HOW TO BUILD A REFERRAL-BASED REAL ESTATE BUSINESS
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At a time in our industry when the transactional agent is being displaced by automation, bots, and portals, it is more important than ever to double down on the one thing you can't put in a can: relationships.
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HOW TO BUILD A REFERRAL-BASED REAL ESTATE BUSINESS
- 2. 1. HAVE A WHY THAT IS ABOUT OTHERS Put that sh*t on everything.
- 4. Go beyond demographics and identify commonalities in: Pain points Goals/wishes/dreams Behavior patterns 2. KNOW YOUR PERSONAS
- 5. 3. BE A STORYTELLER Listing Verbiage = Story of a lifestyle Website = Story of your brand Bio = Story of you
- 6. 4. PLAY NICE IN THE SANDBOX Your Market Area Your Sales Force Referral Sources
- 7. 5. GIVE Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash
- 8. 6. LEVERAGE SOCIAL MEDIA. HARD. •Be intentional and consistent •Be where your people are •Engage, engage, engage
- 9. 7. USE A GRATITUDE CAMPAIGN Pro Tip: Execute Oct-Nov (Save Dec for biz planning and family) Who What Local businesses Physical gift This year’s clients Handwritten Note Team members, manager, admin Note and a Gift Family Note and a Snuggle All referral sources Note and a Call Co-brokes and vendors Email Postcard & FB shoutout
- 10. 8. ENGAGE IN CIVIC MARKETING (This is not your mother’s board membership.) 3 Strategies The Giveback The Namesake Townie Bucket List 2 Rules Choose strategically Invest
- 11. 9. ASK Who do you know that is buying or selling real estate on Cape Cod?
- 12. 10. BE ATTACHED TO THE ACTIVITY, NOT THE OUTCOME.
Editor's Notes
- I started real estate under the best of circumstances: The market was hot, my 3 kids were all in school full time, my husband had a successful business, and for the first year I kept my day job with benefits. Within 18 months of getting my license, the following happened: I had a surprise fourth baby. Was informed in the hospital that my health insurance was accidentally terminated. I sold one house, and realized sales felt dirty to me. The first bank collapsed, and then the next and the next The housing market tanked. The country went into a recession. My husband’s business closed its doors. We started to seriously struggle to pay our bills, to the point that once I accepted charity to buy groceries. I took part-time jobs to make ends meet (everything from fitness instructor to wedding singer). We almost lost our house. Twice. Husband and I did the math; we couldn’t even afford a divorce. With 4 kids from infant to teenager (and frankly, against odds) I got pregnant again And just when I thought I could not survive one more blow, halfway through the pregnancy, and week before Christmas, we lost the baby. In this photo from that time, any semblance of a smile you see is totally manufactured. But like the tiny sprout that survives a wildfire, when I searched my now bare soul, one persistent belief remained: “I will not be defined by what the world does to me, I will be defined by what I do in the world.” [Target Time: 1:48]
- Which leads me to the first and most important point: Have a why that is about others, and like Frank says “Put that sh*t on everything” At this stage in my life and career I still had no money, just a wisp of a marriage, and a job that didn’t feel like me, but what was different was that now I had a mindset that I could lean into. I started to look for opportunities to be a blessing to other people and found them everywhere. Not coincidentally, I started to feel better, my relationships improved and my real estate business began to grow. Fast forward and now: I am in the top 3% of agents in my market My marriage and kids are healthy I love my job My life has purpose For Pete’s sake I’m even at my goal weight! [Target Time: 3:04]
- But before we go any further I want to clarify exactly what it is I do and what I’m going to talk about today. We called this a session about Referral Marketing, and if you apply half of what you hear, you will get more referral business. But if you really internalize what I’m talking about, especially the point about having a why that is about others, you my friends will be driving the relationship bus, and you will go where iBuyers, flat fees and instant offers cannot go. [Target Time: 3:45]
- Know Your Personas: How many people here are familiar with the term personas as it relates to marketing? I learned about them at Hubspot, and I’ll have links with more info at the end of this talk. Persona is to demographic as referral marketing is to transactional marketing. It’s a more personal look at the people you want to work with. One persona of mine is “Anne & Larry”. For 15 years or so they have lived in this beautiful home, which probably used to be their summer home that they have upgraded beautifully over time. They’ve enjoyed some nice grand parenting moments there, but the house is getting too big to take care of all year, they’ve been gradually spending more and more time in Florida and are ready to move south for good, because by golly they earned it. They are at or near retirement from sophisticated careers and they have plenty of time for golf, socializing, and scrutinizing my every move. They’re not necessarily aging gracefully and will not be taken advantage of or patronized. They want professionalism of the highest degree, a certain amount of traditional approach, but are all about staying up with the latest trends. So even though I don’t play golf or sail, I sponsor a hole at golf tournaments and I am a member at the yacht club. With them I use the phone more than usual, and I have a VR tour of their house AND a printed high-gloss flyer. [Target Time 5:40]
- Tell a Story “Daddy, instead of a story can you read me some branded content?” When you tell a story that people can relate to, they see that you ‘get’ them, and a relationship is born. When they believe that you understand them, your competence and experience will be incidentally and brilliantly conveyed. When I sit down with someone to talk about buying or selling I look for their story by using phrases like: “So tell me your story.” “How did we get here today?” “Talk to me about your happily ever after” [Target Time 6:22]
- Play Nice in the Sandbox This is about relationships with your fellow agents. It’s not a big cognitive leap to understand why you want to have friends outside your market area, but why develop relationships inside your market area?? Well for one, they are your sales force. If you treat your colleagues like friends your deals will run smoother and more of them will close. People will see your name on the listing and smile! You will get even get referred by agents inside your market area. I have both given and received referrals this way. [Target Time 7:03]
- Give: My 10-year-old complains that she never gets mail and I give her the same advice. If you want mail, you have to send mail. When you give, it triggers an impulse to reciprocate. Also, it’s the Inman way! -With your colleagues: Just like I’m doing right now. The biggest sharers in the sales and marketing industry are some of the most successful (Gary Vee, Katie Lance, everyone on this stage, etc.) When you do get copied (because if your ideas are actually good, you will be) don’t cry about it—BE BETTER. EVOLVE. -With your prospects: If someone just wants to know what their house is worth, don’t make them sign up for your newsletter to find out. I’m all about lead magnets but come on, you can do better than that. -With the world: Give credit where credit is due. I did not invent relationship marketing, I was first inspired by Brian Buffini, then I went to my first Inman event, and this is where the ‘Giving’ bomb really went off for me. [Target Time 8:25]
- Leverage Social Media. Hard I don’t think I need to sell anyone here on the value of social media as it relates to relationship building. If you have a constant presence and consistent message on social, you can turn the embers of a casual acquaintance into the fire of a listing. I do it all the time. It’s the How that makes the difference. You must be intentional and consistent. If your personas show up more on LinkedIn than Facebook, then you need to as well. And before you start asking for anything, you must give, in the form of likes, comments, and shares. [Target Time: 9:13]
- Use a Gratitude Campaign A touch campaign works to get people to think of you. But all touches and all campaigns are not created equal. On the one end you have the refrigerator magnet to your farm. This is like poking a pal. While it makes me think of you, it doesn’t necessarily inspire me to act. A gratitude campaign on the other hand is a highly targeted, personalized delivery of genuine thanks to people who already know and love you. Continuing with the touch metaphor, it’s more like a hugs for everyone who makes it possible for you to do your business. And what happens when you go in for that kind of a hug? They hug you back! They’re not only have you top of mind, but they’re going to be looking for opportunities to return your kindness. (Pro tip: Do this in October and November and save December for family time and biz panning) [Target Time: 10:25]
- Civic Marketing I was first introduced to the idea of civic marketing in the book “Off the Wall Marketing Ideas” by Nancy Michaels. This goes beyond your old school time-suck volunteer board memberships, and is my most fruitful and fun referral marketing strategy, hands down. I could talk about it all day, but today I will just give you two rules and three strategies: The rules: Choose strategically: Who do you want to build relationships with? Find out what they care about, where they give their time and money. Be there. However, whatever organization you get involved with, you must believe in their mission and be willing to spend time, money, and talent on it. The Strategies: The Giveback: Go to the leadership and/or the biggest mouth of the organization and tell them, “Not sure if you realize, but whenever I do business with someone in our organization, I give back part of my commission to the organization” Might die there, or it could get you in the monthly newsletter. The Namesake: Get a drink or a sandwich named after you! Cape House Martini (it’s a vodka, grapefruit and mint concoction): Order one and post it on social and I give $5 to DCT. Love goes out to me, the bar, and the trust. The Townie Bucket List: This is like VIP gift certificates. I gave my buyer client 5 envelopes to be hand-delivered to 5 biz owners in town. Biz owner opens it, gives my client the ‘thing’ I say they get (lunch for the fam, blowout for mom, cocktails, etc.). WIN WIN WIN. Client gets to know the local biz and biz owners, biz gets a new customer, and I get ALL the love. And when it was time for the salon owner’s brother to buy and sell, who do you think got that $2M call? [Target Time: 14:25]
- Ask You can pray to make the bus, but you still have to run. How: Right now you are sitting next to someone who, if they only knew you a bit more, might be only more than happy to send business your way. Don’t leave this room without swapping cards with them. And while we’re on the topic I want you to think about who you know who needs help buying or selling a house on Cape Cod? Come see me after this session and let’s talk! [Target Time: 13:31]
- Be attached to the activity, not the outcome The ROI for the micro on any one of these individual activities is hard to measure, but there’s no arguing with the macro results of someone who consistently operates from a relational perspective. But just like everything else, it only works if you work it, every day all the time. [Target Time: 13:56]
- The more I apply these principles, the better my business and my life get. If you want to take a deeper dive into any of these topics, cruise over to this link. And thank you! [Target Time: 14:15]