I wanted to touch on the importance of following up with people who wander in to your open houses. I generally hold 2-3 open houses a week, sometimes getting great turn outs, some times not. I am generally happy with the way I conduct my open houses, although it is a constant learning process. I like to evaluate each weekend, and see how I can tweak things to make it more productive. The most common issue I face is the lack of follow ups after the open house, and I don't just mean one note or phone call. By follow up, I mean several weeks (some say 6, some say 8) of notes, phone calls, emails, etc... I don't want to bombard and pester people if they aren't interested, but you will generally know if they do not want you to contact them again by the second or third attempt. I have two quick stories that show both sides of the coin.
Story One: In the beginning of June, I held an open house and had a couple come through who were considering buying in the neighborhood I was in. I don't remember the specifics of the conversation, however I do know that my follow up efforts were inadequate. I recently received a reply to a weekly newsletter that I send out stating that the couple had just purchased a lot in that neighborhood and were promptly starting construction on their new home. Oh, and they had found another agent to list their current home. Ok, I obviously didn't do enough to earn their business.
Story Two: Having just been dealt the blow of losing a $300k listing and a lot purchase (see above), I decided that is not going to happen again, if I can help it. So I got out my "Purcell Group Sign In" sheets and started calling. Well, sure enough, someone I had met 3 weeks ago is going to sell there home ($450K) and purchase a bit of a smaller home ($350k). They were "happy that I called" because they have been looking at homes in their desired neighborhood and have narrowed it down to a select few that they are ready to pursue. I have two showings scheduled for this weekend, and hopefully no more (get it?)!!
So, to wrap things up: As bad as Story One was, and as much as it kicked me in the gut, it actually was the main cause of Story Two. So actually it took me losing substantial business to realize my mistake and I will most likely earn a substantial amount more business in the future because of that mistake! The moral of the story is: Don't ever give up on a lead and work it to it's fullest potential!!!
Until next time.
Jon
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