"We have to spend the time and energy to build relationships with Realtors on a personal level not by mass marketing"

Sure works for this realtor. I can't tell you how much junk snail and email I get from anyone and everyone - stagers, title companies, lenders, inspectors, you name it. I'm not going to pick someone to work with based on a post card. I need FACE TIME. I need to KNOW someone before I can even think about recommending them to a client.

Looking forward to "Relationship Marketing 101"!

A world record for blog commenting!

http://www.ThompsonsRealty.com
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 Excellent point you make Lucie, you might want to post this in The Art Of Marketing group as well to get some additional feedback. We're all flooded with offers from people we don't know and I keep that in mind when I'm thinking of how best to approach potential clients. I try to become a valuable info resource for them and business just seems to flow natuallly from it.

Great timing with this post.  I've been thinking I need to expand my realtor base and am very uncomfortable "cold calling" (for lack of a better word) and trying to meet new realtors.  I tried the easy way out and sent out a couple hundred postcards...a waste of time and money!  But I've found when I meet realtors in person I get a much better response.  I visit open houses and chat with them there (if no one else is in the house - don't want to distract them from their job) and for the most part have always had a very positive response.  Thanks for reaffirming what I knew I need to continue to do!

Jay & Francy: Maybe you could give us some feedback on how you feel is the best way to get "face time". Who has caught your attention and what did they do differently?

Marti: Thanks for the invitation to post on The Art Of Marketing group - you should find it in there now. Funny how the simplest of ideas work the best!

Judy: I have had much more success just getting to know people and making my first objection to help them than I ever had through regular advertising.

I have to agree with you wholeheartedly. Meeting people one on one and earning their trust and respect is the ONLY way to grow any business. This will take more time, but I believe in the long run save you time and money and hopefully generate lots of business.

2007 will definitely take my marketing campaign face to face..

Continued Success, Phyllis Pafumi

I agree as well.  Actually, I have worked in sales/marketing for almost 20 years in the Information technology field and I have always known that my best approach is in person - once I get through the door, it becomes much easier for me to convince them of what I TRULY believe in and much harder for them to turn me down....I found that if you truly believe in the value of what you offer, your enthousiasm becomes contagious and other people start believing it too.  On the other hand, it is usually quite a challenge to get through the door - as the relators here have mentioned, they are overwhelmed by all sorts of offers....

So, my question is - and that's what I want to work on right now - how do you get to meet the realtors?  Should I develop a sleek flyer, PowerPoint presentation, an email?  I have created a gift certificate for 2 hours of my time and I offer them to try me for one client (but I only do that after meeting them in person and seeing that they are open to the idea).  So far, I have tried several approaches - I started with a couple of realtors whom I knew (including the one who sold my own home), I asked them to introduce me to their colleagues in the same office (so far, no success).  I went to their Open Houses and pointed out some things that I would recommend to their clients...I also ask friends to recommend successful and pleasant agents in their neigbourhoods and then I cold call.  So far, I got different reactions - but I continue to remind them occasionaly about my services and I know that eventually they will come around.  Today, I got a positive response from a realtor (cold call) who promised to eet with me next week, but I told her that a client of mine will be listing his house in her area and he has not selected an agent yet, so i will be happy to pass her card on (TRUE).

So, sorry for such a long discourse, but this topic is heavily on my mind - would love to know what marketing approach works the best and what tools you use to approach the realtors?  The realtors - please let us know what will motivate you to get to know us and ours services?

Thanx.

Your blog is very timely. I have been very fortunate with marketing through ACTIVERAIN and GOOGLE!!!  I have had three consultations in the last month because of AR.  2 this week!!!  The first a seller and the other a realtor. I was truly surprised when they told me they googled home staging in my town and there was my AR page!  Make sure you list your town and county in your bio. That's my marketing tip. Thank you AR.

Lucie, I agree, meeting with agents in person has been my most effective marketing strategy yet.  Second best has been referrals from these agents.

Also, one of the added benefits of each staging job is that it serves as an advertisement for our work and gives us great exposure to other agents as well.

I couldn't agree more.  I was thinking about this just today.

I really wanted to go to our local realtors association meeting today, because they were doing a talk on 'high performance' (green/sustainable) homes.  But my husband couldn't watch the girls and I was at a loss.  So I dropped the 2 year old with my sister and took the baby with me to the meeting.  I learned so much valuable information & my daughter charmed all the realtors; many came up to me afterward to drool over my Eloise.  The great thing was that I was able to show them 'the real me', to humanize myself; and they all instantly warmed to my daughter.  To top it off, these are all people with whom I share common interests (in sustainable living).  I am confident that I will achieve more business through that meeting than I have through all my other marketing to date.

And I didn't even bring a single business card with me!  I wrote my info on the back of 3 for others and was given 6 more.

Hi Lucie,

That's a very good point you make, it takes time and not only to build a constructive relationship with the realtors, especially when the number of Home Stagers increases every day.You have to find a special way to convince them that you are the one they need for making their busuness more successful and sometimes is just a matter of luck to be choosen for your services. 

Homeowners on the other hand represent a large potential for Home Staging business.  I was wondering how would you make an effective contact with this category for getting back a good response ? 

Lucie,

I agree with you completely, and isn't it ironic that I just recently (last Thursday to be exact) had an epihany with regard to that very same thing and have a blog stored in my computer addressing it that just needs finishing touches!  Check back - I'll be posting it in a day or two.

I'm looking forward to reading your next blog on "Relationship Marketing"!  Thanks for sharing in this one!