them -

The people who need to hear the words "I love you".

The ones that need to know you're grateful for their help on a daily basis.

The ones you put on the back burner because they should just understand how busy you are when you forget to call or visit them.

The ones that should be told you're proud of them for doing something great.

How empty life can be when someone doesn't fill your cup. After you're gone, or they're gone, it will be much too late to do the most important things in life. Most of the time people don't realize you need this vital "life lift" too.

Reach out - they're waiting. I'll remember the sadness in Michael Jackson's father's eyes when he looked into the camera and said "I wish he had known".

Because it's not what you do, it's not what you say - it's how you make them feel that counts.