Bliss Sawyer's Marketing Blog

Vision party success!

Friday evening was my Vision Party.  After my first post on this idea, I had a few people email to say they thought it was a great idea and wanted to hold a vision party but just weren't sure how to do it.  Guess what?  I had no idea either.  Never done a vision board before.  Definitely never had a vision board party.  But that's that fabulous thing about relationship marketing... you just do it and the relationships go deeper for your efforts.

I did learn a few things along the way.

• Get help.  My mom was a huge asset (I call her Cinderella).  She helped me cook, clean and basically get ready.  Love her!
• Don't expect 100% turnout.  Some of the ladies had other plans, others were sick.
• Follow up.  I plan on 1.  sending out a thank you to those that attended and  2. dropping off the favors I made and a blank vision board to those that wanted to come but had other obligations or were ill.
• Take time in between dinner and creating the vision boards to share some thoughts.  I talked about being accountable and gave them an accountability form along with a few business cards.   I let them know that I was willing to meet with them once a month for lunch and a mini-coaching session.
• Ask for business.  Too often in our marketing, we don't take that next step of asking for business.  Don't assume that people will give you business because you fed them (or shared glue sticks).

We all had a wonderful evening and I will definitely be doing this each January.

 

Realtor Postcard

I'm getting ready to have my vision board party and wanted a few things to share with the Realtors that are coming to help them with their business.  Cristie North just finished up her annual retreat and shared one of her items with me.

She makes 10-20 of these postcards for each Realtor.  They use them when taking buyers out to see homes.  The idea is that they leave them on the counter for the seller with five items of what they loved about the home.  Hopefully when and if the seller needs a new agent to sell their home they will call your agent.   I also think this is something the listing agent will love as they are always looking for positive feedback for their sellers.

Realtor 1-2-3

Want a few more tips on Realtor Marketing... then check out the Origination News Blog.  I'll be posting weekly marketing tips.

Happy Monday!

 

New Year Drop-In Idea

Here's a photo of what one of my coaching clients is delivering this week for her New Year Realtor drop-in.  Thanks Sherri for sharing!!

 

New Year's Drop in idea...

I hope you are excited for the new year and ready to work on growing your business!  Dropping in to your Realtor's offices should be on your marketing task list each week.  (need proof?  check out this TBWS Video from 12/29/2011)

If you did not drop in before the holidays, it is even more vital you take the time to do it NOW.   Stop by your local dollar store and pick up a few New Year's things.  Tie it together with your business card and a note.  Here are a few ideas:  

• Looking forward to a fantastic 2012 with you!!
• Let's make sure 2012 is the best year yet.... TOGETHER!
• Let me help you make 2012 your best year!
• Rates are down and expected to stay there.  Let me help you buyers in 2012.

 

Get on the phone today...

Today is a perfect day to get on the phone to all of your referral partners.  If you are in town through the holidays, let them know you are available to answer questions or help their clients.  If you will be gone, give them the dates and who their contact person is if they need help during your absence.

Make sure they know you are also available after hours and on the weekends.  Realtors are busiest during those hours and you don't want them hesitating to contact you (or worse - calling your competition).

Before you hang up.... ask for referrals!  "By the way, do you have anyone that needs my help?"

Then, put this on your calendar for next Thursday (12/22)and the next Thursday (12/29).  This consistency will do much to strengthen your relationship.

Huge success!

Last night was the Pictures with Santa event that we hosted along with a real estate group.  I was a little unsure what kind of turnout we would have, but it was a fantastic success!    Everyone pitched in to set up and keep things running with the games, food and cameras.

It was a great time to reconnect with clients and also deepen our Realtor relationships.  Santa had a few helpers running around secretly finding out names and wishes from the kids before they sat on his lap.  The kids were amazed that Santa knew them and what they wanted.  

Buddy the Elf was a huge success...

 

I was also amazed at the amount of food we collected for our local food bank.

Question for the new year...

What can I do to earn (more of) your business in 2012?

This question should be part of every conversation you have with Realtors over the next two months.  Set up a lunch or coffee with each of the agents you want to work with in 2012.  Let them know you are working on your business.  Be direct.  If you haven't done this in the past, it may feel uncomfortable.  But then again, if you aren't happy with the number of referrals you've been getting; maybe it is time to get uncomfortable.

Set a goal to reach out to XX number of agents by January 15.  Push yourself and I guarantee that you will start seeing results!

Turkey Shoot

Every November my company invites Realtors to a Turkey shoot.  It's simply a time to get together and have a little fun.  We headed up into the mountains to the local gun club for an evening of hot dogs, hot chocolate and little shootin'.  I'm not a gun person so this was a learning experience for me.  Did you know...

1.  We didn't shoot turkey's, we shot clay pigeons.  And they aren't even in the shape of a pigeon, they were round.  And not-so-very-easy to hit.

2.  You shoot "shells".  If you call them "bullets" people make fun of you.

3.  It's very important to listen to your coach.  I have a 4" bruise on my shoulder to prove that he was right about where to hold the gun when shooting.  Sorry coach.

4.  A 12 gauge is stronger than a 20 gauge and a 410 is for wimps like me.  

5.  I met a 12 year old that really thought it was great when he hit everything I missed.  My self-esteem was shattered.

Girl-Power!

We started off with Annie Oakley.
Not my favorite game. 

 

My builder and his evil,
never-miss-a-shot son

 

Yes - I did actually hit three pigeons.
and no - I won't tell you out of how many. 

Holiday Phone Calls

This simple marketing strategy can be used throughout the year... and the best part is the cost.  NONE!

 

Coaching your referral partners

I just listened to a fabulous webinar through Mortgage Coach with Michael Maher, author of The Seven Levels of Communication.  This book just jumped up to first place on my reading list!  

Michael's premise for his book (and his success as a Realtor) is that generosity leads to reciprocity.  Fabulous!  Timeless!  Inspirational!

I wanted to share his thoughts on coaching referral partners.  Michael suggests you start with these questions:

1. What is your biggest challenge right now?
2. What have you tried so far?
3. What are you going to do next?

Give them time to share their struggles and thoughts and then you help them overcome this challenge with ideas or suggestions.  This shows your generosity as a business partner.  

Priceless.

 

 

Pictures with Santa

Here's a great idea that one of my coaching clients mentioned and I love the idea so much I am doing it in my market.  

This is a customer appreciation event AND a marketing opportunity with your Realtors.  Here's a few details on how I am putting the event together:

• We've invited a large Real Estate office to do a joint customer appreciation event where Santa and Buddy the Elf are available for pictures.  They are excited and willing to split costs for refreshments etc.
• Loan officers and Realtors that want to take part in this are giving $30 each for door prizes.  We plan on having an Ipad and a few small things.  
• Event will be on a Thursday from 3:00 - 7:00 to get the after school and after work crowd.  We have a large space in our building that will work perfectly.
• Invitations will be done by email and social media.  Some have expressed interest in mailing a flyer to their database and they are on their own to do that.
• Refreshments will be brownies, hot chocolate and vegetable trays.
• We are going to have a table where the kids can write a letter to Santa.
• There will be three or four games for the kids to play (pin the nose on Rudolph, bean bag toss etc)
• We are also going to ask people to bring canned food to donate to the local food bank.
• We plan to decorate pretty extensively, relying mostly on what the decoration committee can bring from their homes.

I am putting together decoration, food and games committees.  Each committee will have Realtors and Loan Officers working together.  Great time to strengthen those relationships!  I'm excited to see how this turns out and am looking forward to the opportunity to work with these Realtors to really reinforce that I want to help their business.  

11/17/2011 update:  Click here for marketing ideas and text. 

Jeremy's Realtor Contact Form

I will continue to tell you that one of the best ways to focus on Realtor Marketing is to utilize a Realtor Contact Form, and so I really love it when someone shares how they have modified this to fit their business.  Jeremy Plouzek recently returned from Sales Mastery and when I asked him what was the main thing he took away from the three day event, he said "laser focus".  

A few of his new commitments are: 10 outbound calls each day (Realtors, past clients, prospects etc.), one Mortgage Coach Edge video a day and spending Wednesdays visiting referral sources.  I personally think this is a perfect recipe for success!

Here is the link to Jeremy's version:  http://www.blisssawyer.com/JeremyRealtorContactForm.xlsx

Thanks much to Jeremy for sharing!

 

Always tweaking...

I talk quite a bit about my Realtor Contact Form as I personally use it and my coaching clients find it extremely helpful.  This simple tool is great to help you keep focused on having contacts in a variety of ways with a core group of agents.

As I have been getting back into the swing of things with my marketing, I have tweaked my form a bit and wanted to share my changes.  You have access to the form in an excel spreadsheet so it is easy to modify.  The point here:  Do what works for you as long as you are doing something!

Changes:

• I now have two lists - one for "A" Realtors and one for "B" Realtors.  Same file, just two sheets inside the file.  A Realtors get more individualized attention (lunch, phone calls, drop ins etc.) and B Realtors basically get emails with a few random phone calls or other attempts to move them to A status.
• I deleted the "office" column and added "Bday" so I can track birthdays. 
• I deleted Sat and Sun columns and added Last Lunch so I can track how long it has been since I went to lunch with them.  This doesn't mean I am opposed to doing an open house or other weekend activity, I will simply track this in the notes section since it is a rare occasion.
• I added "N" for Nacho Tuesday and "S" for sales meetings to the legend box at the top.

I am always modifying my list; adding and moving Realtors around as I work to strengthen relationships.  This keeps me focused on my Realtor marketing every day.

Go for No! (plus a script)

Go For No! was recommended by a few people within a short time frame... so I figured it was worth getting.  This is a very short book with the potential to have a huge impact on your success.

Go For No!  (the tag line reads:  YES is the destination, NO is how you get there) is a short story of a fictional salesman that wakes up one day to his future self that has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.  He spends a few days learning the secret to his success (hint - it's all about "No") and then goes back to his life to fulfill his destiny.

"I realized that failure was the halfway mark on the road to success, not a destination to be avoided but rather a stepping stone to get what I really wanted in life.  Most people get to the sign marked failure and they figure they're headed in the wrong direction, turn around and head back home.  They think that success must be back the other way, but it's not!  It's straight ahead!"

I talk with originators all the time that know what they should be doing to get more business, but they simply don't do it.  It is the fear of failure and being uncomfortable that keeps them from reaching top producer status.  It isn't the market, interest rates or their company; it is their fear of rejection.

"Why can't rejection be only slightly annoying or amusing or, for that matter, exciting and energizing?  While we have absolutely no control over the actions of others, we do have total and complete control over how we react."

Kelly Waugh recently took this to heart and starting calling Realtors.  She shared with me that it actually took much longer than she thought to reach her "No" goals and it was very empowering.

quick email to Realtors....

Just thought I would share the email I sent to my core group of Realtors this morning:

Subject:  Crazy start to a short week!

I hope you had a great holiday weekend and wanted to let you know that rates are fabulous today!  The 10-year bond is at an record low today.. mortgage rates are loosely tied to the 10 year bond and we are seeing amazing 30 and 15 year rates.

I would love to help your buyers or if you know of anyone that is interested in refinancing, please give me a call!

Thanks much and have a great week!

Bliss

As you can see - it is short and to the point.  When you see something online that is newsworthy, take the minute and half to send it out.  Cheapest marketing strategy out there!

Please re-gift.

Rhonda Johnson with AlaskaUSA Mortgage decided to come up with a gift that Realtors can give to their clients.  She designed a set of moving labels with her company logo and will be passing these out at their booth during the annual Realtor convention next month.  

The Realtor has to sign in to get a set of labels; this way Rhonda can follow up and deepen the relationship by offering additional labels and getting to know the Realtor better.  What a great idea!  Re-gifting at it's best :) 

 

Don't ignore your Realtors!

One of the big complaints Realtors have with us is that we beg for business when business is slow, but if rates dip down we spend our time on refi's and ignore them.  Hopefully this isn't describing your work pattern, but it is something everyone should consider as they plan their day and activities.

Business is booming for many, with refi's filling the pipeline.  It's a great opportunity, but refi's should be your gravy.  Purchase business is the main course that will sustain you in any market.  Make sure you are not neglecting your Realtor relationships.

If you don't have extra time for lunches or outside the office networking right now, I recommend you spend 30 minutes a day on what I call "unsolicited" phone calls, emails and text messages.  This is where you take the time to connect with your core group of Realtors and offer them information, an update on interest rates or simply see how they are doing and if there is anything you can do to help them.  This will keep you top of mind.

Also, don't get caught in the trap of only talking to the Realtors you are currently working with on a transaction.  Those that you haven't received a referral from for a while need to hear from you.  Phone calls, emails and text messages are all great ways to communicate.  Preferably all three!

Pencil me in!

I was brainstorming with a coaching client for a back to school drop-in idea for her Realtors.  We ended up narrowing it down to her making a school bus out of a large cardboard box and "driving" it around the Realtor's office and this idea.  Guess which one she's going to do?

Take a back of pencils (.97 at Walmart) and tie them together with a ribbon.  Attach a note that says "Would love to have you pencil me in for lunch next week (or next month)"  

This is a fun, simple and inexpensive idea that will be memorable.

Nacho Tuesday

Security Home Mortgage in Orem, Ut has created a fun twist on networking.  Each Tuesday, they invite Realtors and the businesses near their office to come over for nachos and drinks.  It gives them an opportunity to connect with referral partners and have a bit of face to face time.

Great idea!

 Are you doing something that consistently gives you an opportunity to deepen your Realtor relationships?