As a manager or broker of an office, you are always looking for ways to
generate more leads for your sales associates. There are several ways
right in front of your eyes in the pages of your local newspaper and also
in sharing good news about your company with the public. Here are a
few ideas, some of which come from a subscriber of mine in Australia.
Celebrate Anniversaries
It seems weekly that more and more people are celebrating long wedding
anniversaries. You should be scanning the local newspaper for people
who have been married 40, 50, or even 60 years. What Hank Petrusma
of Tasmania does is send each one of these married couples a card
offering best wishes from his office along with a bouquet of flowers. He
tells me that without fail, he receives a call from each one of these
couples thanking him. Of course, I am sure that he offers his services
for the future when he is talking with these people.
What a super way to generate leads. Imagine the children of these
couples being told about his office and his generosity. If these children
live in the community, they may think that they want the personal service
that this company apparently delivers when they go to buy or sell a
property. But even better, how much longer do you think these
anniversary celebrants will be in their current homes? Timing is
everything. These people may be moving down to a smaller home or into
a retirement community. Hopefully, they will think of the nice real estate
company that just thought of them on this very special occasion.
The number of people reaching such long anniversaries is going to grow
as our population ages. Watch for these celebrants in your paper, and
see what happens. Another thought along those lines, look at the age of
the celebrants in their picture and you might extend your anniversary well
wishes to 25 and 30 year marriages, depending on the ages of the
people. Who knows, it may be the second marriage.
Celebrate Engagements and Marriages
Another tip from Hank is to watch for all the engagements and new
marriages in the newspaper. Send the happy couples a personalized
letter congratulating them and offering a free homebuyers guide. Along
with this you could offer a free home buying consultation with one of your
agents on the home buying process.
What a great idea! Get the couple lined up with an agent in your office
so that the agent can explain what it takes to purchase a home today.
How much they will need for the down payment and closing costs, explain
about the different mortgages available such as FHA, VA, and 5% down
programs. With so many options, the couple may be able to purchase
SOON. In any event, they will appreciate knowing what it takes to
purchase because that is every couple's dream. And, of course, now the
agent has their name and number to keep in touch and see how they are
doing in the future.
Office Good News
Why not throw a party for your whole community because your office
had a record-breaking year in sales? Pick a time of year that you know
you can be out of doors and a central location such as a nice park and
plan a thank you for the whole community.
Take a full page ad out in the paper and tell your community that you are
throwing a party just for them to share in the good fortune your office
has. Hire clowns to make balloon hats and play with the children, have
organized games with your agents participating as helpers, have ice
cream carts for people to have treats, hire a caterer to have hot dogs,
lots of condiments, and drinks for everyone.
Make sure everyone there knows that this is FREE for everyone to say
thank you. Have banners with your company name all over the park.
Have your company color balloons with the company name all over the
area. Make sure every agent of your firm is there with their families and
they all have the company t-shirts on.
Limit the time for the party to Noon to 6:00 PM on your celebration day.
You will have to guess as to the number that will attend, but limiting the
time will help in your planning. Send postcards to all your clients telling
them about the day as well.
Get all your service providers involved and make this a really great day.
Imagine the leads that will be generated by this unselfish act to your
community.
Results
All of this attention to good news is what the public wants to experience.
Why not use good news to generate leads for your office and PR that will
last for ages. Have fun sharing and make money, too! What could be
better?!
