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Are You Cultivating Your Relationships or Just Hoarding Them?

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Happy Grasshopper

Be honest. 

  • How many Facebook friends have you only met once or twice and never spoken with again?

  • How many open house leads have you added to a database and never followed up with?

  • How many networking events have you come home from holding stack of business cards that you never looked at again?


Yet, we are perpetually looking for new leads.  We are constantly trying to figure out how to drive more traffic to our websites, how to meet new people, and how to make more friends.

 

It's Time to Stop Hoarding and Start Cultivating

Hoarding is a funny thing.  It starts with a small amount of something you care about.  For my husband that is newspapers.  Don't ask me why.  He can't seem to recycle or throw them away.  But, before you know it a weeks worth of papers turn into a months worth and the next thing you know you have a whole room full - or in my case, a couple of storage units.

Do you have several of storage units full of contacts?

I bet you do.  I bet you have some in a CRM.  You have a couple of spreadsheets worth.  You have some in your email system.  You probably even have a stack of business cards collecting dust.

Relationships don't grow from business cards sitting inside shoe boxes.  They don't grow from contacts sitting inside CRM systems waiting to be touched.

Relationships grow from conversations.  Conversations happen when you stop hoarding and start cultivating.

 

Dust off your database, pick up the phone, send some emails and start cultivating.

 

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Happy Grasshopper is here to help - learn how to follow up automatically here.

Posted by

 


We help salespeople write and deliver thoughtful, well-written follow-up that connects them with their prospects and current database in a way that builds a stronger relationship and a deeper trust.  Take our free assessment here to see how we can help you keep in touch with your sphere, convert more leads and grow your team.

 

Comments (27)

Jon Quist
REALTY EXECUTIVES ARIZONA TERRITORY - Tucson, AZ
Tucson's BUYERS ONLY Realtor since 1996

Great and timely post. I really need to do exactly what you recommend. Good tips for sure.

Sep 07, 2012 01:44 AM
Brad Andersohn
Retired Executive Director of Education at eXp - Boulder Creek, CA
ActiveBrad - 707.646.1876

Great post Celeste, I've recommended this as a concept and topic for the television series "Hoarders" :-)

Sep 07, 2012 01:53 AM
Karen Fiddler, Broker/Owner
Karen Parsons-Fiddler, Broker 949-510-2395 - Mission Viejo, CA
Orange County & Lake Arrowhead, CA (949)510-2395

You are so right. This is just a critical aspect for future business. Great post

Sep 07, 2012 02:07 AM
Michael Murphy
Bienvenidos Real Estate - Parksville, BC

Oh My God...I know so many people

Sep 07, 2012 02:11 AM
Andrew Ostrander
Ostrander Real Estate Group - Phoenix, AZ
Ostrander Real Estate Group

Have you been looking at my shoe boxes?  hahaha  Okay, actually it is more like the top of my desk and my cup runneth over, haha.  Definitely need to be more organized with my incoming business cards.

Sep 07, 2012 02:20 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

I actually do a very good job of staying in touch with people.  I don't see past clients or potential clients as leads or "contacts" I see them as friends.  I do send emails regularly.  I have a day where I spend a few hours doing this once a week.  They are personal.  I ask about their family by name, their job, what's recent with them.  Is it difficult to do this for a couple hundred people... yes it is, but it is also worth the relationships I build.

Sep 07, 2012 02:22 AM
Terry McCarley
Coastal Real Estate - Cape Coral FL - Cape Coral, FL
REALTOR, SRES, CDPE - Cape Coral, FL

I'm going to check this out as I do have stacks of cards that I haven't looked at in ages.

Sep 07, 2012 02:25 AM
Pat & Wayne Harriman
Harriman Real Estate, LLC (203) 672-4499 - Wallingford, CT
Broker/Owners, Wallingford CT Real Estate

Happy subscriber to Happy Grasshopper here! We had doubts about the value of it when we first started, but saying we're pleasantly surprised is an understatement! Kudos to you, Dan, and the whole HG crew!

Sep 07, 2012 02:52 AM
Mary Sheridan
Keller Willliams - 1033 Hamilton Place,Johnson City TN 37604 - Johnson City, TN
Creative Marketing, Buyer Agency 423-943-7655

My frequent complaint is that I meet a lot of neat people and don't manage to stay in touch with all of them.   I need to make more time for this, for my personal pleasure as well as for my business.

Sep 07, 2012 02:52 AM
Gene Riemenschneider
Home Point Real Estate - Brentwood, CA
Turning Houses into Homes

Good post.  For me Facebook is like an address book of old friends so I know where to find them.

Sep 07, 2012 03:07 AM
Dana Basiliere
Rossi & Riina Real Estate - Williston, VT
Making deals "Happen"

Celeste,

Wise grasshopper; honestly…hmmmm…. Yes I am guilty. I mean to call them, or drive by and say hi, and go to lunch, and; just get busy or more accurately put it off. Good post.

 

Sep 07, 2012 03:23 AM
Joe LaVallie
HomeStreet Bank - Mountlake Terrace, WA
111363

Quality vs. quantity.

 

Sep 07, 2012 03:42 AM
Mitch Muller - Charlotte NC Real Estate
ProStead Realty Charlotte, NC CRS SRES mitch@prostead.com - Charlotte, NC
Certified Residential Specialist

Celeste, great reminder! I've had this on my "round tuit" list for a while, but after watching Debe Maxwell at Raincamp and reading this post, I just moved it to the top. Thanks to both!

Sep 07, 2012 03:47 AM
Evelyn Kennedy
Alain Pinel Realtors - Alameda, CA
Alameda, Real Estate, Alameda, CA

Celeste:

I collect those business cards by the droves.  I do call a few that seem to be ready to buy or sell.  But i rarely call to develop a relationship.

Sep 07, 2012 04:50 AM
Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
Real Estate Broker Retired

Guilty. Not really with hoarding, I'm just not cultivating correctly ......

Sep 07, 2012 05:00 AM
Melissa Marro
Keller Williams First Coast Realty - The Marro Team - Orange Park, FL
Jacksonville Real Estate and Home Staging

Great advice! I keep a business card file right by my monitor... hmmm... when was the last time I looked at it? 

Sep 07, 2012 07:24 AM
Bob Crane
Woodland Management Service / Woodland Real Estate, KW Diversified - Stevens Point, WI
Forestland Experts! 715-204-9671

Thanks Celeste, what a timely reminder, I have a lot of catching up with my network to do this fall and happy grasshopper has been on my list of things to check out.

Sep 07, 2012 02:58 PM
Bob Miller
Keller Williams Cornerstone Realty - Ocala, FL
The Ocala Dream Team

Hi Celeste, we agree!  Everyone in our database goes on an action plan.

Sep 08, 2012 05:29 AM
Nancy Middleton
Counselor Realty, Inc. - Excelsior, MN
Nancy Middleton, Counselor Realty, Minnetonka, MN

Hi Celeste: Good reminder about business cards and use or not I've always enjoyed Realtor cards with photos which helps me remember their faces. The other tip which works for me when I remember is to write on the back of the card where I met them and the date and location of the event.

Sep 08, 2012 06:57 AM
Debbie Reynolds, C21 Platinum Properties
Platinum Properties- (931)771-9070 - Clarksville, TN
The Dedicated Clarksville TN Realtor-(931)320-6730

Celeste, I cam over from Winston's re-blog. Very true about those Facebook friends. I am working this year to be more connected.

Jan 19, 2013 09:23 PM