Turn the People in your Farm into Raving Fans By Mike Anderson, CMO Landmark Home Warranty

Transcription

1 Turn the People in your Farm into Raving Fans By Mike Anderson, CMO Landmark Home Warranty Realtors refer to a Farm as an assigned residential area, like a subdivision, where they cultivate new clients. This usually involves monthly newsletters, postcards, and even some door knocking. The problem is only 2 to 3 percent of the people in the farm are thinking about buying or selling a home at any given time. The odds just aren t in your favor when your message is only about real estate. Here s my suggestion as a homeowner, real estate investor, and professional marketer: Find ways to make the people in your Farm and SOI (Sphere of Influence) your Raving Fans. What I mean by this is help the people you meet and the clients you serve like you so much that when they overhear a stranger at the next table in a restaurant say, I need to find a good Realtor. Do you know anyone? your eavesdropping Raving Fan slides her chair over from the next table and says, I know the best Realtor in the city, let me tell you How does this happen? 1. Make it about them. Find something to share that THEY want or need. If the majority of the people you contact don t care about your real estate message, who is your message really about? 2. Treat your clients like gold, because a client who refers several people a year (after year) is worth gold. 3. Target people who actually need a Realtor NOW, and show them how you can help when other options have failed. Over the next three months I am going to present ideas for each of these suggestions. I hope the Realtors who read this share their thoughts, ideas and experiences on our Facebook page at To make this interesting, we are giving away prizes for participating. Sharing and giving are great ways to create Raving Fans! (See end of article for giveaway details)

2 2 MAKE IT ABOUT THEM MAKE IT ABOUT THEM If you are going to develop a relationship with the people in your Farm, you have to focus more on their needs and less on yours. People become your fans when they believe your intentions are not simply self- serving. They become your Raving Fans when you actually make a difference in their lives. Fans may mention your name now and then if the opportunity presents itself. Raving Fans create the opportunities to share your name and send you referrals. Everyone else has already forgotten your name, no matter how many postcards you sent. Here are 4 ideas to help make the people in your Farm your Raving Fans. 1. Create a neighborhood Facebook yard sale group 2. Sponsor a neighborhood sports team 3. Bring them flowers in the spring (seeds, not bouquets) 4. Sponsor a neighborhood party Take special note of the details of each idea. It s in these details that acquaintances become friends, and friends become Raving Fans. Also note this isn t mass marketing. One Raving Fan is more valuable than tens of thousands of postcards and newsletters. 1. Create a Neighborhood Facebook Group. The trick to Facebook is to post things people like and want to talk about (a lot easier said than done). Follow these steps and you will have a Facebook group with over 100 posts and comments a day. Here are the Details: Create a Facebook Group with the name of the neighborhood or subdivision in your farm. Add, Yard Sale and News to the name (i.e. Cedar Hills Yard Sale and News ). Don t make the geographic area too big. It s supposed to be a neighborhood group. Usually a subdivision is the best size, and you can create as many of these groups as you need to cover your entire farm area. Give the Facebook group a friendly Facebook URL, like Create a pinned post (stays at the top of the wall) welcoming people from the neighborhood. Explain that this Facebook Group is only for people that live in, or close by the neighborhood, and can be used by the members to post personal items for sale and useful neighborhood news. Don t add your logo or realty company name to the Facebook group. The idea is that the members feel as though it s their site. Set the group to only accept approved members. Find a couple of homeowners who are willing to help you as admins of this Facebook group. They will approve the members and help monitor the postings.

3 Have the admins or a few members you recruit from the neighborhood post several items for sale. We all have items sitting around the house for the next yard sale or donation run. That s what will make this page so popular. After several items are posted, spread the word about the Facebook group. This is pretty easy if you have Facebook accounts or addresses of homeowners in the neighborhood. If not, create a homemade flyer and pay a couple teenagers to take them door- to- door with the link to the Facebook Group. DO NOT PUT YOUR LOGO OR ANY MENTION OF YOU SPONSORING THIS GROUP. The value proposition to homeowners is they can buy and sell items from people in their neighborhood, and share neighborhood news and events. You will be amazed how many posts you will see every day on a neighborhood site like this. The yard sale piece is critical. Once you get a dozen or so members, the membership requests will start flooding in. If you have a home listing in the neighborhood or very close by, post the listing on the Facebook page. Make sure to add pictures and information with a link to your contact information. Wait a week or so before your first house listing post, and spread these posts out quite a bit. You don t want the neighborhood group page to look like your real estate listing site. Add other listings for sale in the neighborhood that are not yours. Make sure to have anyone interested in looking at the house contact you as a Buyer Agent. Don t provide the MLS link unless it goes through your website, with you as the contact for interested buyers. You may even want to contact the Listing Agent and let him/her know that you are an admin of the neighborhood Facebook group and would like to add pictures and information about the home. DON T POST MORE THAN ONE OR TWO HOMES A DAY. This Facebook page will become a great networking and lead generation source. Neighbors will see the homes that are for sale with your Facebook picture and name attached to every post. Who will they think of when it s time to sell or buy a home? Make sure to post replies to other posts, and get to know the neighbors through Facebook. Be careful not to solicit your services in most of your posts. Post other events you are involved with in the neighborhood, such as those suggested in this article. You can add pictures of the parties, sports teams, and other neighborhood events you sponsor. 2. Sponsor a neighborhood youth or adult sports team (soccer, football, baseball, softball, bowling, whatever). For around $250 you can get your name on the jersey and hear the team and fans chant, Go Keller Williams Kickers! Attend as many games as you can. If you have a son or daughter who plays a sport in your farm area. If you play a sport, sponsor your team. Make sure the team jersey has your logo, big and bold, with a catchy team name that incorporates your company like, Keller Williams Kickers. Have the team and coaches help come up with the name. Be an active participant. Learn the players names and cheer them on. If you are not on the team, make sure to wear your company hat and shirt when you are at the games so you don t have to tell parents what you do and why you sponsored the team. You ll find that the parents and participants will ask you questions.

4 4 MAKE IT ABOUT THEM On a hot day, bring the parents or adult players water bottles with your logo, filled with ice- cold water. Never give out an empty water bottle! Hand them out during warm- up or half time. Other beverages may be appropriate with an adult team. Attend the end of the season party. If you can, hand out the awards, or at least an award recognizing the coaches. If you can afford it, pitch in for the food and add your logo to napkins or cups. The goal is to have the parents and/or players associate your good will and interest in the team with your brand. At the end of the season party, it may be appropriate to make a quick speech about what you do and that you would appreciate referrals. At this point you earned it. Most important: Enjoy yourself as you make friends and support the team. Make it about them, and they will naturally associate your real estate services with a person they genuinely like. Do a little research on the local growing conditions (soil conditions, plants and grasses that do well locally, nutrient and water needs, etc). Put this information in a handout with your logo and contact information. Recommended watering and fertilization schedules on one side of the handout will make the homeowner more likely to hang it up and keep it around. Go door- to- door on a Saturday and introduce yourself as the local Realtor representing the neighborhood. Let them know that you are interested in helping the neighborhood look nice with information about the best plants and flowers for the area, and other gardening and yard tips. Offer them a seed packet and give them your handout of helpful yard and gardening tips. Many homeowners will have questions about their yard and planting, but have a few probing questions to help get the conversation going just in case. If their yard or flowerbeds are well kept, make sure to mention it. People love to talk about accomplishments in their yard. If you can, bring your spouse or children with you. Meeting your family makes you less of a solicitor and more like a friend. This can be a fun and rewarding activity with your family as you connect with others. 3. Bring them flowers in the spring. Homeowners are thinking about their yards and gardens in the spring. This is a great time to go door- to- door and have something really meaningful to talk about. Buy 100 or so flower and vegetable seed packets. Put them in a box top so they are easy to browse through. This will cost you around $20. Staple your business card to the top or back of each seed packet. 4. Sponsor a neighborhood party. For around $100 you can reserve the neighborhood rec center or swimming pool. Spend a few hundred more and you will have a

5 party the neighborhood will talk about for weeks. Speak to the HOA board and recruit a couple of neighbors to help you plan the party. If you are sponsoring the party, but willing to let them make the decisions, they will be happy to help. Reserve a date and time for the party. Plan the food and events. Try to have food and activities that appeal to different age groups. Create a homemade flyer that invites the neighborhood to the party, and yard signs at every entry and exit in the neighborhood. Go door- to- door to hand out the invitations. You ll be surprised how many people will ask you questions about your real estate services. Here are some ideas for the party: Snow cone machine: You only need 4 or 5 of the most popular flavors, ice, and stickers with your logo for the snow cone cups. You can rent a snow cone machine for around $40 for the day. Hotdogs are inexpensive and easy to cook. Family Movie: Reserve the movie room, or borrow a projector and put up a sheet on a wall. Reserve the swimming pool. Find a local band or DJ (preferably from the neighborhood). You will be surprised how many local bands and DJ s are out there who love the exposure and may volunteer for their neighborhood party. Make it a potluck, and have families bring the drinks, sides, and deserts. Have a bake- off or auction where the proceeds go to the HOA or a needed neighborhood project. Plan games and give out prizes. Ideas could include horseshoes, croquet, 3- legged races, bocce ball, and booth games. Create a big banner that says, Sponsored by Your Company. Cups, paper plates, napkins, etc are also great places for your logo. If you are successful, you may be invited to plan and sponsor a party every year. How many Raving Fans could that earn? The other Realtors in the neighborhood will be jealous of all the exposure and attention you get! These are just a few ideas of things you could do to turn the people in your Farm and SOI into Raving Fans. Remember, the key is to MAKE IT ABOUT THEM. I would love to hear your thoughts or ideas. Post your comments on our Facebook page at This month s prize: Post a comment on our Facebook page and you could win a snow cone machine, 4 flavor bottles, and 500 snow cone cups with your logo (round stickers) for your next party. Entries are accepted between July 15 and August 15, The winner will be announced on August 16, Mike Anderson, CMO Landmark Home Warranty