As we head into the LAST quarter of 2014, you may be asking yourself what you could do to end the year on a financial “high”. As you know, the time between now and Thanksgiving is often our busiest time of the year, and you may want to make sure that you get your share of the listings and sales that will take place as the year winds down.
Although RealtyTechBytes is a technology focused blog, I like to occasionally emphasize tried and true techniques that still work. To that end, I have compiled 5 “old school” techniques that worked “then” and will work now.
Take a few minutes and read them, and for extra credit, put a few of them into action.
- Pick one day each week to work ON your business and your marketing – Most of us spend most of our time working IN our business instead of ON it. In other words, even if you are buried in escrow work, you NEED to make some time for the planning and execution of tasks that will help you grow your business. You know this and you have heard it before, so why aren’t you doing it? We either have excuses or results in life, and it’s YOUR choice as to which you have. Take some time to plan for the results that you want.
- Pick up the phone and talk to 5 current or past clients every day – It’s way too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that email, text messages or social media posts are enough to stay in touch. While they are acceptable methods, NOTHING beats the personal touch that a phone call can deliver. Don’t know what to say? What’s wrong with just saying to the person, “I was thinking of you today and was wondering how you are doing?”
- Write and send a hand written note to 5 people every day – We all face the same the sad moment at the end of the day when we go to our mailbox and find junk mail, periodicals and bills. Think about how you feel when you open your mailbox and find the things that I just described. Now think about how you feel when you find a hand written note with a real first class stamp on it. Wouldn’t you like to pass that feeling on to others? I thought so! Go get some nice note cards and envelopes from a stationery store, and some nice stamps from the Post Office. Set aside some time each day to write the notes. Use the same format as the calls. Tell them that you were thinking of them and ask about their lives. Share a little of your life’s journey as well.
- Walk around the neighborhood of a new listing, recent sale or an upcoming open house – Share with as many neighbors as you can about the property. Don’t forget to capture their contact info and add it to your database so that you can keep in touch. You’ll be surprised that many people will be glad to learn about what is going on in their neighborhood. You may even learn about someone who is getting ready to put their house on the market.
- Hold weekday open houses – You are probably conditioned into thinking that open houses can only be held on Saturday or Sunday. Time to break that conditioning! Unless CC&R’s or community ordnances specifically prohibit it, weekday open houses are a great idea. If you have ever had a house open during the week so other broker’s can view it, then you have probably had non brokers/agents show up as well. That’s proof that they see the signs and stop by. Why not take advantage of that? You may not get a ton of traffic, but the time between visitors could be spent working on items 1, 2 and 3 above. And if the house you choose is near enough to a high traffic road that you only need a few signs to direct people to the house, so much the better!
So there you have it. Five ideas that worked back in the dark ages of real estate, and that still work today. The only questions is will you take action?
