Maybe you got a late start this year. Perhaps your market went south, or you went on vacation and had some trouble getting back on track. No matter the excuse, the good news is that you’ve got a chunk of time to jack up your sales before you hit the finish line at the end of the year.
What are your best options for a fast track to more sales? Rather than spend more on lead generation, let’s focus on a few steps you can take right now, and commit to some simple, actionable activities that don’t cost big money.
Figure out how to see more people.
Want to see more people? Don’t hold standard open houses. Instead, make them spectacular open houses on steroids. While agents frequently express the notion that open houses don’t work in their area, more often than not, it comes down to the fact that agents actually believe they don’t work.
An open house on steroids program works most effectively in residential areas, but depending on where your target market is, get creative about how to make this prospecting activity fun, creative and highly profitable.
Open houses give you the opportunity to contact the 40 property owners around a listing at a minimum of three to four times. If you do the math, 40 properties times four contact activities will result in 160 touches. If you schedule one open house a week for the next four weeks, you’ll garner 640 touches a month.
- Touch No. 1: Start with a “guess what your neighbors did last night” note that informs the immediate neighborhood that their neighbors are offering their home for sale. Ask them to share the names of anyone they know that would be interested in being their neighbor.
- Touch No. 2: Invite each of the 40 property owners around the newly listed property (10 on either side and the 20 across the street) to a sneak peek an hour before the public open house.
- Touch No. 3: Follow up with a thank you note for attending, or a “sorry we missed you” note and offer to set up a private tour at their convenience.
- Touch No. 4: When the property goes under contract, inform those 40 homeowners that you have buyers who are still interested in being in their neighborhood and to contact you if they’re interested in selling.
Use Facebook Live.
Think about being the star of your own Facebook Live stream. Save postage and printing costs and do your weekly market update for your community at the local coffee shop. Take it up a notch by interviewing a local celebrity or influencer to showcase upcoming events within the community. Up the ante even further by striking an agreement where the first 10 visitors get a free coffee during the off-hours.
Set up a community event with a charity component.
Whether it’s in conjunction with a local fall festival or Halloween event, set up a fun space for kids and families to get together. Approach your strategic partners to help host a Halloween costume competition at a local school (or other destination) with prizes, photos and plenty of treats. Be sure to get contact information so that you can notify prize winners—and don’t forget to post photos taken during the event.
Terri Murphy is a communication engagement specialist, author, speaker and coach. She is the author/co-author of five books, and founder of MurphyOnRealEstate.com. Contact her at TerriMurphy.com, MurphyOnRealEstate.com or Terri@TerriMurphy.com. For more information, please visit www.workmansuccesssystems.com.
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