SELLING: Sales Shorts

Flower power

People in her suburban Indianapolis market know Linda Bickell as the “flower lady,” thanks to her home’s lushly planted garden. So she and her daughter Stephanie Johnson, both new real estate salespeople and now a team, decided to plant their names firmly in people’s minds.

Before Mother’s Day they bought several hundred geraniums at a discount; planted them in 4-inch pots emblazoned with their logo, The Tag Team, RE/MAX Real Estate Groups; and gave the flowers to passersby at a busy corner. “People began to connect our faces to our company, and the last person asked us to list her house,” says Bickell, who’s worked in real estate for two years. Her daughter joined her one-and-a-half years ago.

The duo plans another giveaway next Mother’s Day and in the meantime regularly mails cards with seasonal gardening tips to a targeted list of about 300 clients, prospects, and area residents. “I tell people that by November, they should’ve planted bulbs, mulched roses, and cleaned beds,” says Bickell, whose own garden includes 250 different varieties of flowers and plants.

Give them prices

After a collective nine years in the business, Dave and Kathy Ricordati, who work as a team at ERA Jensen & Feinstein, REALTORS®, LLC in Hinsdale, Ill., outside Chicago, know that most buyers and sellers care about two simple numbers: listing and sale prices. For the past two years they’ve done a quarterly mailing to everyone in their community of 7,000 residents and to another 7,000 in nearby Burr Ridge. The 5-by-8-inch card provides an update of area listing and sale prices for the last three months.

“It costs us $4,000 each quarter, but it’s worthwhile since we get two or three listings each time,” says Dave. The card includes their photo, address, and phone number.

Charity begins at home

In Telluride, Colo., home to a posh ski resort, the average sales price of a house this year is $1.8 million, says George R. Harvey Jr.,ABR®, GRI, a broker-associate with Telluride Properties. So it’s not a place where a wind chime or birdhouse impresses most buyers as a closing gift. Harvey opted to give something that would make his high-end buyers feel good, remember him, and help his community. He makes a generous donation of between $250 and $500 to one of the area’s 83 nonprofits.

“If buyers don’t have a favorite charity when they close, I give them a list to choose from,” he says. “A donation is a great way to introduce them to the community and get them to think about helping others. You have to help people to be happy,” Harvey says.

It’s also a good way to gain referrals, he’s found. He estimates half of his business comes from people who appreciate his philanthropic efforts.

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