Purposefully Update Your Message Before the Holidays
Thanksgiving is just two months away, and the event will herald a season of gratitude, well wishes, holiday gatherings, and a new year’s hopes and dreams. This time of year provides the ideal opportunity for updating and honing your team’s messaging withing your real estate market, so you need to be preparing for that now.
Here are some specific steps to take and a few things to consider as you take them.
Start Now: Whomever you are going to involve in formulating and delivering your message, you need to set aside time now to get the ball rolling. Decide who to involve and set up an initial meeting by the end of September. I suggest having at least one discussion with your entire team before fully proceeding in order to gain their input and, more important, their buy-in.
Choose Your Message: This is the most important step of this process—deciding what you want to say to your market, especially to your sphere. There is no right answer, but deciding what you are trying to accomplish and what message will help you do that takes purposeful consideration.
While there are endless possibilities, some common goals and/or messages include: attracting new listings; being a great time to buy or sell; your team’s market strength; or a general positive outlook. Your message will be the theme that you use throughout the next few months, and can be an extension of your current overall team messaging, a modification of that message or an entirely new approach. Whatever you choose, make it fit both who you are as a team and what you are going to accomplish moving forward.
Form Your Marketing Plan: You likely already have some established methods of communication, such as social media, print ads, holiday events, etc. Incorporate your chosen message into all of them, and then don’t be afraid to up your game with something new. By expanding your comfort zone, you will often expand your reach and your success. Be sure to put everything that you are going to do onto a marketing calendar and/or project list and share it with your team.
Execute: Now immediately address items necessary to make your plan successful. Schedule and approve design work and professional photography or set aside time yourself if you handle design internally. Make reservations for events. Order custom items such as cards or gifts so that they are available when you need them. Add discussions and updates to your team meeting agenda or hold separate meetings specifically to review your plan’s execution. Lastly, be sure that each individual team member is engaging in your plan; agent calls and notes should be part of any overall team communication strategy.
Again, Thanksgiving is an ideal target “kick-off” date for team communication efforts, and I highly recommend having your plan implemented no later than that date. Craft your team message purposefully, make a plan to promote it, then make it happen. Your sphere will be receptive to your outreach, and your team’s success from now and into 2021 will benefit from your intentional efforts.
To watch Sherri’s free webinar “How to Leverage Social Media,” click here.
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 20 years of experience in real estate, Johnson offers coaching, consulting and keynotes, and is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour and the Official Real Estate Coach for McKissock Learning and Real Estate Express. She is also an RISMedia 2020 Real Estate Newsmaker as an industry Influencer. Sign up for a free 30-minute coaching strategy session or visit www.sherrijohnson.com for more information.
