Low inventory is a problem for agents across the country, which is why it’s time to be creative and committed. Agents need to lean in and expand their reach and start building relationships prior to when someone is even thinking about selling. And they need to do this with consistency.
This is where direct mail, networking, prospecting and farming come into play as new priorities for agents. It’s like planting seeds and cultivating them until they’ve been harvested.
How do you ensure that someone will think of you first when they are thinking about buying and selling? How do you get the fishbowl before they even become a fishbowl? How do you become so top of mind that when someone is sitting at the dinner table and saying things like, “Hey honey, do you think we should sell the house?” they think of you?
That takes marketing and networking. Up until this past year, I wasn’t a fan of direct mail. I preferred teaching agents to face their fear of prospecting by picking up the phone, building relationships and being of service. In today’s world though, I do see the merit of continuous touches with a combination of direct mail, email, door-knocking, community involvement and phone calls.
Here are five proven methods to open the lines of communication with your sphere and farm and develop a connection that will have them calling you when they are ready to sell:
1. Be creative when contacting FSBOs and expireds to stand out from your competition. We love this greeting card strategy.
2. Use letters and flyers to keep folks in your farm up to date with new market changes.
3. Reach out to past clients to check in with them. Be present and authentic in your conversation. Let them know that recent market changes have raised a lot of questions for people about the value of their home and that you’re there to help them find answers. Power Agents®, head to the Webinars on Demand tab of your classroom for my recent webinar—The 10 Best Scripts for Spring—to help you feel confident on your calls.
4. Take advantage of the spring season to be visible in your farm neighborhood. Door-knock and introduce yourself and offer a free Neighborhood Market Report, providing homeowners the current value of their home.
5. Be the face of your community. We love the way many of our members have gotten creative about serving their communities in the last year. From putting together “drive-in movies” in parking lots to hosting food and clothing drives to spotlighting area restaurants and businesses, they are stepping up in powerful ways to help while branding themselves as the resource the community can count on.
Every week, we’re delivering new and powerful ways to not just get listings, but to also build listing inventory, grow your business and create customers for life. We’d love to do the same for you.
Darryl Davis has spoken to, trained and coached more than 100,000 real estate professionals around the globe. He is a best-selling author for McGraw-Hill Publishing, and his book, “How to Become a Power Agent® in Real Estate” tops Amazon’s charts for most-sold book to real estate agents. He is the founder of the Next Level® real estate training system The Power Program®, which has proven to help agents double their production over their previous year. Davis is currently hosting free weekly webinars to help agents navigate the new real estate reality. To learn more, visit www.darrylspeaks.com/Online-Training.
