Follow up or Pack it up!

Real Estate Follow-Up Marketing by Brandon Cornett

Client follow-up should be a major part of your real estate marketing program. Whether it's a postcard mailer, a thank-you card, an email or a phone call, you need some form of real estate follow-up marketing in your business plan.

Why is follow-up so important? You probably know this, but for those just joining the real estate ranks:

* Proper follow-up marketing generates referrals by showing you still care after the transaction.

* Proper follow-up marketing generates repeat business by keeping you in touch with past clients.

Follow-up brings other benefits, but repeat business and referrals top the list. And if you've seen the stats on where real estate business comes from, you'll realize the important of these factors.

Execution
So, how do you improve your follow-up marketing program? One way is to make it more human. Another way is to make it more specific to the individual client. Combine the two, and you've got the kind of follow-up that maximizes your referral and repeat-business rates like nothing else.

So how do you make your follow-up more specific to the individual? The execution is simple, thought it does call for a bit of note-taking along the way.

Step 1. Take notes on your clients.
During your business relationship, keep notes on your clients. They could include a variety of topics — interests, hobbies, number and age of children, decorating styles, other neighborhoods they were interested in, future plans. You get the idea.

The point is to gather useful information about your clients that will help you tailor specific "touches" later on when following up.

File these notes away on your computer, or wherever you keep client information. And remember, the easier it is to do, the more likely you are to do it. So find something that works for you.

Step 2. Outline your follow-up program.
Outlining your follow-up program will help you in several ways. First, the act of writing things down engages the creative side of your brain. You'll be amazed at all the ideas you come up with as you map out your follow-up program.

Secondly, you should outline your real estate follow-up marketing program on paper to ensure it achieves the number of contacts or "touches" you want. Opinions vary on the number and frequency of touches. I would suggest monthly, especially in the beginning of a follow-up program (when you're most likely to get referrals from still-happy clients).

Go for a balance of personal contact and automation. Why? Because a program that's 100% automated (like a pre-scheduled series of real estate postcards) will be too impersonal. In the other extreme, a program that's 100% personal contact (phone calls, for example) will be exhausting to maintain. You have to combine the two.

Do you now see the value of collecting this information along the way? It's invaluable later on, when you're preparing your well-balanced follow-up program.

Step 3. Carry out your follow-up program.
This is where all the preparation pays off. By having a follow-up plan and a client database with good notes, you've finished half of your follow-up legwork in advance. The rest is simply filling in the blanks, keeping tabs on your schedule, and sending your materials out.

Summary
A balanced follow-up program — one that mixes personal, one-to-one contact with automated elements like postcards — gives you the best of two worlds. It's easy enough to manage across a number of clients, while at the same time surprising your clients with specific information delivered in a personal way.