That's not a shabby marketing tactic for Realtors either. But, I'm referring to you getting a career-long flow of clients from other well-thought-of professionals in your community. And all you'll need is a "down-to-earth" letter that you jot down yourself.
This is how I'd sum up referral letter marketing for real estate agents: Grab a list of well-thought-of professionals in your area that may have the same type of clients you do. Then, sending it by regular mail, write down a personal letter to your list of respected professionals.
Be sure you get distinctive and use an envelope that stands out from every other white, standard envelope in the mail. Be consistent about following up with each professional by phone, regular mail or email at least 1 occasion each month.
Loads of Sharp Realtors and agents apply this one marketing method to fuel their real estate businesses for their entire careers! Don't worry, there's nothing illegal with copying what the "big boys" do.
Initially, let's begin a list of professionals that actually have the clients you might work with...
- CPAs
- Mortgage Brokers (unsurprisingly)
- Financial Planners
- Real Estate Lawyers
- Building Contractors
- Interior Decorators
- Appraisers
- Title and Escrow Officers
- Electricians
- Residential Plumbers
- Residential Landscapers
- Roofers
- Tree Trimming Contractors
- Handymen
- Get the picture?...
A number of other professionals could be added but that will have you off and running.
So how can you get a full list of all the professionals you'll need to work with? No worries, it's uncomplicated. You have a duo of options, depending on how much money you retain in your marketing budget.
Looking through the yellow pages, online, is a low-cost option. As a Realtor, you already have a "farm area" you operate in so you'll want to keep within those borders. The manual labor is the time consuming aspect about this alternative.
You need to compile each professional's phone number, name and mailing address. Like I said, this may take a bit of time but it's free.
The other choice for you is to simply buy a list of these professionals that you need to advertise to. Exactly like you're probably on a Realtor list for sale to the public, nearly every other profession has their own list for sale too.
These types of lists aren't illegal at all (unfortunately for a number of of us). These types of professional lists are out there because professionals (like us Realtors or agents) intentionally sign up for countless publications, organizations, events, etc.
Are you a tiny bit shocked? Now you realize why you get so much real estate junk mail and email.
You have more than enough choices when it comes to picking a list company to purchase your list from. Rather than going to one list company for a list of attorneys and another company for financial planners, you ought select a company that provides all the professions you demand in one place. Purchasing your list will cost you some marketing dollars but you'll save yourself a pant load of agony and working hours.
However you prefer to acquire your list of professionals, once you have it, it's time to kickoff penning your "personalized" letter. I can't detail how to compose sales copy here, regrettably. Copywriting and writing sales copy are topics completely on their own.
Just understand for now that you don't want your referral letter to be a "sales letter". You can copy and re-use your letter for each professional but the referral letter itself needs to cause each professional who gets it, to feel like they're the only one in the universe that you sent it to.
It's all about writing the letter as if you were talking to the individual face-to-face. Don't use a bunch of "salsey" cliches and standard "professional lingo" that you read in the letters you get from your bank. Seize their interest and write to them as you'd write to a personal friend.
The crux of your letter absolutely must explain that you'd like to start a reciprocally advantageous, professional relationship with them (but express it in a personal way, of course). The ultimate result you're looking for is to be their preferred Realtor for all their clients who require real estate services. You need to stress how they'll profit from this relationship without doing any selling, got it?
You possibly could happen to know something about the company one of these professionals operate for so feel free to drop that in your letter to make it more personal. If you know of a client who's worked with them, throw that in there also. Unless you blab about their mom, for some reason, it's almost inconceivable for you to get overly personal in your letter.
Writing this marketing letter yourself would be my big, crucial suggestion. But if you just detest penning this sort of marketing material, you can employ an economical freelance writer to do it for you.
Simply type in "freelance writers" on Google and you'll see many people to pick from. With a few of the sites you'll stumble on, you can select freelance writers from all over the globe, which is pretty handy. You can see reviews on them, view what they're charging for prices, contact them to ask questions, etc. You could go as far as posting the project you want accomplished and waiting for writers to apply. It's excellent.
Now that you have your referral marketing letter completed and your list of professionals to mail it to, let's get them mailed out. Only whatever you do, please do not mail your letter in a simple white envelope like we see everyday of our lives... Please.
Get another unusual mailing package or envelope with some color or size to it. You need that letter to stand out from all the other mail this guy or gal is getting that day. I'd also warn you to pen the mailing and return addresses by hand so that you increase the "personal" appearance of your letter.
Just consider how you opened your mail today. Precisely, letters that have hand-scripted addresses continually get priority!
The next thing you want to do is enclose a unique marketing piece, apart from your referral letter. A creative marketing idea possibly could be a DVD that you make through Animoto, showcasing yourself (not as overwhelming as it sounds).
I have a buddy who sold life insurance and had the brilliant plan to send out small poker chips with his information printed on them. This buddy of mine printed "Do not gamble with your life" on all the poker chips.
Utter brilliance! That's the kind of creative thought you need in order to stick out from your competition, or at least you need to understand where to get the ideas!
With this referral letter, make certain you specify for these professionals to not only call your telephone, if they want, but also to check out your blog or website. Provide them the choice but make sure you give them both. Some professionals prefer to speak on the telephone and others like to suss you out online first.
This last step is probably the most important. The mother of all keys to marketing is "repetition". If you look at marketing statistics in general, it's been shown that consumers and prospects need to hear or see the same marketing message more than 6-7 times before they feel comfortable enough to answer back.
So the obvious "take-away" is that you must continue to market to these professionals on your list, more than once. Following up with these professionals with another letter or a phone call every 4 weeks or so would be my plan. If you were able to get or buy their email address, feel free to start emailing them also.
Just please be careful about not suffocating them, however you decide to follow-up. Without being the irritating girlfriend or boyfriend, you have to give them space and time but still let them know you need to be the Realtor they should direct clients to.
One last tip, if you need to save yourself a pant load of time, pay your teenager to stuff these envelopes and mailers. Your college kid or teen can stuff all the envelopes and address them but I'd still recommend for you to jot down the referral letter yourself.
The hired labor will be cheap and you can focus on other things like home tours and follow up calls.
In the end, I feel this is one of the most amazing marketing tips for Realtors to ensure a long, successful career without a million-dollar marketing budget. If you build these relationships right, they can create you so many leads that you won't need to actively promote or market your real estate business in any other way.
If you truly serve these professionals as much as you want them to serve you, your closings will increase and you'll work your way up to being the top real estate agent in your neighborhood.
Josh F. Sanders is a Real Estate Broker and the Founder of Shiloh Street University, an online realtor marketing school for real estate agents.
SSU's purpose is to "Create Wealthy Agents through World-Class Marketing" by providing step-by-step video marketing tutorials that can boost an agent's income by up to 200-300%.
Get your FREE 5-DAY SNEAK PEEK at http://www.ShilohStreetUniversity.com
SSU's purpose is to "Create Wealthy Agents through World-Class Marketing" by providing step-by-step video marketing tutorials that can boost an agent's income by up to 200-300%.
Get your FREE 5-DAY SNEAK PEEK at http://www.ShilohStreetUniversity.com
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