 | 
Walter S. Sanford has been a top REALTOR® for more than 28 years (some say “The Best”). He has written 12 books on real estate production for top producers. He's also available for all your real estate events as a keynote, speaker, and trainer. Walter can be reached at 815/929-9258; at 559 S. Washington Ave., Kankakee, Illinois 60901; at walter@waltersanford.com; or at waltersanford.com.
Want selling and marketing advice? Send your questions for Walter Sanford to salesclinic@realtors.org
For More Info:To learn more about contact management, visit our Software Advisor" /> section. For registered users of Realtor.org, formerly OneRealtorPlace.
Related Articles:
Manage Your Customers, Michael Antoniak, March 2001.
Contact Management Software Buyer's Guide, Michael Antoniak, December 1998.
Previously by Walter Sanford:
Realistic Prices in a Declining Market
An Oft-Forgotten Prospect: Absentee Owners
Income Ideas: Thinking Outside the Box
A Week in a Top Prospector's Life
| | Contact Management
Don’t Let Old Acquaintances be Forgot
‘Tis always the season to stay in touch with past clients, present associates, and future prospects.
BY WALTER SANFORDWhen you’re making your Christmas card list, you might consider checking it twice to make sure that you’ve remembered to send something to the people who you’ve helped buy a home in the past year. Staying in touch with past clients isn’t just for the holidays, however. It’s a fundamental tool of real estate practice, one that the vast majority of salespeople neglect. Past clients and customers form a strong foundation for repeat business and referrals, especially if you keep your name fresh in their minds by sending them information and offers throughout the year. A well-maintained contact database is key to managing these contacts efficiently. If you haven’t developed a database system, it should be one of your highest priorities for your business planning in 2002.
Whether you refer to your database as a past client list, sphere of influence, or people farm, your first step is to decide whose names you want to store in it. Putting people in your database that don't care about you results in wasted time and overhead. Forgetting people that want to hear about your services causes you to lose some great opportunities. Here is my checklist for the people to include in your database:
· People you’ve had personal contact with. This group could include people you’ve met at seminars as well as prospects who’ve responded to ads or those who requested information about you or a property you listed. Prospects you have spoken with before are often more likely to welcome hearing from you again. (This contrasts with low conversion leads like an alumni database, expireds, or other people that do not know you.)
· Current and past clients. These people represent the base of your repeat and referral business. They are the ones who have worked with you in the past and really understand your commitment to service.
· Family, friends, and associates. As the old saying goes, "You can't pick ‘em”, but if you are good at what you do, they will know it and become your biggest cheerleaders.
· Businesses you use. You can use your check registers and past invoices to find merchants, vendors, or professionals that you deal with regularly. Once again, you’re looking for people that know you and are more likely to be receptive to hearing from you. You should also start looking at business transactions as opportunities to meet new clients. Send your business card with your bill payments. When buying your next car, seek out a salesman who is buying or selling real estate within the next year.
· Co-op clients. Once the transaction is closed customers who worked with a cooperating broker are fair game. (Note: You should be aware that this practice can cause some bad blood). I don't solicit clients when the co-op is a personal friend or when I know they maintain a strong follow-up program. I know it may sound a little tough, but it's business, and after a transaction, no one owns the client. Send the buyers who bought your listing a letter explaining that you can pass on questions to the seller or demonstrate different aspects of the property. Offer them something of value, such as list of home repair vendors in the neighborhood, then call them and add them to your database.
Once you have compiled your database, you have to decide what to send. In developing materials, try to create materials that give something clients valuable to them, and also help you generate leads for your database. For instance, send a informational real estate newsletter to customers, and ask them if they would like to sign up their friends for a free issue. Or offer to send out change-of-address cards for clients who have just closed on a home. First, you have the homebuyers supply you with contact information for their friends, family and associates. Then you print and distribute cards containing the buyers’ new address, phone number, and e-mail to everyone on the list. It's a great service to the homebuyers—sparing them the trouble of having to recite their new contact information again and again—plus you get to do a little horn blowing to their friends and family. (Don't forget to send a copy of the testimonial letter that you get from your client, in about three weeks, to the same list.) After you’re done, you can add everyone on the list to your database.
Your next step will be to determine how frequently you need to “touch” your clients. Your goals are to keep your name fresh in their minds, make them aware of the great services you offer, get referrals, and cement the relationship for repeat business. Newer salespeople will need to contact their database list more often than a veteran because they lack the reputation and experience with their clients. Also, it is more practical because their database is smaller. If you are just starting out, you should touch base with your contact list about once a month, making sure that you have different services to offer every time. You should look carefully at eliminating names from your list if they do not return your calls after four attempts. When the volume of phone calls grows enough that you can not carry this out, you will need to start prioritizing your prospects.
One way to differentiate between entries is to group your prospects into class A, B, or C leads. Class A leads are on the brink of listing with you. You want to provide maximum service for these leads, contacting Class A sellers every two to three days and Class A buyers once a week. Class B leads indicate interest but have asked you to contact them after a predetermined period of time, say six months. Class C are familiar with you and have indicated a vague interest in your services, (e.g., “When I need to sell my house, you’ll be the person I call.”) Send them four e-mails or direct-mail mailings and make two phone calls a year. Through trial and error, I found this to be the least amount of "frequency in contact" that I could get away with. If you wait too long between interactions, you risk losing their business to competitors. If you aren’t talking real estate to them, someone else will.
Staying in touch with your sphere of influence should one of the most important elements in your business plan, and your database is the most effective tool for maintaining that contact. This Christmas give all the people you care about the gift of great real estate service!
Ask Wally
Q. There never seems to be enough time to both service clients, and solicit new customers. How can I organize my work time to make my business most effective?
A. This is a commonly asked question that I hear often when I am on the road. One way of making more efficient use of your time is to prepare a “perfect week schedule ” that will show your time off, lead-generation time, office tours, lunch, work-out time, time set aside for listing presentations and showings, and any other reoccurring duties. Here are some other tips for organizing your work time.
Eat your frogs early. Don’t procrastinate. Do your most distasteful duties first thing in the morning.
Finish up with return calls and e-mails before you go home. Wrap up your day by making sure that you respond to every phone call and e-mail you received, then turn off your phone and pager at 6 p.m.
Evaluate where you make your money and double your efforts in those areas. See what does not make you money and stop doing those things. Double the amount of time you spend generating leads and get rid of your weenie head (unmotivated, time-wasting) clients.
Use your affiliates more effectively. Set aside certain preset times to receive feedback from affiliates such as lenders, title representatives, and home inspectors. Make sure they’re always thinking about how they can impress your clients, get you a listing presentation, or make your systems better, but encourage them not to call to often just to chat.
Hire an assistant. An assistant can generate leads and free up your time to concentrate on selling.
Turn down overpriced and undermotivated listings. You’ll know you have one when sellers:
· Say they are, “Just testing the market,” or otherwise fail to express motivation.
· Want to price the home too high
· Won’t provide easy access to their property
Turn down all buyers that will not do one of the following:
· Answer a list of questions about their motivation
· Get pre-approved in writing
· Meet you at your office first
· Sign a loyalty agreement indicating their commitment to use your services.
Want selling and marketing advice? Send your questions for Walter Sanford to salesclinic@realtors.org | |
|
