image courtesy of Twitter, Gimp, and my own conversation with a local consumer
Talking to the consumer...not at them.
Recently, I had a conversation with a local about their home that resulted in a post about "For Sale By Owner" homes in San Antonio (and beyond). I was pretty proud of the post as I thought I covered the topic pretty well, but after walking away from the post, I realized something was missing.
The person who had inspired the post would probably never read it. Sure, we talk on Twitter, but do they really pay attention to my posts? There was only one way to find out what they thought. Ask them. So I did. The image above is part of the resulting conversation that took place after I wrote the post based on our original conversation.
Of course, there were several things I was trying to do at once here. Spread the word about my post, remind people what I do for a living, help a consumer, help an online friend, and peer into the mind of a consumer (and yes, I even had a secret hope that this person would drop everything and say "You want to list our house?"). All of these things at once, but at the core of it all? Helping a consumer understand the world of "For Sale By Owner" from a San Antonio real estate agent's perspective.
Don't just stand there, do something!
When we write a blog post, we dream of it being the greatest single post ever written in history, but often it falls short. The goal of any blog post is to be read. We do a lot of things to help facilitate this: we practice good SEO, feed our posts to places like Twitter and Facebook, and talk to anyone and everyone that will listen to us and tell them about our blog.
But do we guide them direct to posts? If you're not doing this, you might be missing out on strong connections made through "soft connecting."
The Soft Connect.
In this case, I had spoken to this person before about real estate and their future purchase, but we had never discussed their home for sale up until this point. We have spoken here and there about local things, but I wouldn't say we talk a lot by any means. They are someone I "sort of know."
Because this particular consumer mentioned the word "FSBO" many agents would have taken this as an opportunity to say "list with me." This is a much more in-your-face way of going about it and in my book, would fall under the "hard selling" category. They didn't ask to be marketed to and told about your great services and they probably won't listen if you tried. You can even set up alerts and auto-tweets to help you accomplish these goals (please don't, but it is possible).
The better route in my opinion? "Soft selling" or in this case, the "soft connect." This particular consumer now has heightened awareness after reading my post. Awareness that I am a Realtor®, that I blog, and what I blog about. They are making a connection with me through a single post (and if I did my job correctly, they will continue to read more posts). We are getting to know each other and building trust and confidence. Will we get to work together? Only time will tell.
image courtesy of RErockstar.com
The image above is a comment left on my RErockstar.com blog from another local San Antonio buyer after we were discussing their search for a home. How did I connect with them? They mentioned they were searching for a home and we got to talking - no selling, just discussing that it was their first home and how the process was going for them. In the conversation, I asked who their agent was (to see if I knew them). Turns out, they hadn't selected one yet and had been a bit disappointed with what they found. So I sent them a link to an article I had written, "How to choose the Realtor® that’s right for you." Not long after that, this comment appeared on my site and we have been discussing their future home and running searches of the San Antonio MLS.
No selling required - just helping local San Antonio residents by sharing what I've written with them. Letting them make the decision that I am the San Antonio Realtor® that they want to work with. The "soft connect."
Next time someone mentions a real estate topic (or a local topic for that matter), think to yourself - have I written about this before? Is there an opportunity to pursue a "soft connect" with someone new? Can that lead to business today or perhaps tomorrow? People appreciate you taking the time to recommend some reading for them and they will read it. All you have to do is listen and know when someone is looking for the "soft connect."
* Obviously enough, the images have been edited to remove reference to the people in the tweets and comment. I tried my best to make it look nice for you.
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