Maybe It's Time You Stopped Chasing and Let Loyal Clients Catch Up
There's an outdated theory in the real estate business that suggests that if you want to be successful you have to chase as many prospects as you can.
According to this theory, if you saturate the market with mailings, postcards, and other marketing attempts, sooner or later you'll produce a solid lead from your efforts.
It's a lot like real estate lottery. Keep investing your time and money and maybe, just maybe, you'll hit the jackpot.
The lottery has never been a solid investment strategy. The odds of winning are too astronomical to be considered a good payout. Yet we continue to use the same strategy to attract business.
Is it possible we are overlooking a better investment plan? You bet; a far better option, one that actually pays off, is to convert loyal clients into active prospects -- to invest in your proven success.
Why We Keep Playing the Lottery
If we know are chances of winning the lottery are terrible, why do we keep playing? Why do we keep spending money trying to attract new clients in hopes that one of the hundreds or thousands of prospects will become the producer?
It's far easier to hope that the lottery pays off than it is to work hard to make a million dollars. The same is true for real estate. You have to invest time and energy into your real estate business. You have to develop a strategic marketing plan and you have to build relationships with families from your farm community.
Here's an example: One of the most common real estate lottery attempts is to send out sold/just listed post cards as their farming effort. And just like the lottery, it pays off about as consistently.
Experience has shown that this is one of the most ineffective methods of marketing because there is simply too much competition. There is nothing that distinguishes you from the hundreds of other agents that are sending the same kind of card, just a different property address.
Changing Your Payoff Strategy
Wouldn't it be great if you could count on a return on investment for your marketing time and money? The good
news is that you can, you simply need to change the way you think about your strategy.
The strategy is simple. Focus on staying in touch with clients, family, friends and acquaintances. Keep constant contact with these "prospects", because even if they don't need the assistance of a realtor, they can become a powerful force in your advertising. They become "evangelists" of your service and draw prospects to you.
Does this sound familiar? Sure, it's the basic premise of working your database. But to make this strategy really pay off you begin be delivering an exceptional level of service.
This isn't the kind of service other agents are offering; instead, it's the kind of service that starts with the first contact and continues long after the sale of the property. You show how much you really care by staying in touch. You treat the transaction as a true relationship, not just a one time sale.
How Do You Keep in Touch?
If you fall back into the traditional marketing process of sending out postcards, newsletters and mailings, you aren't nurturing your relationship. You need to step outside of the box and develop some new strategies to build upon your past success and keep the relationship alive.
Think about a farming strategy. Instead of picking a neighborhood and trying impersonal marketing efforts, find ways to get involved in that neighborhood. Find ways to become a part of the neighborhood - to build new relationships with friends and family within the neighborhood.
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