Accessing the Power of Advocates

Have you ever seen a great movie that you told a few of your friends that it was a must see? Of course you have, did they go see it? Of course they did.

That is how we function in today’s world. Someone has a great experience and they turn around and tell others about it. Because we are all looking for a great experience, we take their advice and try it ourselves. What if you could access that same power inside of your business? The following is a simple process that does just that. Once you put this to work for you then you will then experience the Power of having Advocates working for you. Your Advocates will tell everyone about how great the experience is when working with you.

Follow these simple steps.

Step One – Determine Where You Are Fast

You must immediately review your current database to determine who you have in it. Your database should include names of people from many areas. You should have your church members, friends, past customers, attorneys, vendors and more in you COI (Centers of Influence) list.
If you are like most, you have a lot of incomplete entries in a few different databases. You will have a name with no address or a number without and email. You have friends and family mixed together with agents, vendors and past customers. You must get this organized or else you will never profit from your database. When everything is mixed together, it is often too tough to determine what to send and when to send it. Not everyone can receive the same information so you must filter your databases into categories.

Step Two – Create Categories

First, there are 3 types of people in your local market…

• C. People we do not know. A HUGE portion of our market

• B. People who we have an acquaintance with. A small amount of the local market

• A. People who are our advocates. Very few people in our market who have already sent me a referral.

You must take every name you have in your COI and other databases and determine which category they fall under. If you know them yet they have not sent you a referral then they are a (B) acquaintance. If you do not know them then they have to be labeled a (C) and if they have sent you a referral in the past then they are surely and (A).

If you were to draw a pyramid then this is how your database should look.

A

B    B    B

C    C    C    C    C

Notice in the above illustration that the bottom of the pyramid is larger then the top. I have worked with many agents that didn’t have a single person on the top. They had no Advocates and they also never received any referrals.

Your goal should be to meet as many (C)’s as you can and establish rapport so you can move them into your (B) group. Then you want to increase your rapport with the (B) group in order to push them up into the (A) group. Imagine having 100 people in your (A) group who only sent you one referral per year. Yes, that is 100 referrals coming directly to you. Add this system into your business and you will see an increase in profits quickly.

Step Three – Operation Build Rapport

The key to getting more business with local clients is to make sure that you are continuing to grow you local ‘Centers of Influence’ list. Let’s face it, how many local people have you added to your COI list this year? I am sure you are increasing your database but are you adding people to your database and staying in communication with them on a consistent basis? There is a direct correlation to the amount of people that you have established rapport with and the size of your Advocate database. This system is not about adding people to your list, it is about building rapport with more people. When people know that you are thinking about them then they will think about you. This is called the Law of Reciprocity.

Here is a simple formula for Building Rapport and adding to your COI database.

Send Out Cards and educate through Email.

When is the last time you received a card through the mail? When you did, how did you feel? Like most, you will have a different experience when someone says thank by sending you a card versus sending you a text message or email message. Writing letters used to be a wonderful way to share our feelings and acknowledge others. We have strayed away from sending these letters and now rely on text and email to communicate. One thing that we know is that we can get our message across though email and text yet we cannot build Rapport. The more rapport you have with others the more referrals you will receive from them. We have to get back to the way we used to do it. Take a moment, write a nice note and send it through the mail. The experience your receiver will have once they get your card will not be forgotten. You want them to see you in a different light then your competition that is sending spam emails to them on a weekly schedule. You will be viewed as a real person who cares. That is who they want to work with and who they would refer to.

Here are a few examples of who and how to send cards…

Example 1.

When you meet a person who gives you a business card or possibly does something that you think was helpful or kind, send them a card acknowledging your conversation. Example, my pest control guy found a Black Widow spider in my yard the other day. I sent him a card thanking him for doing a great job at my house and how important that was for me since I have small children. Think about it, he probably never received a card from a customer. I didn’t even know his name until the other day when he handed me a card. This was someone that I did not know yet had met. Now he thinks that I appreciate him (which I really do) and he is now an acquaintance of mine. Moving him from a person that I did not know (C) to an acquaintance (B) is the first step to making him an Advocate (A).

Example 2.

A lot of us have acquaintances that we do not talk with much. We see them and say hello as we pass. These are people that we could get business from today. When someone you know does something nice, send them a card and acknowledge them for it. Example, my Wife and I know a girl that does everything for Tatiana’s class. She is the ultimate ‘class mom’. She took Sarah’s spot at school lunch duty while we went to Boston. We sent her a card thanking her and letting her know that anytime she needed us to do the same to please ask. We also told her how much we appreciated what she does at the school for the kids. She actually called and emailed to let us know how thoughtful we were to send a card versus saying thank you over the email. Once again, most people don’t send cards anymore. They would have sent her an email and she would have deleted it before she read the whole thing. That is how we work now. A card is special. By the way, what was once an acquaintance (B) is now becoming and ADVOCATE (A). We want more of them!

Example 3.

How many of us have people we call advocates? Surely you have a few yet this is the group that can help us grow our business quickly. Your advocates need to be acknowledged for the nice things that they do for us and for others. We can’t take this group for granted because other agents are trying to make them their advocates. We need to take care of this group. After they send you a referral, send them a thank you card, not an email, and ask them how you can help them in their business. If they have not sent you a referral lately then send them a card and tell them that you miss not speaking to them and to give you a call sometime to chat. In other words, STOP acknowledging people by text and email. It means nothing! It is emotion-less!

Example 4.

After you have a closing where you represented the seller, you need to send a card to the client on the other side of the transaction. The card could read, “Congratulations on your new purchase. I hope you got everything you wanted through this purchase. As a reminder, I was the listing agent at the time you bought the property and throughout the listing period, I learned a lot about your property. I probably know more about your new home then anyone else in the market today. I want you to feel free to call me anytime if you have a question about the property. I still keep in contact with the seller so I could easily get you any bit of information you could need. You can reach me at 843-457-7816 anytime.

After sending this card and another after 6 months of the purchase, they will move from someone I did not know into someone who is now and acquaintance. I will then mail them additional cards in the future to turn them into my Advocate.

Example 5.

After we have a closing, I always send a card to the cooperating agent thanking them for showing and selling my listings. I do this to build a relationship with them so they will continue to look for my listings over my competition.

Example 6.

When I meet someone new at a dinner party or networking event, I send them a card the next day letting them know that I enjoyed meeting them and hope to get to know them better in the future. I always add to the card that they can call me anytime if I could do something for them. Think about it, how many people have you met that you never communicated with again? I am sure there have been hundreds if not thousands. You must start connecting deeper with these people. You can add 50 Advocates in your first year if you would take this on now. 50 Advocates could send you 50 referrals.

Example 7.

After I close a deal with an attorney, I send a card to the paralegal thanking them for all of the hard work. I also send one to the bank involved thanking them for helping with the transaction. My vendors are sending me more referrals then ever because they know that I appreciate them for what they do. Because they know I am thinking of them, they are now thinking of me.

There are 100’s of ways to send cards and create Advocates.

Step Four – Sign up for www.SendOutCards.com/55233

www.SendOutCard.com/55233 is an amazing service that allows you to send out real cards from a catalog of over 14,000 different cards. You choose the card and type a message that is printed in your personal handwriting. It is then printed, mailed in a real envelope with an official stamp and delivered by regular mail. The best thing of all is that is substantially less then what it would cost to send a store bought card. Now sending out 500 Christmas cards can be done in less than 1 hr.

I am using this service and it has helping me attract a hundred of referrals by increasing the amount of Advocates that I have in my database. It cost me $398 starting fee and will only cost me about $50 per month based on my volume. Check it out. If you want to know more about how I am using these cards, feel free to email me at gregharrelson@gmail.com. I have compiled a catalog of personal real estate cards that can be sent.

Now it is time to Educate the Public

Now that you have an efficient system set up to build rapport and increase the number of Advocates sending you referrals, now it is time to build your reputation as being the most knowledgeable agent in your town. Think about it, you are already known as an agent who cares and now you are and agent that is an authority in the real estate industry. You are the agent that people turn to when they have a question. Even other agents are calling you for answers to their questions.

The following is a short and simple strategy to be the Authority in your local market…

• Step 1. As you are building your database, make sure you obtain their email address.

• Step 2. Every single month, you must send your database and educational newsletter. I do not recommend you using a service for this because the information needs to appear to be your thoughts and pertain to the local market. Here are a few examples of potential topics:

-How to Survive in a Down Market
-When do you buy? Is the market still going down?
-5 steps to getting your home sold in today’s challenging market
-Should I rent or Sell?

The topics should be based on the questions that your buyers and sellers are likely to have in your market. On average I would receive a minimum of 4 listings per month from my database of 3000 people. This was not 3000 Advocates, it was my total database. Every agent can generate a database that large if you are asking for email addresses from every prospect you meet or speak with.

Summary…

With a little planning, you can generate a significant amount of referral business. This plan is simple and inexpensive to implement. All you have to do is send a card to people that deserve to be acknowledged or that you have done business with. Then, email them information that ads value to them. The public likes to be informed so use your informative newsletters to establish you as an authority in the area of real estate. Be assured, once you apply action to this strategy, referrals will follow.