Why Try To Meet Me If You Aren't Going to Follow Up

I love open houses!  In fact, it is a favorite Sunday afternoon activity.  We're trying to see a wide variety of properties and get a really good feel for where we want to move our growing family.

Here's a stunning fact: of the 25 or so open houses I have been to this year, only 1 agent has asked for my email address!  Unfortunately, that agent hasn't followed up.  It drives me a bit crazy really, because I just don't understand.  We're qualified buyers with excellent credit and we even have a listing once we choose an agent.  Why doesn't anyone follow up? 

I attended another open house yesterday and decided this time I would ask.  The agent didn't have a sign in sheet and didn't ask for any contact information.  When I asked why, he said "people don't like to give it out."  He also said that following up was too time consuming.

Do you agree?  I was completely surprised.  Is it really too much work to follow up with the people who visit your open houses?

I spent most of last night thinking about it.  The agent I met was absolutely wrong!  Here's why:

HE SAID: 
People don't like to give out their contact information. 

I SAY:
This may be true, but why not ask?  If they are so deeply offended that you asked for an email address, chances are they weren't going to be your customer. No one ever decided not to buy the home of their dreams because you asked for their email address.

HE SAID:
Follow up is too time consuming. 

I SAY:
Then find a better way. DO NOT GIVE UP! 

Even if most of the people you meet aren't ready to buy or sell today, it makes sense to pay attention to them.  That includes people who walk into open houses [think me:)]  You just need an automated way to stay in touch with them until they are ready.

Good News: Marketing to people who don't need you right now can be easy, take almost no time, and be very, very cheap.

You just have to get in touch.  At Happy Grasshopper, we write fun, friendly emails that get great results.  But if you want to do it yourself, here are some tips:

• Send a message at least once a month - I recommend every 3 weeks
• Keep them short, friendly, and non-salesy
• Do not talk about yourself, your firm or your listings
• Include a method for easy opt-out
• Include your picture or logo and your contact information

The trick is to be friendly and non-threatening.  All of us (me too!) put our guard up when it comes to email.  It's easy to spot junk mail the moment it hits our inbox, even if it gets around our spam filters.  Short messages, written in plain text can generate much better results than you can imagine.

Click here to see some sample emails now.

 

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