Home : Blogs : Anne Marie Malfi, Real Estate Marketing Consultant/Virtual Asst, Bucks County,PA : Anne Marie Malfi - Virtually Marketing & Assisting You

Here’s a quick and easy way to Satisfy your clients…

Great news! You have a listing appointment on the property you have been wanting to represent and you work hard on creating a CMA report that will detail all the comparables for the local area and recommended pricing for this home but are you missing another important piece in this report?

I'm talking about an important aspect for many people making the decision to sell their home which is how and where are you going to market my home to get to my desired outcome - to see a sold sign on my front lawn?

What kinds of information should your marketing report include? Here are some suggestions of marketing efforts and tools that you can share with your potential client to let them know how and where you will be focusing your marketing efforts. Be sure to only list the sites and areas that you can truly commit to doing.

Marketing Report Suggestions:

Advertising offline (newspapers, magazines)
Advertising online (postlets, realbird, classified flyers, blog, and countless other sites that promote the listing)
Virtual Tours
Your website (will they be a featured property?)
Property Brochures
Brokers Opens
Open Houses
Calling your sphere of Influence (agents, past clients)
Email Campaigns

Marketing Service Report:

Now that you've promised them all these great marketing efforts, how will you communicate the status of these efforts?

Solution: create a monthly report that details each of these efforts and if the site provides stats share that information. (Note: once you create your main template it's easy to use this for all your clients) For example, on your website you will be able to see how many people are clicking on that property and where they came from - share it.

Things to share with them:

For sites that provide hits or views (your website, realbird, trulia, etc.)
Showing feedback
Market conditions
Upcoming activities (open houses, brokers open)
Advertising (attach copies of ads to your report)

See Sample Report Here

Clients want and need to know this information and you are doing three things when you share this information:

you're satisfying a commitment you made to your clients when they made the decision to have you represent them to market their property
you're staying accountable to do just that
you are providing your clients with real information that will help you help them determine if the pricing is correct and if things need to be done based on feedback or lack of interest in the home.

I believe that marketing efforts should never stop - from the moment you start working with the client, touching it every day, until you get that home sold. It's one thing to get a listing, it's another thing to actually do the work and get the desired outcome your clients are looking for.

I hope this post accomplished these things:

To get you thinking about your marketing efforts
To realize that you must keep in touch with clients so they feel informed
To help you keep yourself accountable for the things you're promising your clients
To give you an idea of how to create another way to communicate and stay in touch with a client (by providing this information you are creating a trust and hopefully creating a client who will not hesitate to refer you to their sphere)

"You can't get much done by starting tomorrow." Author unknown

Weigh in with your experience or opinion:

Do you create marketing reports for your clients? If not, will you?

What kinds of information do you share?

If it's not evident to you by now, consumers are very knowledgeable and computer savvy and are using the Internet to not only search for homes but for real estate agents and real estate professionals who they feel are like minded and can lead them to the results they are looking for.

As we all know, there are only 24 hours in a day to get it all done...are you focusing on the right stuff to grow your business and meet your client's needs? Contact us today to get started!

Lets Connect and Stay Connected:

Posted by Anne Marie Malfi, Real Estate Marketing Consultant/Virtual Asst, Bucks County,PA on 03/11/2009 11:28 AM

Comments (69)

Marketing Tips in the ActiveRain Channel

marketing tips, marketing reports, client contact, client relationships, meeting your clients needs, malfi marketing solutions, soi, anne marie malfi

Generate short URL

This post has been included in Pennsylvania Real Estate News Bucks County, PA Real Estate News
Post is included in group: ABC's of Real Estate Marketing
Post is included in group: Marketing 101
Post is included in group: Realtors®
Post is included in group: The Art Of Marketing You
Post is included in group: Marketing Services & Tools for Real Estate

69 Comments on Here’s a quick and easy way to Satisfy your clients…

MAR

2009

Very good ideas. Thanks for sharing them.

AR has much to teach us all.

This a very thorough blog post along with the marketing report that you provide for your agents.

Yes, I have done this before but haven't been that consistent with it. It is definately something that makes a difference. Thanks for bringing it to my attention again.

Anne marie you are an amaising person! The topics you coninually come up with are vital to our success. I am overwhelmed by all the things I need to do but don't know if I can let any of it go, you see, I am a control freak!

Very good post looks like you have it covered-good luck and success.

Great idea. People like to be informed they want the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth-Dinah Lee

A good Realtor should never over promise and under deliver. I think your suggestions of market reports that show the seller what you are doing as well as a feedback report are vital. I have been doing this for years and sellers love it! I actually give them a website with their own password to get in and see all the feedback as it comes in from other agents and buyers. Nice work with this as usual...flagged:)

I have found that keeping in touch with clients is key. We list a lot of expired properties and the number 1 complaint that they have about their previous Realtor was lack of communication. We have a Sellers login in area on our website so they can log in and see how often their listing has been viewed- they can even see what listing pictures they on-line viewer looked at. We also send out bi-monthly stats reports from Realtor.com (we have featured and showcase listings) as well as from the personalized website we create for each of our properties.

This way they can see for themselves, instead of just taking our word on it, the type of exposure that they can get. While some of our Sellers really don't care to view these stats, others have logged on to the Seller section several times a day. The point is the communication is there if they want it.

Good post . . . I agree!

Anne Marie, this is a great report. I provide my clients with a marketing schedule that lets them know when their property will be featured on tv, uploaded to sites such as realtor.com etc. During the listing period, all i do is forward to them reports I download from Realtor.com etc. I really like your format better. Thanks for sharing.

Anne - Seller really appreciate getting this information. It is also easy to email directly the hits counts and graphs from the sites providing this type of information.

Thank you for the information. Just a note... Top Producer has in their system, a feedback website that you can set up for your clients. If you have Top Producer, set that up.. Clients love it and know what you are doing every step of the way for them. my 2 cents..

This is great stuff! I appreciate you sharing all of this with us. Loved the examples you shared as well! I do have a weekly "meeting" by phone with my sellers and this would be a great addition monthly, as you suggested. I'm with Bill...over promising and under delivering is the kiss of death in our business.

Anne, I also LOVE the "clients are moving" video that you have created. Girl, you ARE the bomb :) What a fantastic idea. I LOVE Active Rain, because of people like you!

I especially like your Marketing Service Report. Oh, if only there were more hours in a day... I've already cut back to 5 hours of sleep to fit in all this technology... couold I survive on 4?

Ok, where where you, when I became a real estate agent? Great information.

Anne Marie: I just clicked on the example of the marketing report and I love it! I'm going to start working on creating one today. Usually I give the homeowner updates over the phone or through e-mail, but this is much better.

Thank You and Have a Great Day,

Anne Rains

Dear Anne Marie,

Excellent post! My, you are thorough!

Your presentation obviously sets you apart from your competition! I love the marketing report.

Thanks for sharing.

Barbara

Don't forget about the Active Rain stats for homes here. Those are pretty impressive, too. What's the "Clients are Moving" video?

Anne Marie-

Great Post. I feel in this market, as well as any other actually, it is better to overcommunicate than under communicate with your clients. They should never have a memory of a lack of information!

all the best,

Brian Guzman

I like your marketing report. I do emails and phone calls, they still want to be in touch with a live person.

Bonnie

Anne Marie- thank you for consistently providing such relevant and timely information! Love the marketing report!

Good ideas, Ann Marie. I think these reports need to be more frequent than once a month, though. We send weekly reports to our clients.

Hi Ann Marie, Very impressive post and that marketing report is amazing in its detail.

The two complaints I hear most frequently when asking about previous experiences are "didn't listen" or "didn't follow through". To that end, I've been including a client reference list (with their permission and phone numbers) for the potential client to call. It's especially effective with someone who's not a repeat client or referral. They seem to get some comfort from that list even though they rarely call anyone.

Anne Marie - thank you for sharing this! I do need to come up with some kind of report to share.

pippa

Anne Marie, I'm going to be brutally honest with myself as I answer your blog. I do a great job of marketing for my sellers. I pay the extra dollars and do the extra work to get them great exposure. But...you know how the statistics prove that the number one complaint about REALTORS is that we don't communicate enough? That's my fault. I'm still trying to do that the old fashioned way. You know, make notes, remember to call, etc. The world is too fast paced now and the technology so intense, I must catch up and your blog has motivated me to work on a system. Thanks.

Ann Marie: This is a very informative post.. thank for sharing the ideas..

Anne Marie - As always, this is a thorough post indeed. I hope you're doing well - we should talk again sometime soon.

Your absolutely correct in what your saying, sometimes we take the listing and forget to follow up withe the clients properly

Anne Marie, you are top-notch in the way you do your business. Please remain in PA where we won't have to compete with you and can cheer for you! Thanks for a good one to bookmark for review from time to time!

Sellers appreciate info to know what has been going on -- even if there has been nothing going on --

Thank you so much for the information! I love your Marketing Update, I've been trying to find an organized way to keep in touch with my clients regularly, and that is perfect.

Excellent guide and reminder for all of us. It's easy to assume we are doing everything we are supposed to, but sometimes an updated checklist is a very helpful tool. This is great.

Thanks Anne Marie !

I send a weekly update, and in a slow market I know every seller will receive a contact even if his property did not receive a showing. It is important to convey consistency in our marketing efforts.

A weekly marketing report...Good idea...Thanks for sharing...

Great Post - clients always want to know about your Marketing plan

People want to see results and the marketing update keeps clients in the communication loop. Great ideas! Thanks for the post Anne Marie

Anne Marie,

The more info you ahve these days the better. We are in the information age and it's time to get with the times, great tips, I use all of them when doing my presentations!

-Lisa

Will keep your blog around to reference. Thanks!

WOW - thats quite a market report update! I usually do an email once every week or two showing how many hits on the websites but I really like what you have put together... Is this a service you provide??? Its so hard to find the time!!! Thanks for the great post

Anne - Great post ! You are right in that most agents do not bring a marketing plan to the appointment. We do. And since we started bringing that, it provides a great discussion on marketing and I believe it helps differentiate ourselves from competition as well. However, we do not send out an offical marketing report/update. I think that is a great idea !

I can appreciate you hard work but my question would be how many listingd can you keep up with and still do all that. I carry 50 to 60 at a time and I email them once a month with something similar detailing what I have doe and what will be done the next month. I am always available on Tuesdays for office meetings and available by phone at all times but I couldn't keep your pace.

Bill -- what a fabulous idea!! How do you do this??

Anne Marie.. I always look forward to your tips and advice. Thank you so much again.

Anne Marie, what a wonderful format for the feedback report. I have a customer webpage that my sellers can log on to 24/7 to see updates, but most of them don't actually use it. Beautifully done!

Ginger - thank you so happy you found them helpful - yes, AR is such a great resource.

Naoma - thank you - I know from personal experience of what a seller wants and needs to know and I love being able to create them for the agents I work with.

Bridget - You're so welcome - believe me your clients will be so grateful and informed and that's not a bad thing.

Evelyn - you are just so sweet and I always appreciate your visits and comments. LOL - sometimes admitting the problem is half the battle - you just have to find the right and complimentary person and you'll be able to let it go a little.

Pat - thank you - luck, hard work and success.

Dinah - thank you and I agree, they absolutely want the truth even if it hurts a little at first.

Bill - I couldn't agree with you more and have had that personal experience - it really hurt. I agree - sellers do love it and need it and I know of a few websites that do have that feature - didn't mention because I was talking generally but thanks for mentioning that point. Thanks for flagging me Bill!

Christine and Jennifer - Excellent points - communication in any form is key and needs to be consistent and in a way that works for your clients. Love that you have the site access and I too have worked with some agents that send the stats from realtor.com since they have those reports - many sites do - thank you.

Justin - thank you!

Zilkia - thank you and it's great that you are regularly communicating with your clients - so happy you like the format and hope it helps.

Jennifer - I agree on your points and if those sites provide the information your clients are looking for and the detail they need then that's great.

Darren - you're welcome and yes, as I mentioned to Bill I know of some sites that have this ability and have worked with TP this is just another option for those that don't have that ability but thanks for mentioning.

Elizabeth - thank you and thank you for your lovely compliments - I love the Rain too - you made my day! Excellent, the point is you are regularly communicating with your clients and this is just another option to back up those weekly calls and market updates we often forward to clients. You said overpromising is one of the biggest mistakes we can make.

Margaret - thank you so much - lol - I know what you mean - there's so much to do and so little time - pulling the data can be tedious but then again, that's why agents partner with me so I can do it for them and they can be out with their clients.

Tere - LOL - well, not sure how long you've been an agent and I only joined AR in August, 08 so I guess my answer would be I was in PA working for local clients. Please don't hesitate to let me know if I can help you in anyway and hope you will continue to visit my blog and find the information helpful.

Anne - Oh how nice and that's great that you're going to create something for your clients - they will really appreciate the information and detail.

Barbara - thank you - I try to be - so happy you liked it and you're welcome.

Connie - You're right there are so many great sites that provide great stats including here. I think she may be referring to a video I did for a client's client here's the link to the show - http://www.realestateshows.com/show.php?mls=basic&id=264705 She offers it to clients moving to share with their friends and family instead of the traditional postcard announcing their move - it's more fun and it's a great visual.

Brian - thank you and I agree - is there such a thing as too much communication? Great points.

Bonnie - thank you and that's great - do what works for your clients and know this is simply another option and a reinforcement to what you are sharing with them already.

JB - thank you and thanks for the great compliments - I appreciate your visits and comments.

Sharon - thank you and actually most agents I work with send weekly stats and market updates and this report (monthly) is just a reinforcement and overall update to all activities. Truthfully I don't know that I would have the time to pull all the stats from all the sites that my agents are listed on.

Bill - thank you on both your comments - so happy you liked it.

Lynn - Exactly and that's excellent that you have clients willing to do that and further promote your great services.

Pippa - great to see you and so happy that this could get you thinking - good luck.

Marian - I love it! And so happy that I could provide some tips and resources to get you moving in the right direction - your clients will really appreciate you.

Roland - you're very welcome -thanks for stopping by.

Excellent post and excellent advise. Really liked the way that you structured the information on your post. It is easy to read and the content is excellent.

Thank you so much...this is an excellent post! Cheers from Reno and great success to you always!

Wendy

Jason - thank you so much and yes, I am doing well - very busy but well. Yes, we should definitely talk and catch up again really soon - would love that!

Stephanie - I know - sad huh? But no worries, I'm here to keep everyone on task and will always do my best to provide helpful reminders of the important stuff.

Charlie - Wow - what a compliment - LOL - there's plenty to go around for all of us - healthy competition is a good thing right? Thanks for stopping by my fellow bday friend.

Bob & Carolin - I couldn't agree more with that statement - they want and need to know everything and even just to know that not much is happening.

Chelsea - you're welcome and so happy that this gave you some ideas to get you going in the right direction.

Sheldon - thank you and I agree - it helps our client and it also helps us know all that we promised and keeps us on track for completing it.

Norma - I agree - consistency in our marketing efforts is what makes the difference - love that you have such regular communications.

Claude - you're very welcome.

Walter - thank you and yes they do!

Wanda - Exactly - it helps everyone know what's going on, what we promised and keeping us accountable. Thank you.

Lisa - So true and that's excellent that you use them during your presentations.

Norma B - great - love having you visit and happy this could be a reference for you.

Nicky - thank you - emails and market updates are a great thing and clients want them but this report I created because of my experience when selling my home and knowing the information I wanted. Yes, this is something I provide all my clients and while the information is sometimes tedious to pull I have a system down now and templates that allow me to get right through it. Yes, the time is hard to find for agents to pull this all together but that's why they partner with me so they can focus on their clients and listings. Certainly feel free to reach out if you need assistance.

Christopher & Stephanie - thank you and I'm not surprised that you guys do :) So happy you like the idea and love that you show your clients what the marketing plan will be.

Charles - Well I'm the one creating these reports for agents so they can keep up with their listings while I pull data and organize it all for them to share with their clients. That's the whole idea of partnering with someone that has the time and can focus on these tasks and since I work with clients that share information at different times it's easy to get it all done.

Dan & Rachel - thank you and I simply have template that I use, pull the data from each site, organize it and send it back to the agent to share with their client. So happy you find my posts and tips helpful.

Lisa - So nice to see you and thank you! Excellent that you have that as an option. I figured I would share this as another since some don't have sites with that ability and since I just finished completing one for a client. Thank you!

Anne Marie,

Oh so true....feedback is a fundamental consistent touch that helps to keep the relationship strong and reinforce the commitment to the consumer, yet it can be overlooked- which it shouldn't.

David - thank you and I appreciate your compliments - something I've worked at and finally feel like I've found my way - LOL.

Wendy - thank you, so happy you liked it and hope all is well in Reno - what a beautiful horse!

Rebecca - hello my friend - got your great message - will chat tomorrow - now to your comment - I agree feedback, consistency and a committment to our clients and all we promise them is what keeps the relationship and future relationships strong. So easy to let things slip isn't it - guess that's why we do what we do! :)

Thank you to everyone for the great comments, tips, advice and suggestions - we have a fantastic group here on AR and I simply have the best readers, commenters and subscribers - I learn from you constantly and love that you find my posts so helpful. You continue to fill my bucket! ~Anne Marie

Hi Anne Marie - great suggestions for client reports, we produce monthly client reports and call our clients weekly. We also use TopProducer that Darren mentioned and LOVE the client service websites we can create. We got rid of it for 2 months and had to get it back due to client demand.

Hi Anne -- Great content and communication tips, very solid, thanks.

Anne Marie,

An agent must have more than comparable to discuss with a potential Seller for sure! Having an organized and well laid out game plan is a terrific way to instill confidence into the Seller and have them choose you over the competition. Great post and happy blogging!

MAR

2009

Another great posts. You give great info.

These are great, easy ideas. One of the biggest complaints clients have is not knowing what's going on and what we're doing.

Some Real Estate Professionals will tell you that they are going to do this and that. But actually doing it is another thing which some people dont do. Thanks for sharing this great information. Great post.

Anne Marie - Very comprehensive and well thought out plan. I find that when I take a listing that has been on the market before with another agent, the number one reason that agent did not get to relist is because he or she did not keep in touch with the sellers enough.

MAR

2009

Anne Marie,

It's all about communication! Your sellers want to hear from you! If you fail to email or call them they feel you don't care about their listing. It is easy to complie that report..we can go into MLS and do a report in the blink of an eye and send to our seller. They can see the numbers in black and white and feel you care!

Kevin & Monica - thank you and so happy to hear that you have some great systems in place for keeping your client informed. How funny is that - love that your clients asked for something of value to them and you listened.

Chris - thank you so much - glad you liked it.

Jason - That's for sure!! I couldn't agree with you more Jason.

Wendy - thank you so much - so happy you liked it.

Christine - thank you and you're so right - why keep them in the dark!

Lanre - you're welcome and yes, some will promise and not deliver which is why I like to provide helpful reminders and easy tips for making it happen.

Kate - thank you - I agree with you 100%

Dorie - that's right - in all forms and the information is there and ready to be shared.

MAR

2009

Hi Anne Marie -- I do give marketing reports to clients -- but I never thought of creating a template for the report-- would make it much faster to fill in the slot and update - rather than make it new each time! Thanks for the great idea!

MAR

2009

Hi Alexsandra - so happy this post could provide another way of creating those all important reports! You're so welcome! ~Anne Marie

MAR

2009

I love your blogs, I am officially addicted! You are always on point with important business thoughts.

MAR

2009

Anne Marie - I already do most of these things, but I don't have a neat package to show my home sellers. I also am not very good at reporting the stats. I need to develop a better system. Thanks for the info.

MAR

2009

Great ideas. It almost makes me anxious to think about everything that needs to be done. In our slow time, it's a perfect time to organize and apply these tools. Thanks so much!

APR

2009

Thank you for all the great ideas.

It was good to see that I have almost all of them in place already.

Keep up the good work. Thanks again, Bobbie

FEB

2010

You are right on. Communications is very important especially if you are dealing with sellers not in the same city.I use a system for feedback on my showings called Home Feedback where I establish an account for the seller. This way any negative comments about the condition of the property or price comes directly from Broker or direct clients who have seen the property. This is especially helpful when the discussion of price adjustment comes up

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?

Anne Marie Malfi, Real Estate Marketing Consultant/Virtual Asst, Bucks County,PA

Yardley, PA

More about me…

Malfi Marketing Solutions ~ for real estate professionals

Office Phone: (267) 793-0373

Email Me

A “Marketing” Virtual Assistant that will partner with you to increase your online and offline marketing. This blog is where I will share everything from helpful marketing, branding, time management tips and solutions to tons of advice, motivation and inspiration so that you are working smarter - not harder! I look forward to getting to know you and your business more.

Subscribe to Anne Marie Malfi - Virtually Marketing & Assisting You by Email

Want to connect? Click here:

Top real estate blogs

Listings

Links

Archives

Find PA real estate agents and Yardley real estate on ActiveRain.

Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.