“Mike, how do we create emails that will get the attention of our REALTORs®?”

I have been asked this question twice in the past week so I thought I would answer it in a blog post. Ask any real estate agent about their inbox, “oh, you mean that haystack I have to sort through every day. The deep abyss of spam, new listing notifications and Ugandan prince emails ” Let’s face it, most of our inboxes are bursting at the seams. So we click through and delete as many as possible of those that don’t strike our interest. One click, and all the work you put into crafting a newsworthy email blast for your REALTOR® partners has been wasted.

The solution is not to give up on email marketing. Just do it better.

Instead of thinking about what you have to offer a real estate agent, consider the benefit to them. How will your information or advice help them sell more homes? What results can they expect? When you become a trusted advisor, your emails won’t be overlooked.

Here are some ideas to tantalize your enough recipient to open your emails:

1. Highlight the benefit provided to them by your Online Sales Counselor
2. Update them on the latest financing and interest rates and mortgage programs
3. Announce new and coming-soon communities (= new sales opportunities for them)
4. Announce the opening of additional phases (Ditto!)
5. Promote special offers or incentives
6. Highlight builder’s achievements or awards that reinforce the quality their buyers can expect
7. Share new floor plans to demonstrate flexibility and options—something that every buyers welcomes
8. Reinforce the benefits of owning a new home versus a resale home
9. Explain your building process, particularly those points that differentiate this builder from the competition
10. Tell a satisfied customer’s story that underscores the reasons a buyer should select a home by this builder
11. Feature an agent who just sold a home with you and include sales tips from that agent
12. Highlight community or neighborhood events to paint a picture of fun and involvement, not just an individual property
13. Review the strong points of your website—and be sure to embed links for them to get there easily
14. Offer news and statistics about general homebuilding and new construction—agents and buyers love to see how others are faring in their circumstance
15. Send holiday greetings with a personal message (mine just went out today)

Before you click “Send”, put yourself in the recipient’s place and ask yourself, “So what?” Why should they take valuable time to read your email? When your subject line gives them that incentive and your email supports it with great content, only then should you make your way into their crowded inbox.Similar Posts:

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At a recent conference, we were discussing this again with Real Estate company owners so I posted a quick question on Facebook for some live responses. This sparked a nice little discussion and I love the comments from professionals all across the country. So much so – I thought I would just post the discussion here (removing names).

One of my favorite quotes from below “look for other ways to give your sellers their marketing placebo” This was echoed at the conference when a successful broker who hasn’t advertised in the paper in years said “take the marketing pacifier out of their mouth”

So here was the post and the feedback. What are your thoughts?

“Having a “robust” discussion about newspaper advertising w/ broker owners. Still a lot of companies committing a large part of their budget to the paper. What would you tell them?’

Numbers don’t lie… take an objective look at the money out versus money in, then make your decision.

As Bob Dylan once said “Oh the times they are a changin’”

Don’t give money to people that write bad things about you!

Have you heard of an iPad? Let me show you something…

The lowest quality prospect comes from print media!

I’d ask them how they measure success of their print ads. Do they accept the anecdotal evidence from their sales offices? How much do they pay per acquisition? I guarantee they can make that metric drop like a rock if they diverted most of that budget to digital!

Measure to manage and look for other ways to give your sellers their marketing placebo. Sellers get excited when you tell them their listing will be in the newspaper because they know you’re spending money to market their home – not because they really think that will sell it. The trouble comes in that most sellers also know that there is little to no fee for you to put their listing in the MLS… so you MUST go beyond that, but don’t go for the low hanging fruit with newspapers

I think at this time in our economy it’s hard to say what works. 90% of people start shopping online, yet in some regions (yes) print pulled. Numbers don’t lie. Most of our budget is online.

Call me, we changed our marketing mix and our market share keeps increasing with rerouting dollars.

We sell more than almost any competitor in LV and we don’t advertise in the paper at all – online is where it is at!

As far as branding, I would show people how we were different by NOT being in the outdated print material. They could still use it in a presentation, but I would use it to show a buyer what not to do. Then take them online live and show them your presence on the web.

Let the stats do the talking….

Agree with Frank. Here’s how we do it: set up a dedicated URL for each channel including print. Then, track each channel against five indicators of quality: total website traffic, time on site, pages viewed, return visits, and opt-inconversion. Seeing the numbers in print will do more convincing in 5m than 5 hours of trying to convince someone verbally that print is a terrible ROI.

Newspapers are dying. (from a Executive Editor of National Magazine)

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The signs and fliers of our inventory homes around town list a number to call, but no pricing. When people call, the majority of them are calling directly for the price and I’ve found that if I beat around the bush and don’t give them the price immediately, they get irritated. But if I say I don’t know and try to defer the question (I’ve tried to say “we’ve had a recent price adjustment and I’m not sure of the exact price” or “it’s actually under contract” or a variety of other non-committal responses) the phone call ends abruptly as well. My goal is to make an appointment for them to see the home with one of the onsite sales agents. What would you recommend saying?

I understand your frustration — I have been in your exact position. We have to walk a thin line between being aggressive and being helpful. Let’s look first at the reason why they are calling — to get more information about your home and qualify you as the builder. If they ask you a specific question — you should answer that question and then immediately respond with a powerful follow up question.

If they want to know the price, then you should respond with, “That home starts at $200,000. What is the investment range you were looking for?”

If they tell you that this is in their price range, I would recommend saying, “Perfect, are there any specific features or amenities you are looking for in your next home or community?” By asking probing questions, you will find out the information you need to build urgency and set the appointment while creating an opportunity for the relationship between you to build. You may not want to ask too soon for the appointment. Work on building up a rapport, listening to their needs and and gathering more information. Once you have done that, then asking for the appointment is a logical approach and easier for the prospect to swallow. It could go like this, “Sounds like this home might be a great fit! Would you like to set an appointment to come out and see this home and our community up close?”

If they object to the appointment, then you need to have something else of value that you can send to their email address. Remember, there are 2 goals from the phone call — either get an appointment or get their email address to follow up with them. Good luck and keep up the great work!

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I bought your book about a year ago and it has been my online marketing bible. At the time, I was the marketing director for a small-ish real estate firm. Eventually one of my builders needed more & more from me so that is now where I am now. I am dragging my builder (kicking & screaming… ha!) into this century with my marketing schedule, heavily revolved around reaching prospects online. This involves an immediate second release of their current website to include more methods to obtain consumer contact information. What advice do you have for a tech savvy marketing director starting a one-woman show from the ground floor up? Oh yeah — and with a limited budget!

It’s exciting, isn’t it! Starting from scratch. There are so many things to be done and so many possibilities, but you MUST focus on what will net you the best results first! By demonstrating a high ROI, you will be able to champion for more of the budget and convince them of the power of the internet. Here is how I would suggest starting your program.

• Website First — Make sure it has all of the information properly displayed and strong calls to action. Work on converting the “low hanging fruit” — Those who have already made it to your website.
• Online Process (this is a close 2nd) — Implement your CRM and fine tune your Online Sales Process to increase conversion rates of leads. Keep detailed statistics to show your builder how much he spends per lead, per appointment and per sale.
• Tap Your Database — Develop a monthly newsletter to email current prospects in your database. A little bit of time and $30 a month will go a long way.
• SEO — Increase you organic position on the search engines. This takes a little bit of time and/or money so you need to start now to gain the benefit in the long run.
• Supplement with PPC — Start you targeted Pay-Per-Click program on Google to drive immediate traffic.
• Listing Portals — List all or a portion of your inventory on the 3rd party listing services like Move.com, NewHomeSource.com or NewHomesDirectory.com. Start with the ones that get the most traffic in your area.
• In Your Spare Time — Take advantage of the free and powerful social networking sites like Facebook & Active Rain. Get your blog going and distribute great content through your own site and multiple profiles on these powerful networks.

The old question stands the test of time: How do you eat an Elephant?…one bite at a time!

Just make sure you don’t start with the butt!
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Q.
Mike,
We get many internet leads from Move, New Home Source, etc., which often come with only email addresses. We promptly respond to these emails, with, what we feel is a “wet the appetite” response. We rarely get a return call or a visit. How do we convert these inquiries to traffic?
Alan

A:
Alan,
That’s the million dollar question and here’s the million dollar answer: the goal of your follow-up program is to invoke a response from these prospects and build trust! Not everyone will respond, that is to be expected. The intention is to find the serious prospects (who are right for your business) and focus on moving them to the next stage. Here are some tips to get a response from the leads that are best suited to you:

• Begin your email with something directed at this specific person. If people think they are receiving a form letter, they tend to move on.
• Long emails are overwhelming to people, so keep it concise and specific. Consider the source and use their name.
• Add a “Call Me Now” graphic or text in the center of the email and make sure they know they can talk to a live person.
• Offer them something they can’t get from anyone else—limited time “special incentives” are great. Set yourself up as the one they need to talk to.
• Remember the 80/20 rule. Don’t lose site of the 20 perfect matches because you are focusing on the 80 that might not ever contact you.
• Ask one strong open-ended question at the end giving them a reason to respond!

Shoppers are spending longer looking for a home—the research phase for an internet buyer can average six months to one year. Just because they don’t respond immediately doesn’t mean they’re not interested. It simply means they have not yet bought in. Follow-up like they are an “A” lead and you stand a better chance of turning them into one. That will give you the edge over your competition and boost your conversion ratios. And be professionally persistent and personal—people buy from people they trust and trust is built over time. You’ll be surprised how many people will contact you a year or two later.

Keep up the great work and keep converting those browsers to buyers!

If you have a technique that helps you get a response—let us know by posting a comment.

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Q:

Mike, 
I am a manager for a sales team. We sell retirement homes. I have just starting digging into your book and I was wondering if you believe that the baby boomers are inclined to jump on the internet to search for homes? We have not had a powerful online presence because we have just been involved in the old traditional marketing methods. I hope to change this and I am going to use your methods but I would hate to direct our attention to an area where our customers are not spending their time.  Can you enlighten me any? 
 
Thanks, C.A.

A:

Thank you for the great question. There are 2 things to consider:
 
1st  – Consider your product and the boomer buying cycle. It is my assumption that the buying cycle will last longer for your customers. They may not need to move immediately or have the sense of urgency that younger buyers will have. Most likely, their research process will be extended; which means your follow-up process will need to match.  Some of the best tools you can use to effectively manage their experience is your internet presence and consistent email follow-up.
 
2nd – Internet usage among boomers and seniors is one of the fast growing segments of the market. The number of U.S. adults online over age 50 will soar over the next ten years. In 2008 73.7% of those aged 50-64 and 34.1% of those 65 and above will use Internet. My grandma is in her 80′s and puts her Mac to good use sending email, making home videos, Googling… That doesn’t mean you forgo traditional marketing altogether, it just means that you need to create a balanced program that encompasses the internet to attract and assist with your sales/marketing process for your specific demographic. Plus, if you give your boomer customers enough compelling reasons, they will “spend their time” online.
 
The internet is continually evolving and we need to always improve our offerings to keep up with customer expectations.
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