Staying top of mind by personalizing your CRM
If you are honest with yourself, you probably recognize the fact that most of your contacts are not sitting by their phones, or starting at their Instant Messenger Apps, or watching their emails waiting for you to contact them. In fact, as time goes by the number of them, that remember your name will significantly diminish.
To keep top of mind and to get those much sort after referrals from customers you need to put some thought into your client touches.
If you use your CRM, such as the one from ZipperAgent, getting on track is simple and easy with reminders.
In this blog, I will talk you through some of the personal touches you can make to build stronger, longer lasting relationships with the contacts in your CRM. If you want to stay top of mind and you are willing to make an effort to include specific details for your contacts, then take the time to schedule the correct reminders staying top of mind should be easy.
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Homebuyer anniversary gifts and cards.
Photo by Melody Jacob on Unsplash
Many people, most notably first-time home buyers are sentimental about their purchase. Keep track of closing dates in your CRM, and setting a reminder is a simple way to add a high-quality touch point for your contact. Consider sending a gift with a handwritten note. The gift can be something elementary like a bottle of sparkling cider or a box of chocolates. Following up in a week with a phone call is an excellent second touch. It will give you the opportunity to gauge how happy they are with their home and potentially discuss plans. You might also at this time offer them a free Comparative Market Analysis so they can see how the value of their home has changed in the past year.
One word of caution, do not offer any CMA if you think the home price has gone down.
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Happy birthday videos
Don’t you like a little extra attention on your birthday? Your contact probably will too. Birthday reminders in your CRM will give you another opportunity to send past (and potential) clients a personalized birthday message every year. Don’t forget their spouses, partners, and children.
Sending a handwritten note is a good idea, but a quick video is also. Use your smartphone, laptop or tablet to record the video. What I do is save the video to my website, you can also save it on YouTube, take a screenshot of the video, write the e-mail, add the image to the email and put a link on the image.
If you do it this way, the person will end on your web-page. After all, isn’t that where you want them to be?
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Event invitations
Photo by Antenna on Unsplash
I have a friend that hosts a business dinner for his most active real estate investor clients every month. If you want to show past clients how much you appreciate them and value their business, try this. Throw a client appreciation party once or twice a year. When you host one of these events you have an excellent opportunity to reconnect with past clients, get one more touch in, at least, and it will make you appear to be a leader in the real estate field.
If you’re are stuck at the I wouldn’t know where to start stage check out these tips from Inman.com ideas for client-appreciation events. You could also check this link for ideas, https://www.zipperagent.com/orgainizing-a-networking-dinner/
If you are still stuck, remember that holiday gatherings featuring kid-friendly events are a safe bet. Whenever do you choose to host one of these gatherings what better way to get all the e-mails, phone numbers, names and addresses you need that by using a CRM?
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Social Media/Casual follow-ups
Photo by Benjamin Dada on Unsplash
Diego and Lisa, names changed, of course, were renting an apartment in our fair city. They wanted to purchase a home of their own, where there was a school system, they liked so that they could start a family. I was grateful they choose to work with me as their agent. We found what they were looking for, negotiated a fair price, and they bought their first home.
While I was working with them, I friended them on Facebook, so I could learn more about them, and besides, I liked them as a couple. After the closing, I kept in touch. I stopped by to check on them and see how they were adjusting to life in their new home. Of course, I put them on my Christmas Card List, which I had in my CRM, I noted their birthdays, their wedding anniversary, and the home closing anniversary in my CRM as well.
I also kept them on my Facebook Friends list and was delighted when about ten months after moving into their home they announced the arrival of Stephen. I congratulated them on Facebook, sent a small gift and a Welcome Baby Card, and then noted Stephen’s Birthday in my CRM.
As he grows, I will watch for things like baseball games and wish him a home run or two. What is so remarkable about social media, is keeping in touch, with your friends and contacts. Too many real estate agents think of it only as a way to let the world know, which it doesn’t, about an open house which few will care about, or about how many sales they have made.
The real power of Social Media is the social part. It is a place to keep in touch, to share and to comment. When it is paired with a CRM, it is a potent tool. So send a comment on Social Media when you see something of import, maybe call them, and make a note of it in your CRM. Next time you reach out to them you have something to discuss.
Let’s go back to Diego and Lisa again. Their full plan ran like this, buy a home in a neighborhood with a “good” elementary school system, have two or more children, as they grow to consider moving to a neighborhood with a “good” high school, with land enough to have a horse, after the children finish college downsize to a retirement home. So by keeping in touch and top of mind, I get the first buyer’s side sale, potentially a sell-side of their current home, a buy side of their next home, a sell-side of that home, a buy side of their forever home. I might also get some apartment rentals for the children in their college years, potentially homes for them at some point, and who knows how many referrals along the way.
To keep track of it all, I need a CRM. Three birthdays, a wedding anniversary, a home closing anniversary, two or three holidays a year, and I have eight touches every year.
Now drip campaigns, monthly newsletter, and general marketing campaigns have their place. However, staying active on social media and using a CRM to identify what makes each contact unique will make your personal touches actually meaningful.
Remember this: You can’t treat all of your contacts the same and expect to meaningfully connect — that’s why generic marketing emails and rigid scripts perform so poorly. By identifying what makes each client unique, you can ensure your personal touches are actually meaningful.
Based in part on https://www.inman.com/2019/03/29/4-ways-to-personalize-your-service-using-your-crm/
