Increase the Size of Your Team Through Strategic Partners

Do you have partners that you work with daily that you’re not currently leveraging? I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that this is an area in which you could use some assistance. Many of us have our “go-to” lenders, title reps, inspectors, plumbers, roofers, and more. It’s important to not only have these relationships, but also to ensure that they’re a win-win for each party involved. If you’re currently hosting client appreciation events, yet not asking for your partners to sponsor and/or contribute to the event, you’re spending much more than you should be.

Any time my team plans to distribute client gifts, host a client appreciation event or do a community event, we develop the event and evaluate our costs. Then, the work of securing sponsors begins. We set a goal that our investment for everything we do is mostly time, whether it’s our team’s time in addressing envelopes, or time spent planning and attending the actual event. More often than not, we spend less than $500 on our events. Of course, we value our partners greatly, and ensure they know that.

Another great way to leverage partnerships is by building relationships with service providers that make you look good. For example, since I live in Michigan, I thought about something we could offer a new homebuyer during our cold and snowy months. How about a free snow plow? To that end, we’ve partnered with a local snow removal company to offer our clients a free snow plowing upon moving into their new home. We also work with a local lawn care company that provides a free lawn mowing to new residents upon their arrival to the area. How thoughtful is that? Your clients are so busy moving and unpacking boxes that offering to remove their worries about mowing their lawn blows them away.

These companies are getting the first opportunity to bid their services for the clients in the future. Besides the snow removal and lawn care, we also partner with a local HVAC company that offers a free tune-up and service upon move-in. And what do they get out of doing this for us? They get to slap their sticker on the furnace for future service calls. Also, since some home warranty companies won’t include the furnace on the home warranty unless it’s been recently tuned up, this service helps avoid any issues on this front. We also offer a $25 dry cleaning gift certificate, a dozen roses, a gift card to a carpet cleaning company, a free roof inspection, and more, within our closing gift to clients.

If you don’t want to incorporate these specific items into your closing gift, you might consider partnering with a local florist to provide a floral centerpiece for your open houses (leaving it behind for the client once the open house is finished). Just be sure to place a card on the counter advertising the florist during the open house.

There are many ways to leverage your partnerships and create a win-win for your clients, your partners and yourself. All of the ideas above have nothing to do with referrals, and are keeping within our legal licensing requirements as agents and brokers. Try to implement a few of these in your business, too.

Brooke Sines is a Workman Success Systems Coach and full-time REALTOR® with RE/MAX of Grand Rapids. After working for several years as an entertainment agent, Sines’ love of people and real estate led her into a career as a full-time REALTOR®. She’s an expert in her field and a great communicator that treats every coaching client as her No. 1 priority. Contact her at Brooke@WorkmanSuccessSystems.com. For more information, please visit www.workmansuccesssystems.com.