Dear Fellow Real Estate Professional,
Hello I’m Richard Brown, president of ReaMark. I have been in direct marketing for over 25 years with the last 12 years helping Real Estate Professionals, just like you, substantially increase their listings, sales and ultimately their income.
Times are tough in today’s ever changing real estate market. However, all signs point to a slow but steady rise in our business. Affordability is at an all time high while interest rates are at record lows.
Each year I personally take hundreds of calls and the same questions keep popping up time and time again. “Rick, what works best? How can I make more money?”
So last week I sat down, got away from the kids, and really thought about all of the success stories, trials and errors that Realtors have told me during the past two years. With all being equal why are some realtors more successful than others? What does actually work? What has been proven time and time to be the Golden Truths of success? What makes a top agent? How can my business survive when I have less money to spend because I am making less money?
One glaring fact is that my business only makes money if the programs we recommend make you money. And I came up with the four things you should be doing if you are serious about increasing your annual income.
1. You MUST contact your past clients contact list at least every month.
Over 50% of your business should come from referrals. If you are not mailing your contact list then you are losing money. You contact list should includes anyone who knows you, your friends and your family. The larger the list the more successful you will be. You really need to sit down and put this list into a workable database.
2. Mail Just Listed/ Just Sold / Market Updates and Open House Postcards.
Announce your success. Since referrals are the largest part of your business and you want to build up your contact list, these are the second most effective tools at your disposal. You should mail the entire neighborhood and also your current contact list. If your budget is strained these could be part of your planned monthly budget but for better results you should be doing these mailings in addition to your regular contact list.
3. Track your results over time.
The beauty of direct marketing is that is affordable and trackable. If you have 400 contacts then you could be mailing them 12 times per year for as little as 47 cents each or $188 per month. One sale and you pay for the entire year of marketing!
4.Become known as a specialist of your farm.
A business with no prospects will die. You need a reliable consistent source of leads. Since most consumers perceive all real estate professionals to be pretty much the same, you must find ways to differentiate yourself. I get calls everyday from customers thanking me two years later telling me that they now get 50% or more of all listings in their neighborhood. Walk your neighborhood twice per year, create and submit articles and or advertise in the neighborhood newsletters and finally educate them on community activities including the local real estate market.
I feel great about sharing these strategies with you for a very simple reason; if I can help you become more successful in your business than ReaMark will be more successful in our business.
I hope this article has been helpful and has confirmed what you are doing or has inspired you to call us for help. If I can help please don’t hesitate to call me directly.
Best Regards,
Richard J. Brown
President
ReaMark
As you can see, this idea as applied to real estate is worth repeating again. As was mentioned in the last post of just about the same name, homeowners often wait until the last minute to look for an agent with whom they can list. We’ve found that by sending repeat mailings there’s a greater likelihood of getting more business. Be a household name. If the homeowner sees your name whenever reaching for a pen or pad of paper, there’s a greater chance that they will think of you or when regularly seeing your newsletters for real estate listings.
